Devil's Luck Pirates

William is well versed in all sorts of card games, but the one he most played against other people was poker and its variants. So the fact he and Bullet will be playing a game of gin rummy caught him by surprise.

-Are we playing for points or a single round? – He asks taking his cards.

-Single round, no deadwood, no jokers. The one with the highest meld or a good run wins. And no knocking before having all molds or a run completed. – Bullet responds while shifting the cards in her hand.

This type of gin rummy is a variation of the original. The dealer starts with seven cards and the other player with eight. The non-dealer player has to throw down a card not useful to him. This then becomes the discard pile, and the deck next to it is referred to as the stock pile.

Bullet looks at the Queen of Spades William just discarded. She immediately takes it and discards the Two of Hearts that she had on her hand.

Since the player with the highest run wins, Bullet, obviously, dealt the best hand possible to herself and will probably continue on cheating to make sure she gets what she wants.

However, two can play this game.

William ignores the card on the discard pile and draws a new one from the stock pile. Six of Clubs. He takes it and discards an Ace of Diamonds.

The game keeps going for a solid minute with no one saying a word. William and Bullet are concentrated on their respective strategies, and the rest of the crew simply watches with their hearts racing.

They have faith in William's abilities as a gambler and cheater. But Bullet playing with such confidence and an annoying grin on her face, only makes them more apprehensive.

Bullet draws a new card from the stock pile and places it on her hand.

-So, wanna raise the stakes a little bit? – She says, discarding an Eight of Spades.

William raises an eyebrow, but Pearl immediately steps in.

-Absolutely not. – She says slamming the table – We're not betting the lives of our crewmates anymore!

-HAHA! You have quite the attitude for a princess, ya know? – Bullet says.

Pearl immediately backs off. Her eyes are as wide as saucers.

-Aww, don't act so surprised, girly. Those bright, pink eyes and hair of yours are pretty hard to miss. – Bullet explains – So, Captain William. Wanna make this game a bit more interesting?

-I'm listening. – William responds seriously as he draws a card.

-Hah! – She reaches down to her side and brings up a small, wooden chest; slamming it onto the table – Here's the deal: I'll give you any kind of information you want, and… – She opens the chest with a click. Revealing two cherries connected by a stem, with several spirals that resemble question marks all over their surface – This Devil Fruit.

Everyone's attention is immediately drawn to the peculiar fruit. Including Atom; who upon hearing Bullet's offer, wakes up from his quick nap.

-Another one!? – He says in disbelief – Yall sure have luck when it comes to finding those things.

Bullet takes a mental note of that. She wonders which one of them might have eaten said fruit.

-My exact thoughts, dear Atom… – William says while examining the fruit inside the chest in awe – What would you like in return?

Pearl is visibly annoyed by seeing William being open to bargain the lives of his crew.

Bullet, again, smiles from ear to ear – Your entire crew. Including you. – She says it in such a way that sends shivers down their spines – I can make a killing with the money I'll get by selling you all to the King of Tarako. And with you William, and the princess over there being wanted by some quite important people, I can even get some special favors…

The look she has on her face is sickening. Selling people as slaves is worse than anything they've ever considered doing. And selling them to the monster that is Pearl's father? Not in a million years.

-Alright, William, I had enough of this bitch! – Verona says as he swiftly takes out his rifle and aims it at her head.

At the same time, Duros takes out his mace; and Ragnar readies his ax. Pearl simply stands there as she panics at the idea of going back to the clutches of her father.

Before the situation could escalate even further, William slams his hands on the table. The commotion draws the attention of the other customers who don't seem too bothered by the prospect of a fight. They seem to be rather interested in how this will end up.

-Stand down. – He says firmly, but quickly going back to his normal self – Don't get your weapons dirty with this excuse of a human being.

-How rude! – Bullet says sarcastically.

-I accept your offer. – William declares, straightening his pose on the chair.

-But, Captain-

Duros tries to protest but stays silent as his Captain turns around and gives him a sneaky wink.

-Oh, William. Don't act this cool, or I might fall for you. – Bullet says in a flirtatious tone.

-Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with. – William says with a sigh as he knocks with an ace of hearts. Revealing in his hand a run of Spades from Ace, to Seven.

