A/N: I had another idea about Jillian Zinman floating around, but after writing for her three times (two stories and one story I cancelled) This time I kinda wanted to focus on Amy Kramer and Dennis from NOTLD II. Which this is my second time writing for them. But I'm more proud of this idea.
Good Ol' Dennis
"Amy!" squeaked a friendly sounding voice. It was Dennis. The friendly little dummy was more than happy to see his good friend home from a day of shopping and school. "I've missed you!"
"Hey Dennis!" called Amy back to her living dummy, as she shut her bedroom door. The tan-skinned, green-eyed, and black-haired girl then held up Dennis' gift. "Look what I bought for you!"
Dennis the Friendly Living Dummy nearly squealed in delight. "You bought me a new sweater?" he asked happily.
It was a brand new dummy-sized and scarlet-red turtleneck sweater.
"Uh-huh," assured Amy with a smile. "I know that you like to your best for Family Sharing Nights. So I bought you this."
"I love it!" Dennis said shrilly and happily. "Thank you Amy!"
The little dummy hopped off of Amy's pink bed and into her arms for a big hug. Dennis felt warm in Amy's arms - a stark contrast to the last dummy she had a physical encounter with who was cold to the touch.
Dennis is an old and short little dummy. Where Slappy was gangly and intense-looking, Dennis was the opposite and quite friendly-looking. He is a one-brown-eyed dummy (his other eye was completely white) with frizzy brown hair. He wore a sky blue turtleneck sweater with black corduroy pants, and white tennis shoes.
As Amy hugged him, his frizzy hair began to brush across Amy's tan face, tickling her. She let out a little giggle, which made Dennis laugh too. He had a funny little shrill laugh, almost identical to Slappy's laugh. But to Amy, it didn't sound nearly as cruel.
"We're gonna have to comb this hair down buddy," laughed Amy placing Dennis down on her dresser, as she looked around her room for a comb. "Think you could keep it together until tomorrow?"
"I'll try," responded Dennis, sounding a little exasperated. "If George doesn't attack me again." The little dummy started to feel the top his head. "I never knew cats were so strange."
"I don't think George is quite used to seeing living dummies, Dennis," explained Amy, trying not to laugh. "Just hang out in Sara's room, she's got all of the Disney movies in her closet."
"Okay!" squeaked the dummy happily. "I want to watch that movie about the wooden doll."
"Figures," laughed Amy as she looked under her bed for Dennis' comb. She then had another thought. "After Family Sharing Night we're going to have to work on some new material for the end of the year school talent show tomorrow, for Friday."
Dennis began to bounce up and down excitedly, his joints rattling as his excitement coursed through his wooden body. "I love performing! What's the act?"
"Well a lot of people like our mom and son act - found it!" she said as she finally found the comb. "I'm practically like a mother to him anyway." amused Amy in thought.
She then walked over the excited dummy and began to run the comb and her hand down his hair. "But I was also thinking you should have a catchphrase. Something people could quote. When we joke about mistakes you and I make."
"Did I do that?!" suggested Dennis jokingly and in a whiny-sounding nasally voice.
"No!" rejected Amy quickly. "I hate that show."
"I think it's funny," shrugged Dennis. "Jed kinda likes it too."
"Jed likes to put ketchup on baloney too," snarked Amy with a laugh. "That doesn't mean that's good too."
"I guess not," laughed Dennis remembering the day. The dummy saw Amy's younger brother, Jed, making a sandwich and the idea of food was interesting to him. After all he's a living thing. "I guess I made an oopsie."
"That's not half bad." said an impressed Amy, as she finished combing Dennis' wild hair back. "Maybe you could make like a amused face and shrug, then say "I made an oopsie!".
"Ooh, ooh, like this?" asked Dennis excitedly as he rose one eyebrow, tilted his head, shrugged and cried, "I guess I made an oopsie!".
"Yeah like that!" chucked Amy. "That works!"
"You think they'll like me?" asked Dennis eagerly. "We've never performed before such a large audience before."
