Thanks again to those who have favorited, reviewed, or alerted, so much!*hands out 20 reviews celebration left overs* Note, the "dolls" used in this chapter are the ones used in episodes 10-12 of the anime. Being as the story is currently set around episode 4, Ciel would not recognize them. All of this will be explained shortly… Also, the "who the man?"Bit is a quote from Doctor Who.
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler or Doctor Who… and I definitely do not own any of the other TV shows or characters mentioned in this chapter… except for my OCs.
Chapter 10:Invasion of the Dolls
"Dear mental diary,
We have been here for days, months, and maybe even years at this point; I have lost track of time. At times it feels like just yesterday we arrived. At others it feels like an eternity. Oh, how I yearn for all the sights, sounds, and smell of home! I do not know how much longer we can live like this; Rosalind tells us that we will escape from here soon, but to me it seems like one of us will soon befall into the clutches of death, and one by one we will all diminish… "
"Thyme, we are not going to die, and we have not been here anywhere near that long!"
"Huh, what?" Thyme grumbled, opening her eyes. She found Rosalind looming over her, an expression of both concern and agitation plastered on her face.
"You were reading your mental diary you keep in your head out loud to the rest of us." Rosalind explained, catching the look of confusion on Thyme's face.
"I'm sorry," Thyme sighed, burying her face in her hands. "It's been four hours." Thyme whispered, eyes misting over.
"It's been ten minutes!" Rosalind exclaimed.
"WELL, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? CAN YOU ANSWER ME THAT, BUB? HUH, CAN YOU?"
Thyme had clearly been thrown over the edge. Rosalind considered telling her sister to quiet down; you'll give us away, but for some reason decided against it upon seeing the rage her sister was in.
Everyone stared at Thyme. "Again, my apologies." Thyme stated calmly, head bowed.
Silence followed this proclamation, then, "GASP!" Thyme jumped, completely startling everyone around her.
"Are you okay, Thyme?" Finny asked eyes wide with worry for his best friend.
"Oh, I'm all right," Thyme was now blushing profusely now. "Thanks, Finny. I was just thinking… when I was reading my mental diary aloud earlier, uh… I didn't read anything from… oh; I don't know… say, for instance: I didn't read anything aloud from page 394, did I?" Thyme crossed her fingers, silently praying she hadn't.
Finny put his head in his hands for a moment (A position that Thyme found rather cute, and she had to restrain herself from jumping all over him.) and thought about it. "Hmmm… I don't think so. Why do you ask?" Finny asked innocently, eyes full of wonder.
So cute…"Oh, no reason," Thyme said offhandedly, rubbing the back of her head, blush deepening, but at the same time breathing a mental sigh of relief in her head. Thyme had some particular entries in there that she was uncomfortable with a certain blonde-haired gardener seeing. ..
Ciel smirked. "You actually keep page numbers for a mental diary you have kept in your head?" He said.
"Shut up," Thyme muttered, looking away from him.
Five minutes had passed since then. Rosalind was inspecting her and Thyme's Agency watches, trying to solve the problem. Batty and Thyme had started to hum the theme songs to certain game shows before Rosalind had told them to please be quiet, for God's sake; she was trying to get them out of there, and needed complete silence in order to do so. In fairness to Rosalind, this had lasted a full fifteen seconds before Thyme was going mad with silence. Thyme was desperate for something, anything, to break the awkward silence. Therefore, she decided to say the first thing that popped into her head.
"Hey Rosalind, how come you don't let Batty and me watch Dora?"
Rosalind looked up at Thyme. "What?"
"I said," Thyme repeated, trying very hard to keep a straight face. "How come you don't let Batty and me watch Dora?"
"Look, I just don't think that girl is a good role model for you two to follow," Rosalind explained wearily. "I mean, she's only around Batty's age and she goes off on all of these adventures by herself; doesn't that seem like a bad idea to you? "
"She's not alone," Batty reminded Rosalind, joining in on the conversation. "She has Boots, the monkey, go along with her."
"Yes, well," Rosalind thought about this for a moment, then went on," I don't think that monkey is a good guardian for a little girl. I mean, they practically almost get mugged by that fox in, like, every episode, and they never seem to learn not to trust him! What kind of message is that sending to the audience? "Oh sure kids, trust random people and talking animals who are obviously trying to rip you off/ rob you!"
