Vin and the Shadow Dancer Chapter Twelve: A Storm Approaches
After Violette's elimination, the contestants plus hosts are getting hopefully a well-rested sleep. While they do that, King Vinoripmav is walking out of the cracked miserable almost torn-down building he is hiding at. He is getting ready to transform into a swarm of bats to meet up with Yves to see how things are going. He is prepared to hear the girl talk about becoming a vampire. He looks up at the moon and as soon as he starts turning into a swarm, he hears clanky metal footsteps.
To not be seen in his natural form, Vin transforms into just a bat without the swarm. He flies to where the footsteps are coming from. Upon reveal are two skeletons dress in pirate uniforms running somewhere.
Finding it strange, Vin continues to follow these skeletons. The skeletons arrive at another destroyed small city area. One of the stars from space shines an incredible light on a small square space area in the middle of a road. Using both their strength, the skeletons take out the pavement. There is a door that was under the roadway. One of the skeletons opens it with the doorknob. The two then walk down a set of stairs presented.
"Don't forget to close the door," A pirate skeleton told his partner.
The other skeleton nods. Before it can close the door, Vin flies inside and transforms into his natural form. The king quickly attacks the two skeletons and rips them into pieces. He discovers that these are not creatures. Rather mechanical beings since oil are spilling out of cables from each skeleton's slashed body part.
To make sure they do not warn other members if there is, Vin stomps on each head. The vampire king then puts the scrap parts under the staircase. His next move is to pull out a cable from one of the destroyed skeleton's right arm and rubs the cable with his two hands. His hands glow orange and the cable becomes sand. He throws the sand at the pile of scraps as it gets bigger until covering the evidence of his presence being here.
Vin turns back into a bat and flies around the caverns, trying to pick up any sounds that could lead him somewhere intriguing. The caverns have lit torches on the walls. At one point, he does hear footsteps and follows the sound. Once catching up he notices Henry and Ingrid walking. He makes sure to fly above them. Yves had described their appearances to him, so he knows who is who.
Ingrid and Henry enter a wide-open cave space. The cave is lit up with all different Crowstillo crystals, illuminating everywhere. Vin lands on a stalactite upside down to gaze upon the others inside the cave.
Sitting on wooden throne chairs near a large golden-brown table are Jay, Ringleader, Yvette, and King Crowstillo. King Vin gasps silently, knowing who Crowstillo is. The empty two chairs soon get occupied by Ingrid and Henry. There is a map on the table. A map that displays all the areas of Cali-tokyo.
"You two are late," King Crowstillo told Ingrid and Henry.
"Well, it did take a while to steal some tech," Henry answered as he puts a heavy full bag on the table. He chuckles. "For a so call prodigy, Dana is pretty stupid having a water weakness for her security robots."
"Which begs the question about your skeleton army king," Ringleader told Crowstillo.
King Crowstillo smirks. "I would never give my army a design flaw like that. I embark and pillage villages around land and sea."
Yvette grabs the bag Henry put on the table and unzips it to see what kind of tech was brought. "How delightful, this can easily be built into a new tablet for me."
"That's why I brought that stuff in the first place," Henry stated then chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
Yvette adjusts her glasses before crossing her arms. "I'm not the one who constantly blasted a mech with a laser that proved ineffective."
"Don't listen to her," Ingrid told Henry. "She's just jealous you were able to steal what she needs."
"I'm hoping it wasn't just for the tablet," Jay spoke, putting on his golden brass knuckles. "We do need jetpacks and my jet boots."
"And the special attachment I want on my whip," Ringleader added.
"You believe I didn't think of that you idiots?" Henry insulted.
"Henry," King Crowstillo called with authority. "Treat the team with respect. You are in no position for affronts."
Henry breathes in and out to calm himself. "Apologies. The tech in the bag is enough to remake Yvette's tablet, Ringleader's new whip, and Jay's jet boots."
"Not enough to make jetpacks for my skeleton army," King Crowstillo realized.
"What's so important about your skeletons having jetpacks to fly?" Ringleader asked, doubtful of the additional equipment being useful.
