ow the edge (open)

[blue_ice]

Who: Kaiba (blue_ice) and you!
When: One early September morning
Where: All over campus!
What: DUELS. In any and every game. Or try to talk him down from this madness, idk.
Warnings: Excessive edgy shonen rival behavior. Possibly some dark themes, will be labeled in subject lines!


Kaiba's request, in hindsight, was a foolish one. Every interaction between their worlds and this one thus far had been a disaster with unintended consequences, why would this be any different? And why would he risk his most priceless possessions this way? He could kick himself, but that's not going to save his Blue Eyes White Dragons. His hand trembles as he holds them, watching their attack and defense values slowly tick toward zero.

You are not the worthy heir we chose, says the trio of voices in his ear. Your emotions have made you weak. We seal our power from you until you prove that the spirit of a champion lurks within. Crush your foes with precision! Or are you now a coward?

No. He's no coward. Kaiba sweeps through the hallways with an icy expression, searching for prey. Any instrument they might hold for a game draws him...a deck of Fantastic Foils cards. A basketball. A chess board. A wand. Any game, anywhere...he absolutely must win. He swivels to face his chosen opponent.

"You. Duel me. Now."

Are you game? Or more inclined to tell him he's out of his mind? It's your move.

Comments

[ahew_kha]

Really, she has no idea what the point of the numbers and such really is. It's a card. Does it really matter if the numbers are different on it? Does that really make his value any different? How weird.

She's humming softly to herself as she's gingerly taking the card from him, just seeing if she can actually feel anything off of it. As far as she knows, she's nothing really special, but if this is technically her soul in a way, then it should do something, right? Or give her some sort of sign of what's going on.

"No different than I normally do. I have... just been trying to make sense of these books for the past few hours." English is weird, okay.

[blue_ice]

The card doesn't seem to respond to her at all. It's hyper-focused on draining itself and taunting Kaiba.

He watches, and once he's satisfied that she's not getting sick, he exhales and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Great. I should...go. Find that duel. But I'll be back later, unless there's any kind of game in that book."

He wants to offer to help her. That might even be readable in his expression, which is more tired than hostile. But he's acutely aware that he's being judged for his helping hand.

[ahew_kha]

How weird. It's just further proving to her that there's something weird about all of this mess and maybe Kaiba needs to, you know, chill out a little bit.

"I wouldn't take this as seriously as you seem to be, if it's not responding to me, then I would wager it has been tampered with." At least she's handing it back at the very least, oops.

"Please be careful and not let it get further under your skin than it already has?"

[blue_ice]

"Blue Eyes is my pride and the centerpiece of my deck. Without her, I have nothing."

He inhales deeply. To lose is to die. Those words from so long ago still echo in the back of his mind. "Have you seen anyone pass by with a game? A ball, a deck of cards...anything?"

[ahew_kha]

Why on Earth is she the one trying to be the voice of reason? Kaiba, please, don't make this a thing she has to do.

"Does it not strike you as strange that this is happening so suddenly and that nothing changes while it is in my hands? If that card is supposedly based upon myself, why would there be no reaction or change while I was holding it?" ... That makes sense, probably.

"I think there was a group heading outside earlier, though I didn't catch what they were going to do, but it's as good a place to start as any?"

[blue_ice]

"Somewhat, but it happened because I requested it from home. There's always some price or test when we do that. I shouldn't have risked them this way."

But it was too late now. He sighed.

"Sounds that way. And...if you do start to feel off, tell someone."

He gave her another worried look.

[ahew_kha]

Another reason she's glad she has literally nothing worth bringing to this place, she doesn't have to worry about this kind of a mess. Bonuses to being a poor outcast or whatever.

"Just... be careful, please?" She barely knows him and yet she still can't help but worry, the familiar visage but entirely different personality and motivations, yet she can't help herself at the end of the day.

Until he's worrying over her and she's just pursing her lips in return. "I'll be fine. It seems myself and that card aren't on the same page to begin with, so I doubt there would be any difference towards myself due to it." As far as she's aware, everything has been perfectly normal for her.

[blue_ice]

"Good. I don't need any more guilt to bear."

And...well, and he's just glad she's all right. He nods. "I'll see you later. When this settles we'll see about those books."