The man with the case sat there, waiting, scanning the scattering crowd, everyone else being much too nervous to step up first. After a minute, they spoke up. "Any other takers!?"
Chance was about to raise his hand, but Victor got to it first. "I'll go next. What game will we be betting on?" He crossed over, taking a seat right across from the man. "I'm Victor, you?"
They scanned the young man before extending their arm for a handshake. "Joaquin Kahn. You can just call me Kahn."
Victor shook his hand, a smirk on his face. "Nice to meet ya, Kahn."
"What will you bet?"
"What will I bet?"
"What do you believe is equivalent to this briefcase that I have here? What do you have that is of equal value? Don't bother lying, the bet won't go through if you do. You have to truly believe that whatever it is you bet is of equal value, or will be an equivalent of substantial cost to you."
"S-So wait, you want me to bet around 200 Billion?"
"No, I only asked for you to bet what you believe is of equal value."
"Equal value, huh?" Victor let out a nervous chuckle. "W-What? I don't have cash or anything so--"
"It isn't that simple."
"W-What? Uh..."
"What do you have of equivalent value?"
Victor pondered it for a minute before raising a finger. "What game will we be playing? Gotta know it before I bet."
"Fair. The games are randomized by the variety that I have on my person at a time. You, or rather, we, will be playing blackjack. Keeping it simple."
"How many other games do you have in there? Do I get a choice?"
"No, nobody but me does."
"Damn, harsh."
One of the gang members surrounding the table smirked. "Yeah, last guy was playin' Texas hold 'em."
Victor scoffed. "Guess we're doin' blackjack."
Kahn took out a deck of cards, quickly shuffling them. "You know the rules?"
"Who doesn't?"
Chance got closer to watch, standing beside Victor with a quizzical look, "You gonna do it, Victor? At this rate..."
"I dunno man... I'm debating it... It's a lot of money..."
"Could be worth it, could not be, but what do you even have to bet?"
"N-Not... uh... can't think of a lot of things."
"C'mon, you went in first, bro. What are ya gonna do? I can just take it instead."
"Nah... nah I'll do this. Give ya a leg up, y'know?"
"Whatever you say."
Victor sat on it for a moment, the others surrounding them getting frustrated by how long he was thinking for. Victor nodded to himself after a minute, leaning forward. "I... I'll give you... It gotta be somethin' important." Victor took off a watch, a chain around his neck, and a pocket watch from his back pocket, placing them all on top of the table. "And..." He paused, "What else do you think I could give?"
"You want my input?"
"Yeah."
"These are your most valued items, yes?"
"It ain't enough though. I need one more thing, but I'm blankin' on it."
"Your eyes. Give me your eyes."
Victor looked horrified, recoiling from Kahn. "M-My eyes!?"
"Your eyes."
Chance observed the other gang members surrounding the table, watching their expressions. Judging by how they looked, this had happened before, their expressions either disappointed or of slight amusement, mumbling to each other about, "There might be another one who loses a limb" amongst their ilk.
Victor contemplated for a moment. "W-Why my eyes?"
"Do you have something you value more?"
"I-I'm just curious about the value you get."
"I don't get any. It's what I believe is a fair deal."
"Instead of my eyes, how about my right hand?"
Kahn glanced at Victor's open palm. "That'll do."
"So... how many games are we playin'?"
"Best out of three. That sounds fair?"
Victor nodded. "Okay... yeah. That sounds good."
"Fair deal." He abruptly stopped shuffling the deck, placing it down in the middle of the table in front of them, staring Victor straight in the eyes. Kahn raised his hand, catching everyone's attention. "Who's dealing!?"
Victor looked to Chance, desperately hoping that he could deal for them. Chance noticed, and just when he was going to volunteer, one other person who had noticed that they seemed to have a friendly relationship shut it down immediately, waving for Chance to lower his hand. "You can't do it, man. You know this kid, right?" He pointed at Victor. Chance stepped back as the man who called him out stepped up in his stead. They were bald wearing a goatee on their chin, a khaki jacket thrown over their shoulders. They lowered themselves to the level of the table. "I'll deal."
Victor let out a sigh of defeat as the first set of cards was dealt. One card face down, the other face up, two at the start. The face-up card for Kahn was a Seven of Clubs, while Victor's was an Ace of Spades. Victor became nervous as his high ball card was revealed early, but he kept to himself, slightly lifting his face-down card, revealing it to be a six.
Victor with a Sixteen, only needing a five to get to Twenty-One. He wondered if he should take the gamble. They were only on the first round, so he could take the risk, but it would be better to play it cautiously as well, as it could lower the enemy's guard in a way by doing so. Playing too cautiously could also cause problems in the future, as well; not being bold enough could lead to more losses than successes. He had 3 chances to get this right, maybe...
"Call." They said at the same time.
"Flip a coin, who gets first?" The Dealer suggested.
"U-Uh..." Victor chuckled. 'Sure, let's go with that."
Kahn gave a silent nod to the man who took out a quarter from their pocket. "Call it, heads or tails, you can only choose one."
Victor tapped his finger nervously against the table. "I'll go tails."
"Heads," Kahn answered.
The Dealer flipped the coin, catching it in the air and placing it onto the back of his hand. "Heads." He gave the next card to Kahn, revealing it to be a Queen of Hearts.
Kahn sighed, "Fold."
A six of hearts is handed over to Victor. "Me too."
They revealed all of their cards, Kahn's totalling Twenty-Five, while Victor got a Twenty-Two. A tie, leading to a long sigh of relief from Victor, who was struggling to attempt a poker face. The Dealer huffed. "Alright, next round." He dished out the cards after momentarily shuffling them. Victor looked at his cards, which totaled a ten. All he could see on the other side of the table was a Three of Diamonds from Kahn.
