Collateral Gaming

Chapter 2
Exploit Ending

Chapter Description: Exploit won the poll! See what happens when Abby refuses to help and Johnny tries to help Joseph get his age back.

It had been a few weeks since Joseph had gone to the magic arcade with his siblings Johnny and Abby. His new life as a toddler was easy, but boring. No one except his siblings and friends at daycare knew he had been sixteen before, and everyone else treated him like the toddler he appeared to be. Day after day he had to deal with the indignity of wearing diapers and needing diaper changes, being bathed, constantly having his privacy invaded, and not to mention being generally ignored by his now older siblings.

Johnny was now thirteen, having formerly been eight, and was usually busy with basketball practice or homework. He had new friends at school and enjoyed all the congratulations he got for his talent at various sports. As an eight-year-old he was just getting into baseball and basketball, but wasn't very good at them. He was beginning to see what a big difference a few years makes.

Abby had gone from five to seventeen, and completely embraced the teenage high school girl life. She frequently had her friends over or went over to their houses to watch movies and talk about boys. There was even a boy in her class she really liked, and was much happier now. Every time Joseph would bring up going to the arcade, she would make up an excuse as to why she couldn't take him. She was honestly becoming annoyed with little Joseph and his whining toddler ways.

Joseph began to wonder if he deserved this fate. When his siblings were born, he felt they were taking way the attention he usually got from their parents, and was secretly jealous. He didn't want to deal with them or help them with school work. He reluctantly babysat them at times, but mainly because his parents gave him money to do so. Now that he was the youngest, he had trouble getting the attention of his siblings, but had more than he could handle from his parents. They were constantly fussing over him, checking his diaper, cleaning his face, talking down to him, and telling him what a cute little boy he was. Whenever he wasn't at daycare, he mostly spent his time on the floor playing with toys or sleeping.

One day, Joseph was on the floor playing, wearing just a diaper and little blue shirt, when he noticed a sun beam from the window. He toddled over to it and stuck his hand into it, flapping his little hand around and seeing the tiny dust motes in the light. He looked down at the shine on the floor and stuck his foot into it curiously. It was warm and comforting, so he sat down to play there with some toy cars. Soon he felt his diaper become warm in front, but ignored it and continued to play. His mind wondered to thoughts of what the light meant and why it felt so warm, like his diaper. They both felt comfortable and inviting as he sat and played. He began to imagine himself as a race car driver, driving around in the bright sun on a race track. His imagination led him into racing around the room making car sounds as he did. When he encountered a large foot within a high heeled shoe, he stopped and looked up to see Abby on her phone. She was so big now, far from his little world.

Abby chatted away on her phone and looked down to see her diaper clad brother playing. She smiled and paused to ruffle his hair, then walked on.

There was something Joseph wanted to ask Abby, but he forgot. It was something important. Then his thoughts were interrupted by his mom picking him up.

“Ooh, I see my little boy needs a dry diaper.” she said, patting his soggy diaper. She took him to his nursery room and laid him on a changing table.

Joseph laid there and looked up at his giant mom. This had become to feel routine to him now, and while he still felt embarrassed, it was less so. He just wiggled a bit and sucked on his thumb as his mom changed his diaper.

Joseph's mom cooed down at him and made faces, trying to get him to smile. Even she seemed to notice there was something more going on behind those adorable little eyes. Finally, she ended up just tickling him to make him giggle. That always seemed to work.

Joseph giggled babyishly and squirmed on the table. Why was he so grumpy again? It was hard for him to remember. Once his diaper was changed, he was allowed to pay some more and watch TV. At first the dumb baby shows bored him, but lately the sounds and colors had him more interested and entertained.

Johnny soon came home from practice and saw Joseph glued to the TV. He still remembered his brother being older than him, and being strong and independent. Now he was just a little toddler, nearly a baby, and he felt bad for him. Even so, he had to put on a show so their parents wouldn't think something was wrong. “Hey lil guy!” he said, kneeling down to Joseph.