Bullet's expression immediately goes from amusement and confidence to shock and disbelief.

-WHAT!?!? – She exclaims standing up as the crew celebrates their Captain's victory – I made sure to give you the worst hand possible!

-Yeah, I thought you'd do something of the like. – He reaches down and grabs thirteen cards from under the table in front of him.

-But how? – Bullet asks confused.

-It's called Double Lift. – He explains as he draws a card, but then reveals he actually took two of them at the same time – It was pretty hard to hide so many cards on my hands, you know…

Bullet simply growls with anger as she slumps down onto her chair. Slamming the table allowed him to drop the cards without her noticing. What a clever bastard…

-I won't say that I won fair and square, because neither of us played fair and square, so… – He says while ogling the Devil Fruit inside the chest.

-UGH, fine! Just take that shit! – she says, pushing the chest towards William, who receives it victoriously – Don't ask me what it does, cuz I've got no idea.

-Will figure it out soon enough – He says pocketing the fruit – Now, I believe you owe my friend Ragnar some answers.

-Right. Eustass Valve… – She says before taking a deep breath – In the desert of Krendor, there is a cavern near the ocean. Valve set up shop there a few weeks ago.

-Are you saying that Valve is on this island?! – Ragnar inquires in anger.

-I don't know if he's there at the moment – She responds backing off a bit – But that's the best place to look for him. It takes about a day to get there by walking, also.

-I'm going there right now! – Ragnar declares to the wind and storms off the casino.

-Oh! W-wait, Ragnar! We don't know exactly where he is yet! – Duros says as he goes after him in a hurry; Verona in toe.

-What's up with him? – Bullet asks.

-You don't deserve to know. – William says coldly – Now, you mentioned something about selling us to the King of Tarako. What do you know about the place?

-Don't you have the Princess of said kingdom on your crew? – She asks back.

-I'm not the princess anymore – Pearl responds with a serious tone.

-Whatever you say, girly. – Bullet says, playing with her cards – Listen, I just go there to sell him some slaves. We do it on the shores of the prison he has on the peninsula of the island. So I don't know much about what's inside the actual city.

-Alright, just mark the location of Valve's base on the map so we can get the hell out of here. – William says. Clearly uncomfortable with the topic of slavery being brought up again.

-Oh, don't tell me the murderous pirates have a problem with slavery! – She provokes.

William smartly decides to avoid arguing with this person and hands her the map.

When all is done, William puts the map back on his pouch and stands up to leave – Let's go guys. I hope Ragnar and the other are waiting outside...

-You guys go ahead. I have some questions for her, too. – Pearl says sitting in the same place William was previously.

He gives her a curious look; but quickly abides by her decision, and leaves.

-Alright then. Let's go you two. – He says to Gravy and Atom as they follow him out of the casino.

-Bye Gravy! – Bullet says to the cook. Receiving only a timid wave of farewell – So, what do you want to know, ex-princess?

Pearl looks around to make sure no one is paying much attention to them.

-I don't think you have the answer I'm looking for, but I want to know if there is a way to not look like… this. – She takes out her hood, revealing her dragon horns and scales that cover multiple parts of her body.

Bullet analyzes her very particular features – So the description on the wanted poster is true…

Pearl quickly covers herself again – Ragnar also ate a Devil Fruit we found a few days ago. But he didn't end up looking like me. So considering you had a devil fruit, I was wondering if you know anything about my situation.

Bullet leans back on her chair and puts her boots on the table.

-There is a lot of different types of fruits out in the world, girl. – She says with a big sigh – One stranger than the other. So I'm not really in a position to give you any sort of advice.

Pearl looks down disappointed. She was waiting for an answer of the like. But even so, she decided to try her luck.

-However… – Bullet continues – You know when someone drills something into your head so much that you start to believe it? Even when they're completely wrong?

Pearl lifts her eye to meet Bullet's. And just like that, a lightbulb sparks to life inside her head.

-I know it sounds stupid but-

-No. – Pearl interrupts her – It... actually makes a lot of sense. Thank you, Bullet. I'll keep that in mind. – She says. Giving her an honest smile at the end.

It seems that what a monster needs to change its way, is the advice of another monster.

-You're welcome, girly. – Bullet responds with a smile as well.