Let's stop gambling

(AN: I've been reading Shadow Slave recently and I can't put it down, go ahead and read it. Sunless is my batshit insane King… I'm only on chapter 112, don't spoil me)

HERE WE GO, BABY, A CHAPTER LIKE 3X AS LONG AS MY LONGEST CHAPTER AT ABOUT 5K WORDS!!!!! This took a lot, and I really just wanted to get this gambling arc over with, so if you want to support, go over to Ko-fi.com/mrlegantrop or just comment; I really love reading your comments.

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The cards were dealt.

The Devil won.

Nifty came in second place this time.

The holograms came back on, revealing a petite human version of Nifty in a traditional white wedding gown. She was standing with flowers in her hand, eagerly anticipating what lay beyond the door to the church she was in. Soon, the doorknob jingled, and in came a pale, white, chubby man, scratching at a suit, trying to conceal the flask in his suit pocket.

It seemed that Nifty didn't mind, eagerly beaming a smile at the groom as he approached her, ignoring the murmurs in the audience instead of cheers, ignoring how they whispered about her "slant eyes"; right now it was just her and her husband.

When he arrived at the podium, they held hands and looked into each other's eyes, the groom looking disinterested, contrasting Nifty's excitement. "Do you, Nanako Suzuki, take George Hayfield to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and health, till death do you part?" The priest asked.

"Yes, yes, I do."

"And do you, George Hayfield, take Nanako Suzuki to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and health, till death do you part?"

"Sure, whatever."

"You may kiss the bri-" The priest got cut off with Nifty excitedly jumping into George's arms, giving him a deep kiss, yet it seemed like he couldn't care less, only half committing to it.

The hologram glitched out, and it seemed like it was later in the day, Nifty walking six steps behind George and a few other people. The area got darker as dusk fell, and they soon got home. It was an old-school-styled house with the same 3 other people, seeming to be George's friends.

All of the men sat around the table, drinking cans of beer while uproariously laughing and talking, a jovial mood in the air. What seemed to be wrong was Nifty being in the kitchen cleaning with a conflicted look on her face. "I…thought husband and wife were supposed to celebrate on their wedding day."

Meanwhile, one of George's friends eyed Nifty from the table and deliberately said. "Well, George, it looks like you got a major chink in your armor of singleness." To Nifty's shock, George didn't stand up for the obviously racist remark from his friend, instead even laughing with him and agreeing. "You got that right, Finn; she definitely acts like a gook sometimes."

He turns around to Nifty, rattling his can of empty beer. "Oi, Nanako, go and fetch me another beer, why don't you?" Nifty clenched her hands into a fist near the sink, slowly walking towards the fridge while muttering. "Why doesn't he just do it himself?"

She hands the beer to George, who beckons her to come closer. "Listen, baby, I know how they might sound, but they don't mean it at all; they're just busting chops." Nifty didn't say anything but nodded, walking away only to almost fall over with a slap to her rear that she could only bite her lip at and walk away, concealing her embarrassment and hurt feelings.

She didn't stay to hear what they were talking about, retreating to her and George's room, where she opened her nightstand, revealing a pendant with a much older woman and a younger version of Nifty in it. She lay down stomach up on the bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling in silence while she gripped the pendant, looking more like a corpse than a real woman.

"Okāsan, watashi no sentaku wa tadashi katta desu ka?" She muttered before her eyes fluttered to sleep, ending the hologram.

More cards were dealt.

"You're the only thing that matters to me in this life." and "My dad would kill me if he found out." Were inscribed on the cards this time, showing themselves to Angel and Nifty.

James was now in second place.

The hologram turned on, showing a basketball court outside; what seemed to be members of James' previous school, wearing his previous uniform, were on the bleachers. Meanwhile, James was on the court wearing a blue number 23 jersey.

"WOOOOOO, GOOO JAMES!!!!"