“H-hi Johnny.” said Joseph. He looked up at his brother and forced a smile.

“How was your day?” asked Johnny.

“Bowing.” said Joseph. “Buh kinda fun. I got deze wace caws n dey go vwoom vwoom! I saw da bwoo doggy on da TV and she made me waff.”

“That's good.” said Johnny. He was getting worried. With each passing day he noticed Joseph was acting more and more his new age. As much as he enjoyed his new life, he knew how miserable Joseph was, and wanted to help. “Come on. Lets go show Abby.”

Joseph smiled as he suddenly remembered that he was a big boy and shouldn't be peeing and pooping his diapers like a baby. He knew he needed help getting back to the arcade, and that meant convincing Abby to drive them there. He lifted his arms up to his now big brother.

Johnny smiled and picked up Joseph. It felt so strange to be holding his big brother like this. He even smelled like baby powder and lotion, just like a baby would. He carried him to Abby's room where he knocked on the door.

Abby opened the door, still on her phone, and made a face. “Ugh, what do you want?” she asked, annoyed.

“Look, Abby, its been fun being big and all, but we need to get Joseph his age back already.” said Johnny. “It's not fair that he ends up so little while we get to be big.”

“Tough luck.” said Abby. “That's what he gets for gambling.”

“We gambled too!” said Johnny. “We didn't know what we were gambling with. It could have easily gone the other way and we could have ended up in diapers.”

Abby just rolled her eyes at him.

“We owe him.” said Johnny. “If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have gone to the arcade and wouldn't have gotten big. We need to try at least, and you're the only one who can drive.”

“I'm happy being a big high school girl.” said Abby. “I have friends, and even a boyfriend! I'm not going to give that up!”

“But what about Joseph?” asked Johnny.

“I nu wike bein widdle Abby.” said Joseph. “Pwease! Ya gotta hewp me!”

“No! I'm so sick of this!” shouted Abby. “You know what?” She fetched her arcade card and held it up, then tore it in half. “I'm not going back. You can't...make...me...” She looked dizzy and confused for a moment, and her card vanished into thin air after she tore it and it fell to the floor.

“Abby?” asked Johnny. “Abby are you alright?”

Abby felt confused. There was something they were arguing about, but she couldn't quite remember exactly what it was. Then she remembered only that they were begging her to take them to the arcade. “Um, yeah. I'm fine.” she said. “But I'm not taking you to that dumb arcade. I have a date and friends to hang out with. You two are always wanting to goof off, but I have a life.”

“Buh Abby, I wanna be big again!” Joseph complained. “Ish nu faiw!”

“Don't be silly Joey.” said Abby. “You and that imagination of yours. You weren't big before. You've always been the littlest. You'll get big some day, but don't be in a rush. Now please, leave me alone. I need to talk to my friends.”

“Abby?” asked Johnny. “Don't you remember being five?”

“That was such a long time ago.” said Abby. “Of course I don't remember, and I don't care. Now leave!” She shooed them out of her room and shut the door.

“That was weird.” said Johnny.

“I tink she fowgot wha happened.” said Joseph.

“It must have happened when she tore up her card.” said Johnny. “She's not a member of the arcade anymore, so she doesn't remember!”

“Cwap!” said Joseph. “Now wha we do?” He began to tear up and cry loudly.

“Johnny!” shouted their mom. “You're not teasing your little brother again are you?”

“No mom!” said Johnny. “Shh, calm down Joey. I'll think of something. Just stop crying okay?”

Joseph sniffled and wiped his tears. “O-ohkay.” he said. “Sowwy. I can't hewp it sometimes. I tuwnin into a babee on da inside too.”

“I know.” said Johnny. “It sucks, but we'll fix it. Maybe I can take you there on my bike and we can try.”

“We can?” asked Joseph. “Wiww mommy n daddy wet you do dat?”

“I don't know.” said Johnny. “But it doesn't hurt to ask.” He carried Joseph back to the living room where their parents were sitting watching TV. “Um, mom? Dad? Can I take Joseph with me to the new arcade on my bike?”

