#will carson

Scout and Will were both held by two Sock Puppets each, arms held in tight grips as Mortimer forced his nose back into position. He glared at them as he walked by to where Stacy had been hanging, only to stop when he realized she wasn't there anymore.

Without a word he turned right back around and backhanded Scout, making her cry out in pain while Will yelled at him.

"Oh don't be so loud and crude." He ordered the man blandly, rubbing his hand like it was sore. "I wouldn't have to get so violent if you two hadn't been so rude."

"Go to fucking hell!" Will shouted, only to receive a glare in return. One of the Socks covered his mouth, shutting him up very effectively even as he tried to fight back.

"Now then," He turned back to Scout. "Why don't you-"

A gunshot, and Mortimer stumbled forward as blood began blooming over his Host's chest. Scowling he turned to see Stacy holding the gun with shaky Puppet-hands, a determined glare on her face. She fired off another shot, but missed completely. Mortimer reached and, like strings had attached to her, she was pulled into his grip, even as she struggled against him.

He glared down at her and she glared back, before he blinked and was suddenly back to his affable old man persona.

"Really now Scout, did you think you could hide from me?" He asked, turning to face her as he raised his free hand. "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to see?" He snapped his fingers, and Scout was in his grasp while Stacy fell limp, held up only by the Socks. "Did you forget I control everything here, including you? Although I must admit, that little trick is new. Riley would have a field day with this information, if it wasn't for our... little situation."

Scout cowered in his grasp as he carried her back over to the symbol covered wall. Giving a tsk at the cut rope, he pulled a new one from his pocket and retied her, leaving her hanging, trembling, and no longer with the human power of adrenaline to keep her brave.

He meandered his way back over to his book, seemingly unaware of his Host bleeding out. Or maybe he just didn't care, he did have more after all. He opened the book, taking his time to find the page he wanted as Will and Scout watched. He found what he wanted and calmly looked over at the smaller Puppet with unblinking eyes as he recited a spell.

Pain unlike any Scout had ever known coursed through her fabric, worse than when she'd electrocuted herself with her own flashlight. It felt like she was being ripped apart at the seams, stitching coming undone and stuffing unraveling inside of her. The flashlight, useless as it was, coming unscrewed inside her head as her eyes rolled back. Distantly, she could hear screaming.

It felt like hours, days, before it finally stopped, and she sagged down. Gentle wooden hands tilted her face up so Mortimer could look her over properly. Whatever he saw, he seemed to like, as he smiled and nodded, and turned to head back to the book. Tilting her head, she saw Will and Stacy both staring horrified, and looking pale. There was a puddle of vomit below Will, and her Host was leaking blood out of her nose.

Looking ahead, she saw Mortimer back at the book, and Scout hung her head in defeat. There was no getting out of this, and she wasn't sure if she could handle anymore pain like that. She didn't even know what else Mortimer had planned, but based on what she knew of him, she was sure it was horrible.

As he began reciting the spell, however, the door Will and Scout had come in through burst open, and the other three Hosts came running in.

"Will we have a fucking problem!" Mason screamed, only for them to pause as they took in the scene. "Oh, I see you have one too." Was all he said before he was shoved aside by the other two.

They split up, running in different directions as Rosco burst through the door-frame, followed by the other three Handeemen. Lisa, screaming in French, raced by Mortimer and clocked him in the head with her pipe. She then grabbed the book he was reading from and ran as Nick ran after her.

"Everything is under control I swear!" Riley yelled as she tried to wrestle Mason down. Lisa started smacking Nick with the book, and poor Sammy did his best to play keep-away against Daisy with the remaining four Hand Puppets. Will took the chance to stomp on his captors' feet while Stacy yanked her prosthetic away and started clawing at them.

Quickly, she was able to break away and make it to Scout amidst the chaos. She worked at the small, tight knots until they were loose enough the Puppet dropped out. She caught her, and then started searching for the axe from earlier. Seeing it on the floor, she went for it, but was pulled back before she could make it.

Mortimer, back up and looking madder than ever, had a firm grip on her prosthetic. Thinking quick Scout reached under her Host's shirt and pushed the quick release, sending them tumbling forward as the Puppet Master staggered back. Dropping Scout but grabbing the axe, Stacy turned just in time to block another attack. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Puppet crawling off to find somewhere to hide, and Mortimer saw it too.

Acting quick, she kicked his Host's feet out from under him, then scrambled up, but it was already too late. Scout had vanished. She wanted to search for the missing Puppet, but Mortimer distracted her by pulling her down onto the floor with him.

Scout, for her part, was steadily making her way towards where Daisy was, dodging around the feet and legs of the others. It was easy, as she was currently Hostless and had cornered Sammy and her siblings up on a table.

And oh she hadn't done this in a long time, not since Riley had caught her watching cable. But, she was still able to school her expression into something pitiful and pitch her voice up into a pathetic whine as she crawled up to Daisy and tugged on her dress. Instantly she was distracted, scooping Scout up as the smaller Puppet started crying.

"Scout, honey, what's wrong?!" She asked, voice still hoarse from her recent decapitation. She held the smaller Puppet close, others forgotten for the moment in the face of one of her children showing such distress.

"M-Mortimer h-he did something!" She sniffed, curling against her like a child searching for comfort as she let out a whine. "It hurts..."

"What hurts, honey? Who did this to you?" She stroked her head, and for a moment Scout was reminded of Stacy, comforting her after a nightmare one of them had. It didn't feel as nice, however, when it was wooden fingers combing through her hair.

"Mortimer r-read from a book. He said something and now everything hurts." She sniffled, trembling softly in the other's hold. "Make it stop hurting..."

Daisy dropped her to the floor and raced to where Mortimer was. Scout quickly scrambled up and over to Sammy, who had watched the whole scene play out in disbelieve.

"What the fuck are you waiting for?! Go!" She insisted, and he hurried to get off the table, pausing only to scoop her up with the others.

"Have you always been able to do that?! Do I need to tell Stacy about it?!" He asked as he booked it for the door. She slapped at his face in response, soft hands not hurting in the slightest.

"No! Shut the fuck up!" She hissed, internally cringing at what all of her siblings had witnessed. Now they'd know how she got away with watching cable. Or maybe not, Canon was probably the only one smart enough to make the connection after all, and she was currently half dead from the looks of things.

A shriek of "Mortimer Handee!" rang through the room, stopping everyone as they turned to see Daisy bodily tackle the other Puppet to the ground. Instantly the other two were on her, struggling to pull her off as she did her best to strangle him.

The Hosts did not waste time, taking their chance to hurry to where Sammy was already making his way out the door. Stacy didn't even pause to grab her arm, opting to just get a new one later rather than trying to find it. She slipped out behind her cousin, grabbing Scout off of him as she went.

Unfortunately, Rosco was right behind them, grabbing Mason as he tried to leave and throwing him across the room. He hit the wall hard as the not-dog Puppet turned back to the group with a low growl.

With a shout, Stacy brought the axe down on it's head with a splattering of old, rotted blood. Will butted in, pulling the axe out and  repeatedly chopping into the Puppet's "skull" even as it went down. He then moved to start chopping it into actual pieces while the others watched, horrified, and more rotten blood leaked out.

"Rosco!" The cry gave him pause before he was set upon by Riley, who had just noticed her beloved pet being murdered. Lisa ran to help, but was grabbed by a Sock Puppet as a second one reached for Sammy. Stacy managed to dodge the one after her, but only because it tried to grab her missing left arm. Four out of the five Hand Puppets scattered and vanished, with only Canon staying and watching everything with dull eyes.

Stacy backed away, looking for a weapon that wasn't blocked off and finding nothing. Not even the gun was visible, and another Sock was gathering up the make shift ones the others had brought in. She patted at her pockets, finding only a small pocket knife that she had trouble opening up one-handed.

Stacy was exhausted, and felt sick. She had no clue what kind of injuries Scout might have gotten on her body, and she wasn't at all eager to find out. She had no idea how to get out of this, though at this stage, she didn't even know if she wanted to. She just had to keep on fighting.

But she was just so tired of it all.

Nick finally wrestled Daisy off of their leader, who stood up on shaky Host-legs and brushed his suit off. With a glare he stalked over to where Stacy was, who did her best to look threatening with her tiny knife.

"You impudent little girl, are you aware of what you've cost me?!" He asked, snatching the knife from her hand with his Host. "You had your chance to let us have Scout and leave things be! And look at you, not the least bit sorry!" He grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the ground, turning her over to face up at him with his foot. Lifting a hand, he once again dragged Scout over to him, from wherever she'd been hiding.

He grabbed her body in one hand and dug his clawed fingers into her head, ignoring her cries of pain as he began to pull and twist. "Enough of this song and dance! You will not have another chance! I am ending this now!-"

Something dug into the side of his head, and Stacy watched as his Host snapped the knife off and left the blade buried inside. He dropped Scout to claw at his own head to try and remove the blade, eyes wide from the pain and giving small, choked gasps. Stacy caught the falling Puppet, scrambling back and up as she looked for anything to help. Instead she saw her discarded arm and dove for it, hooking it back in just as Mortimer finished re-subjugating his Host.

She turned, standing and grabbing Mortimer's face in her metal hand just as he came at her. Squeezing with full strength, she heard rather than felt as wood began to splinter between her fingers, and more red sap leaked out. He struggled briefly, clawing at her arm but soon went limp as his face exploded with a loud crunch. He fell, along with his Host, to the ground, limp and possibly dead.

She could hear Scout dry heaving, as she stared down at the sticky mess in her hand, slowly opening it and dropping bits of Mortimer's face. She turned to look at the nearest Handeemen, which happened to be Nick and Daisy.

