Rising Shards

There weren’t guards or anyone really where we snuck in. I was struck by the awful looking carpet that was emblazoned with a few people’s faces, but it was abstract enough that the only one I could recognize for sure was Chumbler. LED boards running along the walls all had tiny versions of Chumbler waddling about, posing, and playing on slot machines. Every few Chumblers there was an ad for Blegs Spicy Honeyjack Barbecue Brothers Blend Wings, which I’d never heard of before (it took me a stupidly long amount of time to even hypothesize that they weren't real). Thumping music made the ground shake.

“I really feel like someone should explain Chumbler to me sometime soon here,” Marmalade said.

I was the only one among the group that had any real time talking to Chumbler. She considered me a friend, and I supposed I thought the same for her, but she wasn’t a close friend by any means. She was more of a ‘sigh in relief when I finished speaking to her because her chaotic nature terrified me’ kind of friend. Chumbler did help rescue me from my parents, kind of, so I couldn't say she wasn't at least a little bit of a friend.

“She goes to our school,” I said. “I think. Technically. She likes gambling. A lot.”

“And she has a casino here…because?” Marmalade asked.

“We’re probably going to find out one way or another,” Diast said. She winced at a poster of Chumbler posing and muttered to herself, “So glad I don’t have this kid in my pod.”

“She’s been building a casino, but it was just like a hobby thing,” I said. “Nothing like this.”

“Because building a casino as ‘just like a hobby thing’ is normal.” Lillia said.

“More normal than this, I guess?” Oka said.

The music got louder as we got further in. The voices of multiple singers started to become clearer.

We approached a web of catwalks that overlooked the bustling space below us.

“These don’t look super safe to walk on,” I said, noticing the catwalks swaying.

Diast got her binoculars out, scanning the area for recon before we made any sudden moves.

What looked like hundreds of the Sharai sprites were all occupied with the splendor of Chumblerosa, rushing about three major rows of machines, card tables, and for some reason what appeared to be a section just for a build your own furniture store. At the other side of the casino were three giant oval shaped stages where the source of singing came from. The walls surrounding us were all screens, so even without binoculars we could see who they were. On the far-right stage wasn’t a singer, but a Kanibari boy I didn’t recognize doing a standup comedy set. On the far-left stage, Kitty Kilander was in the middle of a song, doing an elaborate dance. 

"Don't worry, just gamble, lay your money and go scramble..." Kitty sang.

Her dancing seemed to escape reality, looking more like a music video as either the effects of the screens behind her and around the whole area enhanced it and gave the illusion of her multiplying herself for dance moves, stepping backwards and splitting to become her own backup dancers while another her took the stage, or changing the color palette of herself and her surroundings matching the beats of the music. It was also possible that powers beyond my understanding made her able to do all that. It made for a visual that was hard to look away from.

"Put your fears, into tears, of joy, when you win lots of money...at Chumblerosa!"

“So Kitty ended up here…” Oka said. “I can’t decide if this or KITTYWORLD is worse...”

“It’s definitely this,” Lillia said. "Are you listening to this song? It's this."

"Admittedly, Kitty's Pop U One Good is a guilty pleasure song for me," Marmalade said. "But this is bad on another level. This is her second covers album bad."

Oka squinted, apparently baffled at the idea of anyone liking a single song of Kitty's music.

While Kitty performing didn’t seem to be anything new, something seemed off about her here. I noticed it on the Kanibari boy as well and could faintly see it on the Sharai below us. “They all have like, pink glowy eyes.” They had swirls of pink glowy spinning right in front of their eyes.

“Yeah, looks like they’re under some kind of hypnotic power,” Diast said.

“Who’s that in the center stage?” Oka asked.

“That should be Chumbler, right?” I asked, seeing a tall woman in incredibly skimpy clothes singing and dancing in sync to Kitty’s song, also doing wild reality bending dance maneuvers. “Wait, is that Chumbler? She’s not all…gremlin.”

"What is she wearing?" Oka asked. "I'm surprised that's all staying on as she's all...gyrating there."

“That’s her sexy form.” Z.O.K. said matter-of-factly, like that explained everything.

“Oh.” I said. “Wait, what are you—" I yelped at the sudden appearance of Chumbler’s best friend Z.O.K. who didn’t react to my yelping.

“Are you at all involved in this?” Diast asked. “Not in a like ‘I’m gonna punish you’ way, just in a like can you explain what the hell happened here even a little?”

“It’s a long and difficult tale, a painful story of betrayal and—” Z.O.K. started.

“Can you tell like the short version? Please?” Oka asked.

“Please.” Lillia said.

“Fine,” Z.O.K. said. “Chumbler and I summoned an incredibly smoking hot Endoran spirit or ghost lady or like powerful alien or something? The what of what she is exactly wasn’t made especially clear to me, but her name is Queceilitrex, and while she betrayed me, I’m still going to make her mine one day. She made us do these challenges and she granted us wishes. And Chumbler wished for this.”

“I…what?” I said. “Is that why Kitty’s here?”

“Uh huh,” Z.O.K. said. “And Sweetheart Blue."

“Sweetheart…” I said. “You mean Rain? Rain’s here?”

“Ugh,” Oka said, crossing her arms. “Rain.”

“What’s wrong with Rain?” Marmalade asked.

“I’m not a fan.” Oka said. “I don’t have time to explain that here. Anyways, continue…er…”

“It’s Z.O.K.,” She said. “And yeah. Queceilitrex brought Blue in along with Kitty. Queceilitrex hypnotized Rain and pumped her up with power, and now Rain’s hypnotizing everyone on the ground floor. Which includes Chumbler.”

“Why didn’t this Que….Quec….this uh…” I started. “Why didn’t she just hypnotize everyone on her own if she has that power?”

“Because she just wanted to sit in the front row and eat these gross spicy barbeque wings and scream at Kitty to try and get her to strip!” Z.O.K. said. “That’s all she’s been doing since she brought us here.”

“And why didn’t you get hypnotized?” Oka asked.

“Because…I think Sweetheart Blue didn’t remember I existed or something,” Z.O.K. said. “So I came up here to mope and maybe destroy the lighting rigs and drop them below to watch these weird soldier guys get squished to feel better, and then you all showed up.”

“I think I get the gist of it,” Diast said.

“Wait, I forgot to explain Typo.” Z.O.K. said. “Er, he’s kinda boring. He’s the one doing standup, but it’s like really offensive standup where he’s not really telling jokes, just like bullying various groups of people."

“Right, well, sure,” Diast said. “Guess we have that to deal with too.”

“Do we have time to help here?” I asked. “Ovie and the others could be get away if we stall here."

“I can only assume they’re tangled up somewhere in this as well,” Diast said. “And I have a feeling if we don’t nip this one in the bud right now it’s only gonna get exponentially worse from here. So, Z.O.K., do you want to hang tight here or try and help us get your friend out of the immense mess you’ve gotten yourselves into?”

“I do want Chumbler out of this, I suppose.” Z.O.K. said.

“Terrific,” Diast called Caya. “Hey, Caya? I dunno if you’re back yet, but avoid the ground floor of this casino if you head this way. Because we have a bit of a mind control situation going on there.”

Caya didn’t answer.

“Caya? You there?” Diast asked.

Still no answer.

“I…don’t like the sound of that.” Diast said.

“Technically, that didn’t make a sound.” Oka said.

“I don’t like the silence of that, fine.” Diast said.