8. DRAW
A/N: So fanfic hates me and won't let me add the official link to the site on how to play Uno. My advice is to type in "How to Play Uno" into your search engine, and then go to the link called "Uno Rules - The Original Uno Card Game Rules" to understand the game's mechanics.
Additional author notes and a cheat sheet can be found at the end of this chapter.
He lost.
It doesn't fully register until Deridovely is reshuffling the deck. The masked Shinigami notices his expression and grins. "What's the matter, mutt? Too shocked to continue? Want to stop?"
No answer.
Deridovely offers him the deck. "If you're that bummed about it, I'll let you shuffle this time."
Still no answer. Deridovely waves a hand in front of Light's face and even snaps his fingers. "I think he's broken, boys," he says to Gukku and Zellogi.
"What a shame," Zellogi says, crossing his arms. "Bastard seemed so confident before. I even considered betting on him."
"How sad," Gukku agrees.
The sound of thunder rolls into the gray world. Light hears a voice that's as soft as a whisper but as loud as a yell. Light Yagami, if you don't win this then return here to me. I shall tear your body and soul apart and release them into nothingness where they belong, Kami warns. Do not disappoint me. This is your first and final warning.
Deridovely returns his attention to the silent form in front of him. "So what'll it be, mutt? Do you give u—?"
"No." Light raises his head as Kami's voice fades into the back of his mind. His eyes peek through his bangs and burn with enough resolve to make the masked Shinigami lean back.
Deridovely is impressed. "Oh? He's not dead, after all."
"Get on with it then!" Gukku says.
Deridovely slides seven cards to Light and takes seven of his own before placing the deck down and flipping the top card over. A yellow five.
Light examines his deck, a better hand than the previous. He has one wild card. He places a yellow three down, and Deridovely covers it with a yellow six. Light then puts down a yellow five, and the slightest hint of a smile appears on what part of Deridovely's face shows.
The masked Shinigami drops a wild card. "Red."
The other two Shinigami whisper, and Light catches what sounds like one of them mention the previous number. Light narrows his eyes at the yellow five he had put down earlier. Wait. Is it not the color that matters? he thinks. Could a number have been tampered with? Light considers the previous cards and begins adding and subtracting them in his head. He first adds them all up to nineteen but deduces that nineteen doesn't match with anything from the first round. Then he subtracts random numbers from nineteen, and a hunch grows in his chest. Take away six from nineteen and the number is thirteen. In the last round, thirteen had shown up after adding a few blues together.
Thirteen, of course.
The number of bad luck. How poetic and cliché. Light has fallen for the oldest trick in the book. He scoffs at how feebleminded he's become. Is this how things were between L and himself? Ego had gotten ahold of him before and had taken everything from him. He can't let pride blur his mindset.
But can thirteen be the only number to avoid? No, there must be more, considering Deridovely won the last round without the final few numbers anywhere near thirteen. Light adds and subtracts them in his head. The final two numbers in the previous game subtract down to…
Four.
Thirteen and four are the numbers to watch—the numbers that ensure Light's disadvantage. Four, the number of death. This game is becoming more cliché with each small breakdown. But something tells him those can't be the only two. Death comes in threes, as they say. Light knows from experience—Mello, Takada, and then himself had died in a couple of days from each other.
"You frozen there, mutt?" Deridovely asks, tapping his boney finger. "My body's starting to decompose just watching you."
Light doesn't realize how long he's been sitting in thought until Deridovely snaps him back to reality.
"Sorry. What color was it?"
"I said red," the masked Shinigami hisses.
Light puts down the only red he has, an eight. Do the colors play a role? Thinking back to the first round, if he had added or subtracted numbers with different colors, his theory about the numbers thirteen and four wouldn't make sense. The colors seem meaningless, but Light's gut feeling says otherwise. Ninety percent of the time, a person's gut feeling is proven accurate. He's willing to risk his freedom to trust his. The color change must reset the numbers.
Deridovely covers Light's card with a red one.
Light has no colors to match it. In order to further prove his theory, he must sacrifice his most important card. "Green," he says, after placing the wild card down.
Deridovely rubs his chin, a gesture Light hasn't seen yet. The masked Shinigami puts down a green two.
Light responds with a green four. Two cards left. Six.
Deridovely pauses and reaches for the deck to draw a card.
Light's heart lurches, and he hides his growing smile. So that rules out six as the third number. He furrows his brow and straightens his back. No, don't get cocky. Light places another green four down. Ten. "Uno."