The artist immediately dropped his compatriot, hands going up in surrender. By the door, Will finally succeeded in subduing Riley, pinning her to the ground after pulling her from her Host. The Socks nearby dropped their captives and fell to the ground similar to Mortimer, unable to keep going by their own, mindless selves.

Mason groaned as Sammy ran to check on him, leaving Lisa and Stacy to help Will in separating Puppets from Hosts. The Puppets were then tied up tight with spare rope laying around. Scout gathered her siblings, making them sit and wait for their Hosts to finish.

A quick peek outside the room showed a different layout than before, whatever spell that was on the building having been broken. Because of that, finding an exit was easy, and Will took the time to bring the van over to the nearest one. The Handeemen were loaded into dog crates, still tied up and gagged, though only Riley really tried to fight it. Scout's siblings were loaded up into another cage, if only to make sure they didn't try and run off. Scout herself sat on top of the cage, staring blankly at the building beside them.

Cans of gasoline were unloaded and emptied throughout the building as Sammy examined Mason. "Well it doesn't look like you've got a concussion." He was saying, shining a small penlight in his eyes. "But you should still go to the hospital anyways when we're done here. We all should, honestly."

"I just wanna go to bed and forget about this, myself." Mason admitted. He looked back at the yet to be loaded up cage of smaller Puppets. "What do you think they're gonna do with those?"

"Don't know." They watched them for a while, but the Handpuppets just stays seated, not even talk amongst themselves. "You think Will would let me take Bit home?"

"Don't see why not. I know Lisa's gonna ask about our two." Mason told him. "I do know the others are going into their basement, though. Been down there a couple of times. Not a fun place."

"Good for them." Sammy said with a hint a malice creeping in. "I think they deserve whatever Stacy and Will do to them."

Another, longer, pause, and then Sammy went to go get Stacy's car. Once parked, he loaded up the caged Hand Puppets into the backseat as the others came out.

"Everything in there is as soaked as we can get it." Will said as they loaded the now empty cans back into the van. "All that's left to do it light it up and watch it burn."

"Neat. So who's gonna do it?" Mason asked. Will looked over to Stacy, who was busy gathering Scout up, and sighed.

"I'll do it. No need to make a big production over it." He said, striking a match and throwing it into the open doorway. Flames started to spread into the building instantly, licking up the walls as the more flammable things caught fire. Host bodies and fabrics turned to ashes and unseen ghosts watched the destruction peacefully.

But that was all on the inside. Outside, Stacy was carefully examining Scout for anymore injuries. "I told you, I'm fine!" The Puppet insisted as her Host poked around her body and face, searching for any rips or new stitching.

"I'll believe that when I see it, Scout. You were unconscious for a long time, and anyone could've done anything to you." She sighed, leaning back a little on the barrel she was sitting on. "I'm just glad we all got out of there alive."

"Yeah..." The Puppet looked away, flinching when she spotted the bits of wood stuck to Stacy's hand with still sticky sap. "Ew..."

Quickly, the Host tried to wipe it on her jeans, but it didn't help. "The prosthetic guy is gonna be so mad at me for this." She muttered, pulling it off her pants. Scout just gagged again.

"I am going to have so many fucking nightmares." She admitted. "That was the most badass thing I've ever seen, but it also so fucking scary and gross." A pause as she thought about something. "Do you think he's really dead?"

"I sure hope so! I don't think I could actually do that again." Stacy sighed, finally giving up on getting her hand clean. "And I think I'm down to just one hand again for a while. Hope Chelly doesn't mind my one-handed typing."

"I don't think she'll care." Scout admitted. "What are you going to do with the others, anyways? They aren't gonna stay in the house are they?" She was not excited about it if they were. She liked having her own space, and didn't want to share.

"I don't know yet. We'll talk with the others about it tomorrow. For now, though, Lisa's gonna try and find us a hotel to stay in tonight, and we're head home in the morning." She looked up, seeing flames had started coming out of the windows. It wouldn't be long before somebody called the fire department, and they didn't want to be anywhere nearby when that happened.

So she bundled Scout up in a one-armed hug and made her way back to her car, where, luckily, Sammy was climbing into the driver's seat. She climbed into the front passenger seat with Scout, who couldn't help but look back at her siblings as they started driving away.

They looked scared, and Scout couldn't blame them. If she hadn't already made the decision to escape she would've been terrified too when Stacy had climbed out that window. Not that she hadn't been scared, but at least it'd been a choice she'd made herself. Her siblings, on the other hand...

She thought about saying something to them, but backed down when she caught Canon's glare. It was hard and furious, and Scout didn't like that it was directed at her.

She turned back around and settled against Stacy, who held her just a bit tighter. They could always talk about things tomorrow, and she could give them some advice. For now, Scout just wanted to sleep.

Stacy chopped the vegetables for the upcoming stir-fry as Scout watched from the other side of the sink. Will was working on measuring out the rice, hopeful that this time it would be the right amount. Scout hoped for another rice-explosion.

Rice cooker started, Will washed his hands and headed down into the basement. Nick and Riley sat in cages along the back wall, tied up and gagged. Riley glared at him as he approached, but Nick stared into space, unmoving and unseeing. Will came up to the cage and poked the Puppet's face with a pen, and on finding no reaction took the artist out of his cage, manually closing his eyes as he went.

Will laid the body on the table, untying him an removing the gag before wrapping him up like a mummy. Wrapped up in fabric and bound with silver infused rope, he was laid gently into a velvet lined box, that was closed and locked up tight with a key and code. It was placed on top of the box that held Mortimer, right next to the one that held Daisy. Right next to the many other boxes lining the wall.

Will finished checking in with the other dolls and toys, finding no change or escape attempts. He went to leave, but stopped first to look at Riley. She was obviously tired, no longer struggling against the ropes that bound her. Instead she opted to give a death glare, which he returned with a steady stare.

"You're next, you know." He told her quietly. "Don't worry, you won't get a different treatment from the others." She just glared harder, and he went back upstairs, heading back for the kitchen.

"Nick's gone dormant." He told Stacy quietly as she cooked the vegetables and rice in a pan. She frowned and nodded, but didn't reply beyond that. Scout was on the table, messing with the forks, and neither of them wanted to bring it to her attention. As he went on to stop the Puppet from her tower building, Stacy breathed a sigh of relief.

'Three down, just one more left.' She sighed in relief as she scooped the food onto four plates. 'It's almost over, then.' She set them up on the table while Will went off to find Canon. He returned quickly, no Puppet in sight.

"Yeah she's still up there, and not coming back down. But she did yell at me to go away this time, so I think we're making progress." He said, taking a seat. Stacy dumped the food that would've been Canon's into a tupperware before taking her own seat.

Scout, true to form, had already started stuffing her face. She stopped briefly, swallowing her mouthful with some difficulty. "I don't even know why you fucking bother. If she wants to be miserable, let her be miserable. Better than having her bothering me all the time." Another scoop of rice went into her mouth. "Why are we eating this again? It's fucking gross."

"We have to have at least two nights where we eat real food." Stacy told her. "It's healthy."

"It's. Gross." Scout repeated. "Didn't you make a cake? Where is it?"

"Cake comes after dinner. Eat your rice." Will told her. And, with some grumbling, the Puppet continued to shovel the stir-fry into her mouth.

"My Dad wants me to come home for Thanksgiving." Stacy said, after a few minutes of silent eating. "I think I should probably go this time, rather than just call."

"Might be a good idea." Will agreed. "Doesn't Danny need to, uh, do something anyways?"

"That's another reason I'm going. And why Scout is coming too."

"What? Ew no I don't wanna go." She dropped down into the chair behind her. "I like this house."

"It's just for a few days. Besides, I want you to meet my brother. It's important."

"How important? Also isn't he the one who can't hear? That's weird." Scout commented, peering over the edge of the table like some sort of gremlin.

"Yes, and yes he is weird but not because he's deaf." A pause, as Stacy realized something. "So don't tell him that that's why he's weird."

The two stared at each other, long enough that Will sighed and reached over to pull the Puppet back up onto the table. "Finish your food so we can get to the cake already." He grumbled, stabbing into a larger piece of carrot. "Also has Lisa gotten back to you on that project she's working?"

"Not yet, but apparently it's been more difficult than she thought. Neither Stitch or Bonzai are cooperating, and Scout doesn't even want to know what she's working on." Stacy side-eyed her Puppet, who glared right back.

"I want no part of that crazy bitch's plans!" She insisted, and was met with two sighs.

"You don't even know what it is." Will pointed out, and got a handful of rice in the face for his trouble.

"I don't fucking care. It involves fabric, and I don't fucking trust her!" She went to grab another handful of rice, only to find her plate gone, and Stacy halfway to the sink with it and the other two plates.

"Who wants some cake?" She asked with false cheer, holding the pan and a knife up. Scout cheered, and Will just sighed, though with a small smile.

-----

Lisa sighed heavily, pulling at her hair as she stared down at her notes. Nothing seemed to be working, though not like she could even test her theories with nobody cooperating with her. Even Stitch, who had agreed to help, and been swayed into not helping by Bonzai.

Finally, she stood and swept the notes into a folder, shelving it for the time being. She had classes to plan for next year, and should probably get on that. She grabbed a fresh notebook and opened it up. 'I wonder is Stitch would be willing to come with a few days out of the week.' She thought as she started on the plans. 'She's not that creepy, and isn't as loud as the others. And kids always love a Puppet.'

A light smile crossed her face as she thought of vague scenarios and sketched in small notes on where the Puppet could fit. She wasn't sure if her supervisor would even allow it, but it was nice to fantasize. Unfortunately, her fantasies were soon broken by a loud crash from the living room.

