Chapter Fifty-Two: Battle Ended/Surprise
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At the start of the battle . . . .
Chug Yamazaki was finishing up the final touches on Torch's new body when his phone buzzed. He picked it up, smiled and sent a quick reply back then went back to fixing Torch.
"Who was that?" Torch asked.
"A brother I adopted about forty years ago." Chug answered. "I asked him if he could help us with Six Shooter. He knows Mind Magic very well." Chug answered and grabbed the last tool he needed. "All done. Would you like to see yourself?"
Torch nodded and stood up. His legs shook a moment before he fell back down. He stood up again, more slowly this time to get a feel of his new posture. He staggered a bit before falling back down again and looked at his master.
"You're a four legged drake, remember? You walk on all fours now, not two." Chug chuckled, helped him stand up properly. "There you go, now, try taking a few steps."
Torch tensed up when master removed his hands to let him stand on his own but tried to take his first step like master asked. He thought back to the times when he used to run around on all fours by himself and tried it that way. He raised one front leg and moved it forward, lost his balance and stumbled the rest of the way down the desk. Master caught him before he fell over.
"Come on, you have to keep trying if you want to help your brothers in the field and show yourself off." Chug said with a chuckle and assisted Torch for a couple of minutes before Torch finally walked on his own.
"There you go, that's my wee bairn."
Torch wagged his tail in happiness, glad that his master still called him his wee bairn. He practiced some more and an hour later he was running, jumping and trotting around the room.
Chug was laughing at his antics and patted his lap for Torch to come. Torch came over and jumped into his lap, panting.
"Here, I made this for you so that the others will know it's you and not harm you." he said, and let Torch sniff at the little dark blue collar that had a shiny gold, rounded-rectangular tag on it. There were five bold letters on it and Torch saw that it was his name. "Lift your head for me so I can put it on." Chug said wrapped it around Torch's neck and clicked it in place, adjusted the size so it wasn't too tight but not too loose either and scratched Torch's head. He lifted him up from under the arms and brought him close to his face. "That's my boy." he cooed and nuzzled noses with him. Torch closed his eyes and trilled.
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Six Shooter rubbed his eyes and looked at the newcomer again, not believing what he was seeing. "Grand-pappy?" he asked, walking over.
"Good Lord, what the blazes happened in here?" the newcomer asked and spotted a six armed grinning cowboy walking towards him, chuckling a villain's chuckle, pointed his stick at it and mumbled something.
Six Shooter stopped when the newcomer pointed his stick and heard the others' gasps.
"Hmm, Afzel. Not the one I'm looking for." the newcomer said and raised his stick at the others to repeat his process but stopped when the words over the six armed cowboy changed to that of Six Shooter. "Six Shooter. So, you're the one the kid wants me to see." He put his wand away and had a look around the room.
"Hang on a minute, I'll get to you in a second." he said and brought out his phone and started texting. Or he was making a call. "Kid, I'm here in what appears to be a wreck room. It's a complete mess. You've got these . . . things stuck in peanut butter paste and jello and the whole room is covered in flame retardant dust. What do you want me to do?" he asked, looking around at the room again and located others that were strategically placed around the room where they wouldn't be covered in the dust.
"You want me to what? . . . A puppet? . . . Not puppets? . . . Really? How interesting. . . . Alright, but I may have to relocate to another room. This one is just too messy and I stand out like a sore thumb. I'm going blind from the brightness." he said with a laugh. "Yes, . . . Oh, one of your megs was going after one of your little drakes so I zapped it. . . . Seems like an odd request, but I'll do it. I'll see you later, bye." His phone beeped and he put it back in his pocket and took out his wand again.
The little puppets watched as he waved his little stick in the air, mumbled something under his breath and thrusted it towards the broken meg. A second later some rope came out of the stick and wrapped itself around the meg, tied itself tight. The newcomer walked over to it and picked it up.
"Now, I don't know what the kid is pulling, but he said you're to go back to the attic room and I'm supposed to follow because I have no idea where he is." he said addressing the room. He watched as five puppet looking figurines and the little drake walk over to the open doors and lead the way up to the attic room.
