Chapter 3: Gamble with your Life
"I'm gonna throttle that little old piece of crap." YQ said as he and the others walked the long metallic path to the Metopia Coliseum.
"Not before I get my hands on him first." Ameph said as she popped her knuckles.
"Maybe we should just take this one step at a time." Keja suggested. "That was no ordinary creature back there."
"Yeah. He more than likely has more of those things." Picard said. "And we barely made it through the first one."
"Whatever." YQ replied. "Let's just take care of that old ass and get the hell out of here."
"Hey." Keja said. "There's the entrance."
"Finally." Ameph said as they all started to run for the entrance to the Coliseum.
They all ran up to the huge steel doors that prevented their entry into the Coliseum.
"I see you've finally found the entrance." Cleric said as another hologram of himself appeared if front of the door.
"Well, we're here." YQ said as he crossed his arms. "Now what?"
"Now you must speak the entry code." Cleric answered.
"Well then. What's the entry code?" Keja asked.
"Do you really think I'm just going to give it to you?" Cleric asked. "If you wish to have the entry code, go find it at the Casino next door."
"Fine." YQ said as he began to walk to the building with bright shimmering lights. "Come on."
"Uh." Ameph sighed. "More walking?"
"This place is actually pretty cool." Picard said as they reached the front of the Casino.
"It's a strange place is what it is." YQ said.
"Yeah." Keja replied, as he looked at all the decorations that surrounded them. "I've never seen anything like this."
"We're here!" YQ shouted. "Now what?"
"Enter. And face the challenge ahead of you!" Cleric said before letting out a sinister laugh.
The doors opened to the Casino and the group entered. It was even more decorated than the outside. Bells and lights were going off and on everywhere, however they were the only ones inside. The doors slammed hard behind them.
"What the hell is this place?" Picard asked.
"It is the future young Buster Blader." Cleric answered. "Once my life's work is completed, I shall bring it to the surface. And everyone will enjoy the wonders and excitement of my Mechanical City."
"So how do we get the password to your stupid Coliseum?" YQ demanded.
"You must win one of my fun games." Cleric answered. "In the center of the room is a fun toy called a Slot Machine. In order to play this game you need to pull the lever on the side of the machine, and then the wheels will roll and stop when you say so. If all three wheels land on the number seven, you win the password and the surprise that follows. Now play children. And Gamble with your lives!"
"A surprise huh." YQ said as he walked to the giant machine in the center of the room. "Whatever. I just wanna get the hell out of here."
"So many machines." Ameph said as she looked around the room.
"Yeah. This would really be a fun place." Keja replied.
"If it ever makes it to the surface that is." Picard said.
"What do you mean?" Keja asked.
"YQ is like this all the time. He can't stand being trapped." Picard answered. "I remember this one time, me and him were in a cave in the Mountain Region. We were trapped by these three sisters and YQ got really agitated."
"So what happened?" Ameph asked.
"We were eventually saved by this one guy who was supposedly the brother of those three sisters." Picard continued. "And as we were just about to go down the mountain, YQ leveled the entrance to the cave."
"So he could get so angry that he could blow this whole city up?" Ameph said. "Sounds like he has problems."
"No." YQ said as they join him at the altar to the Slot Machine. "Just a rough five years."
"So how does this thing work again?" Picard asked.
"We have to pull this." Keja said as he yanked down on the lever.
Instantly the wheels on the Slot Machine began to spin. The group was baffled at the different assortment of symbols on the wheels. Among them were a black X, a Pendulum, and the number seven.
"Stop!" Keja shouted.
The wheels on the Slot Machine then began to slow down. The wheels stopped one after another and lit up after wards. Seven, X, Seven.
"What's that mean?" Picard asked.
"You lose!" Cleric yelled out as he pressed another button. "Now you must pay the price for losing."
The group heard a loud clank sound to their left. They looked over to see the wall slowly opening like sliding doors. An annoying alarm was ringing in the background as a massive creature emerged from the wall.
"What the hell is that?" Picard asked slowly.
"This is another of my cybernetic soldiers." Cleric answered. "Prototype #2100, Spikebot!"
The machine began to stomp towards them like a golem. It's fists were large metal balls that resembled a mace.
"Spikebot! Show them the price for losing!" Cleric yelled as he pressed another button.
A large light cage then encased Picard, Ameph, and YQ. Keja left out in the open.
"Spikebot, destroy the Dark Magician!" Cleric yelled once again before the Spikebot's fists slammed hard on the ground, long metal chains still connecting them to its arms.
"Oh crap." Keja muttered as the Spikebot stomp towards him with a quickened pace.
