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| - “The game is rather simple,” Gambull said, beginning to unwrap the packaging around the deck of cards, “and all you need to do is beat me and you’ll get all the medicine you need to help your captain.” “Then what’s the game?” D’Artagnan asked, his body still set in a fighting position. “It’s an original creation of mine,” the bull-headed bounty hunter answered, “basically, we’ll be using cards based on members of your crew and my team, and duke it out in a form of ‘card duel’. I think someone once suggested calling it Yu.... something or another after that, but I turned them down. Insisted that they couldn’t really sell.” “I dunno,” the Majin first mate answered, “if you just add a few more syllables I think that you might create something special.” “Really?” Gambull brightened. “Yep,” Art nodded back, his eyes closed as well. “Well, no matter,” the bounty hunter huffed, finally removing the packaging, “are you prepared to duel or not?” Art grinned, his body this time shifting into a more civil form. “You’re on!” he said, “I’ll play your stupid game, and I’ll BEAT you at it too!” The figure from before laid his head gently against the outer walls of the building, still panting and sweating buckets. A few moments of rest gained, he stepped back once more, and threw his head up, looking at the massive expanse of the casino itself. “Okay...” the green-haired person said slowly, “let’s finish this all up then...” Art and Gambull stood at opposite ends of the game table, each one with a row of cards before the both of them, all of them turned upside down and exposing plain brown backs with black triangles on each of them. “The rules are simple,” Gambull explained, “on each turn, you can choose to overturn a card or draw one from the deck. If one or more cards is already turned over, you can attack with them. When you attack, you can either destroy one of my cards or attack me directly, reducing my vitality points, which are displayed on a board over there along with yours.” He pointed his hand in the opposite direction, showing a small board there indeed, with two displays on it, each one with a variety of numbers on each one, the displays corresponding to each side of the board. “Then should we begin?” D’Artagnan asked, a fair bit of confidence in his voice. “Do you want to go first?” Gambull asked right back. “No, you do it,” Art answered back as calmly and civilly as he possibly could. Hoh... Gambull thought to himself, he’s a sharp one, this pirate. “Alright then,” he said, “I’ll take the first move.” The bounty hunter flipped his first card; exposing an image of Crowe with accompanying numbers, “Card: Crowe. Special ability: To attack on the same turn that it is called.” “Special ability?” D’Artagnan asked, a bit of panic edging into his voice, “you didn’t tell me about those!” “Ah, yes, how rood of me,” Gambull bowed, “you see, some cards have special abilities that can affect their role and the tide of battle itself. For the record,” and at this an edge of menace appeared, “your cards have nothing resembling special abilities... except for one, hidden within the deck. Ah, yes, and I believe I have attacked one of your cards.” He reached over and turned one of Art’s cards over, exposing Gopher’s card, and promptly flicked it over the edge of the table, “Crowe’s attack points are greater than your chef’s life points, it seems.” “Damn it...” the Majin growled, “you really thought of everything, huh?” “I assoomed that you would be a good gambler,” Gambull answered politely, straightening up again, “perhaps I was wroong? Noo matter, as you can see it is your turn.” “Tch, fine!” the Majin cried back, before reaching over and pulling a card from his own deck, “that’s all I can do, right?” “Precisely,” the bounty hunter leader answered, “though you can check the card yourself if you so desire.” D’Artagnan gave it a brief glance, turning it around carefully so that Gambull couldn’t see it. The Majin gave no indication of a reaction in any way, and simply placed the card next to the others in his current lineup. “Your turn,” he finished simply. “Hm...” the leader of the Cowsino Bounty Hunters mused, “yes, of course.” He reached over and pulled up his other card, showing a picture of Pinkuma. “Card: Pinkuma. Special Ability: To gain an extra turn, but at the loss of attacking this turn. Shame. I could’ve ended things quicker that way. Ah well, I suppose I can still win with this method.” Gambull flipped over another card, exposing... himself?! “Card: Well, me. Special Ability: To take out two of the opponents’ cards!” “Ah, come on!” the Majin protest, panic now fully evident, “that isn’t fair in the first place!” “I thought you were a gambler, D’Artagnan-kun,” Gambull countered smoothly, “strategy is a part of any good gambling