A/N: The movie Jumanji has always been a childhood favorite of mine (even though it scared me the first time I watched it, but that's beside the point). When I heard that they were making a second movie, I wasn't entirely sure how good it was going to be.

I am happy to say that I was very pleased with the new movie! It is a welcomed addition to the movie I love so much, and I have no doubt that the spectacular Robin Williams would be proud of this production.

And to top it all off, there was some pretty good eye candy, too!

Yes, the man who had once terrified me as a child is now one of my top obsessions as of lately. The new and improved Russel Van Pelt has my heart, along with a few other men I don't need to mention ;)

So, I just couldn't help myself and here's a love story with him :)

:Summary:

Emma Adams is trapped within the now-videogame Jumanji, taking on the player avatar Jessie Jinx; a young archeological geographer that was once apart of a successful group lead by Dr. Bravestone.

When four new players start the game, Emma finally meets the ruthless man that has been hunting them down for years. They were struggling to survive before- now Emma's unexplained connection with this deadly enemy may get them all killed.

:WARNINGS:

Mild swearing

Suggestive themes

May contain sexual in later chapters, but only if you guys ask for it :)

"Heh, I defanged a snake." A loud chorus of agitated groans started up from the small group of four, all of them turning to glare at their short friend and yell, "Fridge!" in sync.

"We get it – you defanged a snake," a tall, muscular man uttered to his former friend. "Good for you. Now just drop it."

Fridge's face quickly morphed into one of offense. "Excuse me? That wasn't just some ordinary damn snake, Spencer; that was a black mamba! Just two drops of potent black mamba venom can kill a full-grown human adult! Like cobras and coral snakes, the venom of a black mamba contains neurotoxins, which are fast-acting toxins that destroy the nerve tissue and shuts down the nervous system and-"

"-Paralyzes its victims, painful destruction of tissue, causing almost certain death, yeah, yeah, yeah! We get it, Fridge, alright? You defanged a cobra! Good job for the hundredth time," Spencer groaned, desperately trying to end the tiring conversation once more.

Fridge huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, his face scrunching into a scowl. Thankfully, he seemed to have finally let the conversation go. The group could hardly hold their sigh of relief as they were finally able to walk through the small town in relative silence. To any passing person, the small group of four would have looked no different from the last nor the next. However, the group wasn't normal like the village people who were currently ushering around them, going about their normal daily lives like any other. Or, was it the villagers who were not the normal ones? Fridge's wasn't all too certain anymore.

The four people that drudged through the happy marketplace were anything but ordinary. The bodies they currently inhabited were not their own - well, neither was this world. The group was, in actuality, young teenagers who had all decided to play the fateful video game Jumanji. Fateful that game was, indeed.

After what had seemed to be a shortage in the wiring or something of the sort, the teens - who would not normally be considered friends back in their own world - were sucked into the video game, taking on their previously chosen character avatars. Now they were stuck in a strange place with odd rules with three other people they would not have bothered to talk to on any normal day.

Unfortunately, this was not just any other normal day, and the only thing that currently made any sense to Fridge was the fact that he couldn't eat cake because it made him explode and he was an expert on animals; so much so that he was able to defang a snake within a second's notice. Neither of these two facts made very much sense to him still. Everything was so confusing and so wildly different that Fridge wasn't exactly sure how to act; should he treat this as though he were merely in some sort of coma-induced dream, or as though everything was actually real and truly dangerous? He did not know, so Fridge did the only thing that made any lick of sense - he had become angry and would remain that way until he figured out how to properly react to everything.

He crossed his arms gruffly over his chest and mumbled under his breath, "it wasn't no dang cobra. I defanged a black mamba, that's what it was."

"Fridge!"

He was about to retaliate once more when suddenly he felt a harsh tug on his arm. He turned to glare at whoever had grabbed him, thinking it was one of the villagers trying to sell him some unneeded object or unwanted food, but his words lumped in his throat and caught instantly. The person who had grabbed him wasn't some little begging child ready to rob him blind the first chance they got, nor was it another potbellied old man trying to make him to explode by giving him more pound cake to eat. It was a woman.

