Meeting the Puppets

Rogue stood in the mall as Kitty and Jean looked through the stores. It was Saturday now and Rogue had hoped she could relax from last nights Danger Room session. But Kitty and Jean had other plans for her. They insisted that they take her shopping.

The Goth waited outside the store as Kitty and Jean looked through this and tried on that. Rogue hated shopping especially at the mall. She couldn't stand looking at everybody else trying on cloths she couldn't wear on the count of it would expose her untouchable skin. She also hated watching every body walking with their friends or talking with their families. It made her feel so alone.

All she did was lean against the side of the store, but little did she know she was being watched by little eyes. In the store across from her Blade, Pinhead, and Tunneler were watching. The three puppets did their best to stay out of view. They had been searching for the Institute all night.

When they were outside of the mall they saw Scott drop off the three girls and they heard him say, "I'll meat you guys back at the institute alright."

When the puppets heard the word institute they decided to follow the three girls. Now they were watching one of them. The pale girl with the purple lips.

They waited in their hiding place until the white girl turned her head away from their direction. Blade was the one to make the move. He ran across the hall of the mall, dashing through feet and legs of the many mall goers. He hoped that none of them had seen him run by.

When he reached the other side he hid behind a plant that stood next to Rogue. As he waited he saw a girl with her arms linked with a boy's pass the pale girl.

Rogue watched the couple pass her. The boy stopped and looked at her. The girl nudged the boy and said, "don't look at her, she's one of those mutant freaks. They're nothing to us."

Rogue became angry. She was about to say something when she heard the girl that just insolated her give a yelp of pain. The girl said, "ow! Something cut my leg!" Rogue looked down and saw a two-inch long cut on the girl's ankle.

Blade watched the girl and the boy quickly walked away. He then whipped the blood off of his knife hand and onto the side of the potted plant he was hiding behind. That girl had made him very angry. Mainly because his master was a mutant, but also because that human insulted the pale girl for being a mutant. He was very fond of his master and hated when he heard people insult him for being different. When the human insulted the pale girl it reminded him of all the other people that insulted his master.

Rogue watched the girl walk away. A small smile formed on her face. Ever since mutants were discovered she had heard many people insult her behind her back, or in her face. This was the first time a person paid for insulting her and she wouldn't get blamed for it. But it didn't mean she didn't like humans. Not all the humans in Bayeville hated mutants but a lot of them did.

Blade watched from behind the plant and saw the smile form on the Goth's face. He then turned back and saw Pinhead and Tunneler running towards him. They ran behind the plant and joined Blade. Now they all watched the pale girl.

Eventually Kitty and Jean exited the store. Each had one bag full of clothing. Rogue didn't take her back away from the wall. She looked at the two as they giggled about something she didn't hear. "Can we go home now," she asked getting very inpatient with this whole mall trip.

"Oh come on Rogue," said Kitty. "We haven't been here for like, that long."

Behind the plant Blades mouth dropped open. The little points hidden in his black eyes stuck out giving him a surprised look. So this girl was the one they were looking for. They had searched for her for so many years, and now here she was.

When they had left the Brother Hood house they expected their search to be a little more difficult, but now the girl had come to them. However they couldn't reveal themselves to her right now. They were in a crowded area and they didn't really know the other two girls Rogue was with. They didn't know if they could be trusted.

They watched as Rogue crossed her arms in a stubborn fashion. Kitty said, "just stop it Rogue this was only the first store that we've been in."

Rogue then said sarcastically, "yeah and it only took you like, an hour to look around."

"Well excuse me for enjoy myself," said Kitty. "For crying-out-loud why can't you enjoy yourself Rogue. You're always acting so down and dark. Why can't you just live a little?"

Rogue was about to retaliate, but Jean stepped in. "Just calm down," she said, "we're here to relive a little tension remember. We've all been shaken up a bit by every thing that's happened in such a short period of time, so lets just relax and enjoy the rest of the day."

The two girls calmed down. Jean looked at Rogue and saw that she was really not having a good time. The red head said softly to her, "follow me Rogue, I know a store you'd like."

Kitty and Jean began to walk in a curtain direction. Rogue followed them. Suddenly she heard the sound of small footsteps following her. She quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. She looked around curiously and then began to follow her mall companions again.

As soon as she looked away Blade, Pinhead, and Tunneler came out from hiding and began following her again. They were more cautious now. Every move they made was almost as silent as the grave.

*************************************************************

"This is the place," Jean said as she pointed to a small shop called Black Star. Rogue looked at it. This was a store that mainly sold cloths and items for Goths and Punks.

