Author's Notes: I should have warned earlier that this story will get violent at times and there will be some occasional swearing. I just wanted to clear that up.

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Of Puppets and Cults

That day was not at all easy for Rogue. The other X-Men had heard about the vision she had the other night and they kept asking her questions about it. The last thing she wanted was to have to tell every body about Suetek and the Puppet Master. She knew every body would think she was crazy.

Whenever she had a chance to be alone she mostly thought about the other dream she had. She kept wondering who the boy was and what those little things were.

When school got out she decided to walk back to the institute. She needed to clear her head with out worrying about somebody asking her questions every two seconds.

She walked down the road and saw Scott's car pass her by. She was thankful that no one noticed her on the road, that way she wouldn't have to explain why she didn't want a ride.

As she walked she repeated the words that have been picking at her mind all day. "Puppet Master," she said wonderingly. She wanted so much to know why those words seemed so familiar to her.

She heard an accented voice behind her say, "who are you talking about?"

Rogue turned around only to see Kurt standing behind her. She said angrily, "what are ya doing creeping up on me like that?"

Kurt said, "I'm sorry Rogue. I saw you walking away from school all by yourself and I figured I'd give you some company."

"Company is the last thing Ah want right now," the Goth said rather coldly.

Kurt stopped and looked sadly to the ground. He began to slowly walk away. Rogue began to feel a little guilty. It hasn't been long since she discovered she was Kurt's adopted sister. And she wasn't acting very sisterly to him at all.

She said, "Kurt wait." Kurt stopped and turned around. "It's ok Kurt, you can walk with me."

Kurt smiled and hurried to his sister's side. They began to walk down the street. Kurt turned to Rogue and said, "Rogue, you've been acting very strange lately. What's going on with you? Does it have anything to do with what has happened, like Apocalypse?"

"No," said Rogue. She looked into Kurt's eyes and knew he wouldn't drop this until she told him the rest. "Ah've just been having these really weird dreams about somebody called the Puppet Master, and somebody called Andrea Toulon. The dreams always start out with me by mahself, but Ah'm always joined by two weird guys and seven little things."

She didn't tell him about her vision of Suetek. Kurt looked both interested and confused. "Wow," he said, "they sound pretty weird. Do you have any idea what they mean?"

"Ah have no idea," said Rogue. "But the part Ah don't understand is, Ah feel like Ah've seen those little things before. And this Puppet Master guy sounds so familiar to me."

Kurt was now very interested. "Well," he said, "the answer can't stay hidden from you for long, maybe you'll find out why you think you've seen those little things before."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," said Rogue. She felt a little better talking to Kurt about this. It had been bugging her all day and she was happy now that she told someone about it.

They walked down the road not knowing they were being watched by demon eyes. Deep below the surface of the earth the demon lord Suetek was watching them through his cauldron. His followers stood around waiting for his words.

"So," he said, "she is the one." He turned to his followers. "We must prevent the grandson of Andrea Toulon from finding this girl, so he may never reveal the secrets to her All those around her in the upworld will suffer for Toulon's treachery. Send our children to where she lives and kill whom every is around her."

His followers nodded and prepared for their new mission.

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The boy dressed in black walked as best he could down the street. He dragged his trunk along side him. It was day light now. He felt safer during the day; his enemies wouldn't be able to find him. However he knew that it would be dark soon. He had to find a place where he could spend the night without worrying about his enemies.

He stopped in front of an old beat up building. He read the sign that stood near it, "The Brother Hood Foster Home." He shrugged and made his way to the door.

The boy then knocked on the door with the snake head of his cane. After a few seconds the door was opened by the speedy mutant Pietro. He looked at the boy dressed in black and said, "who the hell are you?"

"I am a drifter," said the boy. "I've been wondering for a really long time and I need a place to spend the night. I was hoping you could spare a bed or couch."

Pietro showed no kindness. "No way," he said, and began to close the door.

The boy dressed in black quickly shoved his cane into the closing door. "Wait," he said.

Pietro opened the door again with a look of anger. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden ring. He said, "this was my grandfather's engagement ring that he gave to my grandmother Elsa. It is pure gold with a real diamond. If I give it to you then you can do what ever you want with it. You can sell it, melt it down, give it to a girl, I don't care. Just let me stay here one night."

