Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00177. A poker game.

“Come on, land on red you stupid ball!” Tsunade yelled out as she watched the ball spin around the roulette wheel.

Ezekiel and the rest of the group were also watching the ball as it slowly came to a stop and the dealer said, “Black twenty!”

Everyone cheered except Tsunade who gave everyone else a glare as they collected their winnings for betting on black. Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Don't blame us for betting opposite what you pick.”

Tsunade downed her whole drink before she said in an annoyed tone, “Why not? You're all clearly doing it on purpose!”

Hashirama laughed as he put his arm over Tsunade's shoulder and said, “It's because we don't want to lose!”

Tsunade slapped off her grandpa’s arm as she said, “Let's play something else.”

“How about we play poker, since it's more of a skill based game instead of being mostly luck based. We can even set it up in one of the penthouse suites so no one else can join.” Tony asked.

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Sounds good to me. I could grab another person or two so we have a full table.”

Anna leaned against Happy's arm as she said, “I don't know how to play poker.”

“Neither do I.” Pepper said.

Tony smiled as he said, “JARVIS, inform the casino manager of what we want to do so it can be set up in the presidential suite.”

“Already done, sir.” JARVIS said from Tony's phone.

“Great. Since that will take a little while, let's head over to the poker room. We'll play some practice games to get you both familiar with the rules while the private room is set up.”

Ezekiel created a portal as he said, “It shouldn't take me long, give me half an hour at most to find a couple people. I’ll come find you in the poker room afterwards.”

Ezekiel disappeared through the portal a few moments later and ended up at the main base to find a couple people he knew enjoyed playing poker. Steve and Bucky were the top candidates since they had a poker game going once a week at the base. But anyone who was a regular at the game would work. Good thing everyone could use a basic henge now, so hiding who they are would be pretty easy.

As Ezekiel headed towards the gym area a black haired girl charged at him like a missile as she said, “You're here!”

A moment later Gabby jumped onto Ezekiel and hugged him as Logan appeared down the hallway from where Gabby came from. Ezekiel returned the hug as Logan stalked down the hallway with his signature gait like he was hunting prey. Once he was close Gaby released her hug and asked, “Did you come by to play with me?”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Not today, I just stopped by because I need a couple people for a poker game.”

Logan was about to speak when Gabby jumped up and down and asked, “OH! I know how to play! Can I come play too? Please? Please? Please?”

Ezekiel and Logan both glanced at Gabby as Ezekiel asked, “Who taught you how to play poker?”

“Natasha! We play it once or twice a week with a bunch of the other kids. I've even won a couple of times!” Gabby said with her head tilted back slightly in a haughty manner.

“And what did you win?” Ezekiel asked, thinking the kids were playing for snacks or candy.

“It's poker, we always play for money!”

Ezekiel shared a glance with Logan who shrugged before he asked, “Where did you kids get money to gamble with?”

“Big sis Tsunade gave us some so we could play with her. But she keeps losing so we all got a bunch of money now.” Gabby said with a smile.

“Big sis Tsunade? You know she's old enough to be your grandma, right?” Ezekiel asked.

Gabby smiled and rubbed the back of her head as she said, “She beat all of us up when we called her old… So we call her big sis now.”

Ezekiel chuckled before he asked, “Alright, so who normally plays in these poker games?”

Gabby took on a thinking pose before she said, “Everyone's played at least once or twice. But it's mostly Natasha, Big sis Tsunade and me. Then we just invite other people till we have a full game. Even though we sometimes end up with two or three groups playing and we go until we have a winner. Then the top three people normally split the prize money.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he chuckled before he asked Logan, “You feel like playing?”

Gabby grabbed his hand and said, “Let's go play together dad!”

Logan glanced at Gabby for a few moments before he said, “You’ll have to ask your mom first.”

“Okay!” Gabby said and started to pull Logan back down the corridor.

“I'll be in my lab, come find me when you're done.” Ezekiel said as they left.

Ezekiel was in his lab as he checked in with a few of his clones and the status of some current projects he was working on. After twenty minutes or so he heard the sound of kids talking excitedly. He glanced up just in time to see Gabby, Cessily, Natasha, Laura, Leech, Logan, Yelena, Alexei, Melina, Skye and Ava enter the room. Ezekiel took a single look at the group before he texted JARVIS, ‘Have an extra poker table setup and tell me the room number. I’ll just portal directly into the room with the others.’

‘Understand sir, I’ll inform Mr. Stark… It’s the top floor presidential suite on the west tower.’