"To make it worse, I don't think she even tells her parents where she's going. How would they react if they found out what she does when they're not looking? Moreover, that's dangerous! What if something happened to her because she didn't tell her parents where she was going? If she does, then that is just bad parenting! I mean, do you really think it's a good idea to let that little girl- your only daughter- to go off by herself and get into these kinds of situations, and actually be okay with it?"
"Her cousin Diego is even worse. He can't be much older than she is but he goes hang gliding by himself in the rainforest!"
Batty and Thyme waited for this to sink in when a thought occurred to Thyme. "You don't let us watch Dora," She reminded Rosalind, a horrible memory making its presence known in her mind. "But you let us watch Barney!"
Rosalind rubbed her head wearily. "Thyme," she sighed. "We've been over this. I'm sorry I exposed you to something so terrifying. Could you please drop it?"
Thyme, however, was ready to do no such thing. "The first time Batty and I watched it, we screamed as soon as Barney came onto the screen! "
"What is it with kids and Barney?" Rosalind silently wondered. I mean, I don't get why kids think he's scary. "You are scared of Barney," Rosalind mused, another thought occurring to her. "And yet you always insist that whenever I give you vitamins that I give you the ones shaped as dinosaurs. Why is that?"
"Because dinosaurs are cool! Duh! "Thyme explained, while batty nodded heartily in agreement.
Rosalind stared at Thyme in confusion, raising a perplexed eyebrow. "So now what you are trying to say is that you think a TV character you were scared of earlier is now suddenly cool…?"
"What? NO!" Thyme exclaimed, shaking her head and looking disgusted at Rosalind's question. "How could some dude wearing a purple dinosaur's suit possibly be cool? OF COURSE I DON'T THINK BARNEY IS COOL, YOU WEIRDO!"Thyme screamed, startling everyone in the alleyway.
"AND DON'T YOU THINK," Thyme screamed on. "THAT THE FACT THAT WE ARE ARGUING ABOUT CHILDREN'S SHOWS, IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS?"
A very awkward silence followed this, before realization hit Thyme, and she wailed," Oh, I was the one who brought it up, in the first place, wasn't I? WASN'T I?" and started to cry, while Finny went over to comfort her.
Rosalind sighed, placing a gentle had on Thyme's shoulder while Finny held her. "
Look, I said I was sorry and promise never to expose you two to that show ever again. I swear to God that my introducing you to that show definitely makes the top ten in terms of regrets and biggest mistakes I have made in this life. Now let us never speak of this again. Truce?"
"Truce," Thyme and Batty chorused in unison.
"Hey, Thyme," Finny said a while later, as Rosalind still continued to work on finding a means of escape.
Thyme's ears perked up at the sound of Finny's voice and she turned around to face him. "Yes, Finny?"
"Who are Barney and Dora?" he asked innocently. Everyone except for Thyme groaned. Even Ciel and Sebastian, who had no idea what they were talking about. They did not know, nor did they want to know.
Before Thyme could answer him, however Rosalind had excellent news for them all. "Okay, the watches are working again!" Rosalind announced, earning cheers from Thyme, Batty, and Finny.
"I KNOW, right!" Rosalind beamed, wholeheartedly agreeing with their euphoria. "I did it! I did it everyone, I DID it! WHO THE MAN?"
This last sentence only invoked very awkward and seriously disturbed glances in her direction, even from Sebastian and Ciel.
"Okay, I'm never saying that again." Rosalind decided, upon noticing the damage she had done. Rosalind and Thyme set up the watches, and this time, everyone held onto them without hesitation. Even Ciel and Sebastian; the sooner they were out of here, the better.
"All right then," came Rosalind's voice as the group took in their new surroundings. "We're here!" They were in a large room, with a large brown desk and three chairs pulled out in front. A broken tea cup lay shattered on the ground with tea spilling out of it, and newspaper headline clippings hung on the walls, as did various rewards and other certificates. However, upon closer observation, they were not alone in the room.
"Who do you have here?" A man's voice came from behind the desk. The group turned in his direction. "Where did you three leave five seconds ago, and how did you get back so quickly?"
"Dr. Framley," Rosalind began, pulling the boys to face him. "We went into the past to retrieve some people I wanted you to meet. This is Ciel Phantomhive, Finny, and Sebastian Michaelis. You lot, this is Dr. Howard Framley." Dr. Framley chewed on the end of his cigar, and held out his hand to shake, making no comment about Rosalind making no mention as to Finny's last name.
