Acolyte of Chucky Chapter 14: Final Act: City of Dolls Part I, a child's play fanfic

"So, that's a toy factory?" Ozzy glanced over the multi-winged brick-and-mortar building with only about 15 floors from where he sat on the car's hood. In their defense, Play Pal wasn't the first tenants in that building. It was some automotive company in the 70s, the factory floor was the warehouse and auto shop. In the late night, faint lights could be seen from within some of the windows, whoever was in there was trying to bring it all back to life. The half-hour drive over was a somber one. Ozzy had a nice little character arc moment where he nearly sparked up after reclaiming his bag but elected not to when he saw Lottie staring worryingly out the window. Don't get me wrong, he still had some in his pocket with his lighter for emergencies -but still, that's growth! Shauna held onto Glen's tanto in the meantime, really digging how the hilt felt.

"You were expecting something more whimsical?" Lottie asked as she pulled herself on the hood next to him.

"I guess," Ozzy shrugged, "The only Play Pal product I ever had was their shitty hand held console from like 2006."

"I remember the Play Pad." Shauna recalled as she continued to swing Glen's tanto beside the car. "Only three games ever made for it because it sucked so bad."

"It's because all the games were educational ones. But they still slapped, Mildor's Math Monster Mayhem taught me how to do fractions."

"Ozzy, you were like 12 when the Play Pad came out."

"Different strokes for different folks." He caught Lottie looking over at the baker's dozen of black SUVs parked around the building in no particular way since no parking lot existed. She was doing a headcount of some sort, trying to estimate how many people exactly could be in the factory but there were too many variables. "What are you thinking, Lottie?"

"It's a lot, too much I think. Whatever the Deacon is doing, he wants his whole congregation. I don't think we can get to him. We just need to get my family and get out." she gave her assessment.

"Any shot at him, we should still take." Shauna said, "And end this nightmare."

"We're not prepared for a big body count. All we have is Glen's blade." Lottie pointed. Ozzy placed his broken arm in his one good hand and held it like a shotgun.

"I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this Acolyte magic." He had to really try to raise and aim his wrist where the mark of Damballa was with what little sensation he had in that arm. He was able to and pointed at the back window of one of the black SUV's back window, getting off their car's hood and bracing himself in a stance. It may seem like it, but he had no idea what he was doing, just hoping for the best or something to happen really. But something did actually happen when Ozzy tensed up on the arm to the best of his ability and did manage to clench his fingers. A crack appeared in the center of the window and then spread in all directions like a web. Then in true car window fashion, the whole thing collapsed into snow-like particles with a glassy pop. "Sheeeeeesh!"

"Try shooting lightning again!" Shauna eagerly urged, picturing him blasting Burton's weird-looking Vincent Price face. That would be a nice way to end this. Ozzy fidgeted more in an attempt to do so but the only ensuing thing was the car's trunk door falling off and tumbling to the ground. It was a miracle the car alarm wasn't going off.

"Baby steps," Ozzy reassured, "Now, let's go save our psycho killers from those even bigger psycho killers."

Shauna once again led as Ozzy followed with Lottie in his arms, or rather arm. They found the doors by the loading bays leading into the factory floors to be locked. Walking through the group of parked cars belonging to the cult was disheartening, to say the least -so many seats. They really had nothing to go on, that was the closest entrance of any kind into the building they could find, and assumed it was how the shadow men got in. The cult had to have broken in somewhere, so Shauna saw fit to circle the building until they came across a broken window, open door, or anything suggesting such. Even though no shadow men stood guard or patrolled the outside grounds, Shauna and Ozzy still slunk around and clung to the walls as if to remain unseen. After turning the western side of the building, they noticed a small alcove that mid-sized trucks could fit through to a sort of alley where the garbage and recycling would be placed out. This looked promising, so Shauna led Ozzy and Lottie down.

There was a double door next to a series of dumpsters coated with rust and holes that made them unclaimable by the city. Shauna's tugging on them confirmed they were locked, but just above them was a small square window that only someone over seven feet could see through. It had to be there for only show or architecture's sake. Sometimes glass just helps to diversify the monotone nature of blank brick-styled buildings and homes -my parents' house has a couple of just-for-show windows, it's chill. Lottie glanced up at it.

"Osborne, I think I can get us in if you can get me up there!" she motioned, "Shauna, let me see Glen's blade." Shauna did so and Ozzy hoisted her up to the window as high as his one arm that was capable of it would let him. He did come up a little short and Lottie wasn't able to reach it. Ozzy didn't need to ask Shauna for help, she already wrapped her arms around him and lifted, giving Lottie access to the window she needed. It was decorative, so it didn't open, Lottie made it by smashing it in with the hilt of the tanto before maneuvering herself in. Ozzy and Shauna heard her land on her feet behind the door. There wasn't any light on the other side, so they were sure she was alone. The door shook and shake as she messed with it. Then, the tip of Glen's tanto poked through between the two doors, moving up and down. Ozzy and Shauna watched it move up and hit something in its path, the locking mechanism. It backed off before approaching it again with more force. The rustic mechanism was no match for the tempered Japanese metal, you can quote Glen on that if he were there. Shauna gave the doors another shot and this time pulled them open. Lottie was standing there waiting for them.

"Have we thought about how we're going to find them? This place is huge." Ozzy scooped up Lottie as he and Shauna stuck to the walls of the corridor. What's there to say about how the place looked on the inside? Now would be a better time to rewatch Child's Play 2 than ever. As we've seen, Pay Pal Corporation was always brutally, well, corporate. Not one person who had an imagination was working there, which seems to be something you should have if you're making products for children. The offices, factory, distribution, and marketing departments reflected that soullessness. The same walls they use in detention centers had gone putrid yellow and grey in some areas over the years and everything was coated with decay. The floor was barely visible with how much building debris there was which made walking quietly a little of a challenge for Ozzy and Shauna.