“Absolutely not!” said their mom. “He wouldn't be safe on that thing.”

“But mom!” said Johnny.

“Listen to your mom Johnny.” said their dad. “You don't have a way to keep your little brother safely on that bike of yours.”

“What about public transportation?” asked Johnny. “Like the bus or an Uber?”

“I don't like the idea of you and your little brother going out alone like that.” said his mom. “Why do you want to take him to the arcade anyway? He's just a baby.”

“I notta babee!” shouted Joseph, sounding like a baby. “I wan go n pway!”

“I'm sorry sweety.” said their mom. “I know you're a big boy, but you're still not big enough to go there.”

“What if you take us?” asked Johnny.

“We're both very busy Johnny.” said their dad. “Maybe we can take you sometime next month.”

“Aw, come on!” Johnny whined. “I do good in school, make good grades, and make everyone proud at sports. Don't I deserve a little reward?”

Their mom and dad looked at each other. “Well, I guess you do deserve a reward for all your hard work.” said their mom. “If this is something you really want, then I guess we can take you tomorrow.”

“Thanks mom! Thanks dad!” said Johnny, sounding excited.

“You're welcome.” said their dad. “Just keep those grades up and help out with Joey. Why not play some games in your room with him?”

“Yeah, okay.” said Johnny, returning to his room with Joseph in his arms. He put the little tot down on his bed.

“Fankoo!” Joseph shouted, hugging his now big brother..

“You're welcome.” said Johnny, hugging back. “Now we at least have a way there, and I bet we can get a bit of money from mom and dad to play. We can do this!”

“Yeah!” shouted Joseph excitedly. “No mowe diapees fow me!” Just then, he picked up a smell, as did Johnny.

“Um, yeah.” said Johnny, covering his nose. “We'll both be thankful for that stinky butt.”

Joseph blushed and covered his diaper with his hands, as if that would hide the smell.

“It's okay Joseph.” said Johnny. “I know you can't help it. Better get you changed though.”

After another embarrassing diaper change and bath, Joseph was put to bed by his mom. As he slept, he dreamed of being a big boy again, and not having to deal with yucky diapers. The next day, after breakfast, he was dressed in a little Paw Patrol onesie and snap crotch shortalls, along with little socks and light up shoes. He was embarrassed, but excited to get his age back. Joseph stared out the window from his car seat, thinking about his friends at the daycare. He didn't want to let them down either, so he promised himself they would do well enough to help them too somehow.

Once they pulled into the parking lot of the arcade, Johnny got out and helped Joseph out of his car seat. Their mom and dad got out of the car.

“Okay dear, here is some money.” said their mom, giving Johnny a twenty dollar bill. “This is all you're getting, so don't spend it too fast.”

“We'll be in the restaurant next door.” said their dad. “Come get us if you need anything.”

“Okay, thanks!” said Johnny. He held Joseph's hand as they walked in, and the familiar sights and sounds of the arcade came rushing back to them. He went up to the counter and saw an intern at the desk.

“Welcome back.” said the twenty-something intern with long black hair and brown eyes. He wore a pink and blue uniform with the arcade's name on it, and a name tag that read “Larry.” He saw the arcade cards in Johnny's hand and knew they had been there before.

“Thanks.” said Johnny. “I want to load twenty bucks on my card please.” He gave the man his money and card, and watched as the intern pushed buttons and scanned his card, then gave it back to him.

“Here you go.” he said. “Have fun.” He smiled, figuring the tot was there to get his age back. He had been working there long enough to know how to spot desperate return customers.

“Okay Joseph, which ones should we play?” asked Johnny.

“Umm, dat one.” Joseph said, pointing his little finger at a basketball hoop game.

“Hey yeah, I'm pretty good at basketball.” said Johnny. “Good idea.” He walked up and swiped his card, then began shooting basketballs. He got a few in, but to his surprise, it was harder than it looked. It was oddly harder than making a normal basket in an actual game. “This is weird. Why can't I get them all in?”

