(Chapter originally written by worstfailure)
You were in an arcade, one that was exclusively populated with women from Jenna's college.
The closest woman was hopping up and down exuberantly to match the instructions of a dancing game. Two other women were racing against each other on scale replicas of motorcycles. A siren blared as tickets poured out from a nearby ski ball game, one woman pointing excitedly at the prize counter, while the other nodded. A large group of women were served subpar, extra greasy pizza by a waitress. They were seated in front of a stage with the curtain drawn. You really hoped the stage was for live performers and not nightmare animatronics.
Jenna deposited you on her shoulder, where you steadied yourself by grabbing hold of a strand of her hair.
"You brought me to an arcade?"
"Not just any arcade, big bro!" Jenna said with a wicked grin. "Remember?"
Your sister pointed to the stage as the curtain parted to reveal... nightmare animatronics. Something about dead-eyed machines pantomiming life just profoundly unnerved you. The disconnect as these uncanny creatures "played" their instruments without moving their fingers and "sang" electronically crackling songs by opening and closing their jaws, made a chill run down your spine.
Unfortunately, you quickly realized the performers were not just normal nightmare animatronics, but nightmare animatronics you personally recognized and had been traumatized by nearly two decades ago. This arcade was Ally Gator's Fun-in-Games!
All the familiar faces of the hellish orchestra were there, positioned on a stage designed to resemble a bayou. Polly-Polly Possumfree, who was a possum, obviously, manned the jug while hanging upside down from a tree branch with her tail. There was Damantha Beaver, the... beaver... who played the washboard and had a flower on her head to let everyone know she was a girl. And sitting center stage, there was the creature that haunted your nightmares throughout your childhood ever since your mom first took you here for a birthday and, when Jenna realized your terror and insisted the family keep returning to her new favorite hangout, for years afterwards: Ally Gator, a potbellied anthropomorphic alligator woman in a polka dot blouse and overalls who sat on a log and played the banjo. She was the most detailed of the animatronics, given blonde hair in pigtails, cartoonish lipstick on the end of her snout and exaggeratedly long eyelashes. This arcade was just one in a chain and Ally was their mascot.
The last member of the band was currently invisible, but when the song ended, he popped his head out.
"Golly, that sure was a great opening song, wasn't it gang?" Ali asked, her prerecorded voice not matching the flaps of her jaw.
There was a screeching sound as Ali's jaws unhinged and the top of her head opened. A bug-eyed, frowning frog with a straw hat popped out of her throat. His mouth didn't move as he was only painted on a pneumatic tube that popped up and down.
"The acoustics could be better for me, Ally," Froginner Froat's dweebish voice said. "PLEASE LET ME OUT!"
Froginner was pulled back down as Ally's automated jaws snapped shut, simulating the alligator woman swallowing him. The animatronic alligator's jaws briefly parted as a stock belch sound effect played.
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
"Pardon me," Ally said, girlishly fluttering her eyelashes rapidly until one got stuck, giving one eye a half-lidded expression. Ally turned to address the rest of her band. "Sorry, gals. Guess my lunch doesn't agree with me!"
The three animatronics all laughed in harmony. You'd seen the routine play out countless times over your childhood. It still made you shudder. It was one of a dozen skits written to play in-between songs, most of them following the basic formula of Froginner poking his head out, asking for freedom only for Ally to swallow him again, burp, then make some joke to her friends. Sometimes he wouldn't even pop out, his voice coming out sounding echoey like he was in a cave to indicate his imprisonment inside her.
You'd remembered being traumatized at the thought of poor Froginner Froat, whose existence was to only remain a prisoner in Ally Gator's stomach, briefly getting a view of hope and freedom before the bratty alligator closed her jaws and snatched it away, swallowing him back down to the darkened pit of her belly as an eternal prisoner for her sick amusement. At least, that's how your childish brain had comprehended it. The creators of the chain intended for it to be "charming" instead of existentially terrifying. Clearly none of them was a tiny. The joke hit a lot different when you were small enough to actually be swallowed alive.
Knowing you'd dread the answer but still unable to let it go, you turned to your sister.
"Jenna, aside from traumatizing me all over again, why did you bring me to Ally Gator's Fun-in-Games?"
