Author's Note: I just realized something, I forgot to warn you guys about Joltie's humor in the last chapter. Sorry about that. It's a little note that I can't always control Joltie's crazy, British humor, so you guys would probably see something like you saw in the last chapters. Once again, sorry. I was just so caught up on that-
*SPOILER ALERT*
SERENA KISSED ASH! 8D 8D 8D 8D
*END OF SPOILER ALERT*
-I forgot to give you guys the warning. Sorry. Moving on from that, here we are, the reveal of the Puppet Master. Many of you have yet to figure out who the culprit is, which is way I intended to make this chapter both suspenseful and humorous for you guys. Don't worry, this isn't the last chapter, though! There's an epilogue written by Joltie coming up after this. But until then, enjoy this chapter!
(P.S. I'm posting this chapter early because I'm posting the epilogue on Sunday. You'll find out why later.)
SHOUTOUTS-
Joshua Ketchum: Yep! Can you blame him after everything he's been through?
Omarnosian10: So close and yet so far. You'll find out who is it soon.
Steel Heart Alchemist: ...Gonna feel touch by that. Yeah, I like that song too! Well, at least the original and a few different versions of it. Personally, I don't think the "Roar" music video was that bad, unless you're talking about the clothing style. Then I can understand where you're coming from. Don't worry, there will and will always be Amourshipping for Ash! Once again, I apologize for Joltie's crazy, British humor. It wasn't my idea to put Yaoi in there! ...Have you seen May pick up a mallet in the whole Advanced Generation? Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!
R98: We're so close! Uh, to answer your question, Deadpool, I never watched your movie nor will I ever see your sequel. For one thing, I'm not even old enough to be allow to watch your movie! I think I rather stick with Spider-Man: Homecoming, thank you.
Storygirl000: Who knows what goes on in Gary's mind...
Blaze: Yeah, I think they learned their lesson. Especially Freddie.
Lightwing: Well, he was bait in the last story. So something tells me this is going to go great! *Twitches*
Darkwing: Yeah! Who doesn't love seeing a grown-man get threatened by a ten year-old?
Guest: Eh, I think his post-trauma mind made Ash not think clearly so he said some other things instead. ;)
Chapter 14
Ever since meeting the teenage sleuths, Ash realizes that three of the members love to make people, other than themselves, baits. He's beginning to wonder if it's an obsession like Shaggy and Scooby's obsession with food and Fred's obsession with traps/nets. Because after noticing he's been bait for at least two times since he met them, they have a problem with putting people in trouble as he comes to realization a little too late. Thoughts of being the bait last time didn't exactly go well for him, but that was when he was alone. Now he's just glad he has Shaggy and Scooby with him as they walk towards the Music Hall, eyes glancing around every corner.
"Ya know, kid, me and Scoob thought your world would be something awesome and modern," Shaggy speaks up in hopes to end the agonizing silence between the three of them. "And, it kind of was before this whole Puppet thing came along. Now this place is like all the creepy places we've gone too."
"Reah..." Scooby nods softly, his eyes never leaving their focused assignment.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ash apologized, even though none of this was his fault. "Weird things always happen to me on a daily basis." He suddenly chuckles. "Hey, now that I think about, it's the same thing for you guys."
This makes the two chuckle as well. "Like, yep! Maybe we're cursed to be jinx wherever we go." Shaggy jokes, making the three of them laugh.
"Rad ruck wherever we ro!" Scooby adds in, sending another chorus of laughter between them.
"I-I don't think we're that bad, you guys." Ash says, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "I mean, we haven't seen the Puppet Master or the hypnotized civilians yet, so I think we're-"
Their nonchalant banter suddenly died as they hear moans coming from behind, freezing them in their tracks with their bodies stiffening. The undeniable fear and irony is coursing through their veins, but they didn't dare look behind them. At least, not yet.
"L-Like, dude, p-please tell me you didn't just jinxed us!" Shaggy whispers fearfully to Ash, who didn't respond. Out of all the times he had to jinx his friends...
