Chapter Thirty-Seven: Six Shooter

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Six Shooter was seriously peeved about not having any opportunity of sneaking away. Now he was stuck in the garden house feeding flesh-eating plants. How the hell was he suppose to wage war against Sutekh if he didn't have a proper general to lead his army? Thebothers he was't too concerned about. The formula he had taught Toulon ensured that they would obey him when the war started.

If the Retro Puppets had taken the formula they wouldn't have turned on him and destory his original body beyond repair. Young Toulon had even believed their story about his plans and decided to seek help about confining his magic and had locked him away in the trunk.

He could hear voices but was suddenly put to sleep and didn't wake up until the second world war had begun and his body had been remade. Toulon had said he would only bring him back if he agreed not to pull another stunt like that again. Six agreed and as a peace offering, decided to give him the recipe for the formula that would still bring his puppets to life but wouldn't fall under his spell like with the Retro Puppets.

Atbleast not for a while. The time was nearing when his hard work would come into play. He had snuck in half a spell when the formula was still bubbling away in Toulon's chemistry set. A spell that when hebsaid the other half would have the puppets follow his every command without question.

But he wanted Torch because he wasn't made the same way as the others were and if he was going to be the general of his army then he needed him to be under his spell as well. But Dead Toulon had made some minor changes to the original formula and the additional brains that were added to the formula made his spell ineffective. That and the animal brain he had used for Torch.

Six had to admit that he had gotten a little concerned when Sutekh's Totem had cast his magic on Torch, thinking that maybe Torch would switch over, or maybe stop working altogether. But Torch was fine, if a little hot-headed afterwards. It was made even better when Six found out mthat the others didn't really like Torch and werre actually a little afraid of him.

But then the kid had to go all motherly on him and turn him into a big baby. Now Torch had claimed himself a master and would not leave his side.

"Oh-h-h, this is gonna be hard! I need a general for my army!" he shouted, throwing a bag of seeds on the ground and kicking another off the hover pad and then tipping the mini-trunk overboard and sat down cross-legged, crossing all arms in anger. "How do I get Torch under my spell?" he growled and let out an exasperated groan and lied back.

"Perhaps if you tell me The real reason why you want Torch, I may just let you live."

Six propped himself up on his first elbows and looked around, spotting the brother emerging from the shadows.

"I was hoping more along the lines of me telling you if you let me have Torch." he grinned.

"Torch now belongs to the Kid, you're not getting him." Kokiri said and sat cross legged in the air.

"Well then, there's your answer." Six said and lied back down.

"Just because my brother couldn't get all of it out of you doesn't mean that I can't either." Kokiri said.

"What? You can read minds and force your way into one as well?" Six asked.

"Yes." Kokiri answered.

Six propped himself up and looked at Kokiri. "You can?" he asked.

"You know, there was once an old man who was just as powerful as you and thought very highly of himself. He also wanted to wage war to save his country from stagnation and tyranny. He held all the important knowledge and key parts in his head and just loved to hog special information. It made him feel important and have purpose, I guess. He also believed that the war could be won from a scared, abused little boy by sacrificing him to the enemy. But they couldn't win if he didn't share so I entered his mind and grabbed everything he knew and he didn't feel a thing. I know because while I was doing the search he was chuckling away, bragging about how he was too powerful to breach and that it was useless, no matter how much I tried. Twenty seconds was all it took to raid his mind, find the pertinent information and relay it to the fighters. The look on his face was priceless. Total confusion and bewilderment." Kokiri said.

"So, you can enter one's mind without them knowing?" Six asked.

"Yeah, although to be honest, physical contact is needed for such a thing. Mr. Spock from Star Trek gave me the idea, so credit goes to him." Kokiri said and cracked his fingers. "So, do you want me to get the info the easy way or the hard way?"

"I'm a little afraid to ask about the hard way." Six mumbled.

"Through eye contact, of course." Kokiri said.

"Eye contact?" Six repeated.

Kokiri nodded.

