Creation began on 08-18-24

Creation ended on 08-22-24

Child's Play

Child's Play: Doctors of Death

"…Wait a minute," Jack Santos utters at the medical examiner and forensic expert, "what do you mean, the DNA recovered is a match to Charles Lee Ray? He's dead."

"His prints were found on the hammer, along with traces of his blood," the M.E. explains, "and the strangest thing is that they're fresh, recent."

But Mike, who was present at the toy store the night Charles died, found this to be impossible. That would mean that he was the one to have broken into the Barclays' apartment and attacked the babysitter, something that makes no sense for someone like him to do. But then, he realized something that was just mentioned.

"Hold on," he says, "you said that his blood was found on the hammer? Where on the hammer?"

The M.E. holds up the hammer and points to the head of the tool.

"You said this was used to bash in the face of a Good Guy doll?"

"That's what we are to assume happened," Santos says.

"Any chance your serial killer was involved in making any Good Guy dolls? Because traces of plastic were found in the blood on the hammer."

The detectives looked at each other and decided that they needed to look at the doll again. And maybe, just maybe, they needed to pull Charles' file to learn other things that might've been overlooked by them.

-x-

The doctors all say that Maggie would recover when she awakens from her sleep, but a coma was different from sleep due to taking longer to recover from, especially after receiving blunt trauma to the brain.

"Has she said anything since she was brought in?" Karen asks the doctor assigned to her friend.

"Yeah, she did mutter something a while ago," he answers her. "Something about a guy named Pinhead. Do you know anyone by that name?"

"Pinhead? I think she's referring to one of the puppets my late husband left for my son."

"A puppet?"

"A strange set of them. The one she's referring to has big arms and a small head."

"Probably reflecting on recent memories while asleep. The puppet, this Pinhead, must've left quite an impression on her."

-x-

The boy had said the doll's name was Chucky, and as Mike went over Charles Lee Ray's file, he learned that his nickname was also Chucky, and it appeared that he has been killing random people ever since he was a kid. In addition, some time ago, he had spent an unusual amount of time visiting a man by the name of John Bishop, a so-called voodoo instructor within his community. Fortunately enough, they had an address of where to find him.

"They call this guy Dr. Death," Mike hears Jack say as he looks over a copy of the file. "Crazy."

"I don't think anything has been sane since the night I chased Ray into that store," he tells his partner. "How else do you explain a doll that's supposed to be in our evidence locker not being there now?"

-x-

A man in an enters into a kitchen and takes out a coffee cup and a packet of tea.

"Hello, John," he stops and hears a voice say to him. "Over here, by the window."

He turns to the window…and sees a doll with a busted face held together with staples.

"It's me, Chucky," it says, causing him to drop his cup onto the floor. "What do you think? That gri-gri worked?"

John Bishops nods his head, but is in disbelief over what he is seeing right now.

"You know," Chucky says as he sits down on the table under him, "when I came here learning all that stuff on how to beat Death, I thought you were pulling my chain for a while, but not now. Just two problems, both of which are disturbing."

"Which are?"

"This (he points to his face) and who did this to me. You see, I didn't think anyone could hurt me, anymore. But just last night, I was attacked by a bunch of puppets that could move on their own, and one of them hit me on my head with a hammer, and you know something? It hurt. It hurt like a son of a bitch, and now my face is messed up. It even hurts when I touch it or talk. Why is that, John?"

"I only have one suspicion on why puppets would do this, but as for your…painful disfigurement…it's because you're turning human."

"What?"

"The more time you spend in that body, the more human you become."

Chucky stood up, enraged.

"You mean, I have to live out the rest of my life in this body?" He questions, and John nods. "No fucking way! You got me into this! You get me out!"

"I can't do that, Chucky."

"Why not?"

"It's not me you need help from. It's Damballa. I can only teach you what you know, but it's not my responsibility if you pervert my teachings. But for the puppets that are able to move on their own… I have encountered such beings once in the past, but they have nothing to do with Damballa. They have similar attributes to what you have obtained from Damballa, but their power comes from a different practice, a different source of power, a different deity, presumably older than Damballa."

"How can puppets gain power from a different practice?!"

"There's more than one deity that embodies life after death, Chucky. Among them are the gods of Egypt, whose power connect to the afterlife. Few have been taught this power and fewer have ever used it. The power to infuse the souls of the dead into inanimate objects to bring them back to life. Such a method is ancient and oftentimes simpler than voodoo. I once heard of a man that practiced the art and became a fugitive by those that sought his secrets during the last World War. Andre Toulon, a puppet master. Most likely, the puppets you encountered once belonged to him, infused with the souls of people he met in his past, either killed by the Nazis or other people that sought out his secrets to exploit for wrongful purposes."