Her small hands were grasped around his arm loosely as she looked up at him eagerly, her shoulder-length golden hair swaying in the light breeze, causing the loose curls to graze along the sides of her rosy cheeks. He was taller than her by only a few inches, but it still felt like an accomplishment for the short male. Feeling a sense of pride by this small feat, he dared to flash the woman a charming smile and boasted, " well hey there."

"Franklin Finbar," the woman gushed, her bright green eyes sparkling brightly as her red lips grew into an innocent smile. "Thank goodness I have found you! You must hurry, all of Jumanji needs you!"

Fridge couldn't help but laugh. He looked back at his bewildered friends and puff out his chest with pride. "You hear that? She said Jumanji needs me."

"Wait, you need him?" an overweight middle-aged man asked with a raised brow. "'Cuz I think you meant him," he pointed towards the towering Spencer.

"Shut it, Bethany, she said she needs me!" Fridge glared at the woman trapped within a man's body.

Bethany raised her hands in surrender and hissed, "jeez, sorry."

"Um, hi - excuse me, Miss?" Spencer spoke up, leaning down to eye level with the blonde woman. Her eyes flickered to his, her face dropping into a blank stare almost immediately. "Well, ah, you see, we have this map that has a missing piece. We came here to find it but only found a little elephant underneath a black cobra and we were wondering if you knew where to begin the climb, by any chance? Or, better yet, do you know where the missing piece is?"

"It was a black mamba."

"I don't think that really matters right now, Fridge."

"It matters to me, 'cuz I was the one who defanged it!"

Spencer elbowed the shorter man in the ribs then looked back at the girl with an expectant smile. The stranger simply stared back at him, her pale face devoid of any emotion. Then, her eyes darted back to Fridge. Green eyes lit up once more and she smiled a large, toothy grin. "Franklin Finbar!" she exclaimed once more. "Thank goodness I have found you! You must hurry, all of Jumanji needs you!"

Spencer's face fell and he clapped his hands together in agitation, realizing instantly that she must have been an NPC. "Right. I don't know why we keep trying that."

"You must hurry, all of Jumanji needs you!"

"Should we go with her?" a tall woman with red hair asked softly. She felt the eyes of her friends all turn to her, and she averted her gaze shyly. "I-I mean, maybe she'll lead us to the missing piece?"

"We? I think you mean me! The girl asked for Franklin Finbar, not any of y'all," Fridge argued, sending a glare at the group as he shook his hands at them in warning.

Biting her lip, Bethany spoke up, "but what if, like, you need to fight a dinosaur or something?"

Fridge suddenly looked less sure of himself. "Hmm... Didn't think of that," his lips flattened as he mulled over the possibility. In any normal circumstance, he would have laughed at the ridiculous thought. However, the small group of four teenagers had been trapped inside an actual video game for Lord knows how long and he still wasn't entirely sure he knew what the game's limits and rules were yet. And with only three lives to spare, they had to test the waters carefully before treading too far at sea.

Suddenly, he reached out and snatched Bethany by the sleeve of her jacket and pulled her up next to him. "That's why you're coming with me. After all, you are the paleontologist!"

"What? Wait- no! I was only kidding!" the poor, portly woman shouted and tried to squirm out of his sturdy fingers. However, Fridge's grip was strong, and he wrestled against her attempt to flee.

"Hey, hey!" Spencer boomed over the squabbling two, glaring at the bickering teens like a scolding parent. "We'll all go. Together, alright?"

The stranger – who's face had grown utterly blank through the entire ordeal - popped back into her excited state and she chirped once more, "you must hurry! All of-"

"Jumanji need us, yes, we get it," Spencer cried as he ran his hand over his face. "Just - just lead the way already." The happy woman's face grew even brighter seeing that the group was finally going to follow her, and when she turned and began scurrying down the crowded road she practically bounced with each step. The group quickly raced after her, trying to keep her waving golden hair in sight as they struggled around the densely packed people. "Hey! Miss, wait up!" Spencer called out.

"Don't go so fast!" Bethany whined.

