D'Arby The Gambler - It's Not Cheating If You Don't Get Caught
Hanabi stretched as she stepped off the train. It seemed like forever but the group of Stand users finally made it to Cairo. Since Cairo was such a big place Avdol thought it'd be a better idea to work on the outskirts of the city and work their way inwards. With that strategy set, the group grabbed a vehicle and drove to the outer city limits determined to find Dio and take him down.
Four large men walked into a cafe in Cairo. They looked pretty intimidating, scowls upon their faces as they escaped the desert heat. All eyes were turned on the men as they walked up to bar, but their focus soon shifted from the men to their companion.
A petite young woman followed the men with a dog in arms. Compared to the men she was with she looked like a rather easy target, but there was more to her than meets the eye.
"Welcome foreigners. What would you like?" The bartender asked
"Here's something I'd like to ask you," Joseph dropped several pictures on the counter, "We're looking for the building in this picture. Do you know where it is?"
Hanabi was hoping that someone here would know of the place in the photos, she was exhausted just like the rest of the group. They'd been searching and searching but had no luck finding Dio's secret hideout.
"Sirs, this is a cafe. Please order something," The bartender said
"Five iced teas," Jotaro ordered as Avdol put some money down.
As the bartender poured the drinks he took a closer look at the pictures.
"Nope I don't recognize it," He said before turning away.
Hanabi was startled when Joseph, Jotaro, Avdol, and Polnareff all picked up their drinks simultaneously chugged them down before slamming their glasses back onto the counter.
The pictures were passed around the cafe but each patron gave the same answer.
Joseph collected the photos, "Come on. Let's continue our investigation."
"I know that building." A voice said
"What?!"
The group turned around at the statement looking for the person who said those words. As their eyes searched the cafe they spotted a man sitting alone at a table shuffling a deck of cards.
"No doubt about it. It's that building."
"W-Was it you who just said that? I just heard someone say they know this building," Joseph said
"Yes. I did indeed say that I know where the mansion in that picture is located," The man said
Joseph walked over, "What? Really?!"
"That's great to hear," Avdol said
"Yes! We're pretty lucky to have found someone who knows where it is just from this picture," Polnareff said
Hanabi and Jotaro stood back not saying a word.
"There's no way, too easy," Hanabi thought
After the adventure, she's been through there's no way that a random man in a random cafe knew what they wanted to know. Hanabi was a trustworthy person and sometimes could be a little ignorant but this trip has made her way more insightful to the dangerous world around her and this man screamed danger.
"Please tell us! Where is it?" Joseph asked the man eagerly.
"Are you asking me to give you the answer for free?" The man asked
"Y-You've got a point. Sorry about that," Joseph reached into his pocket going for his wallet, "I'll pay you ten pounds."
The man chuckled at Joseph putting his hand up. With a flick of the wrist, an Ace playing card appeared in between his fingers.
"I love gambling. I'm a sucker for cheap thrills. I can't get enough of them. Well, you could say that I make my living gambling. Do you like gambling?" The man asked
"I'm not sure what you're getting at," Joseph said
"He wants you to gamble something in a game to win the answer. Mr. Joestar."
Everyone looked surprised at who spoke, it was Hanabi. The girl had her arms crossed as she sent the man at the table a passive look.
"The young girl is right. Well….would you make a silly wager with me? If you win, I'll you tell where that place is for free," The man said
"I'm pretty confident when it comes to wagers, but we don't have time to play poker right now. I'll give you another twenty pounds, so please just tell us," Joseph said
"Unfortunately that's not gonna work Mr. Joestar," Hanabi said
Joseph looked at the girl a little taken back.
"The girl is right again. You see the thing about gambling, you can do it with anything. It won't take any time at all. For example look over," The man pointed out of the cafe to where a cat was walking on a wall, "See that cat?" The man picked up two pieces of fish and threw them outside. "Now, why don't we bet on which smoked fish that cat will eat first? Right or left? How about it? It's silly but thrilling."
Hanabi narrowed her eyes at the man. The only thing running through her mind was suspicion for this man.
Polnareff slammed his fist on the table, "Hey! You're really starting to annoy me! Just take the thirty pounds, and hurry up and tell us!"
