Gaming Surprises

So Jack had said that this '3D Island Simulator' game was rather intense, and sure, he might've been willing to play it, but even Jack still knew little to nothing about it and that made him rather skeptical about the whole thing. But then again, Mark was always up for a little bit of an adventure.

So, here he was, staring down at the game case in his hands. It seemed legit, but he could never be truly sure what he was getting into. It seemed innocent enough, so, guess it was time to find out.

Cracking it out, he opened the disk compartment to his laptop that connected to the monitor and the game started loading, although, instead of the opening screen on his computer, a light shot overhead from his camera and into the open space where he always filmed the vive games. Furrowing his brows, he pushed himself from his chair and he stepped up to this portal. Colours swirling inside as stood in plain confusion.

What was this thing, and why was it in his house? He should've known something was wrong, even Jack had mentioned that it was wacky.

Well, his recording stuff wasn't going to work for him now, so, looks like he'd have to post a different video today to make up for this one.

"Fricking weird, man," he muttered to himself. Pursing his lips, Mark stuck his hand through the portal. It felt cold against his wrist before a gust of wind caught his attention.

Pulling his hand back, he examined it for anything that may have happened. It seemed perfectly fine. Wiggling his fingers, he seemed alright. "Okay, well, time to get this over with, I guess."

This time, Mark took a step into the portal and he stumbled into it when he tried to put his foot down on solid ground. He was able to catch himself in time, before he face planted, but he did end up on his hands and knees.

Surprised, he felt the ground for a moment. It was sand, and it felt pretty realistic too. Interesting. Taking a handful, he let it slide through his fingers easily as his brown eyes really focused on what it was. Shaking that from his head, standing up, he blinked around, shading his eyes from the sun that seemed to be in midday by now. Brushing his hands down his jeans, he looked over to see a tiny little city just a few steps away from him. The waves were crashing against the beach and his brows raised in surprise.

"Holy shit," he muttered to himself. "Everything looks so tiny!"

At least, from where he stood. Maybe it was because he was standing so far away, or it was literally a tiny city.

Interested in knowing what this really was, Mark stepped a little bit closer. This seemed a little too realistic to be a video game, and even more so when the tiny residents on the street began to freak out and run in the opposite direction. He was careful where he stepped onto the street, not wanting to injure anything, but his eyes were so wide that he could hardly believe this was real.

Pulling his glasses off, he cleaned them on his shirt almost to prove to himself that maybe he was being messed with. When he put them back on, clearer than ever, he realized, yeah, this was real. Completely real.

There were little cars swerving off the roads and making insane U-turns. Not really knowing how to react, there was something definitely strange. Not sure completely on how to react, he tried to take a few steps closer, at least wanting to get a closer look at the people fleeing from around him, but he was too slow and the last thing on Mark's mind was to lash out and grab for someone. If these people were sentient, then doing something like that'd scare the shit out of them and that wasn't something he wanted to do.

He knew that if this happened in his city, then hell, he wouldn't want to be grabbed for either, but, curiosity was really starting to override what he was currently thinking.

And seeing someone on the ground unaware of what was going on, Mark had a feeling that maybe this was his chance to get a better look at the tiny city people.

~*~

She had just been leaving the campus of her school when everyone had started panicking; arms full of books from the library, she flicked her dark-blonde hair from her eyes as she glanced around. What was with everyone?

Shaking her head, she adjusted her books again and walked in the opposite direction everyone was going for. Seriously, what was the problem?

Danessa had kept walking steadily, only to be shoved and pushed passed as a tremor shook the earth. It wasn't bad enough to be an earthquake, she knew that for sure, but it was enough to knock the young woman off her feet and onto the ground, books scattering as she tumbled to the ground. There were some that stumbled before catching themselves and keeping on with their panic fleeing.

Her shoulders slumped before getting onto her knees and grabbing her stuff again. Brown satchel on her shoulders, she slowly began to notice a shadow growing over her form.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked up as there was no one left on the street, watching as one last truck did a crazy U-turn in escape and floored it. Tires screeching she winced. Okay, what had she missed?

The theatre was dark and the walls were nearly sound proof, but this was just ridiculous. turning her head, she caught sight of something that made her heartrate increase to an abnormal speed. Finishing with her books, she turned a little more and it took her a moment to really process what she was looking at. Were those a giant pair of sneakers? Blinking, a cold dread began to seep into her stomach.

Craning her neck upwards, Danessa followed up a wall of denim covering two inhumanly long legs onto an impossible sized chest covered by a form-fitting black shirt. And from there she noticed a face with dark brown eyes and scruff covering his jaw, black and red hair. Glasses situated before those chocolate brown eyes staring intently down at her. Her eyes were close to the size of saucers by now and her mouth was beginning to open in silent horror, but she needed to stay calm.

