Chapter 272: Chapter Two Hundred Seventy Three

Sloane was understandably upset about losing, but we made sure to let  her know how well she'd done. "You were awesome." Callie stated with  finality. "Seriously. You were so fast. You just met the exact wrong  opponent. Solomon or I would have had a hard time beating you and you're  going to do great in the tournament." I wasn't really sure that was  true, but I decided not to get involved. She was trying to help Sloane  feel better more than anything.

"That's not the point!"  Cried Sloane in frustration. "I barely put up a fight. Not to mention  everyone bet on the match. If I got back to the Garden missing that much  money I'm going to be in so much trouble. Since the two of you kicked  the shit out of the big guy, I can't even bet on you both to make it  back, because no one is going to give either of you decent odds in any  of your fights now."

Abel snickered a bit at her frenzied  tone. "Well, I was planning a trip to the Burning Rain Casino next. If  you really want to make money you can always do some gambling. Sadly the  games are all luck based so enhanced stats don't do much good, but  still, it's not a bad place to make a few bucks if you're having a good  day." He paused. "Or lose a few, it's pretty hit or miss, but you're  already behind quite a few bucks anyway. Might as well give it a shot."

"That's..."  Mel sighed, putting her hand to her mask in annoyance. "We aren't  really trying to get them all to gamble away their...and you're gone.  Fantastic." Abel, apparently not in the mood for a lecture, had turned  and wandered off when she started talking. That was the most proactive  I'd seen him about ignoring anyone. I expected Mel to be offended but  she just sighed. "Right, I forgot how he gets down here. Honestly  surprised he stuck around for that much of the conversation. Oh well,  you kids coming?"

Apparently deciding to follow him to  wherever the Burning Rain Casino was, Mel just set off after Abel.  Callie and I shared a look and then shrugged. We still had seventy five  G-ranked chits worth of profit here, so a few bets wouldn't be a big  deal. Besides, I was curious to see more of Doomtown. Sloane and the  others all trailed behind us, Beric and Croll trying to reassure their  team leader as we went.

The wolves prowled around behind  us, and it struck me that I hadn't really noticed them around for a  while. I wondered where they'd gone or when we'd lost them, but they  were still fine so it didn't really matter I guessed. They were smart  enough not to go around eating random people. They caught up to us and I  scratched Jin behind the ears as Rellia snuggled up to Callie as she  walked, all of following behind our mentors as they led us back out onto  the road.

It didn't take us long to get to the casino.  Much like the rest of Doomtown the building was dark stone, but unlike  the other places we'd seen, the stone on this place was slick and  reflective. The tall building had hundreds of windows, each shining one  of a half dozen colors and creating a sort of absurd, fantastical effect  as the mixture of colored light poured down on the entrance. A pair of  double doors lie open, blocked off by a rope attended by a pair of  hulking guards in suits and featureless black full face masks.

I  caught up to Abel with a grin as he stopped to take the place in.  "Another old haunt? Do you or Mel know the guys at the door here too?"" I  could understand why they might have old friends all over at the places  they brought us, since they were pretty impressive and they'd taken us  to places they knew best, but eventually they were going to have to run  out of places where everyone knew them on sight.

To my  surprise, Abel just shrugged. "Who the hell knows. It's not like I can  tell them apart. They're just door guards." He strolled forward with  purpose, coming to a stop in front of the guards. Instead of telling  them who he was or bullying them, he reached into his pocket and pulled  out a gold casino chip, holding it up to show the guys at the door. As  soon as they saw it they opened the rope to let him in, ignoring the  boos of the people in line that we'd walked right past.

Mel  snickered at that. "He was never close to anyone here, but he came by a  lot. The arena has built in bets, but Doomtown as a whole tends to  attract lots of fights. You can place prop bets on the outcome of fights  between certain big name players. Apollyon used to come here to bet on  himself and then hunt down all the strongest fighters." Then she sighed.  "He ALSO has an extreme fondness for roulette, and he ended up feeding  them back most of his winnings. That's why he has the golden chip, it's a  high roller token. He's never really worried much about money. Easy  come easy go."

I could kind of see that really. He  definitely seemed like the type to ignore anything that didn't suit him.  If he needed money he'd just go get some. It put his sausage stand into  a bit of a different context. I knew he'd worked his way up, but it was  a lot more impressive knowing he could have solved any money problems  even easier than I thought. I noticed them closing the ropes and hurried  forward, not wanting to get left behind.

Shockingly, even  the wolves were allowed in. I wasn't sure if it was a factor of having a  gold token or they just didn't care, but it was a relief we didn't have  to find somewhere to board them while we went inside. The inside of the  Burning Rain was, if anything, even more chaotic than the outside. The  multicolored swirl of lights was still present, but the carpets and  furniture were made in swirling patterns of black and white that caught  and twisted the colors in ways that probably would have made a mortal  pass out.

