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Transient Fire Works
Epilogue to chapter 9: Jin, the saintly demon

Epilogue to chapter 9: Jin, the saintly demon

“AH AH AH AH AH AH Alright then guys, let us play three more rounds. Then we’ll head to the very fun place!” This got Kyle to cheer up his sour mood.

“Three rounds is it?” I ask Kyle

“Yeah. Three rounds. Are you up for it? You guys haven’t even won once!” He sneered.

“How about we up the ante. We’ll do double dare and double truths. No avoiding it either. Also, it will only be between us.” I suggested to him.

“Oh? You sure?”

“mmhmm”

“Alright then, I’ll up the ante! Just don’t come crying when you lose Jin!”

“Oh I won’t Kyle” I calmly replied. “Hey Mirana, this time, just leave the cards to me.” I whispered to her. She nodded as well because she herself was angry.

For the next three rounds, Kyle could not believe his eyes. For the next three rounds, Jin won all of them. His playing style was insane!

When Jin first got his hand in the first round, he didn’t even look at it at all! He simply discarded a flush! Kyle thought that he already got the game in his hand since he had three aces. But the hand Jin drew was a full house.

“You lose this round Kyle. I call on you” I said. I got up, took a cup, and filled it up to the brim with a multitude of drinks. Be it lemonade, coffee, beer, or soda. They were present in the cup. “Drink this cup. I call it, Hell’s Beverage” My voice went flat.

“Hey. I refused. That is still a part of the rules right?” He nervously said.

“hmmm true. But that was the old rule. You can’t refuse this one. Remember? Or if we do go by the old rules, then if I win the next one you will have to drink double the amount” I reminded him.

“Alright. I refused. Next round is mine!” he shamelessly refused.

But in the next round, it was the same. Kyle’s hand was good. His hand was three eights, one four of hearts, and one queen of diamonds. He discarded a four and drew another queen. “Holy shi- This must be my lucky day!” Kyle exclaims. He was sure that Jin had no way of beating his three eights and two queens. A full house! But Jin paid no attention to his hand. He just simply discarded his entire hand once more. Mirana was worried because his hand was originally a flush. Her face paled when he discarded his entire hand. Jin turns towards Mirana and said, “Mirana. I need your luck for this next one. Can you help me?” He removes his bottom mask and smiled at her to ease her worries.

Meracle, watching this scene, was jealous because he smiled at another women sweetly. Mirana herself was also at ease when she saw his smile. “Alright Jin. I’ll help you out” she agreed. “Oh wait. Don’t hide my hand. Just flip it on the table” Jin whispered to her. She didn’t know what he wanted but she did it anyway. One by one, she flips each cards over. *Flip* “One ace of clubs” she mutters at the first card. *Flip* the second card came out and it was a second ace. “One ace of diamonds” she mutters again.

*Flip* But by the third flip, she no longer muttered. “Ace of hearts? Three aces?” She was shocked to see this. “You can’t be serious!” Everyone’s eyes was filled was disbelief. “Wanna make a bet Kyle?” Jin was very direct to Kyle now. His voice was flat and no longer the calm and silent voice as before. “Huh? What kind of bet? There is no way you are going to beat my hand now. So make any bet you want” He said confidently. “If I do win, you will have to drink as many cups as I do have aces. But if I lose, I’ll have to drink ten” Jin smiled and extends his hands. “Heh. That is not a bet! You got yourself a death wish! Deal!” Kyle was really confident. There was no way someone’s luck was this good.

*Flip* Just then, Kyle heard death’s cloak flutter the moment the card was flipped over. “Ace of spades! Four aces!” Mirana excitedly said. She clapped her hand at the miracle that just appeared. Jin, discarded his straight and achieved a four of a kind!  He had four of a kind and all aces! But Jin didn’t even take a look at his hand.  Kyle’s heart sank deeply and lost his arrogant attitude from before.

