Even though both of her children were young adults, that motherly instinct had taken control of Sarah. She gripped Robert and Roni each by one of their wrists, pulling them away from the walls as thin green sprouts crept through the fresh cracks that ran along the walls. Despite their complaints, she refused to hesitate. She moved them behind her as she rushed toward the front door.

Rogue had only taken a second to blink before recognizing that perhaps she'd been too quick to judge the Parrish family. Afterall, fear had a way of bringing out both the best and the worst in people.

The sprouts in the walls were growing thicker with each passing second and some had even grown buds that were beginning to bloom in flowers of assorted purples and blues.

Rogue's eyes widened before narrowing as she recognized these specimens. Dr. Oberon—Lizzy—had given a lecture on them at some point, explaining their medical pros and cons but the assassin-for-hire had simply found it easier to cut off their heads and move forward before their medic ended up poisoned or eaten.

A similar look entered Alan's eyes. He'd spent more than enough years in the jungle to know which plants were safe and which were life-threatening. None of those in his house now were the safe kind, and unfortunately it wasn't the first time they'd wound themselves around the support beams. Recognizing that he had to act quickly, Alan snatched up the boardgame and ran down the hall after his family. Rogue only followed once he had left.

As they reached the front door, they came to the same conclusion as the rest of the Parrishes: they were trapped. Several thick vines had wrapped themselves together around the front door, completely blocking it off.

Rogue pulled out her knife and began to cut away at the plants, but she looked back over her shoulder in frustration. "Find something to help me cut or watch my back... either way grab something sharp."

Robert and Roni sprinted off in opposite directions: one to the kitchen and the other to the living room. Although their parents protested, they both returned moments later, each holding their interpretation of something sharp. Robert held a steak knife while Roni wielded the stoker that normally leaned up against the fireplace.

"So what's the plan?" Roni asked, jabbing the stoker at the vines that blocked their path.

"Don't touch the purple ones," Alan warned. "They shoot poisonous barbs."

"And the yellow ones are carnivorous," Sarah quickly added.

Robert's brow furrowed as he whipped his head around. "Yellow ones? I haven't seen any—"

He was cut off as the sentient vines that had wrapped around his ankle made themselves known, dragging him across the foyer and toward the living room. His shouts only grew more panicked as the yellow petals erupted from the fireplace, reeling him in like a worm on a hook.

Roni's mouth tightened. "Looks like Robbie found a yellow one."

Her parents shot her a reprimanding look, but they didn't waste any words. They quickly rushed after their son—Alan scooping the fallen knife up from the hardwood floor. Together, they acted with a speed Rori hadn't seen since she was three or four years old when she had just learned how to climb the cabinets to reach the candy jar tucked away in the cupboards. Sarah reached out and grabbed her son's hands, pulling him away from the plant to provide Alan enough time to cut him free. The plant shrieked and withered away once the vine was severed.

"Away from the walls," Sarah repeated her earlier instruction, pushing the group back toward Roni in the foyer. She frantically looked around for an escape route since the door remained blocked. "Up the stairs. Move. Move. Move!"

Roni and Robert scrambled up the steps. Their parents were only a few feet behind. And Rogue trailed behind the party, cutting down any flora that tried to follow. Roni didn't stop running until she'd reached the attic, holding the door open just long enough for Rogue to catch up before slamming it closed.

"Robbie, roll!" Roni instructed. "Before these plants infest the rest of the house."

"Wait a minute!" Alan called out, but it was too late. Robert had already picked up the dice and dropped them back down onto the game board, rolling a six: two threes; doubles. Alan sighed as he slumped against the door, using his weight to keep it closed. "That's not how the game works."

The jade monkey token slid across the board, effortlessly stopping once it had moved six spaces. Robert leaned forward, more intrigued than the rest by the magic that the game seemingly used. He cleared his throat, squinting to translate the smoke as words slowly formed in the crystal ball center.

"This will not be an easy expedition," Robert slowly read the words as they appeared one by one. "Monkeys slow the expedition."

"Does this voodoo really not bother anyone else?" Rogue asked. "I don't usually consider myself a superstitious individual, but after everything I've seen the jungles of Jumanji serve as an exception."