Jean said, "you can look around this store until we come back for you if you want."

"Ok," Rogue said casually. At least this place had stuff that was in her interest. She walked into the store as Kitty and Jean left to do more shopping.

The store had every thing a Goth could want. Make up, black shirts, chains, chokers, they had it all. She began searching through a set of shirts. She pulled out a shirt that was black and had no sleeves. It was a very pretty shirt, but Rogue knew she couldn't wear it; it would expose her skin. But she still couldn't put it down.

She looked over to the dressing room. 'It wouldn't hurt to just try it on,' she thought. She took the shirt off the rack and walked into the dressing room.

In a small hidden corner of the shop the three puppets watched her as she entered the other room. They looked over to the owner of the store and saw him reading a magazine. After they were confident that no one was watching them they quickly ran into the dressing room.

Inside one of the changing areas Rogue put on the sleeveless shirt. It felt good to have her arms exposed and not having to worry about bumping into someone. She looked in the mirror and thought the shirt really went well with her black skirt and boots. She was even being tempted to by the shirt even though she couldn't wear it.

Her thoughts were soon broken when she saw a small figure run by the bottom of the door in the mirror. She quickly turned around and saw that the figure was gone. With a nervous voice she said, "hello? Is any one there?'

There was no reply. Her heart began to pound as she began to open the door. "Who ever you are," she said, "Ah know how to defend mahself. So don't try anything funny."

She took off her gloves even though her arms were exposed. As she walked she made sure that no one was standing behind her.

Then her foot hit something that came out of nowhere. Rogue tripped and fell down, hitting the floor hard. "Damn it," she yelled out very frustrated. She turned around to see what she tripped on.

There near her feet laid the puppet called Pinhead. He had fallen over after Rogue's foot hit him. He remained motionless as the Goth picked him up.

She looked at the puppet not knowing it was really alive. About three feet away from her she saw two more little dolls Blade and Tunneler.

Looking from puppet to puppet she then was hit by her own memories. She said quietly to herself, "you're those little things Ah saw in mah dreams."

The puppets remained motionless. They didn't want to reveal that they were alive until they were positive they were somewhere that would be safe from the enemies of their master.

Rogue quickly got out of the store's shirt and into her normal green transparent one. She picked up all three puppets and brought them to the owner of the store. She placed them on the counter and asked, "how long have you had these things in this store?"

The young owner looked at the puppets. "I don't know," he said. "I never seen these things in this store before."

Rogue looked at each of the puppets. She wanted to take these things back to the institute. Maybe they could reveal something about Andre Toulon and the Puppet Master. "Do you mind if Ah take them off your hands," she asked the man.

"Well," he said, "even though I haven't seen them before, they were in my store I'll tell you what, you can have all three of them for thirty dollars."

"Thirty bucks," she said in disbelief. These puppets didn't even belong to the man, why was he charging her for them. She looked down at the three figures and thought for a while. She felt that she had seen these things before, but not in her dreams and she wanted to know why. Finally she said, "deal," and handed the man the money.

The three puppets stayed as still as they could be. Blade felt Rogue pick him up and then he was placed in a black bag.

*************************************************************

Kitty and Jean walked through the mall. They had bought a few cloths, which they believed were worth the money.

As they walked they eventually saw Rogue sitting on a bench. She had a nervous look on her face and her hands were shaking. Next to her were three black paper bags that looked like they had something in them.

Jean walked up to her. "Are you ok Rogue? You're shaking like a leaf."

"Ah'm fine," said the Goth.

After a few more minutes the girls left the mall. As they walked back to the institute Kitty looked down at the three bags Rogue was carrying. "So what did you buy," she asked as she reach for one of the bags to take a look.

Rogue pulled the bag away and said, "nothing."

"Right," Kitty said jokingly, "and I'm sure it's just air in those bags. Come on let me see."

She reached for the bag again and caused Rogue to drop it. The bag hit the ground and out fell Blade. He still remained motionless. Rogue waited quietly. She didn't want to show these puppets to any one until the Professor got a look at them. But now Kitty and Jean knew she had them.

She finally said, "what is your problem Kitty. You don't see me yanking at one of your bags."

Kitty ignored her and looked down at Blade. She picked him up as Jean said, "well would you look at that." She was impressed by the puppet's detail.

"How cute," said Kitty as she began to fiddle with the hook.

Jean looked to Rogue. She saw the other bags were on the ground. She began to look in them. Rogue didn't stop her. It was pointless to hide the puppets from them now.