Finally the three of them dared themselves to slowly turn around, and it was probably one of the biggest mistakes they've made in their entire lives. Waves of hypnotized civilians are surrounding them from the path they were coming from, the most horrible version of no-turning-back-now. Hesitantly, Scooby leans closer to the two humans and whispers, "He jinxed us..."
"Scooby!" The Great Dane just shrugs his shoulders. He was just being honest.
Suddenly the hypnotized civilians begin to make their way over to the three, slowly and clumsy-like, almost like the zombies that reminded two cowards of Zombie Island. And that thought made the two of them launch onto each other tightly with their teeth chattering like crazy.
"L-Like, k-kid?" Shaggy speaks up, his stutter almost making it impossible for normal people to understand. "I think now might be a good time to start singing!"
"G-Getting to that, Shaggy!" Ash stutters back. "B-But it's kind of hard to sing when there's like a thousand people coming towards you!"
"JUST SING!"
The boy flinch at the loud voices his two, grown-up friends produced at him. He personally didn't blame them, though, they tend to due crazy things when they panic. Then again, they always do crazy things in general, so why should he be so surprised anyway?
Taking a deep, Ash walks towards the large group of citizens. Shaggy and Scooby remained behind, hoping and praying that this plan goes well. The hypnotized citizens ceased their saunter in confusion. What is this boy doing? Why isn't he afraid? The Master said they should be-
"I'm stuck in your head
I'm back from the dead
Got you runnin' scared
I'm fearless..."
The hypnotized citizens falter, that voice... It sounds just as soothing as the Master's own music, but it sounds... More genuine, more pure. While the Puppet Master's music didn't have a specific emotion, this boy's voice did. The emotions actually match the lyrics to the song that he's sing. At that point, everyone of them became frozen so they can listen to this wonderful voice.
Seeing the hypnotized crowd froze and their eyes flickering between turning back to normal and remaining their dull looks, Shaggy and Scooby took slow steps forward until they were right besides Ash. However, they still didn't drop their grips around each other, just in case they might need to scream again.
"I'm callin' you out
I'm takin' you down
Don't you come around
I'm fearless, I'm fearless!"
At the end of that final note, everyone in the crowd blink and their eyes have finally return to normal. They began to murmur among themselves, asking things like, "What the heck happened?", "Where are my parents?", or "Where's my gaming console?!" All in all, though, it's better than seeing them as mindless zombies that likes to torture them with their slow walks.
A laugh of relief escapes Shaggy's throat. "Like, dude, you did it!"
"I did?" The whole time Ash had kept his eyes closed, not even daring himself to look at those empty eyes in fear of what he might recognized. However, hearing the sounds of confused mutterings and Shaggy and Scooby cheering made him open his eyes. Seeing the startled, but life-like eyes glancing around the area made all of his worries vanished instantly. A huge grin spread across his face, "Hey, I did it!"
Suddenly, Ash felt his feet lift off the ground when Shaggy picks him up by the waist and swings him around as he and Scooby do the Do-Si-Do dance. At first he was startled, but begins to laugh along with the two once he realizes this is just their own silly way of celebrating. However, the crowd before them didn't know that this was normal for them so they can only stare at the young man dancing with a strange creature with a young boy in his arms.
A soft melody promptly fills the air, making everyone froze. Shaggy and Scooby, however, were still in joyful mood and they didn't notice the familiar melody when Ash suddenly slackens in Shaggy's hold. The two stop their merry celebration as soon as the melody hit their ears. Although it didn't effect them, the other people already have their eyes becoming blank as they fall back under the control of that melody. Pretty soon, Ash's own eyes started to glaze over.
"Zoinks!" At once, Shaggy quickly put his free hand over one of the boy's ears with Scooby using his paw to cover the other ear. "Like, you gotta block it out, dude!"
"Reah!" Scooby nods, pressing his paw tightly against Ash's ears in hopes it could help block out the sound. While they have seen, first-hand, of what Ash's willpower can be like, they didn't want to take any chances of him being traumatized once again to lose his focus.
Ash's eyes remain blank for a few seconds before he closes them with a small moan and a shake of his head. "Next time... Do that faster..." He groans, his eyes opening to reveal his shiny amber orbs.
The two cowards sigh in relief as they remove their hand/paw away from the boy's head. That was too close for comfort.
