Hello Everybody! Welcome back to another new chapter! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I hope you guys are doing wonderful! (っ˘ω˘ς )

Enjoy! ～('▽^人)

D'Arby The Gambler, Part 1

The Crusaders were on an eight-hour drive to Cairo, Egypt. They were currently taking the train and they were informed they would arrive at their destination within a couple minutes.

Noriko, who was sitting next to Jotaro, averted her eyes from the outside view to her boyfriend.

"Hey, JoJo, want to know something interesting?" She asked.

"Sure." Jotaro replied, his arms were crossed on his chest.

"The guardian of the pyramids, the Sphinx, used to ask travelers a riddle."

"A riddle?" Jotaro raised a brow.

Noriko nodded, "The riddle was, which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in evening? What's your answer?"

Jotaro took a moment to give it some thought but nothing came into mind. "I'm not sure, just tell me."

"You would've been eaten by the Sphinx if you couldn't answer that!" Noriko chuckled. "The answer is Humans . There's this legend that says those who could not answer were eaten by the Sphinx."

"Good evening everyone! We have arrived in Cairo! I repeat, we arrived in Cairo!" A voice spoke through the intercom.

"Looks like we better get going." Jotaro said and stood up from his seat with Noriko doing the same.

The Crusaders were thirty-thousand kilometers away from Japan and have finally reached their destination. They all stepped out of the train. The sun was beginning to set.

Avdol held the photo of the building Dio was currently hiding in.

"Cairo is immense." He informed the group. "Rather than searching aimlessly, we should work our way from the outskirts inward to the center."

They all agreed to the idea and took a bus to take them to the outskirts of the city.

Although they finally reached Cairo, the pyramid named Dio, still had a few more Sphinxes that stood in the Crusaders' way.

For the remainder of the day, the Crusaders searched for the building everywhere but had no luck. They decided to check in at a hotel and rest until tomorrow morning.

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The next day the Crusaders continued their search and still found nothing. They ended up at a cafe that was nearby. Obviously they were exhausted from their constant search and needed something to drink, but before that, Joseph handed a photo to the owner, asking if he knew where the building was. With the extra spirit photo copies he had, the other Crusaders passed it around in the cafe. They hoped that at least one person could point out where it's located.

They knew Dio had relocated to a new hideout and the Speedwagon Foundation had lost track of his whereabouts, so where was he? Time was ticking, and fast. The Crusaders needed to find him quickly before it's too late. Holly only has a few more days…

The Crusaders stood by the bar, all of them with a stoic face and their eyes shadowed.

The owner settled his fists on the counter, "Gentlemen, and young lady, this is a cafe. Please order something." The bartender reminded them as he pointed at the drinks that are behind him with his thumb.

"Five ice teas." Joseph ordered.

Avdol silently placed five coins on the counter to pay.

The bartender pulled out five glassed cups filled with ice and poured their drinks while observing the photograph. Once he was done, he grabbed the five coins and turned around.

"Sorry but I don't recognize that building at all." He said.

The five individuals grabbed their iced teas and drank it in unison. They placed their cup back on the counter once they were done.

"Cairo has a population at about six million. There must be two to three million buildings… Will we be able to find him?" Joseph thought.

"There has to be someone, someone has to know where it is…" Avdol thought.

"This building, huh?"

"I can't tell from just a picture…"

"Sorry but this building doesn't look familiar."

The customers responded as they had observed the spirit photo.

Joseph approached one of the customers, receiving back the pictures. "I see," He muttered in disappointment. "Sorry to bother you…"

"No problem."

Joseph turned around towards the exit, "Come on, let's continue our investigation." He told the others.

As soon as they were about to exit the building, they stopped when a deep and raspy voice spoke up.

"I know that building."

The Crusaders widened their eyes and quickly averted their attention at the customers, wondering who just said that.

This mysterious person sat at the far end of the cafe and was shuffling cards fast and precisely. His hair is dark and has a trimmed mustache at medium length, a light surface trails from the bottom of his eyes to points aside his mouth; scored by thin, black, horizontal lines. He wore a light shirt, dark tie and a vest of a deep magenta color, printed with spirals.

