diatu | ow the edge (open)

ow the edge (open)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's definitely not a map. That would be too easy. It's just a hint about which direction they should have chosen. A bit cryptic, of course, but they could have probably figured it out if they had taken the time to. At each intersection they'll find something like this, though it's not always going to be obvious which path to take and just because it seems like one path may be better than the other that doesn't necessarily mean that one is going to be free of traps. In some cases they'll both contain traps. One might just not be nearly as bad, as it were.

"It's because I've been here before... And, no, that's not it. I can summon Gandora now, though whenever I try this is what happens. Like you I think it's something I must overcome if I want to do so without..." He trails off for a moment. "Without fail, so to speak." He gives Kaiba a small smile, though it immediately falters when the ground quakes and Kaiba is grabbing him and leaping forward?!

He makes an undignified noise and tries not to yell, though they're eventually on solid ground again. He breathes out a sigh and gets to his feet, though he's a bit shaky on them now, and especially after that. "The maze is meant to wear us done which tricks of all kinds and it's different every time, so unfortunately I can't tell you exactly how to beat it, though I can certainly help with the puzzles at the intersections. They're meant to be hints about the paths we're about to choose."

"...you're serious. If I ever decide to ask the researchers for anything again, I'm consulting you first."

Kaiba wouldn't be in this mess with his cards if he'd just gone for direct summoning. Granted, he could be in a bigger mess. And he seriously doubted he was going to ask them for anything ever again. He sighed, dusted himself off once he was sure Yugi was alright, and crouched to study the next markings.

They look jagged, but there's a space above them. They have to climb over, somehow...? If they had to be at a magic school of all things, why didn't they have flying broomsticks? He muttered a curse and used modification to turn some of the vines of the walls into ladders, setting up a mundane climb over.

Just as he's about to touch down on solid ground again, the voice returns to his head. He looks at the cards' values, now dangerously low and flashing red. The voices return, echoing only inside his head.

Clever, clever...but you're still weak, Seto. You cling to the boy you once vowed to defeat, hiding behind his greatness. No more. We should ally ourselves with a true master, one who will bring us glory!

The wind howls and a fog lifts. Kaiba reaches back for Yugi, trying to haul him through and duck into the next corner before it gets worse.

"No. You're wrong. I'm going to prove it."

He reaches, but he can feel his grip slipping. Sorry, Yugi.

"Heh. I don't think I'm the authority. I'm not sure asking them for anything is a wise decision, honestly."

And that's not necessarily. He'd be in a different mess. Perhaps an even worse mess! It seemed like no matter what they asked for it came with a price and Yugi wasn't so sure it was worth the price tag. He just hoped that he could help Kaiba realize his own strength with this maze. It... would be difficult, but he believed in the strength of his boyfriend. Himself too. Together they'd get through this.

As soon as Kaiba changes the vines Yugi follows his lead and begins climbing up behind him. It's a long climb and he can't really see ahead because of Kaiba, but he's sure they're headed in the right direction. "What?" He blinks, squinting when he hears Kaiba talking to himself. "I know that..." Is his head getting the better of him again? "Kaiba?"

Was that Yugi? Kaiba faintly recognizes his boyfriend's voice in the distance, but he's distracted by the much more immediate voices in his head. Yugi's voice feels further and further away, but the dragons' shrill calls grow louder. They even choose to let Yugi hear their call this time. A little humiliation all around is fun!

It's no wonder humans were slaves to dragons in this world. You so arrogantly thought you could master us? You're weak, Seto Kaiba. Without your wealth and power to hide behind, you're nothing! You can't even save the one you debased yourself for...perhaps we should ally ourselves to him? Or maybe Wheeler...

Ah, the classic bridge too far. Kaiba suddenly goes rigid, and when he looks up his eyes are blazing with fury. He extends his wand with a flourish, radiating a cold fire.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

He modifies the fog into heavier water droplets, soaking them but immediately clearing his vision. He reaches Yugi in a single bound and clasps his hand.

"You're wrong about humanity, you're wrong about Yugi, and most importantly you're wrong about me. I should congratulate you, Blue Eyes---if that's really who you are. It takes a special kind of talent to so consistently miss the mark!"