"Oh, I'm afraid they won't be doing that again anytime soon, Baseball Head..." The three of them stiffen. Oh no...
The crowd of hypnotized people begin to disperse at the middle, allowing a certain animatronic to walk through them. "They won't be doing anything once I'm done with them..."
The three whimper as they held onto each other tightly while staring at the Puppet Master in fear. They notice some changes, however; no longer did she stood rigid like a robot under control, she actually now has the posture of a normal, regal woman. Not only that, her voice sounded more human. Granted, it still has the effect of a robot that's talking, but now they can hear a more feminine side to it.
But that didn't change the fact that they're still terrified of her!
Shaggy gulps and gives a nervous smile. "A-Actually, M-Ms. R-Robot, t-there is one thing that me and Scooby are going to do with Ash... WHICH IS GETTING THE HECK AWAY FROM YOU!"
The next thing the Puppet Master knew, she was staring at the dust versions of those three idiots before they disappeared. It took only a few seconds for her mind to process that they're now running as far away from her as they can. She growls before going after them, leaving her hypnotized puppets alone in the streets. If only she brought them with her...
Ash wrap his arms tightly around Scooby as the Great Dane runs through the streets with Shaggy at the speed of a cheetah. Although he didn't like this sort of predicament, he knew that Shaggy and Scooby are more faster than him and he needed to find someone way to keep up with them. Especially since he can hear the Puppet Master's horrible shrieking coming behind them.
"Like, in here!" Shaggy shouts when they finally reach the Music Hall. He and Scooby push through the doors with a force of a bull, or a Taurus in Ash's case, before they continue their cheetah speed jog. However, the Puppet Master might have beaten them in the Tackle Game as she ripped the doors off during her charge. This only makes Shaggy and Scooby scream louder and run faster, making Ash grip him tighter.
"Come back, Baseball Boy!" The Puppet Master hollers from behind them. "I promise I won't hurt you and your weird friends... Much!"
"Okay, there's three people I know who probably won't believe that either, and WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT?!" Ash screamed.
"Like, did she just called us "weird"?" Shaggy asks Scooby, both not looking all that offended but a little confused.
It didn't take long for them to reach the theater, probably because Shaggy and Scooby are excelling the speed limit of a Flying Pokémon. The burst through the doors, their eyes meeting total darkness but they still kept moving forward. Once they have found the hiding spot they were looking for, they hid and wait with trepidation for the Puppet Master to show up.
The Puppet Master growls as she enters the theater. Apparently she's forgotten to check on this place and now the lights have automatically turned off and they look like they're not turning on anytime soon. Does she have to do everything in this place? Her purple eyes suddenly flash on, a ray of purple light shining through the area like her own personal flashlight. She uses this new ability to guide her way through the dark area of the theater.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She calls out, her eyes scanning across the seats in the audience as she makes her way to the stage. "I promise, I will only hypnotize you, Baseball Head, and turn your friends into marionettes... After I throttle your throats..." She adds the last one in a whisper, believing that they couldn't hear her. But they did, with Ash putting both of his hands over his mouth so that he can keep his whimpering down.
The Puppet Master had made her way through the audience and is now on the stage. Her glowing eyes flash across the polish floors, searching for any sign of those three. So far, she got nothing, after glancing through the curtains and prop sets the Puppet Master was about to leave for backstage, her eyes accidentally flash to the orchestra box.
She pauses. Wait a second...
She turns her eyes back to the orchestra box, and there they are. All huddle up against each other as they try to lower their heads from view, but that was as far as they can go. "Zoinks..." Shaggy whimpers when the light nearly blinds his eyes.
The Puppet Master cackles, her no-longer-robotic voice sending shivers down their spines as she slowly makes her way over to them. Torturing them with the waiting anticipation that they're goners. The two cowards try to sandwich Ash in-between them so he didn't have to look at the Puppet Master, but the boy still had a clear view of the animatronic's clown-like smile.
They're goners...
Or so the Puppet Master thought.
"Hey, Ugly!"