Somebody screamed from the bleachers. Alicia was screaming, hollering, and cheering with her all for James, donning blue tiger makeup with a foam fist. "If you win, I'll let you grab a handful tonight!!"

"That would not improve my performance, but thanks for offering!" James replied, still talking with a flat tone but now with a smile on his face before focusing back on the game while mysteriously trying harder than before. The opposing team member stood directly in front of him, dribbling the ball with a sneer on his face.

"Have you played basketball… With your life on the line!?"

"...No, nigga, shut up and do something." James replied, the opposing team member moving to get in the paint, only for James to steal the ball with little to no effort, avoiding everybody else and shooting a mean 3-pointer.

"Y'know, number 23 there is pretty good. Isn't he that boy you always hang around with?" A girl whispered to Alicia. She has platinum blonde hair and a slim build with black pants and shorts on. "Yeah, he's James, great, isn't he?"

"Yeah… He's pretty cute too." Alicia started to side-eye the girl. "Hey, not too much on my boyfriend now, Brittany." She possessively stated. "Really? I mean, I knew he had the hots for you, but I didn't expect him to actually go through with it."

"Yeah, it was a shock to me as well." Alicia replied as Brittany looked back at James, biting her bottom lip. "Y'know, if you don't treat your boyfriend right, someone like me, I'll snatch him up"~" Alicia scowled and opened her mouth, about to say something venomous at her. But she suddenly broke away from Brittany's shallow attempts at riling her up, instead focusing back on the court, seeing James get fouled with an elbow by someone who looked like the school required them to be on the team for diversity. 

He got up, nursing his nose while looking at Alicia square in the face, having a telepathic conversation that only people who were utterly locked in with each other could do.

'Don't laugh.'

"I'm not laughing.'

'Yes, the hell you are. If you laugh at this special education kid, you'll go straight to hell, Alicia, straight to the boiler room.'

'On my soul, I'm not laughing—'

"REF, HE'S USING INSTANT BODY OF DISTORTED KILLING ON THE COURT!"

'…'

'...'

'Okay, you can laugh.'

Alicia guffawed, laughing, making what James considered to be the sweetest sound ever heard. Meanwhile, Alicia ignored the splitting pain in her skull, begging herself to continue holding out. 

The cards were dealt once more.

The Devil won, James gritting his teeth at his almost blatant cheating.

Angel Dust came in second.

The hologram flicked back into life, this time revealing yet another human version of our characters, this time being Angel Dust. He had pasty white skin and hair along with dark black nails, slight bits of makeup covering barely noticeable markings on his face under the pale moonlight.

He was wearing a blue striped shirt, neatly covering his lithe frame with brown overalls and yellow buckles on top of it. He wandered throughout the streets of New York, a sway in his hips and arms crossed as he observed the buildings, focusing in on a specific one.

It was a relatively quiet-looking building, having tinted windows and only being a floor tall; hell, the only way you could know it wasn't a completely abandoned building was the flashing pink light saying, 'Nick's Nightclub.'

Angel Dust came to the door, knocking on it three times with both hands. The door soon cracked open, revealing a single eye staring at him. "What's the password?" A gravelly voice asked. Angel Dust rolled his eyes. "Jimmy's Jizzing Jam. You don't need to put on that fake voice with me, Harry; we already know each other."

The door closed and opened back up, revealing a skinny Black man in purple makeup wearing a blue tie and jeans without a shirt. "Sorry, Angie, just had to make sure." He said in a much lighter tone, Angel Dust walking in and nodding to him while taking in the scenery of the bar.

On the contrary to how it seemed on the outside, Nick's nightclub was very colorful, with pink and purple lights illuminating the entire inside of the building. A crowd of men were sitting at tables, talking and chatting with all of them having even a little bit of makeup on. "So, Angie, do you want to start now or—" Angel Dust quickly cut him off. "Now, please, I'm itching to start!" Harry nodded feverishly and led Angel behind the curtains on a stage.