“Let us look at the fifth card” Jin was still calm and his eyes revealed a glint of coldness. Something that he rarely expose to people. *Flip* Mirana revealed the last card. It was the king of hearts! “H-highest four of a kind in poker!” Kyle weakly moaned. His life flashes before his eyes as Jin quickly made another three Hell’s beverages. But this time, it had ketchup, mustard, relish sauce, and wasabi. All four looked dangerous to drink. Fear was written across his face.

“So are you going to reveal your hand Kyle?” I smirked knowing that his hands had a full house at best. How? I was keeping track of the cards being shuffled the entire time. This was not luck. This was simply me playing cards and remembering all of their positions. I once worked as a hustler in a casino so that was my only talent.

Kyle, knowing that he just dug his own grave, had no choice but to drink it. But then I said, “Wait. We still got one more game Kyle”. Kyle looked at my masked face with a paled expression.

“W-what is it Jin?” This time, he was not as arrogant nor as badass as he was before.

“I want to make one last deal. Similar to before. If I lose, I will drink ten of these beverages. But if I win, you will have to drink a total of six of Hell’s Beverages. But here is the kicker. When the deck is shuffled, and you will be the shuffler, we will pick out of the fifty two cards by our own hands. We each take turns picking so it will truly become a game of luck. So we could postpone this deal for now until the later” I said.

This made everyone around intrigued in our match. A game of true luck? Of the fifty two cards? Draw your own cards? This was the most exciting match of poker that they’d ever seen. Of course no one wanted to miss this one.

“Heh… You got yourself a deal Jin. I no longer have anything to win or lose. So come at me bro!” Kyle was once more fired up and placed his last hopes on this last match.

One by one, the cards were picked by Jin and Kyle. Every person watching was breathing heavily. Even Meracle and Mirana, who was next to Jin felt their heartbeats going faster.

Kyle had kept a close eye on Jin in case of cheating. But there was no real way to tell! Jin and his insane memory was his weapon! How could Kyle know that he was able to remember their positions? Before, Kyle thought that he was just a passive panda. But behind those white facades, lies the evil eyed devil waiting to bait his next victims.

But this is why Kyle had a back-up plan. He made marks on all four aces when he was shuffling them. He was guaranteed all four aces! ‘*He* he* he* There is no way in hell that this man can get anymore aces or miracles. He just dug his own grave!’ Kyle thought.

When each person was done picking, the tension increased. People on the sidelines began to bet money on who would win. Even the restaurant owner was betting. When some people cane over to see Kyle’s hands, they all bet on him. As for Jin, he did not even look at his hand. Everyone was betting on Kyle except for the few. Meracle, Mirana, Gisela, and Rosa all bet on Jin. Akira was Kyle’s friend so he had to bet on Kyle. Not to mention he also saw Kyle’s hand. Everyone behind Kyle had an evil smile on their faces and it was so scary that it looked like a group of vengeful spirits.

“Alright Jin! Let’s see if you can make a miracle here and now!” Kyle slammed his hands downward revealing all four aces and a nine of clubs. Kyle laughs loud and clear that it sounded like it was amplified by megaphones.

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“…” Jin made no comments. *Flip* Jin flips over the first card and it was a nine of spades.

“AHAHAH he got a nine of spades!” one of the men behind Kyle roared.

*Flip* the next card to be flipped over was a Jack of spades.

“Flush? You think you’ll beat me with a flush?” Kyle was still cocky.

*Flip* King of Spades came.

“Gyahahaha!” they continued to laugh at Jin.

But the next card turned their laughter of supremacy into laughter of cold sweats.

*Flip* Ten of spades revealed itself to the audience.

“Ah ha…. You can’t be serious” Kyle now swallows his own saliva down with a audible gulp.

*Fliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip* The very last card came. The card that they thought was impossible to reveal.

“This is just not your day Kyle. No matter what color lady luck is, she is always helping the people that needs help.” Jin’s voice softly swept across the restaurant like a gentle summer breeze that foreshadows the disasters caused by a coming giant storm.