"My dad's a loud screamer," Lottie said as of matter-of-factly yet worryingly. But that was the thing, it was quiet -at least where they were in the building. By that point, they snuck past what looked like the mail room with no sign of either the Rays or shadow men. They turned a corner and the hallway continued. There were a couple of maintenance storage rooms and offices along the way behind the unlocked door. Curious, Shauna did investigate the one that was along the wall they were so keen on staying close to. She came back out of the room with a fire axe.

"Finders' keepers," she gripped it by the neck. Before Lottie could comment on the noticeable chip on the blade, there was the unmistakable chime of an elevator coming from down the hall they were heading. They collectively gasped and quickly hid in the room Shauna had got the axe from. There was the sound of footsteps as well, but they weren't getting closer nor sounded to be coming down the hall. That meant that the elevator had to be in a junction of some sort. At least they had a new lead, but the question of what floor the Rays were being kept on remained. "Wait a minute," Shauna said, and pulled out the shadow man's phone she had salvaged, "Why don't I just ask them? They'll just think it's whoever this chump was messaging them."

"Oh shit, go for it!" Ozzy was then over her shoulder screen peaking with Lottie. Now, hands-down, the best part about the shadow men is how they aren't these prestigious hitmen, they're all maladjusted freak shows looking for a reason to kill and feel powerful over everyone else.

So, when Shauna typed in "where the dolls at?" not one of them suspected a thing. She read the first responding text aloud.

"What's up, Jeff, thought you were dead. Doll freaks are being kept at the clubhouse set on floor eight."

Shauna then texted back, "thanks bby :)"

The responding message from the same shadow man was a kissy face emoji.

"These fucking guys..." Lottie was shaking her head.

"We go up then," Shauna pocketed the phone, "We just need to be ready any-"

Anything came suddenly. The door they had seemingly forgotten about staring at the phone waiting for a response flew open and a shadow man stormed in -impeccable timing. "HEY!" he cried.

Ozzy, Shauna, and Lottie just glanced at each other rather than scream. Shauna let out a convincing "um," as if she was going to answer him honestly before she grabbed Lottie and threw her at him. The doll girl instantly clasped her hand over his mouth as he stumbled in and around the room. Lottie grunted through his muffled screams and gasps, trying to stab at him when she remembered. Japanese blade is for slashing, not stabbing, and to be used with two hands and not one. Lottie could see she had a clear shot at his neck as they struggled. She took her hand off her mouth, but the shadow man never got the chance to scream. He had let go, so Lottie had to be quick. The moment she started falling she swung and struck the shadow man in the neck as she had intended. The blade cut through the hood fabric, then the flesh, then the muscle, then the veins, then the neck bone, it just kept going in that instant as if it was all butter. Lottie landed on her feet before she even knew what happened and figured why she felt so little resistance on that slash compared to what she usually is accustomed to.

The shadow man still stood, but his head had fallen and rolled towards Ozzy and Shauna. Blood did spurt out of the head stump like the movies advertised, but only for a brief moment before it all just came oozy out freely, waterfalling all around the neck and pooling on the floor before the body came tumbling down. Lottie hadn't wiped the wayward spatters from her dress. She just held and stared at the tanto, her eyes going big like on Christmas morning before she slowly turned to Ozzy and Shauna. This was the first time in a while they saw her smile.

"You both saw that right?"

"Samurai Jacked that dude." Ozzy covered his mouth his amazement. I don't think he's seen a beheading yet during his time with the Rays.

"Hey Ozzy, check this out," Shauna kicked the shadow man's head aside like a soccer ball, "Funky Town." If you get that reference...ooo wee, hope you're taking care of yourself. If you don't, don't worry about it. You're beautiful. Stay that way.

"Oh my god, you guys," Lottie ran her thumb and finger up the blade and the blood and spinal fluid slid right off with them. Shit was pristine. "This is the best thing I've fucking used in my life!"

"Let's get it back to Glen, eighth floor." Ozzy poked his head out the doorway. His stepping out was a clear indicator that the coast was clear. It seemed that this shadow man was alone. He couldn't hear any footsteps or voices either. They headed to the elevator with more gusto rather than fear. That's just medieval, confidence and pride coming from decapitation of one's enemies -not promoting it, heads belong on bodies.

The assumption was correct. There was an elevator just down the hall and around another corner. Ozzy was all over the call button, mashing it as if it will make the elevator move any faster. It was down within the minute and the three quickly shuffled in before any other shadow men decided to show up. They left at the right time because Ozzy swore he heard footsteps coming back toward the elevator junction. There was a collective gasp of relief as the car started up after Shauna pressed the eight-floor button.

"Halfway there, baby," Shauna placed a hand on his shoulder shortly before the two noticed Lottie pacing around the car, wringing Glen's tanto's hilt in her hand anxiously.

"Couldn't have done this without you, Lottie. Your parents are going to be proud." Ozzy tried to lighten her mood.

"Thanks, Osborne." Lottie kept her smile light. There was a small, dark part of her saying 'what's left of them,' but she snuffed it out. She's got a strong family. The elevator dinged as it reached the eighth floor. Moment of truth.

Chucky shook the blood from his brow, seeing how he couldn't wipe it away. He placed his mis-stitched skin back into place as he glanced pitifully at his family where he lay pinned. "Tiff?" he called out at a volume that was anything but calling volume, "Tiff, talk to be, babe."

"I'm here, sweetface...I'm here." She tried to sound fierce through her croak. She turned to face her husband from where she was chained.

"Alright...kids? Glen? Glenda? You don't have to talk, just make sounds."

"Dad? Mum?" Glen moaned to let them know he was still kicking. He struggled in the tire swing and managed to free one of his legs, but quickly stopped when he painfully pressed up against his broken hand.

