Disclaimer: "I do not own Jumanji, or any part of that franchise. I only own my character, Sydney, and any original content that I make her do or say. Everything else belongs to the talented writers of Jumanji."
Chapter 2
She was going to kill one of them. And since Spencer was her brother, and she would never actually do anything to hurt him; that meant that Sydney would be killing Fridge. She just needed to wait at least six months so no one would be able to tie that back to her.
Okay, Spencer's definitely right. People really should be afraid of some of the thoughts roaming around in her head. But at least she only ever reveals those things to him. And he'd never rat her out, so it's fine. It's all fine.
Well… currently it's not all fine. The fact that she's in the principal's office right now is a definite sign that it's not all fine.
Fridge had already been sent out to wait for the detention assignment. Spencer, however, was sitting in one of the chairs in the room, head down, with the principal and Ms. Mathers standing behind the desk in front of him. Sydney raises an eyebrow at the scene, but comes in nonetheless and asks, "You wanted to see me Principal Bentley?" "Yes. Please have a seat."
Sitting down next to Spencer, she looks over at him for some kind of sign as to what happened. He simply glances up and mouths 'Sorry', before ducking his head again. Turning her attention to Bentley, who is just looking between the two of them for the moment, Sydney finally asks, "So… what's up?"
Leaning forward, Bentley says, "Well, your brother, Spencer, has just confessed to cheating on a school paper for Anthony Johnson. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Sydney glances over at Spencer again and asks, "Confessed?" He shrugs sluggishly.
Sydney turns back to the principal and Ms. Mathers. Now… Ms. Mathers was a strict teacher, but not in any way, a mean one. She demanded the best from all her students, whatever that might be. Which is part of why she is cracking down so hard on the fact that Fridge cheated on his paper. She knows he's capable of more, even if he doesn't exactly feel that way himself. Furthermore, she expects Spencer to be above such a stupid thing, which is why Spencer is also in the exact same amount of trouble.
Ms. Mathers also didn't have favorite students. Not in any of the twenty-five years she'd been teaching, had she ever had a favorite student.
Until Sydney came along. Sydney wasn't the smartest person in school. When it came to science, for example, she was a wreck. But she gave all of her work one-hundred-and-ten percent of her effort. Which is why, rather than just having a B in Ms. Mathers' class, she'd been maintaining an A+.
In any case, Sydney was Ms. Mathers' favorite student. And she knew how protective Sydney was of her little brother, and how they were not just the best of friends, but the most trusted of allies to each other. Which is what made Ms. Mathers dig a little further into her past, and find similarities between Fridge's paper, and Sydney's old essay on Westward Expansion as well.
Being her favorite, in that sense, was a downfall right now for Sydney. She was in trouble, there was no working around that, and she could see it. However… being Ms. Mathers' favorite also had it's advantages.
Leaning forward in her seat, Sydney looks to Principal Bentley and asks, "Can I have permission to be completely and totally blunt for, like, thirty-seconds?" Bentley raises an eyebrow, but turns to Ms. Mathers to see what she thinks.
And that's where being Ms. Mathers' favorite came in handy. If it had been anybody else, she probably would've said no. But it was Sydney, so she nodded. So Bentley gave Syd the go ahead to speak her mind.
His eyebrows still went up in a bit of surprise when she asks, "Can we all just promise to cut the bullshit so we can get this over with faster?" When he doesn't answer and still looks confused, she says, "You're trying to box me into a corner. That's what the cryptic question is about. You're trying to see if I'll lie, or if I'll try to come up with some elaborate scheme while I'm sitting here in front of you, that will get me out of trouble."
Shrugging, she says, "I'm not that stupid. Furthermore, I don't know what you already know about the situation, and I'd hate to waste your time with unnecessary details. So… can we compromise?" Bentley holds out his hands to her, silently asking what she's proposing. So Syd asks, "Can you just tell me what went down in here before you brought me in? And I promise that, once you tell me, I'll fill in the gaps. And I will not lie to you. Whatever you want to know, I will tell you. I promise."
Bentley stares at her for a moment, and then turns back to Ms. Mathers again for an opinion. And to Sydney's delight, Ms. Mathers just nods again. She knew Sydney well enough to know that, if Sydney promised to tell the truth, then Sydney would tell the truth. Her word mattered to her a lot, and she wasn't about to compromise it. Not even to try and get Spencer out of trouble right now.