"Oh for sure!" replied Amy, patting his head. "But then again, who wouldn't love ya." She then placed him at the foot of her bed next to her teddy bear and bunny plush doll. "See even they like you! To me, they always looked scared when Slappy was near them."
Dennis' bright and cheerful smile slowly faded from his face. The mention of Slappy made Dennis shudder. He rattled as body shook at the mention of the evil dummy. Amy noticed this, and the now terrified expression on Dennis' face.
She sat down at the foot of her bed and motioned for Dennis to scoot next to her. "Come here, Dennis." she asked soothingly.
The little dummy then scooted closer to Amy and she put her arm around him.
"He still scares you, doesn't he?" asked Amy thoughtfully.
Dennis looked up at Amy sadly and nodded silently, while she gave him a little squeeze.
"Dennis, you are responsible that evil creature is gone," explained Amy proudly. "You saved us all. There's nothing to be afraid of, buddy. Remember when we told you that?"
Dennis nodded, while slightly smirking.
"Why did you hide in that closet after you knocked him out?" asked Amy amusingly, trying to brighten the mood.
"Did you see that guy?" squeaked Dennis, chuckling a little. "If he wasn't gone, he would've beat me up!"
"But you did beat him," explained Amy, calmly. "He's gone. Dad threw him out weeks ago anyway. You have nothing to be scared of, okay?"
"You promise?" asked Dennis innocently. Dennis was very childlike in spirit. To Amy, Dennis was almost like a nicer and innocent version of her younger brother.
"I promise you Dennis Kramer," she assured him. "You are completely safe now."
"Okay Amy." he suddenly chirped. And then wrapped his arms around Amy in a hug.
"For a little dummy, you give such big hugs," she remarked. She then had a thought to cheer the dummy up. "Margo let me borrow her new Bob Marley CD, wanna listen to it with me?"
"Do I?" squeaked the dummy excitedly.
"We loved the CD!" Amy said to her best friend Margo at the lunch table, handing the CD quickly to her friend before any teacher could see.
"I still can't believe you have a real live dummy in your house!" whispered Margo.
"It's not so weird after you've dealt with Slappy," shrugged Amy. "Besides he's not just a dummy. He's family."
"Does he call you mommy or mama?" joked Margo, stifling a snicker. "I've always saw you being called mom, the day you have a family."
"He calls me Amy ya doofus," shot an amused Amy. Admittedly the idea of being a motherly figure to a dummy at twelve was quite amusing to her. "I feel like Loonette the Clown when he and I are together."
"Maybe you two could have a show!" suggested Margo eagerly. "Could call the show A n' D!"
"I'll stick to being a ventriloquist, thank you." replied Amy loftily. "Besides it'll be harder to mask that he's alive if we get a show."
"What even brought him to life?" asked Margo, taking a bite of pizza. "You said some spell brought Slappy to life, right?"
That was a good question. How did Dennis come to life? Dennis himself didn't even know, however Amy always had a theory.
"I guess the spell that woke Slappy up, must've woke Dennis up too," explained Amy thoughtfully.
"At least I think it did. I don't know. Could it?" thought Amy.
"It only makes sense," shrugged Margo. "At least he's friendly. Shy little thing though."
"The night he cracked Slappy's head open was so precious," recounted Amy, taking a sip of milk. "Little guy hid himself in a closet. But we talked and he's now a Kramer."
"I love happy endings," sighed Margo. "It's just still so weird-feeling, you know? If there's living dummies, like what else could be out there? Zombie cats? Werewolves?"
"Who knows?" shrugged Amy, taking a bite of her pizza. "I'm just glad the living dummy I have is a friendly one. I guess still keeping him after all of this time paid off."
"I think he'll be a big hit at the big talent show next week for sure." assured Margo. "He can be a very funny guy when he wants to be."
"When he's not belching like Jed, he's definitely a funny dummy." chortled Amy. Somehow, Dennis even made Jed's behavior tolerable to the young girl.
"Would you ever consider bringing him to the Party House?" asked Margo hopefully. "Dad really wants to give you a second chance."
After the last fiasco of a poor birthday girl's hand being fractured by Slappy's inescapable grip, Amy never wanted to step foot in that place again. She grimaced at the thought of that horrible day and being reduced to tears, all because of Slappy.
