The Cycle Continues: Alice in Borderland Novel

13) Three of Hearts [3] ✮

===Benkei Furetchā===

The door slid open, and Ichida immediately charged at me. I yelped, sliding out of the way of his knife strike.

Ichida struck air, and I ran to the nearest capsule—fire—and jumped, climbing onto the top. He struck again, but metal clanged against metal as I pulled my feet out of the way.

"You two! Hurry!" I yelled. Judumai climbed onto the height capsule, grunting as he pulled himself up. Rafferty followed after him, clamoring to the top, but Ichida had already caught up. Rafferty dropped himself to dodge the attack, sliding out of the way, and ducking to the back of the capsules. He grabbed a plank and a spare crate, using the crate as leverage to jump onto the capsule, then pushing the crate out of the way with the plank.

"Acid wheel cleared. Two wheels remaining, the odds will now update."

The top of the capsules were a flat conic shape, with a large pipe in the center leading into the ceiling. I looked up at the pipe, following it to the ceiling, and the vents that it led to. Active effort had to be made to not slide down the sides, so I held onto the pipe.

Ichida tried to climb onto my capsule, but I swiftly kicked his hand away. It was impossible for him to climb up with someone at the top to prevent his ascension.

His breathing was heavy at this point, but he continued, coming to the same revelation. Led onto a new idea by Rafferty, he now turned towards the back, unearthing the piles of rubble.

He got a few rocks, and hurled them at us. The pipe was thick enough to hide most of my body, though I had to shift my weight to dodge the stones.

'Damn. How are we going to disarm him? We don't have any other choice but to get him into the capsule. Solving violence with violence...'

I shuddered, the prospect of having somebody else's blood on my hands haunting my head.

"Ichida, let's just try to work something out!" I yelled, trying to reason with him. "We still have over thirty minutes left, and Rafferty thinks there's a solution to this game!"

Ichida shook his head. "How do I know you guys aren't plotting against me? It's clear the three of you have some sort of connection."

"Distrust, betrayal, that's exactly wh-what games like these are trying to fuel." Rafferty said, peeking from behind the pipe.

"Oh really?" Ichida turned to me, and I flinched. "Benkei, you trust Rafferty, correct?"

"Um..." I turned to Rafferty, then to Ichida. Then to Judumai, who still clutched his chest. "I... Don't know. I don't know anymore. his is only my first day here, and I just want to leave!"

"You're clearly threatened by me, though, correct?"

I nodded.

"Well, just two capsules remain. If you join me, it'll be two against two; we can get Rafferty and Judumai into the capsules."

I immediately shook my head. "I'm sorry. I can't do that."

"Do y-you really think I'd betray you? I swear there is nothing I'm h-hiding, if you want to clear Heart games you h-have to work together. I know that firsthand."

"Bah." Ichida spat, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. "That's what they all say. That's exactly what a character like you said in a previous Hearts game, before stabbing me in the back. Literally."

My gaze switched between the two parties—Rafferty and Judumai, and Ichida. Tori's voice rang out in my head.

"The weakest party in a three-way stalemate is actually the strongest, Benkei. They know they're the weakest, and won't win alone. The loyalty they pledge will determine which of the two stronger parties will eventually emerge victorious. Essentially, both parties will be at your mercy."