"Polnareff, that's not the way to ask someone for information," Joseph said
"Okay fine! Then I'll make the bet," Polnareff said
"Good! Now it's getting fun. Then I shall wager on the left," The man said
"Hey, Jotaro, Hanabi, Isn't he rather suspicious?" Avdol whispered to the two.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Hanabi replied
"Yeah, he might be an enemy Stand user. But he might just be a compulsive gambler," Jotaro said
"Both are pretty dangerous though," Hanabi added in.
"If he does anything remotely strange plow through him with Star Platinum," Avdol said
"Got it," Jotaro nodded
"By the way, if I lose what am I supposed to pay you? Like a hundred pounds?" Polnareff asked
"I don't need money. How about your soul? I'll take your soul," The man said
Polnareff looked at the man confused, "What?"
"Your answer?" The man asked
"Yeah, okay, sure. That's fine," Polnareff answered offhandedly as if it wasn't a big deal he was wagering his soul.
The group watched the cat jump off the wall finally noticing the fish.
"Oh? The cat has taken notice of the smoked fish," The man said as the cat started running towards the fish.
"The right. The kitty's going to the right," Polnareff said
Everyone watched as the cat got closer to the fish and it seemed like Polnareff's bet was right on the money that is until the cat suddenly veered left and took the fish from the left before grabbing the piece on the right.
Polnareff looked stunned as the cat ran away with its meal.
The man let out a chuckle, "You saw it. It first took the left, then the right, and then ran. I win."
"Hey, you lost, Polnareff. What are you going to do now? I'm getting sick of asking around about that building," Joseph inquired to a stunned Polnareff.
"Now, then. As per our agreement, let's have you pay up," The man said
"Huh? Pay? Pay what?" Polnareff queried
"Your soul. That is indeed what you just wagered. Your soul! I am a Stand user that steals souls! Gambling makes it easier for the human soul to leave its vessel. It is my Stand's power to steal it at that moment!" The man announced
Suddenly Polnareff's eyes went white as a Stand appeared over him snatching his soul from his body.
"What?! What's going on?!" Joseph yelled
"It actually stealing his soul!" Hanabi yelled
"Polnareff!" Jotaro shouted before turning to the man.
"Hold it! Don't kill me. It's too late! If I die, Polnareff's soul, which is in my Stand's grasp, will also die," The man declared
Polnareff's body fell back and it was caught by Avdol.
"H-He has no pulse. He's dead! Polnareff is dead!" Avdol yelled
The soul-sucking Stand started to stretch and morph Polnareff's soul as if it were dough. It made the soul into a round ball before slapping it in between its hands. It opened its hands and out of them fell a poker chip. As it hit the table everyone gasped seeing Polnareff's face in the middle of the chip.
"This is Polnareff's soul. This means I've already gotten rid of one of the people trying to get in Lord Dio's way. Even if it was just a fool. It's a little overdue, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is D'Arby. D-A-R-B-Y. There's an apostrophe after the D," D'Arby introduced
D'Arby smirked as the cat from before hopped onto the table next to him before climbing onto his shoulders.
Hanabi glared at the man, "So that's how he plays things huh?"
"By the way, this is my cat," D'Arby smiled petting the cat.
In anger, Avdol reached forward and grabbed D'Arby by the front of his shirt lifting the man out of his seat, "Y-You bastard! Don't screw with us! A bet? It was just a scam!"
"A scam? Listen. If you've been scammed, the one who failed to see through it is the loser," D'Arby simply stated.
Avdol growled at the man clenching his teeth, the rage radiating off the Egyptian man.
" I believe gambling is just like relationships. It's all about fooling the other. The one who cries loses. Are you going to kill me with your bare hands? Very well. Do it. If you want this soul to die, as well," D'Arby said holding up Polnareff's soul.
"Listen here. You will not walk away from this in one piece," Avdol threatened
"Do you remember what you were doing on the night of September 22nd, 1984 at 11:15 PM?" D'Arby asked
"What are you talking about?" Avdol asked perplexed by the random question.
D'Arby pushed Avdol away, "I remember. Around the time in California, I was gambling with an American named Stephen Moor, and he said the same thing you did," D'Arby took out a book and opened it revealing dozens of the poker chip souls, like a coin collection. "This is him. The one below is Moor's father, and his wife is right next to him. If you want to get Polnareff's soul back, you have no choice but to continue gambling with me."