"We'll call you in ten, Angie." Harry said, walking out before Angel Dust could respond. He shook his head with a smile, focusing on himself as he sat down in front of his vanity desk. He looked at himself in the mirror, turning his head back and forth, scoping out every angle before nodding to himself and picking up lipstick first.

The next ten minutes were fast-forwarded, Angel Dust applying layers upon layers of makeup on himself before he heard a voice coming from the stage: "Hello one and all and welcome to the annual Drag event of 1928!" Angel Dust didn't react, just looking at himself in the mirror for a few seconds.

He looked like a whole new person, his face looking more colorful, lips fuller with bright red lipstick, and red eyes looking more expressive and lively than ever. He slapped himself on the cheeks and walked out on stage, a smile on his face and uproarious applause. 

The show was muted, but everyone could see just how much fun he was having, singing and dancing with a heavy emphasis on poison. What really stood out, though, was a man in the crowd getting up and out of the bar, smearing off makeup and looking through his Kodak photos of Angel Dust before and after he went on stage. He smirked to himself, "The boss will definitely give me a promotion after finding this out about his son."

The hologram suddenly cut, showing Angel Dust walking back, a prideful smile on his face as he wandered the streets until he came across a large mansion. He went to the door, but before he opened it, he quickly wiped his lips of lingering makeup and lipstick and went in with a smile on his face.

Though, his smile did not last for long, since the first thing he saw when he went into the mansion was his father in a suit and tie with a red rose on his chest at the dinner table. He was very stoic with white skin and dead serious eyes.

"Come sit with me, Anthony." He beckoned, Angel Dust losing his smile as he sat down near his father at the end of the table. "W-what is it, Dad?" Ange's father didn't respond quickly, getting up and standing behind Angel, digging in his suit pocket, and throwing out pictures of Angel's performance at his drag show.

Angel Dust was petrified, hands shaking as he tried to say something, anything, but his voice died in his throat. "Anthony, I allowed you to live in my house—" His fist came down on Angel, knocking him out of his chair and onto the floor.

"I allowed you to paint your nails like some kind of hooker on the corner."

A kick was sent to Angel's ribs, making him curl in on himself in pain.

"I even allowed you to wait until joining the family."

He furiously threw the photos on the floor beside Angel Dust, taking the moment to kick him square in the face, knocking out a tooth.

"But this, Anthony? Dressing up like a woman? Like a damn faggot***?"

He spat on the floor beside Angel Dust, straightening his suit back.

"Clean yourself up, and I better not see you pull this ever again, got it?"

He didn't wait for Angel's response, walking out and leaving his son on the floor, bruised, bleeding, and missing a tooth.

The hologram ended.

The cards continued to be drawn, more and more memories being shown, but none of them on the level of the firsts for whatever reason. Soon enough, they had lost fifteen times, and the Devil only lost twice. 

"Hmmm, it seems that you lost, as expected. You really made me work for it, though." The Devil said, grinning and filing his nails. "I suppose I could collect your souls now… Unless." He leans forward, staring into James' soul… Literally.

'My main dish is almost ready. I simply must have his soul; it is much too unique for someone who I can kill with a mere flick of my finger. It's as easy as—' the Devil thought, keeping his signature air of superiority while thinking.

"We could come to an agreement."

'Hook.'

"One more game. You lose, I get your soul; I lose, you get to ask me for anything, money, fame, women, all free of charge. Do we have a deal?

'Line.'

"...Yeah."

'Sinker. Though, I do wonder why he agreed so readily.' The Devil thinks, although not projecting his feelings out loud, instead simply chuckling and tapping his deck of cards again, this time only dealing a single card to James and himself. "James, what the fuck are you doing?" Angel and Nifty both half-yelled at him, grabbing and shaking him around.