"Can't a sister just want to spend the day with her big brother?" Jenna asked mock-innocently. You gave her a flat look. "Ashley's got a shift at Diane's, Mari promised to try out her mom's Intensity X workout, and mom has a big order for a client."
"So you scraped the bottom of the barrel and found me?"
Jenna smirked. "If it wasn't a barrel, I'm sure you'd be stuck to the bottom of someone. Besides, you didn't have any plans today." She considered then amended. "None that matter."
"Okay," you said slowly. "But why here specifically?"
Jenna's smirk faded. She was looking at something ahead. You followed her gaze and saw as the woman playing ski ball turned in her mountain of tickets and gave a giant stuffed Ally Gator to the woman she was with. The other woman kissed her on the cheek, causing the first to blush.
"I needed to blow off some steam," Jenna said, sounding bitter. "Collette's ghosting me."
"Oh," you said, sounding sympathetic. "She might just be busy."
"For two weeks?"
You winced at that. You'd really been hoping that relationship would work out well for your sister. While she barely ever showed it to you, she had a sensitive side, especially when it came to her love life. Jenna didn't date much and you suspected it was more because she didn't want to risk getting hurt. Despite her treatment of you, you cared about your little sister and you wanted her to end up with someone who loved and appreciated her. Not just because her being in a relationship would ideally mean she wouldn't have as much time to pick on you, but because she was family and you wanted to see her happy. You just wished she'd value your happiness too.
You knelt down and patted Jenna on the shoulder, hard enough so that she would feel it but gentle enough to let her know you were trying to be reassuring.
"I'm sorry, Jenna. Collette's an idiot. She doesn't deserve you. You'll find someone. If there's anything I can do let me know."
Jenna didn't say anything for a while, just sniffled, and tried to pass it off casually as she lifted her glasses to wipe at her eye. "Thanks, bro," Jenna said, and you were shocked to hear something that sounded like real vulnerability in her voice. Maybe this was the start of a new day for the two of you? A road to finally having a healthy relationship as brother-and-sister?
Jenna looked at you and she too seemed to realize she'd shown you genuine weakness. And she clearly regretted it. She replaced it with her regular sinister smile and any hopes you had for turning a corner were dashed.
"Jenna, wait--"
"You said if there was anything you could do," she said, smiling.
She raised her finger and flicked you off her shoulder with practiced ease. She hit her target expertly, you landing on one of the flashing pads of the rhythm game. A second later a foot came crashing down on top of you. It was beyond excruciating. Over one hundred and thirty pounds of pressure pressed down on you, flattening you in an instant. And an instant was all the foot remained there. It moved and you were left flattened on the pad as the woman continued to dance.
She was a pretty woman with tremendous curves who was a few years older than Jenna. She had black hair styled into a loose braid and wore a tight shirt and shorts that showed off copious amounts of jiggling flesh. Trying to be discreet in her looks, Jenna snuck a few glances at her as she first traded in bills for tokens for the games, then bought a diet soda. Your sister smirked as the dancing woman's foot came down on your body over and over again.
As bad as being crushed sporadically beneath the sole of a stranger's shoe was, what was worse was when your flattened body was pulled back up, attaching you to the sole of the shoe. Now not only were you being crushed with every step, but the woman was dancing so freely, you were disoriented as she spun around and hopped up and down. She was clearly one of those players who didn't care how she looked as she played so long as she got the high score. Fifteen minutes passed before the dancing woman finally stopped, cursing.
"I can buy you another round," Jenna offered, finally approaching the other woman after she'd been lingering on the edges, playing other games.
The black-haired woman smiled, "Thanks but I'm late to meet with my boyfriend."
"That's alright," Jenna said, failing to not sound bitter. "Before you go, have you seen my brother? He was waiting in line to play next when I left."
A second later you were peeled off the woman's shoe and deposited in your sister's hands. Jenna frowned as she watched the dancer leave.
What happens next?
1) Before Jenna decides what to do next, she hears a high-pitched giggle coming from a series of hamster tubes set up as the tiny's "play area". The laugh belongs to a pretty tiny woman that Jenna has French class with but has never spoken to. The tiny saw what Jenna did and found it hilarious, the two quickly bonding.
2) Jenna tries to flirt with other women while pranking you.
3) Writer's Choice
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