"But Dennis is a good dummy," she thought. "I should be able to actually perform, right? Maybe I can finally take off as a ventriloquist!"
"Okay, we'll perform at the Party House," said Amy with a smile. "My first gig."
"Second." joked Margo.
"First time doesn't count," replied an amused Amy. "I didn't perform."
As Amy told Margo about her act with Dennis and his catchphrase, her mind began to slowly drift back to the day Dennis saved her family and how thankful she was to have him around.
Two months ago...
It was hard to make out the evil dummy as he crept in the darkness of Sara's bedroom, as his dark grey suit blended all too well with the pitch black and shadows. Amy squinted through enough to see his red bow tie and peach-colored hands and watched with determination as Sara watched with one eye open in horror as Slappy was waving a paintbrush in the air about to deface Sara's prized mural in the oldest sibling's bedroom.
"I think a few obscene words should suffice enough to get that stupid girl sent to the funny farm." murmured Slappy nastily. But suddenly-
"Stand back!" cried Dennis, charging at Slappy.
"What the-?!" shouted Slappy, caught by surprise. His big blue eyes now wide in fright.
But he didn't finish his shout. He then let out a loud "oooof!". Dennis collided into Slappy so hard and quickly, the evil dummy couldn't brace himself. Slappy was knocked off-balance into Sara Kramer's iron bedpost. A loud "claaaaaaang!" had rang throughout the big bedroom and sickening crack followed next and Slappy's lifeless wooden body slumped into a wooden heap on the floor.
Dennis looked around and quickly ran away into the long hallway of the ranch-style home.
Slappy's piercing and cold blue eyes had slumped in directions as the dummy's round wooden head was cracked wide open. And to Amy and Sara's horror, a fat and slithery white worm crept out of Slappy's head and vanished into a crack in Sara's wall.
Then Mr. and Mrs. Kramer burst out of the closet and both hugged Amy tightly.
"Amy, we're so sorry! We saw everything!" sobbed Mrs. Kramer, hugging her daughter. Crying profusely. "We should have believed you!"
"We're so sorry honey!" cried Mr. Kramer stepping out from the closet. "We believe you now." He stared down with a perplexed expression, his green eyes fixated on Slappy's broken head and crumbled body.
Amy felt a rush of relief. Finally after days of torment, sweet vindication. Finally it was proven that she wasn't crazy at all, it was all Slappy. Evil, conniving, and cruel Slappy.
"I'm just happy it's all over," sighed Amy in relief. "And Jed got him good too!"
"Was he supposed to do that?" asked Sara, getting up from her bed. "I thought we were all gonna dogpile Slappy and Dad was gonna use the kitchen mallet on him."
Amy looked surprised herself that Slappy was not only knocked out, but possibly even dead. Jed had really got the dummy good!
"Hey where did Jed go?" asked Amy, looking around the room.
"Well let's not stand around here!" willed Mrs. Kramer. "Let's go find him and thank him! He saved Amy! He saved all of us!"
The family trooped down the hallway still buzzing from the events, Amy was the most overjoyed and proud. Her plan had worked - and it worked very well. She had outsmarted her nemesis. All because of Jed.
The thought of Jed being so brave rang louder than the sound of Slappy's head cracking on the iron bedpost in her mind. As she thought about his bravery, a second thought had entered her mind.
"That was Jed, right?" she asked herself in thought. Jed had seemed much smaller in the costume disguised as Dennis, but with the quickness of Dennis colliding with Slappy she couldn't get a good look.
Soon they were at Jed's door and Mr. Kramer slowly opened the door. But to the surprise of everyone, Jed wasn't awake! He was still fast asleep. He just started to wake up as the family walked into his room.
"Oh man!" he yawned groggily, while stretching. "I was supposed to stay awake!"
Mr. and Mrs. Kramer were now both perplexed. Sara was stunned. Amy herself was now curious.
"Then - who stopped Slappy?" asked Amy in wonder and now looking towards her parents. "Who - stopped Slappy?"
