Chapter Nine: Confrontation and Punishment
The five puppets were on their third film by the time Torch joined them in the living room holding Blade's hat.
"Here's your hat. M . . . T-the kid fixed it up a bit."
". . . Did you just stutter?" Blade asked.
"No." Torch grumbled and stuffed the hat on Blade's head and went off to the fireplace.
Blade pushed his hat up with his hook so that he could see properly and stared at Torch. "Alright, Torcher-man, what's got you in a mood now?" he asked.
"Don't call me that!" Torch growled. "And we're going back to Bodega Bay tomorrow."
"WHAT?!"
"We're finally going home?" Pinhead asked.
"How does the kid know about Bodega Bay, what did you tell him?!" Six demanded.
"How much does he know?" Blade demanded.
"I don't want to go back in the trunk." Tunneler said.
Pinhead, Tunneler, Six and Blade were all talking at once until . . .
"SHUT UP!" shouted Jester.
The five stared at the little puppet, slightly shocked.
"Let him explain everything first. Start at Bodega Bay." Jester said calmly.
"The kid told me that we're heading there tomorrow to meet up with his brother. Turns out they own the land and with the building no longer in use, some contractors want to tear it down but they can't get permission from the city government unless the landowners allow it." Torch said.
"Own the land? Are you telling us that the kid, the kid with the green hair, that-that . . . WEIRD kid, and his brother OWN Bodega Bay?" Six Shooter questioned.
"Yes."
"The kid has a brother? Does that mean we have to show ourselves to the brother as well?" Pinhead asked.
"They both already know. The kid somehow found out about the past. . . . And about . . . Andre."
The puppets went quiet.
"How did he find out about Andre? His journal was destroyed." Blade demanded.
"(shrugs) He found out a lot of things."
"Like what, exactly?" Blade gritted.
"That I have animal brains for one. And about Sutekh and his totems, and about the elixir."
"No way the kid could find out all that on his own without the book. You must have told him!" Six snarled.
"I admit I told him about Sutekh and Rick Myers and a little about Andre Toulon, but he already knew about the elixir! I asked how he found out but he hasn't told me!" Torch shouted.
"Well then burn his ass and find out!" Six shouted.
"I can't harm him!" Torch shouted back.
The puppets went quiet.
"What do you mean you can't harm him? He isn't our master." Blade said.
"No." Torch replied.
"What? You . . . you didn't . . . Did you?" Blade asked.
". . ."
"Torch! How could you?!" Blade practically snarled.
"It's not like you lot are gonna miss me anyway."
"What? Of course we will, we're brothers." Jester said
"I won't. I'll be glad to get rid of him." Six put in.
"Six!" exclaimed Jester.
"He's not even human. He doesn't even have a former life. Dead Toulon made him out of insanity and greed."
"Six, that's enough!" Blade snapped.
"Shut up Blade, don't tell me you haven't thought the same thing. Torch is nothing but an animal!"
". . . Nice to finally hear it." Torch growled and stomped off to the bathroom and slammed the door.
"Nice going Six. This is why I don't like you very much." Jester said and walked off after Torch.
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Torch paced in frustration wanting to hit something, but his master was sleeping and the bathroom held a lot of noise if hit hard enough. His anger won out and he punched the sink cupboard right through, leaving a small hole in the door. But Six Shooter's words were still ringing in his ears and he continued to punch and kick the until he felt a hand tap his his shoulder.
"Would you like to go somewhere and burn down a few things?" Chug asked.
Torch just flared his eyes as bright as he could and growled.
"You're really upset. Alright, come along." Chug picked him up and carried him through his room.
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Jester flinched as he heard the door slam but continued onwards. He didn't like it when Six would gang up on Torch or bad mouth him. Torch was a dangerous fellow, yeah, but he was still hand made by Toulon, dead or not, and that made him their brother. Their baby brother to be exact. Torch was the last one created by Andre Toulon, Blade came before him during the war, then it was him, then Pinhead. Tunneler and Six were older than he was so he didn't know which one of them was the oldest.
And then of course, there was also Leech Woman. She came almost a year after he did.
He was an only child in his former life so having a big family with lots of brothers made him happy and playful. He didn't like loud fights because they reminded him too much of the war and his death.
He paused when he heard punching and kicking. Torch was probably taking his anger out on a piece of wood.
"Would you like to go somewhere and burn down a few things?" He heard the kid say. Torch growled his mechanical growl which he always found scary, and he could just imagine those eyes burning with hate. He shivered.
"You're really upset. Alright, come along."
He heard a door open and then close. He knew he missed his chance at talking with Torch and decided to head back.
"AH! Blade! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry," Blade chuckled, earning a slap from Jester which made him chuckle some more. "How's Torch doing?"
"The kid carried him off to burn out his anger. He said Torch was really upset."
"I know. We could hear his kicking in the living room, but Six is being punished appropriately. The kid has some movies specifically for punishment." Blade said and shivered.
"What? Something gory like SAW? That's not punishment."
"Oh-h-h, it's much worse than that." Blade whispered and leaned in close. "It's Barbie!" he hissed.
Jester would have blinked if he could but then started laughing his head off.