He scoffs, his old swagger back in force.

"I don't hide behind anyone or anything. I forge advantageous partnerships with talented people, and I learn from them as much as they learn from me. Even love is no weakness---it's my guiding force, the one I'll hold to while I burn through this maze!"

He confidently steps forward crouching at the next set of markings. He looks up at Yugi with a great big blur of emotion in his eyes---relief, admiration, love. Kaiba even laughs weakly.

"Dragons are a real piece of work."

Is this what Kaiba has had to listen to? And, what, slaves to dragons? Do the Blue-Eyes really feel that way too? It's not like they were even a part of this world, but have it's influences already corrupted them? He frowns, looking up at Kaiba when they try to tell him he's weak, which is a fucken lie.

He feels Kaiba's hand clasp tightly around his, which isn't something he can actually see, because his hair is covering his face now that the fog turned water has soaked them. He does smile though, and Kaiba might not be able to see it, but the way Yugi holds his hand back he can probably feel that he's absolutely behind him on all of what he says.

"Not all dragons are like that, Kaiba. I'm not really sure what's gotten into your Blue-Eyes, but I'm confident we can break them of their strangeness clouding their own minds." His hand moves to his heart. "Me and Gandora haven't had nearly as much experience together as you guys have, but the bond we share is strong. We chose each other for reasons that go deeper than deep and he helped me in three of the most important battles of my life." It's almost like there's a light glowing from within him.

"Choosing to be able to call on Gandora was definitely dangerous, but he's my partner, and there is no master servant relationship. We help each other and there's mutual understanding and..." He smiles, looking at Kaiba. "I know it's the same for you and your cards. Your bond is strong too, Kaiba, and we'll get that back no matter what. Again, I'm not sure what's going on now, but we'll get through to them."

"Dragons have their reasons to distrust humans in this world," he mutters, though he's not entirely sure. He holds tight to Yugi's hand drawing strength, the first smile he's felt all day stretching his mouth when he looks down at the wet mop of his boyfriend's hair.

As much as he feels conflicted about his emotional weakness...he can't resist. He roughly pushes Yugi's hair out of his eyes, stealing a brief kiss before they continue on the path.

"Blue Eyes is the ultimate symbol of destruction and dominance. Her White Lightning can conquer any obstacle...except you or the pharaoh," he adds with a shake of his head. "I believed domination was the true goal for the longest time...it brought me far, further than almost anyone, but I hit my ceiling."

His ceiling was rather short, actually. He gently squeezed Yugi's hand.

"Domination was gratifying. It kept everything else at bay. But there's another reason to wield power: to protect what's yours. That's my reason to keep fighting now...for a future."

He pauses at the fork in the road. Left or right. Either way, they'll get through...though as they get closer the sky darkens and the wind howls.

"Think she'll understand?"

"???" He looks confused. "Really? Did... something happen..." He hadn't heard anything about humans and dragons, but, then again, it's not something he'd really been researching.

He feels his face color as Kaiba brushes aside his hair and their lips meet for the first time in what feels like forever. "But we're not an obstacle... n- not anymore, right... heh." He gives Kaiba a lopsided smile. He nods though, listening as they continue along.

"I think that's a great reason to keep fighting. It's the reason I fight. To be able to protect what means the most to me. My family and friends. My loved ones too." He smiles up at Kaiba. And for his future, obviously.

"I think she will. What you've decided to fight for... I think it's great. It's what anybody would choose to fight for and what most do, honestly. We fight for the same thing, Kaiba, and I think- hope- she'd be honored to help you reach the future you've got in mind."

"Mmm. She may think I've dishonored myself by relying on others, but I still make my own rules. They just so happen to include you."

Kaiba slows to observe their surroundings, mindful of the creeping thorns. He sees red lights in the distance...what could they mean? Likely not anything good.

"I never got around to explaining that. In this world, dragons were originally the masters of humans. With their far superior size and power, why shouldn't we be their slaves? Our pitiful existences were solely for the purpose of serving dragonkind, or so the only dragon I've ever spoken to has told me."

And he sure sounds unhappy about that. That had been a scary few minutes.

