"Tuez-les tous et ne laisser aucune trace."

...

"Rester dans l'ombre"

Blade awoke with a start; gasping for needless air as he sat straight up. The pale puppet looked down at his namesake with shaking nerves. He thought he was going to see blood stained and dripping off the steel of his hook. But to his eventual relief, there was no blood to be seen or felt in any way. He looked around the room he was in; seeing a little bit of what was there even though it was dark. He heard light snoring coming from his sleeping companions. Tunneller, Six Shooter, Pinhead, Torch; all sleeping around different areas of the room in whatever they could use as makeshift beds. Across the room, their newest and probably youngest master Kate was sleeping in her bed; safety buried in sheets and blankets. Blade looked to the left of him to see the most cheerful of the group. Jester laid beside blade in a miniature sleeping bag; sleeping soundly amongst the fabric. Blade just watched over the expressive puppet; the fear remaining as he remembered the horrific nightmare he just escaped from.

"It looked all too real." He thought to himself.

With a quiet grunt, Blade stood up and quietly made his way out of Kate's room; slipping through the large gap in the door. The pale puppet careful made his way downstairs to the living room; wondering if Kate's father was still awake with his work. Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen; probably asleep in his room upstairs and getting much needed rest. Reaching the living room, Blade climbed up the sofa and jumped onto the coffee table. Blade took a seat down near the edge of the table; facing the window near the front door as light from the full moon shined through. Blade sighed as he tried to calm down. But the images of his nightmare were still fresh in his mind and frightening him to no end. That man with the protruding vines and scars. That was not the Toulon he knew. Those puppets with the grim faces. There was no way that could have been Pinhead and Tunneller; even Torch was not that terrifying.

But Blade himself...

Blade knew he looked nothing like that. He knew there was only one of him; he did not look like that some mummified zombie or a monster skull. He tried to tell himself that it was just a dream, but it seemed so real.

"Blade?"

Blade quickly turned around when a familiar voice said his name. He stared in confusion when he saw Jester standing there with his sad face. Blade just turned back to the direction of the window.

"You should be in bed." He simply replied.

"So should you, but here we are." Jester replied back as he walked over and sat down next to Blade.

Jester looked at how distant Blade seemed as he stared out the window. The colourful puppet knew something was not right; even if Blade was going to say otherwise.

"I heard you wake up. You sounded like you had a bad dream." Jester recalled when he heard Blade get up and leave the room.

Blade turned to Jester. He sighed quietly. Jester was a lot smarter than he appeared. Blade was proud of that, but he still had a rather innocent personality; even if he did "take care" of a few people over the years. Blade turned back to the window and looked at the moon.

"I... I had a very vivid nightmare." Blade struggled to say.

Jester turned his head in question. Blade was a brave puppet; having faced against Nazis and demons. What could he have had a nightmare about, and how bad could it have been?

"What was it about?" Jester asked.

Blade shook his head.

"I don't want to scare you." The pale puppet answered back.

Jester responded by grabbing Blades' wrist; making him look at him.

"I don't care if I get scared of it. If it terrified you, you should talk about it to someone. Believe me Blade; it really helps." Jester insisted.

Blade just stared at his friend for a few seconds before realising that he was right. He did not want to disturb him. But Blade knew he needed to get it off his chest.

"I really don't know what it was about." Blade started off. "It was just... No; disturbing doesn't even define what it was."

Jester listened as Blade began to explain in detail.

"It all seemed so real. There was this man there that was speaking in French and German. He didn't look human at times and his skin looked like it was burned and scared all over. Tunneller, Pinhead and Torch were there with me. But we all looked different. We looked like we came out of the mind of a demented mad man. But then, I noticed something."

Jester watched in concern as Blade struggled to get the next sentence out. But he got there eventually.

"The others. They were wearing armbands. And they had the swastika on them."

Jester unknowingly switched to his shocked expression when he heard the word swastika. The very word brought images of the evil symbol to mind with bad memories.

"You dreamt that we were Nazis!?" Jester questioned in shock.

Blade quickly shushed him; telling him he was going to wake everyone up. Jester quickly but quietly apologised.

"You weren't there." Blade explained further. "Thank goodness. I can't imagine you being one of those monsters. You're too cheerful. And I think there was some weird frog in your place."

Jester was not sure if that was a compliment or not. But he continued to listen as Blade explained his nightmare.