"My mouth feels funny." Glenda couldn't stop running her tongue through the gap between where one of her canines (wait, they're all canines) used to be. She lay on her back facing the ceiling, the only progress she made with the jump rope they had her wrapped in was slipping a finger out.

"I know things look really shitty right now, and things are probably going to keep getting shitty..." Chucky sighed, this was not that kind of speech -the one someone would make when plotting an escape, "You are the last people I would've wanted Burton finding out about. When he came for you, I decided I wanted to hurt him and the cult by going for the thing that they care about more than anything -the Acolyte. I thought I had it all planned out...I thought I was the baddest."

"Dad..." Glen didn't interrupt him, rather that was his reaction. It wasn't too often his dad spilled his guts, emotionally that is.

"Things were fucking great until he came along. I don't tell you all this enough, but you're everything I could ever want -each one of you. Tiffany, when you and the twins let me back in after that birthday party, I couldn't remember the last time I felt that happy until we had Lottie and I got to literally watch her grow bigger than me..." Chucky held a hand to his face, that was recomposure, remembering his youngest is out there alone. His wife and older kids' thoughts drifted to her as well. "I guess it was only a matter of time before my past caught up with me and everyone I loved got dragged in. Sometimes I think I shouldn't have loved anyone. Maybe I should've stayed away when you told me to, Tiff."

"Oh, Chucky." That wasn't a lovey-dovey swoon. Tiffany was profoundly moved by what her husband was saying.

"I'm sorry. Everything that happens from here on out is all on me. I guess I wanted us to be together too much." Chucky had laid back now, something he often did when speaking the heart many forget he has. Being emotionally transparent is exhausting for someone like him. Watch Bride of Chucky when he apologizes to Tiffany, he totally does it.

There wasn't really much anyone could say. All of them just wanted to hold each other, except maybe Glenda. She just kept staring a hole through the ceiling. So much shit was rushing around in her head, none of it good. There was a collective moan from the family when they heard the door handle clicking and unlatching.

"We're in this shit together," Chucky braced himself, "I'll try to get them to hurt me more. Bring it you sons of bitches!"

"DAD!" Chucky's first instinct was to think it was a trick. But the moment after the door opened and his youngest daughter seemingly came out of nowhere and tightly wrapped her tiny arms around his body, it all seemed too elaborate for the shadow men to pull off. "You're alive! You're all alive!" Chucky caught his breath before wrapping his arm around her, still caught off guard.

"Lottie? Baby, come here!" Tiffany was shaking so much that the chair she was chained to fell on its side. Glen and Glenda both got a good look at her as she made her way over to her mother to kiss and hug her.

Ozzy and Shauna stood in the doorway, keen on making sure Lottie was the first one they saw -show of good faith and all, and to put Chucky in a good mood. Hopefully, there would be no hard feelings. Shauna held Glen's tanto now, Lottie had dropped it running over to her father. She led their way in the family reunion to Glen. She stopped the tire swing from rotating and held it still as she popped it with the blade and began cutting her way to Glen. Chucky's son stared at her bewildered. Him with a battered and bruised face is just a sad visual.

"You came back for us...I really wish you hadn't. Now, you're in danger." Though he was grim, he still gave Shauna a smile. It was nice to see her again.

"Please shogun, you're too kind," Shauna said coyly and freed him before gently placing him on the floor. His legs felt like jelly from being cramped up in that wheel and refused to work. "Take your time, get your bearings."

"Ronin," Glen couldn't help but clarify. He cooed like a baby as he stretched himself out on the ground as he felt his asleep limbs wake again.

"Speaking of which, this is yours."

"Ms. Shauna...I...thank you." Glen held out his broken hand as an instinct to grab the tanto his girlfriend from his human life had given him. Shauna gave a sympathetic 'aw' as he did, seeing its mangled state. "It's ok, I've trained using both." Glen gave a small goofy smile for forgetting he wasn't going to be using that anymore. He kindly accepted it back with his other, only working hand. Looks like he and Ozzy were brothers in that department.

"Glenda," Ozzy saw fit to help her out before confronting Chucky. In order to undo all the jump rope that was coiled and tangled around her, he had to pick her up.

"Hey...Osborne." was all Glenda said when Ozzy scooped her up. It was more monotone than when Lottie addressed him. She wasn't squeeing or xding (fuck, dude, I'm sorry, erase that from your mind) like she usually did. During their time together Glenda always did and say a lot of unnerving things to Ozzy, but he found this most unnerving so far.

"Glenda, are you ok? Did they do anything to you?" Ozzy asked with concern as he managed to free her from the two double dutch length ropes. Glenda slowly looked up at him, smiling and revealing her missing tooth. Ozzy gasped.

"They didn't do anything...and I've never felt better in my whole fucking life." This didn't sound like the doll girl he traveled with at all.

"Ok...but if you aren't, you can say so. We came back for you because we care." Ozzy placed her on the ground, expecting her to stand and take it from there, but Glenda just slumped down into a doll-like sitting position.

"That's nice," her comments on Ozzy's sentiments were brief and emotionless.

Ozzy took a deep breath as he stepped over to where Chucky was pinned. Lottie was working on unchaining her mother in the meantime. The amulet was removed from the chain by the shadow men beforehand. Apparently, the Deacon had requested it. Ozzy and Shauna both stood over Chucky. It was difficult to describe how they were looking at him. It was like friendly defiance, a mix of they had proven a point that he was wrong about them and that he was stuck with them and they all knew it. Chucky stared back at them for what seemed like a while, eyebrow raised and head tilted. This was new for him too. Then, he laughed for a moment.

"Don't expect a thank you." That was absolutely his way of saying thank you.

"We need you out there, Chucky. The cult, the shadow men, the Deacon -I think you're our best bet of ending it all." Ozzy eyed Frick and Frack impaling his only hand and foot. They would have to come out.

