New York, 'The City that Never Sleeps', 1936. It was a quiet morning in March. A man in his mid-20s was having a walk in Central Park. He was tall, with short strawberry-blonde hair brown eyes and freckles on his face. He was wearing an odd outfit: A pink coat, red tie, blue shorts and brown boots, all under a brown overcoat. His name was Anthony de' Marconi, a member of a powerful Mafia family in the city.

He sat down on a bench and smoked a cigarette, as he glanced towards a large glamorous building not too far from there, with a golden insignia with "Empire Casino" on it and several people wanting to enter inside.

"Huh. Where did that casino come from?" He thought.

Meanwhile, near the Statue of Liberty, a Police Box materialised. A tall blonde man emerged from it. He was wearing quite the odd outfit, a rainbow patchwork coat with a blue polka dot ribbon tie and yellow trousers. That man was the renegade Time Lord known only as 'the Doctor', at the time of his sixth incarnation.

"Ah, New York," He thought smiling. "Such a delightful city, especially at this time!" He closed the door of the box and went for the exploration.

The city was vibrant as usual, with the people walking to jobs and the traffic jams. Of course, the Doctor attracted several curious and perplexed eyes towards him, especially for his coat. While walking, he noticed the ridiculous crowd surrounding the entrance of the Empire Casino.

"A casino. Don't remember any casino opening this year. How fascinating." He thought. He noticed a bar and went there to gather some information.

Inside the bar was quieter than near the Casino.

"Good afternoon." the Doctor said, smiling. "I'm the Doctor, I'd like some information."

"Yeah, the circus already went away!" One of the clients said, causing the others to laugh.

"...Haha, how funny." the Doctor said.

"Funny accent you have. Are you English?" The barman asked.

"Well, yes, you could say that." the Doctor asked. "What's with that casino near Central Park? It's quite overcrowded."

"You mean the Empire Casino? It opened recently, it's incredibly popular." One of the clients said.

"I see." the Doctor said. "Thank you." He left the bar.

Inside the bar, however, there was a person whose attention was towards the Doctor: Anthony was there too, reading the journal and drinking beer.

After a while, a young woman in her mid-20s entered, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a white dress. Her name was Molly de' Marconi, Anthony's twin sister.

"Oi, Molls! Over here!" Anthony said.

"Tony!" Molly hugged her brother. "It's so good to see you again! How do you do?"

"Eh, ya know, the usual," Anthony said. "The streets have become more annoying, all 'cause of that fuckin' casino."

"Yeah, I heard it's being quite the thorn in Dad's affairs' side," Molly said.

"Oh, that casino isn't that bad after all!" Anthony laughed. "Jokes aside, I'm kinda curious about it, even that guy too wants to see it."

"That guy?" Molly tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"

"A weird guy, an Englishman, I think. He was wearing a ridiculous clothes." Anthony said.

"Maybe he's a tourist? I can see why he wants to go there." Molly said.


Later, the Doctor went to this mysterious casino. He heard a lot from the bystanders, rumours of people losing at the Casino and never coming back, nothing but fuel to his curiosity.

And of course, the Time Lord wasn't the only one who got curious by the casino. Anthony entered inside to investigate.

The Casino interior was comfy and majestic, with its walls painted in yellow. The Doctor approached the bar table, so he could observe the game from a safe distance.

It seemed your average game, with the House always having an advantage against the player, he felt pity for the man at the time. He was in his mid-40s and had brown hair with a few grey strands and a thick moustache.

He looked rather frustrated, as he was constantly losing every single game, as expected from a game of gambling.

"Would you like to try again, Mr. Williams?" Said a man on the other side of the table, with dark hair, cold green eyes and wearing a tuxedo.

Mr Williams mumbled something, visibly annoyed by his loss.

"I-I think we should go, Jack…" A woman with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a beige dress, meekly said.

"Quiet! I'll win this time!" Mr. Williams yelled.

"Quite the loving husband, I see…" the Doctor thought with sarcasm. He kept looking at the game, but his attention was diverted by a person who, like him, was wearing an eccentric outfit.

Anthony came in and sat down next to the Doctor and ordered a drink.

"Oh, I see you are also interested in this casino." the Doctor commented. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, what's your name?"

"Anthony. Nice to meet ya, Doc." Anthony introduced himself. "Yeah, I'm interested too. Can't have a peaceful walk in the morning without this fuckin' casino occupying the streets with its clients."

"Well, yes, that is unusual, even for New York." the Doctor commented.

The game finished, and Mr. Williams lost.

"It appears you have lost once again, Mr. Williams," the man in the tuxedo said, "Would you like to try again?"

"To hell with it! I leave."

"Very well, but first, go to room 45 for the checkout." said the man.

"Why do ya need a checkout room? It ain't a hotel!" Anthony said.

"I wonder about that, too." the Doctor commented. "Let's go investigate, shall we?"

The two chased Mr. Williams without getting noticed. What seemed to be a Security member made Mr Wiliiams enter a room.

"So, do we get in?" Anthony asked.

"Either by distraction or brute force." said the Doctor.

"Let me deal with it, Doc." Anthony went to the guard. "Hey, big guy~!"

"Sir, you cannot enter here." The man said.

"Oh, don't worry, you can enter in me if you want~" Anthony kept flirting, until the man got distracted then the gangster knocked him out.

"Well, yes, doing both works too." the Doctor commented, impressed. The two entered the room.

It was…Quite dark, making it seem bigger than it's supposed to be.

"So, where's the other guy that entered before?" Anthony asked.

"Hmm, I wonder…" the Doctor looked around. "Do you have anything we could throw, Anthony? Like a coin, perhaps?"

"Huh…" Anthony checked his pockets and found a coin. He handed it to the Doctor who threw it away from them.

However, they didn't hear the coin falling to the ground.

"Hold on, where did the coin go?" Anthony was a bit alarmed.

"There's only one way to find out, Anthony." said the Doctor.

Anthony realised what the Time Lord wanted to do. "Hold on, you ain't gonna-"

The gangster couldn't finish the sentence that the Doctor jumped into the darkness.

"Wait! Oh, godDAMNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Anthony reluctantly followed him as he jumped inside.

-To Be Continued-