Ms. Mathers doesn't know that Sydney probably would've tried if she had more time to prepare for that sort of thing. Spencer was the only thing worth enough to Sydney that, if she needed to, she would lie through her teeth in order to protect him. But… Spencer had confessed, and was clearly already in trouble and not getting out of it. So, there wasn't any point.
Bentley quickly relates the encounter from before, where they confronted Fridge and Spencer with the paper. Fridge was currently kicked off the football team, and Spencer was getting detention and was also looking at possibly getting an entire letter-grade dropped in his current history and English classes.
Sydney gives Spencer a look when Bentley explains that Spencer told them that he'd forced Fridge to let him write the paper. And Spencer doesn't need to hear her say it to understand that she's asking, "Did you actually think that would work? You're supposed to be the smart one."
Then she turns back to Bentley and Ms. Mathers. Nodding, she asks, "So… what exactly would you like to know?" Leaning forward again, Bentley asks, "Did you know about the paper?" "Yeah." "Did you help Spencer write it for Anthony?" "Yeah. We were up until three working on it."
Sydney then points to Ms. Mathers and asks, "Just out of my own curiosity, what made you think I helped?" Ms. Mathers holds up her paper and says, "Your paragraph on the suffrage movement. Your talk of the women's heroic bravery and fearlessness." Sydney nods, and then sighs before saying, "Should've figured. It's a good line. Too good."
Bentley asks a few more questions, which Sydney answers honestly. When he asks if Spencer really did force Fridge to let him write the paper, and Sydney says no, Spencer snaps up and says, "Syd!" She just turns to him and asks, "What? Like you actually think they believed you in the first place? Let's be real, please."
Back to Bentley, she asks, "So… what happens now?" "Well, you're in trouble too. You understand that, right?" "Yeah." Bentley nods, but then says, "But… for your honesty in all of this, I think Ms. Mathers and I can agree that all you need to receive is a detention. There will be no effect on your grade. But if this happens again…" Sydney nods in understanding, "It won't."
Bentley is about to send them off to await detention, when Sydney asks cautiously, "Can I… ask for something else?" Same as before, Bentley holds out his hands to see what she's proposing. She looks over at Spencer for a moment, and then turns back to Bentley and says, "You're thinking of taking a letter-grade away from my brother in two of his classes. Can… Can we switch that so you take the letter from me instead?"
Spencer's head shoots back up so fast, he might actually have whiplash. "Sydney! You don't have to…" But Bentley cuts him off, asking, "You want to lose a letter-grade?" She shakes her head, "I don't want to lose a letter-grade. But…" She takes a moment to consider her words, and then says, "My grades are important to me, make no mistake. But mine aren't as important to me and Spencer's are to him. So… for my honesty… can we make that trade? Or… is that asking too much?"
Bentley stares at her in complete surprise for a moment more, and then drums his fingers on his desk while he thinks. Then, finally, he says, "You can take one of the letter-grades for him. Not both." Sydney nods and asks, "Can I take the history one?" Bentley nods, and then says, "Now, go wait with the others."
As they're heading down towards the chairs, Spencer says urgently, "Syd, you didn't have to do that. You could've told him you didn't write it, and I would've backed you up. And you didn't have to take a letter-grade for me! God, I feel terrible!" Syd raises an eyebrow and says, "Spencer, take a breath. It's a letter-grade. Not the end of the world. Yet."
He doesn't laugh, so Sydney slips her arm through his and says, "Come on Spence. You know I'd never leave you hanging out to dry. If the ship's going down, then we're going down together." Spencer sighs, but smiles gently at her and says, "Thanks. And I promise I'll never ask you to help me cheat again." "And I promise that I won't let you cheat for Fridge again." "Syd…" "No, I'm serious. We got very, very lucky. And I'm pretty sure that's only because Ms. Mathers really likes me. But if you do this again, and get caught again… we're talking expulsions and school records and flunking out. And college rejection letters! It's a very slippery slope, dear brother of mine."
They walk in silence for a moment, and then Spencer says, "I can't believe you came up with that whole argument in, like literally, not even thirty seconds. College rejections? How do you even come up with thinking that far ahead?" "I'm always thinking that far ahead. I might suck at chess, but the concept of always thinking three, five, and ten moves ahead isn't lost on me. It's a very good piece of advice. One that I do not intend to let go to waste."
As they round the corner and start heading for the chairs, Spencer freezes up for a moment. Sydney looks at the chairs to see if its Fridge's fault, determined to knock out one of his teeth if it is. But Fridge isn't even looking in their direction right now. So Sydney looks at the other two.