The boy handed Pietro the ring. "Listen kid," said Peitro, "this house is for mutants only. No body in here takes kindly to humans."

The boy nodded and said, "good, then I'm not the only mutant in this town."

Pietro paused. He said, "if you're a mutant then what's your power?"

The boy shook his head and said, "you really don't want to know. All I can tell you is that it has a great deal to do with peoples minds."

Pietro paused again. He looked down at the ring that the boy just placed in his hand. "You'll really give me this ring if I let you stay," he asked.

"Yes," was all the boy said. Pietro then aloud him in. The boy dragged his trunk in with him. His cane wobbled as he pulled and he nearly lost his balance. Peitro helped him with the trunk.

When he was finally in the house the speed demon said, "so do you have a name at all?"

The boy paused and made sure his trunk was all right. He then said, "my name is Andre Toulon. I was named after my grandfather, so I guess that makes me Andre Toulon the second."

"Ok," Pietro said. He led Andrea into the living room of the house. The other Brother Hood members were talking about their lousy days. Peitro introduced the stranger, "guys this here is Andrea Toulon, he's going to be staying here tonight."

Wanda stood up and said, "what do you mean he's staying here. What reason does this human have for being here anyway."

"I don't know his reasons, but he ain't a human, he's a mutant. And besides he gave us this in exchange for him staying." He held up the ring and said, "with this we'll finally be able to pay those bills we've blown off for so long."

Wanda took the ring and looked at it. It looked real enough. She said, "all right he can stay. It will be nice to have running water for a change."

Andrea became relieved. He was confident that his enemies would not find him here. He said, "you won't even notice I'm here."

Then he began to walk around the house. He saw an empty shelf in the corner and asked, "are you guy's using this shelf at all?"

Lance shook his head. Andre nodded and headed over to his trunk. He opened it up and took out an eighteen-inch tall figurine. He said to the figure, "out you come Blade."

The Brother Hood members looked over and saw the small figure in his hands. It was like a small stalker. It's cloths were somewhat similar to that of Andre's. He wore a black trench coat and hat.

His head was shaped like a human skull and was pure ivory white. His eyes were hollow and painted black. For pupils he had little points that would stick out of his sockets every now and then. He had a little pointed nose that pointed upwards a little. He had long white hair that hung down from the back and sides of his hat and stopped at his shoulders. He had no ears and his mouth was able to open and close.

What caught the Brother Hoods' attention the most was the fact that his left hand was replaced with a small knife and his right hand was replaced with a small hook.

Todd found the little figure very interesting. When Andrea set Blade down Todd quickly walked over and picked it up. He said, "man look at this cool little thing."

Andre immediately hit Todd's wrist with his cane. He said, "never touch these puppets. They belonged to my grandfather Andre Toulon the first. I don't allow any one to touch them."

Todd backed away holding his wrist. Fred asked, "what kind of puppet is um Blade?"

"He's a stringless marionette," Andre said as he placed the puppet on the shelf so it stood perfectly upright.

He then took out his other six puppets. (Author's notes: this is going to take a little while, please be patient.) He said their names as he took them out of the trunk. First their was Pinhead. He was a buff puppet. His arms were very long and muscular. His body was very big and buff, but his head was very small. It was balled and was pointed at the top. The face was small and a little wrinkly. One of his eyes was closed in a wink. He wore an orange reddish sweater, gray pants, and black gloves that had nod fingers. His hands were very big and looked like they could easily wrap around his little head.

Then there was Tunneler. He was dressed in an old German soldier uniform used in world war two. His face looked kind of normal except for his squinted black eyes. On top of his head he had a large drill instead of hair. The Brother Hood members instantly new why he was called Tunneler.

Next Six-shooter was revealed. He was a cowboy. He wore a white shirt, brown vest, black paints, red handkerchief around his neck, and a black cowboy hat. He had six arms. Each of his hands was covered with a black leather glove. He had three belts each holding two small hand guns. On his face a permanent grin was formed under his small mustache. His eyebrows were narrowed giving him a sinister look.

Then came Jester. He was a simple puppet. He looked like a simple jester with a red and purple jester outfit. His face was divided into three separate layers for some reason the Brother Hood couldn't determine.

