Chapter Five

The Meeting

Rick's flight had arrived shortly after 5 am the next day. Suzie had picked him up from the airport and on the way back to their home; he had filled her in on everything that had happened in Paris.

"My god, Rick!" she nearly shouted, "You were nearly killed by that French guy and now you're planning some kind of assault on the Bodega Inn?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice, Suzie." Rick said, knowing she wasn't going to like the idea, "He's got surveillance of me at the Inn. If he turns that over to the police, after what happened there last time? Well, you know that's going to put an end to the dreams we have of leaving here with the family."

Looking down to the passenger side floor, Blade looked up at him and nodded his head as if to say, "Thanks for including us in your family."

Suzie looked out the window, biting her lip. She never wanted this to happen. To tell him this way. She was going to tell him over a quiet little candlelit dinner. But, things had changed now.

"Rick, I'm pregnant." She stated bluntly.

The car swerved slightly as Rick's head shot over to look at her as he stuttered, "W-what?"

Regaining his composure and the control of the car, his eyes were still wide with surprise.

"When did this happen?"

"I was going to tell you earlier, but with everything that happened…"

There was silence for several moments as Rick pulled the car into the driveway and turned it off. They sat there, each one looking out the windshield and not speaking before she asked, "Are you upset?"

Slowly, Rick looked over at her before smiling and pulling her into a warm embrace, "I'm actually happier than I've ever been."

Tear slipped down her cheek as she heard him. She had prayed he would be happy and not want to leave her in favor of the puppets, though she doubted he ever would.

"But," He said, pulling back and looking her in the eye, "It's more important now than ever to keep you safe. This guy knows where I live. Like I said, he's the one who hired that woman Maclain. So, you need to go back to your mother's place tomorrow. I'll come for you when things are finished."

She nodded, taking her hands and putting them on either side of his face, "Rick, I want you and the guys to be careful."

There was a small whimper from behind Rick's seat as she looked back and smiled, "Gals too Leech." As the small dark haired puppet in the pink dress nodded to her, "We girls have to stick together."

The puppet extended out her hand to meet Suzie's fingers as she held them.

Suzie and Mrs. Leech had gotten closer during their time together. At first, she was reluctant to ever be in the same room as Suzie, but as time progressed, Suzie thought Leech was happy to have another woman to be around, always surrounded by men, real and puppet. Suzie had even gone to fabric stores and made new dresses for her, though Mrs. Leech always preferred Pink.

One evening, they had even had a conversation of sorts. Suzie of course, couldn't understand her like Rick did, but she did understand nodding of the head and shaking.

They had talked about Rick and about Mrs. Leech's husband, Toulon, before he had transferred her soul, her essence into the puppet's body.

"Did you two talk after his spirit inhabited Decapitron?" She had asked.

Leech had not moved for a few moments, and then nodded.

"Were you glad to be together with him?"

Leech had only looked down at her raised arms and then at Suzie as if to say, "Is this truly being together? Doll and puppet?"

Suzie had actually blushed in embarrassment before adding, "I'm sorry. I just meant…"

But Leech had extended her hand and put it on top of Suzie's as if excusing her.

Now, things between them were different. There wasn't a day that went by that Leech wasn't in the same room as Suzie.

"Maybe you should take Mrs. Leech with you." Rick suggested.

"Well, I think that would be up to her." Suzie replied, looking back at her, "What do you want to do?"

The dark haired puppet looked at the others before pointing toward Suzie, almost asking permission from the others.

"I'd say that's a yes." Rick said, getting out of the car and allowing the puppets to jump out and move to the door.

As he unlocked the door and swung it open, he distinctly heard a man's voice say, "Now is not the time, Ginger! They're going to be back soon and…"

The words stopped as Rick flipped the lights on, looking around. The puppets, also hearing the voice, scattered in different directions, looking for the intruder.

Shutting the door, Rick motioned for Suzie to stay by the door as he began walking around.

No sooner had he stepped in front of the TV set than he heard a man's voice say, "Hello Myers."

Spinning around to face the set, he was shocked at what he saw.

A man, no more than 13 inches tall, sitting on top of the TV set with a gun aimed at his chest. Beside him, a small blonde woman no larger than he was. Neither of them were puppets, he could tell that by their movements. No puppet was that articulate.

A sound of six guns clicking made the small man looked down to this left where Six-shooter had drawn his weapons, all of them aimed at him. The cowboy's bandanna rose to cover his mouth, but a sinister laugh could be heard.

"Hold it, Six." Rick said, looking curiously at the man and slowly approaching, "You're not a puppet, are you?"

