Beginning of Chaos
At the Brother Hood house Andre Toulon the second was pacing the floor with worry. He had persuaded the Brother Hood to let him stay for one more night. However he knew he couldn't stay there for long. His enemies would come looking for him soon.
He started searching through the small house for any maps of the Bayeville area. The other four puppets were doing the same. They stealthily searched every room of the house trying their best to remain out of view.
As Andre searched through a dresser Lance came walking in the room. "Hey Toulon," he said angrily, "you left your little friend upstairs."
In his hand he held Torch who was motionless. Andre looked at the puppet and back up at Lance. "Sorry, just put him back on the shelf."
Lance said, "this is the fifth time today that one of us has tripped over one of your damn puppets. If it happens again you ain't getting it back."
He then throw Torch onto the table. The puppet gave a little grunt of shock as he landed on the wooden surface.
Lance looked over at the puppet. It was still. He shrugged and left Andre alone with the puppet.
The young boy picked Torch up and placed him on his feet. "Are you ok man."
Torch let out a long angry grunt. He was the puppet known for his bad temper. His eyes flared an angry red. Andre said, "don't get mad Torch. These people don't know any better."
Jester and Six-shooter came into the room followed by Decapitron. Jester held a map in his hands. Andre saw this and said, "oh good you guys found a map."
He took the paper and said, "thanks Jester. Ok I want you guys to watch the doors I don't want these Brother Hood people to know what I'm doing."
He began searching the map of Bayeville for the location of the Xavier Institute. He searched every corner with a find toothed comb.
After thirty minutes of searching he said, "nothing? What the hell? Why isn't this institute shown on the map?"
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Outside the Brother Hood house a strange cloaked figure stood with five others. They walked up to the door slowly. They did not wish to draw any attention yet.
The first cloaked figure knocked on the door. After a few minutes it was answered by Wanda. "What do you want," she asked looking at the cloaked man.
The dark figure said, "my name is Vonce. I have come here looking for the Puppet Master. Do you know of his whereabouts?"
Wanda looked at him confused. She didn't know that the young Andre Toulon was the Puppet Master. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Are you sure," asked Vonce. "If you have seen him it would be wise to give us information. It would be in your best interest."
Wanda opened the door wider with her eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"
Vonce looked behind her just as Andre came walking in the room. The cloaked man shoved the girl aside and took out a large knife. "Well, well, well," he said, "it looks like we meet again young Toulon."
Andre's face turned to terror as he said, "Vonce? How did you find me?"
"We have our ways," he said. "Do not try to escape this time. I assure you that evading us again will be quiet impossible. Surrender now and your death will be totally painless."
Andre held his cane up as if ready to strike with it. "Screw you!" he yelled.
Just then Wanda jumped up and punched Vonce right in his hidden face. The other five cloaked figures entered the room. Two of them grabbed hold of Wanda's arms and threw her out the door.
She hit the ground and slid for a few feet. When she looked back up the door was closed and locked.
Back inside the house Andre began to fight. He used his cane both for balance and a weapon. Every time one of Vonce's men came at him he hit them right in the face with the snake head of his cane.
The other Brother Hooded members came down stairs and saw what was happening. Lance yelled, "what the hell is going on?!"
All the cult members turned to them. They each took out large knives. All of them then heard a cracking sound and the front door busted open. Wanda entered the room ready to hex who ever attacked her first.
Fred jumped down the stairs causing the ground to shake when he landed. Vonce stood from where he laid just as one of his followers went in for an attack on the Brother Hood. Fred stood in the cloaked man's path and threw him across the room. The man landed on a table causing it to break.
Young Andre turned to Vonce as the man said, "kill them all."
The cloaked men and the Brother Hood began to fight. Todd leapt around the room drop kicking who ever he could. Vonce caught him in mid air and slammed him against the ground. The mutant was knocked out cold in this process.
Wanda used her Hex on every one of the cloaked men, but no matter how many times she hexed them they refused to be knocked down.
Fred was the only one who was really doing any damage to their foes. He used his size and wait as an advantage like he always did.
Andre stayed out of the brawl. He needed to get out of that house. He knew that if he was not there then his enemies wouldn't kill the Brother Hood.
The boy dressed in black ran for the room that his puppets were in. Wanda saw him leave the fight. She ran into the room that Andre entered just as he closed the door.
Andre saw her run in, but he didn't ask her why she did. He locked the door and put his back against it.
"What the hell's going on here Toulon," Wanda asked angrily.
All Andre said was, "they found me. I don't know how, but they found me. I gotta get out of here."
One of Vonce's men began ramming the door. Andre ran for a window. Before he could open it Wanda spun him around so he faced her.
