With a grunt, the wolf gently placed the heavy cardboard box down, letting it rest in the corner with a few others. He dusted off his hands, smiling as he looked around his new living room. Everything seemed to be coming along nicely… he felt he deserved a bit of a rest. “Hey babe!” He called out as he plopped his butt onto the newly set-up couch. “I finished moving everything into the living room, come take a break with me!”
 
 
Mere seconds after he said that, as he was in the process of grinding his fat, jeans-clad ass into the soft cushions, Lucas heard the sound of feet eagerly padding upstairs, then down the flight of stairs. Before he knew it, a handsome big brown bat had materialized in the doorway, comfortably strolling into the room and flopping onto the couch next to him. “Hello, hun.” he lovingly mumbled under his breath as he leaned into the fluffy gray canine and rested his head against his chest, causing Kyle to blush warmly.
 
 
Lucas had met Micah through a writing club they were in when they were in high school. Naturally, they gravitated towards each other, being very similar and having many similar tastes, mainly in writing intricate, overly complicated stories and playing intricate, overly complicated grand strategy video games. Micah liked that Lucas was big, fluffy and gentle, and Lucas liked Micah’s cheerful demeanor and wide range of knowledge on various topics. By sophomore year, they were best friends. By high school graduation, they were dating. By college graduation, they were engaged. And since last month, they were officially married. With their new life together only just beginning they figured it was about time they left their cramped apartment in Providence, and so with a generous financial gift from Micah’s wealthy parents, they were able to buy this quaint, two-story house in a sleepy seaside town in Maine. They both already had jobs lined up in the area: Micah would be a teller at a bank branch, and Lucas would be writing columns for the local newspaper while finishing up his fantasy novel draft and looking for potential publishers on the side. Everything was going perfectly.
 
 
“Happy moving-in day.” The furry bat said as he placed his hand on his husband’s belly, giving it one of those soft rubs he always loved. Lucas scoffed. “More like first moving-in day. I feel like we’ve barely even made a dent in the trailer.” Micah smiled, lifting his head up to look at the wolf more directly, big, sparkly brown eyes and dark eyeshadow locking with Lucas’s plainer blue pupils. “Mmm, we’ve got time, don’t worry. My job doesn’t start until Wednesday.”
 
 
“I guess, it’s just… it’s a little exhausting. I feel pooped just thinking of having to actually unpack all of this.”
 
 
“Yeah… speaking of, do you know if the WiFi’s hooked up yet?”
 
 
The gray-furred canine sighed. “It isn’t. Probably won’t be until tomorrow…” however, as he was thinking, he suddenly remembered something. His eyes lit up, and he looked upon his husband. “Micah, babe, would you mind grabbing something from the car for me?”
 
 
“Sure,” Micah replied, getting off of him. “What is it, exactly?”
 
 
“It’s a big wooden box, it’s got intricate carvings all over it… trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.”
 
 
“Gotcha, be right back!” The bat leapt up, letting Lucas get a good view of him and his gorgeous outfit… the black beanie with the words “Bat Bitch” embroidered on the crown in gothic font, the black choker wrapped around his fluffy neck with all the shiny metal studs in it, his slightly loose MCR Black Parade T-shirt, the black fishnet top he wore beneath it visible on his exposed arms (with slits for his leathery wings, of course), and his tight black shorts with the metal chain looped into them, making his butt appear nice and curvy once he turned around to walk out of the room. Some would observe this choice of clothing and assume Micah was cold and moody, but nah, he just liked the color black. And MCR.
 
 
Lucas sat for a few moments, face and mind blank as he scratched his thigh. Before he knew it, the bat had returned, eagerly clutching the wooden box his hubby had requested. “That was fast.” The wolf teased, tail wagging at the sight of a happy husband. The bat was quick to reply as the slowed to a halt, placing the box on the floor. “Of course it was! I wouldn’t want to provide unsatisfactory service!” He joked as he looked over the front of the box. True to Lucas’s word, the front of the box was very ornately carved, depicting a scene of a lush jungle, framed by portraits of a feral monkey, a feral elephant, a feral rhinoceros, and an anthro golden retriever in a pith helmet and monocle. Right in the center, sticking out like a sore thumb, was a carving of a word, evidently the name of the item. “Jumanji, hmm? Interesting… looks like an old board game, probably from the early 1800s. Where did you get this, hun?”
 