'Oh what did those three do now?" She stood and left her study, to find the little train Mason had set up crashed into a wall. Her roommate was doubled over laughing behind a camera, while Stitch and Bonzai were arguing. She leaned against the wall, watching the scene.

"I hope you got some good shots, cause it's time to clean this up." She told them, and instantly he sobered up.

"Aw, come on Lees, they love the train. Just look!" He pointed to the two Puppets, of which Stitch was actively strangling her brother.

"It looks like they're trying to kill each other." She leaned down, scooping the Puppets into her arms. "Besides it's gonna be time for bed soon, and I don't want to trip over this again tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, fine." He pulled his phone out and snapped some pics so he could put it back together later. He then started grabbing track pieces and putting them into a nearby bin. Bonzai let out his own groan, just now noticing what was going on.

"Hey wait don't put it away!" He struggled, but couldn't break Lisa's hold on him. "I wasn't done with that! Stop!"

"Ah but my Host has spoken. You are done with it." Stitch intoned smugly, to be met with a hard glare. He was ignored as Lisa carried them to what had been a guest room, but was now set up as their room. Not much had really changed about it, save for there being more toys and some kids' books around. It was mostly a temporary place for them, that had become permanent.

"You guys really gotta clean this place up." The blonde muttered as she stepped over things to put them in the bed. Bonzai tried to escape the second he was let go, but Lisa grabbed him again and almost forcibly tucked him in beside his sister. He crossed his arms and sulked while Stitch looked far too happy to be fussed over like that.

"Glad you're enjoying this humiliation." He muttered.

"It is only humiliating if you dislike such actions." Stitch whispered back as she watched her Host put away some of their things. "Personally, I feel like this was an optimal outcome. Look at her, cleaning for us."

"Well I wasn't done playing with Mason." He grumbled, just loud enough that Lisa heard.

"What were you guys doing, anyways. I saw Mason had his camera set up." She said, coming to sit down on the bed with them.

"We were making a movie! With fun action sequences and a train chase!" Bonzai told her excitedly. "It was totally awesome!"

"He told us he would put it on the internet when he was finished." Stitch told her, and Lisa frowned briefly before covering it up.

"That sounds so cool!" She said. "I can't wait to watch the finished thing. I bet it's gonna be awesome!"

"Hell yeah it is!" Bonzai agreed, and received a small pat on the head for it. He quickly brushed her hand away while she gave Stitch an identical pat, then stood to leave. Turning the light off as she went, she made sure the door was tightly shut before heading back to the living room.

She took a deep breath. "You're going to put them on YouTube?!" She whisper-shouted with a squeak.

"Uh, yeah? I'm not gonna make a whole ass movie just to let it sit in the camera." Mason told her, putting the last of the track pieces in the box.

"You can't do that! What if somebody sees? Oh man we're gonna get in so much trouble!"

"Lisa, relax. Stacy made a whole TikTok account for Scout, and nothing's happened to them." He pointed out.

"That's Stacy though! She has, like, supernatural luck or something! We're gonna get caught and they'll be taken away!"

"Look, Lisa, it'll be fine. And besides, the movie's not done yet. There's plenty of time to see if Scout gets caught because of TikTok or not." He grinned, which faded at the hard look Lisa was giving him.

"If anything happens to anyone because you put that video on YouTube, you're dead." She told him, but he just grinned back.

"Fair enough." He said. "But don't worry so much. It'll be fine, I'm sure of it!"

-----

Sammy walked into his half-dark apartment, not bothering to turn on any other lights. His backpack fell to the floor with a heavy thump as he wandered into the kitchen for a soda from the fridge. Drink gotten, he opened it up as he wandered into the living room, sitting on the couch and lighting up a joint.

He blew out a mouthful of smoke, barely noticing as Bit appeared on the couch. She crawled over to lay her head in his lap, letting out small coughs occasionally. He stroked her hair absentmindedly, slowing down as his mind drifted with the smoke.

"You need to stop doing that." Bit mumbled, coughing again as Sammy finally passed into a weed fueled haze. She got no reply, so she sighed unhappily.

She'd been expecting something... more with Sammy once they got back. And her siblings seemed to have gotten that, even if Canon was being a weird bitch about it. But all she got was a Host that left her alone for days at a time, only to come home and smoke himself into oblivion. And then he'd leave again the very next morning.

He didn't talk or play with her like the other Hosts did with her siblings. It was almost enough to bring her to tears when she was left alone in the dark apartment. Almost. She never actually cried from it(not like she'd admit it, anyways).

She was tired of the taste and stench of the smoke, however.  It made her cough, and smelled worse than anything in the Studio. She wished he could get through one day without smoking. She knew that the next time they all met up, she was going to stink.

-----

Stacy brushed her hair, sitting on the bed next to Scout, who was deep into playing an old Gameboy that had been found in a box. As soon as her hair had been tied back into a braid, she lifted the Puppet into her lap and gave her hair a few quick strokes with the brush.

"Okay, it's bedtime now. Save the game and turn it off." Stacy said, putting the brush away. She unhooked her prosthetic and set it down beside the bed, in easy reach for the next morning.

"Can't save can't pause gotta keep playing." Scout mumbled. Her Host sighed before grabbing the game and pausing it, then plugging it into the charger on the side-table. The Puppet reached for it, but was held in place as Stacy turned off the light and laid down.

"Bedtime is now, Scout. Will's already asleep." She muttered as she settled down, and Scout finally stopped fighting it. Stacy would go limp soon enough, anyways, and then Scout could go back to playing.

And, just as predicted, once Stacy was fully asleep it was easy to squirm out of her loose grasp and grab the Gameboy. She settled into the corner of the room to play, when she noticed a light go by the open door.

Too low to the ground to be anything but Canon, Scout eased through the gap between the door and door-frame. She followed her eldest sister to the kitchen, just in time to see her pull the tupperware of gross rice out of the fridge. It landed on the floor with a thump and she pulled the lid off to shove the cold leftovers into her mouth.

"You know that tastes better warm, right?" Scout asked, and Canon jumped, then hunched over her food and glared at her sister.

"Shut up and go back to your Host!" She hissed before chomping down on another mouthful of food. Hunger satisfied for now, she put the lid back on and hefted the container back into the fridge. She then closed the door, plunging the kitchen back into darkness.

"C'mon Canon, Will's worried about you. I think." Scout scratched her head. "It's honestly hard to tell with him sometimes."

"I. Don't. Care." Canon said simply, pushing past Scout in order to get back to her hiding place.

"But he's your Host!" The elder sister paused, leaving Scout feeling safe to continue. "Everyone else likes their Hosts! Did... did something happen or-"

"Just because the rest of you are happy to be pets doesn't mean I am." She stated. "They'll all get bored of you eventually, so don't drag me into your delusions." And then she vanished, leaving Scout with a rebuttal dying on her lips.

"Well, fine then! Be a bitch, see if I care!" She grumbled as she made her way back to the bedroom in the dark. She Jumped onto the bed, crawling under the blanket and up against Stacy.

"We're not fucking pets." Scout muttered. "They care about us. Stacy cares about me. I know she does." She sniffed, burying her face under the covers. "Why does she have to be such a bitch about it?"

-----

Somewhere far away, in a different, rainy city, sat a small building. Out of that building, through the boards covering the door, a tiny figure made of wood squeezed out, dragging an envelope with him. Holding it over his head, he raced to the nearby mailbox sitting at the corner. It took some work, but he was able to climb up and stuff the letter he was carrying inside.

And just in time, too, as a flash of lightning showed a stark white figure about the size of a child standing just inside the doorway. Thin strings wormed their way out through the boards, attaching themselves to the puppet's limbs. It screamed, a high-pitched, sharp sound as he was dragged back inside.

"So where do you think Scout would be in here, anyways?" Lisa asked as they wandered around a room full of creepy mannequins.

"You know, I'll bet she's not in-fucking-here!" Mason answered as he did his best to keep away from the half made puppets. "Lisa seriously why are we even in here it's so creepy! Even the Puppets agree!" And it was true, as he held both Puppets in his arms, both of which had remained silent and almost fearful as the humans explored.

"Supplies!" She announced cheerfully from where she was shoving different colored fabrics into her pockets. "We may need some of this down the line."

"... I don't think the fabric in here is any different from the fabric at Walmart." He pointed out, and she just rolled her eyes as she gathered some more up. She picked up a pair of shiny sewing scissors, turning to show him.

"Look at these! They look so sharp." She held them up and he got closer to examine them. "Looks like they could put someones eye out."

"Yeah, great. Now put them back, and let's go!" His voice dropped to an intense whisper, and she rolled her eyes, shoving them into her pocket with the fabric.

"Fine." She groaned out, taking the little yellow and orange Puppet back. "Let's go see if we can find the others."

They walked out of the room, pausing when something tipped over behind them. Turning back to look, they saw a mannequin had been knocked over. They quickly turned back around and hurried away from the door.

"Lisa."

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me you did that."

Lisa let out a quiet, humorless laugh. "That would be lying, Mason. You know I don't do that."

"Okay." He swallowed to get his voice pitch back in place. "Run!"

They sprinted down the hall, listening as something skittered behind them, steadily getting closer. Mason spotted the crossroads up ahead. "We gotta split up!"

"What?! I am not leaving you to face whatever that thing is alone!" Lisa shrieked, pulling him down the right hand corridor.