"This man…." Hanabi thought narrowing her eyes.
"What do you say? If you're scared, you can go home and leave Polnareff behind. Well, have a drink and think about it long and hard. How about some chocolate?"
Joseph walked over to the table and threw everything off with one swipe of his arm. He slammed a glass on the table before pouring a bottle of alcohol into it filling the cup to the brim.
"M-Mr. Joestar, what are you trying to do?" Avdol asked concerned.
Joseph sat at the table across from D'Arby, "Have you heard of surface tension, Barbie?"
"It's D'Arby. My name is D'Arby. It's the force that's keeping that drink from breaking the surface correct? What do you plan to do?" D'Arby questioned
Joseph held up a handful of coins, "The rules are simple. We'll take turns putting coins in this glass. The one who makes it overflow loses."
"Hey, old man….." Jotaro said
"Y-You can't mean Mr. Joestar!" Avdol said
"Wait Mr. Joestar," Hanabi said trying to stop the man.
"I'll wager my soul on it!" Joseph said
"Good!" D'Arby smirked
"What?!" Avdol yelled freaking out, "Impossible! P-Please don't! He's a con artist!"
"I won let him cheat! I'm the one who chose the method of this wager! Jotaro, make sure he doesn't cheat," Joseph said
Jotaro narrowed his eyes in confirmation.
"Okay! That's fine. I shall take this bet, But first…..Do you mind if I inspect the glass and coins?" D'Arby said
"Of course, you have that right. You also have the right to make sure I'm not cheating," Joseph said
Everyone watched intently as D'Arby grabbed the glass feeling around it, then he picked up a coin examining it.
"First, will you guarantee that if you lose, you will return Polnareff's soul, no matter what?" Joseph asked
D'Arby picked up a coin and flipped in the air before catching it, "I am a gambler. I do have my pride. If I lose, I always pay up. I won't lose, though."
"Very well. You can go first. Put in a coin," Joseph said
"Mr. Joestar!" Avdol cried
"Just leave this to me. I'm an expert at this trick with a glass and coins," Joseph stated
Hanabi had a bad feeling about this. Joseph was confident in his skill, and he'd probably win it easy against some average joe off the street, but this D'Arby already proved to be a master gambler. A professional gambler was a dangerous person indeed, they had an infinite amount of tricks up their sleeves.
D'Arby held up a small stack of coins in between his thumb and forefinger, "May I put in more than one coin at a time?"
"If you can do it all at once," Joseph said
"Well, then….." D'Arby held five coins over the glass.
"F-Five?! Hey, I think I saw a little wave there," Joseph said
"Quite!" D'Arby shushed
The gambler slowly lowed the coins inching them closer to the drink.
"Don't touch the table," D'Arby said making Joseph remove his arms from the table.
The tension rose as the man lowered the coins before finally depositing them in the glass. The top of the drink rippled slightly but the surface tension did not break.
D'Arby let out a laugh, "It's your turn."
"Your guts are quite impressive, to put in five at once. I'll go with one. That was too close," Joseph said
Joseph dropped the coin into the drink without breaking the surface tension, meaning it was once again D'Arby's turn.
D'Arby growled looking down at the glass as Joseph looked up with a passive face, everyone could feel the confidence radiating off the man. If Hanabi could compare Joseph to any animal it'd be a peacock. Loud, proud, and always the center of attention.
"This is bad for my heart. I thought it was going to spill…." Joseph said nonchalantly.
Hanabi let out a sigh, "No one's buying his laid-back act."
Jotaro who heard Hanabi nodded his head in agreement.
"Now it's your turn, Obie," Joseph said
D'Arby grabbed Joseph's arm anger written on his face, "It's D'Arby. Don't mistake that again! My name is D'Arby! It's not Obie or Barbie!"
"Hmmm, my apologies," Joseph said
"He's doing it on purpose," Hanabi thought with a smile.
"Let's continue our wager. It's your turn to put in a coin, D'Arby," Joseph said
D'Arby did not look at the group but got out the chocolate bar he had previously and started eating it. The man then suddenly stood up from his seat.
"There's a shadow, so this angle is difficult. I'll put it in from the right side of the table," D'Arby announced
"You may put it in from wherever you like," Joseph said
D'Arby picked up a coin and held it over the drink, "You're thinking that this glass's surface tension is at its limit. That it's impossible, right? But that's not true….."
