Cause we're young and we're reckless

We'll take this way too far

Alice finishes splashing her face with the water from the bathroom sink in an effort to alleviate some of the stress this high stakes gamble that Amelia pressured her into has caused.

She stares in the bathroom mirror, her blonde side-swept bangs and twin tails partially soaked and sagging. It will all dry in three minutes. She's more worried about her bank account.

She has two opposing visions of gaining the world and the other of losing everything. A perfectly polished crown to replace her uniform's bunny ears, or dirty wilted bunny ears and tears streaming down her face.

It'll leave you breathless

Or with a nasty scar

Back at the gambling table,

Amelia heaves in a deep breath looking at her next hand in Texas Hold 'Em. She tried to make the heave as subtle as possible but the other gamblers noticed how high her chest was lifted.

She looks around the room to try to detect flawed poker faces. All she saw were a bunch of robotic stares back at her.

She really needs to lose this confident mindset inside of her that she is so much more clever and talented than everyone else, especially men. It seems the others at the table are quite skilled and she might embarrass herself fast if she doesn't humble down.

The strange dealer breaks the silence "Have any of you ever heard the multiverse theory?"

Everyone at the table turns back to stare at him, almost glaring.

"I'm familiar" Chase responds gravely.

The dealer explains anyway "When a situation happens which has any number of outcomes, only one outcome can happen in this universe, correct?"

A few seconds of silence before he continues.

"What happens to the rest of the possible outcomes that don't happen in your current universe? There's another universe that spawns for each... one... of them" The dealer finishes slowly in his creepy robotic voice.

"Which means, " he tries to continue but Sayaka cuts him off.

"That whoever wins this hand..." now Amelia cuts her off.

"Is the chosen one that THIS universe favors" she finishes in the most solemn tone she has probably ever used in her life. Amelia has been well aware.

Everyone stares at the massive, life-altering jackpot of chips in the center of the table.

The dealer places the fifth community card face down when Chase motions for him to pause right there.

Alice saunters back over to the gambling table when Chase mentions "Let's up the stakes"

Amelia's heart pace quickens but she remains stone solid so as to not let Chase khow he was getting to her.

"No one has any chips left" Sayaka informs Chase of the obvious.

"What else were you thinking?" Midari confidently asks and turns coolly to Chase. Sayaka's jaw dropped as she realized Midari was already on the same page of betting more than money while Sayaka's brain wasn't crazy enough to even go there.

"Obviously, what's the only thing we value more than money?" Chase asks and everyone knew the answer but he breaks the silence with the obvious anyway.

"What about someone's life?"

More silence.

Chase grins. "Tell me" he leans in towards Amelia. "Would you be willing to bet... "

Amelia's eyes slightly narrow, but she stays stiff.

"The life of that bunny waitress?" he points to Alice who was standing at the end of the table near the dealer, having just got back a few seconds ago.

Alice's heartbeat goes from 0 to 100. "NO WAY! WE ARE NOT DOING THA..."

"You're on" Amelia interrupts stone cold, zero emotion in her voice, eyes securely fixated on smug Chase.

Alice falters for one moment, legitimately hurt. Yeah she's had a tough life and from all her mistreatment she should've expected this, but she actually thought she could trust Amelia. She quickly drops the pity party and goes full psycho.

Her thin pale hands grasp the sweetheart neckline of Amelia's dress as she thrusts Amelia upwards to meet her eyes. "YOU CRAZY DEMENTED POWER TRIPPING LOONEY TOON WACKADOO. YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. YOU CAN'T DO THIS. I NEVER AGREED TO THIS..."

Amelia shoves herself out of Alice's grip and now with a crazed hunger for power in her eyes raises her voice at Chase and repeats "YOU'RE ON" There was a switch that flipped in Amelia so hard the whole table could almost make out flames in her eyes. Alice was soaked in sweat and helplessly falters backwards.

The creepy girl with the pink pigtails and the medical mask stares listlessly at everyone else while adrenaline soars inside her counterparts.

Chase smirks and leans back in his chair, trying to hide his anxiety. "I have a rich... old... uncle. He wants a little cutie to spend his days with. Live with him, cook for him, marry him, smooch him..."

"NO WAY" Alice screams.

"Fine" Amelia agrees determinedly.

"SHUT UP!" Alice snaps at the con-woman who she thought she could count on.

"Risk her life, Amelia. Do whatever you want, I will come out on top no matter what you choose" Sayaka starts up, trying to drop her reservations and pretend she's half as daring as Midari. "You can make whatever decisions you want, this universe favors me. Which means the decisions that the universe makes, will be the outcome that crowns me the chosen one. You see... as I'm sure you're aware, because let's face it, no one is buying this 'trophy wife' act, Erwin Schrodinger once explained the decisions of the universe in this way: There is a cat in a box and it is neither dead nor alive, or is it both? When the box is opened and therefore observed... it is either, not neither, not both. Which means the universe favors the cat..."

Everyone stares at her as she continues.

"Or it doesn't." Sayaka purses her lips and looks down at her cards. "One of us will win this jackpot tonight. And that person will be me. I am breaking out of my shell. No more of the straight A's, rule following Sayaka, and no more staying in my lane. I have to trust that the universe is on my side and solely rely on that for that is where my freedom has been hiding!"

Amelia speaks up "I have main character syndrome. And I have it bad. The universe has always favored me. I have always had this feeling deep inside of me. I am the chosen one, you idiots better be scared because if the fifth community card is a 7 of hearts I have a straight flush"

Everyone sobers, most trying to detect any giveaway that Amelia is bluffing. She's pure confidence, they can't get a read on her.

The ugly perverted guy next to Chase speaks up, less able to contain the shakiness in his voice than the others are "Don't be ridiculous, throughout history the universe has never favored women over men. The winner will either be me or Mr. Chase Sparks."

"This card has a blank space" the robotic dealer monotones, slipping his fingertips under the face-down fifth community card. "And the universe will write your name."

Everyone tenses, their anxiety debilitating. Alice is so nervous she grabs Amelia's expensive dress again and falls against her. She wails in agony, refusing to watch.

The dealer flips over the card.

The entire casino could hear Sayaka scream.

7 of hearts