The Spikebot swung his right arm at Keja, who ducked under the attack and watched the fist slam hard into one of the nearby game tables, sending it across the room in pieces. The Spikebot pulled his fist back and stared at Keja.
"Ok." Keja thought. "Magic can't hurt these things, so I'm gonna have to take it out with brute force. But I don't know anything other then spells and evasive maneuvers."
"You waste what little time you have left Dark Magician!" Cleric yelled. "Spikebot! Switch to tornado mode!"
The Spikebot responded with a red flash from its eyes. It retracted its arms and rose them to a level angle. It then began to spin. It spun in a fast motion and almost propelled itself off the ground. It came closer and closer to Keja. Keja jamp back a few steps still thinking of a way to get around the monstrous machine.
Keja stared hard at the Spikebot as it came closer to him, looking for a weakness. "That's it!" He yelled as he raised his staff at the machine.
"What are you doing!?" YQ yelled. "Magic won't hurt these things remember!?"
"True." Keja said. "Magic can't hurt them. But maybe it can stop them."
"What do you think you're doing Dark Magician!?" Cleric yelled.
"My name is Keja." Keja said. "And I think I'm going to do this. Swords of Revealing Light!" He yelled as he shot several golden swords at the Spikebot, stopping it almost instantly. "Here goes nothing!" He yelled as he jamp over the Spikebot and thrusted the end of his staff into its head.
The Spikebot's eyes dimmed as small bolts of lightning flew around its body. The head began to smoke as Keja pulled his staff out of the monsters head and jamp back the ground. The swords faded and the machine fell on its back with a hard thud. Keja walked back over to the group as the cages around them faded.
"Hmph." Cleric pouted. "Lucky shot. Go ahead and try again, but your next loss will be more harsh than the last."
"That is if we lose again." YQ said.
"Yeah. Let me try my luck." Picard said as he walked up and pulled on the lever.
The wheels began to spin again, even faster than last time. Picard watched the wheels spin round and round, waiting for the right time to stop it.
"Stop!" Picard yelled before the wheels slowed down and then stopped.
Seven, Seven, Pendulum.
"Your luck is horrible Picard." Keja said.
"Well yours wasn't exactly perfect either." Picard replied as another loud clang sounded, this time from the right.
The light cages came down again, but this time around Keja, YQ, and Ameph. Picard was left alone to face his punishment for losing.
"I'm gonna throttle that little old piece of crap." YQ said as he and the others walked the long metallic path to the Metopia Coliseum.
"Not before I get my hands on him first." Ameph said as she popped her knuckles.
"Maybe we should just take this one step at a time." Keja suggested. "That was no ordinary creature back there."
"Yeah. He more than likely has more of those things." Picard said. "And we barely made it through the first one."
"Whatever." YQ replied. "Let's just take care of that old ass and get the hell out of here."
"Hey." Keja said. "There's the entrance."
"Finally." Ameph said as they all started to run for the entrance to the Coliseum.
They all ran up to the huge steel doors that prevented their entry into the Coliseum.
"I see you've finally found the entrance." Cleric said as another hologram of himself appeared if front of the door.
"Well, we're here." YQ said as he crossed his arms. "Now what?"
"Now you must speak the entry code." Cleric answered.
"Well then. What's the entry code?" Keja asked.
"Do you really think I'm just going to give it to you?" Cleric asked. "If you wish to have the entry code, go find it at the Casino next door."
"Fine." YQ said as he began to walk to the building with bright shimmering lights. "Come on."
"Uh." Ameph sighed. "More walking?"
"This place is actually pretty cool." Picard said as they reached the front of the Casino.
"It's a strange place is what it is." YQ said.
"Yeah." Keja replied, as he looked at all the decorations that surrounded them. "I've never seen anything like this."
"We're here!" YQ shouted. "Now what?"
"Enter. And face the challenge ahead of you!" Cleric said before letting out a sinister laugh.
The doors opened to the Casino and the group entered. It was even more decorated than the outside. Bells and lights were going off and on everywhere, however they were the only ones inside. The doors slammed hard behind them.
"What the hell is this place?" Picard asked.
"It is the future young Buster Blader." Cleric answered. "Once my life's work is completed, I shall bring it to the surface. And everyone will enjoy the wonders and excitement of my Mechanical City."
"So how do we get the password to your stupid Coliseum?" YQ demanded.
"You must win one of my fun games." Cleric answered. "In the center of the room is a fun toy called a Slot Machine. In order to play this game you need to pull the lever on the side of the machine, and then the wheels will roll and stop when you say so. If all three wheels land on the number seven, you win the password and the surprise that follows. Now play children. And Gamble with your lives!"