The Puppet Master snaps her head up at the rafters, trying to find that other person in the shadows. Who has the nerve to call her-?! Three bright lights are suddenly flash in her face, cancelling out her own little light since these were so bright. She couldn't see anything, and it started to hurt her eyes. She tries to bring her hands up to cover the light in someway, but she still couldn't see anything but white.
"Spotlight's on you, Hag!" Apparently, Serena, Pikachu, Clemont, Bonnie, and Dedenne have position themselves on the rafters where they were waiting for their cue for the three to lead the Puppet Master onto the stage so they can shine the stage-lights at her to blind her. A certain someone thought it might be okay to turn her lights on at full blast. A couple of guesses to know who that is.
The clown-like animatronic growls, she recognizes those voices. The two spoiled brats! If they're here, then that means the one wearing the glasses isn't far behind. She begins to back up, trying to get away from the light, but the kids lead the light so that it follows her to wherever she moves. Oh, once she gets her robotic arms on them, she's gonna-!
She fails to notice that she passed by a certain Blonde who is hiding behind the curtains, waiting for the perfect moment.
"Not yet, not yet..." He tells the person on the walkie-talkie. When he sees the Puppet Master's skirt over the red-X that's placed, he moves his arm like a signal. "Now!"
The next thing the Puppet Master knew, the floor underneath her disappeared. She gasps as gravity took a hold of her, sending her down a seemly endless abyss. Using her sharp fingers, the Puppet Master try to keep a grip on the edge. But the polish floors became too slippery, even for her fingers, and fell down the abyss with a horrible shriek.
"Got her!" Velma shouts as she and Daphne reveal themselves from their hiding spot in the box seats, each holding push buttons in their hands. Hearing that the coast is clear, everyone came out of their spots; Shaggy and Scooby help Ash up from the orchestra box, Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont have move away from the stage-lights with bright smiles on their faces when they see the trapdoor of where the Puppet Master was standing is open. Taku moves out from the curtains on the other side with a smile on his face when he hears the shouts and cursing coming from the trapdoor, along with the sounds of metal clashing against each other.
"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena calls down to the raven-haired boy after seeing he has his head in a hand.
"Yeah!" He replies. "Brain's slightly goopy from the music, but I'll be fine!"
Hearing that, almost everyone currently present in the room, minus Ash, turn to glare at the three members of Mystery Inc. Daphne put her hands up in a surrender position. "Hey, the plan worked, didn't it?" She asks as she presses the button in her hand.
Sounds of gears running and the Puppet Master's grumbling becoming louder are being produced from the trapdoor. Then a large, metal cage came rising out of the abyss, the Puppet Master trapped inside it. Her mood completely sour as her sharp hands are around the bars, but she couldn't budge them no matter what. Curse you, metal!
Suddenly the doors that lead to the theater are burst open, startling them all. "What in the world is going on, here?!" Officer Jenny demands as she and two of her cadets march down the audience aisle. "Me and my men came to the Music Hall and manage to find all the criminals in one spot!" She then notices a familiar trio. "You! Oh, you're going to be washing the bathrooms once I get your butts back in-!"
"Officer Jenny, wait!" Ash calls, he and his friends, who somehow got down from the rafters quickly, running in front of the three, frightened teenagers and spread their arms out in a protective stance. "It wasn't their fault!"
"Yeah, they were being hypnotized!" Bonnie adds in.
"Hypnotized?" Officer Jenny tilted her head in confusion. "B-But, how is that-?"
"We can explain that, Officer," Freddie says, stepping around the children and moving over to the cage. "But, first, let's find out who's behind all of this!"
The Puppet Master reels back when Freddie's hand goes through the bars to reach for the button that would deactivate her faceplates. No, no! She won't let them win! She's the one that's suppose too-! Her thoughts turn blank when Clemont somehow snuck-up on her and press the button. The faceplates sprung open with a loud snap, revealing the face of...
"Amanda Miller?!" Everyone cries out in shock once they see the familiar, yet ruined, brown-hair that's no longer in a pony-tail and the tired green eyes glaring at them. Dang it!
"Amanda?" Taku asked softly, completely horrified that someone he knew so well has turn their back on him once again.