"Call." Once again, they said it at the same time, not choosing different sides of the coin this time around, as the Dealer once again flipped it.
"Tails." The first card is handed to Victor as a Three of Hearts is slid over to him. Victor looked at his cards, now up to 13 total.
"Call." Once again, the coin was flipped.
Victor once again got the first card, his luck for the night seemingly turning for the better in his mind, a small smile creeping onto his face as a Six of Diamonds is slid to his side of the table.
"Fold."
Victor had won a round of Blackjack against Kahn after he was handed a Queen of Spades, totalling a Twenty-Three on his side, being almost neck and neck for the entire round.
The Dealer shuffled the cards once again, handing them off accordingly to the two. A joker was almost slipped into Victor's pot before being swiftly discarded by the dealer as he placed down a Four of Spades in its stead.
"Call." Once again, following the pattern, this time instead falling onto Kahn's side of the coin. A King of Diamonds slid over to Kahn, and a Five of Hearts slid over to Victor.
Kahn grimaced. "I lost, 26."
Victor chuckled, "2... 2 out of 3."
The deck is shuffled once more. Victor took a breath as he was handed a King and Three of Hearts. Kahn looked to his cards for a moment and met Victor's gaze. "Don't let your guard down."
"I-I'm not that dumb."
"Make this fun for me."
"Call." Victor's eyes widened as a Ten of Clubs was handed over to him, an Ace of Clubs being slid toward Kahn instead. He looked up from his selections of cards, almost as if seeing right through Victor, that Thirteen quickly became a Twenty-Three in one fell swoop. Victor still had a chance to end the game early, but he had to get lucky during the next round.
The deck is shuffled, and cards are distributed. The Dealer took a quick glance at one of the cards he was about to distribute, noticing it was a Joker once again and putting it to the side. The Dealer looked confused, but continued. The Eight of Hearts and Queen of Diamonds sat before Victor. He hesitated for a moment, watching Kahn check his cards. "I fold." Victor backed off, leaning back in his seat, a worried expression on his face as he looked toward the Five of Spades face-up on Kahn's side of the table.
Victor felt assured in his victory, but stood at attention just in case. There was one chance that things would go wrong, but it was a 1 in 52 chance that it was going to happen.
Sweat dripped off his brow as Kahn checked his surroundings for a moment. "Call." Tapping the table to catch the Dealer's attention. Queen of Spades slid over to Kahn's side of the table, his cold gaze watching as it crossed over. "Fold."
Kahn, out of luck, got a flat Twenty-One, winning the Fourth Round, turning this into a first-to-four competition.
The deck is shuffled once more, and the Dealer coldly dishes out the cards to the competitors sitting at the table. Victor held a straight face, but his eyes glistened with hope as a Queen of Hearts, paired with a Nine of Spades. Victor spotted an Eight of Spades across the table. Not feeling the need to take a risk, "Fold."
"Call." Victor was shocked, watching as a Three of Hearts was placed down. He was in a cold sweat, but he was still feeling confident with his Nineteen.
"Fold." A pause as all cards are revealed, Kahn leaning back as if he had taken a sip of the cold brew that was Victory. "Twenty-One..."
"W-What!? Two in a row!?"
"Well... you won multiple times in a row as well." The Dealer motioned.
"Yeah, that is that, and this is this. That's two Twenty-Ones in a row!"
Kahn leaned in, "Are you accusing me of cheating?"
"N-No...! I-I just find it odd... okay? It's odd, it feels off."
"I'll have you know that if you are implying that I'm cheating, though, you have to make sure that you know so for sure... because if you're wrong... You lose then and there."
"W-What!? I lose if I accuse you of cheating!?"
"You do. If you're wrong, that is. Of course, you can choose to double down on it and to prove me wrong. But no one has proven me wrong. Of course, we'll be as objective as possible here. I wouldn't be doing this without objective viewers in place~."
Victor bit his thumbnail. "Let's just continue."
The Dealer nodded, shuffling the cards once again. Victor once again ended up with a thirteen, speaking to him as if it were some sort of ill omen. He looked over to Kahn's side of the table, spotting an all too familiar Eight of Spades.
"Call." An Ace of Spades was handed off to Kahn, and just as the next card was about to come, a sense of dread fell over Victor.
Laid out before him were an Ace of Diamonds, a Ten of Diamonds, and a Three of Hearts, whilst Kahn had a Two of Diamonds, an Eight of Spades, and an Ace of Spades, as was previously mentioned.
Kahn slowly looked up to Victor, his black, almost abyss-like eyes staring back at him, and he had no choice but to stare back. "Unfortunate. You lost four times."
Victor smacked his lips dryly, his heart racing. "H-Hey... I..."
"An exchange must be made."
"W-Wait... p-please hold a moment."
"If you do not... follow the deal... There will be greater consequences."
"I... I..."
Chance stepped forward, a massive shit-eating grin spread across his face. "Hey..." He bit down on a dried apricot, the sound of his teeth cracking through the snack breaking through the tension in the air. "Hey... If I bet my life... would we get the briefcase, and I get to have my friend safe and sound? How's that sound for a bet?"
Victor, tears in his eyes, looked weakly toward Chance as he stood tall amongst the lot of them, confidence in his glare.
"You wish... to bet your life for your friend's?"
"And the briefcase... let's not get it twisted."
"The briefcase, and your friend's life. Bold... so you believe your own life is that valuable?"
"I do."
"Then... let us begin. The next game is Russian Roulette."