3: THE DOCTOR AND THE BET

The owner of the pub where they had fought their famous battle later changed the name of the place to "The Lucky Draw", and thanks to them it became popular all over the city. They could see that once it opened it filled almost instantly, every day, and it became the place where Graves and Twisted Fate frequented the most, although this time not as enemies, but as friends.

And even though they had lost their popularity quite a bit, they didn't care. They won more money as allies, and they played against rich people every weekend for amounts of money larger than they could have imagined. Soon, instead of being famous they started to become infamous; the city would not hate them, but most people would stay as far away from both of them as possible.

Famous and rich people usually didn't care losing money; as long as they tried to defeat the pair they were satisfied. All the other people (that didn't win thousands of gold), though, preferred to maintain a distance from them. Soon, rumors about them using black magic could be heard all over the place, and it was not entirely a lie. Twisted Fate, more than Graves, was starting to become obsessed with the use of Noxian magic, and was continuously seen experimenting with tricks and casting spells just to show off. Graves did not entirely agree with his decisions, and he continuously warned him, but Twisted would not listen, just the way he had all his life.

In any case, they were winning enough money to maintain themselves in a high street house with food and enough alcohol to get them drunk every night. They were both happy and stable; however, they still stole valuable things occasionally, just for the fun of it. Many times they were almost caught, but their identity could never be revealed.

They found themselves running once, escaping from a group of officers. Both of their faces were protected by a simple spell his friend Twisted Fate had learned, so nobody could see their real appearance. They had stolen a couple of valuable gems, blue as the sky, from a convenience store in one of the richest streets in town. The man that had been stolen had called a group of guards, who had pursued them through the many narrow roads of Demacia.

At one point, one of the officers managed to grab Twisted Fate's arm, pulling him hardly. Graves continued running, but turned around only to see a pair of guards hand-cuffing his friend to the wall.

"Hey! Leave the man alone!" He shouted, trying to distract them, but he had no result.

"Don't worry, brother. I've got this." Twisted Fate said, and Graves saw him taking a tarot card off his sleeve.

"Man, you don't have to do this." Graves warned him. He could not show his cards to anyone; that way they would know it was him. Before he could do anything, the Tarot Master threw his cards at the guards, cutting and stunning them for a couple of seconds. He simply threw the handcuffs to the ground and fled away with Graves.

"We were fast" said Twisted Fate later that night, once they entered a small pub downtown.

Graves only nodded. He didn't felt like replying, not after Twisted Fate had almost been caught.

"They were pretty close, Twisted. We can't take those kinds of risks anymore."

"Chill down, man. We did alright."

"Yeah, but we might not have. Who knows what will happen next time?"

"Shut up, oldie" That was the way he called him when he was acting way too worriedly.

Graves stood quiet. Times like this he just wanted to punch his friend in the face, and he feared he might end up doing it once.

The bar attendant approached them, a long-haired pretty girl, clear eyes and a prominent cleavage. She showed a kind smile when she realized who both of them were.

"Hey, boys! What are you doing over here? Aren't you supposed to be betting cards or somethin'?" Graves could hear a notable Ionian accent, almost musical.

"Not today, Alena. We've had a busy day, haven't we, Graves?"

Graves nodded, silently. The girl asked them what they wanted to drink and both of them chose a Peach Shandy. She turned around, made a couple of combinations and served them their orange-colored glass. Graves grabbed it and took a big gulp, while his friend just started talking to Alena.

"So, what have you been hearing about us, girl?"

"Well, same thing here and there. You guys' are pretty popular 'round the place, you know?"

"Yes, but have you heard something special, out of the ordinary, if you get me?" He asked, his eyebrows rising.

"I guess I've heard a few things over the top, things you should not care about, as usual." She shrugged, like it lacked importance. Twisted Fate got a couple of gold coins out of his pocket, and suddenly it all seemed interesting to her. After she grabbed them, she got close to them and lowered her voice.

"I hear people talkin' 'bout dark powers and some scary crap involving you two. It even goes so far as assassination." Her accent was lessened when she whispered. "Couple of Tarot cards appearing around, ya?"

"That's all we need to hear, Alena." Graves interrupted. "Thank you, though."

"No problem, sir. I'll be around if you need anything else." she said and backed off, as Graves turned over to Fate. "See?"

Twisted took a sip of his drink and remained silent. Yes; they were slowly being discovered.

"So either we run away from this city or lower our appearances down." With that, the argument was sealed. "What are you doing tomorrow, bud?"

"I'm meeting up with a girl; a friend of mine is going to introduce her to me." He replied, as he played around with his glass. "Why do you ask?"

"I need some help. I have a game tomorrow, against one Zaunian businessman folk. I thought you would be able to help me out."

"What's his name?"

"Priggs, Doctor Priggs, something along the line."

"Nah, haven't heard of him. Sorry pal, I've wanted to meet this chick for a long time now. Plus since when do you need help in a card game?"

"Since when are you meeting chicks?" Both of them laughed. "What's her name?"

"Evelynn. My friend described her as "mysterious". Let's see how it goes out."

"Good luck, my friend." Graves said and swallowed all the remaining liquid on his glass. Fate did the same, and that was the end of the night.

Graves could barely hold his laughter after seeing Doctor Aregor Priggs lose over, and over, and over again. He had quite a temperament, and when he lost the final battle the man almost lost his mind. That, combined with him being overweight, having a comical face and having dumb companions next to him made the situation even more hilarious.

It had been an easy game, mainly because the doctor was not very experienced and his friends messed up most of his good plays; Graves had not even felt the necessity to use cheating tactics.

But it had been the doctor the one that had been looking for the fight; it had been his fault he had lost miserably, and at the end, almost an easy thousand gold was put into Graves' pocket, who had a smile on his face the entire game.

"Good fight, doctor" He said, lighting up a cigarette on his mouth, a face of satisfaction shown on his face.

"Good fight? Do you consider that a good fight?" He said, while counting the few bills he had left on his wallet after paying him. "That was a cheap fight, nothing more. I didn't come all the way from Zaun to see you swindle me."

"I would not call it swindle, doctor, and I can assure you I have never used the tactics of a thief. I just won, and you don't have to worry; you are not the only person I have defeated. You are on a list with many others now." He could see the doctor's face getting red as an apple. His expression showed that he had gotten offended, and Graves took advantage of the situation, just to drop the final bomb. "Anyways, I wanted to congratulate you."

"Why" he asked, confused.

"I have never played against a talking pig before. To be honest you did it really good... for a pig."

Priggs stood up and his chair fell on the ground with a loud noise, the table was pushed by his fat stomach. He raised both of his fists, his fingers closed hardly against the palm. His friends stood up as well and pushed him back, preventing him of starting trouble.

"Easy, partner" Graves said, watching as the pathetic creature looked at him mad as a bull, his eyes focused and his cheeks burning. He grinned.

"You will pay for this." He said, breathing violently. "I will make sure you stop with this madness. I will make you suffer from all the people you have cheated on and swindled." His eyes looked frenetic, like they were about to pop out. "You will regret this."

Graves did not open his mouth. As he finished up his cigarette and pressed the stub against the ashtray walls, he watched Doctor Aregor Priggs leave the pub, his friends behind him. He later discovered the whole pub had been looking at both of them.

"End of the line" he said at loud.

Thanks for reading, remember to review!

Next Chapter:

BETRAYAL