Gabby bounced over to Ezekiel and gave him puppy dog eyes as she asked, “Can we bring more people?”

“You know you're normally supposed to ask before you invite them.” Ezekiel said with a slightly disappointed tone.

“Sorry! I just told them I was going to play poker and they wanted to join… I couldn’t tell them no, they're my friends.” Gabby said with her sad puppy dog look at full power.

Ezekiel let out an exaggerated sigh before he said, “I’ll let it slide this time, but you need to ask for permission before you invite more people next time.”

“YES! You’re the best!” Gabby said as she instantly brightened up and hugged Ezekiel.

Ezekiel shook his head lightly before he glanced at everyone else as he said, “Let's head over to the portal room.”

Once they reached the portal room Ezekiel created a portal and ushered everyone through it. On the other side they were greeted by a few casino workers who stared at them for a moment before they continued setting up the poker tables and chairs. The kids quickly scattered to explore the penthouse while Logan headed over to the fully loaded bar and poured himself a drink. Alexei and Melina quickly joined him to make some drinks themselves.

As the workers finished setting up the second table, Tony and his group entered the penthouse. Tony glanced at Logan, Alexei, and Melina before he asked, “JARVIS said you were bringing enough people for two games… Where’s everyone else at?”

“We were just checking out the rest of the place, old man.”

Tony’s right eye twitched as he turned around to see Natasha with her arms crossed over her chest with a smirk on her face. Tony glanced back towards Ezekiel as he asked, “You really invited some little brats to play? Do they even have money or know how to play in the first place?”

Ezekiel smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he said, “Only one way to find out… Besides, I’ll buy them in.”

Tony shook his head as he said, “Whatever, I’ll gladly take your money.”

Natasha walked past Tony as she said, “That’s my line, old timer.”

Tony was about to respond when Gabby burst into the room and said, “Ezekiel! We found a bunch of snacks! They were just out on the table, this place is awesome!”

Gabby, Ava and Skye each had their arms full of candy bars, chips and other things as they rushed into the room with smiles on their faces. Tony glanced at them and let out a sigh as he asked, “Just how many kids did you invite?”

Ezekiel patted Tony’s shoulder as he said, “Don’t worry, this’ll be fun.”

It didn’t take long to get everything sorted out and to start both games. While Tony complained a little at the start, he was more concerned about beating Natasha since she was at his table. While Ezekiel ended up sandwiched between Gabby and Leech at the other table. The games progressed until they merged both tables together with Tony, Natasha, Gabby, Logan, Cessily, Tsunade, Alexei, Happy and Pepper still in the game. Once they did that, everyone took a break to order room service and eat before they started the next portion of the game.

Even though half the people were eliminated, everyone stuck around to watch the other half of the game. Ezekiel and the others mostly chatted off to the side as the game wore on and people were slowly kicked out. Tsunade ended up lasting till only four people were left which included Natasha, Tony and Gabby.

As the next hand was dealt the betting quickly escalated after the flop before Tsunade’s voice rang out, “All in.”

“Call.” Natasha said instantly as Gabby and Tony quickly folded.@@novelbin@@

After a quick chip count Natasha flipped over her cards and said, “Two pair, with pocket aces.”

Tsunade wore a smug look as she flipped over a pair of kings and said, “Full house.”

Natasha frowned as Tsunade started to laugh as the cards on the board were a king and two tens. The dealer waited a moment before they dealt the next card which was a nine. Natasha said nothing as Tsunade eyed the chips on the table with greed, already considering them hers. A few moments later the dealer pulled out the river card and slowly flipped it over. The whole room went quiet as an ace showed up on the board and the dealer said, “Winner full house, ace’s over tens!”

“FUCK!” Tsunade yelled out as she slammed her hands down on the table and broke it.

Luckily the table easily broke apart so only her spot was damaged and the chips weren’t thrown all over the room. Natasha collected her chips with a smile as Tsunade stormed over to the bar and started to drink from a bottle. The rest of the game finished up with Gabby winning against Natasha, while Tony was knocked out a few hands earlier in third place. As for how much Gabby won, it was just over two million dollars for first place, which she stuffed into a large pillowcase.

When the night was wrapping up and Ezekiel was portaling people back home, he noticed Pepper and Tony talking together on one of the couches as they drank. Instead of interrupting them, he finished sending everyone off before he left himself, which left Tony and Pepper all alone in the penthouse. It was pretty late when Theo finally arrived back home, but he still took a shower before he went to bed for the night. Early the next morning Theo woke up and after getting his siblings up, helped prepare breakfast before he went to school.