"Do I look like one of those things?" asked the white haired man, flipping him off.

"Sorry." Rick said, shocked to be given the finger.

The woman beside him whispered, "Brick, give him a chance and put that damn gun away."

"Ginger," the man known as Brick replied, but was stopped as she put a hand up to stop him.

Slowly, the gun was holstered under the man's black trench coat as he looked over at her, "Better?"

The small blonde nodded before Brick turned to Rick.

"Sorry about the theatrics, but we need to talk."

Nodding, Rick motioned for Suzie to come sit beside him on the couch.

"Okay, talk."

"My name is Brick Bardo. Some people call me Dollman."

Suzie's eyed widened, "Yeah, I heard about you before. You guys are from Pahoota, right?"

Ginger nodded, "Yeah. That's where we've been the past few years since Brick came to town."

Rick suddenly remembered the news stories he had heard about. "So, how did you guys get so small?"

Sighing, brick replied, "Ginger here was shrunk by an alien collecting women. Me, I came from another planet and the size ratio really screwed me up. But," He said scratching his head, "We're not the issue here. Those things of yours and the ones up at that hotel are."

"You know about what's going on there?" Suzie asked.

Rick answered her, "You. You were the one who shot Hertz, aren't you?"

Brick nodded, "Yeah. Had no choice. He was freaking out already and when he turned his gun to me and fired, I shot back. Nearly took my head off with his shot."

"Great." Rick snorted, "It's because of you that I have to plan an ambush. The surveillance tape makes it look like I shot him."

Brick put his hands up, "Hey, nobody made you go down there with a gun. I had no idea what was going on. I still don't to be honest. All I know is that I've had some really crappy dealings with toys that move by themselves."

"They aren't toys!" Rick protested, "They're puppets and they are my family."

"I don't seem the resemblance." Dollman chuckled.

This time, it was Rick who flipped Brick off.

"Look kid, I know what he's planning. He's setting the ambush up for you and your pals. I was up there last night. I heard him talking to you and then what he's planning. Blew one of the little things heads in half."

"Which one?" Suzie asked.

"I don't know," Brick said, shrugging, "The one with the turban."

"Gengie." Blade whispered to Rick who said it aloud.

"Either way, you're way outnumbered. He's got at least 8 puppets up there. Maybe more. That's where I come in."

"You?" Rick asked, unsure of what Brick meant.

"Ginger here is a paranormal buff. She's the reason we even came to that Boedga Inn. Because of all the weird crap happening there. We heard about everything that happened and it intrigued her. We get there and overhear all this talk about living puppets and well…I was curious. Seems like I've got more toys.." He stopped and held a hand up, "Sorry, puppets to deal with."

Looking down, Rick asked Blade and Jester, "Think we can trust him?"

Blade's head slowly turned to Brick and seemed to study him for some time before giving Rick a nod. Jester, however, spun his head several times.

"Jeez, quit spinning." Brick said, looking annoyed, "You're making me dizzy."

Finally, his head came to stop on the smile as Rick nodded, "Okay. You're in. What's the plan?"

"Well, first off, he's keeping one puppet locked up. Calls it Decapitron. I figure if he is that afraid of this thing, it's good for us. I think I should go in with one of your guys and break him out. No offense, but he's on the lookout for you, not for a 13 inch ex-cop."

Rick nodded, "Yeah, we definitely would be better with Decapitron here. Take Blade with you. He knows all the secrets of the Inn. I'll take you guys up to a few blocks away."

"The sooner the better. Once this guy is aware we've been there, he may not be willing to wait a week and might try coming here."

Standing, Rick moved over to the door grabbing the car keys.

"Brick, you and Blade come on."

Leaning over to kiss Ginger, Brick leapt from the TV set and rushed for the door, followed by Blade.

Turning at the door, Rick said, "The rest of you watch over Ginger and Suzie." Before leaving the house.

It was nearly an hour later when the car pulled up near the edge of town, the sillhoute of the Inn visible in the early morning.

"Ok, it's only about three blocks away. Can you make it?" he asked Brick who was strapped in the front seat.

Brick simply glared at him and flipped him off before opening the car door and jumping out.

Turning after Blade followed, Brick said, "We'll be back."

He had to admit, Brick thought as he ran beside the cloaked puppet, this thing could really haul ass. It was with some difficulty he managed to keep up with the little guy. Though soon they reached their destination. Before Blade could continue, he grabbed the back of the trench coat and leaned on one knee, panting.

"Hang on there, ghost face. I'm out of breath."

Blade swung around and smacked Brick's hand off his jacket, but did indeed wait.

