Ineluctable

A/N: Okay, I was watching "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" a couple of days ago for the first time in almost two years. I haven't seen that movie in a long time! I loved all three movies, and they were all inspired by one of my favorite books back when I was a kid, by one of my favorite authors ever.

Anyway, I was watching the dance fighting scene, which in my opinion, was one of the best scenes ever in that film. I just love seeing girls kick butt like that. It shows that us females are more than just a pretty face. But then, I got inspired to write this. I just got one thing to say about it though. Why do I love writing a certain Troll to be not just a loveable dork, but also as a serious bad-A when the occasion calls for it?

Well, I hope y'all enjoy it. And action!

Why didn't I listen?! A familiar pink Troll screamed out in her head as she immediately dove for cover to avoid the fuzzy legs of a giant spider two times her size that almost tried to bite her ear. Trolls already were trying to quiet their screams of panic as they copied her actions.

Why didn't she listen to him?! Branch had told Poppy to keep the parties to a lower excitement level for a couple of weeks since it was tarantuapuff mating season, which makes the already scary and dangerous spiders even more vicious than usual. Mostly because of the males fighting against each other to show off to the females. And they are attracted to anything that sparkles.

But instead, she didn't listen because she thought that he was just being his usual paranoid self, although she did not want to see another tarantuapuff for as long as she lived. The first time, she was nearly eaten by them back when she was traveling to Bergen Town months ago. And then the second time, it was Branch that was in danger of becoming their next meal because he wanted to show off.

Maybe hosting the annual Glitter-Fest Glitterball game as planned instead of postponing it until the end of the week wasn't a good idea after all. The pink-haired queen thought to herself as she quickly disguised herself as a shrub near one of the mushrooms that her friends were hiding in. There was glitter everywhere, and the hormone-induced spiders were soon attracted to the sparkling village to compete for the attention of the opposite gender.

Luckily, everyone managed to make it to their homes either on the ground or in the tree to hide or to blend in with their surroundings. Poppy had to disguise herself as a shrub because a tarantuapuff almost spotted her before she could make it to the mushroom where the rest of the Snack Pack decided to hide.

Could this day get any worse? The pink Troll thought bitterly to herself as she slowly crouched down to further conceal herself.

Just then, there was a gentle, melodic whistling sound that got all of the tarantuapuffs' attention. Poppy felt her blood freeze when she instantly recognized the voice that was whistling.

She looked in the direction where it was coming from and saw Branch coming into the plaza, carrying a good-sized pile of berries in his arms as he whistled. The cheerful sound immediately stopped when he saw the glittery village and the tarantuapuffs now looking at him, half of them looking at him with hunger, the other half wondering what was going to happen now that a potential meal had arrived.

His sky blue eyes narrowed in annoyance. "And of course Poppy doesn't listen to me. Again." He muttered under his breath as he dropped the berries and took a defensive stance as the male tarantuapuffs started to slowly inch towards him.

Branch then turned over to the nearest mushroom. "Hey, Suki." He called out.

The red Troll gingerly peeked out of the window. "Give me a beat. I'll send these guys out of here while everyone that's still out in the open can get somewhere safe."

Suki looked at him with confused eyes, but he gestured to her to hurry up. Quickly, she reached for a radio in her hair and then put a CD in, music soon playing.

Ooh baby, I love your way.
Everyday, yeah.

What could he need music for now, of all times?! Poppy screamed in her head. This guy, he can really be unbelievable!

Ooh baby, I love your way.
Everyday.

Branch still kept his eyes on the group of male tarantuapuffs, the females on the sidelines looking back and forth between the group of potential mates and the small Troll in front of them.

"That's it." He whispered. "Keep your eyes on me."

Then, as the music continued, Branch slowly managed to smoothly walk towards the giant spiders, arms slowly swaying in the air as if he was.... dancing? His shoulders sometimes rolled when he would walk, his hips slightly swaying.

Shadows grow so long
Before my eyes,
And they're moving
Across the page.

The Trolls that were in hiding saw that the tarantuapuffs had their beady eyes all focused on the survivalist Troll moving slowly towards and around them, his body rhythmically swaying to the beat of the song. Then, they all came to the same conclusion that Branch was distracting them so that they could all move to somewhere safer.

Quietly, little by little, the hiding Trolls quickly made it to a better hiding spot. If there was a sudden loud noise that caught one of their attention, the teal Troll used his hair to direct its attention back to him.

Suddenly, the day
Turns into night,
Far away
From the city.

"What is he doing?" Satin asked aloud from the Snack Pack's hiding spot.

"No idea." Chenille answered her sister.