"It can't chase both of us!" He stumbled, glancing to catch sight of a spider-like Puppet. "Oh SHIT!" He pulled ahead, spotting Lisa looking back and going pale from the corner of his eye. She pulled ahead of him, grabbing his arm and dragging him down the hall as she tried to gain some distance.

A few seconds after they passed a door it was thrown open, with gunshots following. Mason took the chance to yank out of Lisa's grip and turn, delivering a sharp kick to the thing's face.

Blonde hair and a torn, red dress stumbled back on many flesh and wooden hands. Her head snapped back into place, staring at him with empty eye sockets. With a wordless cry she launched herself at Mason but was stopped by Stacy catching her with the axe.

She smacked against the wall, sliding to the floor as Will finally finished reloading. He fired off four more shots into the Puppet's head, and they watched her sag against the wall. Sammy snatched the axe from Stacy's hands and used it to fully chop her head off, just in case.

For a long moment, nobody moved. And then Bonzai let out a cheer while Stacy stumbled over to a corner and vomited.

"That was totally awesome!" He yelled, and was quickly muffled by Mason.

"For this, Mortimer will kill every Host." Stitch muttered in horror. "And then he'll blame us all the most."

"I can't believe you fucking killed Daisy..." Bit whispered, and Sammy turned towards her in horror.

"That was Daisy?!" Now that she'd said it, he could see the resemblance. Her apron and jewelry were gone and her hair was chipped, but she was still recognizable in the dim light now that he knew.

Will grabbed a loose sheet from nearby and spread it out over the ground, then loaded up the two pieces of Puppet into it while Lisa moved to check on Stacy. "You okay Stacy? You look really pale."

"'M fine." She muttered, wiping her mouth. "Just... didn't really..." She gagged again, and Lisa rubbed her back sympathetically.

"It's okay, hon. You still did great." 'She should've stayed back in the car. Why didn't she follow the plan?' "What the hell are you doing, Will?"

"I am not leaving this thing here to come up behind us later. Besides, we should probably make sure to burn any corpses we make." He held up his makeshift bag. "Scout told me this one is what was making them." He indicated the Handpuppets. "So her, and the other wooden Puppets, we absolutely can't leave behind."

"He's right." Stacy agreed hoarsely. "We leave any of them with a chance of being alive and they'll just do it again, after hunting us all down."

A long, silent pause as they all took that in. "We're burning this fucking place to the ground." Mason muttered. "I am not spending the rest of life looking over my shoulder for stupid freaky Puppets."

"We will. After we get Scout and knock out the rest of these guys." Will indicated the bag again. "So, which one of you knows how to get to her?" He glared at the Handpuppets held by his friends, eyes lingering on Stacy for just a moment.

More silence, as Hosts and Puppets glanced between each other. Will sighed, debating whether to try and choose someone to intimidate for the information. There weren't a lot of options, but luckily the little orange and green one with the bad hair cut spoke up.

"Canon knows." Bonzai started, quietly. He shrunk back when everyone turned to look at him, but continued. "She was helping Mortimer with something to do with Scout. But, I followed her when she went to spy on him. I know where he did his... practices. And where he put Scout."

"Can you take us there?" Stacy asked, almost timidly.

"Yeah, but we should probably hurry. He was planning something... really bad."

Mason led the way, guided by Bonzai's directions and the group followed, Will bringing up the rear with the bag, which would move by itself every now and then. A quick shake and a few discreet kicks kept the monster inside down, however, with no one else the wiser.

-----

"Hmmm, you've truly gotten yourself in a pickle now, haven't you? Would be a shame if someone brought Mortimer's attention to this too." Nick muttered smugly, fitting Riley's yanked off arm back together. The other one had been sawed off near the shoulder, and would require more extensive care. If Mortimer allowed him to perform it, of course.

"Quiet you blithering idiot!" Riley snapped, Host shaking from her anger. "Or shall I tell him what happened to his favorite Sock Puppet!"

"No need to go that far sister dear. We both have things hidden here." A pause as he finally popped the joint back together. "What should we do about those strays? There's no way they can be allowed to stay."

"Obviously not!" She agreed hotly, testing out her repaired limb. "But we can't just drive them out. They're here for that little traitor Scout."

"What makes you so sure? Could just be another group here for treasure." He crossed his arms, watching as her Host hobbled about the room. 'Looks like it's leg is broken. She'll need a new one.'

"That male with the brown hair is what kept me from her Host. He shot at me, so in the end he's worth the most." She explained, collecting some knives from a nearby table.

"Ah, that makes sense." He looked around the room. "Is he the one who made thi-"

"Yes!" She hissed, digging a dog whistle out from her pocket. She blew into it, sound the couldn't hear echoing through the halls. A howl answered her, not too far away based on the volume of it. "And I'll fucking kill him myself!"

"Good luck with that." If Riley was going to break rhyme, then so would he, at least for a moment. "Shall we go get Daisy for this little hunting party?"

"No, leave her to her stitching." Riley watched as Rosco came out of the shadows and into her dimly lit lab. "We'll be needing those Puppets by the morning."

-----

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Bit complained, hanging over Sammy's shoulder. Her, Bonzai's, and Stitch's flashlights were on, as the lights in the building had gone out. More likely, they had been turned off, but given the age and state of the building it could've just been a blown fuse. Either way, it was too dark to see and the Hosts hadn't brought any lights themselves.

"Yes, I'm sure." The male Puppet ground out. "The Sound Stage is down here now."

"How the hell do you even know? You went there through the vents!"

"At least I actually went there!" Bonzai turned to yell, blinding Sammy. "You just stayed in our room like a coward!"

"Okay! Everybody chill for a sec!" Lisa cut in, stepping between them. Let's focus on the goal, and then have a fight when we get out of here."

"No, we're doing this now!" Bit announced, launching herself over the blonde's head and onto Bonzai, who gave a high pitched scream.

Mason sighed, grabbing the two by the backs of their shirts and pulling them apart. "Would you two stop! You're going to get us all killed!" He hissed. He handed Bit off to Stacy, missing the glint in her eyes as she stared down at the red and blue Puppet.

"She started it." Bonzai grumbled, crossing his arms. He didn't relax his tensed shoulders until he was held properly again.

"I don't care who started it!" Will piped up from the back. "If we don't get moving, I'm gonna go up there and finish it!"

There was some more grumbling, but the two Puppets settled down into silence. A while passed as Stitch looked between the two Hosts holding her siblings. 'What an odd way to handle things.' She mused. 'I wonder if this is how they handle Scout. Seems easier than the usual way, at least.

They continued to walk, until Bonzai finally stopped them. "We're here." He said, quietly. "The Sound Stage is just up ahead, through those doors."

"Mortimer's definitely gonna be in there." Bit added.

"So we need a plan, then." Lisa piped up, and everyone turned to look at Will, who was kicking the bag again. He stopped as he felt their eyes on him.

"What?" He shrugged. "I don't know shit about that guy. Ask her." He pointed at Stacy, who looked a bit taken aback.

"Uuuuh go in there and shoot him?" She suggested, after a long moment of thinking. Sammy and Will facepalmed, with her cousin mumbling something.

"Okay." Will sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Good start I guess. But we need a little bit more than that."

"You have that axe." Mason pointed out. "Maybe do something with that."

"No, okay, here's the plan. You three stay out here with the other Puppets. Me and her will go in there and get St-Scout. Then we all run for the exit, and go from there." Will laid out. "Quick, in-and-out, grab-and-go."

"Oh, yeah, nothing can go wrong with that." Bit mumbled, and was shushed.

"Sounds like a decent Plan A. What if something goes wrong?" Sammy asked, even as he accepted Bit from Stacy.

"Then we wing it. Improvise." A pause. "You guys should probably grab some weapons just in case."

With those three distracted, Will started pulling Stacy towards the door, leaning in the whisper dangerously. "We get out of here and you swap back immediately." He hissed. "And never do something like that during a time like this ever again."

Will came to while horizontal, muffled voices above him as he struggled his way back to consciousness. He curled his left hand into a fist, faintly startled when he found he couldn't feel his right hand. He ignored it, however, as the voices began to get clearer.

"-and it is no trouble at all to remove you!" Someone, a woman, was saying. "So stay in line and remember to rhyme!"

"Yes ma'am." A younger sounding voice to the right mumbled. It wasn't in rhyme, but the first voice accepted the answer.

"Excellent! Now to prepare your Host for orientation! With four at once, maybe it can be a competition." She sounded excited at the prospect, even as Will's blood ran cold. There wasn't an answer, but he could vaguely feel his arm lower and rest against the cold metal table. Something distinctly Scout-shaped laid across his stomach, and it took everything he had to keep his body relaxed.

Footsteps, first going away and then approaching his head. A cool rubber glove pressed almost gently against his chin, tilting his head up. Something tiny, cold, and sharp pressed against his mouth-

Will stared up into the eyes of a startled Riley Ruckus, free hand gripping her arm like a vice as a needle fell beside his throat. For one, infinitely long second, nobody moved. And then Riley's Host reacted as Will slipped his other hand out of his Puppet and grabbed at her throat.

He missed, grabbing her shoulder instead as he rolled off the table, masked Host making a mad grab for where he'd been laying. The smaller puppet fell to the floor as he stood up, giving a deft twist-and-tug that tore the wooded arm apart at the elbow. He tossed it aside as a screech of pain rang out, then dodged as she charged at him.

The Host was clunky, and Will wondered why they even bothered with them when he knew Scout was more agile than that. He watched as they almost tripped over the table, then slammed the Host down onto it. The whole fight took maybe fifteen seconds, if he was being generous.