"The mechs Dana and the contestants have can crush the army by just the feet," Jay answered as he puts his legs up on the table.
"Speaking of contestants, were you able to take care of Yves?" Ingrid asked the king, her eyes demonstrating bloodlust.
"Last time I saw she was falling down to the ground by a thousand feet thanks to a nice, good kick to the face," King Crowstillo answered, confirming the dancer's death.
"Then what am I doing here?" Ingrid directly wondered. "No point teaming up with anyone of you if she's already dead. I wanted to end her."
"The orb. That's what all of us are here for," Yvette stated. "At least, that's why King Crowstillo brought us here for help."
Hearing the orb makes Vin nervous. How do they know about the orb? Sure, it can be any orb, but given how there is only one on the island it must be the one he guards. He continues to listen.
"Eh, I'm more for taking my revenge on Dana," Jay admitted happily.
"Like I explained to you all. The orb that belongs to the vampire king brought us here thanks to an event I do not know. However, I do know the power it possesses. Able to realter a certain happening in the past," King Crowstillo explained. "We all have someone we want to take revenge on. Ingrid on the Yves from her world, Henry against Chris to take the cash prize, Yvette beating Freddy, Jay taking out Dana's father."
All the villains minus Ringleader smile deceitfully, liking the sound of that.
"And who gets the orb? You?" Ringleader questioned. "Why should any of us trust you? You can just grab the orb yourself and leave us in a ditch."
The rest of the villains set their eyes on King Crowstillo.
Crowstillo smirks with a light chuckle. "Ah, you must have had a lot of betrayals Ringleader."
No one can tell thanks to his mask, but the Ringleader did not like that comment.
"We split the orb. As in, we share the power," King Crowstillo told. "We can use its power to split the orb into five."
"Do you know if that's even possible?" Yvette is skeptical.
"No worries, I've studied the power of the orb during my reign of Crowstillo Island," Crowstillo assured. His allies buy the lie. "Why don't we make a contract out of this to secure our loyalty." With the snap of his fingers, a pirate skeleton shows up to bring a piece of line rag to its king and a plummet.
As King Crowstillo writes down the contract, his allies are wondering when will the attack happen.
"I'm guessing we plan an attack to destroy the mechs?" Henry put his idea on the table. "That way since they need a repair, we can take the opportunity to kill them all the day after."
Once King Crowstillo finishes writing the contract, he passes it to Henry for a signature.
"The best course of action is attacking at night when they are asleep. Not a tactic I find myself enjoying, but it's the easiest way," Ringleader offered before signing his signature.
"Perhaps attacking during a challenge since they all will be distracted," Yvette proposed as she gives her signature.
"Send the skeleton army first to the mechs can so the teens get damaged and tired as we bring ourselves into battle?" Ingrid thought, not sure if her idea is good enough. One of her Venus flytraps gives her signature on the line rag.
"Hey Crowstillo, do bats live in these caves?" Jay asked, pointing at Vin who is still standing on the stalactite upside down.
King Crowstillo grabs a sword his pirate skeleton has and throws it at Vin. Vin dodges it and flies away to one of the caverns.
"After it and kill it!" King Crowstillo commanded.
Thanks to being a mutant, Ingrid speed blitzes to go after Vin. She uses one of her flytraps to extend itself and chomp on Vin, ending the vampire's life in bat form. Successful, Ingrid returns with a smirk on her face.
"Hearing each and everyone's suggestions gives me an idea. We storm the dome at sunrise," King Crowstillo said, starting to put his plan into action. "You," He told the pirate skeleton. "Assemble the army quickly."
"Your honor is only less than three hours before the sun rises," Yvette pointed out.
"Which still gives us enough time for a surprise attack," Ringleader grasped.
"They won't be in their mechs at that time," Henry added.
"And with them out of the picture we can find the orb easier," Jay stated.
"Ladies and gents, I believe we have preparations to attend to," King Crowstillo declared. "Ready to bring back what is rightfully ours?"
"Yeah!" The other villains agreed.
