Episode 9: Voodoo Queue
In the lush swamps of Louisiana, things were perfectly normal, with crickets chirping, frogs making their choir of croaks, the alligators were cruising along for any fish they could find. It was nighttime in the swamp with the stars out, and every creature out and about as if nothing happened. Away, the steamboat cruises along the river were far away, making it the perfect ambiance for just about anything.
But all that was not to be, as three adolescent boys had arrived all in night gear like teenagers do when they don't have anything better to do, arrived at a dock point in the swamp. One of them was holding a black bag, another was holding a scroll of some kind. They did not tell their parents what they really were going to be doing on a night walk such as this, the conversation turned out pretty strange.
"….and then that hooded weirdo gave me this sack of strange objects and told me what to do…" Said one boy named Ross.
"Yeah and another gave me this scroll to aid in some kind of ritual…" replied another boy named Meck.
"...And do it right here in this swamp and something cool will happen!" said the smallest of the trio, named Hal. The scroll was unrolled and Meck read off the directions, while Ross dumped out the contents in the black sack which were: a skull with a beaded rope around it, a black wick candle, hot peppers, and a top hat with a touch of white. Out of the scroll was another parchment with the same dark symbols used by Shadow Monks. Placing the objects on the parchment, Ross threw it all in the watery area of the swamp and uttered some strange words. A few seconds later, some bubbling action was happening, followed by a red-orange glow in the area where the contents were thrown in. The boys watched in amazement at what was happening then, which then turned to surprise when, out of the watery area of the swamp emerging in a billow of smoke, a strange black man wearing a tail coat, the top hat, holding a skull staff, and face painted to resemble a skull though his nostrils had cotton stuffed into them.
"Are you the ones who brought me back?" asked the stranger in a nasally voice. The boys didn't know what to think of the strange incident they just created and witnessed. They nodded in return, which caused the strange man to smile eccentrically. "Then perhaps all of you would like to be my assistants?"
"Uh sure man, that'd be awesome!" replied Ross.
"Totally man!" added Meck.
"Uh guys, I don't know about that….." Hal said cautiously, sensing something wasn't quite right about this man.
"Baron Samedi loves company especially in this hour…" He waved his skull staff around and uttered some strange words which hypnotised Ross and Meck, but Hal slowly backed away and ran, screaming in horror. The Baron laughed demonically as the two unfortunate and foolish boys were now zombified under his spell. "Now to add more fun!" He waved his skull staff into the murky swamp and waterlogged revenants emerged, frightening off all the animals in the area.
Elsewhere, Hal ran from the area as fast as he could, not believing what he just was a part of and what has now happened to his friends. How he could save them was a mystery to him, would the police and parents believe him? What else would Baron Samedi be plotting, and could the mysterious hooded folk of been pulling some strings?
He managed to get as far out of the forest as he could and onto a dimly lit street before he stopped himself as though he was in a race, bent over, breathing heavily, he pondered what was going to happen next. Slowly getting up, he looked back from the directions he took to escape, in the distance strange moaning sounds were heard, the sound intensified with each passing second. Out of nowhere a black hole emerged out in front of him, and out popped every member of the Z-Team, including their newest member. Zack stepped forward, threat detector in one hand, yet decided to keep his sword sheathed for now.
"You look pretty distressed kiddo, what's eaten you?" Zack asked questioningly.
"Me and my friends went down into that forest into the swamp, two of them were carrying strange objects that they claimed they got from hooded people, and we went down in there and the two performed the ritual, which I was no part of, and they brought back some weirdo out of the swamp with skull face paint and a top hat…." The Z-Team grew progressively more wide-eyed as they heard what he informed them. "He's already got my two buds under some kind of spell, and I fear that freak is spreading his evil as I speak."
"Did you say skull face paint and top hat?" Hal nodded in fear. "Then that means Shadow Monks have persuaded your so-called "friends" into performing a ritual to summon Baron Samedi!" As soon as the name was mentioned, Mickey flipped through the book he was holding to see if there was an entry. After a few seconds, he found the entry which had his picture, then opened it up wide so everyone can see and the rest of the group gathered around to see it.
"Baron Samedi, a loa (spirit) of ancestral African practices is a Haitian voodoo spirit of the dead that can resurrect the dead to wreak havoc on the living world. Known for his outrageous behavior, including hitting on women, he's a mischevious character that can't be fully trusted. A master in the art of voodoo magic, empathetic magic that can indirectly affect another from afar." Mickey read aloud.
"Voodoo magic?" pondered Hal.
"Oh yes, that kind of magic is not to be underestimated, it can defeat you before you even know it, so be grateful I've got a whole bunch so he'll have a harder time dealing with us!" Zack said with confidence. From afar Baron Samedi received a vision of what was coming to him, but he wasn't deterred by any of it, smiling devilishly while readying several doll-like figures out in front of him resembling replicas of the Z-Team.
"Don't get too confident Zack Burner….." he chuckled evilly. "You and the rest of your teammates will soon be in the afterlife after I've had my fun with you..."
Outside, on the outskirts of the town just outside the forest with the swamp, strange moaning sounds were happening all around as the Z-Team readied themselves for anything coming their way, weapons out, threat detector and sniffers at the ready, Zack taking the lead as usual, and Hal; the sole witness of the disturbing incident sandwiched between members in case something happens. Out of nowhere several townsfolk were emerging from a building, looking perfectly normal, but were moaning and groaning, shambling around, some got close to attack. Simba, Nala, Donald, Pluto, and Aladdin were ready to attack.
