Everyone rushed out of the house as Stine held the door open.
"We better hurry. The sooner we get the typewriter, the sooner we can end this." The writer reminded.
Lorraine got into the front passenger seat with Slappy climbing onto her lap with a copy of Bride of the living dummy in his grip. Hannah and Champ rushed into the backseats. Zach was about to climb in.
"Zach?"
Zach heard the voice of his mother. Everyone turned to see her at the front of the Cooper house. Lorraine and Slappy quickly ducked out of Mrs Cooper's sight. Lorraine did not tell her sister what she was doing at Stine's house and she did not know about Slappy either.
"Oh, mom." Zach got out of the car.
"Where are you guys going?" Mrs Cooper asked out of curiosity as she came over. "Don't you have study group here?"
Zach tried to think of an explanation. His mother knew about the monster invasion, but he did not want her to panic about the idea of another one.
"We do." Zach started. "It's just that-"
"We left our books at school!" Hannah came up with a lie, poking her head out the car window.
Zach and his mother turned to look at the car. Zach wondered what Hannah was doing.
"Yeah, we're going back to get them!" Champ added, smiling to avoid any suspicion.
Mrs Cooper raised an eyebrow with her hands on her hips.
"Can't you just get them tomorrow?" She questioned, wondering why they would be going back to school an hour after it ended.
"I insisted on it Mrs Cooper." Stine came over to the scene. "And the school should be open until eight tonight because of music class rehearsal."
The kids watched as Mrs Cooper took Stine's explanation into account. The woman just shrugged.
"Okay then. Try not to stay out for too long, Zach; we're having pizza for dinner." Mrs Cooper explained before walking back to her house.
"Bye, Mrs Cooper." Hannah and Champ called from the backseat.
Zach turned neck to get in the car with his fake smile fading into a look of guilt. Stine got in the driver's seat and started the car. After pulling out of the driveway, Lorraine got back up in her seat with Slappy back in her lap. Lorraine turned to Stine.
"I hope she didn't see me." She spoke in a relived tone.
"How come?" Hannah asked from the back.
"I didn't tell her that I was going to your house today."
"That and she doesn't know about me." Slappy added as he started reading the book in his hands.
"It's better if she doesn't." Zach responded with unintentional rudeness.
Slappy ignored the boy and flipped through the books pages; looking for the ones with him and Mary Ellen.
"The typewriter's still in the display case right?" Champ asked from his seat.
"Hopefully." Stine answered with his eyes on the road. "If luck stays on our side, we'll be one step ahead of Mary Ellen."
"We'll be one step ahead of Mary Ellen."
Mary Ellen watched the moving car through a crystal ball; held in front of her by an old witch. The doll let out a light grumble as she stepped back.
"We'll see about that, ya big nerd." She growled into the crystal like Stine could hear her.
Mary Ellen turned to look at her monster gang; consisting of six frighting creatures at the moment.
A knight in coal black armour holding a sharp sword on a dark horse; both of them with red glowing eyes. A six and a half foot tall gorilla with the wings of a vampire bat. A group of growling ghost dogs. A supervillain in dark purple body armour and a mask covering his face. And an old witch dressed completely in black. And the Beast from the East.
Mary Ellen eyed each one of her monsters, examining their appearances and thinking of what they could do to please her.
"You." She pointed to the knight.
The armoured monster looked down at the doll; awaiting command.
"Go find them and stop them from getting to the school." Mary Ellen instructed. "But bring Slappy back here."
The knight nodded in response. His horse dashed out of the scrapyard as he pointed his blade forward. The doll smiled as she put her hands together.
"Anything for us?" The masked villain asked, sounding like he did not really care.
"We'll see." Mary Ellen answered back.
The doll looked towards a book that was still on the ground. She opened six already and there was only one left. Mary Ellen picked up her hammer and looked down at the book; reading the title on the worn out label.
"Slappy's nightmare."
Mary Ellen smiled as she played with her hammer.
"Let's see what really scares you, my darling Slappy."