"No doubt about it, it's that building."

The Crusaders made eye contact with the mysterious man and saw his red piercing eyes staring at them. The group quickly approached him.

Joseph leaned over and placed his hands on the table. "Excuse me, was it you who just spoke? It sounded like you said you knew about it!"

"Why yes." The man answered. "I'm absolutely certain I know of the building of which you seek.

"Come again? Really?!" Joseph asked, a burst of excitement and relief exploded inside him.

"This is excellent!" Avdol exclaimed as he and the others approached from behind Joseph.

"Yeah! It's pretty lucky that we found someone who recognized it from the picture!" Polnareff added.

Noriko narrowed her eyes at the man with suspicion, even though he said he knew about the building, why did it take so long for him to speak up? Something isn't right…

"Where is it?! Please tell us!" Joseph asked.

"Are you attempting to solicit the answer for free?" The man asked Joseph.

"O-Oh! Y-You're right… I apologize for that." Joseph dug into his pocket and pulled out a bill. "I'll pay you ten pounds. So, where is it?"

The man chuckled and raised his hand, a card appeared between his index and middle finger in a flash. "I'm quite fond of gambling." He said. "It's a cheap thrill. I can never get enough of it. That's why I chose to make a living from it. Are you also fond of gambling?"

"I'm not sure where you're getting at…" Joseph replied.

"If you don't like to gamble, simply say so." The man said.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about…"

"In that case… Would you care to make a bet with me? If you win, I'll tell you the location of that place for free." The man offered.

"A bet? I'm a pretty confident gambler but I don't have time for poker right now. Look…" Joseph dug into his pocket and pulled out a couple more bills. "I'll throw in another twenty-pounds if you tell us."

"The wonderful thing about gambling is you can just bet on just about anything. It will take a moment of your time." The man suggested. "For example…" He turned to the side, his eyes landing on a gray-cat nearby. "Look over there, see that cat?" He grabbed the two pieces of smoked fish on the table and tossed it outside.

He averted his eyes back at the Crusaders, "Here's my bet; which piece of smoked fish will the cat go after first? The right, or the left? How is that? It's silly, but thrilling."

"Hey!" Polnareff slammed his fist on the table. "You're really starting to piss me off! Just take the damn thirty pounds and tell us!"

Joseph quickly grabbed the Frenchman's arm, "Polnareff, that's no way to bargain for information!" He scolded him.

Polnareff then slammed his hand back on the table, "Okay, then I'll just have to gamble for it! I choose the right one!"

The man smirked, "Good! Now we're having fun! Then I shall bet on the left."

Noriko silently stepped between Jotaro and Avdol while keeping her gaze on the man, "Jotaro, Avdol, don't you both also find him suspicious? I can't brush off the feeling that he could be a Stand User…" She said as she lowered her voice.

"There's a possibility though he might just be a compulsive gambler…" Jotaro replied, his eyes also were focused on the strange man.

"At the sign of anything unusual, defeat him with your Star Platinum." Avdol told Jotaro.

Jotaro silently nodded.

"By the way, if I lose, what do I gotta pay you? Like a hundred pounds?" Polnareff asked.

"I have no need for money." The man said. "How about your soul? I will have your soul."

"HUH?!" Polnareff placed a hand on the side of his head. "Is he fucking with me? Damn that cocky bastard… The sooner I can get away from him the better…"

"So what's your answer?" The man asked.

"Yeah, okay, sure. That's fine." Polnareff waved his hand nonchalantly.

Outside, the cat took notice of the smoked fish and ran over to it. The cat was about to get the big piece, which was the one on the right but in an instant the cat switched sides and grabbed the one on the left first then the right.

"WHAT?!" Polnareff shouted in shock.

The man snickered and looked back at Polnareff, "You saw it, didn't you? It snatched the left piece before the right, then ran away. I win."

"Hey, you lost, Polnareff! What's your plan now?" Joseph asked the Frenchman. "I'm getting sick of asking people about that building!"

