Jumanji's Creed Welcome to the Jungle
Season 2
Episode 6 Now for Ruin
9 June year unknown
Unknown location
Jumanji
Around midnight
Malkev was waiting news. He was always awaiting news. Ever since the destruction of one clan and the possible destruction of another clan. Which clan he was actually sure of as Asch had Zoist in her iron grip. Which was sure to fail if Spike showed up to say hello. Not that it worried Malkev, what he wanted was other more pressing news. News concerning a certain young woman, his daughter Taias. But the news he was getting was not the news he wanted. Muchless hoped for infact.
Malkev read over the report calmly, it was bad news, the soldiers, the Eshu soldiers promised to allow his men through, had done so. Which was good, but then something reacted to the vampires precense within the cavern, only one survived. Saying things of traps and unseen enemies. But Malkev heard nothing of it, he heard only dark laughter, that of the Eshu, that of Spike.
But Spike was mortal, a human woman. Another report arrived, this time by messenger bird. Reading it Malkev lit it on fire. The assembled Lords with him looked at him expectantly. "Lord Asch is dead, her clan is destroyed, Zoist is lost to us." He said simply
"It was Ravenloft wasnt it ?" Asked one Lord
"Indeed it was" Replied Malkev
"So what happens now ? The Tai Clan, and now the Asch clan are both destroyed and their holdings lost to the enemy." Said Lord Hidra thoughtfully "What clan will be next ? Who will be the next target ?"
"We have no word of what was found within the cavern either" Said another Lord in reply to Hidra. "Lord Malkev is waiting word on certain items pertaining to lady Taias. If you know what is good for you then keep your trap shut."
"You dare Lord Beckette ?" Said Lord Hidra to the other minor lord. With the deaths of Lords Tai and Asch, that left two open spaces for a minor lord to advance, or even two minor lords to advance if lucky enough. And Hidra had his eyes on advancement to be sure
"What is your plan, Lord Hidra ?" Malkev then asked
Hidra smiled thinly. "I move simply that we speed up the voting, tomorrow night we vote for our Vampire King rather then wait for Ravenloft to kill us all before we can do so" Hidra said. The other vampires murmured among themselves and their retainers, some nodding and others shaking their heads in disgust. "Oh come now, do you truly want Lady Ravenloft, our enemy and destroyer of Lords Tai and Asch, to destroy you before you cast your vote ? Do you truly want your clan to be wiped out before we can amass our armies against our enemy ?"
"Lord Hidra, what you suggest has merit. I agree." Malkev said at long last, it made a little bit of sense. Hidra wasnt the smartest Vampire Lord. But he did think up good ideas when the time suited him apparently. Infact with the losses of of two Great Calns of vampires, I move to promote two Minor clans to Great Clan status" Malkev continued. He listed five clan names, Hidra's clan one of them, of course Hidra was third on the list but it didnt matter, one of two was sutible to him. The other vampire Lords murmured and some nodded. "Cast your votes, the two Minor Clans with the most votes will become Great Clans"
Hidra then waited. But he'd have to wait a long time, as his clan wasnt chose, but two others were. One of them Lord Beckette. Hidra never showed his disappointment, but it didnt matter, he knew in his heart that Spike was out there, and soon he'd feel sweet relief thanks to her. At some point at least. When he did not know.
"It is settled then." Malkev then said. "Tomorrow night here we shall vote on our new King. When that happens, we will decide on what to do about Ravenloft and her army. Until tomorrowe night, this meeting is ajurned." Malkev said, the vampire lords murmured and stood to leave. "Lord Hidra, if you have a moment, I should like to speak with you"
"This is doable of course" Hidra replied, the two Lords went into Malkevs study to plan things as sunrise started to break outside the castle it allowed the two to get some rest that night was going to be an eventful one for sure. For once Hidra felt things going his way, and if Malkev wanted to plan with him in private alone together, that made things better for the Minor Lord as well, allowing him to get more leverage on the other Lords.
Diadem's Fortress Camp
Jumanji Valley
Sunrise
Sunlight broke through the clouds that morning bright and clear. Spike woke up tangled in her white gown, and blankets in her cabin tent yurt whatever it was she didnt really care at that moment as she fell out of bed to the floor in as heap before waking up. Tangled in blankets and her dress she pulled herself to her feet and began to do her hair.
