𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢

𝐕. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞

Matt inhaled sharply, shooting up into a sitting position the second that his eyes opened. With a final shudder, the remnants of radiating pain receded and a feeling of relief flooded his body. He placed a hand to his chest, exhaling to release the breath he'd just taken before grimacing a second later once he noticed the brunette curls that had fallen over his shoulder... and the unfortunately familiar curves added to the figure of his chest.

He looked toward the sky as if trying to speak to some higher power. "You have a wonderful sense of humor."

He then stood, dusting himself off, almost disappointed that he was used to the process at this point. Afterall, it was literally just the other day that he and Dr. Leslie Oberon had parted ways, and not for the last time like he'd hoped.

"Mattie?"

Matt quickly turned his head, searching for the source of who'd called him before spotting Bethany—currently hosted in the avatar of Professor Sheldon Oberon.

"Bethany." He did sigh with relief as he pushed through the overgrown leaves to reach his girlfriend, looking her over for injuries once they were together. "Are you alright?"

"Define 'alright'," she replied. "Because I literally just looked around and we're stuck in the jungle... again."

Matt nodded his head. "I can't say I'm too happy about it either."

"Spencer!" Matt and Bethany both winced as Fridge's shout probably would've been heard from miles away. "Get yo ass over here so I can kill you!"

"Sounds like the others have spawned," Matt noted, taking Bethany by the hand as he led her toward the sound of Fridge's swears and Spencer's shouts. "And they sound just as happy to be here as we do."

As they stepped into the clearing, they were certainly greeted by a sight one had to see with their own eyes to believe. Despite his diminutive stature, Fridge had managed to knock Spencer to the ground, keeping him pinned by holding his arms at an uncomfortable position behind his back.

"Now really isn't the time, Fridge," Martha scolded, but also hadn't made much of an effort to help Spencer either. "I'm sure this is all some big misunderstanding and Spencer wouldn't intentionally get us stuck here for a third time."

"Can't... breathe... Fridge," Spencer gasped, trying to lift his face out of the dirt to speak.

"You can't breathe, Spencer? Huh, is that uncomfortable?" Fridge asked sarcastically. "Well maybe you should've thought of that before getting us sucked into the game!"

Matt sighed. "Would you guys cut it out? Fighting doesn't get us anywhere, it just wastes our lives. Let's just figure out what we need to do to get out of here and go home."

"Matt's right," Alex chimed in, stepping away from the tree he'd been leaning against while observing. "I'd rather not spend another twenty years of my life here."

"So, like, what do we do first?" Bethany asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

Simultaneously, the group turned toward Spencer, an action he didn't overly enjoy. "Why me again?!"

"If you didn't want to lead, you shouldn't have picked the team captain," Fridge retorted, crossing his arms. "You're the video game expert, remember?"

Spencer opened his mouth to continue the argument; however, a groan from the group's right diverted their attention. The bushes rustled, forcing the six to crowd together, raising whatever weapons they had on their persons: a boomerang and a map.

Tensions were high as the group was expecting some wild beast to charge; however, that was almost preferable as a large barbarian rose the bushes, rubbing his head. Spencer and Bethany screamed in unison, throwing their objects at none other than Jurgen the Brutal.