Deridovely pauses with the three cards he has in hand. His full lips press together, and he reaches for the deck again to draw another card.
Light turns his last card around. "Yellow, four. I win."
"Oh shit." Gukku hops up and down on his boney legs and cackles. "Deridovely actually lost!"
"It's been a while since I've seen that happen," Zellogi adds. "This mutt ain't half bad."
Deridovely shifts in his seat, leaning against his scythe and raising his head as if to scan Light. Light leers right back, challenging him with his eyes. He had read that one must never look a dangerous beast directly in the eye. But Light doesn't just see a dangerous beast. He sees opportunity.
The masked Shinigami takes the cards and begins shuffling them again. "New bet. If you win this, I'll give you my scythe as a bonus."
"That's very generous of you."
"I know," Deridovely says with a bite in his tone. "That's why you're not gonna win this time, mutt."
He deals the cards, sliding seven new ones Light's way. Light gathers them in between his fingers and examines each. The numbers dance on every card, and, for a moment, he thinks they grow faces. The faces stick out their tongues and wag them around like dog tails. Unlike a dog, these faces have nothing but malice for him. Despite one wild card, he knows he's picked up another bad hand.
Light's stomach churns, but he remains composed in front of Deridovely. Any hint of wavering spirit may be his downfall. Too arrogant, he'll lose. Too doubtful, he'll definitely lose.
The worst part: he still needs to decode the third number. He shuffles through the previous two rounds in his head one last time before Deridovely places the deck down and turns over the first card.
A blue four.
Light stares at it for longer than seems advisable. Four, of course he has to have a disadvantage from the get-go on the final round. He glances at his cards. The only blues he has are a three and a nine. Deridovely may have a higher chance of winning this if he bets on the three. Should he instead use the yellow four he has? No, Deridovely still has an advantage. Light does have one wild card available. Should he cheat and sacrifice it so early? Usually in the game of Uno, players must make sure they have no other card available in the same color before using a wild card. But this isn't a typical game of Uno. Light's not sitting around with friends or family, he's betting eternal servitude to some lowlife Shinigami. Deridovely reminds him of a gangster—someone without admirable hopes or dreams. Someone who walks the world with a gun in one hand and a bad attitude in the other.
"I don't have all day, mutt."
Light has no choice but to assume putting down the three will somehow keep him safe. Seven may be the final number. But thirteen and four are absolutely numbers Light must avoid.
The slightest smirk crawls up Deridovely's face. It feels as if a great weight hits Light's chest. His stomach churns.
The third number is…
Deridovely places his next card down. "Draw four. Red." Then places down a second card, a red seven.
Light gathers four cards from the deck. None of them are useful except a red draw two. He places it down and takes a card from the deck. But Deridovely doesn't immediately draw two.
"Aren't you going to—?"
"I've already won, mutt." Deridovely leans forward and then flips over all five cards in his hand. They're all wild draw fours. Then he picks up the next two cards from the deck. Two additional wild draw fours. All the cards dance as if mocking Light. "It doesn't matter what I do next. You've lost."
He should feel defeat coil around him. However, Light can't help but think there's something off. He cocks a brow. "How is that possible when there are only four draw four wild cards in an Uno deck?"
Deridovely's smirk dissolves.
Light glances at his own deck. The numbers dance. Out of curiosity, he smudges one with his thumb. The number and color change.
"So you've been cheating." Light scoffs and leers at the masked Shinigami. A fire ignites inside him, and he rises to his feet. "Do you know what happens to those who cheat?"
Deridovely shrinks back. "Bastard. So what?" He hops to standing and wields his scythe. The end of the blade pinches Light's throat. "Doesn't matter whether I cheated or not, mutt. You've lost. And now you're mine."
Light's back, where the L-shaped mark rests, tickles. He glances over the Shinigami's shoulder and then shakes his head. "I'm afraid not."
Deridovely sinks the blade into Light's throat, drawing a stream of blood down to his collarbone. "Who the fuck do you think you're talk to, mu—?" A sound like two knives colliding splits through the air. Deridovely pauses. He reaches up where his mask should be but finds nothing. The half-headed Shinigami lets the scythe slip from his fingers, drops to his knees, and slumps over. His form disintegrates into a pile of ash and charred bones that wash away in the pool. Meanwhile, the scythe falls into the hands of a familiar being.
