The girl was sitting on a train alongside Toriko and Coco. She was dressed in a long, white, strapless, open back dress. Far overdressed for her surroundings. She looked out of the window, "Tell me where we're going again? You said I should dress up, but really, I feel like I should have wore jeans and a ripped shirt if I wanted to fit in. There is nothing but thugs and shady looking people on this train. I'm such a huge target. It looks like I'm ready for a wedding!" Toriko nudged the girl, "Calm down, you look great. Have I ever steered you in the wrong direction?" "Yes! Yes you have! You do it all the time!" He sighed, "We're going to Jidar Kingdom." Coco started, "I came here to train if you can remember back from the Gourmet Carriage ride. This place is under international surveillance since it is not run by the IGO. The Gourmet Crime runs rampant there." The girl's eyes amplified, "So this place is like a free for all, sell what the hell you want, get your narcotics when you want kinda place?" The men nodded, "Then why are we coming here!" The bluenette sipped his drink, "Meteor Garlic. It's a plant that is said to grow where meteorites have fallen on rare occasions. They say after you eat it, you won't need rest for a whole month because of the power it possesses. ~Because it's very rare and also restricted, you'll never see one on the market. At the Gourmet Casino. It is one of the prizes. It's another training ingredient, and apparently we have to gamble for it."
The train stopped and the three exited. Éclair folded her arms, "I know this is a city of crime but damn, is it not ruled by the sun either. It's so gloomy." Before they could go anywhere, a group of thugs stepped to the three. "Hello there boys. I hope you enjoy the kingdom of crime here. ~I know this is sudden, but strip down to your underwear and give us all you've got." The blond girl rolled your eyes. "First of all, what do you mean by boys? I am clearly a full grown woman. And second, we're not stripping crap!" Toriko put a hand over her mouth, "Shhh, let them continue Éclair. I can't believe I'm getting into a fight." The girl frowned, "And you're happy about this? Who are you Toriko?" Coco shook his head, "Why are you so happy?" "I can't believe normal humans want to fight me. This is so exciting." Éclair stood by Coco, "Well, I'm gonna excitingly stand by the lady killer. Next thing you're gonna tell me is it's exciting if they kidnap me and before we know it, I'm getting sold on the black market." The thugs began to get irritable, "Hurry up and give us your things or the girl dies first." One of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. Without thinking twice, he shot it in her direction but she felt no pain. Éclair looked at her dress, "No blood, I'm alive!" Toriko had the bullet in between his fingers and the men began to get frightened. "Don't you ever try to harm my partner. Now scram!" The men ran off and Éclair sighed, "Thanks Toriko, that was a bit too close for me though."
Coco began on his way and the two followed. "This is the black market, where the majority of illegal ingredients are bought and sold." The girl looked around, "Cool~ Wait. Not cool! Hey you bastard! You're selling poisonous Puffer Whale! What the hell is wrong with you? Did you just wake up and decide to end someone's life today? Huh? Did ya!?" "Excuse me young lady." The girl turned around, "Can I interest you in buying one of these?" She looked and there were some sort of purple stars in her hand. "What is that?" "Éclair, let's go?" She looked over at the man's serious face, "Right. Sorry lady, duty calls." The man looked at her, "Don't trust any of these people. Those were Poison Stars. They are guaranteed to make you 100% poisoned. One time those stars were on the market and ended up destroying a city of millions." The girl looked around, "Everything here seems dangerous. They even have Drug Snails. This place is going to make me break out." Her attention turned, "I scratch what I just said. Juicy Mushrooms! I guess it's not completely bad." Toriko nodded, "Let's buy some. We'll need it for the casino anyway. Some games wager ingredients." She licked her lips, "Mmm, I want to win ingredients!"
They were finally getting closer to the Gourmet Casino and Éclair sighed, "The things I do to look fancy. You guys will never know how it feels to walk around in 7 inch heels for hours on end. ~Someone carry me. My feet are sad." Coco smiled at the girl, "Don't worry Éclair, we're already here." Toriko grinned largely, "We are?" He picked up the girl and ran ahead, "Look Éclair!" She sighed in relief as she looked at the casino. "Before I felt like I was over dressed, and now I feel like I'm under dressed. ~This place is spectacular." She pointed, "Look, there are even top class restaurants! I want to eat at them all, and gamble, and ohhh, this place is wonderful! Jidar gets too much of a bad name. This is nothing like the city. All the lights are so pretty." "Thief!" The girl looked around and saw a man running with a duffle bag of money. The memory brought her back to when those thieves stole from her in Gourmet Town. She overheard the conversation of two high rollers. "Do you think he'll get away or get shot?" "I think he'll get shot." "Let's bet on it." She looked at the gunman from far away and smirked, "They're all wrong." She jumped out of Toriko's arms and the man frowned, "Éclair?" She smiled, "If these shoes hurt me this much, I wonder what they do to other people." She took off her shoe and threw it directly at the man's face. The girl smirked as the money flew in the air and the man was apprehended, "Score 1 for size 7." She picked up her shoe and slipped it back on, "I just saved your life sir."