"What do you suppose the brothers are doing bringing another stranger here and revealing us to him?" Jester whispered.
"I don't know. Who knows what goes on in those brains of theirs." Blade said, not bothering to whisper.
"Why'd you call him grand-pappy, Six?" Tunneler asked.
"Because he looks just like my great-grandfather. Every detail. The black cape, or robe, I think, the little stick, black eyes, pale complexion. But his voice is most memorable. A deep baritone that when he spoke in a seductive manner, the ladies would just swoon head over heels. So my mother and grandmother told me." Six answered.
"Head over heels, huh? I'd like to see if he can seduce the brother." Pinhead chuckled.
"Why would he be seducing the brother?" Blade asked, hearing his brothers snickering. "No, really, why? If this new guy knows the kid, then he's got to know the brother as well." he said.
"Fair point. But if he didn't know the brother, do you think he'd try to seduce him?" Jester asked, grinning his mischievous grin.
"I don't see why not. The brother does look like-" Blade stopped and slapped Jester with his hat who started laughing. "It's not like that!" he said, making the others laugh even more.
They continued to make jokes on Blade, never minding the newcomer behind them. Torch kept looking back at him though, wondering if this was the 'dopted brother Master was talking about. If he was and he was Six Shooter's grand-pappy, then they might no longer have to be under the will of some master who would use them as weapons, or put on lame shows for the others to perform in for money, or abandon them again. They'd be a proper family.
If this was Six Shooter's grand-pappy and the 'dopted brother was related to Master through 'doption, . . . . Torch snorted and shook his head trying to figure things out on his own.
Jester stopped and looked at Torch who seemed to be having some kind of attack. "Torch, are you ok?" he asked, walking over to calm him down.
"Is that really Torch?" Six asked.
"Yeah, his tag says so." Blade said.
"Oh, this must've been the secret project he and the kid were doing." Tunneler said.
"Torch, calm down, we're going back and if this guy tries anything against the kid we can take care of him easily." Jester said and patted Torch's neck when he finally calmed down.
Blade looked up at the newcomer to see how was reacting to a group of living puppets. The newcomer didn't seem fazed and he wasn't surprised. The kid dabbled in cybernetics and robotics so he probably thinks the puppets were just a group of cybernetic toys like the kid's velociraptors.
"Fellas, if you don't mind, can we continue on our way? I'd like to see my adopted brother before I have to leave for Scotland." the newcomer said, leaning down to their level and getting all of their attention when he said brother. ". . .What?" he asked.
"Did he just say he wants to see his brother?" Pinhead asked, pointing at the newcomer.
"Brother? I thought there was just the two of them." Jester said, prompting a questioning from the others.
"Guys! Guys!" Blade shouted, raising his arms up in the air. "We can ask them when we get back to the attic room and the sooner we get there the sooner we can ask." he said and they took off at a run.
The newcomer ran to catch up with them, wishing he could just use his wand. But with the kid's security he didn't want to risk getting caught in a trap. He tried to keep up with the little guys but they were surprisingly fast. He'd lost them a couple of times but they made sure to find him and keep an eye on him so he wouldn't get lost.
He slowed down when the little ones stopped at a closed door and entered through a smaller one. The one in the black ensemble with a hook on his left hand knocked on the door before following the others. He knocked on the door himself and entered when he heard the lock click.
"Panther!" smiled Chug and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Hey, kid." Panther grunted and was released once his spine cracked and took a deep breath. "Cripes, you haven't hugged me like that since the Academy days." he said and took another deep breath.
"Well, I haven't seen you in forever! Not since we took that so-called Dark Lord and his lot up to another planet. How's Junior, by the way? How's school? Did you find yourself a girl yet? How was the trip?" Chug asked in quick recession.
Panther took another deep breath and straightened his clothes. "Junior's fine, the school's fine, yes, I found a girl and the trip was BOR-R-RING!" Panther answered, groaning loudly on the last one. "I'd have been here sooner if you just told me where you were. Instead I had to ride an airplane for ten hours with nothing to do except figure out where I'm going for my hon-" Panther covered his mouth with both hands, not wanting his brother hear him say the word. But it was too late, the kid had that sparkle in his eyes.