They weaved in and out of the people's way, not knowing where they were headed or if the woman they were so mindlessly following was leading them into a trap or puzzle or another level of the game. She may have even been leading them nowhere, for all they knew.

The woman was surprisingly fast, the group quickly found out, and on more occasions than one they had thought to have lost her. However, every time they were ready to give up their seemingly fruitless pursuit, they'd see the crimson red of her lips or a flash of the sandy color of her outfit once more. The small glimpses of the stranger were just enough to keep them going.

Spencer had just side-stepped around yet another annoyed villager when he caught sight of a group of large, burly men further down the path. They were pushing the innocent villagers out of their way with great force and yelling curses and threats about them, not caring if the person on the other end of their assault was man, woman, or child. Occasionally, one of the men would grab an unsuspecting villager by the collar of their clothes and begin demanding to know where the "strangers" were. Spencer had a pretty good idea who the strangers they were looking for were.

Instantaneously, his heart began pounding overwhelmingly in his ears as his chest tightened in panic. He settled a firm hand on both Martha and Bethany's shoulder, stopping them in place as he managed to say one single word; "run."

With that said, he turned and bolted in the opposite direction. The remaining three friends didn't process his word quick enough. With a loud shout from one of the burly men, followed by a chorus of hearty shouts, they knew they had been spotted.

The group scattered, looking for places to either escape the streets or hide from their enemies. Fridge jumped behind a pillar and flattened himself between the hard stone and a carriage full of odd looking fruits, praying no one had seen him. His prayers were seemingly answered when two men three times his size stampeded right past him and his safe haven. He let out a long sigh of relief, his heart thundering loudly in his ears as he tried to steady his breath.

"Franklin Finbar!" Fridge shouted out in shock as he was suddenly face-to-face with the beautiful stranger from before. She smiled innocently at him with her wide smile and big eyes. "Thank goodness I found you! You must hurry, all of Jumanji-"

"Is in danger, I know, but right now I'm the one in danger, so keep it down!" Unfortunately, his efforts to stay hidden were in vain. One of the men had heard his shout from further down the street and had easily pinpointed Fridge's location from there. Letting out a mighty battle cry and raising a sword as thick as his arm over his head, the gorilla of a man came charging towards Fridge like a mad bull. Fridge froze on the spot, his body going into panic mode and enabling him to move. He was being run down by a giant behemoth of a man and he couldn't do a thing to protect himself.

There was a sudden tight grip on his wrist, and before he knew it he was yanked out from between the pillar and carriage and was being pulled along through the streets by the strange woman. They ran hand-in-hand fast and hard, the large man right on their heels as the two desperately tried to get to safety. When he heard gunshots, everything began to pass Fridge by in a blur. He hardly noticed at all where he was headed, let alone when the guiding grip on his wrist had disappeared. The only thing that processed in his mind in that moment was to keep on running. The path luckily was now clear of any innocent townsfolk, allowing him a straight shot to wherever he was running to without a worry of running someone over.

He made a sharp left, only to be stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a large brick wall directly in front of his previously clear path. He was in a dead end. He just barely noticed a gleam of light in the corner of his eye and he darted his gaze towards the fast movement, only to see something soaring through the air right towards his face.

Just as the object had gotten mere inches away from his nose, a hand shot out and caught the deadly weapon mid-flight. Fridge blinked hard, his dark eyes nearly going cross-eyed as he tried to see what had been thrown at him. It was a knife. Fridge was so overcome with stunned relief that he very nearly crumpled to his knees.

His eyes followed up the large, muscular arm of his savior, and Fridge came face-to-face with the face of Spencer. Spencer glanced down at him, silently asking if he was alright. "I hate this game," was the only thing Fridge could muster up to say.

The man that had thrown the dagger charged, but Spencer met him halfway. He reared back his arm and slammed the man into a table, then literally threw him up into the ceiling. Fridge, along with Bethany and Martha - who he had only just realized were also there - could only gape at their nerd of a friend in pure awe, completely stunned with the new-found strength as he skillfully dodged and attacked the four remaining bad guys; he had even managed to punch one through a brick wall and snap another's neck.