"Now it all makes sense," Velma realizes, missing the horrified look on Taku's face. "There's only one person who knows their way around the Music Hall is the Host of the Creative Arts Festival. Being the host, Amanda would be given access to all areas so she can look them over, or use them to her advantage. Which is how she knew where to find us in the sewers."
"She must have heard about the legend of how the Puppet Master was made and the creator going crazy, so she decided to use the Puppet Master as her disguise so everyone would believe that the creator is still haunting the animatronic." Daphne continues.
"It was pretty convincing," Freddie admitted, before turning back to the exhausted philanthropist with a smirk. "Before we realized that the creator didn't exactly had a money obsession when she was alive..."
"That was a pretty dead giveaway." Bonnie adds with a laugh, Dedenne laughing along.
Velma then walks right in front of the immobilized Amanda. "What I am curious to know about is why you're so obsessed with money. Aren't you suppose to be a philanthropist?"
"You think I don't know that?!" The so-called-philanthropist snaps, her voice now all husky and exhausted. "It's not easy being a philanthropist, alright?! When I finally earned enough, I was going to use it all for me. But no, my mom thought it would be a good idea to spend it all on some "good-ol-chairty work"! By the time she stopped messing with my business, I barely had enough to sustain myself!"
"So you devised this whole scheme just so you can earn the money you lost, possibly making more." Velma summarizes. "You decided to hypnotize many people to take the blame so no one can suspect it was you, thus giving you the chance to continue your work."
"Not to mention trying to con Ash's Uncle to give you all of his money just for his nephew's sake!" Serena shouts , waving a fist at the brunette. A part of her deeply wishes to pound this woman to oblivion, but she can't exactly do that with everyone currently present in the room, especially Ash.
Shaggy then asks a question that's been implanted in his brain for a while. "But, like, wait, wasn't Amanda also hypnotized? She was with us when everyone got hypnotized at the show."
"Did you guys actually see her with everyone else?" Daphne asks with a raise-eyebrow.
This makes the hippie shuffle his feet uncomfortably. "Uh, no. Not exactly. But, like, her voice sounded all dopey when she was announcing everyone had to leave."
"She probably was acting that part out, once again trying to drive suspicion off herself." Velma explains.
The next question came from one of the cadets. "Um, how did she hypnotized everyone, by the way?"
"I can explain, officer." Taku says, shaking out of his horrified taking the music box out of the Puppet Master's sharp hands. "With this music box. If I remember correctly, Amanda has a Master Degree in audio tones, not to mention she has both a Drowzze and Hypno for her team. I'll bet she used her Pokémon's hypnotic sounds and amplified them to make it sound like it's actual music, while giving her the ability to hypnotize anyone who hears it."
"Too bad she didn't realize that her Music Box doesn't work on people who are tone-deaf, like my big brother." Clemont looks down to glare at his little sister, once again for criticizing his singing abilities. Ash, Pikachu, and Serena had to cover their mouths to stiffen their giggles.
"Uh, one more question." Shaggy speaks up, eyeing the disconnected animatronic with weary eyes. "L-Like, how did Amanda get that thing to change from a creepy animatronic, to a more terrifying and twisted version of Five Night's At Freddy's Puppet?!"
Not understanding what he meant by that last part, Freddy figures out what the hippie is trying to say and grabs Amanda by the arm and helps her out of the animatronic. "You might want to get out of that thing, for a bit." When the officers manage to detained the former philanthropist, Freddy walks back to the Puppet Master and presses a button on her top lip. In an instant, the Puppet Master change into her horrifying form with sounds of locks snapping. Seeing it so suddenly, Shaggy and Scooby made a swan-dive behind the kids.
"It's the springlocks," Velma begins. "Apparently, the Puppet Master, or Marion Etta, was originally used for a Horror Attraction by the Fazbear Company, but Henery Fazbear thought she was too scary and changed up her appearance. The springlocks inside her not only allows the person to wear her, but keep her true form hidden by everyone else. Once the springlocks are release, there's no point in hiding anymore."
"M-Man, t-that's just like S-Springtrap and the P-Purple Guy!" Shaggy whimpers from his place behind Ash and Serena.
"...Still don't know what that means..." Bonnie sighs.