"Well, that's very inspiring, but if you'd just let us perform the ritual, we really wouldn't be here." Chucky gasped and yelped as Ozzy pulled Frack from his foot.

"I don't think we'd really be anywhere. Chucky, what makes you think that Damballa is a loving god? How is you doing the ritual any different from the shadow men doing it?" Ozzy gripped Frick and prepped to pull it out but expected an answer from Chucky first.

"The whole point is that they aren't doing it," With that, Chucky revealed what it was all about. Ozzy took that moment to extract Frick. Chucky was quieter about it.

"And who wins that?" This made Chucky fall silent for a little. His head lowered and he glanced around for a bit like he was looking for the words to appear in midair.

"None of you are getting away from me in the end." Chucky resorted to all he knew and shot Ozzy and Shauna a dark glare.

"Maybe. But, first, you have to beat the Deacon to it, and I mean really do it." Ozzy said and extended his hand out to him. "Teamwork is going to have to make the dream work." Chucky gave him a weird look.

"Did you fucking get high before coming here?"

"You know something, no. I'm on a come down actually."

"A fatty does sound good now..." Chucky smacked his hand against Ozzy's open palm. Seeing how Chucky wasn't walking anytime soon, Ozzy pulled him up by the arm as dolls are made to be.

"I never really liked you, Ozzy," That was Tiffany. She sat propped up against the fallen chair holding Lottie close to her bloodstained breast, recovering herself, "But thanks for not leaving us." She was happy to have all her kids together now. The moment Lottie freed her she made a promise to herself, she wasn't going to let Burton or the shadow men fuck around with her anymore.

"That's a shame. I think you're cool." Ozzy placed Chucky next to her. He figured he'd want to give them time after whatever the shadow men did. His wife held his face, gently pushing in any loose skin that was hanging out from some of his stitches being pulled out.

"Don't feel bad about ever coming back to me, sweetface -never ever. We belong together, we all do." She pressed her forehead against his.

"Yeah...and it's my fault, isn't it?" he smiled through her kissing lips as he placed his hand on her side, drawing her closer. The two spend a moment in a kiss before Chucky pulled away. He let go of her, only to move Lottie's hair out of her face from where she lay against her mother.

"We're making it out of here, sure as shit," he affirmed.

Tiffany began pulling herself and her husband up. Ozzy looked around and saw that Glen and Glenda were also getting their bearings back and were beginning to get up too. It really felt like when he had first met them all in the warehouse akin to when Sam saw the Autobots for the first time. That newfound feeling of protection and friends from the unknown. Though, the Rays are anything but comparable to them. Glen impressively maneuvered his tanto into its sheath on his back while Glenda let her messy and torn hair nearly cover her face.

"We're back in business," Shauna clapped, "Elevator is right down the hall. I think there's a shipping bay we can slip out through."

"If you can grab a Good Guy for spare parts on the way out that would be great too. This shit is just embarrassing." He motioned for Ozzy to pick him back up.

Ozzy, Shauna, Chucky, and Tiffany went to call the elevator just down the hall from the Good Guy tree house set. Glenda was nonchalantly following them out of the room when Glen stopped her.

"Hey Glenda...sis," he tried putting a hand on her shoulder but she stepped back and folded her arms. She wasn't saying anything to him. He hoped to change that. "Listen, I understand that things were said back there."

Glenda furrowed her brow.

"And, I'm not going to tell you to forget about them, but I want you to know that I didn't mean them at all like that. Glenda, you are the most important person in my life. I always hated seeing you alone because you made me feel loved at a time when it was certain I was going to be alone myself...there's just so much you don't remember and know. I'm sorry, Glenda, for what I said and I'm sorry that I wasn't a good brother."

Glenda pouted.

"Hey Glen, Glenda, we're about to-" Lottie instantly got the impression she was walking in on something between the two. She had no context so it was confusing as it was tense.

"Glenda, I'm so-"

Glenda spat on Glen's cheek mid-apology. It couldn't be more symbolic or disrespectful. The wad wasn't clean either, it was clotted with blood. Her furrowed brow tightened and her lips gave way to the points of her teeth. She really wasn't going to say anything to him at all. She was completely done with him. Glenda turned around from her brother who was now just as quiet and was face to face with her sister. Lottie took both of Glenda's hands in hers.

"Glenda...what happened?"

Glenda sighed, moving her thumbs around Lottie's smaller hands before letting go. "I don't think I'm human, Lottiepop."

"I'm not either. It's ok."

"No. You're human, I remember holding and feeding you. I'm just...just some voodoo monster that shouldn't be. I don't think that fucker is actually my brother." She motioned at Glen, "I don't think mom and dad are, you know, my mom and dad. Lottie...I don't think that you're my sister."

"Wh-what?" Lottie quivered. Hot tears welled up in her eyes at what she just heard. Glenda refused to follow it up with anything. She simply apologized before moving out to rejoin the others. She limped rather than walked because of the number Glen had done on her back in the alley. Lottie ran into Glen's arms, his purple sweater felt good on her face. Without a doubt, he was her favorite to hug because of this.

"She was wrong for that. She didn't need to be nasty to you about this," he said.

"About what? What did you say to her?" she then noticed the bite marks on his arms as he held her. There's no way he would bite himself so they could only come from one other thing. "What the hell happened!?"

"I lost a part of me." Glen sighed, hugging her back. At least he still had her. Lottie didn't feel like letting go and frankly, neither did he. So, he picked her up just like he used to when she was a toddler and carried her off to the elevator to rejoin the others, leaving the torture chamber treehouse fort behind.