Catching his breath, he asked, "So, you were really a real person once? Like the others in there?"

Blade's eye sockets popped their daggers, but soon they retracted as he nodded once.

"Let me ask you something." Brick said, standing once more, "If this guy Toulon could put your soul into a puppet, why couldn't he just put your soul into someone else's body?"

Blade brought his knife hand up and ran it across his throat in response.

Brick wasn't sure if that meant shut up or they would die, but decided to end the conversation as Blade began sprinting toward the Inn once more as he followed.

Once inside through a hidden passageway near the first floor, the pair maneuvered through the corridors and up staircases slowly so as not to be seen.

Once he knew where he was, he motioned for Blade to follow him, but the puppet snagged the back of his trench coat with his hook, shaking his head.

"I was just here. I know where the trunk and the room are. This way." Pointing to the right.

Blade tugged him harder and nudged his head to the left.

"Fine. You better be right about this Casper."

Undoing his hold, Blade directly Brick around the corner to what appeared to be a dead end.

"Way to go there."

Blade, not paying him any attention began tugging at a panel near the floor until it popped off with a faint click and without waiting crawled inside.

"Blade one, Brick zero." Said the Dollman as he followed, pulling the panel back on behind him.

Although he hated following Blade's backside, he followed the hidden passageway which seemed to be leading them up at an angle until they came to a point where both could stand.

Whipping around, Blade brought the knife up to his mouth as if telling Brick to shut up before moving down the small maintenance shaft. As they walked down the wooden 4x4 between the ceiling, Blade seemed to be counting the tiles before stopping 30 down. Getting to a knee, he pierced the corner of the pop up tile and lifted it enough for Brick to see they were right above the penthouse.

Drawing out his gun, he slowly ducked his head under to see who was in the room, only to find it empty. They were directly over the workbench which looked as though wood shavings and paint had been sprayed all over it. Bits of wooden hands lay strewn across one section.

Looking back to Blade, he asked, "Now how do you propose we get down there and back up here?"

The answer was Blade shoving Brick out the ceiling.

Landing with a dull thump on the bed, he was about the flip the puppet off when Blade leapt down to the floor in a crouch and began running for the trunk in the corner.

Sliding off the bed, Brick raced for the trunk as well. Once there, he looked at the padlock on the chain surrounding the trunk as he removed a small metal knife from inside his coat and began picking the lock as Blade turned to look toward the door as if standing guard while he worked.

A click was heard as Brick maneuvered the lock open and the chain began to fall. Catching it so it wouldn't slam onto the floor, he lowered the chain down slowly before popping open the trunk and slowly moving it open.

He jumped back slightly as the sight of Decapitron came into view. Okay, this one was bigger than him by an inch or two. Black putty head, but he did like the leather jacket. Nice touch there, Toulon.

What appeared to be a cybernetic apparatus sat beside the puppet as he grabbed it and said, "How do you get this thing to move?"

His question was answered as Decapitron stepped out of the trunk and took the electric head from Brick. The putty hear morphed into that of an older man with a beard and moustache.

"I am Andre Toulon, the Decapitron. I thank you for aiding me. Come, we must leave before they return."

Dollman nodded, "My thoughts exactly."

The three cautiously moved to the door and looked out. To the left no more than two feet away was Shredder Khan, to the right, the same distance was the Ninja.

Decapitron motioned for them to follow as he went back to the corner of the room and up onto the workplace. From there, he slid the window open and moved outside with Blade close behind. As Brick stepped out onto the edge, he looked down and groaned. He was never a big fan of heights.

Scurrying across the edge of the building, they came to a drain panel. Lucky for them it was still an older version, big enough for them to barely fit through as Toulon dropped down, carrying the other head above his head. Blade followed as Brick groaned and slid down. The drop was steeper than he had thought as he seemed to fall and fall before sliding out into the wet grass below.

"Where is Rick?" Asked Toulon as Blade pointed in the direction of the car where Rick waited.

"Come. We must hurry. Terrible things are about to occur."

Brick nodded, "As if they haven't already."

After another long running session, the three figures came into view as Rick opened the door allowing them inside. As he saw Toulon, his face broke into a wide grin.

"Good to see you again, Andre."

The puppet smiled back, "I see you are well, Puppetmaster. I thank you for saving me."

"Well, we need all the help we can get according to Bardo there." Nodding toward Brick who had just sat down as Rick leaned over them and shut the door, Blade standing on the floorboard.

"Again. I owe you a debt of thanks." Toulon said to Brick.

"Thank me when this is over and done."

Looking back to Rick, Decapitron said, "Now, we must gather our family together and prepare. Prepare for a puppet war."