 
“You remember when we stopped at that antique store in New Hampshire because you needed to use their bathroom?”
 
 
“Yeah.”
 
 
“I couldn’t help but take a look around while I waited… I saw this on one of the tables, and since it looked like something you’d enjoy and the price was really low, I thought I’d get it for you as a surprise.” What Lucas neglected to mention was that when he tried to pay for it, the tiger cashier repeatedly questioned whether he really wanted the game. After he affirmed at least 4 times that yes, he really did want to buy it, the cat relented, merely warning him that it wasn’t for the faint of heart. Lucas didn’t really get what he was talking about as he threw the box in the backseat and awaited Micah’s return from the restroom. It was just an old board game. How hard could it be?
 
 
“Aww, thanks Lucas! You want to play?” The bat asked, a gleam in his eyes. Lucas chuckled. “I knew you’d like this gift. Let’s see what’s inside.” With that, the wolf’s paws unfolded the box’s double-hinged top, revealing its main compartment to be a gameboard, wood carved to resemble a leaf-covered forest floor with four ivory paths winding towards a large, round green glass lens in the middle. Lucas let out a whistle as he admired the attention to detail. “Quite a lot of artistic effort for a board game.” he noted. Meanwhile, Micah took a look at one of the side compartments, finding instructions inside. “JUMANJI: A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token. Doubles gets another turn. The first player to reach the end wins.” Curious at the mention of tokens, the canine reached into a flip-lid cupboard in one of the side compartments, and found four stone figurines. Almost entranced, he selected two, a black crocodile and a gray rhino… then, before his very eyes, they seemed to fly away from his paw, dancing around the board awkwardly for a moment before settling into different starting corners and standing themselves upright. The two recoiled slightly in surprise, Micah trying to touch his rhino token, only to find it would not budge from its spot, stuck like superglue. The two looked up at each other, not sure what to make of this. “Uhm… what does the other one say?”
 
 
Lucas’s eyes snapped away, looking at the other compartment of the box, with the text facing towards him. “Adventurers beware: do not begin unless you intend to finish. The… exciting consequences, what? … will vanish only when a player has reached Jumanji and called out its name.” Micah smiled, his befuddlement melting away, the expression melting Lucas’s facial features in turn. “Sounds good. Wanna have first turn?” He politely asked as he pulled out the game’s dice and offered them to him. Not knowing what else to do, and thoroughly charmed by the bat boy’s handsome face, picked up the dice, feeling the smooth wooden cubes in his hands. He gave them a little shake in his hand for good luck, then let them loose.
 
 
“...Seven.”
 
 
Just as Lucas was about to move his piece, though, it seemed to move on its own! It slid along the ivory path, as smoothly as a ghost. He seemed to swallow nervously at the sight… “Keep calm… it’s just electromagnets.” he thought to himself to keep his nerves in cheek. Once the rhino token had stopped in its proper place, the green glass center began to glow, something within swirling… the pair leaned in, anticipating an explanation as to what to do next. Very soon, it gave them one, as the swirling assembled into a short, morbid rhyme.
 
 
HIS FANGS ARE SHARP, HE LIKES YOUR TASTE
YOUR PARTY BETTER MOVE POSTHASTE
 
 
The wolf’s brow furrowed in confusion as he stared at the words. “I don’t get it… what is this supposed to mean?” Micah was momentarily distracted by a quiet thump from somewhere in the house, his large, sensitive ears perking up, but he then blinked and got back on task. “I think it’s supposed to be a riddle! Like, you solve it and you get an extra roll if you’re correct… maybe.” Lucas scratched his neck, deciding to follow that suggestion, since the game refused to clarify. “Ok… what lives in a jungle and has sharp fa-” he abruptly stopped, freezing in terror. There had been another, louder thumping noise. “Micah, stay right here.” He warned as he shifted his legs from their crisscrossed position.
 