It was quiet for a what felt like a long moment. The Kramers were all looking at each other in confusion. But the silence was soon broken by the real hero of the night.
"I did." murmured a faint and squeaky voice behind them. It came from the closet in the long hallway.
Amy jumped at the sound of the voice. The voice sounded a little like her's. But more high-pitched and younger sounding.
"D-Dennis?" murmured Amy walking past her parents. "Are you a-a-alive?"
Amy then pressed her ear against the door awaiting a response. She heard faint rustling and then heard a sad sounding, "Yes.".
Amy then backed away from the door nervously. Her sister, her brother, and her parents began to talk and murmur amongst each other.
"What do we do?" asked Sara nervously.
"Is he evil per se?" added Mrs. Kramer.
"I think he re-" started Jed. But Mr. Kramer casted him an angry glare that suggested he should stop talking.
"I think we should let Amy decide," suggested Mr. Kramer. "She knows Dennis better than any of us, if you really think about it."
"She did spend the most time with him too," agreed Sara with a smile. "Besides she's had a rough few days."
"It's up to you honey," sighed Mrs. Kramer, placing her hand on Amy's shoulder. "Whatever you decide, we'll stand by you no matter what."
Jed silently nodded in agreement and Amy looked up to her family and felt a rush of pride and comfort. It still felt so wonderful that she wasn't being treated like an experiment gone wrong. She took a deep breath and slowly but surely opened the closet.
"Dennis?" she called. "Come on out, you're with family now. Slappy's gone."
Dennis slowly moved the hanging jackets in the closet out of the way to reveal himself. He looked frightened and his joints rattled as he shook. The little dummy had both of his wooden hands clasped over his face. Amy remembered what her mother used to do for her when she felt nervous or shy. With that, she knew exactly what to do.
Amy then motioned with her hand that her family step back into Jed's room. Obliging, the four Kramers took a step back into the youngest Kramer's room and Amy dropped to her knees to where she was at the short dummy's level.
"You have nothing to be afraid of," she soothed. "You're safe now."
"Are you safe now?" asked Dennis nervously, still covering his face. "I didn't like Slappy."
"Of course we are!" assured Amy. She then softly placed her hands over his, and slowly moved his hands always from his face. "Thanks to you, buddy."
Dennis' frightened expression began to slowly fade into a bright smile. Dennis, even when his head would fall off, was always a kind-looking dummy.
"Really? Because of me?" asked Dennis sheepishly.
"Yes," replied Amy, still holding his hands. "You're a hero!"
"I'm a hero?!" squeaked the dummy happily.
It was at that moment Amy knew Dennis was worth keeping, whether he was alive or not. She spent so much time lamenting that she had such an old dummy, that she didn't really think that perhaps that dummy could still feel her love that she had for him still.
"Yes you are, Dennis." answered Amy with a smile. "You saved us all, and because of that we want you to be a Kramer too."
Dennis' brown eyebrows shot up and he beamed. For Amy it was refreshing to see such a pure smile from a dummy after days of an evil one, flashing in and out of her mind. He then ran and hugged Amy, nearly toppling her over.
"I take it you want to stay with us?" laughed Amy.
"Yes I do!" squeaked Dennis. "You're my family!"
Amy heard a sniffling noise behind her, she turned around and saw her mother and sister crying together. Jed and Mr. Kramer were standing together looking proud at Amy and Dennis.
"I think it's time we all went to bed," yawned Mr. Kramer. "I think we've all had a long night."
"What about Slappy?" asked Amy.
"I'll get rid of him tonight," declared Mr. Kramer. "I want that evil thing out of my house."
"Can we go too?!" squeaked Dennis excitedly. "I hated that guy!"
"I think you and Amy need to get some much needed rest," laughed Mr. Kramer rustling Dennis' frizzy and wild hair. "Sara wait here with Jed until I get that thing outta here."
Sara nodded as Mrs. Kramer yawned and went back to the bedroom. Mr. Kramer went to get his shoes on and retrieve a bag from the kitchen to get rid of Slappy in.
