Hello and welcome to my latest story, based on 2017's 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'! So I was super excited for this movie and started thinking about this story even before it came out just based on the trailers, that's when the idea of Vera started to emerge. Then I saw it and really enjoyed it - it was so much fun! - and now I have become even more inspired and the whole video game scenario has been an interesting and exciting writing challenge! I'm really excited for this story and hope you enjoy! :)

So the full summary wouldn't fit in the story description, so here's the full summary:

"We're here to help you."

"Oh..."

When Spencer, Martha, Bethany, and Fridge get stuck in a video game as adventuring avatars, they have to venture through the jungle and join forces with a well-accomplished archaeologist to end a curse and save the game - the only way they'll ever go home. The only thing is, Dr. Bailey claims to not need or want their help in the quest, especially Dr. Bravestone, who she knows from before... That complicates things, that, and the fact that she doesn't realize it's a game... Can the thrown-together group trust each other long enough to stay alive, break the curse, end the game, and get home? Might later have a little romance between Spencer/Dr. Bravestone and my character, or at least some flirting :) Based on 2017's 'Jumanji'!

And I do not own 'Jumanji' or any of the characters! Only my character, Vera :) Thanks!

So if you're still with me, I sincerely hope you enjoy 'Heart of the Jungle'! Thanks so much!

One: The Task

"Welcome to Jumanji!"

A cheerful looking man greeted them, pulling up in a Jeep whose doors promptly popped open, beckoning them inside. "Well come on then!" he urged them with a friendly smile when they stared uncertainly back. This was enough to convince them and they piled into the Jeep. They were barely inside when the doors snapped shut and they drove on.

"Ah, Dr. Bravestone!" the man exclaimed as he drove, turning to Spencer sitting beside him in the passenger seat. "The legendary archaeologist and international explorer himself! Known across the Seven Continents for your skill and bravery and successful expeditions!"

"Uh, hi," Spencer managed.

"Delighted to make your acquaintance! Nigel Billingsley at your service. Welcome to Jumanji!" He tipped his hat.

"Uh, is there a seatbelt?" Spencer asked. The man wasn't exactly driving slow, and the road was rather bumpy, not really even a road at all, just a messy pathway through the jungle.

"I can't tell you what an honour it is to finally meet you!" the man, Nigel, continued. "And I'm not embarrassed to say that you're even more dashing in person!"

"Um, thanks..."

"I've been so anxious for your arrival!"

"Could you keep your eyes on the road please-" The man kept turning to Spencer to speak to him, therefore not able to watch where he was driving.

"Thank goodness you're here! As you know, Jumanji is in grave danger!"

"It is?"

"We're counting on you to lift the curse!"

"Curse?" repeated Fridge, echoing everyone's thoughts. "What curse?"

"Ah, Franklin 'Mouse' Finbar, delighted to make your acquaintance!" Nigel chirped, smiling at Fridge through the rear-view mirror.

"'Mouse'?" repeated Fridge. "Uh, I think you mean 'Moose.' It's Moose."

"My good fellow, I do believe it's 'Mouse'. A nickname given for your diminutive stature, and adorable manner-" The girls tried to hold back a snort of laughter. "-I knew you'd be here - Dr. Bravestone's assistant."

"His what now?"

"Ah yes, Dr. Bravestone never goes anywhere without his loyal and trusty sidekick! Ever since Dr. Bravestone rescued you from a warlord in the jungles of Peru, you haven't left his side!"

Fridge looked utterly dumbfounded by this.

"Welcome to Jumanji!"

"Excuse me, have you seen my phone anywhere?" Bethany tried.

"Ah, Professor Sheldon Oberon, delighted to make your acquaintance! I've been so anxious for your arrival!" Nigel was practically bouncing in his seat. The group couldn't tell if it was from excitement, because he was so anxious as he kept saying, or the bumpy road. "Welcome to Jumanji!"

"What's with this guy?" Bethany whispered.