She grabbed the collar of his over coat and said, "look pal, we gave you a place to stay and now we've got some nut jobs attacking us because they're after you. Now I want to know why these guys are after you and I want to know now."
Andre shoved the girl away from him and said, "you wanna know why these guys are after me, well look behind you."
Wanda turned and saw the puppet called Torch standing behind her. He saw her grab Andre's jacket and thought she was attacking his master.
Torch held out his flame thrower hand and let loose a blast of fire. Wanda fell backwards, barley missing the hot blast.
When the fire stopped she felt something standing on her chest. She looked up and saw Jester standing over her.
Jester's head began to spin. Each of the three layers of his head spun in a different direction.
Wanda gasped and knocked Jester off her. She stood up and saw the four other puppets standing around her. Six-shooter had all six of his guns aimed at her. Decapitron stood next to him.
Jester stood up next to the faceless puppet. Decapitron suddenly removed his faceless head and put it down next to him. Jester then placed his attack head on the puppet's neck.
It was a strange mechanical head, shaped some what like a cube standing on one of it's corners. It had a ball on top of it with four things that looked like spark plugs. These four things and the metal ball caused an electrical current that could reach up to nine feet.
Torch stood four feet away from Decapitron with his flame thrower ready to fire. Wanda was both afraid and amazed by the puppet's sudden movement and life. She heard Andre say, "don't harm her guys."
The puppets backed away and stood next to their master's feet. Andre said, "I hold the magic that can give life to inanimate figurines and bring people back from the dead. This cult is after me to take the magic from me and use it for their own cruel intentions. I need to find the girl called Rogue because she plays a great part in this whole thing. How and why are my business, so I need to get out of here before that cult catches me."
Wanda gave a satisfied nod as the man rammed the door again. Andre opened the window and helped his puppets out. He then turned to Wanda and said, "I need you to show me where the Xavier Institute is. I have no goddamn clue where it is located. Will you take me there?"
Wanda was about to answer no when the cloaked man barged in the room. The scarlet witch began to rev up her hex, but Andre stopped her by standing in front of her.
He said to the cloaked figure, "back off now, or let your fear over come you."
The cloaked man said, "smooth talk you little bastard, but words will not stop me."
Andre then stared at the man with a look of concentration. A small high-pitched humming sound came from behind young Toulon's eyes. The cloaked figure began to walk over to the boy, but stopped when his cloak began to smoke. He began to feel hot. "What's going on here," he demanded.
Andre said, "remember your fear of fire asshole?"
The man suddenly burst into flames. He screamed and tried to put the fire out with his hands. Wanda's eyes turned wide with shock. Andre turned back at her and asked, "well, will you help me or not?"
Wanda only nodded. She didn't want to say no to the boy after she saw what he did. Andre helped the girl out of the window and then left himself. As soon as they were outside Wanda said, "the institute's this way. Follow me." Andre and his puppets followed her into the night.
Back inside the man that was caught on fire was still screaming. Suddenly the flames on his body disappeared.
In the other room the other cult members were still fighting the Brother Hood. Lance was about to punch Vonce in the face, but the cloaked man grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
The other Brother Hood members stopped fighting and watched as their friend gasped for air. Vonce was about to break the mutant's neck when the man that was on fire entered the room. He said, "the Puppet Master escaped."
Vonce stopped and dropped Lance. "HOW," he yelled angrily.
The cloaked man said, "he used his mutant ability on me and then fled."
Vonce looked at the rest of his men and said, "come, we must find him. There is no point in killing these mutants now; they are obviously not friends of his. He wouldn't have abandoned them if they were."
The cult then left the Brother Hood house. All the members looked at each other confused. They then walked over to Todd and tried to bring him back to consciousness.
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The next morning Rogue woke up slowly. She had had no dreams that night, just peace. The covers felt warm around her. She was so happy that it was Sunday and that she could sleep in. The comfort of the bed overcame her and she did not wish to get up quite yet. She didn't care what time it was. All that mattered now was the comfort of her bed.
Rogue suddenly felt something next to her pillow. She opened her eyes and gave a surprised gasp. When she looked to see what it was all she saw was Blade standing next to her. She sighed and put her head back on her pillow.
"Blade, what are you doing," she asked. She then rolled her eyes remembering that the puppets couldn't talk. She looked behind Blade and saw Pinhead, and Tunneler watching her from her dresser.
The Goth sat up and asked, "you guys weren't watching over me all night were you?"
All the puppets nodded. She smiled and got out of bed. The comfort that was there before had disappeared and Rogue didn't want to wait for it to come back.
Kitty was not in the room. Rogue figured that she left and didn't think to wake her up. She was alright with that though.