Maybe he wasn't the type of Godzilla that was gonna go rampant in the city. She studied the ground beneath him and she noticed that none of the asphalt had cracked beneath him. Closing her eyes trying to calm her fluttering heart, she let out an unsteady breath. Hearing the sound of clothing shifting, and she felt something warm beside her.

Nonetheless, Danessa reopened her eyes, stuffed the library books into her satchel and pushed herself into a stand, her only means of escape meant getting away from the red haired giant. And she needed to do that quickly. She didn't even want to notice the huge hand that was idly beside her, keeping the kneeling man upwards.

"H-hey, wait!" The voice was loud and masculine -wait, what was she expecting it to be like? Eh, never mind- and there was something else. She couldn't look behind her, and focused her eyes on her destination of safety, the theatre, until something skin coloured and large planted itself in front of her. "Please- don't freak out... I don't want to hurt you, I swear!"

Completely ignoring the giant's words, she scrambled backwards, only to realize with growing horror that she was trapped between the man himself and his hands. Tripping backwards over her own two feet, the young woman tumbled to the ground again and she was left staring up at the face that was nearing her. His gentle browns softening at the look of fear on her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it, pushing back a little more to give her some breathing space. He kept his hands cupped around her so she couldn't escape, but he didn't mean any harm.

He bit his lip, unsure of how to go about this without freaking her out more. "Look, I really don't want to hurt you-" he offered her a gentle smile. "I promise."

Danessa really didn't want to believe what this giant was saying, but he just seemed so sincere. She did remember the other one who had come through only days before, wrecking the place, only to fix it again after realizing this was an actual town, and this guy hadn't done anything of the such. "Okay," she whispered, looking up to him after swallowing nervously. "What do you want with me?"

He seemed a little nervous about this, but the sheepish smile that crossed his lips was rather endearing to see. "I just wanted a better look at someone so small.." he admitted. "An-and you were the only one that didn't run away as soon as I showed up- I'm not gonna stay very long, I promise."

The look he was giving her was almost one of a guilt little kid who had broken a plate on accident. She really couldn't say no to his curiosity, and that's one of the few things she hated the most about her personality. "Alright.." she said softly, running a hand through her blonde hair. "Just- please, be gentle."

Mark didn't know how to react when she actually gave him permission. This teeny human was allowing him to really look her over, to see how alike they were. Moving his hands slowly, almost anticipating for her to get up and bolt away, he was pleasantly surprised to find that she didn't. The little woman stayed were she sat, just watching his movements with paranoia.

Seems like they were both waiting for the other to do something.

Now came the mental preparation for actually reaching over to take her into his hands, that was going to be the weirdest part. Slowly, and keeping his motions smooth as to not scare her away, he reached over and dipped his fingers behind her, tiling his hands and slowly letting gravity do the work for him. She was pulled gently into his open palm and he supressed a shiver at the weird feeling.

She hadn't though. Mark felt her tense and shift a little awkwardly as he lifted her from the ground. The little satchel around her shoulder swung back and forth, and he could just make out the impossible size of a keychain. A small white orb that had some words decoratively on it. That was all he could tell. Then his eyes moved to the girl herself. She was just so small, even his fingers dwarfed her.

"Insane," he muttered, just above a whisper. "You're so freaking tiny." She somewhat reminded him of Tiny Box Tim, the difference, she was a tiny human.

That got a nervous laugh from her. "You're telling me."

Gently, he offered his pointer finger out, pad up as he silently asked for her permission to study her hands and arm. She seemed to understand this, and albeit hesitantly, she reached out her hand and placed it against his fingertip, hers spread out completely. Fingers stretching as she watched him.

Danessa could feel every groove and dent of his fingerprint as he gently shifted her arm to really study it. It barely reached to the first bend of his finger and it was thinner then a pencil. Easily broken.

The thought was bitter and he tried to ignore it, she was really just so fragile and he really didn't want to do anything to risk hurting her.

Mark licked his dry lips before blinking over towards the portal, he hadn't even noticed but the time on his watch was starting to catch his attention. It was passed three already? How did that happened? "I should probably be getting back.. Here," he lowered his hands and he tipped his hand just enough that she was able to slide off. "It was nice meeting you though, thanks for letting me.. I don't know, get a better look without worrying about you passing out. I'm Mark, by the way."

If anything, she was more than surprise when she was let off so soon and she was standing back on solid ground. Turning on her heel, when he mentioned that he was leaving so soon, her heart sunk actually. "You're leaving.. already?" She asked softly, looking up to the man -now she knew as Mark- and rubbed her arm shyly. "Maybe you could st-stay a little bit longer? I could show you around, if you know, you wanted to.."

She was just as surprised as he was at the offer. "As nice as that sounds, I gotta get back and post to my subscribers."

