In a saloon in the slums, a man sits tossing a coin. The hand he’d been dealt is useless and he’s out of coin. He tosses the coin into the pile on the table and lays down his cards.
His desperate wait is soon answered by his opponent, who once again wins.
“These fuckin’ cards have been shit all night!”
His complaints fall on deaf ears.
“C’mon man, give me another shot at somethin’… anythin’… I’m on a losin’ streak, that’s all. You must have another game we can play.”
A pregnant pause fills the air as the saloon falls into a hush.
“But you have no collateral. What do you intend to play with, if you have nothing left to offer?”
A crowd begins to form.
“Actually, I can think of something…. your life.”
The desperate man gulps. He nods in agreement.
“Very well. I have in my possession a coin – heads or tails. If it lands on heads, I win. I take your soul from this very table on this very night.”
The man ushers in his question.
“And if I win?”
“You’ll take your loot, your coinage and mine, and be free to walk away a very rich man.”
Without hesitation, the man accepts the bet. His opponent tosses the coin, watching carefully as it falls in slow motion to the table. As it lands, the audible gasp grows louder as everyone leans in to see the result.
Heads.
The man disappears. The crowd vanishes. The camera turns, revealing Tombstone with the coin in his hand.
“You never know when the deck may be stacked against you, which is one thing. But when you know the game is rigged and you choose to compete regardless, there’s a word for that, isn’t there? Next week at Casino Chaos, you take your life into your hands Aurora. You choose to step inside The Fortuna and take a seat opposite me at the table.”
He shakes his head.
“You know the cards won’t fall in your favor.”
Tombstone tosses the coin into the air, but it doesn’t yet fall.
“You know that the house always wins.”
Clink. It hits the table.
“But you’ll sit down to play your ridiculous game, none the less. Because you humans convince yourselves of fallacies and underdog tales that are nothing but fantasy. When in reality, the game is always stacked against you. It is from the moment you are born to Arcadia. Your purpose is to exist and then perish. This isn’t a game that can be won, Aurora. There is no escape… not from The Ferryman.”
The coin reveals a head.
“There’s no-where you can hide that I won’t seek you.”
Tombstone turns it over, revealing another head.
“There’s no-where to run that I won’t chase you.”
A double sided coin.
“And there’s no distance too far in which I can’t carry you.
Because when the deck is stacked against you, and the game is rigged, there’s nothing for you to do but meet your end. You should never fear your end, Aurora. The end is where we meet…
And I will send you on your way.”