It took some creativity, and climbing on top of them, but he managed to get both Riley and her Host strapped awkwardly onto the metal slab. Watching her struggle to get free, all he felt was cold rage, the kind he hadn't felt in a long time. A glance around the room showed a wide variety of medical and power tools. One of which was a saw that he picked up.

"Scout told me you liked taking people apart." He told her, voice low and dark. He stepped forward and pinned her still-whole arm down, pulling off her glove and pushing up the sleeve of her lab coat. "I like taking stupidly arrogant Puppets apart." He went to make a move, but paused. He picked up the discarded glove and forced it into her mouth, then picked the bone saw back up.

Canon listened to the muffled screams and cries from where she lay under the table, staring blankly as her mind filled with fear. Soon there was a dull thunk of wood hitting metal, and the screams stopped even as the sawing noise continued. A minute later she watched as Riley's freshly removed arm hit the floor and was kicked away under a metal cabinet. She thought about following it, but felt frozen in place.

The choice was taken from her when her Host leaned down and stared at her. She stared back, neither of them blinking. Eventually he sighed, and reached to pick her up with a surprising gentleness.

"Come on, let's go find the others." He told her quietly, almost cradling her against his chest as he walked out of the lab. "They can't be too far away."

She hoped they never found the others.

-----

Sammy did not like being sober. He liked it even less when carting around a loudmouthed brat with anger issues. And she did. Not. Shut. Up.

"Host! Host! Look. At. Me! Hey! Hey, Host!" He tightened his grip and once again looked for something to tie her up and gag her with. Nope, still nothing. "Hoooooooost!"

"I have a fucking name!" He finally snapped. "And it is not 'Host'!"

"And I don't fucking care." She glared up at him, almost daring him to do something about it.

Sammy groaned. "I need some more weed..." He moaned quietly as he picked his way through the rubble. He would also like nothing more than to chuck the little annoyance away but every time he'd tried he found he just... couldn't.

'Why can't I just be rid of this thing?!' He wondered. 'Maybe it's what made Stacy keep Scout, even though she hates puppets and dolls. I never saw her treat one with such care, not since we were little kids...'

He was brought out of his thoughts by soft fists beating on his arm, and he glared down at the tiny red head. "What now?" He asked, irritated.

She said nothing, just pointed ahead of them. When he looked up, he saw a hulking monster with a yellow sock on one hand. For a heartbeat, nobody moved. And then it charged at them.

"SHIT!" He screeched as he turned and ran down a side corridor. The thing was hot on his heels, and he had no clue how to lose it.

"In there! Gogogogogo!" He turned into the room the Puppet indicated and slammed the door shut behind him, tipping over a nearby shelve to keep it closed. He backed away as the thing banged and smashed against the door, nearly breaking it from the force.

"Holy shit..." He sank to the floor, dropping the Puppet and leaning forward to dry heave. She tugged on his sleeve, pointing towards a door on the opposite end of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?! We've gotta get out of here! Now!"

"Hold on!" He gasped. "I need a minute..."

"We don't have a minute!" A fist smashed through the door, and Sammy scrambled back to his feet. He snatched the Puppet and sprinted out the other door as the monster made it's way into the room, tripping over the shelves. In an instant it was on his ass again, chasing him deeper into the warehouse while his Puppet tried to guide him through the maze like halls.

It was all for naught, however, as he came upon a dead end with a door that was locked.

"Nononono" he chanted as he tried to force it open. The knob wouldn't even turn, however, and he could hear the thing getting closer. Giving up on escape he searched for a weapon, finding a fire axe on a wall. Flinging his Puppet up onto a nearby stack of boxes, he yanked the thing off the wall and turned to face his death.

He raised the weapon over his head, and the door next to him flung open as six loud gunshots rang out. Two of them hit the monster, and it fell dead immediately. Sammy turned to see his savior, and cried out in joy.

"Stacy!" He dropped the axe and pulled her into a hug. "Holy shit thank God, Satan, and everybody else! I thought I was dead!"

His poor cousin looked stressed beyond belief as she laughed out a sigh. "N-no problem." She gave him an awkward pat before he finally released her and grabbed the blue puppet down from the boxes. He saw Stacy's face light up when she spotted the thing, which was odd cause she didn't even look like Scout.

Come to think of it, Stacy was moving weird, too. Like she wasn't used to walking. And she was holding the gun wrong. And her eyes...

He leaned in close to her face, and she stared back in confusion until he spotted what was wrong.

"Your eyes are yellow!" He shouted. "You're Scout!"

"What?! No, shut up!" She tried to cover his mouth, but he dodged her attempts as the Puppet stared up at her.

"Holy shit." She muttered looking between Stacy and Sammy. "Can I do that?"

"No! No you can't don't even try, Bit!" She snapped, and Sammy pointed at her in victory.

"You know it's name! You have to be Scout!" Sammy declared triumphantly, and she finally gave in.

"Fine, yeah, I'm Scout. Stacy's... Stacy's with Mortimer and they're planning something. We need to get everyone out of here! Now!"

"Yeah okay just stop pointing that thing at me." He redirected the gun, then just pulled it out of her hand. "Actually do you have more ammo for this thing? I could use this."

Wordlessly, she pulled a clip out of her pocket and handed it to him. He stared down at it. "... This is the wrong kind of clip."

A few minutes of frantic sorting later and Sammy had two more clips to the pistol. The rest were for other guns that Scout had left behind. His possessed cousin held the fire axe in her hands, as he figured that was better for her to use than the gun. His Puppet, Bit, had settled into the hood of his hoodie and seemed content to stay there.

Scout, meanwhile, had pulled the hood of Stacy's hoodie up to try and hide her eyes, having pulled some hair into her face as well. It didn't hide them completely, but so long as nobody looked too hard her eyes looked green enough. It would at least fool the others for a while.

As she led the way, Sammy took note of her scratching her metal fingers on her flesh arm. Counting back, he wondered when Stacy had last taken her meds. He decided it didn't matter, and sped up enough to walk beside Scout, grabbing her hand in his. Her other hand was holding the axe, so he felt confident she couldn't scratch like that.

She seemed confused, but brushed it off and quickly pulled him down a hallway. They had to find the others, or everyone would be doomed.

-----

Bonzai did not like that his Host was Awake. He especially didn't like that he was being carted around in a box with Stitch, though at least it had given him a chance to untie her. Too bad the box was sealed so they couldn't Jump out, unless they wanted to go straight up.

Above them, their Hosts were talking quietly, but not looking at them specifically. The box was being held by Stitch's Host. 'Good.' Bonzai gathered himself up and aimed. 'That means the box won't drop.sw'

One, two, three, four, on the fifth try he Jumped onto his Host's head, flopping down over is eyes and grabbing blindly anywhere he could. The Host freaked out, yelling and trying to pull him off it's face. Bonzai resisted, though, and instead bit down as hard as he could through the Host's nose.

Sadly for him, blunt, fabric covered teeth are useless against a fully grown human. Mason wasn't even scratched as he ripped the apparently feral Puppet off.

Though tempted to just fling him back into the box as hard as he could, the Host instead held onto the little guy. Held securely in his arms, all Bonzai could do was struggle uselessly. Taking the cue, the other Host grabbed Stitch out too, discarding the box with a huff.

"Now how are we supposed to fight?" She asked, only half sarcastic.

"We aren't supposed to fight, Lisa! It's just a quick in-and-out to get Scout back." He hissed, and Bonzai stopped his escape attempts to listen.

"I know that, but what if we come across something we can't outrun?" She sounded worried, and Bonzai didn't have to wonder why. If they were caught, Riley would take them all apart to find out why the Hosts woke up.

"Then... then we hide. Until it loses interest or gets distracted or something." He told her. "Or until Will finds us. He does this kind of thing all the time, so he knows how to handle it." He spoke with confidence, but the other Host, Lisa, didn't seem convinced.

"I don't know Mace. Every job he's done was, like, Scooby Doo shit almost." She shrugged. "I just don't know how much help he's gonna be for this."

"You just don't know him like I do, Leese. Trust me, you get William M. Carson pissed off and nothing can stand in his way. It is beautiful and terrifying all at once." A pause, as he considered. "I once saw him calmly go up to a doctor and stab her in the eye because she didn't take what he was telling her seriously. That got him solitary for a week. And new meds."

Well, that sounded horrific, and Bonzai found himself shrinking back at the words. Whoever this Will guy was the Puppet wanted him to stay far away from him and his sisters. Though, from the sound of it, he'd already been around Scout.

Scout turned out to be pretty good at swinging the axe, as more Sock Puppets quickly found out. It was a little scary how she didn't seem to care about the people stitched to those Puppets, treating them more as objects than trapped people. It made some sense, though, as not everyone trapped here would have been prepared like they were.

Even if, in reality, they weren't all that prepared at all.

Still, Bit cheered at every take down the two of them did, which made a warm feeling curl in his gut. It should've been scary, how much her excitement made him happy, but he refused to think about those implications yet. That was for when he was at home and higher than a kite, when he had time to think.

Luckily, they hadn't come across anymore for a few minutes, giving them all a chance to breathe while Scout tried to remember where they needed to go. It was... difficult, since her memories weren't lining up with reality. It was like the layout of the building had changed while she was gone.

Or maybe she had forgotten more than she thought.

Either way, nothing looked familiar, and it was starting to scare her. She finally stopped, making Sammy stop too. "Wait here while I look ahead. I want to make sure we're going the right way." She told him, though he looked skeptical.

"What do you mean "make sure"? I thought you knew where we were going."

"I do!" She protested. "I just... wanna check for more sock puppets real quick! It's easier to sneak away if it's just me."

Sammy didn't say anything, just watched as she walked away and around the corner. "Yeah, she doesn't know where we're at."

