“Thanks for doing this.” Troy groaned.
He was lying on Tanaka’s massage table for perhaps the last time. The tanuki’s paws kneaded and pressed his muscles. Troy swore they swelled under his touch, with each heart beat they pulsed and strained tighter against what little clothes the phoenixkin wore.
“Then let me be honest with you, Troy.” Tanaka said, “I’m finishing your growth. Magic.”
Troy nodded. “I know.”
“Ah, my hypnosis is no longer working?”
“It stopped working when you aged me past 16. Magic resistance kicked in.” Troy shrugged, flexing his new flight muscles.
Tanaka sighed. “Would you listen to my advice.”
“More than I’d listen to Xarxos.”
“Don’t gamble. Play against them. There is an old proverb: when gambling, there are no Fathers and Sons at the table.” Tanaka said. “That is the weakness of all true gamblers.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll see.” Tanaka held a finger to his eyes. “Watch them. Do not become emotionally invested.”
Troy nodded.
Xarxos knocked on the door politely. The minotaru was dressed to the nines.
“Plane’s ready. Rok and Rusty are already at the airport.”
“Just finishing up!” Tanaka chuckled and patted Troy’s ass, which swelled slightly.
“Geeze Tanka!” Troy hopped to his taloned feet. “How much icing did you put on that cake?”
“Enough. Go!” The tanuki shoo’d him out of the room.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Troy, Rok, Xarxos, and Rusty arrived at the Las Vegas airport a few hours later. A limo was waiting for them. THey piled in and it pulled out of the airport, destined for Mag Mell.
“So, we walking in?” Rusty’s middle head asked.
“Yes.” Rok said, the cyclops blinking in the bright light. “As long as we play his game, he won’t attack us. Do NOT attack him first. We play the role of humble guests.”
“What do we do when he does attack us?” Troy asked
“I lose my vision then.” Rok sighed. “Look, it’s a mess of timelines in there. We might end up seeing people in there that don’t exist in our timeline.”
“Oooh, could we see a copy of us?” Rusty asked.
“Maybe.”
“I’m totally fucking myself!’ Rusty cackled.
“Don’t you technically do that every time you masturbate?” Troy asked.
“No.” Rusty pointed to his other heads. “They’re basically just extra sensory organs. We share a telepathic link. Triple orgasms.”
“You have three dicks?”
“No. Orgasms are triggered in the brain, doofus, I have three.” Rusty rolled his eyes. It was a very involved process.
“Wait. If Rok can see the future, can he just…experience an orgasm over and over?” Troy asked.
“Fucking really?” Rok asked Troy. “Yes. Yes I can. Any other sex related questions before we enter into a life or death battle?”
Their limo pulled into the Mag Mell.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--
Troy entered the casino, enjoying the fresh scent of whatever it was they sprayed. Bergamot? It was nice. The building was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. He’d known that going on-it wasn’t an uncommon enchantment.
When they’d torn down Sebastian’s mansion, they’d encountered rooms with similar enchantments. It could be used to deadly effect. One hallway triggered a whirling blade to chase down intruders, and the hallway stretched nigh-endlessly. The only thing that had saved them was creating a door in the wall of the mansion with Transmutation.
Somehow, Dolan had access to every Book, and then had used the Books to create all the entertainment Troy saw on display here. Time travel shenanigans, most likely. No Paradox either, quite an accomplishment.
Wheels began to turn in Troy’s head.
Where had they figured out how to do this? Time was completely isolated out here. As far as he knew, this Book Owner had only had the Book for two months, max. When they’d researched the Mag Mell, it had a Grand Opening last month. So, in the space of one month (likely with more Time shenanigans) they’d conjured up an entire casino.
But even then, even with shenanigans, things weren’t adding up. Running a business was HARD. Coming up with a blueprint that let you beat Paradox was HARD. Like, Big Brain Quantum Mechanics HARD. Everything Time would need to do to build this thing, all of it would provoke Paradox. And yet, here it was, and from the looks of things, functioning perfectly.
And aside from being impossible, it also looked great. Troy wanted to gamble here, the games on the ground floor looked interesting, exciting, the prizes…well, name it, and you could have it. He was pretty sure, with his eagle-eyes, that he could see a literal sex machine on the Body floor that paid out in terms of sexual prowess.
In short, it was awesome.
Just like Studio Village. They were so fucked. Rusty was probably a goner, Rok-
“Wanna win an ermine coat, kid?” A voice next to Troy asked.
Troy jumped.
An anthro-ermine, slender and lithe, ran his tiny claws along the small of Troy’s back. He was wearing a tag that said ‘Prize-Roshambo’ on him and a single black thong. His eyes were creepy-glazed, distant, as though he were staring not at Troy but at something behind him.
“I’m very warm.” The ermine said, a smile plastered to his face. “I’ll make a great coat!”
“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Troy asked.
The ermine nodded.
“And the bet?”
“Your Body for mine.” The ermine smiled vacantly.
“Don’t.” Xarxos appeared at Troy’s side.
“You only have three chips right now. Lose any of them and the casino owns you.” Rok spoke on Troy’s other side.
“Right, Rok was telling me about it last night.” Rusty spoke behind Troy. “So I didn’t get screwed immediately. Don’t fall for the first trick.”
Troy stared at the ermine, who smiled emptily back.
“I’ll take a rain-check.” Troy said.
The ermine nodded, hands falling away, and immediately drifted off to pester other patrons.
“What the hell was wrong with him?” Troy turned to Xarxos.
“Blank. You lose your main three chips, you get owned by either the owner or another player.” Xarxos said. “Stick with the plan. We observe today and play tomorrow, got it.”
Troy sighed and nodded.
“Plus, you know, we live in fucking Myth City. Only time you’d need an ermine fur coat is if we went up to the sky resorts in the High Shell.” Rusty shrugged.
“You know, it doesn’t have to be just the three main chips.” An anthropomorphic Pin Martin walked up to them and introduced himself. “I’m PM Dolan, co-owner of this establishment. We also have an anthropomorphic boar who bets on people’s genitals. I think he has 42 dicks at this point.”
“What the hell does he do with 42 dicks?” Rusty asked.
“No earthly clue. So, may I ask your names?” PM Dolan smiled.
“Troy.” Troy said. “Owner of Book of Beasts. That minotaur is Xarxos, Owner of the Book of Myths, Rusty, Owner of Book of Transmutation, and Rok, Owner of the Book of Divination.”
“And the Book of Body?” The Pine Martin asked.
“To be announced.” Xarxos said.
“Nice fucking place, Dolan.” Rusty smirked.
“So you had all your other selves transported here too. Smart.” Rok rubbed his chin.
“Thank you.” PM Dolan eyed them all. “So is this a fight or…?”
“No.” Troy said. “It’s a bet.”
PM Dolan smiled. “Now that’s what I like to hear. Let's take a tour.”