"Yeah, why does he keep repeating himself?" agreed Martha.

"And you as well, Ruby Roundhouse, killer of men! Delighted to make your acquaintance! Welcome to Jumanji!"

"I think he must be an NPC," Spencer explained.

"A what? English please!" demanded Bethany.

"A non-player character, like he's a part of the game. So anything he says is limited to a series of programmed responses."

"Great..."

"Yeah," added Fridge sarcastically. "Got it. It's all clear now."

"Thank goodness you're here," Nigel cried, turning back to Spencer, once again repeating himself. "As you know from the letter I sent you, Jumanji is in grave danger. We need your help to lift the curse!"

"Letter? I don't have a let-" Spencer gasped suddenly as, just like that, a letter appeared in his hand.

"What does it say?" asked Martha. The others leaned in to look closer. "Maybe it'll have some answers."

Spencer unfolded it and began to read. "Uh, right. 'Dr. Bravestone, I am writing to you urgently..." His voice faded as Nigel's overlapped his and began explaining everything to them. Suddenly, the Jeep melted away and a new scene appeared before them, almost like a movie.

"Uh, guys..."

"Whoa, what's happening?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"It must be a cut-scene," Spencer explained. "A lot of games have them to provide story details. It's like a little movie clip."

"...Regarding the desperate situation in Jumanji. We need your help at once! My name is Nigel Billingsley. I am a Jumanji field guide," Nigel's voice-over continued. "And I was recently hired to help lead an expedition run by your former partners, Professor Russel Van Pelt..."

The group saw the very Jeep they were in now driving through the dense jungle, surrounded by what looked like military men, heavily armed. A man with dark eyes and wearing a long coat emerged from the Jeep, a shining silver handgun resting against his hip. They guessed that this was Van Pelt.

"...And Dr. Vera Bailey..." Next, a young woman with an excited glow in her eyes and dressed for adventure joined Van Pelt. They looked like total opposites, she with her bright blue shirt and yellow hair, and he with his dark hair, dark clothes, and dark eyes.

"...They were in search of the greatest treasure in all of Jumanji," Nigel's voice-over continued to explain. "The legendary jewel of Jumanji, the fabled Jaguar's Eye, a jewel of immense power, the heart of the jungle itself, and the source of its life and power. I was helping them navigate and look for it. Van Pelt told me that he wanted to find the jewel in order to study it, but little did I know he had other plans..."

The clip panned out over the jungle, then zoomed in again to show some of the soldiers, as well as Van Pelt, slashing away at the tall grass with knives to make a path for them to follow. "...We searched and searched, but all in vain. After months of searching, we began to wonder if the jewel was really just a legend after all. Even I had never seen it..." The group jumped when the scene cut to a camp, where Van Pelt stabbed a knife into a map laid out on a table, frustrated by their lack of success.

"But Dr. Bailey and her contagious optimism urged us onward. And then, at last, we found it, the Jaguar's Eye..." The group of expeditioners was framed by vine-decorated statues of different animals. Dr. Bailey ran her hand over the carven figure of an elephant, then snapping a picture of it with the camera hanging around her neck. Then, up ahead,a large, towering jaguar statue made of stone appeared through the trees, a round, green jewel set in the centre of the great cat's forehead, like an eye. "That was when Van Pelt's true intentions became clear: he took the jewel, taking it for himself, removing it from the statue and thus taking its power to use as his own..."

The group gasped again as they watched Van Pelt cut the jewel, which glowed a bright green, from the statue, holding it up victoriously, a dark shadow passing over the once bright and colourful jungle. A now very distressed looking Dr. Bailey watched him as a large, vicious-looking vulture-like bird swooped down and landed on his shoulder.