With a grant, Mary Ellen pounded her hammer against the lock of the final manuscript. The other monsters stepped back as the doll shattered the lock. When she finished, Mary Ellen took a step back. The book busted opened and its pages quickly turned. A cold wind blew as light and ink emerged and took a form. Like Slappy and Mary Ellen, the figure that took form was small. But it was a quarter of an inch taller than Slappy and a lot taller than Mary Ellen. When the ink was gone and the light faded, the figure could be seen clearly.
This monster was another dummy. Unlike Slappy, this one was wearing plain clothes like a red flannel shirt, blue denim jeans and white sneakers. His face had light freckles painted on it and his nose was a little big. He had realistic hair on top of his wooden head, coloured in reddish-brown. The dummy opened his bright green eyes; quickly looking around his new surroundings.
"Where the heck am I!?" He questioned rather loudly.
The other monsters kept their distance from the rowdy dummy. Mary Ellen sat on the hood of a broken down station wagon with her legs crossed.
"Cool your jets, carrot top. You're in a junkyard." The doll explained, not sounding like she really cared.
The red headed dummy gave the doll a questionable look.
"And you are?"
"Name's Mary Ellen." She introduced herself, looking at her fingernails. "I let you out of your stinkin' book. You're welcome."
The red headed dummy raised an eyebrow as he looked towards the other monsters. He looked back at Mary Ellen; eyebrow still raised.
"Did you free those guys too?" He questioned.
"Yeah, I did." The doll answered back. "And before you ask me anymore questions, I have one for you."
Mary Ellen changed her seating position on the hood; hanging her head upside down on the edge.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" She questioned, smiling in an upside down grin.
The red headed dummy loosened up a little; not completely relaxed but trusting.
"Wally." The dummy answered unemotionally. "Wally Wood."
"Well, Wally." Mary Ellen sat back up. "I have an offer you won't refuse. Are you familiar with a shmuck called R.L Stine?"
Wally remembered who Stine was. But the memory of him was a bit faded.
"Vaguely." Wally replied.
"Well, me and my associates are getting revenge." Mary Ellen further explained. "We're gonna get back at him for sealing us away. We'll get rid of that dumb writer and I'll have my darling, Slappy."
Wally's eyebrows narrowed down at the mention of Slappy.
"Did you just say, Slappy?" The dummy questioned, his voice rising in anger.
Mary Ellen looked to the right of her; taking back by Wally's sudden mood swing.
"Yes?" She answered back.
With that, Wally charged at a rusty car and kicked it. He grunted as he did so. The other monsters took a step back at the dummy's bipolar behaviour. Wally looked back up at Mary Ellen.
"That little runt! He stabbed me in the back!" He shouted with his fist tightened. "If I ever get my hands on him, I'll-"
"Now, now; there's no need for that." Mary Ellen rushed over to Wally; shushing him. "I sent someone to take care of everything."
The doll lead Wally over to the witch with the crystal ball.
"Vanessa, show our friend what's going on." Mary Ellen asked of the witch.
The witch lowered the cloudy crystal ball as it began to clear up; showing Stine and the group in his station wagon.
Slappy flicked through the last two pages of the book he was reading. After finishing, he closed it and looked up at his creator.
"I'm finished, Papa." He announced.
Lorraine looked down at Slappy while the kids listened in. Stine looked over to the puppet for a second before turning back to the road.
"So what do you think?" The writer asked, wondering what Slappy had to say about their foe.
Slappy put the book up to his chin in thought.
"Well, first of all..."
Without warning, the puppet hit Stine in his side with the book. Stine flinched at the hit, but he kept control of the car. Lorraine and the teens looked at the scene with wide eyes.
"Why'd you make me interested in girls!?" Slappy narrowed his eyebrows at his creator. "That's just wrong on so many levels!"
"Well, at least it made people scared of you." Stine argued.
Slappy ignored Stine's last word. While the puppet was a bit disturbed by the premise of the book in general, he hid it well.
"As for this Mary Ellen character, I'd say she makes me look decent." The puppet expressed his opinion.
"She might be a lot more dangerous." Hannah added.