Officer Jenny takes one last study of the deformed animatronic before turning her steely glare at Amanda, who is trembling slightly at the sight of the policewoman. "Oh, you're going to be in jail for a long time, Millers." The cadets then begin to drag the philanthropist away, Jenny following behind them. "Some of my best-men were a part of your hypnotic crazed!"
Amanda growls while on the inside she's completely terrified. She can't go to jail! She won't last one minute in their poor conditions! Noticing a familiar raven-haired boy at the corner of her eyes, Amanda instantly remembers how Taku said the boy is kind to all and won't hesitate to feel sympathy to them. While, she admits, that they got off into a bad start, she's still gonna try.
"Wait, wait, wait! Ash!" Ash jumps in surprise when Amanda somehow got her arm free and is now gripping his hand tightly, the cadets trying to pull her off him but she still kept a firm grip. "Look Ash, I know the two of us don't exactly know each other very well, and we got off to a horrible start! B-But, I know your family very well! You're not gonna let them lock me away, right? You're too nice for that!"
For a moment, it looked like Ash was actually considering letting Amanda Millers go, even after all she's done to him. He looks to his three friends for help, but all they gave him were wide expressions. They actually couldn't believe that Ash is even considering it! When they finally gave their responses, they just shook their head ferociously, mouthing the word "No" with great emphasis.
He then looks at Pikachu, who was staring at him wide eyes before shaking his head just as ferociously. No way on Earth is he going to let his Pika-Pi anywhere near that lady ever again!
Finally coming to a conclusion, Ash gave Amanda a gentle smile and tenderly holds her hand in both of his hands. "Amanda..."
The former philanthropist could feel jumping-jacks going on in her stomach. It worked! It actually-!
"...have you ever consider how you'd fair in captivity?"
What?
"W-What?" Amanda stutters, Ash's gentle face now turning into a devious smirk. Seeing what he's actually doing, his friends could feel their chuckles almost escaping. Shaggy and Scooby didn't even bother hiding their chuckles, while the rest are smiling with a hint of amusement.
"Ya know, captivity." Ash shrugs his shoulders like they're talking about something simple like the weather. "The word that means, I don't know, you get detain. The kind where you're locked away from everyone else, you get the fear of never seeing the sun again, not being able to see your family or friends again. The kind where you get gagged!" At that last part, Ash dropped his friendly act and glares at the former philanthropist.
Amanda's jaw drops while the children could hardly contain their chuckles anymore. Ash then went back to his friendly exterior, giving her a smile that almost made her shiver. "You wanna what I think? I don't think you could last one minute in captivity. I hope you prove me wrong. But..." He gets his hand out of her grip and leans in closer to give her a smirk. "I doubt you will."
Finally, the children couldn't hold it any longer and burst into a fit of laughter. "H-HE SASSED YOU!" Bonnie gasps out, falling to the ground and kicking her little feet up in the air. Clemont had to lift up his glasses to whip his tears while Serena had to grab Ash's arm for support.
Amanda could only gap when she realized her own words were thrown right back at her, by a ten year-old, no less! She starts to throw a fit when the cadets resume their hold on her and begin to drag her off the stage.
Shaking off her laughter, Serena walks up to Ash until she was side-by-side with him. Noticing the emotionless expression on his face, she asks, "You okay, Ash?"
He knew what Serena was asking. How is he going to cope with another person betraying his family's trust? To be fair, Peggy's betrayal affected him greatly and clouded his mind when he thought Stan did the exact same thing. However, seeing his uncle's former business partner being dragged away, he realized he didn't feel anything at all.
"I think so, Serena," Ash answered, giving the honey-blonde girl the grin that she adores. "Beside, Amanda's right, I hardly knew her like I did with Peggy. So there's really nothing for me to feel about her."
Serena could feel herself smiling. The old, cheerful Ash is coming back!
Unfortunately, a certain culprit decided to ruin the moment with her shrill shriek. "AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO, IF IT WEREN'T FOR MEDDLING KIDS AND THAT OLD BILLIONAIRE!"
"HE'S A MILLIONAIRE!" A chorus of shouts came from the stage, and that was the last thing Amanda heard before she was carted off.