"A pleasure to meet you," he said gruffly as Finny cheerily shook his hand. Ciel and Sebastian, however, refused to do so.
"Guys," Rosalind hissed in an undertone. "Shake Dr. Framley's hand."
"Do not worry about it, Miss Rosalind," Dr. Framley said chuckling. "I take it you have not told these young men why you have brought them here?"
"Indeed, sir." Rosalind replied.
"I thought so," laughed Framley. "I too, am wondering of your reaction before your brief and almost immediate departure. What was the cause of it?"
"That, sir." Rosalind replied, pointing to the other side of the room.
Everyone's heads turned in the direction of the room that Rosalind had been pointing at. The figure of a young girl stood looming in the darkness. She was carrying a tea tray, which judging by the direction it was pointing at, and how there was liquid on the tray, was where the cup had been before it broke. Her expression was emotionless, and there was a glazed, unnervingly calm and serene look in her eyes.
"Finny, do you recognize who or what this is?" Rosalind asked, pointing to the girl.
"Nope," he replied cheerily then stuck out his hand for the girl to shake. "Hiya, I'm Finnian!" When the girl did nothing in response, he dropped his hand.
Rosalind now turned to Sebastian. "What about you, Sebastian?" Sebastian was mildly surprised, but did not show it. "No."
"And you, Ciel?" Rosalind asked finally. "Do you recognize who this is, or notice anything out of the ordinary about her?"
"No," Ciel stated impatiently. "Why should I care? She's just some girl!"
"Because," whispered Rosalind. "That's no ordinary girl. In fact, she's not even human."
Everyone stared at her. "What do you mean, she's not human?" said Ciel after a long pause.
"She's a doll." said Rosalind.
Dr. Framley laughed, surprising everyone. "Ah, so you recognize her," he said while chuckling. "That explains you reaction earlier. "He pointed to the shattered teacup that lay on the floor as he said this. "You were about to accept a cup of tea when you saw her and appeared to be so shocked that you actually dropped the cup. Then you just up and left. What was that about?"
"Sir," said Rosalind very quietly. "Why do you have a doll here? What is it doing and how long has it been here? How much do you know about this doll?"
"Come with me," said Dr. Framley. "I'd like to show you something."
Dr. Framley led them out of the room. The stepped out into a long winding, white hallway. Several people were in the halls, and the group understood at once why Rosalind insisted on them changing clothes to blend in.
"What is going on?" Ciel demanded of Rosalind as soon as they stepped outside. "Where are we? When are we? And why did you bring us here?"
Rosalind decided now would be a good time to fill them in. "We are at a secret military base in England in the 1940's. It is currently World War II, England is now allies with America during the war. I brought you here to see if any of you recognized the doll besides us. "
"Rosalind," asked Thyme, who had been with Rosalind when she first set eyes upon the doll. "Why would any of us recognize the doll, or even know of its existence? "
Rosalind stared at Thyme in surprise. "Don't you remember- Well, surely they must have taught you in your history class- you mean to tell me that honest to goodness, you truly don't what this is?"
"Nope," answered Thyme. "Should I?"
"Yes, indeed you should!" Rosalind muttered a very thoughtful, yet frightened, look on her face. Dr. Framley then proceeded to open one of the doors in the hallway that led outside onto a grassy green hill. They walked further along until they reached an area where they could see people below the hill.
"This," said Dr. Framley, pointing below. "Is military practice."
On the field below them were men wearing British army uniforms, however, alongside them were also-
"Children!" Rosalind gasped wildly, hand held over her heart. "You're using children!"
"Miss Rosalind," said Dr. Framley in a soothing voice. "We are not using children. Those people, although being as we are a bit far way I understand it may be a little hard to tell, are dolls. "
"And why, pray tell, do you have them here?" Rosalind asked, taking deep breaths to calm down from her thankfully mistaken assumption.
Dr. Framley beamed at her, evidently eager that she had asked. "Watch."
The dolls below were placed on two separate sides, though they all adorned the same uniforms. Dolls of all genders, ages, and races were aligned on each side. Many, but not all, were armed with weapons. A man, who Dr. Framley told them was not a doll, instructed," Let the battle begin!" and a gunshot rang out. The dolls with weapons fired and attacked, but often when they hit someone, something amazing happened: The doll that was hit would get up again, almost good as new.