Hearing the conversation is another bat, standing near one of the great cavern holes. It flies away until reaching the surface of the island. The bat transforms itself into Vinoripmav. He levitates and flies to the dome, not caring about being exposed by the camera. There is a more important matter to attend to. Is time for him and Yves to reveal what is truly going on to the hosts and contestants.
Opening the door to the dancer's room, Vin closes it rapidly.
"Yves, wake up," Vin spoke. Not getting a response, he flips her off the bed.
"Ow!" Yves winced in pain before getting up. She sees Vin. She gets excited and terrified.
"Vin! So glad you're here. I have important news," Yves told the vampire king.
"Me too, it is urgent," Vin declared.
"King Crowstillo is here," Vin and Yves said at the same time. They blink twice. "He knows about the orb."
"Alright, that's all I got," Yves finished, afraid that she and the king will speak the same words again.
"I still have more to tell. King Crowstillo has teamed up with the people that came by the clouds and is planning to come for an attack on the dome by sunrise," Vin completed his news.
"Sunrise!?" Yves responded surprised and scared. "Team up!? Oh gosh, oh no, oh no, oh no." She walks in circles. "Are you fully healed?"
"I said it still takes me two days," Vin stated. "Well, one more day since this one has already passed."
"We don't have a day Vin. King Crowstillo is coming with my enemies and most likely his army as well in less than a few hours," Yves said, getting more nervous by the second. "I could barely handle Ingrid and now I have to deal with all of that."
"You're not alone in this," Vin reassured. "Is time we reveal who we are."
"Vin, some of the competitors want me dead," Yves informed. "How are we going to get them to believe there is a bigger threat out there?"
"By telling the truth," Vin simply answered.
"That's not enough," Yves exclaimed, raising her arms up in frustration.
"Child, I am the literal vampire king with royal blood. If they don't take at least my warning then that's their fault," Vin stated as he fixes Yves' bed.
Yves calms down and puts her arms down. "Okay, that's a good point. But all of them are tired."
"Don't you humans drink coffee?" Vin questioned.
"Why don't you make some magical drink that keeps them awake?" Yves proposed.
"Is not as easy as it sounds. I need specific ingredients in order to construct the juice," Vin replied.
"There's a cafeteria you can use. Check to see if you find the products you need. But that's not important right now. We need to wake everyone up," Yves determined.
"How do we do that?" Vin wondered. "Waking them up one by one will waste beneficial time."
After quick thinking, Yves comes up with an idea. "There are alarms in certain places around the dome. One sets off and the rest follow." She opens the door of her private room. "I'll trigger one of the alarms. You head to the field and wait for everyone there."
Putting their plan to action, Yves and Vin head to their destination. The dancer finds the nearest alarm in the hallways. She opens the lid and pulls down the switch, activating the alarm noise.
One by one, the remaining competitors begrudgingly head to the field. They meet Chris and Dana there. The alarm sound turns off.
"What the **** is wrong with you two?" Caleb cursed at the two hosts. The other contestants complain.
"Settle down campers, we didn't pull down the alarm," Chris spoke tiredly. He yawns, making Dana yawn as well.
"As if I want to lose my sleep. I did not plan for this," Dana added.
"Alright, if it wasn't you two then who set off the alarm?" Brittany wondered in a rude tone.
"That will be me," Yves came walking onto the field. "And I have a reason for it."
"She's going to suck on our blood," Mitch exclaimed in horror.
"Eat garlic vampire!" Calvin declared as he tossed a piece of garlic at Yves.
Yves takes out her claws and cuts the garlic into three pieces. Her claws burn a bit from the contact.
"I should have kept the gun," Margaret told herself.
"What is going on here?" Chris pondered with confusion. Yves is a vampire?
"You got some explaining to do," Dana told the dancer. "Or I will have you disqualified from the competition."
"I doubt we are in any position to make threats towards her," Daniel told the young host.
"Yves, what is going on?" Sami cared to know, worried about the situation happening. "Are you really a vampire?"
"Did you not see her claws?" Niu responded frighten.
"Allow me to explain," Vin's voice is heard, further frighting the contestants and hosts. Red velvet smoke appears from every corner until forming a body shape next to Yves. The transformation is complete, allowing everyone to see the vampire king. He is holding the orb in his right hand.