"So, they're living dead puppets?"

"No. If it was Toulon's puppets, they're as alive as you are right now, able to live forever if they so desire."

"One of them had a pinhead and was really strong."

John's eyes widen; this reaction tells Chucky what he already knows to be true.

"They were Toulon's puppets," John reveals. "They likely have a new master they serve, and they will not tolerate your presence if you are a danger to the one they serve."

"Never mind the puppets, then. How do I get out of this body?" Chucky demands.

"I can't help you undo what you've done to yourself, Chucky. The spell only works once, and once your soul has been transferred to a new vessel, you can't do it again. And even if you could, there would be a limitation on how to. Damballa may have followers, but he does not and will not play favorites."

Chucky couldn't believe this! Not only was he stuck in this doll body, but it was becoming human due to transferring his soul into it. And the puppets that damaged him were just as alive as he was, but they demonstrated abilities he didn't possess due to coming from a different practice than what he learned.

"You will tell me how to get out of this body, or I will kill you," he threatens John, taking out a knife from his overalls.

"I've already told you that I can't," John reiterates, not the least bit intimidated by Chucky, and then he vacates the kitchen.

Chucky goes over to a cabinet and opens it to reveal two objects: Two dolls. However, the one he recognized as John's was behind a doll dressed in medical scrubs with a skull face, something he didn't remember John having at all. He was going to make John tell him what he needed to know, even if it meant breaking his limbs. Reaching for the doll behind the one in green, Chucky fails to notice the small, surgical knife that the doll is holding…and it pierces his flesh.

"Aaah!" He gasps, and the doll in green leaps out onto his face, stabbing him with the scalpel. "Aaah!"

John returns to the room and sees the living doll being attacked by the one in green; if Chucky had attempted to go for John's doll, it was the only reason why this attack was happening to begin with.

Chucky is able to knock it away, but his face is even more damaged because of the stab wounds near his ears. He looks for his knife, but sees it near John's feet, who quickly picks it up.

"I see you've met Dr. Death," he says as the doll stands up in front of Chucky, "and he's one of Andre Toulon's puppets. One of his earliest ones…and a friend of his from long ago when he learned of the secrets to bringing life to inanimate objects. He now protects me from those that seek to steal my most guarded secrets."

Ring! The doorbell rings, and Chucky looks away.

"John Bishop?" They hear a voice. "Chicago PD. Open up."

Chucky has no choice but to flee. He runs to the window and makes his escape.

Doctor Death looks up to John and then nods his head as he returns to the cabinet and closes the door, his objective fulfilled until the next time he is needed.

John goes over to the door and opens it, revealing two police detectives.

"Detectives Mike Norris and Jack Santos," the primary detective informs John. "We'd like to ask you some questions about a man you were reported having interacted with some time ago."

"Yes," he responds to them. "I think I know who you're talking about…and I wish to help you."

-x-

Opening her eyes, Maggie finds herself in a hospital room…and sees Karen asleep in a chair on her left.

"How long was I asleep?" She asks, waking Karen up from her slumber.

"You're awake," Karen realizes. "Two days."

"Two days?

"The police say that it was a break-in."

"What? A break-in? No…no, that's not what happened."

"You were attacked by a burglar and left for dead."

Maggie shakes her head in the negative.

"I was hit in the head with a hammer, but it wasn't a burglar," she tells her. "It was that Good Guy doll we got for Andy."

"What?"

"It was the doll that attacked me. Nearly knocked me out the window, too. But then…those puppets your husband left behind…they saved me."

"The puppets saved you?"

"I remember that night. Despite being hit in my face, I was still conscious before I passed out. Pinhead shoved me forward to the floor before I hit the window. The other puppets came to life and attacked the doll. Pinhead took the hammer I was attacked with and hit the doll on the head, breaking its face. I passed out soon after, but I know it was the puppets that saved me."

Karen has known Maggie for years, and she has never known her to lie or make up stories as wild as this before.

"Karen," Maggie says, "where are the puppets right now?"

To be continued…

A/N: Size won't matter when it comes to conviction and motivation, and Toulon's puppets prove this when they come to do something. I decided that the Dr. Death puppet would be the best form of protection for John's personal weakness, something Chucky wouldn't suspect until it was too late for him, and for John to lie outright to Chucky to prevent him from learning other secrets. Who expects to see something else spectacular to happen?