Puppet Master 2139

Ch. 3: School's Out!

Ash woke up and found himself, staring into the demonic glowing eyes of the demon pharaoh Sutec! Before the both of them are his human friends (Benny, Joey, Frankie, Evie, and Millie) and Toulon's puppets (who look rather battle-scarred).

"Greetings, Puppet Master."

Ash screamed, "NO! SUTEC! LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!"

Then a textbook lands on top of Ash's head!

This time he truly woke up… in biology/chemistry class! "Biology/chemistry class? How did I end up here?"

The lovely red-haired teacher, Pr. Pamela Isley, giggled at the poor teenager, "I can understand you would want to defend your friends, but who is this 'Sutec', was it?"

Seeing about half of the classroom laugh at him, Ash face-faulted, "How embarrassing."

During lunch, Joey said to his longtime friend, "Take it easy, let's just hope Sutec doesn't materialize from the dead; as one of the diaries of the recent P.M. said, 'I smashed that last Totem underfoot after Decapitron shocked the portal away.'" Ash sighs, "I know. This time is my last day of school." Evie said, "Not yet, you've still got three more years left." Ash explained, "After this last day of school, I'm going to stay in the Hotel and keep you-know-who safe."

A high school bully from nearby asks, "Is it Voldemort, Ash Weston?" Another bully from nearby asks, "Or this 'Tech-Suit' you said earlier?" then laughs at him.

Ash ignored them. Then felt something move inside his lunch bag, he looked inside and found Blade and Pinhead scurried about the other bits of food Ash was about to have! "BLADE! PINHEAD! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?"

Realizing what he said (out loud, in fact), he turned to see the faces of five worried friends, several curious classmates, and two angry bullies facing him.

"What did you call us?"

Benny had to get his friend out of this, he thought of one, "You heard him! Blade and Pinhead!" He's trying to take the blows for Ash! Blade and Pinhead, noticing that their master is in trouble because of bullies, decided to hide out into the bag, deeper than before.

But Benny's bad work wasn't enough to defend the new Puppet Master or even himself! The two bullies threw Ashton and Benjamin like two big footballs across the room and raided his lunch bag!

"OW! What does that wimp keep in his lunch bag, meat knives along with his silverware?" said the bigger bully as Blade's knife poked his finger.

Then they both pulled out Pinhead and Blade, Ash explained in the best possible lie; "I must've mistaken my cleanup bag for my lunch bag from Joey Cook, ain't that right, Joey?" Joey, trying to go along with the lie, nodded, "Yeah." Benny went along with it too, "Yeah, he even nicknamed those two puppets 'Blade' and 'Pinhead'."

Taking the lie for real, the bullies said, "We'll let it slide this time, but only if you give us reservations for this hotel you're running." Ash sighed, "Pay me for that, and I will." One of the teachers said, "I definitely will, Mr. Weston!" a set of twin female students about Ash's age said, "Us too!" The asking for reservations from other people grew and grew! Ash sighed to himself, "I need a lot of hands to help me with this."

The friendly janitor (in a dirty hat and a red and green-stripped sweater), Frederic Krueger, came up to Ash with a long wooden box, "Package for Mr. Ashton Weston." Ash asks, "From whom?" Fred said, "I don't know who, but it says it's from Egypt." Ash opens the small crate and finds a small and grotesque alien-like doll with sharp claws, teeth, and a mask (look familiar?). Ash said, while closing the box into the box again, "Send it as a return, please, Mr. Krueger." The janitor shrugged, "Okay."

On his way back to the hotel, Pinhead and Blade popped out of his backpack and said to him, "Jeez, we thought those bullies would've killed you." Ash sighed, "You two and me both, my friends. Why did you two stow away into my lunch bag?" Pinhead said, "It's been decades since I've seen children, your high school years are almost up, right?" Ash sighs again, "Right."

Ash asks Blade, "Blade, have you ever had an encounter with anything your size and is very grotesque?" Blade answers, "Yes, the beasts; the Totems. The first three were sent by Sutec's watchers, the latest one I faced was Sutec himself." Ash said, "I think those guys have returned from the dead; lost souls bent on revenge. One was just shipped to me in school. I've told the janitor, Freddy Krueger, to send that ugly thing back to Egypt where it came from."

Pinhead gasps, "Bad move! Head back to school, hurry!" Ash asks, "Why?" Blade explains, "Just by leaving that Totem with that seemingly friendly janitor, you've sealed his own doom!" Ash groans, "Aww crap."

Ash ran back into the school to retrieve the box! Luckily the janitor wasn't hurt, just knocked out. Ash looked around for the Totem that was sent to him, while the two boys that came along with him looked in the higher places for the beast. He sighed, "Those creatures are after me and my only hope are the puppets of Andre Toulon."

Suddenly, Ash's got his eyes covered! "GUESS WHO!" Ash groaned, "Benny, get your sorry ass out of here before you're down for the count for good!"

Benny lets go of Ash and asks, "Why?" Pinhead lands on a cardboard box beside Benny's head and explains, "A Totem beast has come to this school from Egypt." Joey appears (wearing a huge overcoat) and asks the two puppets, "Would you care for assistance?" He opens his overcoat to reveal the other seven puppets riding underneath it.

Leech Woman sighs, "Having being dead for 200 years, they must be very angry, and would like to take out their frustrations on you, master!" Ash protests, "Killing innocent people is not my idea of a good time." but the beast attacks him from behind nonetheless.

The terrified Ash makes a run for it, with the beast trying to bite into his shoulder or neck! "GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

The others just stood there in surprise, Tunneler asks Evie, "Is Master Ash a big sissy or not the type to stand and fight?" Benny sighs, "Well, he's a bit of both actually."

Throwing the little demon off, Ash ran behind a pile of boxes to hide while he tends to his left shoulder's wound.

Spotting Benny, the Totem chased after him in hot pursuit hurling flowing beams of yellow light from its claws. Benny is running for life and shouts, "ASH! I WANT MY MOMMY!"

The puppets sigh. Six-Shooter said, "The boy is an even bigger yellow-belly than our new master." The others agreed.

Joey and the girls finally escape with Ash in their arms the little Totem by hiding in one of the school science labs, but finds that its destructive rampage has ruptured one of the gas pipes.

Benny is about to make himself scarce when Totem catches up with him. Cornered and helpless, Benny resorts "Hey, what's that outside the window?" The Totem becomes distracted and turns its head to the nearby window, when that old trick actually worked… Benny makes a dash for it. The puppets sigh and chase after him to protect him.

When the small creature realizes it's has been tricked, the sparks from its next beam attack set off a gas explosion.

Later, outside the burning ruins of the old school, that left Ash, his friends, and the puppets to do a disappearing act before they all get into trouble for blowing up the school!

Back at the hotel… "OW! WATCH IT WITH THAT STUFF, FRANKIE!"

Everyone is resting while trying to treat their friends' wounds. Jester (with a worried face on) is sewing up Ash's wound after Frankie placed an experimental healing lotion over it, "This may not look good for you, Master Ash."

Ash asks, "Why, Jester? Are you going against me now because I've chickened out on a Totem?"

Evie said, "We're lucky to tug Freddy out of that fire before it even started!" Millie said, "What did the puppets do? Nothing!" Leech Woman said, "We awaited for Master Ash's command, and nothing more, so don't blame us or him!"

When Jester was finished, Ash apologized, "I'm sorry for doing this to you, everyone."

Blade sighs, "We forgive you. But do you forgive yourself for taking something so new to you?"

(Next chapter; Ash opens the hotel. Send some reviews.)

To Ranma Hibiki: The Puppets can now speak, so everybody can communicate with them normally.