Even I, with a surplus  of Perception and plentyof Focus to block this out, was feeling a bit  disoriented. I turned to look at Abel, who at the very least was less  dizzying that the surroundings, and found him rolling his eyes. "They  haven't changed. Same nonsense games to throw people off." He turned to  Mel, giving her a charming grin. "Honey, do you happen to have some  pocket money we can use? I want to try the roulette table." He literally  folded his hands under his chin and pouted as he asked, like a puppy  dog begging for a treat.

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Mel  just snickered at her boyfriend. "Oh now you listen to me? Not going to  just wander off?" Abel had the good sense to look abashed and began to  apologize (probably a bit too vehemently to be serious), wrapping Mel in  his arms and expounding at length about how heartbroken he was to have  offended her. The whole performance carried over into blatant sarcasm  after a few minutes, but Mel was giggling too hard to be annoyed,  finally putting her hand over his mouth. "Enough! You lunatic. Fine,  take some money and go."

"Fantastic!"  Abel cheered. Leaning down to peck Mel on the side of her mask. "Thanks  honey, have fun!" Then turned to us. "If you kids want to have some fun  might want to come with me. Knowing Mel, she'll probably go relax at  the bar or something, though she might hit the prop bet table and try to  get in some odds on the lot of us before people start adjusting for  your fight with Wren. Either way, it'll be boring so come on."

He  didn't bother waiting for us as he took off into the crowd,  energetically bulling past everyone around him in his hurry. I shrugged  at Callie, and she and Sloane both trailed after us. The rest of the  Beast Lord Initiates didn't follow, probably because they cleaned  themselves out betting on Sloane. Sloane herself was hoping to make some  money back, so she should have at least something to bet.

The  wolves trailed behind, moving through the dizzying crowd like sharks  through a neon ocean. I couldn't even find Abel for a second, but  luckily his silver mask stood out in this light, so I caught a trace of  him. We pushed through the crowd to reach him and found him standing at a  table in front of a diminutive woman in the same nondescript mask as  the guards. She was wearing what I suspected was a white shirt and red  vest, and standing in front of a huge roulette wheel, which was ALSO  lighting up in a riot of colors.

"Whooo!"  Abel cheered. "Rainbow wheel! Guys come over here!" He waved to us  excitedly, shoving a few nearby forms aside to make room. "This is  awesome. It's rainbow wheel. Unlike boring roulette where there's two  colors and a bunch of numbers, rainbow wheel is even more fun! The wheel  is covered with numbers, but the numbers are in grey screens, As the  wheel spins the colors flicker randomly across the tiles and when the  ball stops they all lock into place. Don't worry though, rainbow wheel  is watched over by high Perception reps from the WCP to make sure they  don't monkey with the color change."

That  was...insane. "So you just pick a random color and number and hope it  hits? Is this the game you always play? Also what are the odds on this?"  I kind of wished someone had thought to do a luck wish before coming  here, but I made a note to bring Benny back once he was strong enough to  survive down here.

"A  thousand to one." Came a smooth, lackadaisical voice from the other  side of the table. I turned to find a girl with dark skin and glowing  green eyes staring back at me. I couldn't see her hair color with all  the light pollution, but my guess was that it was dark blue. Of course,  the hulking bandaged for with wrist manacles and a long coat standing  behind her kind of gave it away. This would be Mordaunt then. She smiled  widely when she caught our gazes. "But no, rainbow wheel isn't a  consistent thing. They only spin once a night."

Abel  nodded excitedly. "It's true! Sadly we can't play tonight. You can only  bet money on rainbow wheel you won AT the table. It stops people from  just dumping all their cash on it.  Shame, I love rainbow wheel. I've  played four times. Never won, but it's always a blast." I could see how  they would be able to afford thousand to one odds under those  conditions. It was probably a huge draw. Quite a spectacle.

Mordaunt  chuckled, somehow audible despite all the noise around us. "I'd be  happy to let you watch my spin. There's only a one in ten thousand  chance of triggering a rainbow wheel spin on a winning bet, or at least  so I was told when we began." Abel nodded enthusiastically and I  shrugged. It sounded like a fun time and it wasn't like it would cost  anything. We'd obviously stick around.

Mordaunt  turned to the woman. "Forty six, red." She just picked a random number  and color combination, not that I imagined there was a much better way.  With seven potential colors on each number the chance of hitting was  absurdly low. No way they could afford to pay so much out unless the  odds were freakishly slim.

Before  the woman could spin though, we heard a new voice cut through the din. A  haughty sneering tone that boomed across the space around us. "Why am I  not surprised the abominations are engaged in such depravity. I  suspected I'd find you here, monster maker." We all turned to take in  the hulking form of the blonde haired man in the brown robes, sneering  through his bushy beard. The game was forgotten as Mordaunt turned to  face Macgregor, and two of the outsider factions squared off against  each other. Why did I think this was going to get messy?

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