Hey guys! Here's the next chapter for you, hope you enjoy! :)

Seventeen: 'The True Nature of the Jewel is Not What You Think...'

"Whoa..."

"W-what happened?"

"You guys felt that too?"

"Alright, what the hell just happened?"

The five stood at the mouth of the forest again. They jumped when, just as before, the long, torch-framed pathway lit up, as though beckoning them to venture down it.

"This again?"

"Uh oh guys, we've got company..." Lights through the trees signaled Van Pelt and his men arriving.

Everything happened just as before: they split up, followed Fridge's plan, only for it to be halted when Van Pelt caught Bethany. Then Vera arrived and they leapt into action again.

"The jewel!" cried Vera.

"We got it!" Spencer cried, not wanting a repeat of last time. "Martha, Fridge, and I will get the jewel, you help Bethany and Alex." He didn't give her time to protest, and rushed off with Martha and Fridge in tow.

Vera turned to face the others, just in time to see Van Pelt punch Alex and send him flying.

"Alex!" cried Bethany. Then she noticed the fellow blonde woman. "Vera!" She had a clean shot, and was even holding her gun ready. But she was frozen, finger on the trigger. "Vera!"

Vera cursed herself - she had a clean shot, why wasn't she taking it? Her hand was shaking so much she was afraid she would miss and hit Alex. No, it wasn't just that; she didn't want to hit him either.

Bang! A shot shattered the night, drawing everyone to a sharp and sudden halt. But it wasn't from Vera's gun.

It was one of Van Pelt's mercenaries. They weren't sure where he had been aiming, but he had missed terribly - and hit Vera.

It was hard to miss, as her light-coloured tank-top made the blood stand out, even in the dark.

"VERA!"

"Oh no, not again-"

The mercenary realized his mistake, but too late. Next thing they all knew, there was another deafening ring as Van Pelt shot the man dead and rushed to catch Vera just as she collapsed. "Vera-"

She stared up at him, wide-eyed and gasping. "T-this is y-your f-fault," she hissed at him. "Y-you did t-this..."

Then, just as suddenly as before, everything shook and then was all still again. Vera was gone, Van Pelt was gone, and it was just the five avatars, standing before the entrance to the shrine.

"Again?"

"Seriously?!"

"What are we, trapped in a time loop or something?"

"Why does that keep happening?"

Again, everything played out just as before:

"Give me the jewel, or your friend dies."

"I can't give you the jewel."

"Hey Love."

"ZOOLOGY BITCH!"

"Douchebag! You suck!"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"Wait, I think it's trying to tell us something," Spencer said, waving the group over. "I think we're doing this wrong. Usually in video games if you fail at your task, the level ends and you have to start over from the beginning..."

"So you're thinking we keep failing at our task?" Martha summed up.

"Yeah..."

"But we're doing what they want! We're trying to get the jewel back to the statue."

"Yeah, but what if the jewel isn't actually the literal jewel? What if it goes deeper than that?" Spencer turned to Vera. "Vera, I think you're the key to saving Jumanji. I think you're the jewel. Or at least, you have to be the one to return it."

She gawked at him. "What?! That makes no sense!"

"But just think, the message the snake was guarding: 'the jewel is the heart but not the key'. And remember what Nigel said: 'the true nature of the jewel is not what you think.'" He looked to the others who were nodding, recalling this. "This must have been what he meant."

Vera still looked skeptical. "B-but-" But then she recalled what Russell had said. "All this time... The key to unlocking the jewel was right here in front of me... You, you're the key..." He'd literally told her, but she had just dismissed it as the possession of the jewel's power over him.

"And our task," Spencer continued, everything clicking into place. "We're here to help you save Jumanji. Help you." Now they were all looking at her expectantly. "And I think Van Pelt realizes that."

"That's why he's so intent on keeping me unharmed..." He nodded. "B-but-" She looked up at the statue, alit by a flash of lightning, and the thunder that followed it sounding like a great roar. The height of the statue alone was giving her jitters, let alone this new pressure to save this place.

"Vera, if Fridge and I can take on a snake, if Spencer can do all those brave things, if Martha could flirt and fight those guys, and if Alex could fly that helicopter, you can do this," Bethany assured her.

"We're here to help and support you," Martha added.

"Yeah, and I'll be right up there with you," Spencer assured her. "We'll do this together."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Okay."

"You need to get to the top of the statue."

"I need to get to the top of the statue."

A group of motorcycles surrounded them, snapping them back into action.

"You two go, I'll get the jewel to you." With that, Martha dance-fought her way to the cliff.

"You go, get a head start. There's something I have to take care of here first." Spencer didn't answer. "Spencer?"

He appeared to snap from some sort of trance. "Yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I - no," he sighed. "Vera I - I'm scared. I'm not actually Bravestone, I'm not actually brave. And if we don't succeed, I don't know what's going to happen..." He looked at the ground.

"Hey." She placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, making him look up. "But see, you are brave. I've seen you be brave. And admitting that you're scared, that's one of the bravest things to do. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared too."

He nodded slowly, and a smile spread across his face. "Thanks Vera."

She smiled back. "Now, let's do this."

With that, they split up. She turned to face the fight taking place between Alex, Bethany, and Van Pelt. This time, Alex ducked out of the way, just missing being punched.

Van Pelt withdrew his gun. Seeing that this was her chance, Vera charged forward. She jumped in front of Alex and Bethany and kicked the gun from his hand. Having caught him off guard, she didn't waste this moment and kicked him to the ground, delivering a punch to his jaw. This did the trick, and he lay there motionless for a moment, groaning.

Bethany and Alex had joined Fridge and were safe. They all turned at the sound of a roaring motor to see Spencer speed by on a motorcycle he had taken, beginning the climb.

That was her cue. Only, how was she going to get up to the top of the statue.

As the loyal jaguars crept around their master, she got an idea. With Van Pelt down for now, he couldn't control them... "Oi Finbar, jaguars are good climbers, right?"

"Yeah. Their skills include that, swimming, and crawling. And they have a very powerful bite," the zoologist told her.

"Brilliant." She held out her hand, letting one of the great cats sniff her to gain some trust between them. Then she hopped onto its back and it bounded off, climbing the statue.

"Don't look down, don't look down," she repeated, almost like a chant to calm herself, as they continued to climb. "Why does it have to be at the very top of the bloody statue?"

Looking ahead she saw Spencer had reached the top - the sun was just starting to rise above them. There was the sound of chimes and she saw a flash of red hair and a pink shirt and green jewel as Martha fell from the sky, having used up one of her lives to get the jewel to them.

Using a rope with a hook on the end from the bike, Spencer swung off the side of the statue to meet her as she fell, catching the jewel. He got it right as Vera and her new jaguar friend made it to the top, and Martha had a safe landing below.

Spencer tossed the jewel into Vera's hands. "Care to do the honours?"

"Gladly." With that, she plunged the jewel into the eye of the statue.

Nothing happened. Nothing. There was only tense silence as everyone watched and waited. They'd done everything right, what were they missing?

"'Call out its name...'"

"'Call out its name!'"

"Call out its name, everyone!"

"Jumanji!"

"Jumanji!"

"JUMANJI!"

JUMANJI! :D So, what did you think of my twist? The next chapter I had two ideas for, and I couldn't decide on one, so I wrote both! Looking forward to seeing what you guys think of both - thanks so much for reading and as always, hope you enjoyed! :)