“Wet me twy.” said Joseph.

“Are you serious?” asked Johnny. “Can you even lift the ball?”

“Jus wet me twy.” said Joseph.

“Okay fine.” said Johnny. He picked up Joseph and held him as he picked up a basketball and tossed it. Amazingly, it went in.

“Oh wow, you actually did it!” said Johnny. He tried again and missed, but when Joseph tried it went in. It was almost as if the games were adjusting their difficulty based on who was playing. However, while he did well at first, he began getting worse and worse at the game so they decided to try ski ball. Again, they both did well, but didn't win many tickets. It was hard to resist the arcade cabinets around, but those didn't give out tickets.

Joseph glanced over at the TMNT game he had played. It was so huge now, there was no way he could play it even if he wanted to. Everything in the arcade seemed larger, louder, and more intimidating. Eventually it overwhelmed him a bit and he started to cry and hyperventilate.

“Oh gosh, Joseph. Are you okay?” asked Johnny. “Let's go to the bathroom.” He took Joseph to the bathroom and sat him on the counter.

Joseph sniffled as tears and snot ran down his face. He didn't realize, but he just had a bit of a panic attack. “Sowwy.” he said between sniffles. Now that they were in a more quiet and calm room, he was able to relax a bit.

“Your little body must not be able to handle all the noise and excitement of the arcade.” said Johnny. He noticed a smell and checked Joseph's diaper. “Oh man, did you...?”

Joseph blushed and cried a little more. “I so sick of dis!” shouted Joseph.

Johnny grimaced and winced. “I guess I can change you, if you want.” he said reluctantly.

“I...I guess.” said Joseph sniffling. “I dun wanna wawk awound in a wet n poopy diapee.”

“I understand.” said Johnny. He unfolded the changing table in the bathroom and laid Joseph on it, then unbuttoned his shortalls to get access to his diaper. Holding his breath at times, he opened the diaper and cleaned up his brother the best he could with the free wipes the bathroom provided. There was also a diaper dispenser, but it cost him a bit of his money. For some reason, the diaper dispenser had a card reader on it. He figured it must be for convenience given that others had been reduced to wearing diapers there. It was gross and he tried to avoid looking directly at Joseph, but he finally managed to clean him up and get him into a fresh diaper, then fasten the buttons on his shortalls.

Joseph blushed bright red the entire time, but when it was all done he sat up and hugged Johnny. “Fankoo.” he said with a sniffle.

“Y-you're welcome.” said Johnny, returning the hug. “Maybe we should cash in a few tickets and get you older before we continue. That way you won't get so worked up and end up in another dirty diaper.”

“D-dat sounds wike a good idea.” said Joseph. As long as he didn't have to wear diapers again, he was happy.

After washing his hands, Johnny led Joseph out to the ticket counter and handed over his card. “I'd like to use these to buy whatever age I can, but I want it to go to my brother.” he said.

“Hmm, let me check.” said the intern. He scanned the card and punched up the numbers. “You have enough here for about three additional years.”

“That'll make you five at least.” said Johnny. He handed over Joseph's card so it could be scanned, and soon noticed that Joseph began to grow.

Joseph looked around as things seemed to shrink around him. His clothes changed from a toddler's outfit to something more befitting a five-year-old boy. His underwear, thankfully, thinned and became regular tighty whities, his shortalls changed into regular blue shorts, and his onsie changed into a t-shirt with Spongebob on it. He smiled and looked up at Johnny.

“That better?” asked Johnny.

“Way better.” said Joseph, now able to talk without a lisp. He patted his bottom and smiled. “No diapers.”

“Thanks.” Johnny said to the intern.

“No problem.” said the intern, handing the cards back to him.

“Well, we're just about out of credits.” said Johnny. “The only way to get more is to put up more age from one or both of us.”

“Do you want to risk it just for me?” asked Joseph.

