Las Vegas, Nevada. Where fortunes are won and lost, but mostly lost. Most stories that begin here tell how some lucky bastard hit it big, but then lost it all in the same night. Most of them. But not this time. This story is about an average catgirl, who by a stroke of luck, or fate, depending which one you believe in, her life was changed forever. For better or worse? That's for you to decide.
It was a typical night on the strip. Bright lights flashing everywhere, illuminating the casinos and hotels in an attempt to lure even more suckers in, to blow their hard earned money in the slim hopes of getting lucky and winning the jackpot at the slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, or whatever their game of choice may be. Outside one of these casinos, The Mirage, to be exact, there was a bright neon sign, advertising the casino's entertainment for the evening.
ONE NIGHT ONLY! THE AMAZING ALEXANDER DUFONT, ILLUSIONIST EXTRAORDINAIRE! A SHOW LIKE NO OTHER!
In the backstage area of the Mirage, a skinny catgirl with tiger-striped fur held a clip board in her hand, taking inventory of the props for that night's magic act. "Piranha tank, check. Guillotine, check. Disappearing cabinet, check."
"RENA!"
Pompous A-hole, Rena though to herself, double check. She turned around to see Alexander Dufont, her boss, storming up to her. He was a bald man with a curly handlebar mustache, and a distinct French accent, dressed in a black suit and tie. He was also an egotistical jerk, thinking himself the greatest magician since Houdini. Rena, along with a good number of others, saw him as a Criss Angel wannabe.
"What did you do with my hat?" Asked Dufont, angrily. "I haven't seen it, sir." "Don't give me that! You were the last one to touch it when you picked up my suit from the dry cleaners, so where is it?" Rena was used to this sort of treatment from her boss. She had been working as his stagehand since she was sixteen, and he would always blame her whenever something was misplaced or went wrong. Not to mention, Dufont was too cheap to hire more assistants, so Rena had to pretty much do everything by herself. If Rena didn't depend on this job as her only means of income, she'd have told Dufont to shove it a long time ago.
"The last time I saw your hat, it was in your dressing room, with your suit. So if it's not there, someone must have moved it." Dufont grunted "Stolen, more likely. That hat is my trademark! When I find out who took it, their ass is mine!" As Dufont stormed away, Rena scoffed to herself. That egomaniac was about as intimidating as a basket of kittens. Rena's stomach let out a loud rumble. She looked at her watch to see that it was 7 PM. She had been so busy preparing everything for Dufont's show tonight, she had skipped lunch, and it was past dinner time. "Might as well take my break now." Dufont allowed Rena to take one half-hour break everyday to do as she pleased, about the only decent thing he had done for her. Placing her clipboard aside, and grabbing her purse, Rena made her way away from the stage, and towards the buffet area. But in order to get there, Rena would first have to go through the slot machine area of the Mirage. Rows upon rows of flashing lights and spinning symbols, each occupied by tourists with cups full of quarters, all trying desperately win the grand jackpot. Nobody had hit the big one on the slots at the Mirage in quite some time, and every night it kept growing and growing, bringing in even more gamblers in the hopes of being set for life.
As Rena made her way through the section of the casino, one thing in particular caught her eye. It was a grand slot machine designed to look like a throne, surrounded by neon signs, with lights shaped like various jewels lining it's frame.
The name of the machine was The King's Ransom. It was currently occupied by a man who was swiftly inserting quarters into the machine, and yanking down the lever in such a fury, Rena was expecting the man to break it clean off. At his feet was a large cup of quarters nearly as big as a bucket, and was rapidly becoming more and more empty with each attempt the man made to win. With her superb hearing, Rena heard the man muttering under his breath "Come on, come on, baby, three crowns, daddy needs a payday."
After ten straight minutes of this, the man plucked his final quarter from the bottom of the cup, inserted it into the slot, pulled the lever, and crossed his fingers. When the symbols stopped spinning, he got three lemons. Defeated and furious, the man swore loudly, banged his fist on the side of the machine, and stormed off, ranting and raving that the game was rigged. Rena looked up at the electronic sign at the top of the machine, and then understood why the man was so mad that he had lost.
JACKPOT: $10,000,000
It was at this point that Rena caught a glimpse of silver out of the bottom of her eye. She looked down and saw a single quarter glistening in the light. She picked it up, held it in her palm, and simply stared at it. Rena wasn't the gambling type, but even so, it was extremely tempting. Should she go for it? Could she possibly win the grand prize, and instantly become a multimillionaire? She imagined what she could do with all that money. She could quit her job and never have to put up with Dufont and his insufferable ego ever again. She could actually get a decent home, instead of her cramped little apartment that was more like a broom closet. But most of all, she'd be financially secure for the rest of her life.
Ah, what the hell, she thought. It couldn't hurt to try. She approached the machine. According to the rules posted next to it, in order to win the jackpot, the symbols had to land on three crowns in a row. Rena inserted her one quarter, and pulled the lever. The symbols instantly began to spin, going so fast it was impossible to tell them apart. Rena stood there and watched, fully expecting the symbols to stop on a losing one. She held her breath as the first symbol began to slow, eventually coming to a stop.
One crown.
Soon the second symbol began to slow. In the back of her mind, Rena knew that it would no doubt land on a losing symbol, and she would lose her big chance. The second symbol stopped. Another crown. For a brief moment, Rena felt excited. Could it be true? Could she really have some luck for once in her life? The final symbol started to slow. Rena suddenly began to lose hope, as she thought about how she had never been that lucky, and would lose by a hair's width.
Suddenly, Rena nearly jumped out of her skin, as alarms and bells suddenly went off, and the machine's jewel shaped lights began rapidly blinking on and off. The sign above the machine flashed a single word in bright red letters: WINNER. Rena looked down at the symbols display.
Three crowns in a row.
She did it! She'd won! Overcome by a wave of triumphant euphoria, Rena began jumping for joy, raising her fists in the air and shouting "YES!" But her celebration was cut short, as she was approached by a man in a black suit and tie, with dark sunglasses. "Excuse me, miss, I'm the head of security at the Mirage. May I have your name please?"
"Rena Westfall."
"Congratulations, Miss Westfall. If you'll come with me, please." Rena followed the man to the owner of the casino's office, who shook her hand vigorously. "You are one lucky lady, Miss Westfall. If you'll just give us your bank account information, your prize money will automatically be transferred to it." Rena did so, and left the office as a millionaire. She couldn't believe it, in one night she had acquired more money than most people make in their whole life! More money than she knew what to do with! Actually, that last part wasn't true, because at this point, Rena was reminded of her earlier hunger as her stomach growled loudly. The first thing she would do with her newfound wealth, was hit the buffet.
Option 1: Rena is so hungry, she gorges herself at the buffet. Having never eaten this much delicious food before, she decides that from now on, she'll eat whatever she wants, and as much as she wants. Afterwards, she tells Dufont to blow it out his ass, and goes on a shopping spree with her newfound wealth.
Option 2: Same as above, except instead of going shopping, Rena is confronted by the man who was trying to win at The King's Ransom before she did. He might try to rob her, or assault her, wherever the story goes from there is up to the author.
Option 3: Reader's Choice.
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