Matt inhaled sharply, shooting up into a sitting position the second that his eyes opened. With a final shudder, the remnants of radiating pain receded and a feeling of relief flooded his body. He placed a hand to his chest, exhaling to release the breath he'd just taken before grimacing a second later once he noticed the brunette curls that had fallen over his shoulder... and the unfortunately familiar curves added to the figure of his chest.

He looked toward the sky as if trying to speak to some higher power. "You have a wonderful sense of humor."

He then stood, dusting himself off, almost disappointed that he was used to the process at this point. Afterall, it was literally just the other day that he and Dr. Leslie Oberon had parted ways, and not for the last time like he'd hoped.

"Mattie?"

Matt quickly turned his head, searching for the source of who'd called him before spotting Bethany—currently hosted in the avatar of Professor Sheldon Oberon.

"Bethany." He did sigh with relief as he pushed through the overgrown leaves to reach his girlfriend, looking her over for injuries once they were together. "Are you alright?"

"Define 'alright'," she replied. "Because I literally just looked around and we're stuck in the jungle... again."

Matt nodded his head. "I can't say I'm too happy about it either."

"Spencer!" Matt and Bethany both winced as Fridge's shout probably would've been heard from miles away. "Get yo ass over here so I can kill you!"

"Sounds like the others have spawned," Matt noted, taking Bethany by the hand as he led her toward the sound of Fridge's swears and Spencer's shouts. "And they sound just as happy to be here as we do."

As they stepped into the clearing, they were certainly greeted by a sight one had to see with their own eyes to believe. Despite his diminutive stature, Fridge had managed to knock Spencer to the ground, keeping him pinned by holding his arms at an uncomfortable position behind his back.

"Now really isn't the time, Fridge," Martha scolded, but also hadn't made much of an effort to help Spencer either. "I'm sure this is all some big misunderstanding and Spencer wouldn't intentionally get us stuck here for a third time."

"Can't... breathe... Fridge," Spencer gasped, trying to lift his face out of the dirt to speak.

"You can't breathe, Spencer? Huh, is that uncomfortable?" Fridge asked sarcastically. "Well maybe you should've thought of that before getting us sucked into the game!"

Matt sighed. "Would you guys cut it out? Fighting doesn't get us anywhere, it just wastes our lives. Let's just figure out what we need to do to get out of here and go home."

"Matt's right," Alex chimed in, stepping away from the tree he'd been leaning against while observing. "I'd rather not spend another twenty years of my life here."

"So, like, what do we do first?" Bethany asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.

Simultaneously, the group turned toward Spencer, an action he didn't overly enjoy. "Why me again?!"

"If you didn't want to lead, you shouldn't have picked the team captain," Fridge retorted, crossing his arms. "You're the video game expert, remember?"

Spencer opened his mouth to continue the argument; however, a groan from the group's right diverted their attention. The bushes rustled, forcing the six to crowd together, raising whatever weapons they had on their persons: a boomerang and a map.

Tensions were high as the group was expecting some wild beast to charge; however, that was almost preferable as a large barbarian rose the bushes, rubbing his head. Spencer and Bethany screamed in unison, throwing their objects at none other than Jurgen the Brutal.

The boomerang collided with the brute's head, knocking him out cold. His form sank back into the bushes as the map floated down and covered his face like a shroud. Matt felt his own eyes rolling back inside his head, and the only reason he didn't faint was because Martha had caught him and nudged him awake.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You're looking a little pale?"

"I—I thought he was dead," Matt stuttered, his stomach turning in knots. His skin crawled just being near the man who'd once tried to force him into marriage. It certainly hadn't been one of their better plans to break into the fortress, and not all of his conflicted feelings had been resolved either apparently.

"Where's that guy driving the Jeep?" Fridge asked hysterically, turning in circles before tilting his head back to look up. "I'd even take a plane right about now."

Martha nodded in agreement. "What's taking Nigel so long?"

"I don't know, but without a Jumanji Berry lying around we better pray he doesn't wake up soon," Spencer replied, warily eyeing the boots of the brute that stuck out from the bush.

The boots twitched and the entire group glared at Spencer as if he'd jinxed the moment. It was only confirmed as the brute groggily muttered under his breath while waking, rising back to his intimidating full stature with only a brief stumble of disorientation.

"I don't believe you told me that you were bringing over company, Matthew," Jurgen's voice slurred slightly as he regained his balance.

Matt almost thought his eyes were going to roll inside his head for a second time as chills shot down his spine. There was a pure look of abject horror on his face as he questioned the barbarian. "Dad?!"

Jurgen blinked rapidly, then shook his head to clear any remnants of fog. However, he froze and his eyes widened as he took a wary step back before pointing toward the group of six accusingly. There was panic in his voice as he asked, "Who are you people? What have you done with my son?"

"Principal Bentley?" Martha took a step forward, asking for verification of Matt's question as to the man's identity.

Jurgen—correction, Principal Bentley, Matt's father—turned toward Martha, acknowledging the name as his own. "Do I know you?"