However, their victory was short-lived as a loud gun shot went off right behind them. The four whipped around with startled shrieks, only to be met by their remaining pursuers. The larger men were standing shoulder-to-shoulder across the alleyway, successfully boxing them into the small area and blocking their only means of see-able escape. They had been caught.

In the lead of the men stood another; he wasn't quite as bulky or as broad as the other men, but he was taller and still very muscular. He looked at the four teenagers as intently as a hawk would study its pray, with his head cocked to the right and a sneer on his tanned face. Fridge couldn't help but be reminded of the previous school year in his zoology class. They had been studying amphibians, so the class was required to dissect frogs. He could remember exactly what he had felt in that moment as well as he could the day he made his first touchdown.

It was the strange feeling of having complete control over something; the growing feeling of learning everything there was to know about something so small with a simple passing glance; the quick feeling of disgust after the curiosity had passed. He had felt all of that for a simple science project - for a long-dead frog used for learning. Now he was the frog, and this man was the unamused scientist studying his trapped specimen from underneath the dark shadows of the buildings.

"Man, I hate this game," Fridge said again, backing up further away from the threatening men.

"Quick, Fridge," Spencer elbowed the shorter man. "Get my boomerang."

"Yeah, okay," he said, quickly slinging his backpack over his shoulder while not allowing his eyes to leave the image of the horrifyingly towering men. He flipped open the top flap of the bag and began rummaging through its contents with haste. The longer his hands searched, the more anxious he grew. He even dared to look away from the danger and further rummage through the contents of his bag, but to no avail. "Um, Spence?" he said, his voice cracking slightly. "It's not in here."

"What? What do you mean it's not in there?"

"I mean, it's not in here!"

"How can it not be there?"

"I don't know how it's not in here, but the thing ain't in here!"

"Hey Mouse," they heard a honey-smooth voice call. All eyes turned to the wall behind them, and Fridge was instantly met with the sparkling green eyes of the stranger from before. Her face held nothing but laughter as she sat on the edge of the rock wall, swinging her crossed legs without a care in the world. "Looking for this?" she cooed, holding up Spencer's boomerang. She laughed at the look of bewilderment and shock on their faces as she dangled the wooden weapon carelessly within her fingers. She tossed the boomerang up into the air and snatched it back, her grip tightened around the object as she swung her legs around to the opposite side of the wall. Using her unoccupied hand, she kissed the tips of her fingers delicately and blew a kiss. "Good luck," she sang with a wink. Then she was gone, the only evidence that she was ever there being the gentle laughter that echoed through the small space and buzzed around their heads.

Fridge stomped his foot, his face scrunched in both fear and anger as he did so. "Man, I hate this game!"

The group turned their attention back to the men in front of them, all of whom looked mildly confused at what had just taken place. All but the tall stranger with the single blind eye. He stared at the vacant spot the girl was seated just moments before with an indifferent look, then back to the group of four. With a dark leer, the man spoke in a low, demanding tone that turned the group to ice. "Get me that stone." His men were instantly snapped back to reality. Without a moment's hesitation, they began closing in on the small group, readying their weapons as they did so.

The group huddled close together, eyes darting around the enclosed area, all silently trying to find a means of escape that didn't involve the wrong end of a gun. The men raised their weapons and took aim as evil, broken grins spread across their gruff faces. The group could do nothing but huddle closer together and pray for a miracle.

A miracle came, then, with a quick shout and smoke bombs. As a dark gray cloud of smoke began to fill the air, another stranger jumped from the shadows and began quickly ushering the small group of four away from the chaos and into the safety of a nearby building as gunfire began to ring out. The last thing they heard was an icy, booming voice shouting, "kill them!" and the loud stomps of heavy footsteps chasing after them before they took cover in an underground tunnel, not yet fully understanding what had just happened, who the tall man with the icy stare was, or the blonde woman who stole Spencer's boomerang right from under Fridge's nose, or if the woman was a friend or enemy.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please follow and favorite if you did, and a comment to tell me any pointers or notes you may have. Love keeps me going :*