Chapter Text
“You stole an entire video game console?”
Spoke grinned, holding said console in his arms. “Well, not stole. More like saved from an eternity in a dumpster.”
“Dude.” Parrot said.
“It came with a game,” Spoke said. “Wanna play?”
Flame grinned. “Hand over the controller, bro.”
Spoke passed him the controller and handed the others to Parrot and Wemmbu. He plugged the console into his television, then grabbed the last controller.
The console powered on.
—
Jumanji
Press START To Play
—
Spoke pressed the designated button.
—
SELECT YOUR CHARACTER
Captain Brock Granite
Brave Leader of Many Expeditions
Prof. Barnaby Butterscotch
Museum Curator and Food Connoisseur
Cliff “Skyhawk” Hanger
Daredevil Pilot
Rex “The Raptor” Vance
Fearless Fighter
Dr. Montgomery Patch
Medic and Backpack Guy
press A to continue
—
Spoke grinned. “I’m being the captain!” He selected the first option.
“Dude. The heck kinda name is Barnaby Butterscotch?” Wemmbu selected the professor.
“Could have worse names,” Parrot said. He selected the fighter.
“Okay, so we just genuinely left me for last,” Flame muttered, selecting the only available character. “Guess I’m the medic.”
Spoke pressed the continue button, and they were in.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
“What was that?” Wemmbu looked around the room.
Spoke shrugged.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
“Am I tweaking?” Wemmbu asked. “Cause I’m definitely hearing drumming.”
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
“No, I’m hearing that too,” Parrot said.
“What the heck?” Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
It was getting louder.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
The console began to glow, emitting a strange green light that filled the room, casting shadows on the walls.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
The TV began to glow as well, bathing the room in the same eerie color.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
Louder and louder and louder.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
“Uhhh… guys?” Parrot asked.
“Hm?” Spoke asked, turning to the avian.
Parrot was staring at his hands, which had gone translucent. They looked like they were starting to—
They were starting to evaporate. And it was spreading, up to his arms and his chest and his wings—
Flame inhaled a sharp breath. His own hands were beginning to do the same.
“What the heck is happening?” Wemmbu asked. He would later deny it, but there was a subtle edge of fear in his voice.
Spoke glanced down at his own arms, watching them vanish in front of his eyes.
A strange sensation filled his body, like his whole body was asleep. It filled his hands, his head, his legs, everything. He was being pulled towards the game—
Everything went black.
—
Falling.
Spoke’s eyes snapped open, instantly registering the fact that the forest below was a bajillion feet away from him and coming closer by the second.
He opened his mouth to scream, but he was already on the ground, having landed in a pile of underbrush at the bottom of the forest. On his feet.
What the heck?
Spoke looked around, taking in the jungle. Vines were hanging from the trees, which were taller than anything he’d ever seen before. Birds were chirping and bugs were buzzing. It was almost peaceful.
A distant yell filled the air.
Spoke looked up to see a figure falling through the air, hurtling towards the trees. The figure crashed into the branches and tumbled into the brush.
“Dude, you okay?” Spoke asked, reaching his hand down to help out the fallen man.
“Yeah, I—” The man faltered. “Who’re you?”
“Spoke,” Spoke said. “Who are you?”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Wemmbu.”
What?
“But if you’re really Spoke, why do you look like that?”
“Look like what?” Spoke looked down.
Somehow, he’d grown about four inches, now towering over “Wemmbu”. He also appeared to have five times the muscle he’d had before, and he was dressed in a sleeveless top and cargo pants. Neither of which were in black or had rainbows.
“I don’t know,” Spoke admitted. “But if you’re really Wemmbu, why do you look like that?”
Wemmbu glanced down at himself. Unlike Spoke, who had grown, Wemmbu had lost a few inches. Granted, he was usually in heels, but Spoke was pretty sure that Wemmbu wasn’t that short. He’d also gained fifteen or so pounds, and he was mostly bald. He was dressed in an outfit Spoke knew Wemmbu would rather die than wear: a houndstooth vest buttoned over top of a white collared shirt, a pair of khaki pants, and a dark brown beret on one half of his head.
“What the—”
Wemmbu was cut off by another high-pitched scream. Both men looked up at the sky, seeing a third figure tumbling through the air.
“And that’s Flame,” Wemmbu muttered.