"This is a special type of card game. Both of us put our energy into these cards, displaying a memory that makes us feel the strongest emotion. I know you may not trust me for whatever reason, so I'll give you my word, these cards are not rigged at all." He smirked and put his hand over his card. "Why don't you put that weird energy you have in the card?"

"No fucking way you're doing this!" Nifty yelled, glaring at James with an anger more than he had ever seen. Nevertheless, he looked down on her and simply said, "He could just kill all of us right now if he really wanted to; at least if I take this offer, I can save you two." His hands shook with grim resolve as he spoke.

Angel and Nifty clicked their teeth and reluctantly let go of James, allowing him to pick up and pour some of his cursed energy into the card. invisible to everyone but him, the card turned a sinister black instead of the light blue sheen it usually did. James' hand trembled a bit, but he hardened his face before giving anything away.

"If I may, I would like to go first. Would that be alright with you?"

"...Go ahead, you jackass."

"Splendid."

The Devil tapped his card twice before it flipped over by itself, revealing a drawing of him with x's over his eyes. Soon, the room was filled with darkness, everybody being caught in it before a bright light shined down on the space behind the Devil, revealing a younger Lucifer kneeling with golden chains on his arms and legs.

"Luciel Morningstar!" A feminine voice beckoned. "Do you understand the magnitude of your situation?" Only Lucifer's mouth could be perceived under his large hat, which deepened into a dark scowl. "Yes, I know what I did; I made love with my true lover, perfection in her greatest form." 

A scoff was heard. "So you admit to lying with The First Man's wife, knowing of their holy sanctity, yet not caring?" Lucifer's scowl only deepened. "Yes, I did. Lilich was too perfect for mere dust to comprehend; I had to have her, and she had to have me." 

A slam was heard. "How dare you call the King of Eden, dust? He was made directly in his father's image. Luciel, are you calling our father a waste of dust as well?" The voice angrily questioned him. "...So what if I am, Seraphiel?" Lucifer snarked back.

"Enough." A calm voice echoed throughout the room, a fiery sword appearing behind Lucifer as Michael's tanned bronze face stared down at him with contempt in his eyes. "You were always prideful, Lucifer, testing Father's limits."

He brings the sword up, grasping the hilt with both hands, flames licking his bare skin. "For the crime of adultery, heresy, and pride, I sentence you to not only lose your status as an angel but also to have your soul separated, your ego becoming a separate being entirely.

The sword plunged into Lucifer's back, coming out of his chest, screams of pain shaking the room as he clawed on the floor, staining it with golden blood. Not long after, drops of black started to leak from his wound, mixing with the blood on the floor.

The blood continued to drop as Lucifer cried in pain, forming a small, hairy black creature on the ground, looking up at the flames of Michael's sword. Seeing this, Michael tore the sword out of Lucifer's hand, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and shoving him out of the way to see the hairy creature.

He gently grabbed the creature and held it up to his face, inspecting it like how a garbage man would inspect something interesting they found in a dumpster. He soon made a sound of displeasure and stared at where the voice in the dark would be. "Seraphiel, remove Luciel's memories of my extraction of his pride. Allow him to stay in the garden with Lilith; we'll make Adam a new wife in her place after you remove his memories as well."

"Yes, brother." The voice responded as Michael stabbed the ground, opening a portal to a lush green field on earth. "I vowed to never kill anything that hadn't proved to deserve to be killed—" His flaming sword compressed into a small dagger that he brought to the creature's chest, painfully making an upside-down cross deep into his chest. "--But what happens next will be on your own… Satan."

Micheal said, ignoring the cries of baby Satan, roughly throwing him into the portal that quickly closed, leaving him alone on a predeveloped earth all by himself. Everyone looked over at the Devil, who seemed to lack his smug expression, replaced with a small frown.

The entire scene eventually faded to black, only leaving a holographic number continuously counting up, leading to the number 89. "...Even to this day, I can still feel that searing pain in my stomach… Mere sinners like you would never understand… Oh well—" He turns his head towards James, whose hands are trembling while looking at his own card. "Your turn."