They found Ozzy and Shauna congratulating each other on a job well done while Ozzy held Chucky under his broken arm, who really seemed to have no choice but to listen to them. Tiffany held Glenda's face before wrapping her in a hug. Glenda seemed to be keeping her leg wound from her and didn't look to be saying anything to her mother. In fact, Glenda wasn't really reacting at all when she was hugged, aside from placing a single arm over Tiffany's shoulder devoid of any emotion just like her stare. Like her dad, Glenda was never the best at discussing her problems with Tiffany, let alone anyone else. She knew she would find out eventually anyway. Glenda remained silent in the corner of the elevator car until it came to a stop.

"Mission accomplished," Ozzy pushed the first-floor button the moment Glen stepped in with Lottie, needlessly repetitive pushes as always.

"I'm a bit upset I didn't get to use this," Shauna raised the axe by the neck simply because it felt good.

"I thought I could see it in your eyes, skater girl," Chucky seemed to smugly say as the elevator started down, "You got the blood lust."

"What? No...I just want to find and gut like fishes the motherfuckers who probably cost me my chance at a med school entry exam." Ozzy was speechless by that but Chucky was anything but.

"Wow, the next generation of serial killers is going to be so fucking fascinating." He was confident he would be there to witness it.

"Is going back to the trailer park outside of Aurora an option?" Tiffany now had gone over to Glen and Lottie and put her arms around them, drawing them close to her. "We can buy our time until they find us again. Maybe we'll be ready for them whenever that will be."

"Or maybe Hackensack. We should get as far away from here as we can. I don't even think Burton knows where I was actually born...yet." Chucky was in on the brainstorming too. The moment Shauna heard Hackensack, a bad taste formed in her mouth.

"I played there once for a tournament with their community college. Fuck New Jersey, man. It's full of weird homunculus people that scream at you." As a literal weird homunculus that screams at everyone, could Chucky really argue? Nah man, Lakeshore forever.

The fun reunion banter could wait as the elevator dinged and shook as it touched down on the first floor. Shauna took lead and made sure the coast was clear. The worst would've been if the door opened and a ton of shadow men were standing there. Yeah, truly horrible, would be a shame if that happened.

"The way out is back here," she pointed, "There's a big roll-up door down the hall along the way that I think is a storage unit. We can get Chucky a new body or spare parts there."

The words 'spare parts' got Chucky going as silent as Glenda did as Shauna led them to said door down the stuffy hallway, both with broken debris and on the nose. It only now just registered with him, but this was the place where he had one of the most painful nights of his life. Dismemberment, burning, choking -literally everything happened to him here. He glanced back at his wife and kids scuttling after Ozzy and Shauna as they came to the west wing of the first floor. The people who did that to him weren't true killers at all, but the cult lived for that kind of stuff. Speaking of which, shouldn't they have seen or heard at least one by now?

They stood before the roll-up sheet metal door that Shauna spoke of, the winding chain dangled at its side -almost forebodingly. Shauna twisted a hand in it, aiming to pull it up in one go. Ozzy glanced down the hall, the door they came in was just that way. They were nearly home free and it was almost too perfect.

"Shauna, now you're sure this is just a storage unit?" he asked.

"We're looking for a Good Guy, aren't we? Check this out, that's a helmet warning sticker, maybe this is the main factory floor where they put them together. What reason would the Deacon have to fuck around in there? There's a penthouse floor." Shauna twisted the little chain around her hand one more time before pulling, when she did Chucky's face dropped and he narrowly avoided biting his lip.

"NO! WAIT!" he remembered. The Deacon was planning something big that didn't involve Ozzy, but whatever it was involved that factory. Shauna had already pulled and the door folded and slide up so high a cloud of rustic dust floated out from the metal clap. Ozzy and Shauna followed the Rays in gasping.

That door was deceiving because the room was enormous on the inside -taking up three whole floors of the building itself. Machines, conveyor belts, industrial vats, and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cardboard made up those bright boxes that housed a Good Guy doll. It wasn't nearly as much stock as you've seen in Child's Play 2. As opposed to the thousands of Good Guy dolls, there were only hundreds. The boxes were no longer neatly stacked in rows and columns but just thrown and fallen about the place. Some of the dolls lay out of their boxes. The machines looked like they had in Child's Play 3, times 50 thousand. The entrance they opened was more on the assembly side of the factory floor rather than the storage. The whole place was rank and reeked of old plastic.

There were doll parts everywhere -scattered on the floor, scrambled about on the assembly line, and still hanging in the queue for the limb attachment machine -all from heads, arms, legs, and torsos. Play Pal never bothered to clear their collective desk when they were heading out. As unsettling as it all was and as strong as the fit of PTSD it sent Chucky into as he stared at the machine that was meant to be his tomb, that all wasn't the worst part.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" Ozzy and Shauna seemed to scream at the same time.

Shadow men were everywhere too on the factory floor. There were well over one hundred heads, there just had to be. They were all here. Some were rubbing their hands together, and others were cracking their knuckles, with them all here you could really see the size and body diversity. There was one that was absolutely over six and a half feet, not that it would matter in the next moments. Little Washington XL Ivan Burton was there too, standing atop the limb machine where his congregation can see him with the Heart around his neck and the Soul in one hand. The stones were glowing brighter than they ever did before. It hadn't mattered that Ozzy and Shauna screamed, most of the shadow men were staring right at the door as it opened. All the life drained from the couples' and the Rays' faces as the hope of an over-and-done escape was smothered with a pillow. Burton clapped his hands together, he had them right where he wanted them and he didn't even have to do anything.

"I really have to make no attempts at all. It all just falls into my hands. Damballa fucking favors me. We were going to find you anyway, the ascending room was a dead giveaway. All the exits are blocked, you're going nowhere," he smiled. The XL Little Washington had a little colonial American flag cloak so the whole evil overlord look was working for him.

"It's called an elevator, you fucking dinosaur!" Chucky barked at him. His family now huddled closely around Ozzy and Shauna as they stood before the small army.