Jean took out Pinhead and Tunneler. She gave an interested smile as she looked at them. "Where'd you get these things," Jean asked.

"At the store you guys left me at," was all Rogue said.

Kitty took Blades knife hand and made it wave at Jean. The knife suddenly slashed down and cut Kitty's finger.

"OW." She put her finger in her mouth and tasted blood. She looked at the knife and examined it. "Hey, you guys this is a real knife."

Jean and Rogue looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure," Jean asked very puzzled.

Kitty let her friend feel the knife and said, "I know it's a small knife but it is real. And so is the hook."

Rogue quickly grabbed the puppet away from them. She stuffed all three of them into their bags and began to walk away. She didn't say anything else until they were back at the institute.

*************************************************************

It was starting to get dark out. Rogue and Kitty were in their room. Rogue laid on her bed and starred at the three puppets now on her dresser. Kitty was checking out her new cloths.

She turned to Rogue and showed her a pink sweater. "What do you think of this one," she asked her.

Rogue said nothing, she just starred. "Hello," Kitty said trying to get her Gothic friends attention.

Rogue twitched a little and then looked at Kitty. "Oh sorry," she said. "Ah guess I kind of spaced out just now."

"Are you ok Rogue," the little prep asked. She was beginning to feel very concerned.

Before Rogue could answer they heard Bobby call, "come on it's time for dinner."

The two girls left the room. After they were gone Blade slowly moved his head. He jumped off of the dresser and Pinhead and Tunneler soon followed. They examined the closed door.

Pinhead turned to the chair that was placed in front of Rogue's dresser. Both Blade and he went over to it and dragged it over to the door. Tunneler then jumped on it and turned the knob. Blade and Pinhead pushed the door open and all three of them left the room.

They found themselves in a well-furnished hallway. They were now in the Xavier Institute the place where Rogue lived. They wanted to learn more about the other people that lived with her to make sure that it was safe to reveal themselves here.

They could here Kitty talking from around a corner. Blade led the way as the puppets followed the voice. When they turned the corner they saw Rogue listening to Kitty as they walked downstairs.

They heard the younger mutant say, "so Lance has been really getting on my nerves lately. He keeps on waiting for me after school even though he's not aloud on school grounds any more"

She went on and on as Rogue just listened. The puppets followed closely behind them. They were not worried about the girls seeing them.

As the girls began walking down the stairs the puppets stopped. It was true that they were very stealthy, but it was difficult for them to be silent on stairs. Because of their small height it was hard for them to be quiet when climbing up or down steps.

They waited at the top of the stairs until the girls were no longer in their sight. The three of them took the stairs slowly. Even though nobody was near the stairs they still didn't want to make to much noise.

Blade still led the way. He was afraid of what would happen if all these people in this institute discovered them at the same time. They couldn't talk so they wouldn't be able to explain their presence there.

When all three of the puppets made it down stairs the X-Men were at the dinning room table. The puppets stood in the doorway as the mutants talked with each other about their day, or sports, or any other subject.

A large gruff man entered the dining room. The puppets watched him pass them hoping he wouldn't see them. Luckily he didn't.

"Good evening Logan," they heard the Professor say to the man. However Logan was not courteous. He just sat down and began to eat his diner.

The puppets watched the entire meal. They learned the names of some of the mutants as they observed. Mainly Logan, Scott, and Kurt. They saw the red haired girl Jean that they saw earlier sitting next to Scott. They were curious as to why he wore the red sunglasses.

Rogue sat in between Kitty and the mutant called Kurt. The puppets were interested in the blue mutant's appearance. They had heard his German accent and felt comforted. They were from Germany as well. That was where most of them were created.

They watched Rogue as she picked at her food with her fork. She had been thinking about the puppets while every one else was talking around her. 'Why do Ah feel like Ah've seen those things before,' she asked herself in her mind.

She lifted her head away from her food and saw Blades face starring at her. Her eyes turned wide when she saw the little figure looking at her. She wanted to jump up and point to the thing so every body could see it, but something prevented her.

Blade gasped and hid back behind the corner. Rogue tried her best to look away from the door. Logan lifted his head up and said, "did you hear that?"

The other X-men looked at him. "Hear what," asked Scott.

Logan said, "it was some sort of flapping sound. Kinda like little feet running away."

Rogue thought quickly. "That was me," she said. The X-men looked at her. "Ah Ah was tapping mah foot really fast."

The other X-Men went back to their food and conversations, but Logan looked at Rogue as if he didn't believe her claim.

