Puppet Master:

Puppet vs. Puppet

Author Note: This story does not include Puppet Master vs. Demonic toys simply because Full Moon Pictures and Charles Band do not consider it to be part of the franchise. The story takes place after Puppet Master: Legacy.

Chapter One

The Gathering

The floorboards of the deteriorating wooden floor creaked as a man walked down the hallways of the now abandoned castle overlooking the water. In the past the castle, Bodega Bay Inn, had been a tourist attraction and pristine hotel. However, after a group of paranormal investigators came to research it and had all met with "mysterious" deaths, strange occurrences and myths, the tourists stopped coming and after a time, the bank ended up foreclosing on it. No one wanted to purchase the place because many in the area believed it to be haunted by "Little creatures" and the ghosts of those who had met their end there.

Many owners of the Inn came and went, most under unusual circumstances or death. Out of the past three owners; a man named Len, a foreigner named Eriquee ChaneƩ, and a young scientist named Rick Myers, only Myers was among the living. Myers, who had bought the Inn shortly after Chanee's disappearance, had since run into financial problems and the bank took the deed away.

However, Nathan Krauss saw more in the old Inn. He had heard the stories about those who came to live in the castle before it had become what it was today.

Rick Myers, Dr. Megan Gallagher and other psychics had lived there and had dealings with "little puppets that could move of their own accord". At least, that is what the locals say. That is what had brought him here. His great grandfather, a high ranking Nazi officer, had left him several diaries speaking of "Living Puppets" and a man named Andre Toulon, who had the chemical solution that brought inanimate objects to life.

In these diaries, he spoke of murdering Toulon's wife and how he would do whatever it took to gain this knowledge. The final diary entry stopped only days after he had murdered Elsa Toulon. Nathan could only guess that these puppets had killed his relative. If this was so, then the power of whoever was the master of these puppets would be great.

So, he had spent his life searching for any clue of where these puppets were. Any stories, newspaper stories. He had travelled to such exotic places as Egypt, Paris and Scotland to here at the Bodega Bay Inn. Once he had learned it was for sale, he used the remains of his family's fortune, from selling hoarded Nazi gold, to buy it.

In the first week, he conducted a thorough search of the Inn from the lobby to the attic, looking for any clues and not finding any. Finally, he decided to check the basement as it was the only place he had not checked due to the flooding issues it had suffered according to the inspector. He went down there with a crowbar and hammer and began dismantling everything in it. In time, he found a hidden hole in the wall, big enough for a trunk to fit in. To his surprise, it was still there.

It was extremely dusty and looked as though it had not been opened since it had been put in there. Gathering the trunk, he went back upstairs and to the room he was currently occupying. There, he opened it and inside, found two small puppets. One, an Indian with a small turban atop his head and wearing a fine white Indian uniform, with a tag underneath reading,"Gengie." Beside it another puppet resembling an oriental, with a long moustache and beard, clad in a brown outfit, with the tag, "Shredder Khan." There were room for other puppets but only the tags, "Blade" and "Jester" remained. Behind the puppets were several documents which included what he hoped contained what he was after.

Carefully removing the puppets, he scanned every inch of their bodies, looking for anything that would show him how they gained their life essence. Finding nothing except extreme craftsmanship, he set them on the bed and beginning to tear the lining of the trunk apart. When he was about to give up, he found a small compartment in the lower left corner. Popping it open, a single vial of a green phosphorous liquid rolled out, a small syringe inside the pocket. A small marker on the syringe had been marked with a knife. Picking it up, he examined it, swirling the liquid around in the bottle before looking over to the immobile puppets.

Grabbing the syringe, he inserted the needle into the vial and withdrew a small amount of the liquid inside. Walking over to the puppet named Shredder Khan; he flipped it over and inserted the needle into its neck, pushing the liquid inside.

Setting Khan back on the bed, he knelt on one knee and waited.

Time seemed to pass slowly with no results and Kress was beginning to think it wasn't going to work when it happened. The puppet's body shook for a moment. Then, its small hands flexed before it sat up, rubbing the hair on his chin and its head moved to look at him.

"Yes," Krauss whispered, "Yes, my little friend. I have awoken you from your long slumber. I am your new master."

Shredder Khan stared at him for several moments before nodding once. Slowly, he rose to his feet and then looked down at Gengie before looking back to Kress and pointing to the syringe.

"Of course, my little friend." Nathan said as he nodded, "We shall restore him to the living."

Taking another small amount of liquid from the vial, he injected it into Gengie's neck and after a small amount of time, the second puppet arose.

The two puppets looked at one another and whispers could be heard as if they were talking to one another. Finally, Gengie nodded toward Krauss.

"Now my little friends, we need to find the rest of your family."

Gengie's head looked over to him as he slowly slid from the bed and stopped at the door as if beckoning Krauss to follow.

Standing, Krauss and Shredder Khan followed the little Indian puppet toward the elevator as Krauss looked down and asked Gengie which floor to go to. The small puppet simply motioned up. Holding his finger in front of each button he waited for Gengie to nod before pressing the button for the fifth floor as the elevator shuddered and began to rise up. As it reached the fifth floor, the doors opened as Gengie motioned for them to follow. Making his way down the hall, Krauss followed the little turban headed puppet until he came to a stop in front of a door at the end of the hall. Pulling out the master set of keys, Krauss opened the door as the puppet moved inside and headed toward the center of the room and pointed down.

Kneeling, Krauss looked around trying to see what Gengie was trying to have him find. Moving around him, Shredder Khan moved and began ripping up sections of carpet until it revealed a small hatch. Yanking it up, Krauss looked down and found a small lump covered in black fabric. Reaching in, he carefully pulled it out and began unraveling it to reveal a small Ninja puppet.

Its eyes were dull black, matching its ninja outfit as he nodded, "One of your friends?"

Shredder and Gengie both nodded as Krauss removed the vial and syringe from his pocket and injected it into the Ninja. Moments passed before the Ninja's eyes began to glow red and it sat up, staring at Shredder and Gengie before looking over to Krauss. At the moment, he was going over a small registry for the years following Toulon's death.

He muttered, "Daniel Coogan. Ah yes. His Uncle once owned this establishment."

Leaning toward his Ninja companion, Shredder seemed to talk to him for a moment in a whisper before the Ninja put its hands together and bowed to Krauss.

"Now my friends, it is time for us to gather the rest of the family." Removing a small section of a newspaper, he showed them an ad for a carnival with a section stating, "Come and see the amazing living puppets!"