"The game won't end until someone wins," Alan simplified the rules. "So whatever comes out is stuck here unless we finish."

"That one didn't seem too bad," Robert noted. He looked around as if expecting the worst, yet nothing occurred.

"You think it's busted?" Roni asked, closing the lid to pick the game up and shake it.

Sarah winced and held out her hands, holding back the way she wanted to reprimand her children for being so careless; however, in the span of ten minutes, she'd already almost lost them both.

A crash from the kitchen contradicted Robert's claim. Roni punched her brother in the arm, to which he quickly complained. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You jinxed it," Roni replied, punching him again on the same arm. "There's a law of irony that Jumanji uses at every given opportunity."

"A law of irony?" Her brother scoffed. "That's not one they teach you at law school."

"It's an English thing," Roni agreed. "Mattie's the one who explained it to me. Basically think of anything that could go wrong and it will."

"That's Murphy's Law," Robert corrected with a snicker.

Roni frowned. "You didn't let me finish. The difference is that everything goes wrong as soon as you think nothing will."

"It's not like we need to worry now," Robert redirected the conversation back to the start. "Whatever found its way into the kitchen is stuck down there with those carnivorous plants."

Roni's frown deepened and she blinked. "Did you not listen to a single thing I just told you?"

The circular window closest to the ceiling shattered as a rock pelted Robert in the head. He hissed in pain, rubbing his temples where the rock hit while everyone else focused on avoiding the shards of glass that rained down on them. Following the rock, several small furry creatures climbed in through the now open window.

The chimps hooped and hollered as if laughing at Robert's pain before rummaging around through the storage crates kept in the attic. Sarah quickly jumped to her feet and tried to chase away the creatures that were disturbing her organized space. It only took a moment for her to grow frustrated enough to demand Alan help.

"You weren't kidding when you said he'd be rusty, kid." Rogue laughed and shook her head, then addressed the Parrish parents. "You need to work together to corral them into one location. By driving them apart you won't catch anything."

Rogue stood to help, but as soon as she'd lured away one monkey, a second snuck into the space behind her and snatched the game.

"Hey!" Roni shouted, chasing after the monkey as it dove back out the window and into the tree against the house. "Bring that back! Oh, come on!"

The rest of the monkeys soon followed, leading the five individuals to the same spot—crammed around the window—to watch as the chimps scrambled down the street.

"Okay, I know you're going to say it was my job to watch the game," Roni interjected her own defense before anyone else could blame her, "but technically it was still Robert's turn and he's the one who rolled the monkeys."

"We can place the blame later," Alan replied. "Right now we just need to get the game back."

"Stand aside," Rogue insisted, backing up to give herself some room.

"Um... is she trying to jump out the window?" Robert asked, furrowing her brow as he looked between the adventurer and the limited space.

"I never try anything," Rogue corrected. "I succeed."

She took a breath to control her composure, then sprinted toward the window. She jumped up against the shelf along the perpendicular wall, then used it to shove off and gain more momentum. She dove through the window, effortlessly clutching one of the branches as she fell into the tree.

"Nothing to it," Rogue exclaimed with a huff to catch her breath. "Your turn."

"I think I'd rather take the stairs," Roni replied, eyeing the distance between the window and the tree.

"And take your chances with the overgrown house plants? Nonsense." Rogue waved her hand, dismissing that idea. "One at a time, and quickly now. We haven't got all day."

"I've got a better idea," Sarah admitted, turning to rummage through the mess that the chimps had tossed around the room. "And here it is."

She pulled out an emergency ladder that they kept in storage within the attic. After she attached it to the window and allowed the panels to clatter against the side of the house, she encouraged her husband to take the first step.

"Watch out for the glass," Sarah warned.

"Right," Alan agreed, gritting his teeth to hide his displeasure with being volunteered to go first. However, he was the man of the house—even if it had been over thirty years since he last did anything like this—it was his responsibility to look out for his family.

The ladder and his legs shook as he took the way down one panel at a time. Of course, it goes without saying that Roni was eagerly behind him, telling him to hurry up with each step. Five minutes later, all four were safely on the ground. Rogue dropped from the tree, landing beside them as she dusted off her hands.