"I'm not surprised. They changed things around when she escaped." Bit told him. "She's gonna get us all killed if she doesn't admit it though!" She barked out a laugh, and the Host cringed.

"Maybe... don't tell her that?" He suggested. "She's doing her best..."

"Yeah, well, her best isn't good enough." She bit out. "I say we ditch the dweeb and get out of here. Can't be too hard if Scout of all Puppets managed it."

"Yeah, no. I am not ditching anybody, least of all the thing with my cousin's body!" Sammy told her sternly.

"Sheesh, it was just a suggestion." She squirmed back from where she'd been hanging over his shoulder, settling back in his hoodie. He could hear her muttering back there, but not what she was saying. He supposed it didn't matter too much, not when there were more important things to worry about.

Like how he had heard footsteps behind him. Turning he saw Scout, and she looked pissed. He flinched as she snapped her hand out toward him, but she just reached behind him to grab Bit.

"I am a lot bigger than you right now." She said in a low voice. "I can yeet you down the hall if I wanted."

Bit stared blankly back at her. "What the hell is a yeet? Some kinda dweeb word?"

With a loud shriek of "YEET!" Scout threw Bit down the hall, far enough that she vanished into the shadows.

"What in the actual fuck?!" Sammy shouted as he raced to go get her. He missed Scout's nonchalant shrug before she crossed her arms.

"I warned ya." She muttered smugly, staring after the pair.

-----

Will didn't like the quiet stillness in the halls, however easy it was making his journey. From the stories he expected at least a giant puppet dog, maybe some hulking monsters with socks crudely stitched to their hands. But no, there was nothing. But no, there wasn't anything except his Puppet, who had remained silent the whole time.

He wondered if he should try and talk to her, if only to make sure she was still alive. She been very still since he'd picked her up, not moving even a little as he wandered through the dark maze of the warehouse. Though, now that he thought about it, there was occasionally a light shuddering across her body. He wondered if she was having trouble breathing.

'Something to check when we get home.' He made a mental note of it as he turned the corner. It was a dead end, with single door at the end sitting ajar. He approached it cautiously and peered in.

It looked like an art studio of some kind, if an art studio had a pile of dead bodies in one corner. Easels and canvases stained in dried blood were scattered about, and the completed paintings showed some rather macabre imagery. There was an open door on the other side, showing another dark hall.

'Must be where that one artist hangs out.' He figured as he slowly pushed open the door. Stepping carefully around the spilled paint and dropped art supplies, Will made his way across the room. The wet look on some of the puddles told him Nick could still be close, and he didn't want to run into him.

"Well, looks like we've got another escapee out and about. And here I thought that all ended with Scout." The voice was a fake sounding posh and smug. Looking back, Will had to admit the Puppet it was coming out of fit it quite well.

"Oh look. Another asshole." He observed, taking another step towards the door. If he could make it out of the room he could probably outrun this thing.

"Now now, that's rather rude really." His eyes flicked down to the Puppet in Will's arms and his head tilted. "Weren't you with that scientist? What happened to Riley?"

"I disarmed her." Another few steps, and Nick took a rather large one towards him. 'Crap.'

"Hmm." A hand slowly approached his face. "You have such pretty eyes..."

Will shoved him, turning and making a break for the door. "Nope! Bye!" The Puppet made a grab for him, but he dodged it, slamming the door in it's face as he sprinted out.

Left, right, right, and then left again and the dammed thing was still on his heels. Shouting that he would take Will's eyes, and paint the walls with his shining red blood. That he had so many ideas for him.

It was worse than the scientist actually, and that was saying something. Will searched for a way to fight back against the artist and his hulking Host, but couldn't spot anything in the dark halls he was sprinting through. He turned another corner, and ran smack head first into another human body.

There was a feminine scream of pain as both of them fell to the floor. The hooded figure clutched her forehead while Will scrambled to get up. Sammy stood above them both, looking vaguely panicked as he tried to help Stacy.

"Get up! Get up now we are in seriously deep shit here!" Will hefted his girlfriend off the floor one handed and started shoving her down the hall. "Move! Movemovemove!"

"Where did you go little Host?" Came a voice floating from behind him.

"shitshitshitshit" He grabbed her arm and went to run, but was stopped by Sammy.

"We can't go back that way!" He whispered. "There's one of those sock puppets chasing us!" On cue the loud thumps of heavy footsteps came into their hearing from behind the nurse. Behind Will, they could hear the calls of Nick, steadily getting closer as he toyed with his prey.

They were all trapped. At least until Stacy tugged her hand out of Will's and pointed up to the ceiling.

"Come out, come out little lost Host. I need those eyes of yours~" Nick turned the corner and found himself face to face with a confused looking Sock Puppet. Not that those things weren't normally confused. Honestly, he wasn't even sure why Mortimer let Riley make those things. "What are you doing here, out and about? Don't you have a patrol route?"

A low groan was his only answer, and he sighed in response. He reached out and grabbed onto it's Host with his. "I suppose you'll do for now, until I find that other one. Come along now, let's go do something... fun."

Will watched as the Sock Puppet was led away, and then turned to follow where Stacy was leading them through the vents. They only went a little ways through them before she punched open a vent covered and dropped down into the room below. Sammy went next, followed by Will. The room they were in seemed to be an old writers room, notes still written on the whiteboard and script pages scattered around. Sammy crept over to the door and locked it, just to be safe.

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore!" Stacy collapsed into a chair, hood falling from her head. "Never should've come back in here..." She muttered as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well it's too late now. Everyone's probably broken out of the hypnotism, and we're in too deep to back out." Will told her firmly. "Besides, we still need to find Scout. We can't leave without her."

The one-armed woman bit her lip, turning away slightly. Sammy sighed and stepped between them. "Hey, Will, chill for a sec okay? Just sit down, and take a deep breath."

Will sat, letting his Puppet drop into his lap. She simply lay there limply, unnoticed by the others, though Bit did peer down at her in something like concern. Will inhaled loudly, then fixed Sammy with a look. "There. I'm sitting."

"There, see? We just gotta take a rest and then keep moving on to where, uh, Stacy can lead us to Scout." Sammy sat too, though he sat backwards in his chair. "We're find the others on the way, and then leave and never ever come back."

"Yeah, okay, sounds good." Will agreed quickly, glancing over at Stacy. The glance turned into a long hard stare. "Are your eyes yellow?"

"No, it's just the-"

--nuclear radiation!" Scout blurted out in a panic. Sammy face palmed, while Will just pinched the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.

"Oh I do not have time for this." He muttered. And then, louder "Where the fuck is my girlfriend?"

A pause. "Do you really want me to answer? Cause I think if I do, you will fucking kill me. Besides, I'm taking us there anyways. It'll be fine." Another, shorter pause before she pointed at the blue haired Puppet. "That's Canon by the way. She's the oldest."

Said Puppet lifted her head at the mention of her name, but didn't really react beyond that. Bit waved when she saw her sister was awake, but was ignored. She huffed and sunk back down into the hood. 'Fine then, be that way.'

She tuned back into what the Hosts and Scout were saying, but they'd all gone quiet. Scout was pulling at the short sleeves of her hooded shirt, while Sammy was furiously searching through his pockets. The last one, Will apparently, was staring at the floor, completely still save for a slight movement from his lips. She wondered if he was their leader, like Canon was for her and the others.

Well, like Canon had been. She hadn't really been much of a leader lately, not since Scout had ran away. She'd tried, but then she had vanished too for a long time, only to reappear right before the Hosts had. Mortimer had brought her with him, now that she thought about it.

'I wonder what he's been doing?' She looked between her older sister and her younger one. 'Can't be anything good. Not with how Canon looks. That "Stacy" Host of Scout's is totally gonna die.' She didn't say anything about that, however. The "Yeet" she'd experienced was still far too fresh in her mind, and she did not want to get thrown at another wall.

Besides, the quiet was kind of... nice, in a way. Nobody talking, but not really out of fear of being caught. It was a nice feeling.

It didn't last, however, as someone ran screaming past the door. Half a second later someone else went by, followed by a horrible skittering noise that the three Puppets knew far too well. Everyone turned to stare at the door as the noises faded out.

"... Y'know that sounded like your friends, Will." Sammy observed in a high pitched voice.

"So why am I here again?" Sammy asked as Stacy drove, following Lisa's van. Will was in behind her in his car, and Mason was riding with Lisa.

"Your weed. And also because I'll stop blackmailing you if you do this with us." Stacy told him.

"I still don't see why you can't ask someone else to do this." He grumbled. "This is why you need friends."

"Thanks, Sammy." She said, only half sarcastically as they all pulled into the parking lot. "That means a lot coming from the friendless stoner."

"Hey! I have friends!" He protested as they climbed out of the car. "Lots of friends!"

"And I have a boyfriend. You can't even get a one-night-stand, you useless virgin." She mocked. Sammy fumed, turning to said boyfriend.

"Will, your girlfriend's insulting my virginity!" He complained. Will just sighed and started pulling things out of the the trunk.

"Well stop being a virgin, then." Will told him bluntly. Stacy burst out laughing while her cousin turned red in the face.  Lisa popped her head out from the van at the commotion.

"Oooh! Are we taking Sammy's virginity tonight too?" She asked cheerily, and Sammy gagged, even as he handed over his bag of joints. The blonde started pulling them out of the bag, passing them to everyone except Stacy. The one armed woman instead climbed into the van and locked the doors while the other four lit the joints and started smoking.

