Captive (Polybius x Reader)

Mystery

DDDDRIIIING.

YN jumped, realizing she'd been idly staring into space as her teacher's voice droned on and on about the battle strategy of the British air force during World War II. "Okay class, you're free to go! And remember what you've just learned for the upcoming pop quiz," announced her teacher over the sound of rustling to shove textbooks into backpacks. YN shook herself, then frowned as she realized worriedly that she'd barely caught anything that had been said. Mental images of Spitfires zooming through the dangerous battle-ridden skies morphed and danced until they became crude, quasi-dimensional shapes on a swirling grid, and suddenly she'd found herself playing Polybius in her head throughout the whole class. YN sighed and shouldered her bag. She'd have to cram tonight to make up for the lack of lecture notes, and it was all Polybius's fault. Just thinking the game's title sent a little spark of electricity down her spine, and she involuntarily smiled. She could hardly wait to get out of this fortress of pain and head downtown to finally make it to level 2.

YN made her way behind the building to where the bikes were chained up, and set about unlocking hers. Before she could get on it and go, though, she heard several approaching male voices coming around the corner. "...and that's what happened to Max! I swear to God, man!" YN recognized the voice of the kid who'd been hovering around Max like a remora the other day at the arcade. The others walking with him laughed uproariously. Her ears perked up, and she knelt down, pretending she was having trouble with the lock so she could eavesdrop. "Ok, ok, Eli, let me get this straight...Max sneaks into the 'Spark, and an arcade machine eats him alive. Right?" asked one of them once he'd caught his breath. "Well...yeah," Eli said. "I know it sounds stupid, but I saw the whole thing through the window!" "Alright, then. Which game was it? Did Pac-Man come out of the screen and bite Max's head off or what?" Cue the obnoxious male laughter again. "No, no! It was that new game, the one everyone was playing yesterday!" "Yeah, okay, man. I don't even think Max went to the arcade, he's probably passed out somewhere with a hangover and he told you to make up a crappy story for him." And with that, they were out of earshot. YN watched them go curiously for a moment, her mind wandering to possibilities of where Max might really be. She was pretty damn sure it wasn't in the circuity guts of a living arcade machine.

Though she could be wrong.