Chapter 13: Dupe the Duelist
"Where are the windows?" was the first question Seto asked upon entering the casino.
"There aren't any windows—or the windows may have been blacked out. Casinos do that on purpose, so people lose track of time while gambling."
"Oh, that doesn't sound healthy," Seto said, taking in the sight of the casino that surrounded him. He was still processing the basic rules of poker, or was it called Texas Hold'Em? Joey spent the majority of the car ride over to the casino giving Seto a very brief summary of basic poker and some information about Blackjack. It was a lot to take in and Joey wasn't the best teacher either.
"Let's quit yapping and start betting! Follow me—we gotta get cash for chips before we can approach a table and play."
Joey led the way through hordes of people. Many of the people that Seto saw were huddled around tables—Seto assumed that was where the gambling happened. There were also people that were wandering around the floor with colorful cocktails in their hands, sometimes with women dressed in even more colorful dresses draped on their arms. Casinos were unlike any place Seto had ever been to.
Joey slowed down his pace so that he was walking in tandem with Seto. He tapped Seto's shoulder and pointed out a man standing off in the corner of the casino with sunglasses and a formal suit on. Seto didn't know which was stranger—the fact that he was wearing sunglasses indoors or the fact that he wasn't interacting with anyone else in the casino.
"Do you see that guy? He's a bouncer. You don't want to mess with him or draw attention from him to yourself. They are the guys that lay down the law in casinos and they'll mess you up if they think you're cheating so watch out for that."
Seto was about to reply to Joey's warning when his body collided with someone else's. Seto turned to apologize when he noticed that the individual had familiar, pointy black hair and a dice hanging from one of his ears. Joey moved past Seto and pulled the man into a hug. Seto stood awkwardly to the side, not sure what to do with himself during this exchange.
"Duke! No way! It's great to see you, man. How have you been?" Joey broke away from the hug and looked at Duke. While there was no one with a pair of green eyes, or would wear dice earrings, like Duke, it was clear that a lot had changed in the years that passed. For one thing, he looked like some sort of mob boss. A bright red pocket square was sticking out of his pocket and his hair wasn't long anymore. A dark blue buttoned-up shirt was layered with a dark gray suit and pants. If Joey didn't know any better, he probably would've guessed Duke smoked cigars and threatened people in private like Joey was sure mob bosses did regularly.
"I've been good, Joey. Great to see you too! I can't believe you're here and…" Duke's voice trailed off when he saw that Seto was the person he bumped into before Joey pulled him into a hug, "Whoa, Seto Kaiba? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to check out the casino that has an oddly familiar name."
Duke immediately tensed up which Joey picked up on. Joey turned to Duke and said, "Wait, do you know the guy that runs this place?"
"Well, uh… I am the guy that runs this place. I may have reconstructed my dice shop into a casino in an attempt to save my failing business," Duke folded his hands together and pleaded to Seto, "Please don't sue me!"
"Hold on, you own this casino? That means you run this place, right? What happened to Dungeon Dice Monsters?"
Duke whirled his head around, "Do you even have to ask? Everyone knows that was a colossal failure which is why I decided to start a casino. There's way more money in gambling."
"That's good to know because you'll be losing all of that money in the lawsuit, I'll be sending your way."
"Wait! Don't sue me!" Duke reached into his pockets and pulled out two leather bags that were shaped like cylinders. He unzipped the side of each bag and revealed a whole sleeve of plastic coins that were all different colors. He handed each stack to Joey and Seto. Joey looked amazed while Seto was just confused.
"These are on the house. You're both old friends—I want you to have a good time!" Duke said, wrapping his arm around each of their shoulders. Seto shook Duke off of him and Joey slapped Duke on the back.
"Wow, thanks for the chips, dude! That's great!"