Stacy watched, safe inside the van, as the others climbed through the tiny window leading into the studio. 'This is a bad idea.' She swallowed dryly, pulling her knees up to her chest and staring, unblinking, out the windshield. 'A really bad idea.' She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath-

-----

Will led the group in, needing to keep a tight grip on Sammy's arm to keep him from wandering. The poor guy had smoked way more than the others in an attempt to get high faster, but just ended up being higher than everyone else. Will, on the other hand, had only smoked a little, so he could be more alert if needed. So far, however, it just seemed like one long hallway with some posters.

Until they reached the lobby, anyways. Old VHS tapes littered the floor and shelves, and there was a brightly painted puppet stage ahead of them. Will took notice of the suited Puppet "on" the stage and the bored looking masked man sitting behind it. With a brief hesitation, he pulled Sammy over to it Lisa and Mason following behind them. All four were startled when red curtains slammed down, completely surrounding them and blocking any kind of escape.

"Well hello there, what a large gathering!" The old man looking Puppet suddenly sprang to life. Everyone jumped again, turning to face him. "What brings all of you to this strange scene?"

Nobody got a chance to answer, as he jut kept on talking. "Now, I can tell you're starstruck, and of course you should be! Because I am none other than Mortimer Handee!"

At the back of the group, somebody clapped. Will wasn't sure who he wanted to punch more, the clapper behind him or the Puppet in front of him. "Ah, is that a fan I hear? Come right up to the front, my dear!"

Lisa stepped forward, an almost giddy smile on her face that Will wasn't sure was because of the weed, or good acting. "I used to watch your show all the time when I was a kid!" She blurted out cheerfully. "It is an honor to finally meet you!"

"Holy shit she's talking to a Puppet. Will. Will! She's talking to a puppet!" Sammy "whispered", shaking Will's shoulder. Will just sighed tiredly.

'I don't think I'm high enough for this.' He watched as Lisa excitedly chattered at Mortimer, who listened politely as she explained her favorite episode. Sammy was still shaking him and whispering, while poor Mason was so out of it he was just staring into space with wide, unblinking eyes. 'Or maybe everyone else is too high for this.'

"Well this is all very interesting, I must agree. But I need to get back to my work you see." Between the humans and Puppet, and pedestal with five small wooden stands rose from the floor. Four of them held small puppets the same size as Scout, though with different colors and hair styles. "So why don't you each take your very own Handeeman Handpuppet to your name? Doesn't matter which you choose, they're all the same."

"Oooh, this one's cute!" Lisa snatched up the one with yellow skin and orange hair, fitting it on her hand. Mason did the same with the orange and green one, leaving two for him and Sammy.

Will looked at his options. The one in the middle looked a bit roughed up, and had a drooping, almost sad face where the others had more neutral ones. It made him wonder just what had happened to her, and with as much gentleness as he could he picked her up and pulled her on. Sammy did the same with the blue-skinned redhead.

Mortimer watched this all silently, until everyone had put on a puppet. "You know," he started, "there's a reason Handeemen Puppets are so lifelike and true." His voice dropped in volume, and Will could almost swear he felt the Puppet on his hand twitch in response. "When you wear them, they really wear you."

The area around them went dark as he recited a spell of some sort, practically screaming it. Will's friends dropped to the floor one by one, twitching and jerking around. Will himself did his best to resist, but soon his vision darkened, and he was out before he even hit the floor.

A few seconds later Mortimer finished his spell, and the Handpuppets opened their eyes. Slowly and carefully, they pulled themselves and their new Hosts up off the floor. "The spell went well with no complications." He informed them coolly once they were all standing. "Report to Riley right away for orientation."

Not trusting themselves to speak, the Handpuppets just nodded and hurried from the room with their Hosts. The second they were sure they were out of earshot, Bonzai almost cheered.

"I can't believe how lucky we got!" He half-shouted, only to be shushed by two of his sisters. "What a bunch of idiots!"

"Bonzai quiet! Not while Mortimer's still near!" Stitch scolded, covering his mouth. "At least rhyme while there's still a possibility he could hear!"

"Fine, I'll make the stupid rhymes." He grumbled, pulling away and crossing his arms. Forcing the Host to walk was harder than he'd thought it would be, the legs moving stiffly and the arm kept threatening to droop down and drop him to the floor. Bonzai hated to admit it, but he'd be happy once the stitches were in. He only hoped he didn't have a Host with lupus, like Scout had gotten once.

'Scout...' The thought made him pause, briefly, letting his sisters go on ahead. According to Daisy, Scout had actually been rescued, but they hadn't been allowed to see her yet. 'If I ever find the Host that stole her, I'll kill it myself!' He punched his palm, then looked up to see his sisters had gone on without him.

This was bad, as this was his first ever Host, and he honestly didn't know where to go for orientation. True, he could always go back and ask Mortimer, but that way led to death if the others were to be believed. So he did the only thing he could do and continued to haphazardly trudge along, hoping he found where he was meant to go soon.

Walking down the dark halls in silence was almost creepy for a Puppet that hated silence. So he hummed, quietly so as not to attract the attention of the Socks. But it was boring and he still couldn't find where he needed to go.

"Ugh, how'd this even happen, anyways?!" He leaned his Host against the wall awkwardly. "C'mon guys, where'd ya go?" He sighed, feeling the urge to swear. He resisted it, knowing what could happen if someone heard. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps and straightened up. Hopefully it was someone who could help him.

And it seemed to be, at first, Stitch walking her Host to go find him. He very nearly cheered, until he noticed that the hand she'd been on was hanging at the Host's side, and she wasn't on the other one. Instead the hand was wrapped around her torso, pressing her against the Host's chest. The eyes on the Host were wide open and focused, too. As it approached him, and he wondered if he should run for help, it raised a finger to it's lips and quietly shushed him.

"We have to be very quiet, okay?" It told him as it grabbed his Host's arm. He noticed Stitch had been tied up, some sort of string wrapped all around her, and something shoved in her mouth as a gag. She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, silently begging him to run. "If you make a noise I'll tie you up too, until Mason wakes up. And if you try to run, you won't get far before that happens."

Bonzai felt it tug on his Host's arm, and obediently followed as it led him back down the hallway. He felt terrified and pissed off, but knowing his younger sister was in danger kept him from acting. There was no telling what this Host could do to either of them, and if it was right about his Host waking up...

He really hoped they came across the others before that happened.

-----

She woke with a start, jolting upright in the driver's seat of the van. Beside her was a wide array of guns. 'Will's guns.' She realized, which meant Will was probably nearby. 'Or,' she took note of the familiar brick building out the window, 'they went inside.'

She practically kicked the door open, wobbling away from it all on unsteady legs. She only got a few feet before she collapsed. Pushing herself up on shaky arms, she choked out a sob.

'I don't want to be here I don't want to go back in there no no no no' A few more sobs, tears running down her cheeks into the dirt. She watched them fall, sniffling and wiping her face with her sleeve. She sat up, looking between the Studio and the road to her eternal freedom.

She could leave, she realized as she shakily stood up. It would be easy, and nobody would blame her. Nobody would even know. She didn't even have to go home, she could make a new life far away from here. Find new friends, maybe even somebody like Will and start a family.

But then the others would still be trapped. Possibly forever.

And then there's what Mortimer was planning...

With a hard, dry swallow, she stood up and went back over to the van, reaching in and grabbing a pistol. She checked that it was loaded, then shoved some more clips into her pockets. Grabbing the keys just in case, she closed the van up and made her way to the open window. It took some effort(she still wasn't used to weak arms and having legs), but eventually she managed to pull herself inside.

Peering through the open door, she only saw a long hall with posters from the show. Taking a deep breath and clutching the pistol, Scout stepped through and began her search.

-----

Stacy stared at the lid of the puppet box, glowering at it like that would help her. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but knew nothing beyond that. She had no clue where she was in the Studio, or how the plan was progressing, or anything.

She sighed, quietly. 'Not like I can really blame her for this. I'd have done the same.'

She listened, but could hear nothing beyond the box. And she was still tied up, so she couldn't open the lid herself. So she just laid there quietly, wondering. At least until she heard heavy footsteps and low voices speaking in rhyme.

'Hurry up Will!' She thought as she struggled against her bindings again. She had no clue what they were planning, but the longer they spoke, the less she wanted to find out. When the lid of the box started to open she closed her eyes and went limp, feigning unconsciousness.

Stacy sighed as she got into the truck, undoing the professional looking bun her hair was in. Scout popped out of her bag when she set it in the passenger seat, gasping over-dramatically.

"Oh stop that. You're fine." Stacy told her, buckling herself in. She started the car, and got ready to back out of the parking spot.

"Says you! You aren't spending eight hours a day in a fucking bubble!" The puppet flopped out of the bag. "Are we going home yet?"

"No, we've gotta go grocery shopping." Scout groaned and threw one arm over her eyes.

"Aw man. I hate Walmart." She grumbled. "There's always too many kids staring at me."

"It'll be fine. We can go look at movies again before we get the food."

"Okay fine." Scout climbed up the door to look out the window. "But I want Pop Tarts this time! Real ones!"

"I think I can do that." Stacy agreed as she pulled into the parking lot. She reached over and grabbed her wallet before grabbing Scout, letting her settle into the hood of her jacket as they entered the store.

They checked movies, though there was nothing new out yet that they hadn't seen, and then went on to collect the items on Stacy's list. A quick checkout later and they were finally on their way home. It could not have come soon enough for Scout.

The way home from Walmart wasn't too long, maybe a ten minute drive on a bad day. So they got home quick enough, and Scout watched as Stacy started to juggle the many bags. She ended up having to sting them onto her prosthetic in order to get them all into the house, but did succeed in getting all the bags to the kitchen.

