Last time: The group arrived in Vegas and stepped into the Aladdin's Palace Casino. Genkai and Botan went to the arcade, and Yusuke and Kaiko went ... somewhere. Hiei lost all of his money, Yukina is cooling her heels, and Kuwabara appears to be better at gambling than one would think. However, the main attraction is currently Kurama, who is going for broke against the legendary Gambling King!

30 minutes later...

All of the other gamblers had been forced off the table in 15 minutes. The Gambling King and Kurama had dominated the table, each increasing their winnings tenfold. Now, the two were locked in a battle of wits that seemed to be going nowhere.

"This could take forever," mumbled the King. "How would you like to play a little 'sudden death' game of 'Old Maid', winner-take-all?"

"'Old Maid'?" Kurama asked, surprised. "Seems a little infantile, but I guess I have no objections."

"Excellent! This is the lightning version; whoever holds the 'old maid' on the fifth turn loses."

The cards were dealt, and the two began playing. By "accidentally dropping" subtle, wrong clues about which one was the old maid, they traded it back and forth until it was the fourth turn.

"Yes! HE has the old maid, and all I have to do is not pick that one to win!" Kurama silently rejoiced. This time, he was going to be extra-careful. He wasn't sure which one to pick, until he noticed that one card had a bent spot on the corner where he had grabbed it earlier.

"Aha!" Kurama yelled, pulling a different card from the King's deck. "Now I've got yo--GACK!!!" Kurama looked in disbelief at his deck, which now had the old maid in the dead center of it.

"Kid, it was a pleasure."

King scooped up Kurama's tokens and walked away, leaving the half-demon sitting there in open-mouthed disbelief. "How... how could he have...eh?" Kurama grabbed the top right corner of the card and felt a loose spot. With a tug, he pulled the old maid sticker off.

"I...I've been had!" he yelled.

He looked wildly around him, but the Gambling King, like Kurama's money, was long gone.

----------------

Kurama, Hiei, and Yukina waited outside the casino for the others to appear. Botan and Genkai were the first to show up.

"How did you get so good at that game?! It's inhuman, I tell you!" Botan whimpered.

"Gotta have something to do up on that mountaintop. Besides, having the best reflexes in the world doesn't hurt either," Genkai replied. "Anyway, why are you boo-hooing? You only got beaten 1,567 times! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Hello, Botan, Master Genkai!" Yukina smiled. "Did you enjoy yourselves?"

Brightening, Botan replied, "Sure did! All of our quarters have gone to the big bank in the sky!"

"Yes, and Botan here is actually a pretty worthy opponent. My thumbs haven't had that kind of a workout in quite some time!" Genkai added.

"I only wish we had enjoyed such luck," Kurama complained. "Hiei spent--and lost-- all of his tokens in one place, and I fear I was tricked by a clever card shark."

"YUSUKE!!! How could you have spent all of that money on one stupid slot machine?!"

The 5 turned to see Kaiko beating Yusuke over the head repeatedly with her purse.

"It said it was lucky, Kaiko!" he feebly protested.

"They ALL say that, stupid!!!" she almost screamed. The violence was halted when Kaiko noticed their friends laughing at their "leader's" predicament.

"It seems you were wiped out as well," Kurama grinned. "At least we all had the same luck."

The word "all" made them suddenly notice that someone was still absent.

"Say," Yukina wondered aloud, "have any of you seen Kazuma? He was supposed to meet us here..."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the fool since that abominable slot machine stole my money," Hiei remarked.

"Gee, I hope he's alright..." Botan said.

"I wouldn't worry about that boy. He's more than able to handle himself; just a little absent-minded. He'll probably show up, all out of breath, any moment now," Genkai said.

Just then a white limosuine, complete with black tinted windows, golden rims and hood ornament, and a chauffer, pulled up next to the casino.

"Man, I wonder who owns THAT?..." Yusuke said.

"Oh, yuck, Yusuke! You're drooling on my foot!" yelled Kaiko.

"Sorry!" he apologized. "It's just that...what a car!"

"We could almost have afforded that, if we hadn't wasted our money at this stupid casino," Kurama said regretfully.

The window suddenly rolled down and a harsh voice shouted from inside:

"What are you doing on my sidewalk, you filthy peasants?!"

"WHAT?!" they all yelled back.

"I don't care if he is rich; I'm gonna clobber that creep!" Yusuke yelled angrily.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice replied. "Not if--", Kuwabara stuck his head out the window, "you want a ride in this COOL limo!"

"KUWABARA?!!!!"

Yusuke and the others all faceplanted onto the sidewalk. Kuwabara stepped out of the car; he was wearing a black tuxedo and held a champagne glass in his left hand.

"Alright, you bufoon!" yelled Hiei. "Spill it! HOW did you get this kind of money?!"

"From the slots, tiny!" he replied, "I just picked the ones that felt lucky, and I think I got...uh...$2,000,000. How much is that in yen, anyway?"

Kurama turned white. "A LOT."

"Ah, of course!" Genkai said knowingly. "With Kuwabara's enormous spirit awareness, he could find every lucky slot machine in the entire casino! Wish I had brought my life savings with me; I would've let him 'invest it.' Hahahaha!"

"Well, lucky for you guys, I ain't greedy! We're gonna party all night and then fly home first class! Except you, Yukina," Kuwabara added. "You and I are renting out the deluxe compartment in the front of the plane!"

"Thank you, Kazuma! This is very generous of you!" Yukina beamed.

"Aw, think nothin' of it, sweet thing!" he replied. He led her to the limo and helped her in, then hopped in himself.

"C'mon, you guys! Are we going to party or not?" Kuwabara asked, grinning ear to ear.

"We're gonna party!" they all yelled, scrambling to get inside.

"Kuwabara..." Yusuke, the last to get in, thought to himself, "they broke the mold and closed the factory when they made you."

"Get in, Yurumeshi, or you'll have a long walk!" Kuwabara yelled from inside.

"Alright, alright! Hold your horses!"

Yusuke hopped inside, and the group sped off into the night.

THE END

The morals to this story are:

1. Every goofball has his day, and

2. Don't gamble your money away, unless you have a monstrous amount of spirit awareness and can make a sword appear out of thin air.

Happy trails!