 
“W-Why, what’s-?”
 
 
“Trust me, I can handle it this time.”
 
 
He gave the bat a quick peck on the cheek, then stood up, trembling slightly as he left the room, heading in the direction of the continuing thumping and… rumbling? Micah remained in place, awaiting his return, a bit frightened about the possibility of a burglar. His ears picked up noises of furthering footsteps, and then a door being cautiously opened. Then, in a flash, there was a loud roar and an even louder slam, followed by scratching and furious growling and swift, panicked feet. In moments, Lucas rushed back into the living room and fell back into his position on the floor. His fur was bristling, his eyes were wide, his jaw was trembling and his tail was tucked between his legs. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “ Micah… Micah, there’s a lion in the bathroom!!” he breathlessly panted.
 
 
“What?” his husband asked, a puzzled, distrustful expression on his face. “Hun, don’t joke with me like that, I thought it was serious.”
 
 
“It is serious! I don’t know where the hell it came from, it wasn’t there when I last checked!”
 
 
Micah would’ve responded to his incredulous claim, but then he heard something reminiscent of thick paws pounding on a door down the hall, and a discontented roar. “Uhm… fangs are sharp, likes your taste… sounds like a lion… was that the game?”
 
 
“I don’t know… but it’s your turn.”
 
 
“Ok…” Micah swallowed his doubts and fears about the feral big cat in their new bathroom, then took the dice and gave them a roll. “Ok, four!” he called. Once again, the green lens glowed and swirled, and this time, the bat paid full attention to what it had to say, ready to analyze it.
 
 
WHEN YOU SEE IT, YOU WILL SHAKE
IT’S BIG AND TAN AND RHYMES WITH “LAKE”
 
 
“What’s tan and rhymes with…” Micah trailed off once he saw his love, eyes wide with fear, staring in his direction, but not AT him. He was leaning back, mouthing something with his muzzle… “Behind you”, it looked like. Micah suddenly felt a pit form in his stomach, dread surging into his mind. He watched his husband crawl backwards, desperately reaching at the couch. Then he felt the sensation of scales rubbing on his torso and the sound of a soft hiss, and once he turned his head to look at what was wrong, it was too late. “Lu-GLLKKK!!”
 
 
As he climbed onto the relative safety of their couch, the wolf could only stare in escalating horror as the looped coil snagged his husband’s neck, dragging his body onto its back. A huge burmese python, 15 feet long almost as thick as his head, was wrapping itself around Micah as he futilely struggled. Tan scales coated in splotches of brown tightened their grip on him, causing him to gulp and gasp for breath. “L-Lucas!!” The thin bat half-pleaded and half-wheezed, the snake strangling him as it moved its snout closer to the crown of Micah’s head, forked tongue flicking out to taste his dense aroma. “G-Get him off me!! Help-KKCCKK!!!”
 
 
Lucas remained frozen in place, curled up on the couch with his face devoid of color. He’d always been bad with snakes… they had to be his deepest fear. There was something about the way they looked, their beady eyes and muscular noodle bodies. How they would slowly and coldly crush someone to death, robbing them of air, or dig their fangs into them and let them slowly expire from venom. He helplessly shivered… he wanted to do something to save Micah, he HAD to! He could hear his poor bones creak under the pressure, even from here! However, he was safe up on the couch… and he didn’t want to get eaten as well. “I-I… I ca… I’m so…” he weakly tried to answer, trying to hold back a scream.
 
 
“HRRKKK!!! Hun, p-please, it hu… rts… I-I don’t…”
 
 
With nothing to stop it, the snake unhinged it’s jaws and methodically enveloped its meal’s entire head, beanie and all.
 