"Now, as we agreed upon, you must pay me." The gambler said.

"Pay? Pay with what?" Polnareff asked.

"Why with your soul, of course." A sinister smile appeared on his face. "This is what you gambled. Your soul! I am a Stand User who appropriates souls! Gambling's open the way for the soul to leave its vessel. My Stand's power is to steal it at that moment!"

Suddenly a humanoid Stand with large, muscular arms marked by lines of a vascular pattern, a thick brow, and fingers capped by suckers appeared above Polnareff. The Stand grabbed the Frenchman's soul before anyone could react.

"What?! What the hell?!" Joseph cried out.

"POLNAREFF!" Noriko shouted. She angrily turned to the enemy Stand User with her Stand manifesting behind her, ready to attack him.

"Woah, there! Don't kill me! It's too late!" The gambler said. "If you kill me right now, Polnareff's soul would be destroyed along with my Stand."

"Polnareff!" Avdol cried out, quickly catching Polnareff in his arms.

Noriko rushed over to Polnareff's side, the Frenchman's eyes turned pure white and his body had gotten pale. It's almost as if he was dead. Noriko checked his pulse and a gasp escaped her lips as her eyes widened in horror.

"T-There's no pulse…" She nodded her head in disbelief, not wanting to believe this was happening. She glanced at the others. "H-He's dead! Polnareff is dead!"

The enemy's Stand above them began molding Polnareff's soul as if it were clay. The Stand clapped its hands together and turned Polnareff's soul into a poker chip. The chip landed on the table in front of the gambler.

The man picks up the chip, "This is Polnareff's soul." He said. "This is proof for Lord Dio that I have gotten rid of one of his many nuisances. Even though he was nothing more than just a simple fool."

Avdol growled under his breath.

"Allow me to finally introduce myself…" The enemy continued. "My name is D'Arby. Daniel J. D'Arby. D-A-R-B-Y. It has an apostrophe after the D. My Stand steals the souls of anyone who loses a bet against me. My Stand is called Divine Osiris."

Out of the blue, the same gray-cat from earlier jumped onto D'Arby's lap.

"By the way, this is my cat." D'Arby stated.

Filled with anger, Avdol aggressively grabbed D'Arby by his collar. "Y-YOU DAMN CHEATER!" Avdol shouted, he raised his fist to punch the man.

"Mr. Avdol, don't!" Noriko cried out. She didn't want Avdol to do anything stupid.

Everyone in the cafe turned their heads at the loud noise that came from the Crusaders.

"You deceived us! You call this gambling?! More like cheating!" Avdol seethed.

"Cheating?" D'Arby raised a brow. "Listen here, Fortune-Teller, the reason you feel cheated is because you failed to see through my ruse."

This infuriated Avdol even more, tightening his grip. He was trying his hardest to not punch the shit out of D'Arby.

"I have a belief; gambling is much like a relationship in which you must deceive your partner. The one who sheds tears at the end is the loser." D'Arby said. He then felt Avdol tightening his grip even more. "What are you gonna do? Kill me with your bare hands? Very well then, go ahead and do it. But doing so will also destroy your friend's soul right here." D'Arby raised his hand, showing Avdol the poker chip that Polnareff's soul was in.

"Listen here you bastard! You will not leave this place in one piece!" Avdol threatened but that didn't faze D'Arby at all.

"Do you remember what you were doing on the night of September 22nd, 1984 at 11:15PM?" D'Arby asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Avdol queried.

D'Arby raised his hands, making Avdol let go of his collar and step away from him.

He adjusted his collar, "I remember," He continued and sat back down on his table. "Around that time, I was in California gambling an American named Stephen Moor and he said the same thing you just did." He pulled out a binder that was beside him. Opening it, he flips to a page and points at a poker chip.

"This is him."

Avdol gasped in shock.

D'Arby points at another chip. "Below him is his father and next to him is Moor's wife. If you want to get Polnareff's soul back, you have no choice but to continue gambling with me."

