❗️Disclaimer ❗️
I do not own Jumanji: welcome to the jungle in any way, shape or form except Jessie Playger and Davina Bell.
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Jefferson McDonough and Jessie Playger
The bazar; what a wonderful place for the 'people' who lived in Jumanji. The bazar was a stone based structure with maze like walls and brightly coloured stands, dotted around the place.
"What are we supposed to be doing?" Fridge broke the silence amongst the group.
"Looking for the missing map pieces and the jewel." Martha explained while they walked through the bazar.
"So we just start asking for them?"
"No, I think we look around, scope out the place but most importantly, guys... be discreet." Spencer answered Fridge's question while looking around.
"Rations, get your rations!" A man called out, holding some kind of loaf or cake.
"Does anyone have any money? I'm starving." Bethany exclaimed, barging past the other three students. She picked up a loaf and popped a small piece in her mouth. "This is so good. I haven't had bread since I was, like, nine."
"Are you serious?" Martha asked, questioning Bethany's diet.
"How do you think I got these abs?"
"Let me try some of that." Fridge stated, taking a bit from Bethany's loaf. "Hey what- What is this?" He asked the man, pointing to the loaf.
"That's my famous pound cake." The man replied politely.
"Cake?" Martha asked, turning her head to Fridge, who now wore a worried look on his face.
"Bethany, you said this was bread!"
"I guess it's been so long, I forgot what it tastes like."
"How do you for-?" Fridge asked with a raised voice. "Something's happening to me? Am I shaking? Am I breaking out? I'm I still black?"
"Yes." Martha answered his last question. Was something supposed to happen? After all his weakness is cake.
"Okay, okay, right?" Fridge replied with a calm tone, looking around the group. "We're fine. Everything is fine. Yeah, no, no, no, no, it's fine. It probably just meant that I love cake." He tried to come up with a reason as he walked over and stood next to Spencer. "Maybe that I couldn't resist it. Yeah. Hey, it's all good-" His line was cut off as he exploded. Boom!
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A faint explosion was heard from hideout. "Well, that's my cue!" Davina stated as she took the jewel out of its hiding place. Alex was still on edge but he knew one of them had to got or the players wouldn't find them.
"Stay safe." Alex saluted Davina as she headed in the direction of the tunnel.
If one said that the tunnel was a dangerous place, they would be correct. It contained deathly traps, to say the least. Alex and Davina had memorised the trap sequence forwards and backwards because the tunnel was a short cut to the bazar. So, as she traveled through the tunnel with the jewel in hand, she mentally ran through the traps in her head until she reached the rope type ladder. She smiled at the sunlight and the murmur of stranger's voices, as she climbed out of the tunnel. Now all she had to do is find these players.
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Screams were heard around the group as the Black Mamba launched itself at Martha. Luckily, with Spencer's quick reflexes, he caught the snake with centimetres away from Martha's face. "What do we do?" Spencer panicked as the Black Mamba hissed in his grip.
Realisation hit Fridge as he looked at the group. "We gotta defang it."
"I gotta what?" Spencer shouted in a high pitched voice. Fear was starting to take over his body. Fridge marched forwards, towards Spencer and grabbed the snake by its head, covering its eyes. "You gotta pull its mouth back from the blind spot to disorientate it. But you gotta be very careful of the venom gland and the exposed secondary venom duct. And then you got to snap it's teeth, out of it's head." As he removed the teeth, the snake crumpled to the ground in pain, now defenceless.
"I guess it wasn't a staring contest." Bethany whispered, taking in what happened.
"Trust each other and never blink." Martha repeated what the little boy said before.
"You trusted me. You trusted me and I defanged the snake. I did it, I did that." Fridge said in a proud voice. Maybe after all he like being Finbar.
"I must say I'm quite impressed." The four high school students heard a voice from one of the openings of the patterned structure. As they turned their heads, they saw a woman leaning in one of the poles.
"Who are you?" Bethany asked the woman.
"I'm Davina but you may know me as-"
"Jessie Playger." Spencer cut her off. "You were one of the characters that was locked." Davina nods in response.
"Oh... I also bring gifts." Davina joked, tossing the jewel to they guy who defanged the snake. "I'm trusting you with that." She smiled at Fridge.
"The jewel." Fridge stated, looking up at Davina with a smile.
"Guys?" Bethany caught the group's attention. "This does not look like a piece of the map."
"One of the missing pieces is an elephant?" Spencer asked, he looked just as confused as the others.
"Wait, there's something written on the wrapping paper. 'When you see me, begin the climb.'" Bethany looked over at Davina but she just wore a confused expression.
"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.
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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