Second life ⇒ Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle

04- Jefferson McDonough and Jessie Playger

"Begin the climb? When you see an elephant?" Martha tried to join pieces together in her mind but a couple of details were missing.

Davina was also confused since this 'mini game' was for Dr Bravestone, so she didn't have an idea of what the elephant was for. Was it some type of clue? In the corner of her eye she saw a black figure sitting on the roof of the structure. She looked in that direction and saw a large, black bird but when she inspected it closer she knew it belonged to Van Pelt and that him and his men knew they were at the bazar. "Okay dudes, I would love to interpret this note longer but we gotta move!" No one questioned Davina's command as they followed her through the bazar.

Suddenly the silence was interrupted by the mechanical roar of motorcycles. Van Pelt's men. "Okay, go, go, go." Davina whispered to the group, ushering them to run the other way. They ran at the speed of lightning, or what felt like it until they were faced with more men. Spencer took the first wave of men while the others stayed back. "Stay back." Davina commanded to the three high school students. "You, keep the jewel safe." She pointed to Fridge. Swiftly, Davina pulled out two knives from her boots and charged at the men. With her strength being weapon accuracy, she never missed a single throw of her knife. She punched and kicked her way through the wave of men until a tight grip pulled her back, putting a gun to her temple. The only person who that could be is... Van Pelt. She tried to escape his grip but he just tightened it. Another one of his men shot a bullet into the sky to alert the students. All attention was now on Van Pelt.

"Hello doctor." He said in a sinister voice. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Spencer's eyes wandered from Van Pelt to Davina, then back to Van Pelt. "We just want to go home." Van Pelt was not satisfied with that response as he pressed the gun, firmer to Davina's head. Davina raised her arms up in surrender. As she did that, her sleeves slid down her arms revealing one black stripe. At that moment, realisation his Spencer like a ton of bricks, Davina was on her last life and if she died now it would be game over for her. All of a sudden, gentle hissing was heard followed by a thick cloud of smoke which appeared in front of them.

"Come on, come with me. Hurry!" An unfamiliar voice commanded. On that cue, as Van Pelt was distracted by the smoke, Davina elbowed his in the stomach and ran behind the group. From a distance, Van Pelt's angry voice could be heard as he was giving out commands. Gun shots and screams filled the air as the men ran behind the players. The high school students ran behind the mysterious man and in front of Davina until they reached a drain like covering. The man uncovered the entrance and hurried everyone to climb down the ladder.

"You must be one unlucky person." Alex commented to Davina, pulling her into a hug. Alex was relieved that his best friend was alive. It was frightening for him to see her with a gun to her head.

As the two pulled away from the hug, Alex grabbed a  'wooden torch' and lit it. "I need you to follow us and do exactly as we say." He said turning to the four new players. They all nod in response. With that, they began their journey down the tunnel.

"Oh my god, you guys, I am so stoked you are here. You have no idea." Alex said while him and Davina lead the four down the tunnel.

"You are?" Bethany asked

"So stoked. I mean when we heard that sound in the sky, I was like no way but when I saw you in the bazar then I was like yeah, that's totally- backs against the walls!" Not even seconds later, sharp wooden stakes flew past them, impaling the decaying skeleton on the wall.

"Oh, my goodness!" Fridge yelled out of shock.

"Let's keep moving." Davina said, walking down the tunnel. They kept walking down the corridor and turned a corner. "Watch your step in here." Alex warned.

"Who are you?" Martha asked, directing the question to Alex.

"Right, sorry, my bad. Um... let me back up a little bit here."

"Wait, are you the pilot? 'Seaplane', somebody?" Spencer filled in the gaps in his mind.

"Yes, that's me."

"Wait- Wait a minute, you're the second character that was taken. So are you in the game to? Just like Davina?"

The running of cogs was heard briefly throughout the walls. "Stay off the white bricks. And freeze." Davina said with seconds before large blades spouted out the white tiles. Gasps of surprise and fear were heard among the four students. "So gnarly." Alex commented as the blades retracted back, under the white tiles.

They traveled a short distance until Alex and Davina stopped. "Wait." Davina said, reaching out her arm to block Martha. Alex dropped the torch into the pool of water to reveal crocodiles of some sort. "Okay, now plank," He muttered to himself, picking up the plank, which lay against the wall. Calmly, Alex crossed the plank then signalling for the rest to follow. "Careful, it's a horrible way to die." Martha was the first to cross the plank, followed by Fridge and Spencer. They all crossed the plank, leaving Bethany, out of the four of them. As she stepped on the plank, all her muscles tensed, only allowing her to shuffle.

"It's okay." Davina whispered from behind. Bethany shuffled along the plank until a crocodile jumped up and hit it, making Alex reach out his hand and pulling her onto the other side. Alex was now against the wall with Bethany in front of him.

"Hi there." She softly said.

"Hi." Alex replied with a confused or uncomfortable tone of voice.

After that, Davina crossed the plank with ease and grinned at Alex. "What?"  Davina didn't answer and just gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking off. Quickly, she opens the two doors/ gates ahead which led to a green part of Jumanji. The six players exited the tunnel, squinting their eyes from the contrast of brightness. "Anyway, I'm Alex, this is Davina." He says with a smile on his face.

♦︎♦︎♦︎

Thanks for reading, as promised it's a long one. Since writing this more often, I feel like I can finish this.

Thank you for all who read this, hope you enjoy the next couple of chapters.

Thanks again, bye

-Bubble