"The humans grew to resent their oppression, and so with the help of magic they launched a sneak attack, killing most of the dragons in a desperate bid for freedom. Only a few survive. The ghost below the castle, who tried to enslave Noa and I, and another one that Spyro seems to know---who thankfully sounds far less insane."

Kaiba scoffs as the wind rises, whipping at them as if being summoned by broad wings. A prelude to a trap? "Let's just get through this and I'll make her my offer. We might be getting closer...or it might be what they want us to think."

He frowns at that. "Really? I think that's just... silly. I don't think relying on others is a weakness. It takes somebody strong to be able to admit that they, themselves, have a flaw and, therefore, need to kind of, well, fill in the gaps using other people. Nobody's perfect, y'know, and to be able to finally admit that..." He trails off. "I don't know where I'd be without my friends. You only knew me briefly back then... but look how far I've come." He clenches a fist. "I never thought I'd get to this point, Kaiba, not in a million years."

"..." He blinks, surprised. "W- What?" Oh wow. Well that's definitely not the story he was expecting to hear. Yikes. "And what dragon was this? Are there anymore left? Aren't there a couple of dragon students here? Do they know about this? Seems kind of..." He makes a noise, seeming equally unhappy.

"This sounds all sorts of bad. For both sides, actually." Hm, so there are at least two dragons? "This is getting complicated..."

Yugi squeezes Kaiba's hand. "I'm sure you'll make her an offer she can't refused. She's not like those other dragons and you've already fought tooth and nail through many a tough battle. You're partners. Not enemies. Not master and servant. And we'll get through this too."

"I didn't notice you back then, but when I look back...you held everything together through all of that. You overcame incredible obstacles, led through inspiration, and finally showed me your strengh...and no matter how many times I insulted you or pushed you away, you kept seeing right through me. We're a team now."

He gives Yugi a fond look as they tread carefully. "I'll let you know if I find out any more, but the dragons won't really talk to humans. We're relying on Spyro as a go-between. But Blue Eyes...I have to prove my worth to her somehow."

Hopefully not through a death-defying stunt, but...the wind's picking up. The red glow intensifies, and there's a roar in the distance.

"Yugi, do you feel anything? Is that Gandora or a trap?"

He smiles at that and holds onto Kaiba's hand tighter. "And there's nothing we can't overcome. If you need any help with him let me know... though it sounds like talking to anymore humans isn't going to be a solution. It'll just make matters worse. Do you know any dragons that could try to, ah, smooth things over? Besides Spyro? Maybe having more than one could help?" Or maybe that, too, would make things worse. He honestly doesn't know. He's only just finding out about any of this.

"Hopefully this will prove to her that you're somebody absolutely worth fighting alongside." Hn? He lifts his other hand up to guard himself from the whipping winds. "It's not Gandora. I haven't summoned him. I only tried to... which is why we ended up here. I could summon him now, but he'd be much too large to fit in the maze. It's probably a trap." He moves forward carefully, but stops when the path in front of them starts to crumble, eventually giving way completely to an enormous pit of spikes.

Kaiba takes a sharp breath. "Kisara, maybe, but he might not like her human form. And I don't want to spread around who she is---who knows how the townsfolk would react. They only seem to tolerate Spyro because he's cuddly and looks harmless."

He rolls his eyes fondly as he moves...but that soon turns into a mumbled curse as the ground crumbles. He immediately summons a few vines and latches them to the walls, reaching for Yugi.

"Least complicated is probably a bridge."

He starts drawing debris from the walls, morphing and stretching it downward into a very knotted vine bridge. It's not the smoothest walk, but it should work...it extends most of the way, at least. He wobbles a little crossing, but they're almost there when the bridge stops.

"I'm out of material to modify. We'll have to blast across."

For his next trick...he flares out his coat, draws a glyph to manipulate the immediate gusts of wind in a certain direction, grabs Yugi...and jumps. He keeps casting, because this jump requires a lot of wind.

It's not the most graceful landing, but hopefully it's not a spiky one.

"It seems like we don't really have a lot of options then... And you're not wrong about him, heh. He's also really personable, which helps.