Rogue looked away from him and then stood up from the table. "Ah'm not very hungry. Ah'm just gonna go to bed."

The X-Men said their good nights as she left the room. When she exited the dinning room she saw the puppets running down the hall. She began chasing them. "Ah see you," she said angrily, "get over here you little bastards."

The Goth chased them through the institute. She was surprised how fast these little things were. She followed them into the game room of the institute. The puppets stopped and realized they had no where else to run.

Rogue entered the room. She saw the puppets standing near the pool table. She picked up a pool cue and said, "all right. Turn around."

Tunneler turned around and saw her. He quickly began to rev up the drill on top of his head.

Rogue saw the drill and readied her cue. She wanted to know exactly why these things have been following her in her dreams and when she was awake.

Tunneler was ready to charge, but before he could Blade held up his knife in front of him and gave a crackling and hissing, "uh-uh-uh."

The drill headed puppet stopped his drill. Blade looked over to Pinhead who held up his vise-gripped hands in a fighting position. When the small headed puppet saw Blades look he stood normally.

Rogue watched the puppets do this. She slowly put her pool cue down. "You guys aren't here to hurt me are you," she asked.

All three of the puppets shook their heads.

"Were you sent here by Andre Toulon," she asked.

The puppets nodded. Rogue slowly walked over to them and knelt down in front of them. She slowly slid her gloved hand over each of the puppets.

"Oh mah God," she said. The young Goth was amazed at what she was seeing. These little doll like things were moving right in front of her eyes.

She could hear the X-Men talking not to far away from where she knelt. "Follow me," she said to the puppets. She began to walk out of the room and the puppets followed.

*************************************************************

Rogue opened the door to her room and watched the puppets enter. She noticed her chair away from her desk and moved it back in place. She then sat on her bed and looked at the puppets.

"How is this possible," she asked them, but they did not reply. "Can't you guys talk to me?"

They all shook their heads. Rogue gave an aggravated groan. She had so many questions to ask these things, but now she couldn't get them answered.

She then asked the only question that she new she could get an answer to. "Is the Puppet Master in Bayeville?" The puppets all nodded.

Then the puppets went over to her dresser. Pinhead pulled the chair out a little and they all climbed on the dresser top. This was so Rogue wouldn't have to look down at them any more.

Rogue snickered a little at this. She stood up and sat in her chair in front of them. "So what do they call you guys," she asked. After the puppets didn't answer she said, "oh yeah, stupid question."

After she said that Pinhead walked to one side of her dresser and grabbed a peace of paper and a pencil. He wrote down each of their names with difficulty and drew arrows to point to each owner of the name.

He placed the paper down and Rogue looked at it. She figured they never wrote much because Blade was misspelled.

She then pointed to each of the puppets. "Tunneler, Pinhead, and Blade?"

Once again they nodded. Rogue laughed a little, "and Ah thought mah name was weird No offence."

With out warning Kitty came phasing into the room. Rogue stood up alarmed and said, "don't you ever knock?"

"It's my room to remember," said Kitty. "Who were you talking to anyway?"

Rogue looked over at the puppets and saw they were motionless. "Ah was talking to mahself."

Kitty gave her a weird look and then began to change into her pajamas. "You're lucky you left the table when you did," she said. "Kurt and the others started like, goofing off and throwing food around. It was totally gross."

Rogue saw Blade looking at Kitty. He then looked at Rogue questioningly. Rogue walked up to him and whispered, "don't worry she's always like that."

"What did you say," asked Kitty turning to her.

Rogue said in a confused voice, "what, Ah didn't say anything."

Kitty shrugged and turned around. Rogue gave a relieved sigh and sat on her bed. She didn't want Kitty to know that her new puppets were alive. She knew that if Kitty knew she would tell every body in the institute. Rogue didn't want any one else to know about the puppets until she at least showed them to the Professor.

The Goth waited until Kitty was asleep to talk to the puppets again. "So are you guys gonna return to the Puppet Master tonight?"

Tunneler shook his head and Rogue smiled. She asked no more questions that night. She just quickly got into her pajamas and got into bed.

She asked one last question before going to bed. "Will you guys be all right up there?" The puppets nodded. Rogue then put her head on her pillow and sleep soon overcame her.

When he was sure she was asleep Blade jumped off the dresser and ran to Rogues bed. He remembered what young Toloun said to him. He wanted Blade to protect Rogue and that was just what he was going to do.

He climbed on to Rogue's bed and stood next to her pillow. He stood watch over her the entire night.