"Honeymoon? You got married?" Chug smiled and squeezed the life out of him, squealing.
"No, I didn't. I just proposed." Panther wheezed and was dropped to the floor.
"Good, because I would have done a lot worse than squeeze you to death if you didn't invite me to the wedding." Chug said and scooped him back in a hug. "But I'm so happy for you! My little brother's getting married!" he squealed in a high pitch tone. "Let me do all the planning. Or if you don't want me to I can do the catering, or the fashion. Maybe design your bride's gown-"
"Whoa, whoa, Kid, slow down." Panther said.
"Sorry, I just miss you." Chug said and wrapped his arms around Panther's head in a snuggle.
"Yeah, me too. Now can you let me go or am I gonna suffocate?" Panther asked in a muffled voice.
Chug let him go and straightened his robes. "Sorry.
"It's alright, now what did you call me here for?" Panther asked.
"Me and Kegs have a problem with one of the little Toulons here. He's been possessed by a spoiled ginger princess who's still obsessed with Junior." Chug answered.
"A spoiled ginger princess who's still obsessed with . . . No," Panther said and was starting to smile.
"Yeah,"
"No!"
"Yeah!"
"She's the one who stole your potion?!"
"Oh yeah, the little red weasel herself." Chug said with a big grin.
"Oh, my god!" Panther smiled and laughed.
Chug saw Blade waving his arms in the air and was hissing incessantly. "Oh, hold on. I had to take the ear piece out to fit my radio in." Chug said and searched his pockets taking out all sorts of stuff.
The puppets and Panther all watched as Chug took out a pair of scissors, duck tape, a tool chest, several TV remotes, candles, fob watches, crayons, markers, copic markers, paint tubes, paint brushes, alarm clocks, a few doves and pigeons, a duck, a couple of chickens, cow horns, pencil cases, notebooks, notepads, rulers, canned cat food and dog food, shoe polish containers, little sketch books, a dozen or so snakes, some shoes, a cosmetics case, sewing kits, traveling medical kits, soda cans and bottles, frozen ice bags full of meat and fish, hygienic products, bags of candy, spare wires and broken phones, flowers, bouquets, Christmas lights, eating utensils, salt and pepper shakes, a bottle of soy sauce, bags of coffee beans, wallets, a silver disc, bags of coins, Christmas bells, . . . .
"I know I have it somewhere." he mumbled, pulling out a ball of string.
"Did you check your collar?" Panther asked.
Chug felt around his collar and found the earpiece. "Oh, there it is." he smiled and motioned for Blade to start talking.
"-la-la-la-la, Can you hear me now?" Blade asked.
"Yes, what do you want?" Chug asked.
"You took so long I forgot!" Blade said in a slight frustrated tone.
"Who is that guy?!" Jester asked, pointing his katana at the one called Panther.
"This is Panther, my adopted brother. I adopted him as my little brother when I was fourteen." Chug answered.
"Even though I was a year older than you." Panther said.
"Technically, yeah." Chug said. "Though if you really want to get very techincal,"
"No thanks, I'm glad that you did. You saved me from a life time of torment. If you and your brother hadn't gotten me out of that place I never would have taken Junior under my wing and he would have wound up being a sacrificial lamb for that old fool." Panther said.
"But luckily he wasn't and you did take him. And the look on his godfather's face when he turned him down." Chug chuckled. "I'm so glad I taught him how to speak newspaper."
"Yeah, listen, we can reminisce later after we've dealt with whatever problem you have. Shall we?" Panther asked and stood up.
"Yeah, go into that room and I'll be there in a moment." Chug said and stood up as well. "You ready Six?" he asked, grabbing him around his middle.
"Not really." Six answered and they disappeared through a forest green door that had a golden dragon head knocker.
"Pinhead, do you know how to work his computers?" Blade immediately asked.
Pinhead opened up a laptop and started pressing buttons. He connected it to a projector and they all watched the kid put Six down on a black marble slab and strap him in with leather straps. Panther stood in front of him, the brother to Six's left and the kid on Six's right. There was a fourth member who was dressed in black and wore a wide brim black stetson. This person stood at Six's head and placed their hands around his head but didn't touch him.