James went to say something, anything, but before he could, the Devil waved his hand, and stitches formed over his mouth as he sat back down, a weight suddenly being pressed on him. Soon, ropes came from behind his chair and tied him down, and as he struggled, two metal hands forced his head into place and fingers forced his eyes open.

Soon, just like the Devil's memory, the room was enveloped in pitch black, no one seeing anything, not even the table. Soon a light shined down; this time it enveloped the younger James, who was on his bed with his head in his hands. His glasses were strewn upon his nightstand, the lenses almost completely broken. 

It lingered on the young James crying for a bit as Nifty looked over to the real James. He seemed to be screaming, his face scrunched up in an expression of what seemed to be despair. Yet, nobody could even hear a sound out of his mouth, much less the sound of the chair squeaking as he struggled intensely against the ropes. Meanwhile, the Devil stood there with a sinister smile upon his face.

Eventually a ringing noise was heard, and the young James got up, walking out of his room and into his hallway where a vintage wall telephone lay. "Hello, who is it?" He asked while picking it up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Richardson, this would be Dr. Gero of Northside Hospital calling about your friend, Alicia." 

James' fist tightened into a fist.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Well, Mr. Richardson, as you know, your girlfriend here would be undergoing surgery in a few days, and she would simply love you being here with—" 

"Don't you think I—" James stopped in the middle of his sentence, holding back tears. "Don't you think I know that? Look, Gero, that woman has been a part of my life since I was a kid; she taught me how to love, how to feel, how to be human in general!" 

He holds back sobs as he grips the phone tighter. "If I go into that hospital room, whisper words trying to comfort her, only to see her fucking dead body in front of me an hour later, then I'll—" He held back a loud sob as tears fully streamed down his face. "I wouldn't know how to forgive myself if I lied to her about her death!"

"..Doc… Hand me the phone."

A certain voice brought James out of his despair-fueled monologue.

"Hey, James… How've you been?" A softer voice called out, a far cry from Alicia's usual rambunctious tone.

"...A-Alicia?"

"Yeah, it's me. Hey, what day is it?"

"I—I—it's the fourteenth." 

"So that marks… fifteen days since I've been here and fifteen days since we've last seen each other… Why are you avoiding me, James?"

James tried to speak but was quickly interrupted.

"Never mind, I already know. You and that ego of yours are really going to get you killed one day, you know"?

Alicia's voice started to gain a bit of heat.

"Do you think that you're the main character or something? Someone who I'll just die without? I don't want you here because I think you'll boost my survival chances, dummy; I want you here because I want you to be the last person I see if I die, dickhead!"

She started to calm down, her voice getting softer and more vulnerable. 

"I don't care about death, James; as long as I get to see my best friend one more time before I go, I'll be happy."

"...When's your surgery?"

"The seventeenth."

"...I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

What appeared next was not a memory but a slideshow of pictures stitched together. 

First it was James looking at a school building, then walking away from it.

Then, it showed a silent video of James sitting down in a black coat and happily talking to a bedridden Alicia.

Next, it showed Alicica whispering into James' ear with subtitles at the bottom.

"After today, go into my house with your spare key and check my bottom drawer."

He tries to ask Alicia to elaborate on what she meant, but she only giggles and acts aloof.

The next was a video of James sitting in the waiting area for the hospital, a confident smirk on his face contradicting his nervous posture and foot tapping. Soon enough, a doctor emerged, and James got up excited but quickly lost his smile seeing the doctor's grim expression while taking off his mask.

"Mr. Richardson, I regret to inform you, but Alica Lichenstein did not make it."

His expression quickly changed, not to despair or sadness, but to one of pure indifference.

"I… I thought the surgery had a 95% success rate; how did she die?"

"She didn't pass away during surgery; she passed on the table. We spent the last twenty minutes trying to revive her. We suspect she simply had a rally."

"What the hell is a rally?"

