[EFFECT ROOM] The Red Thread of Not-Quite-Fate

[hyperhero]

[This room is definitely one that you wouldn't expect to find in a school, considering that it appears to be a gigantic cafe. Plush carpets, cushioned chairs, a whole bunch of fancy drinks and snacks...

Someone put a dating cafe in the school!]

((OOC: Here's how it works! The room is based off the idea of the red string of fate from Japanese/Chinese legend. On stepping into the room, your character will find a thin but completely unbreakable red string tied to their pinkie, with the other end tied to someone else who's come into the room. The red string persists even if you try to leave, and won't disappear until a full day later. The thread itself will lengthen or shorten depending on the proximity of the two characters, but it won't let you get more than a room's length away from each other.

Here's the complication: the Gods are kind of sort of drunk off their asses, which means that the red string could tie you to literally anyone. Your worst enemy, your brother, your father, Old Man Jenkins... it's one of those things where you're lucky if you get your soulmate! Furthermore, the strings can (by player choice) actually swap around repeatedly, so your character could end up tied to one person all day or have to deal with being tied to five different ones through it!

For characters who don't know about the legend, there's a paper pinned to the wall by the door that explains it (at least, the actual legend, not the drunk-gods part). While the paper can be ripped up, it'll just regenerate a minute or two later.

And yes I purposefully picked the most inappropriate journal for this))

Comments

[hyperhero]

Maybe not, but he's still a lot stronger than I am! Kaiba beat me here, too, so I'm not even close to ready to taking the title from him.

Besides, it's fun! And that's the most important part of dueling anyway, isn't it?

[fluffydeathdealer]

...

[Is it? Bakura isn't quite sure. To him, the most important part is destroying your enemies afterward.]

Is... it...?

[hyperhero]

Well, yeah! If you don't enjoy dueling, then... why would you keep doing it?

[fluffydeathdealer]

I enjoy it. I'd go so far as to say it was a part of my life that I'd protect more than most others.

But there's more important parts to it than fun. Though I guess you'd be too young to understand.

[hyperhero]

Eh? What parts are that?

[He ignores the young crack, just looking at Bakura curiously now. This he needs to know!]

[fluffydeathdealer]

...Judai. As you are now, you've little concern for the outcomes of your duels. But that'll only get harder as you get older. If you plan to make duelling into your job, the consequences of failure will only get higher.

Even now... duelling has high stakes for some people. Jounouchi-kun became a duelist in seriousness to save his sister's eyesight. Yugi entered Duelist Kingdom to save his grandfather's life. Kaiba almost lost his company due to losing to Yugi that first time.

Duelling for fun is one thing. Making it into your future is another. Remember that your victory means another's loss... and you never know what that other person is fighting for.

[hyperhero]

[That... Huh. The expression on Judai's face makes it clear he never really thought about that before. Those legendary duelists... of course someone like them, they'd have something very important they'd fight for. But he never really thought about it being fighting through dueling. At least, not to that degree. He'd always thought they dueled both for the fun of it and because, well, it was what they were the best at. Their titles were probably important to them, but to know that it went even beyond that, even when Bakura knew them...

Huh. No wonder they were the best.

Judai shoves his hands into his pockets, looking up a little. Congratulations, Bakura, you're seeing a rare thing... Judai Yuki actually thinking seriously.]

So they had stuff like that...

[And he really doesn't. His family's fine, he doesn't have any siblings, and it's not like he has a company to wager...]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Seriousness from Judai Yuki was not something he'd seen before. That's both surprising and unsurprising. Of coursse he wouldn't have thought of it before. A boy like that lived day to day, not thinking of anything but what fun he could get out of life. He was annoying. But it seemed he wasn't hopeless.

He looks over him thoughtfully, mulling things over in his head. He didn't for one minute believe this thread bullshit, but either way, Judai Yuki wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe there was something he could do to make this less painful for both of them.]

Dueling for dueling's sake is alright. Especially here, where there's little consequence. But most serious duelists fight their hardest for the sake of something important to them. If you can find something you feel strongly about, something you'd be willing to fight to the death to protect... that's the sort of feeling you need to be on their level.

[hyperhero]

...I think I get it.

[He glances over to Bakura, reaching up to rub the back of his head thoughtfully.]

Being a true duelist isn't about being the best in the world, it's about being able to have fun and enjoy dueling, no matter what the outcome is, when you're dueling around with people. But at the same time, it's also about having something that you're dueling for that makes it so when you're in a spot like that, you can't lose, no matter what.

That's why they're the legendary duelists... because each of them had that thing they were fighting for.

[fluffydeathdealer]

You've got it.

[A hint of a smile teases his face.]

That's the difference between an ordinary duelist and those duelists.

[hyperhero]

[Something to fight for... Hmm. What could he have to fight for? Sure, he always tried to help Shou and Hayato out, so fighting for his friends seemed the obvious choice. But his friends were just kind of timid, or doubted themselves. It wasn't something that you'd "fight to the death" for, just something you'd stay and help for, even if Judai did it in his own way.

Hrm...]

Yeah. I got it. Until I can find that, there's no way I could stand up to those guys.

[fluffydeathdealer]

[So it seems the boy can learn... that's something, at least.]

Hold on a minute.

[He goes to head into the apartment and pauses. Oh right, the thread.

Tug tug.]

I need you to come in so I can get the disk.

[hyperhero]

[Judai can learn very well, in fact, if Bakura ever cared to try. It's just that his attention has to be held to learn, and that's the difficult part.]

Right!

[In he comes.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Slipping the Duel Disk on, he slots the cards in, pausing with his back turned to Judai.]

Hey... Judai. How would you feel about dueling on the roof? I can show you how fun a game of darkness can be.

[hyperhero]

Eh?

[Oh right, he wanted to do a friendly game like that, for no risks.]

Ah, sure thing! Just no ghosts besides you, right?

[fluffydeathdealer]

That's right. The spirits won't even come near it. I promise.

[hyperhero]

Let's go check it out, then!

[He really believes you, Bakura. This kid seems to swing from stupid to sharp like a pendulum.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

Come on, then.

[He grins almost playfully.]

Feel like running?

[hyperhero]

Wanna race up there?

[Judai grins back, that bit of competitiveness flickering in his eyes.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

We can't get too far apart because of the thread, but I'm game.

[Heh... how childish. But he feels almost youthful right now. How strange... maybe that energy really was contagious.]

Ready when you are!

[hyperhero]

Alright! In three, two, one...

Go!

[RUN!]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He hurls himself after Judai, feeling a rush of rare amusement. There was something of a high to competitions like this, that filled even his grouchy soul with pleasure. Physical exercise usually did. Even in this weak body, he could push it to its limit like this, racing through the halls.]

[hyperhero]

[And Judai is pretty quick on his own feet. The thread seems to be forgotten, the only thing on his mind beating Bakura to the roof. If the Spirit wanted to mess with him, it would be easy enough to just stop and grab.

Otherwise, he flies up the stairs.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[He deliberately lets the thread catch on the railing, tugging Judai backwards.]

[hyperhero]

[There's one major problem with your plan, Bakura. When the thread catches, it yanks Judai backwards and has him falling down the stairs.

You are below him on the stairs.

CRASH!]