Marionette ¦¦ Chishiya Shuntarou x OC

Nine of Hearts - Part Two

GAME STARTS WHEN ALL PLAYERS ARE ON PODIUM

No one spoke a word.

No one moved a muscle.

"What the hell does all of this mean?" Handbag asked.

"Look lady, I ain't got all night to explain the fuckin' game to you. Let's get on with it, yeah," Beard hissed.

"Will somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on?!" the lady screamed.

The men looked to each other, still seemingly unfazed. They were the same way when they first came to this place. They too had no clues as to what was going on, or why they had to play games.

"I'm only telling you because there is no time limit to the game. This is Borderland. In order to stay alive in Borderland, you need to play games. There are four types of games corresponding to the four suits of playing cards. Spades are physical games, Clubs are usually all-round cooperation games, and Diamonds are games of intellect. The one we are playing now, a game of Hearts, that's psychological. You play with people's hearts. The numbers simply denote the level of hardness, the bigger the number, the harder it is. Unfortunately for you, it's a level nine."

As Glasses spoke, Handbag started crying. Every word that came out of his mouth was worse than the one before. What kind of sick and cruel world was this?

"It's quite chilly up here, no?"

Red Dress finally spoke.

Unlike Handbag, she was surprisingly calm despite looking like a newcomer.

She walked up to the podiums but was careful not to step on any of them. She picked up a noose on the floor and tugged on it, discovering that the rest of it hung outside the tower. She walked up to the edge and pressed her hand forward.

No glass.

Did game over mean that they would be pulled out of the windows?

Eventually, they each chose a podium and placed a noose around their neck.

GAME START

Despite the initiation of the game, no one dared to move.

Red Dress was the first to reach for her card on the podium. Or well...cards.

"Looks like someone is holding the Ace card. Now I know who we should target first," Glasses smirked.

"That means she's also holding the colourless Joker," the last man added, speaking for the first time.

Right off the bat, she was exposed.

Yet, Red Dress was calm. She ignored their words and chose one of two, putting it face down on the podium and held the other in her hand.

CURRENT CARDS

RED DRESS - COLOURLESS JOKER, ACE
GLASSES - ???
BEARD - ???
HANDBAG - ???
LAST MAN - ???

With no time limit on the game, everyone seemed relaxed and no battle had yet to be initiated as ten minutes went by. Nobody dared to make the first move because they did not know what cards others were holding. They, however, all had their eyes on Red Dress. Still, what if she chose the colourless Joker to protect herself this round?

"This is ridiculous, we can't stand here forever," Beard said, breaking the silence. "Someone fuckin' do somethin'."

"Why don't you do something? You seem to be in a rush," Glasses pointed out. "Perhaps...your visa is expiring tonight?"

Visa? Well that was something new Glasses did not include in his explanation before.

"Shut the fuck up, no one asked for your opinion."

"Just a little thought of mine, I'd suggest that you take the risk and take out Miss Red here. We know she's holding the Ace card."

Red Dress could not help but laugh to herself. When he so kindly explained the games to Handbag, he sounded like someone who knew what he was doing. He had been playing mind games with everybody from the beginning but now, she knew for sure that he was just winging it and hoping for the best. He was so desperate for someone else to do the dirty work for him, he might as well have had his card tattooed on his forehead.

"You seem nervous, Miss Red," Glasses grinned arrogantly, as if he had complete control when the game had only just begun.

"I'm just not good with heights," she replied, a soft smile attached.

"Or...could it be because you are holding the Ace card?"

His taunts were way too obvious, and if she was being honest, it was irritating. It was not going to move the game forward. Nobody would be stupid enough to-

"You're right! She's holding the Ace card! I'll battle you!"

Beard pointed at Red Dress. How naïve did he have to be to be so easily provoked to take an unnecessary risk?

PLAYER BATTLE

JACK VS COLOURLESS JOKER (V)

The horror on Beard's face when it finally clicked that he lost the battle was something Red Dress found amusing. Was this not the expected result? If he paused to think a little, he should know that logically, no one would put out their Ace first. This was his own doing.

"No...no...this can't be...she's holding the Ace card! Why is it the Joker?"

Or perhaps...he had forgotten that she held the colourless Joker too?

Suddenly, the noose around Beard's neck tightened and he was jerked backwards. His struggles were futile as he was dragged to the window where he eventually fell out. Whether he fell to his death or hung, no one in the Top Deck cared.

"Oh Lord...he fell...he really fell out. He really died..." Seeing firsthand what the game was about, Handbag started to panic again. "I can't die here...I still have a life! There's so much I haven't done! I'm still single! I haven't travelled outside the country! I can't die here!"

CURRENT CARDS

RED DRESS - COLOURLESS JOKER, ACE

GLASSES - ???

BEARD - JACK

HANDBAG - ???

LAST MAN - ???