"A rally would be when a patient on the brink of death gets a burst of energy for the next few days. These are mostly found in older patients wanting to see their loved ones, but it seemed your girlfriend held on long enough until she got into surgery."

"..."

The next slide was simply James walking. He didn't cry, didn't show emotions, just a blank look on his face. Soon, it was shown that James was in front of a middle-class white house. He picked up the rug and took the key from under it, opening the door while ignoring everything else there.

He walked up the stairs, heading straight for the furthest room on the left. He robotically opened the door and went for the dressers, carefully searching each one until he found what Alicia was talking about.

It was a big book. James opened it and saw pictures of him and Alicia plastered on almost every inch of the pages, hastily glued but full of love. It chronicled their journeys throughout the years; seeing himself and Alicia develop into the people he can confidently say are best friends filled his heart with a warmth. He flipped through the book until he got to the last page, where it had a small envelope with a purple heart sticker on it.

The note read as such:

'Dear James… I hope you're James; it would be reeeaaall embarrassing if you aren't. Anyways, if you're reading this, I'm probably dead, and you found this in my bottom drawer… I'm not really the best at these whole feeling things, especially from beyond the grave, but I'll try to express everything :). James, ever since I saw you on that playground, I knew that we had something, something special, something that could never be replicated. Over the years we've seen each other become the best versions of ourselves that we could ever be, and that was with each other. There is no other way of saying this: I love you with every inch of my heart; if only I could muster up the feelings to tell you. To be honest, I've always been nervous because of the whole brain tumor thing. I've had it since I was young, but I figured I could confess to you before I succumb to it… But if you're reading this, I suppose I couldn't. Please, James, live out the best life you can without me.

Sincerely, Alicia, beyond the grave (OoOoOoO lol).

James was silent as he read the note, reading it twice over, then thrice over, before gently putting it back in its place and falling down on the floor, weeping like a child. The hologram ended.

The Devil looked over at James, wanting to observe his reaction. He had tears streaming down his face, and he had stopped struggling, looking like a corpse. A wide smile appeared on his face. 'There it is, that face of despair. I think I can do it now.' He thought, removing the stitches and ropes while raising a finger to James as a red chain burst out of his fingertip, heading straight for James' neck.

C L A N K

Unexpectedly, the same card that the Devil dealt James was right in front of him, protecting him from the chains with a sinister black aura surrounding it. The Devil scoffed and tried again, bursting out more chains, but no matter what, the card would deflect all of them.

 "What the hell?" He grumbled out, eyes narrowing as the card's black aura started to suddenly expand, catching everyone inside of it and taking them to a completely dark space. Soon the image of a young James walking into a graveyard with a shovel and bag was seen, a crimson red word in the sky highlighting him.

CONSUME

The young James walked for minutes on end, only stopping in front of a grave that was too dark to see, only for a flash of lightning to illuminate the name: Alicia Lichenstien. James clicked his teeth and started to dig without any hesitation.

Dirt flew everywhere, desecrating other graves that James couldn't care less about. Soon, he found his goal, opening the coffin to reveal Alicia in a white dress, holding a bouquet of flowers. He carefully picked her up in a princess carry, putting her down on the ground next to him before picking up his shovel, holding it over his head with a two-handed grip.

CRACK

He slammed the shovel down on Alicia's head, the blood pouring from the wound not stopping him.

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK

He continuously slammed the shovel down upon Alicia's head, disfiguring it beyond belief. He soon stopped, putting the shovel down and digging into her skull, picking out pieces of her brain and putting them in his bag. "I'm sorry." He said, kissing her mauled head and staining his lips in blood before putting her back in her casket and putting the dirt back.

The scene quickly changed to Alicia's own house, James putting the bag down on the kitchen counter and turning on the stove, taking out pieces of her brain and putting them on a pan, seasoning them with a distant expression. He soon got done cooking it and put it on a plate, sitting down alone with only dried-up blood accompanying him.