The man—Flame—fell into the bushes.
“What in the world just happened, bro?” Flame groaned, sitting up in the bushes and staring straight at Spoke and Wemmbu. “Who are you guys?”
Wemmbu sighed. “I’m Wemmbu,” he said, pointing to himself. “That’s Spoke.” He pointed to Spoke.
“How—”
Wemmbu cut him off. “We all look different. Look at yourself.”
Flame was thinner than he was before, but without much of a difference in height. He was also bald, but he was wearing a large brimmed sun hat to cover it. His clothes were simple, just a pair of cargo shorts and a white shirt, but he was wearing a large backpack the size of his entire torso. Both of his eyes were visible, Spoke realized. Flame had lost his blindfold.
“As I was saying, what the heck am I—”
Wemmbu was cut off again by a fourth yell from overhead. Another figure was plummeting towards the forest.
“And that would be Parrot,” Spoke said with a smile.
Flame looked up just in time for Parrot to crash directly into his face, both of them falling backwards into the shrubbery.
“Dude, what even just happened?” Parrot asked, sitting up and pulling a leaf out of his hair.
Flame shoved Parrot off of him. Or, tried and failed to shove Parrot off of him.
Parrot had also gained more muscle than he’d previously had, and was the only one with a full head of hair. (Spoke reached up and felt his own head. Parrot was the second person with a full head of hair). Without his wings, Parrot looked almost smaller, if it wasn’t for the three extra inches of height and extra ten pounds of muscle.
“Can you get off of me, bro?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Parrot stood and walked a few steps away from Flame. Then he paused, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the group. He opened his mouth to speak, but Spoke cut him off.
“I’m Spoke. That’s Wemmbu, and that’s Flame.”
Parrot nodded. “Makes sense.”
“I’m sorry, but how does that make even the slightest bit of sense, bro?” Flame asked.
“We’ve all been transformed into our character selections,” Parrot said. “I’m Rex Vance, Spoke is Brock Granite, Flame is Dr. Montgomery Patch, and Wemmbu is Professor Barnaby Butterscotch.”
Wemmbu sighed. “As I was saying, what the heck am I wearing?”
Spoke shrugged. “Could be worse.”
“Could be worse? How could an outfit be worse than this?” Wemmbu’s voice had gone up an octave.
“Okay, can we be quiet for a second and just—figure out what’s happening?” Parrot asked.
Spoke nodded.
“Uh, guys? I don’t want to interrupt our planning, but I have a tattoo,” Wemmbu said.
“You have tattoos in real life too, Wemmbu,” Parrot reminded him.
“Not as ugly as this one! It’s just three black lines,” he groaned.
“Oh, I have that too,” Flame said, showing his own wrist.
Spoke checked his own wrists. He, too, had the same dark tattoo.
“Do we all have it?” Parrot asked, revealing his own arm.
“I guess so,” Spoke said, turning his arm towards the group.
“Okay, weird,” Wemmbu muttered.
“We should explore a bit,” Parrot said.
“Uh, isn’t, like, staying still, the first thing you’re supposed to do when you’re lost in a forest, bro?” Flame asked.
“Yeah, but I want to get a bearing on our surroundings.”
Flame shrugged and followed Parrot through the jungle. Wemmbu followed Flame, and Spoke took up the rear.
After a bit of traveling, the group reached a river flowing through a clearing.
“Water,” Parrot said. “That’s good.”
Flame nodded. “Unless it’s, like, polluted.”
“Fair.” Parrot was quiet for a second. “Should we follow the river, or keep going the way we were?”
“Don’t people in movies always follow the river?” Wemmbu asked.
Parrot shrugged. “Dunno. But sure, we can follow the river.”
The four of them set off along the river, chatting quietly amongst themselves but still staying alert.
A small gurgle in the water drew Spoke’s attention, but he quickly shrugged it off. It wasn’t until it happened again that Spoke really began to focus on it. A shape was moving under the water, swimming alongside the group as they traversed the path. Bubbles popped at the surface where the shape’s head would be.
Whatever was under that water was alive.
The group continued to walk, Spoke keeping his eyes on the creature beneath the water. He was about to warn Parrot about it when the drums sounded again.
Dum dum dum… dum dum dum
“What now?” Parrot muttered, spinning to face the river. The ground shook slightly, and suddenly the creature surfaced from the river, water and muck sliding off of its body.