She walked back beside Toriko and watched the criminal get taken away. Her face changed as she watched. Someone was in her purse. Her hand grabbed the persons as she continued to look forward. "Put whatever you have in your hand back or I'll kill you." Her face frowned as she heard someone say the exact same words as her at the same time. She released the hand and saw the thief run away. In her face she saw a sword drawn. Her eyes traced up the sword and saw the blond man himself, "Match." The man smiled, "Hello again Éclair. I want to thank you again for making the Century Soup. The kids loved it." She turned her face as redness filled her cheeks, and again, she didn't want anyone to see. "Great, I'm glad they liked it. I'll make some again anytime you want." Toriko smiled, "It's good to see you again Match, what exactly are you doing here in Jidar though?" The man frowned, "I want to remove all of the narcotic ingredients from the casino. It has reached Nerg City. The source of the outbreak is none other than the Gourmet Casino. The Underground Cooking World is run by a man named Livebearer who acts as one of the dealers. He is the boss and mastermind of the distribution." Ram frowned, "We don't want to see those kids eating Electric Bananas!" Anger grew inside Match, and he unsheathed his sword, "We need to take them out!" "Not that way." Coco shook his head. With the strength you have right now, you won't be able to stop them. You have to play by their rules and gamble."
Éclair smiled, "I'll help you Match. I won't let those kids get their hands on those ingredients if it kills me. You trust my word, don't you?" The man looked into her fierce eyes, and the truth was there. It was strange how she had just as much passion as he did. The man nodded, "I don't like gambling, but if that's what it takes, let's do it."
The group walked through a long hall on the way to the casino and Éclair looked around, "This place is extravagant. It feels so nice in here. I can't wait to see inside." Toriko folded his arms, "I thought your feet hurt Éclair. You were just playing me weren't you?" She shook her head, "I wasn't, and I still want to be picked up. Catch me." He held the girl in his arms as they walked into the main area. "Whoa! Each part of this place keeps getting better and better. I wanna play!" "Alright. Hey Coco, we should probably get some chips so we can start playing." They walked up to some of the machines and inserted their cards. "How much are you guys playing with?" The blue haired man entered a number and the coins poured out. "I got 10,000 coins worth 10,000 yen each." She hopped out of his arms again and onto the coins. "Is this what they mean when they say 'sitting in the lap of luxury?'" The man lifted her up and off of the coins, "Don't sit on them Éclair, they're edible." "Huh? Edible?" The man put one in his mouth and handed one to her, "Try it, they're delicious." She put the coin in her mouth and smiled, "It's so rich and creamy. I want more, but I know you've gotta gamble with it." It seemed like the man didn't care as he kept eating. The blue haired man pointed, "Coco! You got a 1 million yen coin. Let me eat it!" "No!" Éclair poked her lip out, "Oh come on Coco, let me just have a little lick?" The man looked at her a moment as if he contemplated letting her do it. He sighed, "I need this." She folded her arms, "Fine." Toriko frowned, "Come on Éclair, let's go gamble."
They made their way to a matching numbers game. She watched alongside Match as Toriko was getting ready to play. The golden haired girl pursed her lips, "It's been so long Match. A lot has changed since I've seen you." The man nodded, "Yes, a lot of changes." She pulled her hair behind her ear, "Are they~ good changes?" He smiled at the girl, "I've got no complaints. Though I must ask, what happened to your hand?" She sighed, "It's an eye sore, huh? I caught extreme frostbite and ended up losing my hand." The man looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry that happened to you, I am." She shook her head, "Don't be. I find it empowering. I love my new hand. It is a part of me. ~Listen Match, I meant what I said about helping rid Nerg City of narcotic ingredients. Lady Luck is on everyone's side tonight." She looked back toward Toriko and cheered him on, "Good job Toriko! Let's keep winning!" Coco came behind the group with a large bag of coins. Éclair smiled, "Color me impressed. I can't believe you won all this." Match looked at his men, "If we ever want to get into the VIP area, we need to win too. Come on guys." Toriko handed the girl a few coins, "Go win for us Éclair." She nodded, "Okay!"