As the music continued, the survivalist added some more flair to his performance by using his hair to slowly trail it down the underside of one of the tarantuapuffs while he slid underneath, getting a little bit of glitter on his shorts.

'Cause your love
Just won't wait.

"Oh, now I remember!" Smidge whispered. "Milton told me about this. Tarantuapuffs can be like cobras. They're harmless if they are hypnotized by music."

"That's why they're only focusing on Branch." Biggie realized.

Poppy seemed to have caught onto Branch's plan as well from her spot outside and she slowly began to crawl her way towards the mushroom. Once in a while, she would pause and look a little too long at Branch and his smooth dance moves.

"But what happens if they get too close?" Cooper asked loudly, making everyone in the vicinity freeze while Guy and Suki slapped their hands over his big mouth. But it was too late.

All of the tarantuapuffs turned over towards the direction the loud sound came from, and Poppy immediately donned her shrub disguise. Nice time to open your mouth, Cooper. She dryly thought to herself bitterly. Branch must've been rubbing off on her.

The moon appear to shine
And light the skies.

Branch internally groaned from his spot in between two male tarantuapuffs. Thanks a lot, Cooper. He thought sarcastically. Now it looks like it's time for Plan B.

With the help
Of some fireflies.

The teal Troll launched his head back, making his hair punch one of the tarantuapuffs in the face, and then landing a hit to the one in front of him. Then, he jumped up and started whipping or smacking the male tarantuapuffs that got close to him while the females watched. He even swung his hair around the head of one of the giant spiders, then used the momentum to kick another one in the face, bringing the first one down in the process.

The Snack Pack watched the fight scene from the window. "He's kicking their butts." Guy Diamond said in amazement as he and Suki released their hands from Cooper's mouth. "That's our Branch."

"Go, Branch!" Cooper cheered for the survivalist.

....Shine, shine
I can see them
Under the pine.

Outside, Branch grabbed a nearby wooden chair and then slammed it into a tarantuapuff, the chair breaking into pieces. When he dropped the pieces, he then dodged a couple of attempts of another one trying to bite his head off before he launched himself into the air and then punched the giant spider in the jaw and face a couple of times.

"He is destroying them!" Smidge exclaimed, impressed.

....Oh no, no,
Hesitate, la-di-dah,
'Cause your love
Just won't wait.
Just won't wait!

A couple of tarantuapuffs got him blocked off on two sides of him, but Branch quickly wrapped his hair around the head of one of them to pull himself up and then kicked the other one in the face with both feet. Then he elbowed the one that his hair was wrapped around, making it release him before he threw another punch and then landed on the ground.

He then slid underneath it, getting to the other side before he landed on his back and used his hair to punch it in the face. Then he spun around on his back, swinging his legs around to get himself back up.

Poppy managed to slowly bring her hair back to its normal form as she continued to watch Branch fight off the tarantuapuffs. Two more tried to get him, but Branch launched himself upward with his hair and then kicked both of them in the eyes, making them scream in pain. He then landed back on the ground with his feet, one arm poised out behind him, the other on the ground.

He then sharply shot his head up to look at Poppy, and she could've sworn that his eyes were blazing hotly when they landed on her. They were like blue balls of fire, making her skin start to sweat and get goosebumps at the same time as she jolted back in surprise. That was not a usual look on Branch, but it certainly looked good on him. Confident, fearless, protective, serious. It made him look.... hot.

Poppy couldn't even start to take drastic notice in the crimson blush flaming across her cheeks when a tarantuapuff kicked Branch across the plaza, and the pink Troll queen immediately had her shrub disguise back up before the giant spider took notice of her. Now was not the time for a mental breakdown.

Ooh baby, I love your way,
Every, everyday.
I wanna tell you
I love your way.

The tarantuapuff came over to Branch and used its leg to lift him up to bring him closer to its mouth so it could inject its venom in him. But the struggling teal survivalist grabbed a nearby glass decoration from one of the posts and bashed it against the spider's head, making him release him. Then, Branch grabbed its legs with his hair and spun it around until he let it go, letting it fly into a tree.

Poppy took that as her cue to make the final jump towards the front entrance of the mushroom where the rest of the Snack Pack were hiding. She zipped inside and then slammed the door behind her, her back pressed against her, panting heavily. Then, she immediately went over to the window to get another glimpse of Branch fighting off the spiders.

I wanna tell you
How I love your little ways.
I wanna be with you
Night and day,
Everyday, in every way.

Finally, Branch wrapped his hair around the head of the last tarantuapuff that made the mistake of trying to attack him. He went flying around in a circle before pushing it down on its back and giving it a hard right-hook to its jaw.