"No don't attack them!" ordered Zack. "Moana, you know what to do!" Moana raised up the Shadow Bane and shouted, "The power of the heavens compels you!" A few rays of light emitted from the amulet, but the effect was nil, as the zombified townsfolk continued shambling.
"Baron Samedi must have taken their souls! Try to avoid harming these folk, it's not their fault!" Zack ordered again, and the team ran along, trying their best not to attack any townsfolk on their way to the forest outside of town, the zombified kept pouring out of buildings. Fortunately, the forest was just ahead, where they would have to be ready for anything dark and supernatural coming their way.
Just a few yards into the forest, as the team reached a three-way fork in the forest's road, the animals smelled something out of the ordinary, then after a few seconds recoiled in disgust as they smelled something really foul, holding their noses and trying to fan away the horrid stench.
"Smells like rotten meat in here!" complained Simba.
"Much worse!" added Nala. Rajah and Pluto were in equal disgust, agreeing with the king and queen, the other members agreed the stench was awful. Sure enough as soon as everyone smelled it, the sources were confirmed, this time real dead zombies were shambling towards them, all rotten and waterlogged from being in the swamp. Their moaning was different from the zombified townsfolk, and were more aggressive, moving more quickly with hands up as if ready to claw and mouths open, ready to bite. The team was surrounded on all four sides, Zack had to pull out his Threat Detector which lead him down the middle path, a reading that could only suggest Baron Samedi's whereabouts. He pointed them in the direction of where to go, even if that meant more zombies down that way than the other areas.
Each member had their weapons out ready to attack any zombies coming their way, they either were on the road or attacked on the sides, but everyone was ready batting, swatting, slashing at the assailants. Several feet in, Zack started to feel his sword hand in pain, causing it to drop it and hold it. Moana too felt her arm in pain next, it felt sudden and without provocation. Soon the four-legged animals were clutching their paws in pain as well. The mice were feeling their legs in pain as well.
"This must be the Baron's voodoo magic!" grimaced Zack. "He's using voodoo dolls to strike us from afar!"
"Then we'd better get going before things go from bad to worse!" said Aladdin.
"Yes, he'll keep on giving us pain until were all sitting ducks!" added Donald.
"Indeed let's keep going!" ordered Zack, picking up his sword. The group proceeded onward, into the forest, fighting off not only zombies and zombified townsfolk, but pain received as well. Just around the corner, the group felt something give way beneath their feet, in a matter of seconds, the floor collapsed beneath them, and the team found themselves in a pit filled with snakes. Some of the females shrieked as they were afraid of snakes. Elsa stood up and waved her hands, creating some icy wind, freezing the snaked in place.
"Now's our chance!" she shouted. "Let's get out of here before they attack us!" Everyone nodded their heads and immediately scrambled out in any way they can, even assisting those who had trouble. After getting out the group continued on their way, following where the Threat Detector was pointing them. They eventually came to a clearing in the forest which had some lights, docks, and the river. At one point in the dock were a series of flames, which the Threat Detector pointed as the strongest. Without any further delay the Z-Team rushed to the spot where the Baron was and stopped several yards before him.
"Mmmmmm I've been wasn't expecting you bunch to get this far!" The Baron grinned evilly. "But this is where you all will be in the next world!" He raised his skull staff, emitting sparks out of it, causing the group to recoil. "Hoooo, I see some pretty girls in your group Zacky boy! Come on now ladies, surely you'd like a date with a handsome guy like me now hmmm?" The girls got disgusted at such an idea considering he was already dead. Then he raised his hand which caused zombified hands to break out of the ground and grab the team by the legs, immobilizing them. Zack remained calm, then ignited his sword, and then swung it at the hands, liberating himself before liberating a few of the others, though Moana, Mulan, and Aladdin were able to liberate themselves from the grasp of the hands. Just as they did, Baron Samedi launched several wispy spirits at the group which had them all in pain, except for Simba and Nala. The two lions jumped at the Baron, but he smiled evilly and turned his hand into a snake which stretched out and whacked Nala, and then bit Simba in the paw, causing the two recoiled in pain. Zack was able to break free from the wispy spell and shout, "Flame Blade!" causing a stream of fire to emit from his sword, but Baron Samedi summons a wall of fire to block the spell. Baron Samedi then swung his arms around, and zombified townsfolk came in all around them, having caught up, and began grabbing the group.
"Too bad you can't save them!" He taunted maniacally, holding up a crystal sphere. "I've got their souls in here, and you all are going to join them!" Minnie, frustrated with all that has happened so far, stumbled out of the group, but recovered instantly and raised her hand, shouted, "Light Ray!" a beam of white light shot out of her hand, passing through the fire wall and struck the baron. As it did, it began to burn him until he was nothing more than dust, the sphere was dropped and broke, releasing all the souls that he caught, returning to the respective bodies of the townsfolk. As that happened, the townsfolk returned to consciousness, wondering where they were. The group all celebrated their success, except for Simba who was reeling from some snake venom. Moana stepped forward and raised her hand shouted, "Healing Spring!" a mist appeared out of nowhere and got on Simba's bitten paw. He immediately began to feel better, and his bite wounds were immediately gone.
Hal looked through the crowd and saw his two friends, now liberated from the voodoo spell. He ran over to them to ensure they were alright.
"You guys okay?" He asked.
"Totally, from now on we won't be doing any more dark things even when persuaded." replied Ross. Zack stepped forward with a stern look on his face.
"From now on, I want you two to think of the consequences of your actions." he said sternly.
"Yes, I think you two have been after dark long enough" said the voice of one of the boys' father, with an equal stern look on his face. Ross and Meck hung their heads in shame, looking sober at their actions, Hal was relieved of the evil that was extinguished, and hopefully no more voodoo magic.