Next there was Torch. He was a very creative puppet. His head was a strange helmet that had a spike sticking out of the very top. He had two rectangular eyes on his helmet which light up bright red every now and again. Sticking out of the bottom of the helmet were bullet teeth that formed his upper jaw. His lower jaw came out from the sides of his helmet head. It had little bumps on it that were made for lower teeth. He wore a tan jacket made of a sort of fabric and gray pants. He had black boots that went up to his knees. He had a for fingered gloved hand on his left arm and on his right he had some sort of small tubular cylinder for a hand.

And finally their was Decapitron. He wore a leather jacket like that of a world war one fighter pilot. He had two four fingered gloved hands. He had on tan pants and black boots that went up to his knees. His head was shaped like a normal mans, but it was metal and had no face. Why he was called Decapitron was unknown to the Brother Hood.

"Man," said Fred. "That's a big collection."

Andre nodded. Wanda looked in amazement at the puppets. They were so detailed. They were each placed on the empty shelf. As Wanda walked away from them she passed the puppet called Blade. The puppet's head suddenly moved without anything controlling it. It was watching Wanda leave. Luckily she didn't notice it's sudden movement.

Andrea shook his head at Blade and the puppet stood still once again.

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In a small clearing in the woods a small group of cloaked figures chanted around a fire. They spoke in a strange cultic tongue. They stopped when anther cloaked man entered the clearing.

One figure spoke to him. "What have you learned Vonce?"

Vonce spoke with no emotion in his voice. "The Puppet Master is here, in this very town. The spirit of his grandfather has guided him well."

"Do you know of his whereabouts," asked another cloaked figure.

"No," said Vonce. "The last person who saw him I have killed. And there is more trouble coming our way. Suetek has found the other child."

"What?," said the first cloaked man. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," said Vonce. "He will kill both the Puppet Master and the child, and take the magic which is rightfully ours."

All the men surrounded their leader. He said, "we must shed their blood before Suetek takes what rightfully belongs to us."

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Back at the institute Rogue was in her room. She was busy reading and trying to get her troubles out of her head. Soon a knock came at her door.

"Whose there," she asked not wanting to talk to anybody right no.

She heard a voice say, "it's Kurt."

With those words the blue mutant *bamfed* into the room holding papers in his hand. "What is it," Rogue asked. She was very tired and wasn't sure if she would make it through her danger room session that night.

"I got some information on that Andrea Toulon guy you were talking about," Kurt said rather excited.

"What," was Rogue's only comment. She was surprised that Kurt actually got information about this guy.'

Kurt continued. "Apparently this guy was a famous puppet master back in Germany during Wold War two. It says here that the Nazis were after him after they killed his wife Elsa one night. He moved here to America, but apparently the Nazis followed him here and he shot himself."

"Oh mah God," Rogue said. She looked at the papers and asked, "well, what did the Nazis want him for?"

"It doesn't say," was Kurt's answer.

Rogue was confounded. This guy died way before she was born. So why was she dreaming about him. He couldn't be the Puppet Master that she was dreaming about. "Well," she said, "what ever the Nazis wanted him for he made sure that they couldn't force him to reveal what ever he was hiding."

There was another knock on the door. They both heard Kitty's voice say, "come on guys, we have a danger room lesson now."

They left the room quickly. Rogue took the information with her. She wanted to show the Professor what she now knew about Andrea Toulon.

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Dinner was prepared at the Brother Hood house. As usual they ordered out. Andre the second stood in a corner as they all ate. He wasn't hungry.

Wanda watched in discust as Fred scarffed down a piece of pizza. She looked over and saw Andre starring at a piece of paper. She said to him, "aren't you gonna eat something?"

"No," said Andre still looking at the paper. He read the word over and over again, "Rogue".

He looked up at the others eating their food. He then said, "maybe you guys could help me."

Lance said, "I think we're already helping you by letting you stay here."

The boy dressed in black ignored his statement. "I've been looking for someone for a long time. I was told that I'd be able to find her in this town."

"Who are you looking for," asked Wanda. She didn't like this boy at all, but she found herself interested in him.

Andre said, "the person I'm looking for is known only as Rogue."

All the other mutants paused. Pietro said after a few seconds of silence, "yeah we know where she is."

Andre gave a look of hope, "you mean she's in this town? Where is she? It's important that I find her as soon as possible."

