Chapter 20: Here I come to save the day!
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	Setzer analyzed the situation on board the opposing ship in an
instant.  Obviously they were not as interested in a race as he had first
assumed.  Though he wouldn't dash the possibility immediately.  He thought he
was the only one who knew how to build and pilot an airship.  Obviously he had
been wrong.  'I would have lost that bet.' he mused.

	A scream startled him from his thoughts.  "Oh, don't cash all your
chips in yet." he called out, grabbing a rigging line and slashing it with the
edge of one of his razor sharp playing cards.  Wrapping the end of the line
tightly about his wrist, he launched himself from the edge of the ship,
leather coat and white hair flying equally free in the rush of air he passed
through.

	He landed on the balls of his feet, the tail end of a cry of victory
still sounding in his throat.  He spun, tossing cards at the three creatures
whom he and the two others fought against.  Setzer grinned.  With his
presence, the tide had turned significantly.  "Wild cards tend to do that to
the game." he said idly, drawing an odd look from the green haired lady who he
had initially thought to be the lovely and talented half-Esper, Terra.

	But even with his aid, the monster's abilities far overwhelmed his
and his new comrades'.  "/Now/ it's time to cash in..." he yelled at the two
others, slashing one of the handy rigging ropes on this ship.  "Grab on!"
Setzer wrapped the rope about his wrist just as he had done before, fixing the
Coin Toss relic about his wrist.  The lovely almost-Terra and her friend
grabbed onto Setzer in absolute trust, having identified themselves that this
fight was a hopeless one.

	Setzer's fingers dipped into his money pouch, drawing out a handful of
coins.  With an expert touch achieved only by a man who had made the
manipulation of chips his life, Setzer tossed the stack of coins into the air,
catching them in a slot set into the Coin Toss relic.  With a buzz of grinding
metal, the coins were honed to a razor edge, then propelled out at blinding
speeds - to strike the balloon which held the airship high above the land.

	With that, Setzer launched himself and his two new companions from the
edge of the crippled airship.  Looking for all the world like a scene stolen
from a space opera, the three flew across the gap between the two ships, to
land gracefully (at least on Setzer's part) on the deck of Setzer's ship.

	Setzer turned, smiled and waved at the almost comically horrified
fiends who stared at him from across the gap.  "Enjoy your trip down!" he
cried with a merry wave.  And with that, the only functional airship left
upon the planet went spinning off into the horizon.