He then jumped off it with a back flip and started walking away from the group of downed spiders to pick up his berries as the music that was playing started to end and fade out.

"You go, bro!" Guy Diamond cheered while whooping for joy.

The female tarantuapuffs started to leave the glitter-covered area, obviously now disinterested in the group of males that failed to catch a simple meal to impress one of them. The beat-up males shakily got back on their legs to quickly pursue the retreating females into the forest.

Everyone then started coming out of their mushroom houses or their pods to see if the danger was gone. Other than a few decorations and carts destroyed, everything seemed fine. As Branch finished gathering his berries, Poppy and the Snack Pack came over to him.

"Branch, that was awesome!" Suki exclaimed.

"Tarantuapuffs can be hypnotized by music, right?" Smidge asked.

The teal survivalist nodded. "And I was planning on leading them away from the village to their usual breeding grounds until someone opened their big fat mouth." He said that last part narrowing his eyes at a certain four-legged Troll.

Everyone then glared over at Cooper. "Um, sorry?" He said.

Branch rolled his sky blue eyes before turning over to Poppy. "So are you going to get everyone to help clean up this.... mess?" He said, brushing some glitter off his shorts with an annoyed frown.

Poppy watched with analyzing as he moved to brush some glitter out of his hair, little purple and silver specks dotting his hair and side of his face. The colors seemed to have made his eyes seem a much brighter blue color. Those somewhat.... predatory eyes from before flashed back in Poppy's mind, making heat course through her body.

"Poppy?" Branch's voice briefly snapped out of her heated trance. He seemed to be staring at her with concern, his head slightly tilted to the side. His ear copied the motion, making the action seem even more... adorable.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

A high-pitched squeaking sound came from the cotton candy pink queen's throat as it suddenly seemed parched and dying of thirst. "Yeah, I'm fine." She tittered nervously before she began speaking as fast as she could, cheeks bright red. "And don't worry, we'll get all of this cleaned up soon; I hope that you'll give us a hand later when you're done with whatever you're doing. Now if you will excuse me, I gotta go, bye!"

After that long bit of word vomit coming out of her, Poppy zipped over to her pod, leaving behind a group of very confused friends.

****************

Once she was in her pod, Poppy slammed the door closed and braced herself against it, panting heavily from both the running and the heat that had been coursing through because of the sudden unusual thoughts about her best friend. Then she remembered her previous thoughts from earlier, while Branch was fighting off the tarantuapuffs.

When did he learn to move like that?! She already knew that he had learned some forms of self-defense because he is a survivalist, and she had been teaching him hair-jitsu for a couple of months now, and he was proving to be a fast learner. But dancing while fighting?! Why did she find that somehow insanely attractive?! She thought that he was hot!

No, no! Bad Poppy! She berated herself, shaking her head. There was no way that she thought that Branch, of all Trolls, was hot! Sure, she had checked out a few other Trolls before, but Branch?!

There was no way that she could ever think of indecent thoughts about him! He's paranoid, infuriating, grumpy, stubborn, sarcastic.... and yet, loveable, loyal, strong, brave, talented, sensitive, sweet, and yes, quite handsome. That little smolderingly determined look in his eyes before only increased how attractive he really is, almost jumping off the hotness scale.

Another fierce, cherry red blush quickly blazed across Poppy's cheeks. And this time, it felt like the heat was boiling her from the inside out, making her skin feel there was magma in her blood. What made it even worse was that she was also feeling it deep inside. Like she wanted Branch to look at her that way again, but in a whole other situation.

The mere thought of the impure thought made Poppy realize that heat was pooling inside her stomach and was throbbing her from the inside. She quickly shook her head again to rid herself of anymore inappropriate thoughts about her best friend.

"I need a shower." She muttered to herself. A long, super cold one.

A/N: Yeah. That happened. Like I said, for some reason, I love writing Branch as dorky, but bad-A. Plus, Poppy is in deep denial.

The song that was used in both the movie and in this one-shot is "Baby I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain. I don't own it in any way or form, however. All credit goes to their rightful owners.

Hope that y'all enjoyed it! Please leave a comment about what you think, and remember to stay healthy! Also, check out the little announcement I posted a few days ago. I would like to see your opinions about my little question. Here it is.

After "Gray is Not Colorless" is complete, which "Trolls" story would you guys like to read next?

1. A demigod AU slightly based off "Eros and Psyche"
2. An AU of the second movie where Poppy was raised by Rock Trolls
3. An AU before and during the first movie, where Poppy and Branch have to hide a very important secret
4. An AU based off "The Trumpet of the Swan" and "Happy Feet"
5. An original story that takes place in the "TrollsTopia" timeline that involves "sirens"

Got to fly! ;)