"Awww okay," moaned Dennis. As Amy stood up, Dennis held his little arms up to motion he wanted to be picked up, akin to a toddler wanting to be picked up.
Amy hoisted Dennis up and held him on her side as she walked back to her room. Suddenly Dennis started swaying back and forth in her arms and humming a familiar tune to Amy. And then the dummy started to sing.
"Don't worry, about a thing
'Cause every little thing, gonna be all right
Singin', don't worry, about a thing
'Cause every little thing, gonna be all right..."
"Dennis, we're gonna get along quite nicely." assured Amy holding him tightly to her side.
Two months later...
"Hey Dennis!" called Amy happily, expecting to see an excited Dennis. But Dennis wasn't overly excited, he was staring out of the window. His expression was blank.
She slowly walked over to the dummy staring out of the window. "Dennis, are you okay?"
Dennis shook his head and turned to Amy with his usual grin. "Sorry I think I was daydreaming, or something."
"Daydream?" asked Amy, surprised.
"Dummies can daydream?" she thought. "I guess if he's a living thing, I guess he can dream too."
"I guess so," replied Dennis, in a not-so excitable Dennis way. "Are we still gonna perform tonight?"
"Yep!" replied Amy, trying to will Dennis. "From the looks of it, you stayed in Sara's room away from George huh?"
Dennis began to perk up a little bit. "I did! I might not watch Pinocchio anymore though. I fell asleep this time."
Amy's black eyebrows nearly stretched to the top of her head with how surprised she was. "Dennis falling asleep during a Disney movie? Particularly his favorite Disney movie?". Amy walked over to Dennis and felt his forehead. Dennis giggled at the touch of Amy's hand on his wooden head.
"What are you doing, silly?" asked Dennis chuckling.
Amy wasn't chuckling. She felt a little concerned. Dennis felt cold. Not his usual warm self. Ice cold. Just like -...Amy shuddered a little. Sure Dennis was giggling and being more of himself. But something felt - off. She then had an idea.
"Dennis, maybe we shouldn't perform in front of my parents," she said, feigning disappointment. "I'm kinda tired."
Dennis brow scrunched and now he looked sad.
"But Amyyyyyy!" whined Dennis in an exaggerated tone. "I like performiiiiiiiing!"
Amy smiled, that was the tell she needed.
"Okay, okay we can still perform during Family Share Night." soothed Amy.
"Yaaaaaaay!" squealed Dennis in delight.
For nearly thirty minutes Amy and Dennis practiced their routine. Amy would try to tell a story and then be the distressed motherly figure trying to get her dummy to do the right things. And it would end with Dennis saying his new catchphrase.
Family Sharing Night went on as usual that Thursday. Mrs. Kramer shared a work-related triumph, Mr. Kramer had finally perfected cooking with his wok (albeit the food was a little too spicy), Sara shared her latest masterpiece which was a portrait of the family with Dennis in Amy's arms, and Jed shared that he didn't strike out in summer little league. But shortly afterwards he let out a long belch that he had been saving all day.
Soon it was Amy's turn. Before Jed and Sara would groan and jeer at Amy's ventriloquism performances with Dennis. For the past two months, the family cheered and clapped when Amy would perform with Dennis. Much to her delight.
Amy had brought a dining room chair to the center of the living room, and gently sat down with Dennis in her lap.
"You know Dennis," began Amy, she then pulled a piece of paper from her jeans. "I think I'm gonna share a story tonight."
Dennis turned to Amy with a raised brow. "Oh-oh okay!" the dummy squeaked nervously with an unsure smile. "That sounds fun..."
That prompted laughs from the Kramers. Even Jed laughed a little.
"It'll be fun! It's about a boy lost in space!" she said trying to comically convince Dennis. "Once upon a time -" she had begun with her act. But Amy felt a chill run up and down her spine. Dennis quickly turned to Jed.
"I don't know why you even bother with baseball," sneered Dennis in a raspy yet still squeaky sounding voice. "Stick to the belching contests ya bush league loser!"
Jed looked hurt, but then looked very upset. Mr. and Mrs. Kramer looked surprised and were stunned. Sara looked perplexed too. Did Dennis really say that?