"I'm not sure that these 'chips' are going to cut it, Duke. Just the royalties I'm owed alone will cost you—"
"I have to go; have fun you guys! Win big!" Duke said, conveniently receiving a phone call just as Seto started speaking and then walked off. Seto wasn't happy with how the conversation ended but Duke was quick to disappear into the crowd. He looked down at the plastic chips in his hand and wondered what the value of them was and what each color meant. Seto shrugged and turned to Joey. He had a concerned look on his face as he was scanning the casino.
"What's the problem, Wheeler? I came here to gamble, not waste my time," Seto stated, looking around to get a sense for what Joey was so concerned about.
"I want to gamble too but this place is full! There aren't any free seats and it looks like there are a lot of lines too," Joey said, "I can see why Duke turned this place into a casino. There were never this many people in his game shop, even when it first opened up."
"I see a free table over there," Seto tapped on Joey's shoulder and then pointed to one corner of the casino. In the leftmost corner of the casino stood one table, no people, and a very bored looking dealer. The dealer appeared to be shuffling and reshuffling the cards in his hands to pass the time. Seto continued, "Let's check that out." Joey didn't have any objections—it looked like it would be a while before any of the tables would be free and Joey knew Seto's patience was next to nonexistent.
When they walked up to the table, Joey spotted Duel Monsters cards instead of regular playing cards in the dealer's hands. Joey turned to his right to see Seto looking intrigued and immediately sitting down. Joey wanted to learn more about the game before he sat down and asked the dealer, "I've never seen this before. How do you play?"
"This game is called Dupe the Duelist and it is an invention of the casino owner himself, Duke Devlin. The way that the game works is that each player must bet to play, and then I'll place one card face down in front of each player. In the first round, the player must guess what type of card is face down; whether it be a monster, magic, or trap card. If the player gets it wrong, he/she immediately loses their bet," the dealer explained, "If the player is correct, he/she can choose to keep going through the rounds or collect their winnings. In the second round, a player must guess what type of monster, magic, or trap card and the same rules apply as the first round. The third round is where a player can make one last guess about the card—whether it be what the card is or another characteristic about the card."
"I can see why a game like this isn't very popular since it's entirely luck-based and lacks strategy," Seto said before tossing in a hand full of tokens, "I'm in."
"Hold on, you want to play? I thought you hated games that lacked strategy."
"I do, but I despise waiting even more and I want to see just how bad this game is so I can make fun of Devlin for it later," Seto responded, followed by a chuckle. Seto determined that any excuse to make fun of Duke Devlin would make up for the wasted time at the casino. Seto wondered when Duke would finally understand that he just wasn't cut out for inventing games or the gaming industry in general. Joey shrugged and sat down as well, tossing in the same number of tokens that Seto put in so the round could begin. The dealer shuffled the cards once more and placed one face-down card in front of Joey and another face-down card in front of Seto.
"You better watch out, Kaiba. If anyone is the King of Luck, it's me," Joey declared, leaning forward and staring at the card in front of him. There were only three choices he could choose from in the first round—that wasn't so hard. Joey closed his eyes, thinking back to some of his most intense duels from Battle City. The outcome of those duels came down to the Heart of the Cards; a tactic coined by Yugi but one that Joey relied on during his toughest battles. Joey opened his eyes and realized that his connection to the Heart of the Cards would help him win and then he could finally be better than Seto at a card game.
"That there is a spell card!" Joey declared with great volume.
The dealer slid the face down card in front of Joey towards him and lifted it up so that only he could see. The dealer nodded. Joey smacked his hands together, impressed with himself.
"That is correct." The dealer turned to Seto and asked, "Are you ready to state your claim?"
Seto's eyes didn't leave the face-down card in front of him from the moment it hit the table. Even though Seto held no respect for games that were based purely on luck, he couldn't cancel out his competitive nature and his desire to be the best at any game he played. In the presence of Joey, this desire became even more intense. It was then that Seto decided and looked up to the dealer.
"Mine is also a spell card."
The dealer performed a similar motion, carefully moving the card across the table and revealing it just to himself. The dealer looked back up at Seto and said, "You're right; this is a spell card."
"Whoa, that's awesome! Go Kaiba!"