The Crusaders stared at the page that was filled with poker chips. That meant all those poker chips were the people's souls D'Arby had gambled against and beat them. They were all in shock.

"T-This man is a demon…" Avdol thought.

"He's a monster…" Noriko thought.

"He's planning to take us out one-by-one." Jotaro muttered.

"So what will you do?" D'Arby asked the Crusaders. "If you're too afraid then it would be best to go home, but that would mean leaving your friend Polnareff behind." He snickered.

Joseph quietly placed Polnareff's lifeless body on a chair while the others wondered what they could possibly do.

"Well, have a drink and think about it long and hard." D'Arby pulled out a chocolate bar. "How about some chocolate?"

Joseph walked over to the table and shoved everything away from the table. All the playing cards, chips, and some plates fell on the ground. The Elder Joestar placed a glass on the table and a bottle of whiskey. He then began pouring the whiskey on the small glass until it filled up to the top.

"M-Mr. Joestar, what are you trying to do?" Avdol asked.

Joseph ignored his question and sat down on the table and glanced at D'Arby. "Have you heard about surface tension, Barbie?" Purposely messing up his name.

"It's D'Arby. My name is D'Arby." D'Arby corrected him. "It's the force that's preventing the whiskey from spilling out of the glass, correct? What are you getting at?"

"The rules are quite simple." Joseph lifted his hand, showing a hand full of coins. "We'll take turns dropping coins in the glass." He drops the coins on the table. "The one who makes it overflow loses."

"Mr. Joestar-!"

"H-Hey, Old Man…"

"You cannot, Mr. Joestar!"

"I'll bet my soul!" Joseph declared.

"Good!" D'Arby smirked.

"What?!" Avdol shouted.

"Mr. Joestar, please don't!" Noriko protested then pointed at D'Arby. "This man is a con artist!"

"I won't allow him to cheat." Joseph said. "I'm the one who chose the method of this wager!" He turned to his grandson. "Jotaro, make sure he doesn't cheat."

"Okay! That's fine. I shall take this bet." D'Arby accepted. "But first, do you mind if I inspect the glass and coins?"

"Of course, you have that right." Joseph told him. "You also have the right to make sure I'm not cheating."

D'Arby grabbed the glass and inspected it, checking every angle of the glass before grabbing one of the coins.

"First things first, will you guarantee that if you lose you'll return Polnareff's soul, no matter what?" Joseph asked.

D'Arby flipped a coin up in the air and caught it between his fingers. "I am a gambler. I do have my pride. If I lose, I always pay up. I won't lose, though." He set the glass and coin back down on the table.

"Very well, then. You can go first. Drop a coin in." Joseph said.

"Mr. Joestar!" Avdol tried to protest.

"Leave this to me, Avdol." Joseph assured the Fortune-Teller and began to remove his glove.

"I'm an expert at this trick with a glass and coins. I'm not easy to beat when surface tension is involved. It should fit about eight or nine more coins. As long as I can remain calm and my fingers don't shake." Joseph thought.

"May I put in more than one coin at a time?" D'Arby asked.

"If you can do it all at once." Joseph replied.

"Very well…" D'Arby reached his hand over to the glass, holding five coins above it.

"F-Five coins?!" Avdol stammered.

"Hey, I think I saw a little wave there." Joseph teased.

"Quiet!" D'Arby demanded so he could concentrate and slowly lowered his hand. "May you please take your hands off the table?"

Joseph did as he was told.

They all watched in silence, holding in their breaths as they watched D'Arby make his move. D'Arby dropped the coins in the glass and gasped in relief. The whiskey waved before it settled, not a single drop left the glass.

D'Arby chuckled, "Your turn."

"You've got guts by dropping five at once." Joseph remarked and grabbed one coin. "I'll start with one. More than that is too risky."

He moved his hand over to the glass and Jotaro narrowed his brows when he spotted a piece of cotton on his grandfather's thumb pressed against the coin.