"Oh, little one, I'm going to miss your loud mouth when you're gone. But before the Acolyte and I bring Damballa here, I want you to see this. After all, this was all inspired by you...and the legacy you could never escape. My minions, the revolution begins now!" The Deacon of the Order of the Serpent raised the amulets up as he got on his knees and began the Haitian incantation. By the way, it really is a variation of Haitian they use for the spells. My ass had no idea, I thought it was like a cool made-up fantasy language like Lord of The Rings -a bit of a letdown. "Ade due Damballa, give us the power we beg of you!" From there, the chant took a long drawn-out turn as the Deacon rolled the words and recited huge verses without so much as taking a breath.

"What's he doing!?" Ozzy frantically shook Chucky, "What spell is he casting!?"

"I don't know! I never heard this one before!"

"Nanm nou se jwet ou, ann jwe pou tout letènite," Burton continued the chant, the supernaturally brewed thunderstorm could be heard pounding above and around the building outside just on its sporadic cue. The light from the bolts of lightning briefly illuminated the factory floor with each flash through the windows. The Heart and Soul of Damballa upped their luminosity from glowing to shining like stars in his plastic hands. It all intensified as he got deeper and deeper into the chant. By all logic, Ozzy, Shauna, and the Rays should've run from that room -but it was like trying to scream and getting nothing out, it wasn't happening. If anyone did have any morbid curiosity about what would happen, then it was satiated when all the shadow men seemed to smile in unnervingly perfect sync -big, wide-eyed, toothy smiles. Then, their eyes, noses, and mouths started bleeding as they started to convulse and shake. Burton's chanting grew louder as he reached the final verse.

A shadow man dropped to the floor, then another one, and another. Within the span of five seconds, every shadow man that had been bleeding and seizing up was now face down in little puddles of their own face orifice blood. Meanwhile, the lights that had remained off for so long suddenly found power within the unseen magic storm the Deacon was summoning. At that moment there was a loud thunderclap that seemed to shake the whole building as Deacon Burton concluded his chant, the amulets he clutched in his hands were like a blue and red fireball. He lowered his head, taking a moment to silently thank Damballa for this bounty he was about to receive like the demented parody of a holy man he was. Then, he threw his head back and screamed the final word of the spell right before the thunderstorm all died down.

"AWAKE!"

The decommissioned Good Guy factory was quiet after the maddening cacophony of black magic. Ozzy and Shauna felt false reassurance that perhaps the spell had failed, but Chucky and Tiffany knew better and they had an idea of what he had just done...and it terrified them. Zeus on Olympus, Osiris in the Underworld, Odin in Valhalla, Vishnu reincarnated, Lord in Heaven, Jesus Christ on the cross, he better not have done what they think he did.

"Hi! My name is Jacky!" An unseen Good Guy doll from somewhere around in the factory sounded off on its own. The many boxes of varying conditions soon began to quake around the toy-making facility. Burton threw his head back and laughed as more Good Guy dolls began speaking and the quaking soon turned into pounding.

"Hi! My name is Cory!"

"Hi! My name is Davey!"

"Hi! My name is Whitey!"

"Hi! My name is Gregory!"

"Hi! My name is Randy!"

"Hi! My name is Benny"

"Hi! My name is-"

There was no point in keeping up with all the names. There were so fucking many. Most of them clawed and pulled their way out of their boxes as they introduced themselves with smiling faces. Others rose up like zombies from where they lay on the ground or where they were strewn up. These were often the ones that were missing an arm or leg. The evil mastermind did a mass soul transfer. All his subjects under that roof were now like him and Chucky. They hoarded around their master as his laughter continued, all of them standing over their former bodies. It took everything for Ozzy to keep his legs from quitting on him. Shauna clutched the fire axe, but her quivering pout betrayed her headstrong demeanor. Chucky held his head down, this whole thing was the very embodiment of the word fucked. Seeing the factory all lit up now worsened his PTSD and he found himself unable to speak even if he tried. Tiffany had backed up to her kids and held them as she made small attempts to inch back out the door as if it would matter. It was a damn sea of redheads that reeked of death.

"Our rebirth is complete! We will hide in the shadows no more and our only sustenance will be the souls and blood of our victims!" Deacon Burton's little American flag cape was waving amongst the magic storm as he unsheathed his voodoo saber, it was glowing as green as the paint on its blade. "Come, fulfill your purpose, Acoly-"

Ozzy screamed his goddamn head off. The mantle of Acolyte of Damballa seemed to pale in comparison to whatever Burton was and had turned himself into over the centuries. He created hell, those were his demons, and he was the devil. And himself, Shauna, and the Rays -they were the sodoms. In that next instant, he turned heel and sprinted out the way they came in through, screaming the whole way in a very Shaggy-esque way. Chucky was still clutched under his arm. It wasn't a total act of cowardice because Chucky had the same idea too.

"FUCKING RUN!" he managed to yell at his family and Shauna as Ozzy bolted. The small pattering of the Rays fleeing was nothing compared to the utter stampede about to take place. Shauna was the last one out, as she turned the corner in the outside hallway back towards the elevator she could hear Burton shout an order to his new nearly indestructible army.

"Everyone dies tonight! Feast on their hearts!"

It took seconds for Shauna and the Rays to catch up to Ozzy and Chucky smashing away at the elevator buttons down the hall. The overhead lights were now flickering to brightnesses they hadn't before. The whole building was being affected by the massive spell the Deacon had just cast.

"We got to hide, maybe pick them off! They're still the same stupid shadow men, right?" Ozzy held the button down now.

"You see how many there are!?" Shauna cried.

