soulping | [Kaito's Heart]

[Kaito's Heart]

[A gust of wind rushes past you, so strong that you nearly stumble backwards from the force. You hear whispers in your ear, an unfamiliar voice saying, no, not here, not now, go back, before your senses shut off entirely]

[You wake up again to find yourself in a room]

((#dragonheart on IRC for this heart party aw yeah))

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[Well, based on what we overheard earlier, let's search the board games for keys.]

[The games on the table look like they have been put to good use and are well loved. At a glance, you see a few unfinished games: chess (black is winning), blackjack (house is winning), and poker (full house versus one pair). You also see some scattered cards]

[There aren't any readily visible keys within the game pile. But. . . do you want to play, perhaps?]

[You're darn right I do. Let's start with chess!]

[The white pieces are on your side, so you move one of those!]

[. . . and a black piece immediately moves on its own to counter. White is still losing. How good at chess are you, Ed?]

[Playing from start to finish? He knows the rules, but isn't amazing.]

[But if we're in the middle of the game he's going to be staring at the board like it's some kind of puzzle to be solved and work based on that. Puzzles, he can do.]

[That seems to be enough to eventually achieve a come from behind victory, true Tiamat style!]

[As soon as Ed achieves checkmate, hell heart a loud DING echo throughout the room]

[. . . and then an iron key will appear in thin air above him and clonk him on the head]

[g;AHgjaglhaklff--]

Why the head?! Darn it, Kaito!!

Weeh...

[Well, no point in getting too worked up over it. Let's check Blackjack next.]

[Ed is dealt a 9! hit or stay?]

[...what's the dealer at?]

[Also, hit.]

[silly Ed you don't get to see that until after you decide to stay. the house's cards remain face down]

[he gets a 7 next. hit or stay?]

[Assuming that this is like a normal blackjack deck... The dealer could have at most two cards. Those cards could be wo of the ones he'd need--which are 1 though 5. That's a total of 20 cards out of 48 at most. That means hitting would be...]

[Why am I thinking about this! If Kaito was here, he'd say to just muscle through it and believe!]

HIT ME!

[HE GETS. . . ANOTHER 7]

[which puts him at 9 + 7 + 7 = 23]

[A buzzer sounds in the room, and Ed's hair promptly turns bright pink]

[this ain't a normal blackjack deck at all]

[...welp, this is about par for my gambling luck.]

[okay but what if I try poofing it back with magic.]

[YEAH RIGHT]

[his hair stays pink]

[...]

[Let's try poker now.]

[:D]

[the cards shuffle themselves (in thin air, like they're enchanted) and deal two hands]

[. . . are you good at poker, Ed?]

[Well, I can't bluff worth a damn but I know what hands are worth.]

[It's difficult to bluff against and invisible opponent]

[But he wins! This time, a magic wand appears out of thin air and clunks him on the head]

[He gets a memory of Kaito learning how to shuffle cards from his father. Kaito is about five here]

[...Oh man, I've got a memory.]

[...]

[WELL. SINCE I REMEMBER HIS FATHER, THAT MEANS BLACKJACK IS DOABLE NOW. IGNORE THE HEAD TRAUMA. SHONEN BLACKJACK, ROUND TWO!!!]

[SHOUNEN BLACKJACK GT: SUPER BLACKJACK SUPREME]

[. . . he does win this hand! And this time, a few yen coins appear in the air above him and fall onto his head. at least they don't leave large bruises]

[These coins contain a memory of Kaito, age four, w]atching his father perform on stage. Tiny four-year-old Aoko in pigtails is with him]

[I'll just keep the yen coins and wand then. Since, not all keys aren't metaphorical.]

[And now that that's done... let's try checking out the billiards tables.]

[They seem like normal billiards tables at a first glance. Where are you checking them?]

[All around. Underneath, in the holes, all over the place. Even picking up a stick and taking a practice shot eventually.]

[There isn't anything in the ball pockets, but touching the pool cue gets you a memory that you have already seen]

[. . . there's a button underneath the table]

[YOU SEE A BUTTON.

>PRESS
>PRESS IMMEDIATELY
>~~DON'T PRESS~~ (This button is currently disabled.)]

[We know how this ends.]

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