Yugi stumbles, reaching for Kaiba who is quick with his wand, helping him back onto solid ground and then using the broken bits to form a bridge for them to cross. Unfortunately there's no enough to let them get completely get across. Yugi frowns, his own wand in hand when Kaiba's already formulating a plan. "Blast our way across?" Before he can even piece together what Kaiba can mean he's shooting them across with a gust of wind. Yugi yelps, gripping Kaiba's hand tightly and pressing closely, because a bit more of a warning would have been nice.

He doesn't immediately let go when they land, but at least they didn't land in a bunch of spikes. "You've really gotten the hang of that thing for somebody that couldn't stand magic for a time, huh?"

Kaiba's not in too much of a hurry to continue. That fall had taken the wind out of him. So he clings to Yugi a little longer, giving him another kiss to his nose before carefully helping him up.

"I'd be an idiot not to use every tool at my disposal. And as unreliable as this particular tool can be...if it's what I have, it's what I'll use."

He slowly moves forward, arm in arm with Yugi. "Especially when the tool's used to protect what matters to me."

Another kiss, this time to his crown. That's you, Yugi.

"K- Kaiba." He feels his face heat up as he presses closer to Kaiba. He's in no rush to move too. He could use a bit of a break besides. "I know... I'm going to do what I can to master this craft too, especially if it's something I can use to protect the people I care about here, back home, anywhere, really. And I know that no matter the obstacles this maze throws at us we'll make it out of here." He leans up to give him another quick kiss.

"Ready?" He slides back and turns back to the path, using another quick spell to illuminate the entire corridor, showing that there are some hidden holes in the walls, the faint glimmer of metal hiding within - another trap. "Looks like we'd have triggered something if we would have just went ahead."

Yugi's quiet words and affection give him the strength to keep going. He smiles against his lips, distantly surveying the holes. That...could be dangerous. He straightens his robes, shifts into position, and lifts his wand.

"Wait for me to give the signal, Yugi. They won't hurt you."

He tries tossing a small object from his pocket down the corridor---nothing. He tries throwing a heavier stone on the ground. Still nothing. Looks like he's still going to have to go through with this. He fires a gunky substance at every hole he can see, summons a bubble around himself---

---and charges ahead. The good news is that his plan was mostly successful. Red lights dot the corridors as the traps activate, sharp arrows flying every which way. The combination of the rubber cement and his bubble shield block most of them.

Unfortunately, not all, as he goes down with a grunt once on the other side. One ripped through his leg and another his shoulder. Great. But the important thing is that they can't hurt Yugi now.

"I think I got them all," he hollers hoarsely, dropping to the ground with a thud. He uses his good arm to tear at his sleeve and pant leg, doing what he can to mop up. Not that he can actually die.

"..."

"...!!!"

What does he think he's doing?! As soon as he tells him that he's not going to be hurt he just knows Kaiba's up to something stupid. He seemed to have the right idea, but what fired from the holes was several dozen sharp arrows, which were all able to penetrate the gunk with little to no effort. Yugi is so glad that Kaiba was able to evade almost all of them, though he's hit by a couple, which has him immediately breaking into a panic. He casts a protection spell around himself and hurries after, trying to keep from losing his shirt immediately, which is hard given the state of his boyfriend.

"Kaiba, what the hell was that?! He kneels down alongside him, casting a spell to unravel his robes and turn them into bandages, which immediately start wrapping each and every one of Kaiba's wounds tightly. At least he always wears his regular clothes beneath, so he's still in his leather pants and shirt. "Why did you do that, there was probably another, less dangerous method to overcome that! You could have been hurt worse, Kaiba, or... or..." He growls, eyes filling with tears. "Just because you can't die here doesn't mean you can afford to be reckless!"

Kaiba looks up at him weakly. There's really not much he can say in the face of tears---they rip at his heart as Yugi patches him up He struggles to catch his breath, but at least his condition is stable now. The hardest thing to overcome is the lump in his throat.

"Better...better me than you," he whispers. "This might be our game, but you're the one who has to get to the end to find your dragon."

He feels guilty as hell, though. He stares at a spot on the ground. "But I should've asked you. It's not as though we're on a time limit...it just felt urgent. I'm sorry."

