>>5579171You open your hand to see two black squares with white dots.
"Dominos?" you ask.
"Pai Gow. Older than dominoes. Older than tarot cards. But yeah, dominos, just old and Chinese." Monster waves you down to the water. "Come on, show me what you got."
You decide to descend with the help of...Mercury Toothpick!
You visualize it extending, and sure enough, it does so. You ride it down like a fireman's pole to the water. Good to know that you can make it shrink and grow without a hitch, but on the other hand, you can't think of a simpler trick.
Monster looks at you pai gow tiles. "Ah. This pair is mooy. It means you're going to die."
"Doesn't that go for anyone not immortal?"
"Good point, but I'm kidding. Mooy is plum flowers. You see, each combination of pai gow tiles stands for a step in the creation of the universe. The Gee Joon pair is God. The Tien pair is Heaven. The Di pair is Earth. You got plum flowers."
"What does it mean?" you ask.
"Plum flowers come after Gor, the geese pair. They were put on the Earth to the eaten. The pair represents a great sacrifice. Be glad you didn't get that one. After God made sure man was fed, he made plum flowers, to make the Earth more beautiful. That's you, Izzy. You make things more beautiful."
You stand in silence for a moment. Damn. You didn't expect a fortune reading to make you sound so...cool.
"At least, that's what two ancient dominos think about you."
"Is this...legit?" you ask. "Like, is telling fortunes a power you have?"
"Izzy, my man, divination is the easiest magical art. Apollo got a bunch of headcases to do it in Delphi. What will be, is, you just read the signs. I threw two random tiles at you. The universe decided what they were. I interpreted them. That's it. It's the magic version of meteorology. Forecast: pretty. Maybe you got a career in flower arrangement in your future, I don't know....buttttttt, if you dig pai gow, you know they're just like playing cards. You, me, pai gow tables, what do you say?" Monster slips a beefy arm around your shoulder. "Huh? The tiles seem to like you..."
"You mean...gambling?"
"Don't worry, it's easy to play, it's just like poker but with dots."
"I don't think any casinos would let us in." you say.
"Casinos on Earth. Ever been inside a genie casino?"
"Have you?"
"Uh, yes! And let me tell you, the genies there are hot, and not just because they're made of smokeless fire!"
>You stick a pin in the suggestion. Sounds like it could be fun, and someone should keep an eye on Monster at a casino.>Superheroes do not gamble. 