Jumanji Jam (Odd Squad)

Chapter 6: I Can't Do It

Otis, Olympia, and Oona followed Ms. O's strange instructions, which were to just climb into the ball pit. The trio all laid their awkwardly, their faces somehow coming up in the space that was below the surface. They still didn't understand how this part of headquarters worked exactly.

"So...," Otis trailed off, the multi-colored balls almost giving them static electricity. Olympia's hair was already sticking to every bright sphere in sight.

"The balls in the ball pit all taste like different flavors," Olympia beamed, suddenly recalling that fact.

Otis shrugged as Oona and Olympia picked up one of the orbs. He mirrored their actions, licking an orange one which was the exact flavor of what it was called.

"Not bad," he commented.

"Mmm... I particularly like this cherry one," added Oona, since she had a red one.

Olympia was enjoying her yellow sphere, which turned out to be one of the most complicated flavors, banana creme pie.

Suddenly they all yelled out when another person showed up, it was a rounded face that belonged to a boy. He also had light colored hair that appeared to be blonde.

"Who are you," Olympia wondered.

"I'm Opie," he replied.

"Agent Opie," Olympia questioned, getting excited that they might have found the past agent.

"Yeah, I used to be," he answered.

"But I thought you left the squad," Oona observed.

"No, I've just been down here." He just casually looked around, pursing his lips together.

"Why," Otis asked.

Opie sighed as he tried to get a better look at the three faces directly beside him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Could this be it?" Oona had suddenly heaved the game into view, causing Opie to gasp and shoot up and out of the ball pit, the first time it had happened in years.

"Where did you get that?" His voice was shaking, as he gazed at the object Oona was still holding onto.

Otis and Olympia had followed Oona in also rising to the surface.

"We found it...," Otis trailed off.

"I don't want to see that thing ever again! Get it away from me," Opie ordered, jumping into the entrance of an enclosed slide nearby.

Oona hid the game behind her back again, her, Otis, and Olympia looking at the frightened boy.

"I know this is hard for you to talk about, but what do you know about, "Jumanji?" We found out that if we finish the game, then all of this will go away," Otis seriously shared.

Opie sighed softly. "It was when Oscar had just become a scientist for the squad. We were hanging out at the park. We used to be best friends... But then we heard a strange noise, so Oscar used the Dig-Inator, to find it. That's when we found... it." He gulped slightly as he thought of the horrifying game. "It looked just like any other odd thing we might find on the job, so we took it back to headquarters... Oscar was still trying to choose which piece he wanted. I picked the monkey, and he insisted that I go ahead and start playing... The next thing I knew there was a tiger, but Oscar zapped it with the Invisible-Inator. We ended up losing the tiger, and I refused to play any more of the game. I dived into the ball pit, and that's where I've been ever since..."

The pair of dice accidentally fell out of Olympia's pocket just then, her catching the cubes in her hands. "That's odd... I thought that might count as my role," she observed, her heart still pounding from the mistake.

"Did someone roll a three," Opie wondered.

Oona reluctantly raised her hand.

"It said that I was stuck until someone rolled a three. That must mean... No, I can't do it," shouted Opie, cowering back into the slide.

"Opie, please, we need your help, and you won't be alone. We'll all be here together," Olympia attempted to reassure him.

Opie sighed some, squeezing his eyes shut as he held out his palm, the auburn dropping the two cubes into his hand.

Oona then placed the game beneath him, so that when he dropped the die, they landed somewhere.

Soon another dreaded message was swirling into existence, and Opie still hadn't opened his eyes.

A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this. (: It's actually one of the longer chapters I've done so far. I've been enjoying writing for this book. Please remember to comment, vote, and follow. Thank you! <3