“Well, I can at least risk as much as I won before. I don't want to end up any younger than I originally was.” said Johnny.

“Right.” said Joseph. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” said Johnny. He put up five of his own years, earning him more credits, then they went back to gaming. Again they went to some simple stuff like ski ball and even some random luck like slot machines. The arcade was able to skirt around gambling laws by having things changed for tickets and prizes rather than money.

Joseph was able to play more this time, and he did well, but even at age five he was still uncoordinated and awkward. He tried the whack-a-mole game a few times, but only got a few tickets from it. In the end, they ended up with only enough tickets to buy back about two years.

“Crap!” said Johnny. “We only have one credit left and that's not enough to win back enough tickets.”

“What do we do now?” asked Joseph with a bit of a whine in his voice. He looked around for something, anything that may be the solution to their problem. Then he spotted an odd claw machine in the corner. “Hey, what's that?”

Johnny walked over to the claw machine with Joseph. “Hmm, a claw machine?” he asked. It had small plastic balls with pieces of paper in them that read different amounts of tickets and other prizes. “Oh look, you can win up to five thousand tickets!”

“Wow!” said Joseph. “That'll get us enough to get our age back and even some to my friends at daycare.” He blushed a little, remembering playing with the other toddlers at daycare.

“Looks like there's some kind of big grand prize too.” said Johnny. “A wish? That sounds interesting.”

“Let's do it!” said Joseph.

“Heh, okay, but you do it.” said Johnny. “This is for you bro.” He handed Joseph his card.

Joseph nodded and scanned the card. He worked the claw machine's handles, trying to go for one of the big prize eggs. With a gulp and a breath, he pushed the button and the claw dropped down deep into the pool of prize eggs. It wiggled when it grabbed something and pulled it up. He watched as the egg in the claw's grasp wiggled as it traveled over to the dispenser and smiled when it dropped down. He heard it clunk and roll to the little plastic door, and then went over and eagerly picked it up, then opened it.

“Well, what is it?” asked Johnny. “What did you win?”

“I won...the wish.” said Joseph, holding up a gold piece of paper with the words “ONE WISH” on it.

“What does that mean?” asked Joseph. Just then, some flashing lights and a strange alarm went off on the machine.

“Congratulations!” said a mechanical voice. “You get one wish and one wish only. Take the ticket to the counter for an explanation.”

“Guess we gotta go up front.” said Joseph. He took his prize to the intern at the counter and showed it to him.

The intern's eyes grew big in shock. No one had ever won the wish before. It was practically impossible. He hadn't been there long enough to know what exactly it applied to. He did his best to explain as much as he knew. “Oh um, congratulations little guy!” he said. “Um, listen, no one has ever won that before, so I'm not sure what it can do. All I know is that you can't wish for more tickets or age or anything from the arcade itself. You only get one wish and you can't undo it, so think about it before you go through with it.”

“Okay, we gotta think of a way that gets us and those at the daycare back to our normal ages.” said Joseph. “Or as close as we can.”

“But we can't wish for age or tickets.” said Johnny. “How do we do it?” They both thought about it for a while and finally Joseph seemed to come up with a way to get around those rules.

“I got it.” said Joseph. He turned to the intern and held up the ticket. “I wish for me and those in the daycare support group, except for Charlie, to trade ages with Abby and other students in her class.”

“C-can you do that?” asked the intern. “Oh man, the manager isn't here.” He reluctantly scanned the wish into the system, and the world began to change.

Joseph began to grow and grow, his clothing changing with each year he gained. He smiled as he grew past puberty, and gained a good deal of height. He became the same age as Johnny, then passed him, now looking down at him. Finally he reached his original age and height, being around sixteen again, and wearing some jeans and a Rick and Morty t-shirt, with socks and black tennis shoes. “Oh wow!” he said. “I'm big again!:”

“You did it big bro!” said Johnny. “I'm so glad. Now it's time for me to cash in my tickets.” After his card was scanned, Johnny began to shrink. His new teenage muscles and development faded away, leaving him a scrawny ten-year-old boy wearing a little league shirt and tan shorts with socks and white running shoes.