No one says a word due to complete utter disbelief.
"Is he your father?" Buck asked Yves.
"She wishes," Vin smirks.
"Good idea bringing the orb here. As if that's not what King Crowstillo wants," Yves quietly told Vin.
"Better to have it being protected than leaving it alone," Vin replied. "You should stop questioning my methods."
"Is better to ask to know if the person knows what he is doing," Yves gave her point.
"Ahem," Chris faked a cough to get both vampires' attention.
"Right, apologies," Vin stated, turning his head to watch everyone in front of him. "Before I explain, any sudden attack on Yves or me will lead your destiny to a pool of blood. Am I clear with that?"
There is silence.
"Good," Vin smiled. "Yves and I, King Vinoripmav of Monsters and Vampires come from another dimension. We came here by this orb. We were going to go back but as you can see, the orb is cracked."
"That's you're only transportation?" Dana asked.
"Precisely," Vin confirmed.
"Wait, then how was Yves confirmed to compete in the game when she's from another world?" Sami wondered.
"The Yves from my world replaced the Yves from this dimension," Vin responded. "But that's not important. We all have a situation in our hands."
"The intruders we all faced during our time here on the island have teamed up and want to take everyone out to retrieve the orb," Yves explained. "If they are successful, the whole multiverse could possibly just be in their hands."
"Come on, enough with the bull****," Caleb brushed off what is being said to him. "You expect us to believe you two are from another world and need help getting back."
"Must I show my power to get you to believe," Vin spoke menacingly, his eyes glowing red.
Caleb chuckles nervously. "Forget what I said."
"When are the group of intruders planning to attack?" Chris asked.
"And do any of you two know if Jay and the Ringleader are with the group?" Dana added.
"This sunrise coming up and yes," Vin quickly gave the answer.
"Sunrise!?" The majority of contestants said surprised.
"There's no way we'll have the energy to face off those guys without proper sleep," Calvin admitted, already starting to feel sleepy.
"And King Crowstillo's skeleton army," Vin added, not making the situation any better.
"Yeah, we're ******," Caleb cursed again.
"Hmm, I did wonder what those skeletons were doing down in the caverns," Chris admitted.
"Say what?" Buck keeps being perplexed.
"We don't have time for further explanations," Yves exclaimed.
"Was Crowstillo that old dude that was ridding Zodgilla?" Margaret pondered.
"Yes, now no more questions. Vin is going to prepare some drinks for us to be fully awake and functional during the battle. This isn't the typical reality show. All of our lives are at stake here. We need to work together," Yves advised.
"I bet you're the one who put all our lives in danger," Brittany scoffed.
Everyone eyes Yves, wondering what the new vampire would do upon that comment.
"You're right, I'm sorry. But I want and will make it up to you all," Yves apologized.
"So, Ingrid, Henry, and the rest were from your world that got snatched here too?" Buck asked.
"Different worlds but look, Vin and I will answer more questions along the way since there is still confusion. Right now, all of us need to head to the cafeteria so Vin could serve us his drinks there," Yves took charge. "Please everyone, we need to cooperate."
As they arrive at the cafeteria the villains are beginning to finish getting ready for the war. King Crowstillo is in another cave, looking at his large army of various skeletons. All of them now wearing jetpacks. One of the skeletons with an eye patch approaches the king.
"Send your men to search all around the island for the orb. Every building you can find," Crowstillo instructed.
"Right sire," The skeleton understood and walks away.
King Crowstillo arrives in the cave where the table and chairs are at. "I appreciate that all of us have an incredible mind to make a jetpack and duplicate them with the small amount of material we have. Now surely, we have the battle already won."
"All of us are practically geniuses in our own way," Ringleader agreed as he tests out his new whip at one of the pirate skeletons. When the whip wraps itself on the skeleton, it sends an electric current that deactivates the robot skeleton. "Perfect," Ringleader smirked under his mask.
Jay is testing his jet boots and flies around the cave with a grin on his face. Yvette is sitting on a chair pressing a button on her new tablet.
