Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh. I do own Temarocia though, and everything that happens in it.
Song of Temarocia; Rainbow Flower Arc
Chapter 19: Playing the Odds
The inside of the brightly lit tailor shop was so well-polished it was almost blinding on its own. Sitting at the counter was a rather tall and skinny man with a bored look on his face sliding his finger along the squeaky clean marble that made up the countertop.
("Business has been slow these last couple of days. I wonder if it has anything to do with the ruckus being caused in Mudeia.") He had heard that one of the five Holy Guardians of the city had been incapacitated temporarily. "So I suppose the citizens are being rallied together to try and make up for the slack left in that missing Guardian's place."
A jingle at the door told him that perhaps things were about to pick up. "Hello, is anyone here?"
"Ah yes!" The man hopped to his feet and practically danced across the smooth wooden floor. "Oh my sir, what happened to you?"
King shot the tailor a grin. "Let's just say I've had a very rough time these last few days and I am currently in need of some fine threads. Perhaps you could be of assistance? I need something black and in silk, if you've got it."
"But of course we have it, sir." The tailor did a little twirl on his tip-toes like a ballerina. "However, black silk is quite expensive and, please do not take this personally, but you do not look like you are carrying much wealth on you."
"That's true, I'm not." The fake Frenchman held up a finger. "What, if I may ask, kinds of games are there on the casino floor?"
The tailor rubbed at his chin while continuing to spin around with one leg bent so that its foot was touching his other knee. "As per always there are the slot machines. There are also the Duel Tables, which hold different kinds of duels that range from normal one round duels to a network duel."
"A network duel?" King lifted an eyebrow. "What the heck is that?"
"You don't know what a network duel is, sir?" When his reply was a shake of the head the tailor sighed. "A handsome young man such as yourself shouldn't walk into places like Karot's Kingdom without knowing what kinds of challenges may await you. A network duel is a multiplayer duel where the house plays against a maximum of three players at a time. Damage dealt becomes a gain in life for the dealer, and other players may enter when one of the three spots open. Your life is equal to the amount of Tem you bet at the start of the game, and you walk away with an amount of Tem equal to your life."
"That sounds fair enough," King scratched his chin with a nail. "But it also sounds like a pretty easy game to play the odds in, where you can just run off when you get ahead and come back a little while later."
"Ah, but you can't leave until your life points are zero or until the dealer is beaten." The tailor held up a finger and waved it in the air chidingly. "It is quite high stakes in that method, so whatever amount you bet initially needs to be the correct amount. If you didn't bet enough then you might lose it all thanks to a single hit that drops you to zero, but if you bet too much the other players may decide to attack your life points to fill their own coffers. It is a very cutthroat game in that way."
"I see…" King fished around in his pocket and flicked a little bronze coin into the air. "I'm not quite sure how much Tem this is, could you please tell me?"
"That would be a five Tem piece, sir." The tailor lifted an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"No real reason." King turned and walked out. "I'll be returning shortly."
------------------------------------
Flair moved like a shadow, walking amongst the assorted casino-goers with as much stealth as he could muster. ("So far there's no sign of anything out of the ordinary for a seedy place such as this one.")
-------------------------------------
"Nothing to report at this time, Don Karot." The black-suited security guard walked alongside the Warlord of Pleasures briskly as he spoke. "There has been no sign of the Grafter and everything is quiet here on the casino floor."
"Is that so?" Walking just ahead of the guard was a well-tanned bald man wearing a gold-colored business suit and a gold boa around his neck, a cigar hanging from one side of his mouth. "Well then keep your eyes open and tell me immediately if you see the Grafter."
"Yes sir." The security guard broke away and headed off in a different direction, bobbing and weaving amongst the neon lights of the machines.
This is where Don Karot felt his strongest. He was surrounded by the fruits of his labor, the place that lived separate from the harsh and unforgiving world just outside those glass doors. ("This is my stronghold, a place where those with money come to spend it on the vice of their choice, while I reap in the benefits and become a rich man because of it.")
"Don Karot, something of mild interest to report," Another black-suited security guard that seemed to appear out of nowhere said just loud enough for the Warlord's ears alone. "At Network Table Three there is a 'rags to riches' currently in progress."
"I see." The Warlord nodded slightly and changed directions to head over that way. A 'rags to riches' was a situation where someone with almost no money whatsoever upon entering the casino started betting and since that time have been winning big.
--------------------------
"And I activate French Air Bomb." King held up a magic card and placed it on the table behind his monster cards. "My French Jet Fighter now can attack you directly."
The man who had been sitting across from him gasped in surprise and looked at the few remaining card in his hand. "But…"
King- 65005
Man- 0
House- 6700
"That is just how the proverbial cookie crumbles, my good man." King lit up another cigarette as he noticed that while there were some loiterers watching the duel there weren't anymore entrées. ("That's too bad; I guess this is a healthy enough sum of money though.") "Shall we finish this up, my good dealer?"