Then, the floor began to shake. They all felt it. Down the hall, disorientated laughs of Good Guy dolls could be heard growing louder and louder. Just like before, there was no point in doing a head count. The hall was literally flooding with them by the second. The various dolls piled over each other and pressed against the walls on either side like a horde of Gremlins. It was impossible to tell where any of them started and ended, it was just a moving shrieking clump of blue and orange. This earned screams from both the couple and the Rays as they abandoned the elevator and headed further down the hall at the junction into uncharted territory.

Tiffany hung back, hurrying her children along behind Ozzy, Shauna, and her husband. Glenda wasn't the fastest of the Rays. Whenever they found themselves being chased by the cult, police, or the occasional pack of coyotes, she was always behind her siblings and parents. Sometimes she tripped on her own feet, and as it would happen, this was one of those times.

"Glenda, come one, sweetface, we have to keep moving." Tiffany was quick to stop even with the horde of Good Guys on their trail. She placed a hand on her oldest daughter, but Glenda was quick to bat her away and pull herself up.

"I'm fine!" she said, a little too sharply for someone talking to her mother. Tiffany never saw that look in her eyes before. Almost at once, she knew something was wrong, but there just wasn't enough time to ask.

"Glenda..." was all Tiffany could say as Glenda pulled herself to her hands and feet. Tiffany could see the gash Glen's tanto had left in her thigh as her legs poked out from her dress. More questions arose than answers. Glenda never got off all fours. She began running on them and her mother could only take off after her. No more was she the slowest one. With the gait of a predator, Glenda quickly overtook Lottie, then Glen, before finally coming alongside side Ozzy and Shauna.

"HERE!" Shauna yelled. Right after turning another corner when it became clear the first floor ran in a circuit, they came across a double door. The handles were the perfect shape to jam the fire axe through, the only thing stopping them from taking refuge in the clearly sizable room beyond them was an aged padlock chaining them together. Shauna burst through it with the fire axe, taking out one of the handles with it. "IN NOW!"

Shauna closed the doors quickly as she had them opened once everyone was inside and jammed the fire axe through the handles. This is another room within the Play Pal Corporation that you're actually already familiar with. This is the doll lab where Chucky was reassembled after his first brush with the Barclays. The lights were already on as if it was waiting for them. The same table they did it on was in the center of the room. Plastic compounds and lab equipment were coated with cobwebs all around the other tables around the workshop. There was a small alcove to the left of the workstations that led to single toilet bathroom. Unfortunately, there wasn't a completed Good Guy doll anywhere here that Chucky could use. Speaking of which, Ozzy placed our favorite killer doll on the center lab station and made a b-line for said restroom. Shauna had started piling anything she could get her hands on in front of the door.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! That was so bloody scary! I've never seen so many! That's it for our escape! It's not on!" Glen had backed himself up against the wall and slid down until he sat with his knees to his chest.

"Can we even hurt them? Those are new bodies. They can't feel pain yet, right?" Lottie paced around close by.

"I'm not going out like a victim." Shauna slammed a chair against the pile of office and lab furniture she barricaded against the door so hard it broke and became worthless. She could hear the pounding of the horde coming closer down the hall. It looked like everything was going to hold, but it was a lot to hope that all of them would just withdraw back to the factory floor. The building was theirs now. "Wait, where's Ozzy?"

Tiffany pointed towards the alcove.

"Ozzy!?" Shauna called toward the bathroom door.

"I narrowly avoided shitting myself, Shauna." He answered back from inside. I fucking love our heroic protagonist.

"Fuck my life," Shauna pressed palm to forehead.

"I've been quiet for as long as I can, but you need to tell me the truth. This...works for you?" Tiffany was just as unamused as Shauna was as she motioned to the locked bathroom door. Nothing like fun banter at the end of the world.

"Tiffany, I would love to open that can of worms with you about our taste in men and see the direction it takes, but we're looking the apocalypse in the face here. Chucky, you got any ideas? You can slasher villain us out of here, right?"

The usually talkative Chucky was silent. He lay on the same table he was resurrected on in 1991. Tinnitus rang in his ears as he stared up at the ceiling. Name your favorite scene from the second act of Child's Play 2. He's remembering and reliving it in his mind with unblinking eyes and a slacked jaw.

"Chucky?" Shauna addressed him again. There was a sudden bang at the door followed by chatter and laughter. Shauna held a finger to her mouth in the traditional shush gesture and propped herself up against the barricade she created and pushed back. She had to give the illusion the door was locked. Tiffany pulled herself up on the table and gently lifted her husband's head into her lap.

"Chucky," she addressed him with more familiarity and authority, clearly having dealt with him when he was like this before. "This is it. There's only one way to end this -the shadow man to kill all shadow men. I thought you said we'd never retire..."

Chucky did snap out of his catatonic state, but only to move his head over to look up at his wife. His vision blurred as he returned from that twilight zone we all go to when we space out for whatever reason, and he could see her weakly smiling at him. Now, Chucky doesn't cry. At least not to anyone's knowledge. Tiffany alleges that she did see him shed a tear one night in 1985, but Chucky claims it was from the sink when he was washing the cast iron skillet they use for meatballs. So, instead, he just laughs. That's what he did, but it wasn't his boisterous roaring howl of a laugh, it was softer and seemed more reflective, dare some would say. This caught the attention of his children, even Glenda who had been standing silently in the corner this whole time. Ozzy had emerged from the bathroom around this time.

"Fuck, I feel I lucked out with you at times like this. We're going to kill him. We're going to kill him and hollow out his head and use it as a jack-o'lantern for Halloween...but I can't do it like this." Chucky continued to curse what Burton had done to him.

"Why don't we just give up and die?" Glenda finally made her contribution to the conversation. She wasn't interested in helping anyone.

"Glenda!" Tiffany scolded, "Not one of us is going to die tonight!"

"Actually, I need to, Tiff," Chucky said, "I need a new body. One made completely from scratch just like my first couple of times. I'm better than all these fucking knock-offs put together...I just need that unfeeling, new doll body where I can't feel pain."