"Ryuzaki," Light says, almost relieved to see the pale man's dull orbs under a river of black tendrils looking back at him. The water hits Light's ankles again, and the card deck in his hand disappears. He fishes the sack of coins out from within the pond.
"Holy shit," Gukku says, falling back. His animal-like jaw hangs open. "He really killed him."
"Let's get out of here," Zellogi says, turning around.
Before they have a chance to flee, Ryuzaki jumps in their way, prepared to slice them apart with his new weapon.
"Wait," Light says sharply. "Don't kill them."
His companion lowers his weapon. His eyes darken. "Why not? They were in on the cheat. Besides, they're witnesses."
"And they also potentially have information."
The pale man groans.
"We don't know this land, Ryuzaki," Light reasons. "What if we get to the City of Gods and end up wandering around aimlessly for days wasting time? They may know where my Death Note is."
"You've got a Death Note?" Gukku asks.
"It's not mine, per say, but I need to find it in order to move forward. Do you two know who might be in possession of someone else's Death Note?" Light uses his polite voice, though deep down he wants to grab them both and shake the information from them. But politeness, as he's learned, can very well get him further than threats.
The Shinigami ponder with haste.
"There's Kinddara," Gukku says, tapping his finger against his animal-like skull. "She might know."
Light raises a brow. "Kinddara?"
Kellogi nods. "She knows a lot of Shinigami in the realm."
"How may I find her?"
"She should be in the city, overseeing the Pits."
"Okay, thank you."
Gukku glances at Ryuzaki. His bones rattle together, trembling. "Does this mean we're free to go?"
"Yes," Light replies. "You have my word."
The two Shinigami turn and scuttle away. They don't make any strides before Ryuzaki lunges and slices them into several hundred pieces. The pieces turn to ash and blow away with the wind.
Light's mouth drops. "What the hell are you doing?"
Ryuzaki spins the scythe around in his hand and rests it against his shoulder. "You still don't get it, do you?" He steps toward him. A hint of light hits his eyes, but it's not pleasant. "You don't make the rules anymore, Yagami-kun. Welcome to the new world where nobody cares who you are."
A/A/N: So I have a confession: I screwed up the math in the previous chapter. By the end of the first round, Deridovely had three cards left, not two. I have since corrected the issue and am currently slamming my head against a wall for my incompetence. This is why I'm a writer not a mathematician. Please forgive me :-(
In lighter news, Happy Halloween and Happy Early Birthday to L! He'd be 38, damn.
Going off Uno's usual rules, Deridovely spiced things up by utilizing the numbers 4, 7, and 13 to help him cheat. Each time Light put down a card that either added/subtracted to one of the three numbers, Deridovely would magically have a wild card. If Deridovely put down a card equaling any of the three numbers, his cheat wouldn't work. It only applies to the opponent's hand. In hindsight, even if Deridovely picked up a poor hand at the beginning of a round, the cards were bewitched to change a random card into a wild if he had been given an advantage thanks to Light's misfortune.
Below is the cheat sheet for each round. S represents the starting card, L represents Light, and D represents Deridovely. Each divider represents the card they put down, the number of cards they have remaining, and the math behind each card(s) used. Every time there is color change, the math resets. However, this rule doesn't apply if action cards are used to change colors (as shown in round one).
ROUND 1:
S: R5
L: R3/ 6 cards/ 5+3=8
D: B3/ 6 cards/ NEW COLOR RESETS GAME TO 3
L: B7/ 5 cards/ 7+3=10
D: B3/ 5 cards/ 10-3=7 or 10+3=13
L: B9/ 4 cards/ 13-9=4*
D: W4 and Y5/ 3 cards/ RESET
L: 8 cards
L: YS and RS and R1/ 5 cards/ 5-1=4*
D WINS
ROUND 2:
S: Y5
L: Y3/ 6 cards/ 5+3=8.
D: Y6/ 6 cards/ 8-6=2
L: Y5/ 5 cards/ 2+5=7*
D: W/ 5 cards/ RESET
L: R8/ 4 cards
L: W/ 3 cards/ RESET
D: G2/ 3 cards
L: G4/ 2 cards/ 2+4=6
L: G4/ 1 card/ 6+4=10
L WINS
ROUND 3:
S: B4
L: B3/ 6 cards/ 4+3=7*
D: W4 and R7/ 5 cards
L: 10 cards
D: CHEAT REVEALED