Pulled In

1

Grayson sat up with a start in an unfamiliar room. It was hard to make out all the details in the dark, but he knew it wasn't the room he had fallen asleep in.

He took stock of the situation. He was still barefoot and wearing his pajamas he had gone to bed in. He was also very grateful he had accidentally fallen asleep in his glasses. Seeing no real reason to continue sitting on the floor, he slowly stood up and took a few steps forward. The dark floor was cold beneath his bare feet.

He took one step, and then another, and then he was falling through a hole and landing on someone who let loose a string of swears in a very familiar voice.
"Elizabeth?"

The figure he was sprawled on top of looked up.
"Grayson?"

The two got up and stared at each other. In the dark, Grayson could make out a familiar pale, freckled face with pale blue eyes and long blonde-red hair.
"Where are we?"

"I can answer that," came a third voice.

Suddenly, the room lit up, revealing a man in a blue hoodie with a gold and red logo on it that Grayson instantly recognized. He took a step back with an astonished look that confused Elizabeth.
"Gray? Who is this guy?"

"Venturian," whispered Grayson.

The man nodded.
"Good, one of you knows who I am. That helps. Which is good because I have no time to explain."

Grayson was now as confused as Elizabeth.
"Explain what? Where are we? Am I dreaming? What do you mean no time?"

"Yeah, I'm with Gray on this one. What the fuck is going on?"

"Well," began Venturian, "right now you guys are in this weird world between worlds. I'm talking to you from wherever it is me and my siblings are currently trapped. You're here because I sent out a call for help and apparently you're souls or brains or hearts or whatever answered and brought you here. We need you to rescue us."

Elizabeth gave him a skeptical look.
"But why us?"

Venturian shrugged.
"I don't make the rules. Just go with it because I can't send you back."

Grayson, who had finally stopped freaking out over his favorite YouTuber, spoke up.
"Okay, but how do we find you? We don't even know where you are, or where we are."

"Oh, right! I can help with that a little. First, I can send you to at least the dimension I believe we are currently in, but, it's a dangerous and you may die. Lucky for you, I can also help with that. Certain people in this dimension can return from death endlessly. Like a video game. I can copy those abilities from certain people onto you so you can come back too."

Grayson let loose a wide smile.
"So you're saying these guys can cone 'Back From the Dead'?"
He basically sang the last part.

Venturian smiled.
"You caught on fast. Yeah, I think we're in Littlebutts. The people I'm talking about are our characters."

Grayson made a little excited squeaking noise. Now Elizabeth was more confused than ever.
"Okay someone explain the situation in English please."

Grayson gave her a quick run through of who Venturian was, who his siblings were, what Littlebutts was, and who some of the residents were.
"Okay, that definitely helps. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, the character that you chose to copy the abilities from... might also give you some other side effects. Some shared cravings, maybe some personality traits. Nothing major... I think. But if you explain the situation to the characters you meet they should be able to help you through any unexpected effects."
He gave them both a worried smile.
"So, who do you want?"

Grayson replied almost instantly, naming his favorite character. Venturian gave him a wary look but nodded silently. Elizabeth took a little longer, not as familiar with these characters as her younger friend. Seeing her blank expression, Grayson whispered into her ear and described another character to her. She seemed to like the suggestion and repeated the name to Venturian.

"Alright then. Off you go. Good luck, you'll need it."

And with that he disappeared and Grayson and Elizabeth were falling again.