"So far, so good," Rogue said, looking the group over. "We head east. Follow the trail and take out the enemy once in range."

"Take out the enemy?" Alan's brow furrowed in confusion, yet his eyes widened with alarm as Rogue pulled a firearm from the holster at her side and checked its ammunition level. "Woah, woah, woah!"

Roni's eyes widened with delight. She could remember the power she'd felt when she herself wore the frame of the avatar, but now standing in Rogue's presence—the assassin having her own mind—it was like being introduced to one's idol. She was speechless, but her thoughts screamed about how cool it all was.

"They're just monkeys," Robert reminded Rogue.

"They're chimps with a penchant for mischief and the key to destroying the world in their possession," Rogue corrected. "And I'd say it wasn't a big deal if all the roles were filled. But as I recall, there's still one more slot to be rolled."

"Lead the way," Roni insisted, urging Rogue to the front.

Alan slowly leaned over to whisper his question in his daughter's ear. "Who exactly is this person again?"

"Dakota Dalton," Roni replied, quoting the information as if reading it from a flash card. She knew the character like the back of her hand, only because she'd lived as her for a brief period of time. "But everyone just calls her Rogue. She's a trained bounty hunter and mercenary. Don't worry. She's got this."

"All of those reasons give me something to worry about," Alan quietly contradicted but followed along.

It took Rogue very little time at all to catch the scent and follow the trail. She led the group downtown where it was quite easy to see the havoc that the chimps had wrecked. Currently, the most ruckus came from the video store on the corner.

As Rogue armed her handgun, Robert lifted a finger and harshly whispered, "Could we maybe not murder the monkeys?"

"They're tranq darts," Rogue bluntly explained. She then shot Roni an annoyed look. "This is why I hate lawyers. Always killing the mood with their rules and hypocritical morals."

"Excuse me?" Robert asked, clearly confused and minorly insulted.

"Stealing is wrong, so we'll send you to prison," Rogue continued the mocking conversation with herself under her breath as she turned her attention to the video store, creeping forward with the intent of keeping the element of surprise. "Murder is wrong, so we'll send you to prison. Smuggling, you guessed it wrong."

"All of those are illegal activities," Robert hissed. "Why would you think any of those would be okay?"

"They were just examples," Rogue shot back over her shoulder. "I never said I'd done any of them personally."

She then glanced at Roni, shaking her head to imply that she had, in fact, done all of the above and more. The bounty hunter pushed forward, stepping over the broken glass of the front door. Before anyone could process the first decision, Rogue had fired off six shots then taken a step back to admire her work with a grin.

She blew on the barrel of her gun then looked back at the others with a haughty look. "All in a day's work."

With their little chests heaving to show that they were still alive, Rogue had only needed one shot to take each chimp down. The bounty hunter then stepped forward, retrieving the stolen game before returning to the group.

She handed the game over to Robert with a warning. "Try not to lose it this time. My services are only free once."

"Maybe we should find a safer location?" Sarah suggested.

"I don't think anywhere is going to be safe until this is over," Roni disagreed. "We may as well get it over with here and now."

"Great," Robert agreed then admitted, "Because I rolled while everyone was arguing."

The ground rumbled. It was subtle at first, and they might have missed it if the shattered glass hadn't made so much noise from the small tremors. Roni frowned as she turned back toward her brother.

"What did you do now?"

"Me?" Robert asked incredulously, setting the game down as he pointed to himself. "Why do you think I had anything to do with it?"

"You've shamelessly invoked the law of irony and you're the one that rolled the monkeys," Roni reminded him. "My roll only tried to make me disappear."

"Oh, but let's just forget the fact that you're the one who rolled first," Robert released a fake laugh. "You're the one that started this mess."

"Would the two of you stop fighting and act your age?" Sarah quickly interrupted. "Alan, would you talk to the kids, please? I shouldn't be the only one reprimanding them."

"Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder," Alan muttered as he relayed the forgotten message to the rest of the group. "Staying put would be a blunder."

"Do they always need to be so cryptic?" Roni asked, scrunching her nose.

Before anyone could answer her question, the back wall of the store exploded from the impact of force created by the stampede barreling toward the reluctant adventuring party.