The first one on the end is Bethany Walker. Yes, even Sydney couldn't escape knowing who that girl was. The most popular, the prettiest, and apparently the greatest thing that was ever blessed to walk on God's green earth. Sydney can't stand her. Not because she's popular. Sydney knows of other people who are popular, and she's perfectly fine with them. Because unlike Bethany, they haven't let their popularity go to their head. But Bethany, quite literally, thinks the world revolves around her.
Now, the red head next to Bethany is someone Sydney doesn't know. Tilting her head, she asks, "Who's the one next to Bethany?" Spencer gulps audibly and says, "Martha Kaply. We… uh… we have gym together. Well, we have other classes together too. She's wicked smart. And she got detention for arguing with the gym teacher. And she… kind of… disrespected the teacher too. But in fairness, she didn't mean to. She just got on a roll and it sort of spilled out."
Sydney raises an eyebrow at him and says, "Okay, easy Spence. I asked who she was, not for you to defend her honor." Spence blushes a bit, and Sydney smiles before saying, "Oh! You like her!" Spencer would tell her to shut up and keep it to herself, but he already knows she'd never embarrass him like that. Which is why her enthusiasm about this confuses him.
Well, right up until she sighs in relief and explains. "Thank God. I thought you were standing here panting anxiously over Bethany. Because if that were the case, you and I would need to have a seriously long talk about how that is not okay. She's a tool at best, plain and simple." Sydney the looks to Martha again, and then says, "But she's cute. And smart, you said?"
Spencer laughs when she nods and adds, "I like her. Want me to become her friend so you can have an 'in' with her. It might take me a bit, but I'm sure I could find an opening and ease myself in. Maybe. Depends. We might need to wait a year before revealing to her the intense inner workings of my brain." Spencer wraps an arm around her shoulders and says, "I actually think she might welcome the idea that you'd happily murder somebody in her defense. She's a badass." "Sweet!"
When they finally get to the chairs, Sydney shoves Spencer into the seat next to Martha. And not because he has a crush on the girl. No… she just doesn't want him in the chair next to Fridge. Taking that seat, she glares at him briefly before facing forward.
She meant to ignore him completely… but that went out the window when Spencer leaned forward and said, "Look, I'm sorry. Okay?" Fridge immediately responds, "No! No, it's not okay." And then, to both of their surprise, Sydney says, "Damn right it's not."
Spencer winces when she punches him in the shoulder, and when he throws her a confused look, she tosses her hands up and asks, "What the hell are you apologizing to him for? He's the lazy ass that decided he couldn't afford to spend time on his homework, so he'd make you do it with false promises of friendship." Turning to Fridge, she demands, "And you! What the fuck is your problem? You knew this was a possibility. Even you cannot possibly be stupid enough to not have considered that you might get caught cheating. And yet, you still went and got Spencer to do your homework. No… no way in hell do you get to make him feel bad about this. It's entirely your fault, for being a dumbass."
Fridge glares at her, and then says to Spencer, "You got me kicked off the team." And Spencer, a little emboldened by Sydney's defense of him, says, "Yeah, well, you could've gotten me expelled. It's not like you're the only one who's living dangerously here?" Fridge stares at him and asks, "Living dangerously?!" "Yes! This is the most dangerous thing I've ever done in my life! And now look at me. Paying the price."
Leaning back in his chair, he then glances over at Sydney and says, "And… now you're paying the price too. Sorry." Sydney shrugs and simply says, "Ship, Spencer. Our ship." He grins at her, but then they both look up when Fridge asks, "Wait… both of you? For… for the paper?" Spencer nods and then says in frustration, "That's what happens when you don't tell me about the paper until the day before it's due. We get caught, and I had to ask Sydney to help me, so she gets caught too."
Fridge glances down at her, but doesn't dare even say so much as 'sorry' to her. While the rest of the school might not know, and maybe he doesn't even know all that she's capable of anymore… he does remember exactly how she became the girl that no one wanted to approach. And that was because of how protective she was of her brother. Even way back when they were all friends, Sydney had always had an overprotective streak when it came to Spencer.
And… well, when they'd been friends, she'd been protective of him as well. Fridge remembers very well, a day when he and Spencer had both been getting shoved around by an older kid at school. And in came Sydney. She hadn't been as skilled back then as she was now… but that didn't stop her from throwing punches left and right.