"You'll need to place another bet if you wish to keep going. Or you can collect your winnings for this round."
Seto and Joey looked at each other and then back to the dealer.
"I think we're going to keep playing."
Joey tossed in another handful of coins and Seto did the same. The dealer shifted the cards back into position in the middle of the table, maintaining their face-down position. Seto was beginning to feel the rush he got any time he played a game—it was a combination of adrenaline and excitement. Round two would be interesting… Seto had determined it was a spell card, but it could be six different kinds. There were quick-play spells, field spells, equip spells, continuous spells, ritual spells, and normal spell cards. Seto wasn't sure how he was supposed to choose; it would all come down to whether he was lucky or not.
"I think mine is an equip spell!" Joey burst out.
"That was fast. What makes you so sure?" Seto asked, bewildered by Joey's confidence.
"It's the Heart of the Cards, man! It has never let me down in a duel and it won't let me down here either."
"Is equip spell your final answer?" The dealer asked to make sure. Joey nodded. The dealer then shifted the card downwards again to check and looked surprised.
"You are correct."
Joey leapt to his feet from his seat, "Woohoo! You bet I'm right!" The mechanic danced around for a little bit before grabbing a waitress and ordering a drink to celebrate making it through round two. Seto was just as surprised as the dealer… was it true that it was the Heart of the Cards that made him so sure? Seto remembered Yugi constantly going on about the Heart of the Cards, but he never believed there was any validity to it. Then again, there were times when Joey had pulled off an impressive move in Duel Monsters and Seto would much rather credit something made up like 'the Heart of the Cards' over the theory that Joey might be a talented duelist. Maybe Seto could access this Heart of the Cards magic crap and be victorious as well.
"Have you made a decision about your card?"
Seto looked back down at the table after being briefly distracted by Joey's dance. Nothing was on the line for Seto in this game… not his pride, his brother, or his company. Despite that fact, Seto wouldn't allow himself to lose in the presence of Joey. He spent a long time staring at the card in front of him, thinking about what Yugi might do to call forth the made-up magical energy that he called upon in a duel. Seto wasn't sure he had summoned that same energy, but a card type did come to mind.
"It's a normal spell card," Joey heard Seto say as he walked back over to the table with a drink in hand. A few bystanders had appeared and were standing by the table too, originally drawn over after all the commotion from Joey. The bystanders remarked about how they had never seen anyone play this game before.
"That is correct," The dealer confirmed. Seto didn't leap to his feet like Joey did but he was excited about the win. His excitement only revealed itself in a smirk.
"Are these guys actually winning?" One woman asked Joey after walking over to the table accompanied by her friend. A couple people had gathered at this point; one person even had their cell phone out and was taking pictures. Some of the people that had gathered recognized Seto Kaiba and started whispering with their friends. Joey was lapping up the attention while Seto was still focused on the face down card.
"Would either of you like to continue or would you like to collect your winnings?" The dealer asked, ready to collect Joey and Seto's cards from the middle.
"I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead and collect my winnings. Didn't you say the third round was either naming the card itself or naming some characteristic about it? That sounds nearly impossible to do so I'm folding this round," Joey said, collecting his winnings from the table with glee. He looked up and noticed some women had gathered and were send flirtatious stares his way. Joey turned away to hide his glee—he hadn't gotten a woman's phone number in months. Maybe hanging out with Seto hadn't been a complete waste of time.
"I'm going to continue with round three," Seto said and the whole group got riled up, speculating Seto's chances of winning.
"But why? It's going to be impossible to guess what that card relates to," Joey replied.
"How about we make things more interesting?" Duke declared, walking over to the dealer and capturing everyone's attention, "As Joey mentioned, there are two ways of winning round three—either by making a claim about what the card does or naming the exact card's name. If Kaiba can name the exact card, I will double his winnings." Everyone gasped and all eyes turned to Seto. Seto's face remained stoic but his eyes were still fixated on the card in front of him. Those observing the game became quiet, awaiting Seto's answer to Duke's challenge.