D'Arby dropped the coin in the drink and everyone's eyes widened when they saw the surface tension hadn't broke.
Joseph stood up in his seat, "I-Impossible! It can't be! There's no way it wouldn't overflow!"
"What do you mean, there's no way it wouldn't overflow? As you can see, it went in," D'Arby said
Joseph quickly turned to Jotaro, "He made no suspicious moves that could have been cheating. I was watching him with Star Platinum. He put the coin in fairly. There's no doubt about it."
Hanabi narrowed her eyes, "He is good," She thought.
Panic started to overtake Joseph as his face sported a dismal expression.
"Go ahead, Mr. Joestar. Hurry it up. Or are you trying to wait until it evaporates?" D'Arby said
Joseph sat back down in his seat his whole body was shaking showing how nervous he was. The older man was taking heavy breaths as he picked up a coin and hovered it over the glass.
"I-I can't believe it," Joseph gasped
The man kept hyperventilating as he looked at the glass not knowing what to do.
"Mr. Joestar!" Avdol yelled
Joseph's soul was leaving his body. As he fell forward his soul was grabbed by D'Arby's Stand.
"Joestar acknowledged in his mind that he'd already lost the bet! That's why his soul emerged. I D'Arby, have won this bet!" D'Arby declared
"Polnareff, I'm sorry. Holly, I might not be able to save you after all," Joseph's soul said before it was turned into a poker chip.
"That's two! Now, then. Let us continue gambling. As long as you three don't abandon these two and run away with your tails between your legs, that is," D'Arby said
"You bastard!" Avdol yelled lunging forward. He grabbed D'Arby by the neck throwing the man to the ground.
"You don't learn, do you? If you kill me, these two souls will die, as well," D'Arby said
"Damn it!" Avdol yelled raising his fist.
"Avdol, stop!" Jotaro yelled
"Hey! If you're going to make trouble, I'll have to ask you to leave!" The bartender shouted
"Shut it. Stay out of this!" Jotaro said
The bartender flinched back, "Yes, sir!"
"Jotaro look," Hanabi said
Jotaro turned to Hanabi who was holding the glass upside down. Stuck to the underside the glass was a piece of chocolate.
"You realized it too late," D'Arby said
"Is there something wrong with the glass?" Avdol asked
"This is how he was able to make one more coin fit," Hanabi said
"There's a bit of chocolate on the bottom of the glasses outside," Jotaro said
"This is why Star Platinum wasn't able to catch him cheating. He put this chocolate under the glass at the beginning of the game when he asked to inspect it," Hanabi explained
"I believe you're aware that if it's not discovered in time, you can't call it cheating," D'Arby stated pushing Avdol away.
"Wh-What do you mean? How is a bit of chocolate the reason the coin fit?" Avdol asked
"It's melted now, but until a moment ago, it was solid at the bottom of the glass. He used just enough, so we wouldn't notice, but the glass was propped up. Once it melted the surface became leveled. Even though the surface tension was at its limit, he made it so at least one more coin would fit," Jotaro explained
"Wh-What?! B-But…..Could chocolate actually melt with such convenient timing?" Avdol said
"He melted it using the sun's heat," Jotaro said
"That's the reason why he moved to the other side of the table. His body was blocking the sun but once he moved the chocolate started to melt, giving him enough time to put the coin in before the surface of the drink leveled out," Hanabi said
D'Arby stood up and dusted himself off smirking at the group.
"Fine. D'Arby get your trump card ready. This will end with poker," Jotaro declared
"J-Jotaro!" Avdol exclaimed mouth agape.
"How interesting! Poker is one of the games I'm best at!" D'Arby said
"Poker? This man just beat Mr. Joestar! I-It's too dangerous!" Avdol yelled
"He's not violent, but he's still more dangerous than any other Stand user we've met so far," Jotaro turned to D'Arby, "I bet my soul on this game of poker."
Jotaro pulled a chair out, but he didn't sit in it. Avdol and even D'Arby were surprised when Hanabi took the seat. The young girl smiled as she crossed her arms and legs sitting at the table.
"Wh-What?!" Avdol yelled
"I'll be the one who'll be playing you, hope that's not a problem," Hanabi smiled
To be continued ➟