"Dennis!" snapped a confused Amy. "That's not-! What are you-?"
"Ah, Sara," purred Dennis in a sickly sweet tone. "So how's things with Michael?"
Sara blushed a deep shade of red. Mr. Kramer turned to her with a raised brow.
"Michael is Sara's big teddy bear boyfriend," announced Dennis in a nasty tone. "Or at least that's what it says in her diary!"
Sara stood up and quickly stormed away in anger and frustration. Dennis cackled a gleeful laugh, that didn't sound anything like his normal laugh. It sounded...evil.
"Alright, that's enough," grunted Mr. Kramer. Sweat trickling down his bald head. "You two, out."
Amy tried standing up but she couldn't! She was stuck! But before she could say anything, Dennis spoke up again.
"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a fat sweaty pig when you get intense like that?" rasped Dennis nastily. He then started snorting and making yelling, "Sooie!".
"Amy! I mean er-Dennis!" shouted Mr. Kramer angrily. He was so confused he didn't know who to be mad at. "The both of you, out!"
"Dad, I can't move from my seat! I didn't tell Dennis to say any of this! Honest!" pleaded Amy. Dennis then turned to Mrs. Kramer.
"Why didn't you join us over here when I was hog calling, toots?" asked Dennis sounding innocent.
Mrs. Kramer now was red in the face. And at that last insult, Amy was able to stand. She quickly threw Dennis away from her lap and he hit the floor with a clonk.
"Get. Out." snarled Mr. Kramer. Dennis looked confused.
"What happened?" he squeaked innocently. "I thought we were going to perform, Amy."
"Oh you performed alright!" hissed Mrs. Kramer, her arms crossed.
"Dennis, what's gotten into you?" asked Amy walking towards him. "Seriously! What was that?!"
"But I- I don't know-" he started. But his face twisted into a sneer.
"I happened," he rasped, pointing to himself. "We meet again Amy."
Now all Kramers stood in the living room silently. Bravely, Amy stepped forward.
"What do you mean?" she asked shakily. "Stop playing around, Dennis."
"Oh Dennis isn't here anymore," rasped the dummy. "Think hard Amy."
"S-S-Slappy?" she spluttered.
"D-d-ding ding ding!" mocked Slappy in Dennis' body. "Look at the big brain on Amy! That's right!"
"But how?" cried Amy. "Dennis killed you! Your head was destroyed - cracked wide open!"
"Sorcery is a wonderful thing," purred Slappy. "My soul was split in case of an emergency. Now think real hard about that one."
"No!" snapped Mr. Kramer suddenly. "I won't stand for-"
But with a snap of Dennis' fingers, the Kramers were all frozen in place and Amy was the only one who could talk.
"This is between me and you, stupid girl," snarled Slappy as Dennis' one brown eye was full of rage. "I won't have them squirming into our business. Get it?"
"Squirming?" murmured Amy. Her green eyes then opened wide in shock as the hint and thought of how Slappy's back, finally hit her. "The worm!"
"Ah, I see you really are smarter than ya look!" sneered the dummy. "That's riiiiight! Some of my soul is still in that body your father tossed away. But a part of my soul still exists as a worm. And I waited patiently for Dennis to finally step foot into that bedroom alone. Looks like you should've called an exterminator when you had the chance! Ha!"
"Oh you-!" growled Amy.
"I couldn't risk being seen by that pesky cat or Dennis if I came into your room," explained Slappy, full of pride. "So I waited patiently until he came in. Listening to that annoying girl talk about her boyfriend, listening to you playing that infernal music, having to endure the smell of your dad's bad cooking - there's going to be some changes around here!"
"Poor Slappy," cooed Amy mockingly. "Want a bottle?"
"Big talk from a slave," the dummy rasped nastily, but the Impostor Dennis' lips curled back into a evil grin. Boasting were much more entertaining matters to the evil dummy. "How lucky for me to be a soul worm in a house with another living dummy!"
"I thought about something. If we destroy the worm, we destroy you?" asked Amy darkly. "Sounds easy enough."