It was a large hippopotamus, with a mouth large enough to fit a human person. It growled, eyes tracking the group as they backed away.
“Is that a hippo?” Wemmbu asked.
“Yeah, seems to be,” Parrot replied, his eyes wide.
“Okay. What do we do about that?”
Flame cut in. “I’ll go and see if it’s, like, friendly or something.”
“Flame, that’s not a good—”
Flame interrupted Parrot. “If we’re really in a video game, I’ll just respawn if I die, right, bro? It’ll be fine, bro.”
Parrot opened his mouth to argue, then shut it and nodded.
Flame slowly inched closer to the hippo, careful not to make any sudden movements. For a moment, Spoke thought Flame was right.
The hippo made a sound similar to a roar and opened its mouth, moving towards Flame and taking him in its mouth, swallowing him whole. Flame let out a piercing shriek, the others crying out in surprise and shock.
And then Flame was gone.
“He just—” Parrot started, voice small.
“Yeah.” Wemmbu backed away from the now slightly calmer hippo.
“He can respawn, right?” Spoke asked, panic beginning to set in. “He said he could respawn.”
A gong rang out across the jungle.
And from the sky, a figure was falling once more. And he was screaming. Again.
Flame landed on the riverbank, eyes wide with fear. He scrambled back to join the others. Spoke grabbed one of Flame’s arms and pulled the other towards him.
Flame was breathing heavily. “Okay, we can respawn. That’s—that’s good. Right?”
“Yeah,” Parrot said quietly. “Also, that hippo is definitely not friendly.”
“Agreed,” Spoke muttered.
A rumbling sound echoed through the trees.
“What now?” Wemmbu asked, voice pitching up an octave.
“Sounds like a car,” Spoke realized.
Sure enough, a Jeep was driving through the trees, heading straight for the group. Inside sat a man with a scruffy beard and well worn clothing, clutching a piece of paper in hand. The Jeep stopped right beside the group.
The man who was driving the vehicle looked the group over, then beckoned them into the car.
“Well, what’r you waitng for? Get in!”
Spoke glanced at his friends, and shrugged. The four of them climbed inside the car.
—
As they sped through the jungle, the man turned to the group.
“What’r some fine people like you doing out in a jungle?”
“Uh—” Parrot started to talk, but the man cut him off.
“You can call me Corvus. Corvus Ironwood. And you are—” He paused, eyes locking on Spoke. “Captain Brock Granite! How lovely to see you! Here for another expedition, I assume?”
What?
“I—uh, yeah,” Spoke replied.
“Marvelous! Truly splendid. I have a few things for you and your team, and then you will be on your way.”
The Jeep was leaving the forest now, speeding across a grassy plain.
“First, I must inform you about your mission.”
Corvus explained that a relic from the land of Jumanji, the eye of the Jaguar, had been stolen.
“What, like the eye of the tiger?” Wemmbu laughed.
Corvus seemed to not have noticed the joke, and continued to talk.
The relic had been stolen by Darius Ravencrest, a man intending to access unspeakable powers. Without the gem to protect the lands, animals and people alike were turning to violence.
“Your mission is to find this gem and return it to its rightful place. Any questions?”
Spoke’s mind was reeling from the overload of information. He turned to his friends, who were all staring dumbfounded at Corvus.
Parrot spoke first. “I don’t think so.”
“Excellent! Well then, I must leave you with these two things: a map and a poem passed down from ancient times.” He handed Spoke the worn piece of paper.
Then Corvus cleared his throat.
“The goal for you. I'll recite in verse
Return the jewel and lift the curse
If you wish to leave the game
You must save Jumanji and call out its name.
Now out you go!”
Corvus waved them out of his vehicle.
“Corvus, this has to be a mistake. We’re not—”
“The goal for you. I'll recite in verse
Return the jewel and lift the curse
If you wish to leave the game
You must save Jumanji and call out its name.
Now out you go!”
“He’s just… repeating the same lines?” Parrot asked.
Flame snapped his fingers. “He’s gotta be an NPC.”
Wemmbu nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“Okay. So we need to find the gem to leave,” Parrot said. “Then we better get moving. Let’s have a look at that map.”
Corvus called out the poem again as his Jeep sped away.