Six lied back and thought about his three options: Tell them the truth, have his mind read, or have it forced out of him. The Kid said he was only a drop awayfrom becoming full human and once he did he'd be eaten by the brother. But then again, maybe he wouldn't. Maybe once back in human form he could magic himself away and restart his plan from scratch.

"I'm curious, Afzel," said Kokiri.

Six sat up and turned around to face the brother.

"What do you think when we say you're about to become human? Do you imagine . . . maybe regaining your human form? Human as in flesh and bones?"

"Yeah, what else could it mean?" Six asked.

"We have a different definition for the word." Kokiri smiled. "To us, humans means greddy, selfishness and cowardice. They can be found in a lot of action movies. The main villain, once he's close to victory answers the protagonist's questions of why they did what they did, and the usual answer is always money and power. They're usually corporate owners too and will always put business before family. There are very few corporate owners who aren't human."

"So, if I do become human, I won't be?" Six asked, a little confused.

"Yep, you'd still be made of wood and wires on the outside, but inside you'd be all human. As Andre Toulon said when he spoke to Dr. Hess, it is the spirit that brings them to life. Humans do not have enough spirit to hold on after death. Neil Gallagher killed himself to gain immortality. Fear of death is also a key ingredient to being human. But I despise humans, and that Will is incorporated in my blood." Kokiri grinned.

"Oh-h-h, and your blood was in the original formula that Sutekh had and I stole." Six said, and had just remembered something else. "And is now flowing inside me as we speak!" he gasped and cursed loudly.

"Magical cores at opposite ends." Kokiri mumbled, tapping his fingertips together. "I've only seen that twice and the outcome of one was not pretty. She exploded into glittery, girly pink dust.

"Alright! Okay! I'll tell you! Just don't let me turn into glitter!" Six pleaded. "The reason I want this war is because Sutekh is not rightful owner of the power! He wasn't the only one who fell from the stars, you know!"

"We're all ears." Kokiri said.

"The second one was my great-grandfather. He was chasing Sutekh because of the formula he had stolen. He said the formula belonged to a friend of his. That it was specially made for my great-grandmother and it was the last one in stock. Sutekh thought that with the formula he could rule over a simple world. But then he gained followers and the formula was broken down to a basic component where a simpler one could be made. One that could let us control others and gain their loyalty by default with their major organs. After a few centuries, it was diluted from the original and the one I gave Andre Toulon was the one that was being used. Sutekh had diluted the formula because the original wasn't giving him a compliant army. The result was a revolutionary war that killed my father and mother, thus winning him the war. For the past 3080 years I've been trying to build an army of my own, and with the idea of bringing the inanimate to life; it was the best deal I could think of." Six finished.

"Hm, so, all this planning, this hording and waiting was just so you could avenge your parents from a war they chose to fight in, knowing they would most likely die?" Kokiri asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, that's what any child would do. Wouldn't you want to avenge your parents?" Six asked.

"I hate my parents. I've been trying to kill my mother on a yearly basis, she calls it tea time. And I just robbed my father of everything he owns." Kokiri smiled.

Six Shooter was stunned and shocked. "You tried to kill yourbown mother?" he asked.

"Yeah, they weren't my mom and dad. Mother left me to die after giving birth and father was hardly ever around and was always abusive whenever he was. My real Mom and Dad, the people who raised me, are already dead." Kokiri said. "But now, my mother is just a business parnter and my father is a dead beat with no job, no wife, no children, no nothing. And I intend to keep it that way."

"Okay, you're the dangerous one." Six said and stood up.

"Yes, I am. But the pbly time you truly have to fear me is when my brother says so, as a recent boyfriend of his found out. Kid had me rip out the heart and toy with his mind." Kokiri said. "And said to make sure it was a very painful one." he whispered, smirking.

"So he died a very painful death?" Six asked.

"Who said he died? I didn't kill him. I just removed his love for my brother and erased the memories of their time together, that's all." Kokiri said and stood on his feet and stretched. "Though you should count yourself lucky. You're now only three drops away from becoming human." he said, picking the mini trunk and bags of seeds and placed them on the hover pad. "If you don't lower your humanity level my magic is going to clash with yours." he added and left the room.

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