Bottom line, Fridge knows that right now, she considers him to be the guy that is shoving around her little brother. And if he wants to avoid being punched in the face, his best bet is to shut up while he's ahead.
And as Principal Bentley leads them away to serve out their detention, Sydney honestly wishes that Fridge would say something. Because as soon as Bentley leaves, she'd really love it if she had a reason to punch him in the mouth.
"Man, what the hell do they need with a bowling ball?!" Sydney closes her eyes and counts backwards from thirty, trying to block his voice out of her head. She'd originally started with counting backwards from ten, but that proved ineffective, so she bumped it up to twenty, and now to thirty.
If he speaks again, she may just skip the others and go straight for one-hundred.
And it didn't help that, as annoying as Fridge's voice was to her right now, Bethany's was infinitely more annoying. And as soon as Fridge stopped talking, Bethany groaned and said, "Seriously, no reception? Okay, can today get any worse?"
Sydney would've commented that it most certainly could. She could come over there and throw Bethany's phone into the concrete wall and destroy it. That would be worse. But before she can, Martha spins around at the table and asks, "Are you going to help? Or are you too pretty?"
It was clearly a sarcastic question, which made Sydney smile. And then Bethany answered it seriously, "I'm too pretty."
And Sydney starts counting backwards from one-hundred.
Martha turns back around to the table to continue working. Spencer was standing on her left side, while Sydney was standing on the other side of the table. Between the three of them, Sydney thinks they could maybe finish pulling out all these staples… oh… maybe sometime next year? Yeah, that seems doable.
She was about to comment on Martha's shirt, thinking it was pretty, when Spencer scooted a little closer and started talking to her. Awkwardly, of course, which Sydney is sure Spencer hates at this moment. But as she watches them discreetly while pulling out more staples, Sydney can tell that Martha simply feels flattered that Spencer is even trying to give her a compliment at all. And the smile that lights up her face when Spencer is done?
Spencer honestly isn't sure if that went well or not, considering it was the first time he'd actually attempted talking to Martha outside of mandatory classroom conversations. But when he looks up at Sydney, she nods and gives him a thumbs up. And Sydney wouldn't lie to him, so he smiles as he continues working.
Maybe detention wasn't so bad after all.
Martha is still blushing a little bit, smile still on her face, when Fridge asks Spencer, "What's this?" As Spencer moves to look at it, Sydney closes her eyes while taking a deep breath. And though she's muttering as quietly as possible, Martha can hear Sydney starting over her backwards countdown from one-hundred.
Sydney opens her eyes when Martha asks, "You… you hate jocks too?" Sydney tilts her head and says, "I prefer to think of it more as a deeply ingrained dissatisfaction. Hate is such a strong word." Martha smiles, and then says, "I'm Martha, by the way." "Sydney." "Yeah, I know."
When Sydney raises an eyebrow, Martha says, "Oh… all the smart people know who you are. We're a bit envious of Spencer because you." "Me? Why?" "Because no one messes with Spencer, even if he is a bit a nerd. And that's because of you."
Sydney leans back in surprise. She thought she simply flew beneath the radar at this school nowadays. Sure, she'd had a moment early on, right when Spencer had gotten to middle school, where she had most certainly caused a giant uproar in the hierarchy that was the life of most teenagers. But… that had been years ago. Nowadays, she thought that she was just seen as a loner, with the exception being Spencer. Which was honestly just fine in Sydney's opinion.
But apparently, that wasn't the case. They probably still didn't know that she knew Kung Fu… but someone out there clearly remembered that she at least knew something.
Martha picks up on her confusion and asks, "You didn't think we noticed?" "It's not like I broadcast it." "Well, yeah… cause you don't have to. And I think the jocks and popular people just sort of see it as a silent rule to follow. You know… never touch Spencer. They might not even remember why it's a rule anymore. But… well, we do. The nerds, I mean. We know it's you."
Sydney finds that fact intriguing. Seeing as, between the two of them, Sydney had always been the active one compared to Spencer… she just sort of assumed that if she had any reputation anymore, it would be with the athletes or the more popular people. Not necessarily a good reputation… but that's where she'd expected it to exist. She was the star of the track and cross country teams after all, even if she chose not to really bask in that spot light.
Bottom line, it hadn't occurred to her that she'd have a reputation floating around amongst the geniuses of the school. In a way, she finds that much more flattering.