"She is." Stine answered to his daughter. "She might not be as smart as Slappy, but she's a lot more aggressive."
Slappy looked at Stine with a raised eyebrow; trying not to looked flattered by the writers comparison.
"Why did you create her anyway?" Lorraine asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah, one evil toy should've been enough." Zach added, getting an icy glare from Slappy.
Everyone but Champ(he was looking out the back window) watched Stine as he tried to explain.
"Well..." The writer began. "I didn't mean to create another monster. I was actually trying-"
"Oh my God!"
Stine was cut short by Champ. Zach and Hannah looked at him as he stared out the back window. Champ looked back at everyone with a look of fear in his eyes.
"There's a big armoured guy following us on a horse!" The awkward teen panicked.
Zach and Hannah looked at each other in confusion before looking out the window. A knight in black armour with a long sword chased after the car on a black horse with glowing red eyes. Lorraine and Slappy looked out their window to see the creature. They quickly turned to Stine.
"Go faster!" They both shouted in unison.
Stine could see the speeding knight in the drivers' mirror. He did as he was told, but the knight was gaining on the car. The knight raised his sword as he charged. The teens watched in terror as he got closer and closer. Zach and Hannah tried to stay calm, but Champ was having a massive panic attack. The knight got up on his horse and stood up when he was inches behind the car. Zach and Hannah watched as the armoured monster jumped off his horse. Slappy and Champ blinked when they saw the horse without a rider.
"Where'd he go?" The puppet questioned.
"He's on the roof!" Champ continued panicking as he heard heavy footsteps from above.
Without warning, a blade plunged through the roof of the car. Everyone watched in fear while Stine only glanced nervously and tried to shake the monster off. The blade sliced through the middle and pulled back. Then metal fingers slipped through and pulled the roof apart; revealing the monster.
Lorraine and the kids stared with horror at the Knight's glowing red eyes showing through his helmet. Stine tried to shake the monster off, but he kept his grip. The knight looked towards the front passenger seat; eyeing Lorraine and Slappy.
"The queen must have her King." The knight spoke in a deep metallic voice.
The armoured monster quickly reached in and grabbed Slappy by the collar.
"Let me go!" The puppet screamed as the knight pulled him up.
Lorraine quickly grabbed onto Slappy and pulled him back; starting a game of tug-of-war with the knight. Zach, Hannah and Champ grabbed onto Slappy as well while Stine tried to shake him off of the roof. Slappy struggled against the grip of the knight; getting irritated at the feeling of being pulled like a rope.
"I SAID LET ME GO!"
Slappy threw his arm up and smacked the knight across his masked face, turning his helmet backwards. The knight let go of Slappy and held his head; stunned by the sudden blindness. Stine rapidly turned the steering wheel to the right; making the car skid and making the blind knight loss balance. He fell backwards off of the roof and fell to the black pavement of the road. Zach, Hannah and Champ watched the fallen knight from the back window; watching as he shrunk in size because of distance.
"Is he following us?" Stine asked, getting his driving under control.
"No, He's not getting back up." Hannah answered.
"What was that!?" Zach questioned.
"I think that was the Knight in Screaming Armour." Champ answered, shaken by the experience.
Slappy growled at the mention of the fiend that tried to abduct him. He felt his collar, adjusting it.
"That armoured clod almost ruined my suit!" The puppet complained.
"If Mary Ellen released the knight, who knows what else she has at her disposal." Stine feared of what Mary Ellen could do.
"But why did he try and grab Slappy?" Lorraine questioned towards the actions of the knight.
"That crazy doll might have told him to do it." Slappy theorised. "Being King would be great, but not if she's the queen."
Stine sighed briefly.
"Like I said, she's not as smart as you but she's still dangerous." The writer explained. "As long as she doesn't know where we're going, or what we're doing, it should be fine."
AN: I wanted to include Zach's mother. Because I want to use her for a future scene. And I thought of how Slappy might react if he ever read one of his books. XD He would not be pleased.
And uh oh; Look who's come to join the party!