“I'm sorry Johnny.” said Joseph. “You got younger.”

“Yeah, but it's okay.” said Johnny, his voice sounding higher now. “At least I'm older than I used to be. I know what I am good at now. I can focus on that and start at the beginning, then do even better than I was before.”

“I hope so.” said Joseph. “I promise to take you to your games when I can.”

“Thanks big bro.” said Johnny, and they both hugged.

“What in the world happened here?” asked a familiar voice. It was the owner and manager of the arcade, apparently upset about what just happened. “Did these two get some kind of refund? You know we don't do that here!”

“N-no sir!” said the intern. “They won the wish.”

“The wish?” asked the owner. “No one ever wins the wish.”

“Well, they did.” said the intern. “All they wished for was an age exchange with some people outside of the arcade. It doesn't effect our holdings.”

“It'll effect what they could have given us!” shouted the angry owner. “Now those brats from the daycare now have their age back, and they won't come near this place. Meanwhile the ones at replaced them won't even know what happened. You idiot!”

“I'm sorry sir!” said the intern.

The owner then calmed himself. “You know what, it's okay.” he said. “You kids got lucky finding an exploit in our system. It won't happen again. Now go on home. Larry, you'll have a long time to pay me back.”

The intern gulped and was unsure of what that meant, but had a pretty good idea.

When Johnny and Joseph left the arcade, their parents and their car were gone. Instead it was Joseph's old car, which had also been Abby's car.

“That was kinda mean to Abby.” said Johnny.

“Yeah, but she kind of betrayed us.” said Joseph. “Besides, she won't be much younger than she used to be. I doubt she'll need diapers or anything.”

“We'll have to see.” said Johnny. He got into the passenger seat and fastened the seat belt.

Joseph got into the driver's seat and turned on the car. He smiled at the familiar feeling of driving. It was something he really missed being able to do. The memories of all that had happened rushed through his head as he drove home to experience the changes to their world.

Joseph was basically back where he was before going to the arcade the first time, only now he had some new friends. Robert, Henry, and Sophie were all in the same classes as he was, and all around sixteen or seventeen. They all remembered what had happened and the vagueness of the wish also made it so that new members of the daycare support group were now in high school as well. Some of them had been older before their initial change, and some had been younger than they currently were, but all were very thankful to be out of diapers and the daycare. From then on, they were all close friends.

Johnny quickly adapted to his ten-year-old age, and began training and participating in more sports so that once he did get older he would be more than ready for what was waiting. His ultimate goal was to get a scholarship to college, and now he had a bit of a head start on it. It wasn't as fun as being thirteen, but it was better than being eight. The bond he formed with his older brother Joseph would remain strong.

As for Abby, having torn up her card, she no longer remembered being seventeen nor five. She was now three-years-old and playing happily at preschool and daycare during the day. Her classmates were all familiar faces and they would all grow up together. Even the boy she liked was now in daycare with her, and there were familiar feelings carried over from their teenage days. She happily looked up to her big brothers and always wanted to play with them.

Joseph felt a bit bad for taking Abby's new teenage life from her, but resolved to spend more time with her and help with her with potty training or anything else she needed. Even Johnny helped, giving her attention and eventually helping her with her first days of school.

Not long after, the arcade itself disappeared. All that was left was an empty store front with a for sale sign in the window. It seemed as if its presence was always temporary, and that it had moved on to another town somewhere else. No doubt it was spreading chaos wherever it went.

Charlie was still happy as a baby, even though the support group was gone. All he had wanted to was to be a baby again, wearing diapers, getting changes, cookies, kisses, and lots of attention. He watched as a new kid was brought into the daycare. He could tell by the expression and behavior of him that he was an arcade victim. It was the intern, now regressed to a one year old baby wearing nothing but a diaper. Charlie crawled over to him, smiled, and asked. “So, whacha in fow?”

The End?