Taking a deep breath, Marcus shook the dice and let them fall on the board. Snake eyes. "Doubles!" He picked up a card, hoping it would get him back to normal.
'Hope that your game form has certain appeal. For now, win or lose, you'll find that it's real!'
Marcus frowned, then looked at the others. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Damn! Nothing ever happens to him!" Josh snorted. "I wonder if the game can tell he's just a kid?"
Allison shrugged. "I told you not to let your little brother join in. I mean, what if something happens to the little twerp? And some of this stuff ain't exactly PG-13."
"What are you talking about?" Marcus stared at her. "The game is what made me a little kid! And I'm sure not Josh's little brother!"
"I wish." Josh rolled his eyes. "I told mom and dad not to stick me with babysitting, but noooo. They gotta go to the movies. Maybe if you weren't such a little twerp, they could get someone else to babysit."
Marcus stared at the others. They thought he really was a kid! The card! Oh, shit! Win or lose, this for was real. Did that mean that he was stuck as a kid from now on? He grabbed the dice. "Doubles. I roll again."
"What's the point? Nothing ever happens to you, squirt." Allison sat back. "Oh, go ahead and roll."
Marcus threw the dice again, and got a seven and a two. Moving ahead, he picked up a card.
'No other card from the game should you fear - You have total immunity here.'
"No! That can't be right!" Marcus started to reach for another card, but got his hand slapped by Allison.
"Look, you little snot! If you wanna play, you gotta play by the rules. The game doesn't seem to care about him, Josh. Can't you make him go watch Pokemon videos or something?"
"But I'm not a kid!" Marcus felt tears starting to form in his eyes. "I'm the same age as you! It's the game!" He was getting really upset, and couldn't control his frustration. "I'm not a kid! I'm not! I'm not!"