She got dressed not minding that the puppets were in the room with her as she did. As she put on her transparent shirt she said, "um, Pinhead could you hand me that brush on mah dresser there?"
Pinhead looked around and saw a brush next to Tunneler. He picked it up and held it out to the Rogue. She took it and brushed her hair starting in the back of her head and ending with her white bangs.
There was a knock at the door. A voice came from behind it saying, "Rogue, it's Logan."
Rogue gave a panicked look. She didn't want Logan to see the puppets right now. "Uh, Ah'm coming," she said trying to act as normal as possible.
She looked over to Blade as he jumped off of her bed and ran under her dresser. Pinhead and Tunneler jumped off her dresser and did the same.
Rogue put on her gloves and opened the door. Logan stood in the hall with a concerned look on his face. Rogue looked at him and asked, "what's wrong Logan?"
The gruff man looked at her and said, "you've been acting strange lately. Everybody's been worried about ya. I just want to know if there's anything wrong."
Rogue thought up a lye quickly. "Ah've just been shaken up by this whole Apocalypse thing."
"It wasn't your fault that he escaped Rogue," said Logan rather concerned.
"Ah know," said Rogue, "but still Ah'm the one who released him, and Ah've just really been taking it hard."
Logan sighed and said, "look just come to me if you need somebody to talk to."
"All right," said Rogue.
Logan walked away. Rogue gave a sigh of relief and turned around. When she did she saw Blade, Pinhead, and Tunneler standing right behind her. They were looking at the area where Logan was just standing.
Rogue closed the door and looked back at the puppets. "Are you guys trying to protect me," she asked.
They all nodded and looked back at where Logan was standing even though the door was closed. Rogue smiled at them and said, "thanks, but you don't have to worry about Logan, he's mah friend. And the other people here wouldn't hurt me."
The puppets were not satisfied with this. True the people here may be able to be trusted, but Suetek was still looking for her.
Pinhead walked away from the other puppets and sat on Kitty's dresser. Tunneler walked over to the chair near Rogue's desk and sat on it. Blade just stood where he was.
Rogue sat on her bed and looked at the puppets. "Maybe Ah should show you guys to the Professor today. Ah'm not gonna be able to hide you for much longer."
Blade looked to Pinhead and then to Tunneler. He wasn't comfortable with being shown to this Professor who ever he was, but if it had to be done then all three of them would agree.
"How am Ah going to get you down there without the other X-Men seeing you though," Rogue asked herself. "I don't want them to see you until the Professor does. So how am Ah gonna do this?"
She looked across the room and saw her trench coat hanging in her closet. She gave a sly smile to herself and walked over to her closet. The puppets watched her confused as she took out the trench coat.
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Outside the institute a strange man came walking up to the door. He placed a small shipping crate on the step and knocked on the door.
He turned and walked away. He walked right through the entrance gate as if he were a mist.
A few seconds later Jean opened the door. She found the small crate on the porch and picked it up. She read the card on it saying, "for Rogue." The young red head shrugged and brought the crate inside.
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Rogue struggled with Blade trying to fit him in her trench coat comfortably. She had it all figured out.
Pinhead and Tunneler would hang onto her legs as she walked to the Professor's office and Blade would hold onto her chest. The reason for this was because Pinhead was to big and would have made a huge lump in her trench coat, and she didn't completely trust Tunneler's control over his drill.
Rogue kept readjusting Blade so neither of them would be uncomfortable on the way to the Professor's office.
When Blade was finally positioned right he gave a frustrated grunt. Rogue looked at him and said, "Ah'm sorry little guy Ah just can't let the others see you yet."
Blade gave another grunt and gave Rogue a quick stab in her breast. "OUCH!" Rogue looked in at Blade and said, "don't prick me like that again."
She stood up and headed for the Professor's office. The puppets remained quiet as she walked.
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Professor Xavier sat in his office with Ororo, Hank, and Logan. Most of the students were out doing their own thing, so this was their first chance to sit back and relax for a change. Unfortunately that wasn't what they were doing.
They had been discussing ideas for new lessons in the danger room. Logan stood in the corner quietly not paying much attention to the conversation.
The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. They all turned towards the door as Rogue entered through it.
The young Goth looked around the room and saw that the Professor was not alone. She had hoped there wasn't anybody else with him. When she saw Logan she became very nervous. She had lied to him no longer than five minutes ago and now she had to show him that she wasn't telling him the truth before.
As Rogue walked towards the Professor Hank asked, "Rogue why are you wearing a trench coat? It's almost eighty degrees outside."
Rogue ignored him and turned to the Professor. "Professor I need to talk to you," she said. "It's about..."
