The fabled dark horse had appeared, and it was certainly shocking, though the surprisng thing wasn't his strength. The truly surprising thing was that Duke was familiar with this particular dark horse. Duke was confident that he knew anyone who was anyone in the Midnight tournament; he had lived and breathed the tournament in his first couple of years at Mephisto's. He'd been in so deep that he saw it in his dreams too. Even now, when that passion had cooled off somewhat, he had kept track of the big name players and upcoming talent alike. It wasn't just a hobby, it was his professional obligation.

Duke didn't know the 2 fighting just now very well. After all, he didn't pay attention to every single wannabe superstar that stepped into the ring. But had seen them fight before, enough to where he had been sure of who they were - C listers with poor prospects. The one who had lost the fight occassionally put out a good performance, but not enough to really punch above his weight. And his opponent had been even weaker, consistently producing disappointing results. That was the impression he had of them from the admittedly few matches they had participated in. But the result of the bout was plain for all to see.

If he turned to look, Duke was sure that his gambling corner was filled with sullen looks and dashed hopes. The ones who had bet on the downed contestant had probably considered him a safe bet, before he had been thrown through the table. But Duke didn't look. He had bigger fish to fry, and there was certainly something fishy about this. If there was one thing he knew, it was that you couldn't get something from nothing. Power had a price, a source. He needed to find out what it was. With that in mind, Duke joined the ground and quietly approached the victor, catching up quickly and launching a sudden ambush.
[color=palegreen]"Hey man, that was great stuff!"[/color] He said suddenly, draping a friendly arm over his shoulders.
He put an unopened can of soda in the victor's hand before producing one of his own. Who knew where he'd gotten it from.
[color=palegreen]"Have a drink, on me. For a... hard earned victory."[/color] He smiled.

[@Crowvette][@KillamriX88]