"It's Martha Kaply," she explained, "from school. This isn't easy to explain... so I'll let Spencer take over."

"Spencer?" Principal Bentley questioned, only looking more confused than before.

Spencer shot Martha a frustrated look before begrudgingly accepting the bus he'd been thrown under. "I need you to keep an open mind, Principal Bentley... You see—I've just got to rip it off like a bandaid—You see we're trapped inside a video game."

"A video game?" Bentley repeated.

Spencer nodded. "Yes. We are trapped inside a video game as avatars—characters—that we chose a couple of years ago while playing in detention, only you seem to have taken on the avatar of one of the antagonists."

Spencer's long winded explanation continued, only adding to the Principal's confusion. Matt sighed, taking over for Spencer as they weren't actually getting anywhere. "It's a long story, Dad. It'll just be easier to show you."

Matt stepped forward, hesitantly took his father's arm, then led the principal toward the water's edge so that he might glimpse at his new reflection.

Principal Bentley gawked, pulling at the edges of his face as he looked himself over. "I must have finally reached my breaking point. Everyone eventually does, and this is clearly a sign of a full-blown mid-life crisis... odd that my hallucinations are revolving around this foreign environment but—"

Matt slapped his father across the face, stunning the man into silence. "Dad, this is not a dream. This is real. You currently look like the avatar Jurgen the Brutal and I'm trapped in the body of this female avatar. It sounds crazy, but this is my third time riding this rodeo so just stay close and we can make it out of this alive!"

Crickets chirping were the only living sound to be heard. The river rippled and bubbled, but otherwise there was no sound. Matt raised an eyebrow and slowly turned to face the others, noting their stunned expressions. "What?"

"Mattie," Bethany hesitated. "You just slapped your dad."

"Yeah?" Matt didn't quite catch her point. "He was hysterical. I didn't know what else to do."

"Slapping him probably wasn't it," Fridge retorted.

"Matt, what happened to not being able to do any harm?" Martha asked, emphasizing Bethany's point. "The last time you tried to do anything like that..."

Matt looked down at his wrist, but surprisingly there were still four lines present. He'd gotten away with slapping his father while keeping all of his lives without repercussions. "I guess the game's adapted."

"How comforting," Fridge scoffed under his breath.

"Um guys..." Alex tried to call for the group's attention, but he either wasn't heard or ignored.

"I mean if something as small as Matt's skills are glitching, I don't even want to think about what else has changed," Spencer brought attention to what they were all thinking.

"Guys!" Alex shouted. The group turned their heads toward him in unison before following his pointed finger back to the river. "Something's coming."

Overcome by deja vu, Matt dove, pulling his father away from the water where the man had returned to stare at his reflection. They narrowly avoided the unhinged jaw of the hippopotamus that charged from the riverbed. Martha pulled aside Bethany, Spencer grabbed Fridge, and Alex dove from the path of rampage as the hippo circled back for another round.

Fridge quickly grabbed a couple of fallen mangoes, tossing them toward the mouth of the beast while hoping it would work out just like it had before. Fortunately, the beast returned to the water, sinking peacefully beneath the waves with a full stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn't the only hungry creature concealed in the jungle.

"Bethany, look out!" Fridge shouted, warning her of the ball python that had snatched him up and devoured him in their last trip. Bethany rolled out of the way in the knick of time, and the python caught nothing but air before returning to the branches of the tree above.

"Like, what is wrong with this place?" Bethany asked, falling into hysterics. "What kind of sick person even thought about making this game in the first place? I am tired of running for my life and getting eaten—"

Jumanji has a twisted sense of irony. Mid-sentence, the gorgeous yellow plant that had been lounging in the sun behind Bethany, snatched her up and devoured her whole. The group wasn't given any time to react before the all-too familiar chime of death echoed around them. However, Fridge did toss Spencer a machete, who cut the plant down in one fell swoop. No one else desired to be dinner for a salad.

Bethany fell from the sky, landing in the middle of the group. Matt immediately rushed to her side, trying to help her back onto her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I literally hate this place," Bethany hissed under her breath.

"No offense, Bethany," Fridge said. "But the map guy is totally useless. The dude always dies first, no matter what we try."

"It's totally not fair," Bethany agreed, remaining close to Matt as he tried to console her.

The water along the river began to bubble, symbolizing that fresh trouble may just be brewing. Alex quickly called attention to it though. "I hope you guys are up for round two."

The group of seven huddled together, believing they had strength in their numbers and they weren't willing to give up any more lives to the jungle. Just as they thought the anticipation might kill them, cylinders of titanium steel rose from the water.

Most of the groups' jaws opened with awe and surprise as the vessel continued to rise from the surface of the water revealing none other than a sleek submarine. With a rusted squeak, the hatch turned and opened revealing none other than Nigel Billingsley.

The guide looked the group over, his usual charismatic grin beaming from his face. "Don't just stand there! Climb aboard!"

And so history would repeat itself for a third time as Matt followed the group aboard one of Nigel's various modes of transportation that would ultimately lead them on a quest, asking them to risk their lives for a world that had never done anything more than try to kill them around every turn.