That was not the only incredible thing about them, though. The dolls without weapons did not need them. They threw punches and seemed to attack with enhanced strength. They also proved to be flexible in the extreme, such as being able to turn their heads a full 180 degrees, and performing acrobatics in their attack that could seriously sprain a normal human, but did not seem to have any negative physical effect at all on them. Some of them appeared to possess the ability to somehow control their comrades' movements. They would passion themselves and seemed to act on another doll's orders. It was, in a word, truly terrifying. And fascinating.
Ciel, the girls, and Finny, all watched on in horror. Sebastian and Dr. Framley were looking at the scene before them too, but they did not seem to be too upset by it. On the contrary, both merely looked observant.
Thyme, however, felt very differently. Eyes wide, she was suddenly not with them anymore. Instead, her soul was back in a cold, dark, dark, room, with screams reverberating off the walls.
"NO!" came the scream of a girl, truly terrified. "STOP! PLEASE!" She was being forced down onto a hard brown table, by men in white lab coats.
"Quiet, girl," They snarled, filling a bottle with a dark red liquid. "Stop struggling or else what your friend will go through will be nothing compared to this!"
"No," she begged, eyes pleading. "NOT FINNY!" The next thing she knew, a needle was administered into her forearm, and screams reverberated off the walls once more.
Finny stood there, horror struck. He too was having horrible flashbacks…
"Don't worry, Finny," A girl whispered to her crying strawberry-blonde haired companion. "I'll be okay."
"But-"the boy sobbed, voice cracking. "I don't want to lose you, too!"
"Shh," she muttered, holding him close to her. "It will all be all right." The door to the cell then burst open. A pair of firm hands grabbed the pair of them, but they were each sent down opposite directions of the hallway.
"THYME!"Finny screamed as he was forced away from her.
"FINNY!" She screamed back at him. Thyme disappeared from sight, kicking and screaming, as Finny too did the same but to no avail.
"Let me go!" begged Finny, as he was taken into a room with very little light and absolutely no chance of kind treatment to be expected.
One of them men slapped him across the face. Hard.
"Shut up," he hissed as his accomplices tried to hold Finny down. "How dare you try to get away from us! How dare you contradict me! Now shut up and hold still boy, or you will get off with more than just a couple of scrapes and bruises. You exist solely for us. You have no other purpose in this world. So stop whining and do as you're told! You cannot ever leave; where else can you go? Be grateful that we have taken you in, because nobody else would ever want or need you. "
A sharp needle was ejected into Finny's body and a scream of agony escaped his lips. Truly, this form of torture was most definitely a fate worse than death.
"But I know different now," Finny whispered, half of him at the current scene, the other half still back at the lab. "I know that I am wanted and needed. I believe that. I have to believe that. Because there is one person- even if it's ever only one person- who likes and accepts me for whom I am. Because that one, is not zero. "
Finny then stared at Thyme, who was too shocked to speak, or even move. His attention then turned to the dolls hurting each other. "Stop this." he said quietly, but everyone could hear his words. "STOP THIS NOW!" He screamed and took off towards the battle field before anyone could stop them. Thyme's eyes snapped open as she realized what Finny was doing. "FINNY!" She screamed as he took off. A rising feeling of horror spread through her body; what if finny got hurt? Thyme did the only thing she could think of: she ran after him.
"Stop the practice!" Rosalind shrieked to Dr. Framley, realizing where Finny and Thyme were running to. "There are people running out onto the battle field! Howard Framley, you stop the attack this instance!" Dr. Framley didn't need telling twice. He took out a music box that started playing a tune that sounded suspiciously like "London Bridge is Falling Down," and the dolls stopped moving almost instantly. "Oh my God," Rosalind breathed and ran onto the field after Thyme and Finny.
Thyme had tackled Finny into a tackle just seconds before he would have made it into the midst of the battle. Their breathing caught into their throats, as both realized how close they had been to being killed.
"THYME!" Rosalind's voice echoed across the field, and when Thyme and Finny turned their heads they could see that Rosalind, along with everyone else, was running towards them. "FINNY!" Rosalind ran faster than she ever had before in her entire life. She came up to them, panting heavily and clutching her side. "Oh, thank God," Rosalind muttered as she embraced Thyme. "Oh, thank God, you two are okay!
Rosalind then hurriedly inspected Thyme's body for any injuries and was relieved to find none.
"Oh, thank God," Rosalind repeated for the third time that day under her breath. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" Rosalind asked Thyme, silently praying for the answer to be affirmative.
"Uh, yeah, I think I am." Thyme replied, slightly shaken. "You okay, too, Finny?" Thyme then asked turning to Finny.