game, is it noot?” “Ghhh...” Art growled under his breath. “Indeed,” the bounty hunter answered slowly as he flicked over Stormy and Sid’s cards, “your turn once more.” Sweating buckets, D’Artagnan gulped down some saliva and answered. “I’m going to draw a card again.” Hm. Gambull’s eyes narrowed. Curiooous, most curious. He shouldn’t know which card has the special ability, or even have an inkling of that ability’s effect. Yet he’s putting all his faith into drawing cards... both interesting and... annoying. “I’ll end this in one shot!” the leader of the Cowsino Bounty Hunters declared, lifting up his hand dramatically into the air! The hand came down, flipping over another card, this one displaying an image of Lambia. “Card: Lambia. Special ability: To directly attack the opponent! GO!” At his prompting, the board with Art’s vitality points on it flashed, and a massive amount of numbers dropped off! “The hell?!” the Majin gasped at the occurance. “Mooost excellent!” Gambull straightened his helmet, “it should take about one more hit to finish you off. Now, D’Artagnan-kun, your final turn, if you please.” Art leaned back, relaxing his entire body. The Majin let out a long breath, composing himself for what was to come. Finally, he straightened and even leaned towards his opponent a little, a good deal of the panic that was once there gone. “I choose... to draw from the deck,” he said. “WHAT?!” Gambull howled, smashing his fist against the table! “Why?! There’s no possible way that you’ll find the card with the special ability, and you don’t even know IF it will somehow help you win! I thought you were a potentially great gambler, but you’re just a bafoon! No matter, I’ll finish it all up in one shot!” The bounty hunter smashed his hand this time on his own side of the game board! “The final card!” he cried, and flipped over a picture displaying all of the Cowsino Bounty Hunters as one! “Card: Cowsino Bounty Hunters! Special Ability: To Use the power of any card in this deck that you choose! I choose Lambia’s card! Now, be defeated!” However, rather than slumping or admitting defeat like many previous opponents.... D’Artagnan grinned, allowing his hair to fall over his eyes. “Thank you...” the Majin smirked, “you opened up to the road to my victory.” “...Eh?” “Even though I said I’d draw from the deck in my last turn, I actually used one of the cards in my lineup. You got so pissed off at my repetitive answers that you didn’t even check if I did what I was saying after the first few times. It’s a typical thing for overconfident people like you. If there’s even the slightest suggestion of a habit, you’ll latch on and commit to memory as a fact. That’s your fatal flaw! All I had to do was get you to think that I was going to pick from the deck, when in actuality I chose-!” At this, Art lifted up a card, then turned it around, exposing-! “My own card! Card: D’Artagnan! Special Ability: To absorb the damage from the next turn’s attack and return it twice over!” “I-impoosible!” Gambull stumbled pack, “y-yooou had no way of knowing that that was the card that had the special ability-!” “Yeah,” the Majin answered coolly, “but faith is a decent part of gambling too, isn’t it? And I guess luck is too, if ya think about it.” “I-I-I-I!” the bounty hunters stammered, as the effects of the card took hold, and his vitality points dropped to... five! “And it’s still my turn again,” Art smiled, “you were defeated by your own hidden hubris, and so early too. Gambull... it’s my win.” “NAY!” Gambull howled, smashing both of his fists into the board and causing it to crack and collapse, “I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT! AFTER ALL THIS, I WOULD BE BEATEN BY SUCH A CHILDISH TRICK?! NOOOO! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS POSSIBILITY!” With a sudden burst of speed that surprised even Art, the bounty hunter leader lunged across the table, aiming a punch directly at his face! “POCOW!” The Majin managed to get both his hands up in time to receive and block the blow, but the force of it still sent him flying back! He crashed into a wall, and then slid down, groaning slightly as Gambull fully righted himself, cracking both fists. “Oppooorunity is a part of gambling as well, right, D’Artagnan-kun?” the bounty hunter smirked beneath his mask. Allowing his head to droop slightly, and his ears perking, Art still managed out a small smile, irking Gambull further. “What are you still smirking about?!” he growled, turning to face the Majin head on. “I still... have one more... card with a special ability,” D’Artagnan mumbled happily. “What the hell is that suppooosed to mean?!” I hear ya, Knave. the Majin thought to himself as the sounds of running feet reached the ears of all those present, I’ll let you take this one, buddy. Knave exploded through the door, his hand