"That's not going to work here since we are in the caverns of the island," Henry informed the techie as he puts on a red backpack.
"I am testing to see if the tablet can register my fingers in order to use it," Yvette conversant. "It is successful. Too bad I can only make weather. Feels like someone doesn't want me to be too strong." She eyes Crowstillo.
"Controlling the weather is strong enough. Besides, as you mentioned. The mechs are not connected to Cali-tokyo," Crowstillo reminded.
Ingrid pops out from the ground in front of the tall king. "Only twenty minutes before the sun starts to rise."
"Excellent, let's recap the plan crew. For today, is the day we conquer," King Crowstillo instructed.
Outside the dome, all the contestants are heading inside their mechs. The lights from the dome's exterior shine bright. Yves grabs Buck's left arm before he enters his jaguar mech.
"I need you for something more important," Yves said. She looks to her right. "Chris, get in the jaguar mech."
"Yes, totally not dying today," Chris hoped as he runs to the jaguar mech.
Buck gets his arm off of Yves' hand. "You brought this upon everyone," He remembered the dancer telling Brittany this is her fault. "How are you going to make this up to us if we die?"
"No one is dying on my watch," Yves guaranteed. "And to make sure it doesn't happen I need you to help Vin fix the orb. He's in my room. Once the orb is fixed, he can send all of them back to their worlds."
"You can't expect me to help fix a magical orb. I'm only a prodigy in building machines and mechanical suits," Buck told the truth.
"Then help the way you know you can," Yves replied. She grabs Buck's hands with her hands. "Buck, I know you've been going through a lot and trying to hide it. Once we get through this, I'll make it up to you I promise. But now we need that orb fixed to save the multiverse. I believe in you, Buck. You got this." She hugs him then lets go.
"I'll do my best," Buck confessed hesitantly and headed inside the dome.
Dana is shown arriving at Yves with a rapier sword.
"Vin said he made this for you for the battle," Dana showed the sword.
Yves takes the handle with her right hand. "Go with Chris into the jaguar mech so you can be safe there."
"Thanks, but no thanks. I have my own mech," Dana smirked and presses a button on her remote control. A circle in the dome's grassy field opens up. Rising from it is a mech.
An enormous mech to be precise. At least five times the size of the mechs the contestants use. It is a sharp pink in color, with yellow and white accents crossways its arms, shoulders, and chest. Its head resembles a samurai helmet and has two same giant katana swords on its back. Lastly, the speakers on the outside are immense to give the child a menacing booming voice.
"This is going to be awesome," Dana exclaimed, excited for the upcoming battle. She heads to her mech to get inside and control it.
Someone taps on Yves' left shoulder. Yves turns around and notices Sami standing next to her.
"Sami, you're supposed to be in your mech. We only have about ten minutes before they show up," Yves stated, wondering why the musical theater girl is here with her.
"Just wanted to say thanks for not voting for me. Mitch talked to me about it before we went to bed," Sami expressed gratitude with her precious smile.
"I already ruined a friendship because I planned her elimination in my world. I was not going to do the same here with my friend," Yves felt joyful. "I'll make sure we all get through this and win."
"Your mech is unrepairable. How are you going to fight?" Sami asked.
Yves chuckles. "I'm a vampire now. I'll manage."
The two girls hug each other.
"I'll miss you once this is over," Sami confessed.
"Same, I'm glad I get to experience us being friends again," Yves admitted. "I missed this."
"Again?" Sami is confused.
"I see them coming this way!" Dana exclaimed from inside her giant size mech.
"Go to your mech now," Yves commanded.
"Right," Sami understood and heads to her mech.
With all the mechs and Yves ready, they march their way to the entrance area of the dome. Yves is in front, leading the attack. King Crowstillo arrives with his skeleton army and villains as the sunrise arrives.
"So much for killing her," Henry said to King Crowstillo while keeping his eyes fixated on the mechs and Yves.
"Good, now I can really seal her fate," Ingrid snickered darkly.
"It doesn't matter. As I said, this battle has already been won," King Crowstillo declared. He readies his sword as does Yves.