"Would this be it, Alicia? Can we finally be… Together?"

CHEW

CHEW

CHEW

SWALLOW

The plate was empty. James looked up at the ceiling, 

Everything vanished, and everyone was sitting back at the table with James' card now in front of the Devil, showing a red 90. Everyone was shocked, not only from James' cannibalism but also from how visceral it had been; they could almost feel Alicia's brain matter on their tongue. The room was silent for a bit more until Angel Dust finally spoke.

"From what I remember… James over here could ask you for anything if he won, right?" The Devil bristled at Angel's words, baring teeth and scraping his nails on the table. "Yeah… Yeah, he did say that." James spoke, wiping his red eyes and staring at the Devil.

"What I want is for everyone here to be able to walk out and go home without any forces that you directly or indirectly hire to come after us in any way, shape, or form. Neither you nor your minions can pursue us, and none of the people with me will be chased after. That is my request."

James worded his request very carefully, knowing the tales about deals with the Devil; now actually being faced with him, he knew that he couldn't half-do any of his words and thought about every sentence he said.

The Devil's anger only got worse, his eyes turning into reminiscent of snakes as his teeth turned into fangs. "... You… You damn ingrate. How the hell did you win? I specifically rigged those cards!"

"I guess your word is worth jack shit." Angel Dust snidely said, invoking a giggle out of Nifty and James.

"Silence, you damn whore! I am Satan Morningstar, part of the king of hell and the sin of Pride! How can you, of all people, circumvent my powers when the others couldn't?" The Devil seethed with anger as he glared at James, multiple eyes starting to open on his face.

"I don't know, bro, ask your cards; I didn't do anything." He said, An unexpected turn of events. Instead of doing a cheesy protagonist speech about his will, James just shrugged and got out of his chair while talking. "Now, can you let us out now? Your chair's a bit stuffy."

SWOOSH

James couldn't even react, merely blinking and seeing a massive claw in front of his face, only being held back by multiple pitch-black chains. "Aww, what's wrong? Is the little devil mad because he can't cheat on a deal he himself made?" James joked, trying to dispel the nervousness he felt knowing he could've died instantly.

He shook his head with a smile, wrapping an arm around Nifty's waist and turning towards the door. "Alright, Scooby gang, let's roll out, you too, Vaggie!" He looked at the bookcase where the aforementioned Vaggie walked out, still on guard. "Did you see anything?" He asked. She shook her head as the entire gang walked out of the room, leaving the Devil seething in a chair by himself.

"Yo Charlie, Amery, we have to go!" James yelled, pulling a stoic Amery out of a throne of poker chips being watched by many angry sinners and swimming into a literal ocean of gold coins to find and grab Charlie.

When they finally got outside, James quickly summoned his divine dogs, Max the elephant and Tiger the funeral, beckoning everyone to get on the animals. "I'll catch up to you guys on a bird; he's a lot slower than the others." James said with a smile. Everyone nodded and started to ride to the hotel while James stayed still for a moment, the smile on his face quickly disappearing as his senses finally did not detect Amery or Vaggie anymore.

"Nue."

He incanted, summoning a truly massive version of Nue, bigger than an entire skyscraper. "I don't recall ever saying that I couldn't attack him, did I?" He rhetorically asked himself before focusing his attention on the eastern part of the casino, the same place where the Devil had taken him.

"Nue, blow that part of this building sky-high and ride me outta here." He coldly said, Nue, follow orders immediately and unleash a massive lightning blast, James covering his eyes from the smoke. He quickly got on Nue and flew away without looking back at the destruction. 

"Bitch-ass Devil."

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THE END

The Japanese for Nifty's part was supposed to be "Did I make the right choice, mom?" but google translate is stupid and repeats it as something different.

(Shameless plug: Ko-fi.com/mrlegantrop)

Who's up dusting their angel right now?.-- Angel Dust