Danessa furrowed her brows. "You have to post what?"

Mark shifted himself a little better and let on knee rest against the cement. "A video, people watch me on YouTube. It's my job to entertain."

A small smile fluttered onto her face as she heard this. "You entertain for a living too?"

Furrowing his brows, he pursed his lips for moment, contemplating it. "You could say it like that, I guess. Why; what do you do?"

"I'm kind of a theatre dork," she admitted, looking down shyly. "The books I shoved into my bag were of Shakespearian literature and playwritings that we may be performing in the year, I was able to get a head start."

Mark found a warm smile gently painting his face at her confession and he gently reached over, placing a knuckle under her chin and lifting it just enough so he could see her lovely brown eyes under her fluff of blonde hair. "I think that's super cool," he told her gently.

A wider smile alighted her lips as he said that, sure, the whole guiding her eyes to him startled her, but he really didn't mean any harm. "Do- do you still want that tour around?"

Checking his watch, he gave a side shrug. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

~*~

"And that down there," she pointed to the large building, it was stone with a few windows way above where the doors were, pristine crimson curtains hanging in front to make sure that it kept the stage dark and only the lights from the director could be seen. "That's the theatre, it's where I get to work. And beside it is the start of my University campus."

Mark had situated the young woman on his shoulder as she pointed and narrated where they were going or what he was he looking at, and without everyone out on the streets, they had more space to roam freely. She was a delight to have with him. "Is that it?"

Danessa sighed softly, and nodded. "Yeah, basically. Although, you get can get a really nice view of the sunset over the ocean when that comes to play."

"I don't think I'm staying that long," he told her softly, checking his watch. Nearly five. He stepped over a few buildings and abandoned cars, and he landed on the beach right across from his portal. Lifting a hand to his shoulder, she slid off onto his palm and looked up to him. "Sorry, but I have things to do back home.. I have to record, then edit, then upload."

Looking down, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. This was gonna be a bold move, but she needed to get it out of her system. "Mark.. could I, could I come live with you? Back in your house, wherever you live?"

The young man was taken aback by the little request as he looked down to her, blinking in confusion. Waiting for her to say something like 'just kidding! Now put me down', but she didn't. The firm look in her little brown eyes proved that she was being serious about wanting to come live with him in Los Angles. She didn't even know where he lived, and yet she was willing to come live with him? In someplace that was much too out-sized for her? Impressive.

And she liked acting, that meant that she may want to be in some of his videos. And she'd get to meet some of his friends and his family, and he was pretty sure that Chica would love her.. after getting used to the idea of having a tiny person living with them. Using his free hand to rub the back of his neck, he looked away from her, towards the ever swirling portal. "I guess I don't see why not, but if you ever get homesick, I could always bring you back."

She let out a steady breath. "What if I said I didn't want to come back here? Life in the city gets a little boring after a while."

"What about the theatre? You'd be leaving that behind."

She nodded. "I know, but it's time for someone else to rise to the top. Besides, I've been in so many productions that I'm not heartbroken about leaving. And my studies, well, I was in my third year anyways."

He was surprised about how easily she was willing to let that all go, but he guessed you couldn't be top dog forever, and she seemed to think it was boring. "Well, you'd still get to act with me. A little more being yourself in front of a camera, but that's the same difference, am I right?"

Offering a smile, she nodded happily. "So I get to come along?"

Mark chuckled and nodded softly. "Yeah, you get to stay with me."

She hadn't felt happier in ages. And the whole sense of a new adventure sure was thrilling, almost as thrilling as waiting behind stage for the opening night show. "Oh! I'm Danessa, I don't think I ever mentioned that."

"Glad to have that established," he grinned down towards her. Moving her to his shoulder once more, he felt her little hands grasp for his shirt collar, but after she had it, he moved his hand, stepped over to the portal, and she turned her head to watch her home slowly disappear.

This time, when she turned back around, she was welcomed with the sight of a house much larger than she would've like, but the smile on her face was giddy. "Everything's so huge!" She breathed in excitement.  

Mark couldn't hide the smile that was now fully on his face . Heading over to his computer, he popped out the disk and the portal disappeared completely, but Danessa didn't even notice, she was too busy watching everything else and letting it all sink it.

"So, I still have to record something for my subscribers," Mark looked towards the woman sitting on his shoulder. "And I have a game that I've been itching to start playing, care to join me in the video?"

She nodded giddily and watched as he got everything set up, messing with cameras and he got to the loading screen of the game he was about to fire up. After getting ready, she stayed quiet on his shoulder as he turned on the camera and it started recording.

"Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier, and before we jump head first into this new play through, I'd like you to meet Danessa!" She gave a wave to the camera and listened to how he continued enthusiastically. "You'll be seeing more of her in the future. Now, why don't we get this party started!"