Chapter Forty-Six: Speculations and Talk

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Chug entered his room and placed Torch on the bed.

"Boss, what did Six mean when he said you treat me like a child?" Torch asked.

"He's just looking for an excuse to get you mad, or embarrass you." Chug answered and headed over to a bookshelf.

"But . . . do you treat me like a child?" Torch asked, crawling up to the pillows and snuggled under the blankets.

"Yes, I do, but that's because you are a child, my bairn. Your brothers all act like adults because they were adults in their former life."

"But Six told me that I don't have a former life. That I wasn't . . um,"

"No, you're not human in the common definition, and you are most certainly not human in my definition, either. See, your Father, Toulon, he made you completely from scratch. The brains that brought you to life are indeed animalistic in nature, but not just any animal. Your brainwaves have me confused, to tell you the truth." Chug said.

"Why?"

"Because they don't read as Terran origin. Earth." Chug said, adding the last part when Torch tilted his head in confusion. "But they do read as those of a young one. Very young. Almost in infantry status, but that doesn't bother me one bit, you know why?"

Torch shook his head.

"Because then it gives me the opportunity to raise you as my own. You don't want me to treat you like I do with your brothers, do you? Leave you all by yourself with only them for company?"

"No! I good boy!" Torch cried, burying himself under the blankets.

"See? With me, you'll be protected, loved and cared for. That sounds better than being treated like an adult, doesn't it?" Chug said, chuckling and selected a book.

"I good boy." Torch mumbled, peeking out from under the covers.

"Yes, you are, my wee bairn." Chug smiled.

His doorbell rang and he answered, Blade and Jester running inside real quick.

"Six seems troubled." Blade blurted. "More than usual." he added.

"I thought you wanted to ask about the meg rides." Jester whined.

"What are you talking about, Six is troubled? And what about the megs?" Chug asked, picking them up and placing them on the bed and sitting between them and Torch.

"Well, I wanted to ask if we could ride the megs around the driveway." Jester pouted, crossing his arms.

"Six was remembering something about Sutekh and said your brother's car resembled something he'd seen when he was a kid. He hit himself over the head with it." Blade said. "In the exact same way Torch does when he's trying to remember something."

"Really?" Jester asked quietly. Blade nodded. "Then he really was trying to remember something." Jester said.

"What? Why are you guys whispering?" Chug asked.

"Six said he was trying to forget Torch as his general, but the way he put things and the way he acted, I don't think he's really himself." Blade said.

"What? You mean, like, someone's pulling his strings without him knowing sorta deal?" Chug asked.

"Yeah!" Blade exclaimed.

Chug leaned back in thought. "That does sound intriguing. If Six will allow it, Kegs can scan his memories to help him remember. And we can test your theory at the same time. Kegs isn't a fox just for his looks you know." Chug said and winked at Blade with a grin.

Blade gawked turned away and crossed his arms. "I know." he said petulantly.

"Okay, we'll look into it. And yes, you guys can ride the megs. Even in the hotel. As a matter of fact, you guys should add the flying to your practices. If we are eventually going to go up against an army of Sutekh's totems, we'd better be more prepared than they are."

Jester and Blade nodded and left the room through a secret entrance he'd made for them.

"Jester's an adult but he acts like a child sometimes." Torch said, scratching his head.

"Yeah, it's called immaturity. I'll tell you about that some other time. Let's get to reading 'The Portrait of Dorian Grey'." Chug said and snuggled under the covers with Torch.

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Kokiri walked up the driveway towards his car, sending a text to his brother when he felt a vibration in the air and quickly ducked. Two little twelve inch long brown megalograptus flew overhead and made a u-turn to go at him again. He ducked and shifted to his left when another came up from behind, mid-section and another coming up on his right. He dodged them all and turned to find Blade, Jester, Tunneler and Pinhead all laughing at him and waving their weapons in the air like a bunch of warriors.

"You guys really want to go up against an ocean dweller?" he called out to them, a grin on his face.

Jester raised his staff and whooped.

"Alright, let's see how you lot fair." Kokiri replied and turned into his fox form and flew after them.

The puppets spent hours chasing one another, even after the brother left to run a few errands. It was sundown by the time he returned and told them all to get inside and put the megs back. They all argued, bargained, pouted and pleaded but finally relented when he promised them they could watch a few of his and Chug's old war movies in the lounge.

"Okay, but only if Six and Torch get to watch too." Blade said, standing on his meg.

"Torch is already sleep, and Six will have to stay in his cell." Kokiri said and they agreed.

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Six Shooter felt some excitement when he was told that he could watch some war movies with his brothers in the lounge. He'd been trapped in that cell for three weeks now and he was starting to get a little stir crazy. Although he was often let out to take some classes with Blade and Jester, but it was only under strict supervision.

He was placed on the coffee table, the others surrounded him and made themselves more comfortable when the lights went out.

"Which one are we watching?" he asked.

"Some war movies of the two Brothers." Blade answered and then shooshed him when the film started.

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Ten hours later. . . .

The puppets all sat quietly. They were stunned, appalled, awed, scared, shocked, astounded, and gawked at the screen as the credits rolled up.

"Damn." said Tunneler.

"Blimey." said Pinhead.

"Cor." breathed Jester.

"God damn." said Six Shooter.