They watched as Panther pointed his stick at Six and then Six started to seize up, balling up his fists. The brother walked around behind Panther and placed his hands on Panther's head. The kid started setting up what looked to be an apothecary table and started working on various objects; grinding, mashing, stirring and curing and started placing things around Six Shooter. The fourth person just stood there, keeping their hands around Six's head.
Pretty soon Six started to writhe around and pull at his restraints. The kid started moving at a faster rate, placing items around Six and stirring something in a black pot. The brother fanned his tail out and they watched as it divided itself into six tails. But each one was different. There was an ocean blue one at the far end, then a forest green one next to that, then a scaly-reptile one with a scorpion's stinger, a pure white one, stormy cloud grey and a fiery red one as the last tail. The tails rose up as one like a peacock's tail and the ends all pointed at Six Shooter.
Six Shooter started pulling harder at his restraints then his back arched and they could only imagine him screaming at the top of his lungs.
Torch's mechanical growl caught their attention and the turned to see him growling at the forest green door, his ridges raised. They turned back at the screen and groaned when they got a blank screen. Pinhead tried to reconnect it but it wouldn't come on. They decided to watch Torch instead, since he seemed to know what was going on, but all he did was growl, bark a few times and blew smoke out of his nostrils. But he mostly just growled, glaring at the door with his red eyes.
They soon heard a muffled explosion and the forest green door started to swell. Torch began whimpering and started backing up toward's the kid's room. A second later he raised his head and howled for five seconds and then just stared at the door.
"What do you suppose he senses?" Jester asked.
Blade shrugged. He tried using his magic to get in on the details as well, but he couldn't. He figured the room was blocked from outside magic.
Pinhead remembered what the kid had said about magic being like electricity. Maybe Torch could sense the magic going on. Magic that dealt with the soul was quite powerful. Blade had magic, maybe he could help with his theory. "I think Torch senses their magic." he said.
"Huh? How do you mean?" Jester asked.
"The kid told me about the securities against Six when Torch was sick. He said the entire design was based on Six from his height, his weight, his physical structure and his magic." Pinhead answered.
"How can computers detect magic?" Jester asked.
"The kid said that magic was like electricity. That the whole world was surrounded in some kind of field." Pinhead thought back to the conversation. "An Electro-Magnetic Field, EMF for short. Most of his security have a certain level of EMF and if it changes it goes off."
"That's an interesting theory. How are you going to test it?" Blade asked, and soon had six pair of eyes on him. "Wha- me?" he asked.
"You're the only one of us able to use magic." Jester said.
"What about you? You have magic as well." Blade said.
"Yeah, but I can't tap into it." Jester said.
"Just send out a pulse or something and we'll see if Torch will sense you." Tunneler said.
"Alright, but have him blind folded. I want to be absolutely sure about this." Blade said and looked around the room for a good hiding spot.
Jester walked over to Torch, fishing out a silk ribbon from the pile of stuff the kid left behind. "Torch, how about we play a game of hide-and-go-seek? Blade's gonna go hide and you go find him, sound fun?" Jester asked.
Torch didn't move a muscle, still watching the door.
"Torch?" Jester asked, tapping his shoulder. "Torch?"
Tunneler looked around the room, an occurrence just now occurring to him. The room was awfully quiet. Shouldn't there be some kind of noise in the room? "Where are the birds?" he asked.
"Huh?" Pinhead asked.
"The birds. The chickens, the doves, the pigeons. The kid pulled them out of his pockets, remember? There's no clucking, no cooing, not even a quack." Tunneler said.
The others looked at the pile of stuff on the floor and remembered seeing some animals being taken out of the kid's pockets as well and realized Tunneler was right.
"There's a chicken!" Pinhead said, pointing at the pile and took a closer look at it. It was alive, for sure, but it was oddly remaining still. He looked up and realized it was staring at the door. He spotted another chicken and it too was staring at the door.
Blade found all the snakes on the bed, intending to hide under the pillows and saw them staring at the door as well.
Jester found the pigeons and doves on the headboard and they too were staring at the door. "They're all staring at the door." he said.
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"Okay, this is starting to creep me out." Blade said after twenty minutes of total silence.
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