The day before was a wild one, a long ass battle for sure, but the vampire was dead, Diamond was safely back into the camp. And far as Spike was concerned, they had some breathing room. For the moment. As Spike did her hair she thought back on the converdsation the night before as they retruend to camp. Mark was happy at the time sure, but he was also in shock at her skills with swords, and somehow able to fly so effortlessly when in combat
"How did you do it ?" Mark asked her at the time, "how were you able to fight that vampire, for so long ?"
"No idea, I just know that it took a while, but it was worth it too" Spike had replied. "Besides, its dead now and the vampire left a lot of gold in its treasure room that will do good for the people of Zoist and surrounding farming communes." The money could have gone home with them, but what good would it do for them in the real world ? The people of Zoist fought back against their bloodsucking masters
They had parted for sleep soon after, Spike just went to bed, not caring that she was drenching wet at the time either. Sometimes doing certain tasks helped in many ways kept her fopcused on what she could and couldnt do. But Spike was happy at that moment, and for once didnt give a dfuck either way as she was too tired the night before to change or even try to dry her clothing
Spike then did her hair and then put on her belt, sliding her twin swords into their proper place at her side she had slept soundly and now it was time for the new day. She wasnt sure what t oexpect until the messenger showed up and wanted to speak to her. Giving her a report from Cretas man stationed at the cavern, a group of vampires had gone to the site, only one managed to escape. Perfect, it seemed the vampires wanted the vampire bitch, but could their magic cut through spider web ?
And if they could cut through a spiders web, could they break her spell upon the seal and the freak it held ? Spike tried not to think about it but was happy for once her plan was working as close to plan as possible. Spike found herself hating vampires more than hating Eshu. And for once Elsa wasnt the issue, it was vampires, and there were more than she liked within the overall realm of Jumanji. Spike looked around camp and spotted Spyder tending to the fire. Going to the demon Spike then asked "Tell me something, are there vampires in Arcadia ?"
"No, vampires are things of nightmares, emissairies of the night, ervil thoughts created them. And here in Jumanji they made their homes" Spyder replied with a shake of her heasd "Vampires arent natural, they're dead thoughts, evil wicked thoughts of Unseelie who wish ill upon mortals."
"So vampires are killable outright ? They turn to ash like in the holovids" Spike said, recalling how in one holovid the vampires clothing even burned away without issue
Spyder nodded "once dead the body turns to embers of a fire, leaving a pile of dead ash in their place in a small pile as if laying down, a long pile. At first they werent a problem or an issue until they started showing up in Seelie towns and hamlets, and even in the palace grounds when we banished them to Jumanji using magic to do so. Sealing them here. It happened before I met Diadem"
"So when the vampires are eliminated, then what ? Who is their leader ? Do they have a leader ?"
"Most have clans they belong to, normally those clans have ranks within each one, there are two clan types, the clan we fought yesterday was a Ghreat Clan, more ornate and better armed soldiers, who didnt last as long as any vampire would actually, the use of the cheat codes allowed us to defeat them easily, but it will be a hard road." Spyder replied
"We know who are enemies are. That makes the job simple, not easy, uncomplicated." Spike mused aloud
"I agree. The mission is now to find, to hunt these things, I never thought it'd come to this honestly, I never truly wanted it to actually" Spyder replied. "I am used to dealing with demons and goblins and otherwise. But these, vampires are an entirely different cup of tea. Rather than flee given the chances we gave it. The vampire lord chose to fight you and die. What of the rest ? Are they all alike, or do some of them act differently ?"
"I cant tell, some are going for a certain goal, others are going for a certain item, and most want a certain thing. You mentioned the cavern and what it held, who it held. The vampire within it wanted to go back to her father ?" Spyder said
"Yes, I said 'nice knowing you kid' knocked her cold and resealed the coffin she was in with magic. Can a vampire over load my spell ?" Spike asked
"Strong possilibty yes" Spyder replied
"So we're fucked if dear old dad pays a visit ?" Spike said
"Yup" Spyder nodded
"Fuck me with a screw driver" Spike grumbled, making Spyder smirk. "Alright, Creta said the men reported what the vampires looked like, pale, gaunt faced, sunked cheeks, bloodshot eyes. Uglier than sin. What are the odds the dear old dad was one of those that were slain within the cavern ?" Spike paced
"Odds are good dear old dad is in his Hall somewhere, and we dont have all of the map or guidbook pages either" Spyder pointed out
"Point taken" Spike replied She halted her pacing and stared at the clear blue sky.
