Trivia Takedown

“Eight.”

Kyla’s voice foretold their failure just as it supplied their only chance of escape. What would she ask next? Would Frankie have any idea how to answer?

“In 2008, the newest addition to Kidneyland Kansas was made, an area called wh-“

“V-"

“Virtual Fantasy!” The still-fighting sister shouted over her opponent.

“What the-"

“Correct. Number nine-“

“Hey! That’s not allowed!” Robert whined, completely shocked at the bloodthirsty child’s desperation.

Frankie strained her eyes, peering around the center. It was no use. She tried to read the signs around the lobby for information, but you could hardly make them out from this distance.

“What’s not allowed? No stalling.” Kyla continued, not even having heard his quiet half-syllable of an answer. “Nine. Who directed the first film in Kidney’s international Myriad Dreams project?

“Ma-“

“Hiromaki Miyano!” Frankie exploded out with two percent certainty and ninety-eight percent tenacity.

“Wrong. Next.”

The same darkness that had seized Katie began to take hold of her as well.

“What’s the score, if I may ask?”

But she’d seen worse than this.

“Two for team bench… seven for you.”

The beating of Frankie’s heart pushed her through it.

“Anyway- Plastic People was the first feature-length-“

“TRUE!” Katie shot back to life, clinging to her dream.

“…3D-animated movie of all time… yeah.”

Rob grit his teeth. He was actually going to let her finish that one. Whatever. Hardly any time remained.

Frankie smiled past her anger, holding her sister’s strained hand. They were going to absolutely destroy this loser.

“Another true or false, when-“

“TRUE!” “FALSE!” Katie and Frankie called out at exactly the same time.

“Correct? Uh, that time I didn’t even get to the subject of the sentence.”

“Keep going!” Frankie ordered.

“Fine. But I’m skipping true or false ones from now on, that’s kind of an oversight…”

Rob wondered why part of him was starting to worry. There wasn’t even enough time for him to lose.

Was there?

“Okay then, in which state was the first Kidn-“

“KANSAS!!” Both of the girls echoed, so loud that even if Rob had screamed the same answer just as loud he still would’ve been drowned out. The whole lobby was looking at them now, but they were gaining on their adversary. Unlike them, he wasn’t quite ready to embarrass himself to that degree.

To his credit, only one minute remained anyway.

Bench, five. Fanboy, seven.

“What was Kidney’s, and the world’s, first feature-length animat-“

“The Hea-“

“‘HEART OF PRINCESS JOAN!”

The sisters didn’t have the pretension needed to think including the “The” in the film’s title was at all necessary at these stakes. Again, the point went to them. Rob bit his tongue.

“What was the name of the song used in the opening of 51 BNG’s Bug King?”

“Sc-“

“SCURRY!”

“SCUTTLE!”

The girls allowed the first syllable of the man’s answer to jog their memories before they drowned it out with two, slightly different interpretations of what they thought it was called.

“Uh… yeah, Scuttle. Tied.”

Rob wrapped his fingers around his knee. He was so angry that he didn’t notice the navy-clad staff member coming up right behind him.

“Hey, yeah, you guys are being a tad loud?” She had her hands on her hips, a friendly, though still stern expression directed towards the rowdy crew- this wasn’t her first rodeo.

“Keep going Kyla! I’ll pay you twice the amount promised!” Rob wouldn’t back down.

“O-one more. That’s all I’ll do, got that?!” Kyla hurried to tap to the next question as the employee tried to figure out what was going on or why nobody was responding to her. The sisters’ ears were too fixated on hearing the final, deciding question.

“Okay- who- who played the lead in the original Plastic Pe-“

“TOM SHANKS!” Katie jumped up, so furiously that the park employee seriously thought she was in danger for a second. Going for her walkie-talkie with one hand, she started pulling the troublemakers aside with the other, starting with the dark-haired screamer.

“That’s a wrap, Team Bench wi-“ Kyla started, before a second employee came over and began moving her away from the lobby. “H-hey! I wasn’t the one yelling!”

Rob fearfully seized his bag of tokens as more and more staff came over to hide the disturbance before the sacred guest’s immersion was broken. Frankie’s head rumbled as she began to grasp the consequences- park authority was one thing, but what if cops got involved? They might find her history, and then-

“HANDS OFF MY GIRL!”

The man’s pulsating muscles beneath his sweaty undershirt cast a rippling, almost moving shadow over the park staff that barely reached half his height. The titan pushed through the crowd, holding his beloved tightly as he freed her from the hands of the authoritative woman.

“Has there been a misunderstanding, hard-working employees of Kidneyland?” The probable pro-wrestler asked the audience. Of course, a reliable staff unit was trained not to fear the guests they controlled.

“That’s not the case, sir.” The very one who had restrained his lover spoke up as the sisters could only watch in amazement “She and these others were causing a massive disruption to Kidney’s environment.”

“Disrupt this.” He offered a load of cash to the enforcers roughly the size of both his hands. Kyla swooned.

“Uh-“ The employee instinctively took the bribe before thinking. Her allies peeked over her shoulder, only wondering if they’d get a cut. “No. Uh… don’t you four let us see you again. You won’t get this lucky twice.” She glared at the sisters, the woman, and the fanboy- before running away as fast as she could, her co-workers pursuing hotly in hopes of snatching a bit of the pot.

“Kyla, honey… did they hurt you? Are you alright?” Watching the giant hold her in his arms, the three competitors felt like they were being held hostage, unsure if they were allowed to leave.

“Thanks for keeping my lady company, you guys. But don’t you get her in trouble again!” He laughed, in a friendly manner. The threat remained just as terrifying.

"My money, please?" Kyla smugly asked to her obsessive quiz-taker. 

Gawking in silence, they watched the two depart. Holding each other, their exchange was casual, like no time had passed since they’d last seen one another.

"What'd he pay you for?"

"Reading questions off online quizzes. Don’t get lost again. I was bored without you.”

“Those giraffes, man… I’m sorry. Things're too damn cute. It doesn't make a lick of sense."

Rob turned to the winners, many dollars poorer and still clutching his precious tokens.

“Can we... um. Maybe call this a draw?”

“No way.” Frankie held out her palm. “Tokens. Now.”

Carrying a rustling bag of their supplies and exactly thirty-seven Moon Tokens, the sisters went to decide where first they would explore within the vast city of Kidneyland.