If Kyle’s hand was like a tornado, he would be described as a growing tornado that would continue to suck up everything in its path. At least, at the end, he would be able to see hope. But Jin’s hand was vastly different. It would be described as the personification of a hell. A demon bent on summoning a hurricane that would bring down the cold pouring rain to end all surrounding hope.

Jin got up, took a few more cups out and started to make the hellish beverages. The very sound scared the living daylight out of Kyle. He looked down at one of them. “They can’t be that bad right?” he muttered. Picking up one of the cups, he drank it all in one gulp. A rush of various flavors that combined to make the perfect torture tool for the mouth just came! Kyle’s stomach churned endlessly the moment it got down. His body convulses and twitches here and there.  But it somehow settles. The other people who were watching this trembled with fear.

“Oh. That is not bad. Let me try the next one.” Kyle never felt that way before and so he thought that another one would not hurt. Or that was what he thought. The second drink came with the strength of a hundred men to withstand it. With the second drink, he felt that he was on the edge of death itself. When he finally got back to his senses, he saw that Jin was coming over with more drinks. All dark and similar to the ones on the table. His eyes bulged at the sight.

Kyle quickly took the other two drinks and gulped it all down hoping to be knocked out just by the taste of the hellish drinks. Each drink was more demonic than the last. Finally, he fainted from the taste but it was only for a few short seconds.

When Jin came around with the drinks in hand, Kyle lost his mind and rushed towards the bathroom screaming in pain. The flavors of hell affected his rationality and his mental state. His stomach felt pain like never before. It hurted so much that he wanted to puke and dispose of waste at the same time just so it could end.

“Why was he running?” Jin muttered curiously.

“Huh? You don’t know why? Wasn’t it due to the bet?” Akira was confused as hell when he saw Jin’s face.

“Oh that? I was about to come over to tell him to forget the bet and just pay for the food today and apologize for the over-kill dares. Oh well. Seems like he took his own form of judgment then. Ha ha…” Jin laughed sounded like a demonic child at the moment. Everyone could see the shadow of a paled face demon behind that mask and sweet voice.

Meracle could see the demon as well and was also scared because of Jin’s fearful and daring gamble. Mirana was blown away by the devil. Rosa and Gisela both stayed silent as they watch the devil drink his own concoctions.

“Hey Jin. What are you drinking?” Akira had a lot of balls to ask Jin even after witnessing the devil himself.

“Ah this? Just a bunch of sodas I put together. Originally, it was another hell's beverage but I decided to play nice. Orange soda, grape soda, and melon soda. Taste pretty good. Here. Try it” Jin offers Akira a cup.

Seeing the cup, his vision turned blurry just by imagining the effect of the drink. “No thanks Jin. I’m alright.” Akira refused. “But what was in his drink that made him go so bad?” He had to ask.

“Oh just random things. Beer, grape soda, pineapple juice, coffee, cherry slushies, and milk. But that was just the first cup” Jin nonchalantly responded as if it was nothing.

“Oh just the first cup… Wait! Just the first cup!? What about the three others? What about the future two!?” Akira was seriously worried.

“Oh. The second cup contains wasabi, ketchup, mustard, soda, beer, orange soda, strawberry slushies, and Pineapple juice and soybean milk. Third cup contains a little more but I forgot the rest. As for the future two cups, I was going to have him drink water to wash it all down” Jin, still drinking his beverage just as before but this time, a smile could be felt through the mask. Sinister, sweet, and calm. Jin displayed no emotions the entire time the group date went on. But now he reveals a bit of his mischievous side to the candidates and was not ashamed in the slightest. “AAAAAAAAAAAHH” a shrilled voice could be heard coming from the bathroom like a wailing soul. “Ha ha seems like he is enjoying his time very well” Jin laughs. “Demon…” everyone thought. Even Meracle could not deny it. “How could someone so cruel could exist on this planet with just punishing people with his drinks and enticing them to fall with sweet bribes?” Mirana thought. “Surely the Jin from my high school could not be this evil….” Even the owner told them to forget about paying for the food when he saw this. He didn't want to offend a devil.