becoming rapidly surrounded by heat and kinetic energy, delivering an incredible blow directly to the side of the bounty hunter’s face! “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TO MY CRRREWW?!” he howled as he attacked!! “GGGRAAAHHH!!!” Gambull cried, toppling over and tumbling several times before managing to stop, forcing himself up to his knees and rubbing the side of his head as Knave dropped to the floor, the energy vanishing as quickly as it had come, “damn you.... daaamnnn yyooouu... DAMN YOOOUU ALL TO HELL!!!!!” The bounty hunter forced himself to his feet, his very being blustering under the incredible anger surging through him! “I’LL KILL YOOOU ALL! ALLL OF YOUU!!!” “LIKE HELL!” Sid cried, as he too exploded through the wall, aiming a kick directly at the bounty hunter’s chest as well, “SHIGAN KIKKU!” Gambull made no sound as the final blow landed, the rest of the world appearing to him as almost pure white, with vague black particles flowing around him. I... he thought to himself as darkness began to consume his vision, ...I just wanted.... I just... wanted... one thing... Gambull thought as he blacked out fully, the final member of the Cowsino Bounty Hunters collapsing at last. “Whewww,” Sid sighed, taking a step back and rubbing the sweat from his forehead, “that was tougher than I thought when I first agreed to this whole damn thing. Honestly, if it wasn’t Kagome-chan asking us to fight, I would’ve punched you about now.” “Well, thank god for our lookout then,” Art muttered, forcing himself to his feet as well and rubbing his face, “that guy was a bit stronger than he looked. Feels like he broke my nose with a single freaking hit. Speaking of,” he turned to face Knave, who was still swaying on his feet, “thanks for coming in like that. Things would’ve been a lot uglier if you hadn’t.” “That’s our captain!” Sid cheered from the sidelines. “Y-yeah...” Knave stuttered, the marimo lad swaying worse and worse, “I’m just glad that everyone’s okay-” And with that, his eyes closed once more, his fever overcoming him, and he collapsed onto the button Art had spotted earlier! Almost immediately the floor underneath him sequenced, and the part that remained jerked upwards, sending him flying through the air, smashing through the roof, and hurtling into the air with nary a scream! “KNAVE!” the first mate and navigator cried, their arms outreached futilely! Stormy, Mercuia, Kagome, Pura, and Gopher burst into the room, looking around. “Did you guys win?” Stormy asked frantically, still glancing around as frantically as possible, “you guys won, right?” “WOW!” Mercuia’s eyes lit up, spotting the oddly damaged floor, “I’VE NEVER SEEN A FLOOR LIKE THAT BEFORE!” “MERCUIA-CHAN! STORMY-CHWAN! KAGOME-TAN! PURA-SAN!” Sid cried in lustful joy, his eyes transforming into hearts and leaping through the air towards them, a peaceful song playing as the background around him turned to pure hearts! A scenery that was quickly spoiled as all of the girls save for Mercuia and Kagome planted their feet directly onto the navigator’s face, knocking him back! “Arghh...” Sid muttered, his face swollen and inflamed from the attacks, “at least... in this pain... I think... someone like me... has found love... perhaps.... by Sid Cheney...” “D-did you just attempt a haiku, Sid-san?” Kagome asked, hovering over him, “b-because I don’t think that it worked at all.” “Gao,” Gopher nodded solemnly, nodding in tune with Kagome. “Guys!” D’Artagnan cried, “I think we have a problem!” “Eh?” the rest of the crew asked, looking towards him. Art dropped Gambull’s now fully unconscious form, which he had been grasping by the collar. “I asked this guy where the panel that launched Knave went,” he said, turning towards them, “and it’s toward an island I’ve never heard before. I think we need to go save our captain again.” “And the island is?” Sid asked, popping up and preparing to chart a course. “Crown Island.” “Hoh,” the man with the sniper rifle observed as he saw Knave fly away, “that’s a pretty impressive escape measure, Gambull-san.” “Your mission is clear, isn’t it?” the basso voice rumbled through the Den Den Mushi placed next to him on the rock he was perched on, “eliminate any survivors. They’ve done an unprecedented amount of damage to Deathwatch as it is.” “Gotcha, sir,” the sniper answered, putting the rifle aside and standing up, stretching, “don’t worry, I’ll get it all done.” “Excellent,” the basso voice answered, seemingly satisfied, “you live up to your title as the fastest bounty hunter in all of Deathwatch, Blitzkrieg.” “Just get the paycheck ready,” Blitzkrieg (the sniper) yawned, finishing his stretches. “Because by the time you get it ready, those little pirates will be long gone.” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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