Looking back to her staples, Sydney asks, "And you said you were envious?" Martha nods, but shrugs nonchalantly and says, "It's just… a little harder for the rest of us sometimes. We don't all have an older sibling that'll take up for us, you know?" Sydney nods, and then asks, "Anyone in particular giving you a hard time?"
Martha shrugs, though Sydney can hear her mutter, "Clair Morgan comes to mind." And then she jumps in surprise when Sydney says, "Yeah, I know her. Head and ego inflated to about the size of an elephant." Then she winks and adds, "I'll have words with her on Monday. And if the problem persists after that… well, you know where to find me."
Martha's beaming smile makes Sydney laugh quietly as they work. That's when she finally notices that Spencer hasn't rejoined them yet. Looking over at him as he hooks up the game Fridge had found to an old TV, she asks, "Spence?" "I know, I know. I just… want to see what it is. I've never seen a gaming system like this before."
Sydney shrugs at Martha, and they continue working. Then they both jump when the silence of the room is broken by the sound of a gong ringing over the television. Spencer apparently got both of those old pieces of junk to work. Good for him.
Reading aloud, Spencer says, "A game for those who seek to find… a way to leave their world behind. Jumanji." Sydney watches as Spencer keeps hold of the controller, and then sighs and says, "And we've lost him." When Martha tilts her head in confusion, Sydney explains, "It's a video game. My brother practically lives for the thrill of crushing video games. So… we've lost him. To the world of games."
Martha turns towards them and says, "Come on. Staples people. Staples." Sydney nods and says, "I'm with Martha on this one. We're in enough trouble as it is."
But Fridge simply asks Spencer, "Jumanji? What's that mean?" Spencer shrugs and says, "I have no idea. I've never heard of it." Sydney tosses up her hands and says to Martha, "And now we're being ignored. See? This is how it starts." Spencer chuckles and turns to her, "Hey, I'm sorry. But… seriously, come look at this thing. Please?"
Sighing, Sydney sets down her staple-remover and whispers to Martha, "To be continued."
As Syd comes over, Fridge picks up a controller and asks, "Um… which one do I pick?" Spencer shrugs, "I don't know. I don't think it matters that much." Looking at the six character options, he reads aloud, "Jefferson 'Seaplane' McDonough. Pilot and Rascal." But as Fridge tries to select that character, he says, "It's not working." Spencer shrugs. There's nothing he can do about that, so he just says, "Okay, try another one."
Fridge moves over one while Spencer reads, "Franklin 'Mouse' (pronounced Moose right now) Finbar." Fridge shrugs and says, "Well… he sounds like a badass." Spencer nods, "And he's a zoology expert, which is awesome."
Fridge gives Spencer a look, which might be a combination of thinking Spence is just plain weird, and also being amused by him. But upon catching Sydney's now narrowed gaze, he turns back to the screen and says, "Okay, now you pick." Spencer looks at the other four options and says, "Okay. Doctor Smolder Bravestone."
Spencer looks over at Sydney and says, "Grab a controller." "Yeah, how about not. You know I'm not into the video games. I'm all thumbs." "That's like, the majority of what you need to be, in order to use the controller." "Well, then I'm all fingers and no thumbs. How about that?" "Ha, ha, very funny."
Fridge turns to Bethany and asks, "What about you? You in?" She sighs and rolls her eyes… but apparently she also decides that this will be better than removing staples or looking at a phone that has no service right now. Grabbing the controller, she says, "I'll be… Shelly Oberon. The curvy genius."
And Sydney was back to her counting. Great.
Fridge then glances back at Martha and says, "Hey, Staples. Come on. It's your turn." Martha glances at them in surprise, but then says, "Um… nope. No… no thanks."
Sydney would've backed up her call and joined her back at the table to remove staples. But, she zipped her lips to see what would happen when Spencer turned to her and asks, "Wait… um… just for a few minutes? It'll be fun." Bethany rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah, she's not big on fun."
And apparently Bethany knew about the silent rule revolving around Sydney as well, because she jumped in surprise and clammed up when Sydney says, "Hey! Can it, Miss Priss." Martha smiles a bit at that, and then looks at Spencer again before saying, "O… okay. Fine."
And as she grabs the other controller, Martha can't help it. Sydney had a way of empowering the people that she cared about. Spencer was the only testament to that really… but it was true nonetheless.
So when Bethany said, "This might be the lamest thing I've ever done," Martha didn't even hesitate. She followed up with, "I highly doubt that." Sydney grins and applauds silently for only Martha to see. Martha then looks over the other two choices on the screen before picking Ruby Roundhouse.