She paused and looked around at the other people in the room. She took a deep breath and said, "It's about the Puppet Master."
The other adults gave her a confused look, but Charles knew what she was talking about. "Would you like the others to leave Rogue," he asked gently.
"No," Rogue said. "Now that they know why Ah'm here Ah don't think Ah can hide this from them any longer."
"What is this about Rogue," Ororo asked.
"Ah'll show you," said Rogue as she walked into the middle of the room. She reached into her trench coat as the others heard a strange grumbling sound.
Rogue pulled Blade out of her trench coat. She placed him down in front of her and he looked at the other people in the room. The adults watched in amazement as they saw a little doll like figure moving around on it's own.
Rogue looked down towards her legs and said, "come on guys you can come out now."
Around the bottom of her trench coat Pinhead and Tunneler came out and stood next to Blade.
Hank's eyes were wide. "What are these things," he asked.
"Their puppets that move on their own," Rogue said as she took off her trench coat. "They belong to Andre Toulon and the Puppet Master."
She looked over to Logan and saw the stern and curious look in his eyes. Rogue said nervously, "they're the reason Ah've been acting so strange lately."
Logan stepped over to her saying, "why didn't you tell me about this upstairs?" He tried to sound gentle and understanding, but his words didn't sound like that at all.
Blade saw him coming towards Rogue. He ran to the mutant's feet and cut his ankle. Logan gave a quick grunt of pain and his wound healed instantly.
"Blade stop that," Rogue said angrily to the puppet. Blade walked back to the side of Pinhead and Tunneler.
Rogue looked back at Logan and said, "he was just trying to protect me."
"You named them," Xavier asked.
"No," said Rogue. "The names they have belong to them, Ah didn't make them up." She pointed to the puppets as she said their names. "The big one is called Pinhead, the one with the drill on his head his Tunneler, and the white one with the hook and the knife is called Blade."
Ororo snickered in amusement at the puppet's names. She knelt down beside them and looked at them in wonder. "How is this possible," she asked turning to Rogue.
"That's one problem, Ah don't know how these things can move," was her answer. "All Ah know is that they were sent here by the Puppet Master for some reason. To protect me from something maybe."
Once again there was a knock at the door. "Professor, its Jean. I've got something here for Rogue, and I heard her voice in here."
Rogue looked at the Professor and said, "Ah don't want any body else to see the Puppets yet."
Xavier nodded and looked at the puppets, "would you three please hid under my desk." He felt kind of silly talking to these puppets. He gave himself an amused smile.
The puppets nodded and hid under the Professor's desk. Jean entered the room holding a small shipping create in her hands. "Rogue this came for you," she said.
The red head looked around the room. She saw Hank looking at the Professors desk. Ever since the puppets were revealed he had a look of pure astonishment on his face and he couldn't make it go away.
"Are you alright Mr. McKoy," Jean asked.
Hank shook his head and said, "uh yes I'm fine."
Jean gave him an inquisitive look and then turned back to Rogue. "Here's the package, Rogue."
Rogue said, "just put it in mah room and Ah'll get to it later."
"But if it's in a shipping crate then it must be important," Jean disagreed.
Rogue said a little more sternly, "just put it in mah room."
Charles then said to Jean, "it's all right Jean, just put it in her room. We have to discuss a few things with Rogue."
Jean became very confounded. What was Rogue doing here in the first place? What ever the reason was she didn't question the Professor. She just nodded and left the room.
As soon as she was gone Rogue aloud the puppets to come out from hiding. Charles watched the little figures walk right back to Rogue's side.
He looked into the Goth's eyes and said, "you know we will have to show these things to the other X-Men."
Rogue sighed and asked, "do we have to?"
Charles said, "I feel that it is the right thing to do Rogue. I doubt you will be able to hide these puppets from them forever."
Rogue gave another sigh and said, "alright call a meeting and lets get this over with."
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Jean entered the bedroom of Rogue and Kitty. She placed the crate down on Rogue's bed and left. As soon as she was gone the crate began to move. In only a few seconds a small clawed hand came busting through the top.
The crate was broken open and out came a creature no bigger than the puppets. It had a jagged dome like head with two deep holes in the side that held it's eyes. The creature was somewhat reptilian like, but had no tail. It stood upright like a man. It had two five fingered hands with razor sharp claws on them.
The creature looked around the room and jumped out of the crate. The small demon soon heard the voice of Suetek say, "good my child. Now go forth and observe the ones that surround the girl as we release your brothers."
The creature nodded. He hid the crate under Rogue's bed and left the room through a heating vent. He scurried through the vents searching for the children of the Xavier Institute.