"I will proceed with playing round three and will name the exact card," Seto said, "I ask those not sitting at the table remain quiet while I make my decision and refrain from taking any more photos."
Seto was alone with his thoughts, instantly regretting his decision. 'Why am I doing this to myself?' Seto internally lamented. Now there was a group of people that would witness his lose. Seto took a deep breath and tried to center himself, focusing on the card in front of him. Was the Heart of the Cards real? Or could the Heart of the Cards be real enough to at least show him which, of the hundreds of normal spell cards, was the one on the table? Seto wished he could smack himself in the face—he sounded just like Yugi and that disgusted him.
Seto closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the hay day of Duel Monsters and the tournaments he competed in. For some reason Duelist Kingdom was the tournament coming to his mind… the stakes were so high back then. Seto remembered perfectly the anxiety from that tournament; Mokuba had been kidnapped by Pegasus while Seto had taken a leave of absence. Seto had failed to protect his brother and all he wanted was to get Mokuba back. There was one particular duel that was coming back to him—the one against Yugi, right before Pegasus. Seto had to beat Yugi in order to save Mokuba and he had to force Yugi's hand to win. It was not a great moment in Seto's dueling career, but it was what he had to do. In remembering that duel, the card name came to him.
"Swords of Revealing Light. That's my final answer," Seto said with a strange sense of certainty.
The dealer reached forward and flipped the card over, revealing to everyone surrounding the table what the card was. Shouts and cheers erupted from the group and even the dealer seemed excited too. Seto had guessed correctly and he stood up from shock, knocking his chair over. Joey and Duke were jumping up and down with enthusiasm.
"I can't believe he did it! I'm going to get so many girls' numbers because of this," Joey cheered.
"I can't believe Kaiba managed to popularize Dupe the Duelist!" Duke shouted.
"Okay, we definitely have to play this game," one person said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
"Yeah, I want to give this game a whirl. I used to love playing Duel Monsters! I bet I'll be good at this game too."
Seto turned around as people approached the table, thrilled to share his win. The smile dissolved when he remembered that Mokuba wasn't there to congratulate him. Seto hid the disappointment on his face when the dealer gave him the winnings. "Good job out there—I have never seen anyone do that before," the dealer said before returning to the table. The table was now full of players hoping to take their chance at Dupe the Duelist.
"Dude, that was incredible! I can't believe you actually did that! And here I was thinking I was the King of Luck," Joey wrapped his arm around Seto's neck and gave the CEO a playful punch to the chest.
Seto immediately slipped out of Joey's arm, "Yes, even I will admit that was fun. Shall we go now?"
"Go? But you just got here! And now you're bringing crowds to my casino. You can't leave yet," Duke begged the two of them.
"What do you say, Kaiba? Want to go through a couple more rounds? I'm down if you are." Seto had to think about it. On the one hand, there was a pretty large quantity of chips both in his hands and in his pockets. On the other hand, Seto was probably wealthier than any person gambling at this casino so what did it matter?
"Fine, let's play a couple more rounds." Duke and Joey jumped up and high fived each other before returning to the table. Seto rolled his eyes. As dumb as the game was, it was fun to remember the thrill of Duel Monsters. At the very least, Seto hoped that this would count as his social interaction for the next five weeks. It was then that Seto smiled… he couldn't wait to tell Mokuba all about it.
-YGO-
A/N: It has been a minute as the kids say! A year, to be exact. Where have I been? Where did I go? Mostly nowhere, although I did travel a lot for work… and a lot of life stuff happened like fracturing my ankle and getting a new job. I suppose it has been a rather hectic year and that doesn't even include the stuff that happened that I probably forgot to include. Either way, life is finally starting to calm down for me (I hope) and I'm looking forward to getting back into the posting rhythm of things. A big thank you to Rena Redhead—she's an incredible friend and a big motivator for me to start writing this story again. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I'll be posting the next chapter a month from now! I hope you guys have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend in the meantime.