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 than 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.

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 form 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?