"What about the Deacon?" Ozzy asked.

"With a new body, I'll have leveled the playing field. I think his heart may be turning human by now...but that's the thing. I don't know if I'll be able to kill him permanently."

"What do you mean?"

"Sure I could destroy his body, but who's to say he can't come back like me, or how he did just a while ago? Killers like him and me, we linger and refuse to die. It could days, months, or even years but we'll come back. We always do. This is the guy who invented it." Chucky placed a hand over his mouth in thought.

"It would seem that the most stubborn souls are the most wicked," Glen commented, "I feel if I died I would never come back."

"Good." Glenda quietly commented on her own.

"Maybe destroying his body isn't enough," Tiffany suggested, "Maybe we can destroy his soul." Chucky shook his head.

"That's impossible. A soul can't be destroyed or controlled, just transferred. But maybe...holy shit! Maybe I could transfer his soul somewhere where he can't come back!" Chucky snapped his fingers on his only hand.

"Now, you're thinking like a wizard," said Ozzy, "Where exactly are you thinking?"

"Fuck me, I'm not sure there...it would have to be beyond Earth and Hell..."

The Good Guy horde outside the lab had gone nowhere and was resuming prodding at the other side of the barricaded doors. There was another huge surge that Shauna felt as she pushed back against it for extra support. It was quickly followed by another and another. Shauna growled as she could feel them getting stronger.

"How about we focus on short-term goals?" she said, "Can't we just grab one of the Good Guys from outside and do a soul transfer on it?"

"No, Ivan's using a soul tether spell. I could tell by how those zombies are moving, there were no thoughts behind those eyes. He's just using their souls as batteries to power them. If we kill one, the soul gets sent right back to him. You put me in one of those bodies now, my soul is as good as his. This body also has to be from scratch for this ritual to work. At least I assume so...I'm fucking dead when it usually all happens."

"So, we have to play doll maker and built a body from the ground up? How?" Ozzy asked.

"...You're fucking with me now, look where we are. You have all you need under one roof. In fact, I think it's all done by machines. All you need to do is include a piece of me in the new body. I recommend using something small like my eyes or a pint of blood. From there, my essence returns to its physical form. If that doesn't work, just say 'ade due Damballa awake.' That usually does the trick."

"And you sure this will work?"

"Always has. And if it doesn't I won't know. I'll be dead! And so will you!"

Shauna cried out as a particular forceful bash from the other side of the barricade narrowly shoved her off her feet and sent her head cracking against the table. As they say in the rink, she was getting POed.

"I'm willing to try anything, but we can't stay here!"

"Alright...step one is the most unpleasant for me. You're going to have to kill me."

"What!?" Everyone who shared his blood cried.

"I'm just dead weight at this point. Like, what the hell can I do right now? It's ok, next time you see me, I'll be unstoppable."

"Dad, that's not necessary at all," Lottie said, "Maybe we can find and sew some spare limbs on for the time being."

"Sorry, that won't be enough, kid. I'm not letting Burton make a bitch out of me again. The next time I come at him, I come at him hard and not give him any chance to hurt me. Maybe ending him breaks the soul tether too -all the birds with one stone."

"I trust you on everything magic, dad, but I am not going to be the one to do it...not today at least," she playfully glanced at Glen who cringed at the memory while Chucky made a knowing 'ooooing' sound as if he got a reference. It's lowkey kind of cool when you have kids that you know could kick your ass. Chucky reached up and cupped Tiffany's face.

"This is just a setback, babe. We both know I-"

"Come back," Tiffany finished, "You always come back."

"Think you can take it from here while I'm gone?" Chucky coyly smiled.

"You know, I have more murders than you do by now." Tiffany continued to effortlessly demonstrate why they were perfect for each other. It's also true. When Chucky's dead, Tiffany's out ending lives and getting those numbers up. Now was about to be one of those times. Chucky rubbed her face from the top of her cheek by her eye down to the bottom of her chin before his hand slid off.

"Ok, now killing me isn't as easy as it sounds so the cleanest way to do this is-"

"FUCK!" Shauna jumped back from the barricade as a couple of primary-colored-sleeved arms broke through the door zombie horde style as they furiously grasped about. When Shauna gets nervous she does this thing where she clenches her fists so hard her nails cut her palms and she starts shaking and jumping on her heels. She did this as she watched her barricade slowly fall apart. It was only a matter of minutes before they would completely breach the room. "WE NEED TO FUCKING GO NOW!"

Shauna grabbed Chucky from Tiffany's lap by his leg and fucking slammed him as hard as she could on the floor. Then, jumped onto his head with both feet. It happened in less than three seconds. One of them, Chucky was alive, the next minute he wasn't. Chucky didn't scream or make a sound as his head exploded into a small bomb of brains, bone, and gore that deceptively hid inside his plastic hide. Playing it in slow motion would actually look cool. It exploded in every sense of the word, with small skull fragments littering the floor like a grenade and blood just everywhere like it came from a water balloon that was just filled too much.

Ozzy stared at the remains of the guy he was just speaking to a moment ago, pulling his dreads on either side of his head. It was much worse for Chucky's family. Even though they were on top of the table, Glen, Lottie, and Tiffany all got blood on them. Glen had his mouth covered and one of his eyes twitched, PTSD of his own coming back seeing his dead father. Lottie was just as catatonic as Chucky when he was having his panic attack moments ago. Tiffany had both hands on her head, she looked like she had gone Barbie mode mid-scream, but that was shock. Even Glenda who was trying so hard to isolate herself still reeled as well. For what seemed like a while the only sound was the possessed Good Guys trying to break in as all eyes slowly locked on Shauna as she stood in Chucky's crushed head.

"This is-this is what he wanted right?"