"Well there goes your wit," sneered the dummy. "You think it'll be that easy?"
Amy began to fill with rage once more towards the now cackling dummy. Not only could someone could find Slappy and wake him up once more, but now had taken over Dennis' body.
"So what's your plan now, huh?" asked Amy angrily. "Whatever it is, won't work."
"Oh it will," rasped Slappy. "It's infallible. Easily the greatest plan I've ever concocted!"
"Speak up for the class then, dummy." spat Amy, glaring angrily at the impostor Dennis.
Slappy snorted a little snicker at Amy. "You're a feisty little slave," he rasped. "Think about it. If a worm has my power, and Dennis has some of my power of being a living dummy, how much of my abilities do you think have been enhanced?"
Amy said nothing.
"You and your family are going to be my slaves," snarled Slappy. "And if you don't, I'll show all of you what else I can do in this new body."
"I hate you," snarled Amy, wishing she could tackle the dummy. "I hate you so much. Why can't you just die and leave us all alone?"
"Well!" mocked Slappy with a giggle. "Amy Kramer, don't you know hate is a strong word?" Slappy in Dennis' body began to walk forward. "Tsk tsk tsk. I suppose a lesson must be taught to ya, slave."
"Stay back!" snapped Amy. But is was hopeless. Of course Slappy wouldn't. The dummy snickered a nasty laugh and walked forward slowly. Knowing Slappy, she knew that she was in for a world of hurt from the dummy. The last time she fought Slappy her forehead was bruised and she had headaches for days.
"What do I do?" she asked herself in thought. Quickly an idea flew into her head. It was her only hope.
"Dennis, I know you're still in there!" she called to the dummy. "Don't let Slappy win! Don't be afraid! Remember every little thing will be alright! Fight him Dennis!"
Slappy as Dennis stopped just a foot away from The Kramers and began to cackle a nasty laugh. But suddenly just as Amy thought she was doomed and all hope was lost, he dropped to the floor in agony!
"You leave me alone!" screeched Dennis in his own voice clutching his head. "Leave me alone!"
"Never you old pile of kindling!" shouted Slappy in a more raspy tone of Dennis' voice. "This is my body now! MINE!!!!"
"You leave my Amy alone!" snapped Dennis as he began to roll away, clutching his head in pain and agony. "Go away!"
"That's right Dennis!" willed Amy, still stuck in place. "Fight him! Show him who's boss!"
Dennis raised his right arm while his left arm was grabbing and trying to pull it away. But Dennis managed to snap his wooden fingers, releasing the Kramers from Slappy's spell!
"My God..." sighed Mr. Kramer at the sight of Dennis rolling around in agony, fight off Slappy.
"Honey, I think you know what must be done." murmured Mrs. Kramer looking to Mr. Kramer. Mr. Kramer nodded and turned to Jed.
"Jed, go get your baseball bat," he demanded. "We have to get rid of Dennis."
"No!" cried and protested Amy, as the dummy continued to argue with himself and fight off Slappy's control. "We can't!"
"Amy we don't have a choice!" her mother declared angrily. "We have to put him down!"
"Mom. Dad. Just trust me," Amy pleaded. "Dennis will beat him. Just please don't hurt him. He's my friend! Please!"
Mr. and Mrs. Kramer looked uneasily at each other. Should they trust her? After a long sigh, Mr. Kramer spoke.
"If he can't beat him," he murmured. "Then we will act. He has a minute."
"Thank you," she said hugging her father. She then turned to Dennis. "Dennis, you have to get the worm out of your head! That's what's controlling you!"
"Okay!" called a struggling Dennis. Dennis raised his right arm once more, but his Slappy half tried to stop him again.
"Wait Dennis!" Slappy pleaded. "You need me! I have powers! I can make you faster and stronger! We could rule this house! We could - ack-eeeugh!"
Slappy couldn't finish his plea, Dennis had stuck his arm in his mouth and up his head causing the dummy to choke and wretch violently. Mrs. Kramer couldn't watch as Mr. Kramer held her in his arms, Jed has clasped his hands over his eyes, but Amy watched on - hopeful for Dennis.