"Yep!" Finny replied, checking himself over.
Batty started to cry. "We thought you two were- were-"
"Were what, Batty?" Thyme asked gently.
"D-dead!" Batty chocked out, sobbing harder than ever.
"Don't worry, Princess, "Thyme assured her, tousling Batty's curls playfully, and attempted to grin as she flashed Batty a peace sign. "It's all good."
"No, it is most certainly not "all good." Rosalind had stopped hyperventilating, and had gotten her ability to breathe back, as well as her temper. "Do you really think what could have just happened is okay? No, it's anything but okay."
Rosalind rounded on Dr. Framley now. "You tell me what's going on. Now. I am clever and don't patronize me because my sister and her friend could have just died right now, and I am not happy."
"Very well then," said Dr. Framley quickly. He could tell that now would not be a good time to argue. "As you can see we are using dolls in our army. They make excellent soldiers, possessing the abilities of enhanced strength, endurance, and flexibility, and some even possess these strings that appear to be able to control their comrades. They are great out on the field, and what you have witnessed just now was their version of military practice. They are good at other tasks as well. They also make excellent helpers around the base, such as the doll back in my office.
As you may have noticed, they seem to be controlled by the song, "London Bridge is falling down." They make perfect additions to the base. "
"How did you come across finding them?" Rosalind asked quietly, trying to keep her anger at bay.
Dr. Framley frowned, a look of deep confusion crossing his features. "I am afraid I do not understand."
Rosalind looked extremely impatient. "What I mean is did you create them? Did someone ship them over to you? Or did they get here by some other means?"
Dr. Framley looked more puzzled still. "I do not see how or why that should be any of your business, Miss Rosemary. This doesn't concern you."
Rosalind lost it then and there. "Why won't you tell me? You don't remember, do you? Don't lie to me!"
Rosalind then turned to Sebastian and said in a dangerous tone of voice. "Sebastian, please cover the children's ears. I do not know if I can refrain from using some less than pleasant language. "Batty and Finny instantly put their hands over their ears, while Sebastian used his hands to cover Thyme's, though Ciel did nothing.
"Why are you using dolls that take on the appearance of children in your military? What do you plan on doing with them?" Rosalind demanded.
"As you can see," Dr. Framley began before seeing the murderous look on Rosalind's face. "Um, we are using them as soldiers. For some reason, the majority of dolls we possess appear to be the dolls of young girls. We decided to use this to our advantage. No one is going to expect to see children on the field during battle. We figure this will give us the element of surprise, and some soldiers may even refuse to attack them, making victory all the more easier. We haven't actually sent them into any major battles yet, but we plan on doing so. If all goes well, we will ship them over to America. Why, using them, we just may win the war."
Rosalind looked scandalized. "What a dirty trick!" She hissed, disgust filling her very being.
"This is war, Miss Rosalind." Dr. Framley stated calmly.
"I do not care that this is war," Rosalind replied, so furious she was shaking. "Do the people even know what you are doing?"
"Not yet," answered Dr. Framley. "But as soon as they are out on the battlefield, we will tell the public. Just not now."
"What you are doing is socially, politically, and morally wrong!"
Thyme and Batty stared at each other anxiously. Never had they seen their sister so angry before. Even Ciel and Sebastian had not expected this of her.
Rosalind continued on with her rant. "Not only is what you are doing just plain wrong, and quite possibly illegal in some way, it is sheer stupidity. You do not even recall how you acquired theses dolls, yet you wish to use them. Have you ever considered the possibility that someone else may be controlling them, or you? You can't go on like this! If not for other people's safety and well being, than for your own. "
Dr. Framley, however, seemed to be thinking differently on the matter. "I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave." he said coolly. "You may go now, or be carried out by security. The choice is yours."
Rosalind gave one last final glare at him before turning to the others, and saying" Come on, guys. Let's go. "
"Actually, I think it might be pretty cool to be carried out-"Thyme began but fell silent at the look on Rosalind's face. Even she did not dare to try to annoy her sister today.
Before they left, however, Rosalind turned to look at Dr. Framley. Not glare at, simply look at. "I shall leave now, but Dr. Framley, remember what I have said: Those dolls may seem useful now, but are they truly yours? Consider the fact that if they turn against you and endanger the lives of others, you will be remembered for it. Think about it."
And with that being said Rosalind pulled out her pocket watch and the group arrived home.