For a long moment nothing was said, then. "You look pretty" Spyder said to Spike
"Excuse me ?" Spike said turning to her confused at what she just heard
"I mean it, Jaeln's looking at you thinking it too most likely. Maybe you should talk to him ?" Spyder said explaining how she was seeing Spike right then, any many could make a pass at her, but Spike was happily single.
Spike looked to where Jalen made his sleeping space in a cabin nearby and shook her head. "I thought you knew I like being single ?"
"Yes but then sometimes you need a friend or someone to lean on when the going gets tough, and Talak wont be there forever you know" Spyder said
"So what should I do ?" Spike asked Spyder, she had no idea how romance worked, how one fell in love, hell how to kiss a boy. "I never kissed a boy. How am I supposed to know how to kiss a boy, when all I know is how to shoot them and make sure they're dead or following orders properly ?" Spyder just looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Spike explained further "I dont kmnow how to fall in love with someone, how to be in love, or even what love does to a person. What am I supposed to do ?" to that Spyder had no answer.
Across the camp Mark woke up, the smell of breakfast cooking filling his nose, the day before had seen lots of fighting and bloodletting, and Mark enjoyed all of it. Possibly too much of it now that he thought on it carefully. Not that it really mattered at the moment. It never really did matter to him now that he thought on it on how much death he dealt, he'd learned the hard way, it was so easy to take a life, but it was so hard to lose a life.
But he had learned that sometimes, loss was infact part of life. Ity was natural to die, everyone did it, once. But everyone is scared to die, except for a few who pretty much blew themselves apart to take more with them. Those killes were highly motovated.
But it didnt matter to Mark at that moment, no what mattered was getting dressed, fighting in a blizzard turned rainstorm turned bloodstorm meant he needed a bath something fierce and also needed a change of clothing. Which thankfully was indeed available to use as needed. When needed.
Mark laid in his bed within his tent. Staring at the ceiling above he simply began thiking of why he didnt stay the fuck away from the gemstone in the first place and stay asleep at the time it started drumming ? What was done was done, there was no turning back at that moment. As far as he was concerned he had too much shit to do. Of those things was ensuring Spike was alive, according to Jumanji's laws of gaming, Spike had saved his life
Mark rolled to his feet and stood up from the bed. Getting dressed he put his weapons on his belt and pulled his hair into a ponytail before heading out of his tent to get breakfast. Seeing Jalen nearby he waved to the man. It stillshocked Mark that humans lived in Arcadia.
But his mind was focused on food. Diamond and Miao werent up yet. He couldnt help but wonder what time it was back in Arendelle at that moment, had his mother found the stone ? Found them missing ? Was it still dead silent night back home ? The more he wondered the more homesick he felt. But he focused on breakfast.
He spotted Spike nearby along with Spyder. So it made partial sense then. Spyder, a native of Arcdia, was alive and well, yes, he couldnt out his mind around it. Spyder survived the energy rod to the ass. He could only wonder how his son was taking it. Muchless his mother, hell his wife! How were they reacting to their disappearing during the night ?
It didnt matter to him at that moment, no what mattered to him was the fact that he had deer meat for breakfast ready to eat
As he ate Spike left Spyder and joined him for breakfast. Mark took in everything about his sister in law at that moment, when he normally saw her, she was well built and in many cases top heavy, without her wings atl east she looked normal and wasnt built like a truck at that moment. She looked more normal for a human woman without her wings.
But then he realised it made sense, Spike's wings were indeed heavy things, so naturally she had to balance out, so Talak had helped with that. Which then brought him back to thinking about his wife while he ate. Sometimes he couldnt help it. Talak was a beautiful woman when he first met her as a young boy. Snowfeather was shocked he had married her, Blackmane too. But they accepted it in the end. even his son accepted it.
But Elsa was someone he had tried to train into a good queen, only to fail her, and her to fail him. To get corrupted by the Apple of Eden. To begin a realm of conquest and build up everything he sought to destroy. But now he was there. In Jumanji of all places. A place more dangerous than a wounded mosquito. A place where nothing made sense.
"Did you sleep well ?" Spike asked him after five minutes of quiet eating
"Yes, yesterdays battle left me tired, for once I slept like a rock." Mark replied, scarfing down the deer meat with ease. "You ?"
"Likewise" Spike replied calmly, taking a bite of the deer meat and soon eating it down. "Yesterdays fight made me wonder, how many more will fight like that ? A long ass drawn out battle ? Or will some be faster and easier to kill over others ?"