"I think that will be enough, the House folds." The dealer stood up and shuffled together the deck he had been given. "You have been credited 65000 Tem, sir. Have a nice day."
King grinned as he was handed a small stack of cards worth 65000 Tem total if he took them up to the Cashier. "Thank you very much." Pocketing the cards and shuffling up his deck he turned and headed over towards the Tailors swiftly. ("It's time to finally return to my past glory and beauty.")
"So you are the one who is trying to rob me of all my hard-earned Tem." A gruff voice rumbled out from off to King's side.
The fake Frenchman stopped in his tracks and turned to face Don Karot, who was resting his back against one of the pillars nearby. "Then I take it you are Don Karot, the Warlord of Pleasures?"
Karot extended one heavily bejeweled hand out to the young man. "It is a pleasure to meet such a skilled duelist. It is not often that one would walk into my casino with a mere five Tem and emerge with over 13000 times the amount they started with, mister..." He left the silence there for King to fill.
"Mr. King will do." The fake Frenchman took that hand and shook it fiercely. "Indeed. You'll have to forgive my rather rugged appearance at the moment but I am currently on my way to use this hard-earned wealth of mine to get some new clothes and a good bath. I assume your establishment has such things?"
"But of course," The Warlord said pleasantly, placing a hand on King's back and motioning with his other hand off to the left. "The Private Bathes are there. They cost about 1000 Tem per hour. And from the direction you were going I assume you know where the Tailor is located, correct?"
"I do, in fact." King felt rather on edge around this man, if just because he was a Warlord. That put him in the same class that Kyris the Hell was in, which meant he was dangerous.
"Excellent!" Don Karot exclaimed, looking truly pleased. "Mr. King, even though I own this place I myself am not a very skilled duelist or gambler. I do not suppose you would like to spend this evening having dinner at the finest restaurant this casino has to offer, my treat of course. According to my employees your dueling strategy was very impressive and I wish to learn more about it. Would 8:00 be fine?"
"That would be fine." King smiled politely. "Now then, if you will excuse me Don Karot." Bowing shallowly, he headed off towards the Tailor's.
The Warlord of Pleasures watched the young man's back with a smile on his face. ("The smell of a truly skilled gambler wafts off of him. I must see for myself just how lucky he is. Perhaps we could have a game of Blackjack to determine whose luck is better?") Then he turned and walked off towards his office, his business on the casino floor complete for now.
--------------------------------
Alita sighed and adjusted her new white robes, her freshly cleaned hair nearly sparkling. ("I feel so much better now. It took a good amount of my money to pay for the new robes and for the bath, but it was worth it.") With her staff at her side she went to the place where she sensed Flair.
She found the samurai in a little café on the other side of Karot's Kingdom. He was sitting in a booth and taking a sip from a cup of coffee. "How was your bath, Alita?"
"Absolutely heavenly, thank you." The blond-haired magician sat down across from her caretaker. "So, what have you been able to find out?"
"That the employees here are an extremely nervous bunch." The samurai sighed in frustration. "They're like a group of frightened rabbits when I mention Don Karot or the idea of other regions. Therefore…"
"You think there is something more to this than just company loyalty?" Alita finished for him as a scantily-dressed waitress wearing a bunny costume walked by. "A water for me please." She turned to face the samurai again. "Well?"
"Indeed." Flair sighed in displeasure. "We have very little information about Don Karot except that he is extremely wealthy and seems to come across money very easily. However that doesn't tell us what all of this is about. Why are all of the employees here afraid of him?"
The waitress returned, placed a glass of water down, and continued on her way.
"Maybe he caught wind of Jason and King coming here?" Flair's eyebrows lifted slightly and he glanced behind him, though there was nothing there. "Hmmm, I thought I heard something." His hands moved slowly but easily visible for Alita's eyes, pointing behind him and indicating that someone was hiding in the booth behind them.
Alita nodded slightly. "Well anyway, it seems that those two are lost for the time being somewhere out in the wild. Maybe they got eaten for all we know."
"What?" Someone shouted from the booth behind them, though there was no one there. Then there was the sound of someone gulping.
"This is the saddest spy attempt ever." Flair stood up and drew his katana, sliding out of the booth and stepping back to aim his sword at whoever was hiding behind him. And he blinked in surprise at who it was. "I hope you're not expecting a tip now."
-------------------------------
King whistled to himself and adjusted the collar of his new black silk undershirt before sliding the black silk coat over it. "Ahhh, it's nice to cover myself in the only true material meant for this body of mine." Pulling on a pair of black silk socks, he turned to look at the Tailor. "Do you sell shoes here?"
"Well, we have one pair of shoes in the back but…" The man rubbed his hands together nervously. "Well, they're not exactly cheap or safe."
"Safe?" After looking at his other pair of dress shoes, which were worn out and torn beyond repair, King shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'll take my chances with them. What's so dangerous about them?"