"Seriously, Old Man…" Jotaro's eyes shadowed under his hat. "He has a piece of cotton between his finger and the coin. Liquid is dripping from it. He's squeezing it out and adding it to the whiskey. And yet you told me to watch him for cheating? You damn scoundrel, not bad."

Joseph dropped the coin in the glass and the alcohol rippled before it settled again. D'Arby frowned and gritted his teeth.

"GYAHAHA! It's completely full! Even a single coin will make it spill over! I won!" Joseph told himself filled with confidence from the trick he just pulled. "He even said it himself, it's not cheating unless you get caught!"

Joseph took a deep breath in relief, "This is bad for my heart! I was sure it would spill over. Now, it's your turn, Obie."

D'Arby, having had enough of hearing Joseph mess up his name, he firmly grabbed Joseph's wrist and glared at him. "It's D'Arby! Don't mistake that ever again! My name is D'Arby! It is neither Obie nor Barbie!"

"My apologies…" Joseph simply said.

Jotaro huffed under his breath, "He's purposely screwing up his name to piss him off. That Old Man… He's a gambler at heart." He remarked.

"Let's keep going, shall we? It's your turn to put a coin in, D'Arby." Joseph said, this time saying his name correctly as he crossed his arms on his chest.

D'Arby chewed on his chocolate before standing up from his seat. "It's difficult for me to see with my shadow in the way. I'll drop it in from this side of the table."

"You can do it from wherever you like." Joseph said.

Internally, Joseph was grinning, because he had cheated, he knew the whiskey was already at its limit. There was no way for D'Arby to win this, no matter what he tries to do, the moment a coin touches the surface, it'll cause the whiskey to overflow.

D'Arby held the coin above the whiskey when he suddenly spoke.

"I can tell that you're thinking the surface tension is at its limit. You think it's impossible, don't you?" D'Arby asked.

Joseph was taken aback from the question.

"But you couldn't be more wrong…" D'Arby dropped the coin into the whiskey and to the Crusader's surprise, nothing spilled.

"I-IMPOSSIBLE! There's no way!" Joseph immediately stood up from his seat, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "It definitely should have overflowed!"

"And just by that, what do you mean? Clearly, as you can see, it went in without any spilling." D'Arby stated.

In shock, Joseph turned to his grandson.

"He didn't make any suspicious moves that could've been cheating. I have been keeping watch with Star Platinum. He dropped the coin in fair and square. No doubt about it." Jotaro explained.

D'Arby, with a devious smirk on his face, went and sat back down on his seat. He seemed confident that he would win. For Joseph on the other hand, was filled with confusion. He had added more liquid onto the whiskey to make sure it would overflow. He doesn't know how D'Arby managed to put a coin in without overflowing it. So how? How did D'Arby do it?

"Go ahead, Mr. Joestar!" D'Arby said. "Make it quick, or do you intend to wait until it evaporates?"

Joseph's hand began to shake and even started to pant heavily. His shaky hands picked up the coin and hesitated. He couldn't bring himself to drop the coin into the glass. Without any warning, D'Arby's Stand, Osiris, appeared above Joseph and grabbed his soul.

"MR. JOESTAR!" Avdol screamed on the top of his lungs.

Noriko shot a glare at D'Arby. "Why are you taking his soul?! The game is not over yet!" Noriko yelled at him.

"Mr. Joestar acknowledged in his mind that he already lost the bet." D'Arby explained. "That is why his soul emerged. I, D'Arby, have won this gamble!"

"Polnareff, I'm sorry…" Joseph's soul groaned with tears forming in his eyes. "Holly, I'm sorry but I might not be able to save you, after all…"

"Mr. Joestar!" Both Noriko and Avdol cried out.

"Gramps!" Jotaro shouted.

The three remaining Crusaders watched Osiris turn Joseph into a poker chip, just like what happened to Polnareff.

D'Arby grabbed both Polnareff's and Joseph's souls, "That makes it two." He smirked. "Now then, let us continue gambling." His red piercing eyes glanced over at the three Crusaders. "That is, assuming the three of you don't run away with your tails between your legs."