Lance was the one to answer him. "She lives at the Xavier Institute with all the other X-Geeks." Andre looked at him confused. Lance asked, "why do you need to find her?"

"I just do," said Andre. "Where is this Xavier Institute? What does Rogue look like?"

"Oh no," said Lance. "I don't answer your question until you answer mine."

The young boy dressed in black said, "I can't tell you," and he left it at that. He said no more the rest of the night.

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After what seemed like an eternity the Brother Hood members finally went to sleep. Andre was left alone down stairs. Now that he was alone he felt much safer. He didn't really trust this group of mutants when his family's great secret was right there in the house with him.

When he was positive he was alone he turned to all his puppets on the shelf. He said to them, "it's alright, they're gone now."

A few seconds later the puppet called Pinhead began to move his long muscular arms with out anything controlling him.

He moved his head from side to side and he leapt off of the shelf. Blade was the next puppet to move. Then Six-shooter, then Tunnler, and finally they all were moving on their own.

Each puppet was moving on it's own free will. This was the secret of Andre Toulon the first. Long ago he learned the ancient Egyptian magic of giving life to inanimate figurines, not artificial life, real life and independent thought.

Young Andre learned of this magic when he was very young. He knew the secrets and also how this magic could be used to give anyone everlasting life. And if put into the wrong hands this magic could be abused.

Andre walked over to the sofa and sat down on it. He looked over to the puppet Torch and said, "Torch light a fire please."

Torch gave out a happy grunt. None of the puppets could speak they could only give curtain grunts, laughs, or hisses. Torch's eyes light up bright red as he pointed the tube on his left arm at the fireplace.

The tube of coarse was a small flame-thrower that could release a blast of fire about eight feet long. In no time he let loose his mighty flame and the fire was lit.

Six-shooter began to give a menacing laugh, which was his way of talking. Young Andre looked into the fireplace. Blade jumped onto the couch and sat along side him. Blade was the puppet that Andre knew the longest.

As Andre starred at the fire he said, "I know where Rogue is now guys. I just don't really know the location of this Xavier Institute."

A familiar voice was then heard. "Our problems have grown worse my grandson."

Andre turned to the puppet known as Decapitron. This particular puppet was unique among the others. He was the only puppet that could serve as a messenger of the first Puppet Master Andre Toulon I.

The young Puppet Master watched as the head of the faceless puppet transformed into the face of an old man. He had gray scraggily hair and a goatee. This was the face of the first Andre Toulon.

Young Toulon looked at the face of his grandfather. "More trouble," he asked. "We can't deal with more difficulties. We already have that cult on our ass almost every day."

"This is a greater evil," said his grandfather. "The girl called Rogue has been discovered by the demon lord Suetek. In no time at all he will send his Totems after her. We must work quickly."

"I can't go out there right now," said the grandson. "That cult's still looking for me. If I step one foot outside this house I'll be putting all the puppets in danger." He paused and looked down at his small companions. Jester and Pinhead stood along side the couch near their master. Tunneler was watching the stairs making sure that none of the Brother Hood was coming down.

After a while young Andre said, "I can't handle this."

The older Toulon sat next to his grandson. "You have been doing well," he said. "You were younger then I was when I first learned of the magic. And ever since it fell into your hands you have been doing all you could to keep it protected. Just trust yourself, I'm sure what ever you choose to do will be the right thing."

With that the head of the old Puppet Master disappeared and was replaced with the faceless head of Decapitron. Young Toulon stood up from the couch. He walked over to the window and thought for a while.

Before he turned back to his puppets he said, "Blade, Pinhead, and Tunneler come here." By the time he turned around the three were all ready in front of him. He knelt down and said, "I want you guys to find this Xavier Institute. Find out which of those X-people is Rogue. As soon as you do that protect her as best you can until I find the place. Do what ever you have to do, but don't reveal yourselves to her until you are positive that you knew she is Rogue."

They all nodded. Andre turned to the other puppets and said, "the rest of you stay here. I don't trust the people that live in this house very much and I don't want all of you running around the streets."

All the puppets agreed. Blade, Pinhead, and Tunneler headed for the door as Andre opened it. As they walked out Blade turned to his master. Andre said to him, "take care of them Blade."

The white puppet nodded and followed his comrades out the door. The night was very dark. The three puppets ran through the night, hiding in the shadows so no one would see them.