Will was downstairs, as he usually was at this time of day. Though, whether he was working on computers or his... hobby, was anyone's guess. Scout certainly wasn't going to go down there to check, either way. Instead she Jumped to her room, which was almost more of a closet with how small it was. But, it held a bed(in her own size!), a charging station for the Switch, and sometimes Stacy's laptop when she could be bothered to drag it in there. The walls were lined with multiple shelves  with rope ladders connecting them, giving her a lot of storage space. Most of it was still empty, but she had collected a few things over the past several months.

Including clothes, apparently. Stacy had expressed concern with Scout running around with Mortimer's face on her shirt, and had enlisted Lisa to make her some new ones. Not that Scout could take her "shirt" off, of course, but she could wear other ones over it. Her favorite so far was a green one that said "eat dick and die". It was the best one, no contest, but Stacy wouldn't let her wear it outside the house.

"It's crude, and while I know you love that stuff it's not a good idea to wear that to my job. Someone could go to HR about it." Her Host had told her. Scout thought that was just stupid, but had agreed not to wear it to the workplace.

Stacy, meanwhile, worked on putting groceries away. It was good practice for her arm, especially in not crushing the groceries. She managed to mangle to bread only a little bit this time,  and figured she was probably doing better than she usually did. Scout reappeared a moment later, wearing the green shirt Lisa had made her. She handed over the Pop Tarts to the puppet, who immediately tore into the box to grab one of the foil packets.

"It's almost suppertime, so don't eat too many of those." Stacy warned her, only to be met by a muffled grunt in response. She sighed, and just collected the stuff she needed; Kraft macs n cheese, premade burger patties, and some green beans for a vegetable. Maybe not the best dinner, but Will was still working and they needed some food.

As she got the stove going, a pan of water for the mac set up, and the pan for the burgers got oiled. She selected three patties and put the rest back in the freezer for another day while things heated up. The beans she dumped in a  third pan on the back of the stove, adding a bit of salt for taste.

Scout watched all of this while softly crunching on the Pop Tarts. Months in the Host World, and she still didn't understand why Stacy wanted to cook. It was much easier and quicker to just grab one of the snacks laying around. Then again, maybe it had to do with that "nutrition" shit Will had told her about once.

As Stacy cooked she started typing out a message to Will on her phone, mostly to let him know dinner was done. He may have been just right in the basement, but she didn't want to go down there if she didn't have to. But as things finished cooking and she started to set the table, Will still hadn't come upstairs or even answered her text. And so, with a sigh, she covered the food and made her way downstairs.

"Will? It's time for dinner." She called as she reached the bottom of the stairs. No answer, but the muffled beat of heavy metal and the high pitched whine of a buzz-saw. She went through the door and was greeted with a mess. A wooden doll was stretched on the exam table in the middle, and Will was standing over it with the buzz-saw, shouting over the pounding music and whining noise.

"Hey, bitch! Make your boyfriend turn it down!" A red haired doll in a welded shut dog crate yelled over the music. She ignored it and instead punched a nearby gong with her metal fist. The resulting metal bang startled Will enough that he almost dropped the saw. He looked over and, once he spotted her, rushed to shut everything down.

"Yeah babe?" He asked, like he hadn't been threatening a sentient doll. The puppet in question was gagged, but sending a quite fierce death-glare at him.

"It's dinner time. Finish up here and come up, I made burgers." She told him, smiling a little as his face lit up.

"Score!" He quickly shoved the saw away before turning to take the doll off the table and put it into a cage. It swapped it's glare to her as he shoved it inside the crate, but Stacy just stared stonily back at it.

"Yeah, you keep trying that buddy. Nothing stops these two assholes. Ow!" The red headed doll sent Stacy his own death glare as she kicked his cage, knocking him over.

"Keep quiet." She growled out, not even looking at him. "Be thankful you're not tied up too."

"Yeah yeah. Go back to your favorite toy, Bitch." He huffed out. "Can't believe you keep that thing living up there with ya. If you had any kind of integrity, she'd be down here, in a cage, with the rest of us. Ow! Fuckin' shit would you stop that?!"

"Chucky, be quiet." A nearby doll in a ripped wedding dress scolded. "You know better than to antagonize her."

"What, it's true! That thing up there is just like us, but she gets to live in the lap of luxury! Hey!"

Stacy propped a foot up on the cage, tipping it onto it's edge and leaning down to glare at the toy inside. "You wanna stop talking now? Or do you want me to come back down here after dinner, Mr. Ray?"

The dolls said nothing more and Stacy righted the cage as Will finished up. The went back upstairs, locking the door behind them.

On the table was Scout, with half a burger patty in her mouth. She froze when the two Hosts walked into the room.

"Scout, seriously?" Stacy asked. "You're supposed to wait for us before you start eating."

Scout spat out the half eaten patty. "You were taking too long. I wanted to eat."

"You still should have waited. We only took a couple of minutes."

"But I didn't want to wait."

Stacy just sighed, and grabbed a bun out of the bag to squirt some ketchup onto. This was a fight just not worth getting into, especially when it wouldn't change anything.

Instead they made up their buns and sides, and were sat down to eat. Will prayed, and Stacy waited for him to be done before digging in. Scout didn't even wait, and just finished off her meat patty before digging into the macs and cheese.

The trio ate in silence, too hungry to talk at first. But eventually Stacy swallowed a bit, and decided she was sick of the quiet.

"So, you make any progress with the Gardner job?" She asked Will. Doll torturer or not, he did still have a "real" job, same as her.

"Eh, a little. Gotta ask who usually uses the computer, though. It's full of viruses from porn sites."

"Ew. Do they have a kid, or just a really stupid adult?"

"They've got a twelve year old girl, so she's the most likely suspect." Will swallowed another bite. "Miss Gardner is always away and working, like, three jobs so it's gotta be the kid or a friend she has."

"Who would go on a porn site? It's just naked sweaty Hosts, they're gross."

"Uh..." Stacy wondered how to handle this. And then wondered if Scout had ever gone on one of those sites, to know about that part. "It's... just a thing. Some people like to look at." She coughed. "Don't question it."

"Sure." Scout comped down on a green bean, and Stacy gave a soft sigh of relief. Scout was bad enough with her language already, and Stacy didn't want to risk her learning more words and terms.

Dinner ended soon after that, with Will loading the new dishwasher when everyone was done eating. He went back downstairs to finish up what he'd been doing. Stacy and Scout meanwhile went to play video-games. Well, Stacy played, while Scout watched her do quests from her lap.

"Go down that tunnel! Go! The left!" Scout pointed forcefully, waving her arms when she was ignored.

"No, that's where we came from." Stacy sighed, annoyed yet also a little amused. "Would you rather be the one playing?"

"No. I can't hold the controller." The Puppet waved her off before suddenly yelling. "You're not looting the bodies!"

"And you won't shut up." The Host muttered, looting a single body before going back to chasing the objective. "Are you sure you don't want to play?"

"How would I even fucking do that? Don't answer that."

"Okay." Stacy fought a few more Drauger. She thought about mentioning that she wouldn't really mind it, if Scout wanted to play, but decided against it. The body swap was still a sore subject, and she didn't want to ruin the good mood.

A ping from her phone, and she paused the game to answer a text from her brother. Being the nosy Puppet that she is, Scout tried to see what she was typing. "Who's that? I thought you didn't have friends."

"It's my younger brother, Danny. Doc wanted me to talk to him more, so I am."

Scout blinked. "You have a brother?" She thought back, tried to think if she'd ever seen any pictures of Stacy's family, but couldn't remember. Will she knew had a picture of his mother, but other than that neither Host talked about their families that much.

"Yeah." A couple of swipes, and she lowered the phone to show the Puppet a photo of a younger boy. He had the same reddish hair she did, but with much paler skin and brighter blue eyes. He was also wearing an absolutely atrocious looking sweater. "He's about eight or nine years younger than me, depending on who's had a birthday at that point."

"Oh..." Scout stared at the picture. "Why is he wearing headphones?"

"Those are part of his cochlear implants. He's deaf." She swiped back over to messaging to finish her text. "But he got the surgery at a young enough age that you pretty much can't tell. He's just got a little bit of a weird sounding accent."

"Oh, cool." Stacy finished her text and went back to the game, Scout watching quietly this time. "I have a brother."

Stacy fumbled an attack, but recovered quickly enough that she didn't die. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah. And three sisters." She squirmed a little, playing with the hem of her shirt. "... They probably all have Hosts by now. They were a lot better at... fitting in, than I was."

"Oh." Stacy paused the game, considering. "I'm... uh, do you you wanna talk about it?"

"Nah. I just thought you should know about them." She settled back, and Stacy unpaused the game. "I doubt I'm ever going to see them again, anyways. They were all assholes."

"Sounds like it, if they were able to "fit in" over there."

-------

Canon huffed, doing her best to try and suck in air. This was the... she didn't know how many times she'd been almost torn apart by the spells Mortimer was working on. Not really, of course, but it certainly felt like it. Like there was a scalpel carefully slicing into each stitch, cutting the small threads one by one.

"Hmm, looks like things are going well. I think I'm just about done with this spell." The magician commented, ignoring how the smaller Puppet lay limply on the floor. "Yes this plan has come together splendidly! Soon your sister will be right where she ought to be."

"... Great..." She groaned, trying to force herself upright. She failed, falling back to the floor with a soft thump. "I... can't... wait..." She had to finish the rhyme, at least, no matter how much it hurt.

"Indeed." He smirked, then grabbed a phone off the wall. "Oh Riley, we're just about ready to start! All we're missing now is the star! So gather your tools and a henchman, and go warm up the car."