"You bastaaaaarrd!" Avdol yelled and ran over to D'Arby.

"Mr. Avdol, don't!" Noriko tried to stop him but failed to grab him.

Avdol roughly grabbed D'Arby by the collar again and slammed him down on the ground.

"You don't learn, do you? If I die, their souls will be lost!" D'Arby reminded him.

"Damn you!" Avdol raised his fist but felt a delicate hand grab his wrist.

"Stop it, Mr. Avdol!" Noriko begged.

"Hey! You'll have to leave if you want to make a scene!" The owner of the cafe scolded.

"Fuck off! Stay out of it!" The delinquent snapped at him.

"Absolutely!" The man immediately stood tall and straight, frozen in place.

Jotaro turned his gaze over to the glass and picked it up to inspect it. He gasped when he spotted something on the bottom of the glass. Tilting the glass to get a better view of it, the whiskey spilled out and Jotaro saw a piece of melted chocolate. His eyes widened and glanced at the chocolate bar D'Arby was eating earlier.

D'Arby chuckled, "You figured it out too late, Jotaro."

Both Noriko and Avdol turn their heads to Jotaro.

"What's wrong with the glass, JoJo?" Noriko asked.

"Did he tamper with it?" Avdol asked.

"This is how he managed to get another coin in." Jotaro pointed at the bottom of the glass. "He left some chocolate on the bottom of the glass. Before the game began, he had asked to inspect the glass and coins, and that's when he stuck it on."

"As you are no doubt aware, because you didn't catch it in time, it was not cheating." D'Arby moved Avdol away from him as he sat up.

"Then how did you do it?" Avdol demanded. "How is it possible that a small piece of chocolate allowed another coin to enter?"

A small gasp escapes from Noriko's lips in realization after piecing everything together. "The chocolate was solid when he placed it there but only a small amount so we wouldn't notice. The glass was tilted just a tiny bit but when the chocolate melted the surface of it leveled. Even though the surface tension was at its limit, he made sure it would allow at least one more coin to fit."

"But how?! How could the chocolate melt with such convenient timing?!" Avdol queried.

While Jotaro set the glass down, Noriko glanced at the bright sun and continued. "He allowed the sun's heat to melt it. We didn't notice but he moved to the side of the table so the sun's rays would directly hit the glass and melt the chocolate."

D'Arby was back on his feet and brushing off the dirt from his pants. He glanced at Noriko and chuckled.

"Nice observation, Noriko." He complimented. "No wonder Lord Dio recruited someone like you. It's a shame really, but you'll soon be part of the collection of souls I have here." He pointed at his binder. "Or… You can just run off back to Lord Dio and see if he'll forgive you."

Noriko only glared at D'Arby while Jotaro clenched his fists. He was furious from what he was saying to Noriko. To his beloved girlfriend! He badly wanted to beat the living shit out of him right now but kept himself in control.

"Fine." Jotaro spoke. "D'Arby," He pointed a finger at him. "Get your fucking trump card ready. We're gonna finish this with poker."

Noriko and Avdol widened their eyes in shock.

"WHAT?!" Avdol shouted.

"J-JoJo!"

A grin spread across D'Arby's face, amused. "How interesting! Poker is one of the games I'm best at!"

Noriko walked over to Jotaro, "Poker?! JoJo, this man beat Mr. Joestar and Polnareff!" She warned.

"He's too dangerous, Jotaro!" Avdol added.

"I know." Jotaro simply said. "He's not violent, but he's still more dangerous than any other Stand User we've met so far. But…" He glanced at the lifeless body of his grandfather and Polnareff before setting his eyes back on D'Arby.

"I can't afford to not do this!"

Noriko gasped at his words. She knew that Jotaro was determined to do this. As much as she didn't want him to because of the fear of losing him, Jotaro is their hope of beating D'Arby and saving their companions.

To Be Continued…

I had so much fun writing this chapter since The Gambling episodes is my favorite and I personally love to gamble myself! (/▽＼*)｡o○

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter! Have a wonderful weekend and see ya next time! ～('▽^人)