A/N: Thusly, I have returned. Dusty, is my profile.
Boy, I'm looking forward to this one, you guys. So, quick synopsis: this is a dramatization of Maxwell (the Great)'s back-story, going off of the William Carter puzzles and other clues that Klei Entertainment has provided. I will put links to any references I might make, as well as the puzzles themselves where necessary. Just in case you're interested. OC warning. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it! :)
ACT 1
"Take that, ya filthy Brit!"
The man slammed his cards on the table, producing a straight—two, three, four, five, and six. His opponent sighed theatrically, defeated.
"What can I say?" he muttered, shoving a few coins to the man with the beard. He stared at his hand—an ace, two fives, a nine and a jack. Nothing of use. The man with the beard swiped the coins into his hand and stuffed them into his pocket.
"Ya fight good, Willy," the southerner said. "Not as good as the rough, tough, mean ol' Ralphie Van Schmidt!"
Ralph stuck out his chest with his abundant pride and beat at it with a fist. William stood up and merely bowed and eyed the cards. An idea sprung to his mind.
"May I have a look at that deck?" he asked as Ralph began to shuffle the old playing cards, skillfully pulling them into a bridge and listening to the sound of them flipping rapidly.
"They're clean as my mama's old china plates," Ralph said with a chuckle. "I'll humor ya, Willy. Here, take 'em."
He placed the deck down in front of the tall sophisticate, at the table. The young man flipped through, squinting and nodding as he shuffled the cards with great elegance. Some of the folks at the bar even turned to watch his hands leading the cards in a waltz between his fingers. He pulled the cards into a fan shape, stepping up to the bearded man.
"Take a card, any card," he said, raising an eyebrow under his glasses. Ralph snorted.
"Ah, ya got a couple tricks up yer sleeve, doya?" Ralph snickered, clearly not taking the trick seriously. "You for'ners are cute. All right, gimme one of them there cards."
Ralph slid a card from the middle of the fan and looked at it, nodding. William shuffled the deck a little more.
"Tell me when you've memorized it."
"Oh, I got it 'membered, kiddo."
"Excellent!"
William fanned the cards again, letting Ralph place the card back in the pile. As the Brit's fingers did another dance with the cards, Ralph took a sip of his drink.
William laid the cards on the table, counting them out in piles of ten (not including the jokers, as Ralph had none). The southerner counted in his mind up to the last pile, which only had nine cards, whereas the rest had ten. William felt immense satisfaction when Ralph's bushy brow furrowed in confusion. The people in the bar were taking notice, interested in where the trick was going.
"Ya put my card in yer sleeve," the man said, not wishing to be fooled too easily. To prove this untrue, William shook out his already rolled-up sleeves without a single playing card emerging from them.
"Why, you're right, there is a card missing," William said, pretending to sound astonished. "Gary," he called to the bartender, "Bring your largest bottle of rum over here. And do not open it yet."
A confused murmur went through the people scattered around the bar. Ralph was busy looking under the table for his missing card, bumping his head and cursing while doing so.
"Sonuvapumpkin!"
Gary, a stout fellow, brought a large bottle of rum to the table, setting it down. As more people looked at the bottle filled with the clear alcohol, they applauded the young magician. Ralph lifted his head to see why—there sat a brand new bottle of rum, with the ace of spades at the bottom, facing up towards the bottleneck. The southerner's mouth flew open. William crossed his arms.
"Is this your card, old chap?"
Ralph nodded, dumbfounded by the trick. William took the glass bottle and tapped on it with his pointer fingers, playing out a small rhythm. He rolled down both sleeves over his fingers and took hold of the bottle so that the inside couldn't be seen, covered by his sleeves. As he pulled his hands away, the bottle held nothing but the drink, without a trace of the card. The people clapped softly.
"Now for my final trick," William said, bringing together the deck of cards and shuffling them again. He laid them out on the table in a neat row and strategically flipped them all so that they faced upwards. The final card slid slightly out of the line—the ace of spades.
The people clapped again, impressed. Ralph snatched the card and felt to see if it was wet, his eyes narrowing. After a few moments of silence, he brought his deck back together and shuffled it all.
"Gotta hand it to ya, pardner," the man with the beard said, "I guess I deserved that, hm?"
"All in good fun, sir," William said, beaming like a proud child. He glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. "My, how time flies! Begging your pardon, gentleman."
With a few quick goodbyes, William had grabbed his coat and bolted out the door.
A/N: Updates are planned to happen on Tuesdays (even though this it's Wednesday rn)! Thanks again for reading!