"The jewel gave him power over all of the animal life here in Jumanji. Legend has it that should the watchful jaguar ever be blinded, it will not be able to watch over and protect the jungle, leaving it vulnerable and dangerous. Now it seems that legend is true. Dr. Bailey and I tried to convince him otherwise and begged him to return the jewel to its rightful place in the statue, but it had corrupted him, and he craved its power. He never let the jewel out of his sight. Seeing that his actions had threatened the jungle, now leaving it cursed, Dr. Bailey and I devised a plan to steal back the jewel. So that night, whilst he was sleeping, we snuck into his tent and snatched the jewel..."

The clip showed Nigel prying the jewel from the sleeping Van Pelt's grasp, Dr. Bailey keeping watch from the entrance of the tent. There was a moment of quiet victory when at last, Nigel had it, only to be broken by the squawking of the vulture, much like an alarm, awakening Van Pelt. Nigel tossed the jewel into Dr. Bailey's hands as they fled through the jungle, dodging shots fired at them as they disappeared. Nigel hopped into the jeep, luring the shooting men away, giving her a chance to escape, jewel in hand.

"Bring her to me, with the jewel," growled Van Pelt to the soldiers. "And slaughter anyone else who stands in your way."

"And that is your task," Nigel finished with a smile. The clip fell away and they were once again in the jeep. "I left the jewel in Dr. Bailey's trusted hands. Find her and help her return the jewel to its rightful place. You will need this map-" He withdrew said map and handed it to Spencer. "Go to the Bazaar and find the missing piece. Good luck friends, the whole of Jumanji is counting on you!"

With that, the Jeep drew to a halt and the doors popped open. The group only sat there, staring open-mouthed back at him.

"On you go! Jumanji thanks you!" Nigel urged them. "Send my regards to Dr. Bailey, and tell her I sent you!" Slowly and hesitantly, the four climbed out of the Jeep. "And now your quest I shall recite in verse: take the jewel, break the curse. If you wish to leave the game, return the jewel and call out its name. But keep this in mind: should the great jaguar once again wink, the true nature of the jewel is not what you think." He repeated this again as he drove away.

"Hey! Wait! Can't you just give us a ride?" called Fridge, but the jeep had already disappeared.

"Oh my God, we're so going to die!" cried Bethany.

"Bethany!" hissed Martha. "Not helping!"

"Well you heard what that creepy guy said: to slaughter anyone who stood in the way of the jewel! And that's what we have to do!"

"He also said to bring this Dr. Bailey to him," Spencer said. "He didn't say anything about wanting to kill her. I think we're safest with her."

"Whoever she is. And where is she?"

"I don't know. But I think that might be what this next level is, finding her."

"Okay. So what do we do?" asked Martha.

"Why are you asking me?!" he cried.

"Well you're obviously kind of the leader."

He sighed. "Fine. We start walking, I guess."

"It's okay, it's going to be okay," Bethany was muttering to herself. "In real life people love you and you can hook up with anyone you want."

"Is that what you tell yourself when you're scared?" Martha scrunched up her nose.

"Oh my God can you stop judging me for like two seconds? I got sucked into a freaking video game, I can't find my phone, and I turned into a guy, I'm allowed to be upset! And besides, says the gorgeous karate bad-ass to the old guy with no endurance."

Just as they were taking their first steps forward, the ominous drumming started again, drawing them all to a sharp halt.

"That can't be a good sign," remarked Fridge, speaking their collective thoughts aloud.

But the game would have its way. They had no choice but to continue.

"Game on," mumbled Spencer, and began to lead the way.

So there's the first chapter, I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks so much for reading! :) I did update it as I saw the movie again and there was just too much awesome dialogue I couldn't leave out! ;) I like to go from the actual dialogue, also adding in some of my own. I also sometimes do some re-wording, to keep it different and interesting, but expanding on the original dialogue. Also, how did I miss the first time seeing the movie that Van Pelt was 'Professor'?! Haha now I just picture him doing so Indiana Jones style where he teaches but also goes on crazy expeditions, haha! And if you haven't yet seen the new 'Jumanji', I highly recommend it! Thanks so much! (I'll stop rambling now!)