Her hope was quickly rewarded as she watched a green glow go slowly from Dennis' eyes, then to his nose, and finally to his mouth as he pulled and pulled trying to get the soul worm out of his head.
Finally after one final snatch, the white and green glowing worm was out of his head. Slappy's soul worm wriggled wildly and tried to squirm out of Dennis' grasp as he was coughing and spluttering. Dennis then frowned at the worm and managed to stagger to his feet.
"Go away!" screeched Dennis angrily. He then squeezed the worm in his hands - hard. The force of the squeeze made the worm make a sickening squish noise in his hand -a sound akin to someone loudly squishing slime and green, gloopy, and viscous blood dripped down from his hands.
Dennis opened his hands and saw the worm slightly twitching amongst the green glowing blood that smushed out of it's body. The dummy then threw the remaining and twitching bits of the worm on the floor, he raised his little sneakered-foot and stomped down hard on the last bits.
And with that, Slappy was finally gone from the Kramer household. The glowing green blood from the worm began on Dennis' hands and sneaker started to hiss and fade, along with the rest of the remains into dust. There wasn't a trace of the soul worm left.
"Dennis, are you back?" asked Amy.
Dennis turned around and then shrugged playfully. "I guess Slappy made an oopsie!" he squeaked with a snicker. With a tear sliding down Amy's face, she picked her dummy up and gave him a big hug, she had her friend back.
Soon after the events of the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Kramer thought it would be best that everyone returned to their rooms while they soothed Sara's feelings.
Amy and Dennis sat together on the bed - both feeling emotionally exhausted. Amy had her arm around the dummy's shoulders, while he had both arms around her and leaning his head on her side. Amy was slightly relieved that her dummy felt warm again, but she still felt a tinge of worry and sadness. Her thorn in her side had found a way to once again torment her.
Dennis noticed Amy's sad expression. "What's wrong, Amy?"
"Slappy's still out there somewhere," she sighed, looking down at Dennis. "He said his body still had part of his soul. So if someone found him wherever Dad dumped him at, repaired him, they could wake him up."
"I'm scared too Amy," murmured Dennis looking, his one brown eye reflecting sadness. "I don't like him at all. He's a bad bad dummy."
Amy looked down at Dennis and the poor dummy looked so sad and afraid. She remembered all of times she was scared throughout her life and found the bravery to fight back - a lesson she learned from her father. A lesson that helped her back at that night at the start of Spring when she found herself tussling and fighting with an evil dummy.
"Dennis can be brave," thought Amy as she held Dennis tighter. "But maybe he needs me to be brave with him. Maybe he needs assurance?"
The thought swirled around in her mind. "Each time I stood up to Slappy, Dennis stood up to him." she reasoned.
"Dennis doesn't need a worried Amy right now," she declared in thought. "I really am like a mother to him or something I guess."
Amy gave Dennis a little squeeze. "Dennis, do you remember the night I fought Slappy?"
Dennis shuddered a little. "That was scary," he responded shakily. "I didn't know what that crazy guy was gonna to do."
"Neither did I," Amy agreed in a warm tone. "But I had to be brave. And I told myself, 'I can handle him. I can beat him!'. And because of that, I was able to trap Slappy and you delivered the knockout blow."
"You think we can beat him if he ever comes back?" asked Dennis innocently, perking up a little.
"I know we can," assured Amy with an easy smile, rubbing Dennis' shoulder. "We're a good team. And you're a tough little dummy when you want to be buddy."
"Thank you, Amy." said Dennis softly, leaning his head on Amy's side.
"Wanna know how I know all of this?" she asked Dennis.
"How?" he asked, curiously.
Amy then began to slowly sway from side to side with Dennis, and she sang, "Singin' don't worry, about a thing.."
Dennis replied to the lyric she sung with a soft, "Because every little thing, is gonna be alright.".
THE END
A/N: I wanted this to have a warm ending with this one because if I feel like the character had been through enough, I want them to have a kinda a nice definitive end before they move on. After taking a break from Slappy admittedly it was nice to write for him again. Which I'll still do more with him at some point in the future but only now and then.