The girl ran to one of the slots and sat down, "Okay, maybe if I close my eyes and pull?" She did just that, and like most gamblers, she lost. The girl sighed, "Food Luck has nothing to do with slots clearly. ~I guess it's best if I just cheer everyone on." The girl walked over to where Match was playing, "What color did you bet on?" The man grit his teeth, "Not a color, I bet on a number. One." She watched as the piece flipped around and the girl put her hand on his arm, "Don't worry Match, Lady Luck is on your side." She smiled, "I've come to realize that I am not one for gambling, but I will act as a good luck charm." The man raised his eyebrows, "How so?" She pointed at herself, "Because everyone knows that lady luck comes in the form of a woman, and I'm the only woman you guys came with, so that makes me lucky." The man looked as the piece fell on 1 and Éclair laughed, "Told ya." She began to walk away, "I'm gonna see what the others are up to. I've gotta spread the luck." The girl laughed, "Don't lose too much while I'm gone or I might be obligated to stay by your side."
She heard Toriko call her name and she looked over, "What's up?" "Did you win anything?" She shook her head, "I actually lost on a slot so I ended up eating the rest of the coins. Don't be mad!" The man smiled, "I'm not mad at you, but come on, we're going to go play a game with higher stakes." The girl smiled, "Cool, what is it?" The man pointed, "That?" It was a gargantuan slot. The girl gasped, "Whoa, this thing is huge! It's so long that I have to look at it in a panoramic view." She saw Coco standing by the slot. "Hey, lady killer. You aren't gonna play this thing are you?" The man nodded, "Yes actually. I've been watching its mechanics." He sat down at the slot, "The minimum amount to play is 1 million yen." He inserted his coin and the slots started spinning. Éclair smiled, "Good luck lady killer."
The man started to concentrate on the moving slots, and a crowd started to gather. She watched as the man began to accurately hit every line perfectly. "How does he even see this? My eyes are dizzy from even looking, let alone trying to play." Toriko nodded, "Well remember, he's got those sharp eyes. To him, it looks like the slots are practically stopped." He was on the last row and the man stopped the last wheel. The crowd began to cheer and the girl smiled, "Somehow I feel like I've just witnessed a once in a lifetime occurrence. Coco, you did it!"
The prize was awarded, and Éclair danced around the trillion yen worth of prizes. "There's so much stuff! I can't believe how much Coco won!" One of the men from the upper room looked at Coco's winnings, "I'd say Lady Luck was really on your side tonight huh?" Éclair shook her head, "No, it was all skill! I watched and I'd like to say my luck affected the outcome, but it didn't." Coco smiled at the girl, "It definitely took skill, but I like to think that Lady Luck played her part." The girl smiled, "Aww, Coco you don't have to say that. We both know it was all skill." The man fixed his glasses, "Well, whatever it was, would you like to play some more enjoyable games?" Coco's face changed, and the man smirked, "Alright then, this way please." The girl looked over at Toriko, "So are we going to the VIP area?" The man nodded, "Yes, we pretty much caught their eye and now they're letting us back."
The curtain opened and a whole new room was displayed. A man approached the group holding his stomach and mouth. Éclair caught the man in her arms before he fell. "Um, medic? Hello? Someone help this man!" She put him gently down on the floor as a team started to arrive. The girl looked around, "So this is the VIP area huh?" She saw all the games, and each one looked dangerous. She tugged Toriko's shirt, "I don't think I like the VIP room." She looked at the man who escorted them into the room, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but are people betting with their lives?" The man nodded, "Yes. These contestants are people who owe the casino outstanding debts and such." The girl frowned, "Well, if you guys need a person to bet on, I will play for you. Everyone's cause is greater than my own, so I think I should be the one to take the risk." The blue haired man shook his head, "Éclair, you are a part of my cause. I'd rather leave this casino empty handed than have you die over one of these games." Match nodded, "I agree. That is why I will play instead. Coco, I trust your judgment." Éclair ran to the blond man and hugged him tightly. She put her lips to his scarred cheek, "May lady luck be with you." She looked up at the man and smiled, "I have no doubt that you will win." He looked back into her eyes, "So long as lady luck is on my side, how can I lose?"
Before she released from the hug, a large man began to cast a shadow over them. "Don't waste your bet here then. You seem like you'd be interested in higher stakes. Why don't we bet on some tastier things beyond the VIP area?" Coco narrowed his eyes, "Hmph, the boss of the Underground Cooking World, Livebearer." Éclair's eyes amplified, "No way. He's one of the best chefs in the world. What could he possibly be inviting us to?" She held tighter to Match, "Somehow I don't get a very good feeling from this."