Twisted Wonderland 2

Into The Fire

Azul and Riddle walk down the long flight of stairs. Riddle breathes a sigh, glancing over at Azul. "At least we got through that in one piece. Ortho and the phantoms could ambush us at any moment, though. Make sure to stay close to me."

Azul rolls his eyes. "Leave it to the star student to safeguard his far less capable peer. How very kind."

"Could you quit it with the sarcasm? I never said you were incapable."

"But it's true." Azul folds his arms. "After all, I've never once scored higher than you on anything in our entire time at school."

Riddle looks to him in surprise. "What? You were trying to beat my grades?"

"Is that so wrong?" Azul quirks an eye.

Riddle shakes his head. "No, I'm just surprised. The thought never crossed my mind before."

"My, my. That's quite the insult, you know." Azul glowers. "have remained consistently in the top ten! Are you saying that I am not a worthy rival?"

"Well, yes." Riddle states. "Your fingers are in far too many pies to truly compete with me."

"I beg your pardon?"

Riddle stops in his tracks. "Not only do you run the Mostro Lounge, but you also have your stock investments and such. And I hear you're still doing your backroom 'consultations' as well. Jade's also mentioned you often leave campus on your days off under the pretense of market research. Not to mention, I've seen your exam study guides when I've confiscated them for my dorm's students. Helping so many other people must take a considerable chunk out of your own study time. You might get perfect scores on tests if you gave your studies your full attention. But you don't. You spend your valuable time and knowledge doing analysis and crafting guides that help others get better grades. Meanwhile, I've devoted all my time to academics and magic for as long as I can remember. And you expect to outscore me?" Riddle tilts his head to the side. "That, as you say, is quite the insult."

Azul stares wide eyed at Riddle, completely lost for words.

Riddle rolls his eyes and continues walking. "I don't have to put up with this."

"I didn't mean it as an insult." Azul follows after him. "Doesn't everyone want to go for the top spot?"

Riddle nods. "That's fair. It's commendable to aim for first place, of course. And if you focused solely on your academics, you might claim the top spot. I suppose we'd both be in the top spot, though."

A screech causes the boys to stop in their tracks. A couple phantoms crawl out of the shadows and charge towards the boys.

"Phantoms! When did they get this close?" Azul exclaims.

"Azul, stop staring and get back!"

Riddle pushes Azul behind him just as a phantom lunges. Riddle jumps back but the phantom scratches at his arm. Reacting quickly, Riddle blasts the phantoms glass vial head and causing it to shatter. Riddle fires another blast at the other phantom and they both turn into black puddles.

Riddle wipes his brow. "We fended them off."

"Riddle, you got hurt defending me!" Azul points at the scratch on Riddle's arm.

Riddle glances at his arm with a shrug. "It's just a scratch. Nothing to worry about."

"You shouldn't have done that." Azul argues. "If I get caught off guard, it's my responsibility to deal with it."

Riddle continues walking down the steps. "I would argue that the responsibility ultimately lies with me as the group leader. But more to the point, I simply cannot allow you to sustain any heavy injuries."