"A surprise huh." YQ said as he walked to the giant machine in the center of the room. "Whatever. I just wanna get the hell out of here."
"So many machines." Ameph said as she looked around the room.
"Yeah. This would really be a fun place." Keja replied.
"If it ever makes it to the surface that is." Picard said.
"What do you mean?" Keja asked.
"YQ is like this all the time. He can't stand being trapped." Picard answered. "I remember this one time, me and him were in a cave in the Mountain Region. We were trapped by these three sisters and YQ got really agitated."
"So what happened?" Ameph asked.
"We were eventually saved by this one guy who was supposedly the brother of those three sisters." Picard continued. "And as we were just about to go down the mountain, YQ leveled the entrance to the cave."
"So he could get so angry that he could blow this whole city up?" Ameph said. "Sounds like he has problems."
"No." YQ said as they join him at the altar to the Slot Machine. "Just a rough five years."
"So how does this thing work again?" Picard asked.
"We have to pull this." Keja said as he yanked down on the lever.
Instantly the wheels on the Slot Machine began to spin. The group was baffled at the different assortment of symbols on the wheels. Among them were a black X, a Pendulum, and the number seven.
"Stop!" Keja shouted.
The wheels on the Slot Machine then began to slow down. The wheels stopped one after another and lit up after wards. Seven, X, Seven.
"What's that mean?" Picard asked.
"You lose!" Cleric yelled out as he pressed another button. "Now you must pay the price for losing."
The group heard a loud clank sound to their left. They looked over to see the wall slowly opening like sliding doors. An annoying alarm was ringing in the background as a massive creature emerged from the wall.
"What the hell is that?" Picard asked slowly.
"This is another of my cybernetic soldiers." Cleric answered. "Prototype #2100, Spikebot!"
The machine began to stomp towards them like a golem. It's fists were large metal balls that resembled a mace.
"Spikebot! Show them the price for losing!" Cleric yelled as he pressed another button.
A large light cage then encased Picard, Ameph, and YQ. Keja left out in the open.
"Spikebot, destroy the Dark Magician!" Cleric yelled once again before the Spikebot's fists slammed hard on the ground, long metal chains still connecting them to its arms.
"Oh crap." Keja muttered as the Spikebot stomp towards him with a quickened pace.
The Spikebot swung his right arm at Keja, who ducked under the attack and watched the fist slam hard into one of the nearby game tables, sending it across the room in pieces. The Spikebot pulled his fist back and stared at Keja.
"Ok." Keja thought. "Magic can't hurt these things, so I'm gonna have to take it out with brute force. But I don't know anything other then spells and evasive maneuvers."
"You waste what little time you have left Dark Magician!" Cleric yelled. "Spikebot! Switch to tornado mode!"
The Spikebot responded with a red flash from its eyes. It retracted its arms and rose them to a level angle. It then began to spin. It spun in a fast motion and almost propelled itself off the ground. It came closer and closer to Keja. Keja jamp back a few steps still thinking of a way to get around the monstrous machine.
Keja stared hard at the Spikebot as it came closer to him, looking for a weakness. "That's it!" He yelled as he raised his staff at the machine.
"What are you doing!?" YQ yelled. "Magic won't hurt these things remember!?"
"True." Keja said. "Magic can't hurt them. But maybe it can stop them."
"What do you think you're doing Dark Magician!?" Cleric yelled.
"My name is Keja." Keja said. "And I think I'm going to do this. Swords of Revealing Light!" He yelled as he shot several golden swords at the Spikebot, stopping it almost instantly. "Here goes nothing!" He yelled as he jamp over the Spikebot and thrusted the end of his staff into its head.
The Spikebot's eyes dimmed as small bolts of lightning flew around its body. The head began to smoke as Keja pulled his staff out of the monsters head and jamp back the ground. The swords faded and the machine fell on its back with a hard thud. Keja walked back over to the group as the cages around them faded.
"Hmph." Cleric pouted. "Lucky shot. Go ahead and try again, but your next loss will be more harsh than the last."
"That is if we lose again." YQ said.
"Yeah. Let me try my luck." Picard said as he walked up and pulled on the lever.
The wheels began to spin again, even faster than last time. Picard watched the wheels spin round and round, waiting for the right time to stop it.
"Stop!" Picard yelled before the wheels slowed down and then stopped.
Seven, Seven, Pendulum.
"Your luck is horrible Picard." Keja said.
"Well yours wasn't exactly perfect either." Picard replied as another loud clang sounded, this time from the right.
The light cages came down again, but this time around Keja, YQ, and Ameph. Picard was left alone to face his punishment for losing.