 
AAAAAAAAUUUULLMMFF
 
 
The wolf was sickened watching that mouth stretch around his husband’s frightened and tear-soaked face, blue with asphyxiation, the python blinking uncaringly as it made a meal out of him. Worse was the deafening GLLURRKK that was made when the serpent swallowed it, pushing its foul lips over his neck and shoulders as it loosened the coils it had around them. Lucas was dumbfounded… this thing was moving faster than any snake he had ever seen… he’d read somewhere that constrictors take hours to swallow their prey, but this one had gotten its cheeks stretched past the shoulders in less than two minutes.
 
 
GLLUNNKKK
 
 
As the snake worked its way down Micah’s body, drool ruining his clothing, Lucas could see it keeping a firm grip on the struggling man, squeezing in like a vice whenever he gave an especially hard squirm. The canine winced as a loud pop sounded from somewhere in the bat’s hip, causing him to thrash in pain briefly before the coils restrained him so his stomach could be swallowed. It was the same cycle over and over again. Squirm. Squeeze. Gulp. Squirm. Squeeze. Gulp. Every once in a while, a bone creaked or snapped, and the noise broke Lucas’s poor heart. It went on like this for what felt like hours, the prey’s soulmate looking on helplessly from his perch on the couch, until the coiled loops were gone and only a pair of twitching, sock-covered bat feet were sticking out of the python’s greedy maw, being tasted by its tongue. Lucas should’ve leapt towards the snake and grabbed ahold of Micah’s ankles, he should’ve tried to pull him out, even if it was futile… but instead, he sat up on the couch hugging his bristly tail, whimpering like a pup. He was too weak, too cowardly… too pathetic to save his dear husband. And so, he could only sit there as the scaly lips sealed around his feet and the snake tucked him away for good.
 
 
As the wolf shivered, tears in his eyes, praying the demonic creature would leave him alone, the python stuck its tongue out contentedly, the large bulge formed by Micah’s body slowly settling into its middle. The scales stuck to him tightly, and Lucas could make out almost every detail in the tan and brown. His adorable muzzle. His wing arms. His lithe torso. His wide hips. Even the bat’s feet made a shape in the snake’s thinner body. Altogether, they formed a curvy bulge of an anthro bat laid out in the snake’s belly, resting in its middle as it sighed in delight at how engorged it was. Micah’s bulge still seemed to be alive in there, his body faintly twitching and shifting under the strong serpentine muscle… and Lucas thought he could hear muffled sobs and cries for help from within, almost inaudible beneath the groans and gurgles that rumbled from the python’s guts as they started work on so much meat. He didn’t dare confirm it, though. He was too afraid, and his heart couldn’t bear it.
 
 
BUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPP!!!!
 
 
The snake suddenly opened its jaws to let out a foul belch, consisting of most of the air that had gotten gulped down with the big brown bat’s body. Something small, shiny and slimy was ejected by the force, and there was a light clinking noise as the object splattered onto the gameboard, landing just shy of the green glass lens in the middle. The wolf’s chest caved when he got a closer look: It was a silver ankh earring. One of the bits of jewelry that his husband had been wearing today. His cheeks swelled with bile, which he forcibly swallowed back down, groaning as tears spilled from his glossy blue eyes.
 
 
Taking advantage of how incapacitated Lucas was at the mere sight of it, the python hissed, then began to slither towards the kitchen, where an open window lay in wait. Lucas was too dumbfounded by grief and horror to bother stopping it as it dragged its bloated middle away. With no resistance, the happy snake slithered away to digest its lunch, escaping the house with the love of Lucas’s life in tow, still writhing. As the last of the serpent’s tail left the window, followed by a quiet belch from just beyond the kitchen window, the wolf began to unfurl himself from his fetal position, dropping off of the couch and onto his knees, staring at the game board. This thing… he didn’t know how it happened, but it had summoned a lion which was tearing up his bathroom and a burmese python… a burmese python that had eaten his beloved Micah. All those years of love and affection… ending in the belly of a serpent that didn’t even care. As Lucas sat next to Jumanji, deeply shaken, the sound of an angry lion pounding against the door in the background, A panicked thought entered his mind, immediately slipping from his mouth.
 
 
“W-What am I going to tell Micah’s parents?”