"It doesn't end there. Toulon was there; but he wasn't himself. He was the man covered in veins and burn scars and then he turned into some undead monster."

"That happened to him when we tried to bring him back." Jester recalled the events from many years ago when they were at their most desperate.

"The Toloun we brought back looked like a saint compared to the one I saw." Blade spoke with venom in his tone. "He wasn't the man who saved us and gave us a second chance! He was a vile Nazi!"

Even though Jester knew Blade was not talking about the real Toulon, he still found what he was saying shocking and hard to listen to. But he still listened to his friend talk about what happened in his nightmare.

"He... he made us kill innocent people. I know we are not strangers to that; but he didn't say anything about the formula! I- I couldn't stop myself. The others were just emotionless shells! They even killed a pregnant woman just because her skin was dark! I think I killed someone because they were homosexual! I couldn't stop myself from decapitating them! It didn't make sense!"

Blade leaned over forward as he began to hyperventilate and shake. He continued to hyperventilate, but he stopped shaking when he felt Jester put one hand on his shoulder and one hand on his back; calmly telling him to breath.

Blade managed to calm down after a few minutes; getting his breathing under control; even though he did not really need to physically. Jester looked down at his friend being so afraid. He could only think of one time when Blade actually looked like this. Back when the Totem's attacked and they were injured in the final fight along with Decapitron. Jester remembered seeing Blade try to reach for him when Rick lifted them from the ground; taking them home to be repaired before passing out from the pain. He remembered coming to and seeing Blade looking down at him; relieved that his colourful friend was still alive and fixed. Jester gently moved his hand back and forth against Blades back; hoping this would help him relax and calm down.

"Blade; I understand how frightening a nightmare can be." He started to speak in a comforting and reassuring tone. "It's no secret that I've had a fair share of them over the years since we've been together. Toulon would comfort and reassure me when it happened. But then you came and you comforted me when it happened and tell me that it was just a dream."

Blade did recall some of the times when Jester had bad dreams and needed to be reassured.

"I suppose that's what I'm trying to do for you."

Blade sat back up and looked at Jester as the expressive puppet put on his happy face and held Blades hook like it was his hand.

"Whatever was in that nightmare wasn't real. You know Toulon was against the Nazis and the third Reich; he would never join those monsters. Pinhead, Tunneller, Torch; they can be scary at times, but they're our friends. Our brothers in arms. Yes, we have killed before; but we only did because we were told to or we needed to defend ourselves. Also Kate and her father figured out how to create more elixir for us without brain mater so hopefully we won't have to do it again unless we really have to."

Jester stopped for a second to look at Blade and held his hook hand closer to his chest. Blade just watched in slight confusion.

"And blade... you're not a monster." Jester spoke gently and softly. "I've known you for seventy odd years and I've learned that you're a loyal friend who will do anything for the people he vows to protect; master or puppet. Even when you were still Dr Hess, I knew that you were a good man when you went against Major Kraus. You're not some horrible mummified creature set on bloodshed or a skull with no skin. You're Blade. Leader of Toulon's puppets and my friend. No nightmare can change that."

Blade found himself at a loss. But not in a bad way. He no longer felt afraid of what he dreamed of tonight; feeling like it was a distant memory. Blade put his free arm around Jester and pulled him in; hugging him as he let go of his hook and put his arm around him. Jester happily hugged back as he realised that he helped his friend and took away his fear. Blade held onto Jester as thought about what a good friend he was. Not just to him, but to the other puppets as well(maybe not to Torch sometimes).

"You know, Jester. I never understood why you gave up on being the leader." Blade thought out loud. "With the way you keep morale up, you'd be amazing at it."

"I never really like giving orders." Jester confessed. "Motiving everyone and fighting when I grab what I can find is good enough for me."

After a minute, the pair gently broke up their hug and looked towards the stairs.

"We should probably get back to bed." Jester spoke as he jumped off the table and landed on the floor. "Do you think you'll be okay to sleep again?"

Blade knew Jester was only asking in concern. The pale puppet followed his colourful companion and jumped off the table; landing right next to him.

"I think I'll be alright." Blade answered back as he followed his friend and helped him get back upstairs.

AN: Well, I tried watching the littlest Reich the other day and well... in the words of the horse from Ren and Stimpy...

No sir I didn't like it.

Trust me. if you like really massive gore fests, go ahead. But watch the originals if you just like living puppets.