Sydney would've eventually walked back to the table with the staples. She was content to do that and watch them play. But when nothing happened, she looked up to find all of them now staring at her. Blinking, she asks, "What?" Spencer gives her a look and says, "Come on. Please? Just a few minutes." "Spencer, I'm not good at video games. That is your domain." "Please? Besides, these are old controllers. They barely have anything for you to do that could be confusing. You can do this one. Please?"
She stares at him for a moment, and then groans before saying, "Fine. But when I lose within the first five minutes, I'm done." "Yes!"
Picking up the last controller, Sydney reads the last character slot, which simply reads, "Blank Slate." Tilting her head as she picks it, she watches as the screen shifts to a series of options to choose from. Her gender; female or male. The outfit is apparently something she can't pick. Nor her looks. But there is a series of options for her to look at concerning what strengths she might want and what weaknesses. Sighing, Sydney finally just says, "Okay, why do I have to get the complicated one?"
Fridge responds, "Because you picked last." He clams up when she glares at him in response. Sydney then says, "Spence, pick one." "No, you pick." "I don't know what to pick! Just…" "Well, then how about the bottom on?"
That option read "Wild Card". Shrugging, Sydney asks, "What will that do?" Spence shrugs as well and says, "Beats me. Maybe it'll pick one for you at random?" But when Sydney selects it, an explanation box pops up that reads, "Your strengths and weaknesses will be determined over the course of the game, based on specific actions taken and decisions made by your character." Sydney shrugs and says, "Cool… I guess. I'm still gonna be totally useless… but cool."
Spencer chuckles, and then hits select to get rid of the box, and then he presses 'start' when the welcome screen pops back up.
The drum beat that occurs immediately after is an immediate sign that something is wrong. Not because of the beat itself. If it were just a drum beat, a theme song for the game, then it would probably be fine. But… the sound wasn't just coming from the game box anymore. It seemed to emanate from every corner of the room. Like somehow, though the equipment they were working with was very old, it had somehow been hooked into the latest surround-sound system on the market.
Sydney isn't even annoyed when Bethany shouts out, "What's going on?" In all honesty, it was an incredibly good question. And as sparks begin shooting out from the game box, Spencer moves forward and says, "I think it's shorting out." He tries fiddling with the box for a bit, but that doesn't help.
As the sparks continue flying and increasing in magnitude, Spencer suddenly finds himself hauled backward from the machine. Sydney let go of the back of his shirt after she pulled him away, and then rushed forward and simply unplugged the machine from the wall. It obviously couldn't work and function and be a fire-hazard if there wasn't any power getting to it. Right?
Wrong. The burst of greenish-blue energy that shoots out from the box has them all staring at it with a mix of confusion and horror. What the actual hell was happening right now?
Then Fridge points and asks, "What's happening to your hands?" Sydney turns around to see that Spencer's hands are… de-materializing? She couldn't think of another way to put it. Spencer seemed to, literally, be falling apart in front of them. And all of the particles were being sucked towards the game.
Hurrying towards him, trying to grab at him, Sydney screams, "SPENCER!" "SYDNEY!" But even as he reaches out for her in return… his body vanishes into the box.
Sydney stares at it while Fridge exclaims, "Oh my God!" Taking a step towards the box, Sydney asks softly, "Spencer?"
No one, not even Bethany, is stupid enough right now to say anything to her. Sydney hadn't just watched her best friend dematerialize. She'd just lost her brother. There were no words that would make that okay right now. If anything, the more anyone tried to comfort her, the more pissed off she was liable to get.
She didn't need comfort. She just… she needed to figure out how the hell she was going to get him back. But even as her mind starts going into overdrive, wondering how she was going to make that happen, Martha says, "Oh God."
And now she was vanishing. And so was Bethany. And Fridge.
And Sydney.
The others are freaking out, and Sydney is willing to admit that this is beyond weird and terrifying. But… she also can't help feeling a little relief. Because whatever had just happened to Spencer… it was now happening to her as well. Which meant wherever he was, Sydney was about to be there too.
Which was going to make it a hell of a lot easier to get him back.
Though as she feels herself getting sucked into the game box, she's not so sure that the getting back part is the most pressing concern. Instead, she finds herself wondering how the hell it's even possible that they're getting sucked in, in the first place.
And what in God's name is going to happen to them while they're inside?
Chapter 2! Let me know what you think so far!