"These brothers are . . ." Blade began and then suddenly shot up. "We're ameteurs compared to them! They've fought with everything for everything! They're masters! They're relentless! They're-"

"Pretty damn amazing!" Jester breathed. "Did you see how they handled martial arts? They fought blooming gorillas! Alien rhinos! Creatures that were four friggin' times bigger than they were!" he said excitedly. "No wonder they don't take these totems seriously! They're vets!"

"They've got an army that makes Earth's laughable. The brother has his own space armada for crying out loud." said Tunneler.

"Even the kid has his own army. Both on earth and in space." said Pinhead.

"An animal trainer, who would've thought? No wonder with the monkey and the hawk." Jester chuckled.

"And the snakes back at the cabin." Pinhead said.

"They've stormed castles, old factories. The kid even used himself as bait and is apparently more dangerous when he's had chocolate." Tunneler said.

"They're unbelievable!" Blade shouted. "The brother especially!"

Jester, Pinhead and Tunneler stopped talking and they looked at Blade.

"Why?" Jester asked.

"Did you see how the brother split himself into five other copies? All different, yes, and each with different powers. I've felt those cores and the fire one is dangerous. But . . ."

"But what?" Pinhead asked.

"Do you really believe they've done all that and still remain the same afterwards? War changes people. We know this. We've all come from war times." Blade said.

"So? It keeps them together. It's kept us together, why not the same with the brothers?" Jester asked.

"To train an army like that in so little time? How do you think they've accomplished that?" Blade asked.

"Uh, alien technology?" Tunneler suggested.

"I suppose, but we can't blame every unfactored irrationality on aliens." Blade said.

"Blade, don't ruin the mood. The film was fun, and it shows that we've got a lot of work to do if we're ever going to be prepared like them." Jester said and stood up.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna stay down here and . . . meditate." Blade said and headed over to the fireplace.

"All right, night B." Jester said and hopped off the coffee table. Pinhead and Tunneler following suit. "So what was you guys' favorite part?" he asked.

"The kid driving his motorcycle through traffic." Pinhead said.

"The brother tearing up pavement." said Tunneler.

"Mine is when the kid fights with a spatula and goes 'Underpants!'!" Jester said, all three laughing.

Six watched them go and looked back at Blade who sat down and tapped his fingers against his hook the same way the brother does when he was thinking.

"You feeling alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Blade answered.

"I really miss you guys." Six said, waiting for Blade to make a reaction and sighed when he didn't. "I saw you guys riding the megs down on the driveway. Looked like a lot of fun."

"It was." Blade said with a silent chuckle. "Jester went nuts."

Six smiled. "So, any chance that I'll get out when the totems do come?" he asked.

"Not really sure. You'd have to ask the kid about that." Blade said.

"How far did you get with your magic?" Six asked, finally getting Blade ot look at him. "Just wondering." he added.

"So far the brother's taught me how to make sonic pulses, send out constant ripples and locate other magicals." Blade answered. "And you were there about my coat."

"Yeah, I was." Six mumbled, just so there was some kind of noise in the room. He didn't like the quiet anymore. The attic room was mostly quiet and only burst into noise whenever Jester entered from his classes. He'd gotten over his phobia at long last. Now he talks endlessly about them about their fighting skills. Pinhead didn't talk at all, focusing on learning how to use the kid's screen and its linguistics. He's hardly ever seen Tunneler, but Blade was more rarer than him. He'd seen Blade a total of eight times in the attic room since he's been locked away.

He stopped trying to leave his cell when he was caught ten times trying to sneak into Torch's room. What the hell kind of security did the kid install? 'Cause it was really good.

"Well, everyone's gone to bed. You and Six are the remaining ones and now here I am." Kokiri said, coming from the shadows.

"About time, what hell took you so long?" Blade asked, standing up and headed back to the coffee table, his coat giving him a lift up.

"I was listening to Jester laugh his head off. Then had to make sure he was still breathing afterward." Kokiri answered and sat down between the couch and the coffee table.

"What-what are you doing here?" Six asked, backing away from the brother. He could feel his own power stirring.

"Blade said you had a memory you were trying to remember from your childhood. I've come to see if I could lend you a hand with it." Kokiri answered, opening the cell and grabbing Six gently but firmly.

"Are you sure? You're not gonna rummage around in there like you did with that old man?" Six asked.

"No, and if I did, you probably wouldn't notice." Kokiri said. "But I'll only go in if you want me to." he added and placed him on the coffee table next to Blade.

"We miss you too. You used to be so much fun." Blade said.

Six rubbed his hands together nervously. He wanted to be back with his brothers as well, but he just felt so nervous around the two brothers. He felt safe inside his cell. At least they couldn't harm him while he was in there, but there was nothing to do! And he wasn't getting anywhere with Torch under constant guard. So, what was there to lose?

"Alright, let's have a look." he said and started to shake when the brother touched his face.

"Now, think of the vision you saw that brought the memory." Kokiri said.

Six thought back to the blue light and the brother's car.

He could hear someone calling out to him. No, they were telling him something. He sensed he was in danger - the blue light-shouting-screaming-the monstrous roar-

Kokiri broke the contact and was breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Blade asked.

"I don't know. I want to try again." Kokiri said.

"Try as much as you want. I want to know the memory too." Six said and tried to calm his nerves when the brother touched him again.

The bright blue light-shouts-fighting-a tumble-danger-hide-screams-the monstrous roar-

Kokiri broke the connection again and rubbed his face. "I can't. . . I can't get into it without hurting him. Something's blocking me." he said and looked at Blade. "You might be right."

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