The Tailor sighed and rolled his shoulders in surrender. "Once I've gotten them out of the back with the help of the trolley you will see."
"With the help of the trolley?" King lifted an eyebrow at that. "I wanted dress shoes, not a pair of boots meant for moon-walking."
"They are dress shoes sir. Here, come into the back and I will show them to you." The Tailor opened a door at the back of his shop and went into the back with King following at his heels.
------------------------------------
"Ehhhhh…." Jason tilted his head to the side and looked at the falling sun with confusion on his face. "I don't get it. Where's this Kingdom place?" He had run into at least four dozen weird animals, and now his pack was starting to run out of room to place the Prize Cards in.
Far above a giant black crow flew by cawing down at him.
"Shut up, I'm trying to figure out where I am!" The Grafter stood up and sighed in anger. "Maybe I should ask for directions, expect that there was no one to ask directions from." Off in the distance he heard a loud explosion. "Until now." Picking up into a run he headed off towards the direction the explosion had come from.
"That's what you get for being boring, stupid tree!"
Poking his head out from behind a wide-bodied oak in front of him, Jason blinked a couple of times in confusion at the perfectly splintered tree a few dozen feet away. ("Did he just call a tree boring? What the hell?")
Bronzo kicked one half of the tree he had split and looked around worriedly. "I've been out here for years! Man, who knew it was such a trek to find the restroom in Karot's Kingdom." He placed a hand on his side and adjusted his sunglasses swiftly. "I thought all the restrooms were clearly marked too…"
"Hey!" Jason shouted. "Did you just say you came from Karot's Kingdom? Do you know the way there?"
Bronzo froze up and looked around nervously. "And now the trees are talking huh? You want revenge for your friend do you?"
"What?" Jason stepped into view. "Dude, that doesn't even make any sense. Why would the trees be talking to you?"
"AHHHH, Tree Sprite!" The bronze coat-wearing man stopped suddenly, holding perfectly still. Then, as if nothing had happened, his body relaxed. "Well, as much fun as it's been having this extra-long talk with you I have to be off." He turned and ran, moving fast enough to leave a dust trail behind him as he disappeared into the distance.
"…………" Jason followed the dust cloud silently, though in his mind he was wondering what exactly he was going to find at the end of this walk. ("With my luck it's going to be something random, like the mushrooms that guy has gotta be taking for him to be that freakin' crazy.")
--------------------------------------
King stumbled a little, trying to keep his balance as he made sure the new shoes he had gotten were on nice and snug. ("These things have got to weigh at least as much as a block of steel of the same size apiece.")
The shoes were beautiful, a nicely-polished shiny black…but they were apparently made of a material called Iron Cotton, which while as soft as silk was heavy enough to nearly break the wooden container they had been in. ("However as a martial artist I can't turn down this kind of training method, much less this kind of weapon.")
"Now then," The fake Frenchman wondered as he walked through the casino floor feeling like a true big-shot again. "Where are my angel and her accessory?"
His eyes scanned about…and came to a stop when he saw Alita. "My delicious piece of angel cake!"
She was laughing happily with someone in a little café just a few feet away. "Ali…" His eyes widened as he realized that she was talking with someone else, and it wasn't Flair. His mind registered that it was female, and was wearing a suit reminiscent of the Playboy Bunnies...
Sitting in the booth behind the one the two ladies were talking in, Flair smiled slightly as he listened to Alita laughing happily. ("It does my heart well to know that the little girl I've protected for so long is making friends, albeit weird ones…") Alita suddenly gasped and the samurai was immediately standing and on guard. "What's wron…oh it's you."
King, who had somehow mysteriously appeared on the bench seat next to the waitress, gently took the non-Alita girl's hand in his and kissed the top of it deeply in a gentlemanly manner. "I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting you yet, oh goddess of luck and the dashing gambler scoundrel. A beautiful lady such as yourself deserves a beautiful rose."
From out of the folds of his silk coat he produced a single red rose, which he offered to her. "If Alita is my wholesome angel of purity, then you must be my sultry devil of temptation."
"You understand, of course," Flair hit the fake Frenchman on the head with his sheathed sword. "That you're currently hitting one of your precious nakama, correct?"
"Ummm….King?" Saika, currently tomato-red in the face, started shaking nervously and tried to slide back a little bit. "Could you please maybe give me a little bit of room?"
"…" The blond-haired boy slid out of the booth in one smooth motion, readjusting the collar of his coat. "That is just merely how I greet all cute girls, don't misunderstand Mr. Swordsman."
Alita started laughing nervously while Saika started hyperventilating and Flair glared at King.
--------------
Meanwhile…
--------------
"Come back here!" Jason leapt over another giant tree root as he followed the rapidly dissolving dust trail in front of him. In the distance it was turning to night. "ARGH! Just stop running you fruitcake!"
To be continued…