Mark slowed in his eating for a moment "You thinking that Elsa isnt our only problem ?" He asked
"Bingo" Spike replied with a nod. "These vampires are organised, some of them even use japanese influences from the Eshu soldiers, the armor and soldiers we fought yesterday were armed similar to samurai to begin with."
"But they all died" Mark pointed out
"Yes, they all died, but even then many of them still took a while to kill if that" Spike agreed
"So what now ? Find more of the bloodsucking fuckers or hunt more Eshu ?" Mark asked
"I asked myself the same thing. I think its time for another conversation with a certain vampire." Diadem will be back soon, as soon as she gets back I'm going to take Miao with me and we're gonna talk to a certain vampire princess who wants to go back to dear old dad" Spike said
"You mean Malkev has a kid ?" Mark asked swallowing his deer meat.
"Yup. A real ugly bitch too by the look of her alone" Spike replied, that earned a snickering noise from Mark. "When Diadem gets back and if Miao is up, we're going to speak to her, otherwise you and I can go speak to her if you wanna see her" Spike said
"Fair deal, let me finish eating and get my other gear, if I'm going with you, silent weaponry or melee ?" Mark said
"Both, vampires tried to spike with ice a few times now, its not easy to dodge but once you know what to look for to dodge it correctly, its easier than you think." Spike said
"Right so ice shields ?" Mark said
"If you want" Spike replied, if Mark wanted ice shields who was she to say no ? "I'm gonna practise a few things outside camp. When Diadem gets back, if Miao is awake, come find me" Spike said, Mark nodded, Spike then left, leaving Mark alone with his thoughts.
It was about tweenty minutes later when Miao woke up, but Diadem was nowhere in sight. Just dressed enough to be awake she went to her cousin and all but crashed down onto a place to sit. "Good morning Miao, I see yesterdays fight took a lot out of you too huh ?" Mark said
"Might say that" Miao replied. "Whats for breakfast ?"
"Deer meat" Mark replied, handing her a plateful. Miao started right into it. "Spike wants you to go with her today when she goes to speak to a certain someone in a certain cavern "Mark told her while she ate
"Let me guess this certain someone in this certain cavern has informatiomn that Spike needs on another certain someone ?" Miao asked
Mark nodded "that's the gist of it yeah" He said to her. Spotting Diadem out of the corner of his eye. The woman carried a pile of wood for the fire. "Enjoy your breakfast cousin, I need to find Spike, I wont be long. When you're done eating get your weapons and gear togeether, you're going to need them" Mark then took his leave. Well that was confusing. Miao simply nodded and ate her breakfast as Mark left her
Mark found Spike on a low hill, practising her shooting with a bow on a treet a good hundred meters away. Sometiems she wanted things done a set way, and it normally meant to do things her way over anything else. So she practised. Mark watched for a good moment as Spike fired, her shot finding its mark on the tree.
As he watched Spike sensed him close. "I saw Diadem returning." She said, twang. The arrow slammed into the tree trunk with a solid THUD. Spike drew back her bow again,. The arrow steady and she fired another shot, slightly off from the last but enough for what she wanted and was after.
"Yeah, Miao is up too, eating breakfast, still want her to go along with you to speak to the bitch ?" Mark said
"Yes, very much so. I figured that if Miao wasnt up, you would go along with me, but since she is infact awake, Miao will go with me, Give her some combat training like you said. She needs to learn, cant always be so brutal in terms of fighting now can we ?" Spike said never looking at Mark as she fired again. Twang THUD.
"So whats the plan ?" Mark asked
"At this moment I plan to simply speak to the bitch, and if she so much as steps out of line, I'm killing her" Spike said simply
"And if she wants your help ?" Mark said "I mean killing her is good but what if we can use her as leverage against Malkev or other vampires ?" Mark thought aloud Spike halted a moment and lowered her bow. It made sense.
She then nodded "Alright, if she wants to be of help to fight Malkev and give us information, I will let her live, but if she so much as makes an advance to eat one of us I am not going to hesitate to kill her and rip out her heart" Spike said simply There was nothing Mark could say to advise against killing a vampire they could use as leverage against other vampires. And who knew a means to get into the vampire holdings for that matter.
"Fair enough I suppose" Mark replied simply. Spike smirked, moments later she and Miao were headed for the cavern at a fast pace. Spike had a plan, and she needed to get more info in order to flesh it out properly