"Kaiba... I think you misunderstood, and for that I must apologize. But, here, let me set the record straight, and perhaps he can help us." Yugi takes a step back and wipes away his tears as he taps into his spiritual energy to activate the magical contract door that ties him to Gandora in this place. "Break free from your iron prison and join us, Gandora-X, the Dragon of Demolition-!" He lends some of his power to the duel monster who appears before them and roars, parts of the maze getting destroyed, because Gandora is much too big too fit. Yugi's wand is in his hand though and he's got to shrink him, so he doesn't completely destroy the place.

"It's not that I couldn't summon him. It's that every time I tried I ended up here. If I did again it would be okay, because I was already here." Gandora roared again, Yugi gently setting a hand on his head. He, himself, thankfully hadn't taken any damage so both him and Gandora were at full power, so it would be up to them to take care of Kaiba. "Gandora, help me get Kaiba up." They both went over to Kaiba to help him to his feet.

"...what..."

Yugi is very lucky that Kaiba's too out of his mind to react with more colorful language. He puts all of his weight on his good arm and forces himself upright to get a good look. He's beautiful, just as he remembers---not as beautiful as Blue Eyes, of course, but he's still having an Issue with his dragons right now.

Between his stubborn attempts to balance on his good leg, Yugi's firm hold, and Gandora hauling him with his claws, he finally manages to get his feet under him. He glances at a small fistful of arrows that he's picked up, some bloodied, and banishes the blood before morphing them into a cane with a whisper of a spell. He gently nudges Gandora to let him know he's okay before turning to Yugi.

"If you were together the entire time, why---why didn't you summon him before?"

"Because he doesn't exactly fit into the confines of the maze and I really didn't want to have to shrink him. I didn't know if it would hurt him or not, but I guess if you're going to be reckless, Kaiba, I don't have much of a choice, since we're going to need him to get through this now." Gandora makes a noise, but ultimately backs off, positioning himself behind Yugi in case anything tries to sneak up on him.

"And it was a risk. Who knows if something else might have triggered, like if we would have gotten sent back to the start or something. I didn't want to have to try, but I had no choice."

There's nothing he can really say. Kaiba's hair hangs in his eyes, and his posture's more hunched over than usual. Though some of that is the pain, of course. He's not so weak as to flinch, but he comes close.

He pushes on slowly, hoping to get a look ahead from the holes Gandora made, but they've mostly closed up. One of his cards is about to fall out of his pocket and he glances at it: 0/0. As he feared: time ran out. At the moment, that he hurt Yugi hurts even more than that, so he simply huffs and shoves it back in his pocket.

"Don't worry. Even if I could do something like that again, there's no urgency anymore."

"I know you were just trying to protect me, Kaiba, but I want us to work together. We're stronger that way."

Yugi catches sight of the card, but he's not quick enough to notice the values on it. He frowns though, looking to Kaiba and trying to gauge his reaction... it's probably not hard at this point, so Yugi just finds himself looking down at the ground, feeling guilty for having dragged Kaiba into this.

"There is an urgency now. You're hurt. Gandora, destroy the maze and get us out at any cost. You need power, yeah, so take all of mine." The orbs on Gandora's body glows, because, by default, Gandora doesn't have an attack power, so he zaps Yugi of all almost all of his, causing him to drop. He roars, bidding Kaiba to take Yugi and duck before all of the lights on his body erupt in red lasers, shooting the walls of the maze and destroying them. The maze starts to crumble, revealing other portions of it. Parts they had been through and parts they hadn't and, oh, there's the center.

"Yugi!"

Turnabout is fair play. Of course. Kaiba curses and tucks Yugi against him, curling over his body as best he can. His heart drops, and now he fully understands what he did.

Gods, he was stupid. And for nothing too.

He finally looks up when the red light fades, and there's the center, taunting them. Hell. He screwed up Yugi's chance to fix his own problem too.

He gently traces the side of Yugi's face, swallowing the lump in his throat and looking up at Gandora.

"I'm sorry. I'll protect him with everything I have. Just...help us, please."

Yugi is out cold. He's given almost all of his energy to Gandora, so the dragon could help Kaiba escape the maze.

Gandora roars, because they're going to have to work together to get to the center, which isn't too far, but some of the traps are still active. Kaiba is probably going to have to use his magic to build them a bridge, while Gandora can at the very least protect them while they cross.

ow the edge (open)

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