Chapter Text
Dan placed the last of his new books into his bookshelf, now back in the mortuary that now served as his and Herbert’s new home. His trip to the antique market had been cut short when they had reached the tent with the free suitcase. He wasn’t all that interested in it, but he remembered having a nice conversation with one of the young women in line, a cheery brunette by the name of Melanie. Or was it Stephanie…?
Dan wished that their conversation could last longer, but it only lasted a few minutes before the line coming out of the tent began to disperse, quite a few of them looking disappointed.
“Aw,” the woman had said “Someone must’ve won the case.”
He was about to ask who could’ve won it when someone called out his name. Dan looked over and saw Herbert motioning for him to come into the tent. Now Dan was back home with his housemate now the proud owner of a giant steamer trunk.
Turning to look behind him, Dan gazed back at the doorway down into the embalming room and laboratory. After dragging the thing down into the lab for him, Herbert quickly ushered Dan out of the lab and hasn’t come out since. Dan looked at the clock. It’s only been a quarter of an hour, but it dragged along agonizingly slow. He glanced back at the trunk. Herbert didn’t tell him what was in the trunk, but the way his eyes shined with a furious excitement made Dan assume that it was about nothing good. It was quiet in that direction, too quiet, and it unsettled Dan. He glanced up at the clock one more time and moved away from the shelf. Dan took a few steps towards the stairs to the second floor, but he stopped. He let out a deep sigh, looking back at the doorway to the lab before turning on his heel and heading down those stairs.
He came to a stop into front of the lab door, the damp scent of the basement filling his lungs. He raised up a hand and rapped against the door.
“Herbert?” Dan listened closely for an answer “Herbert, what are you doing in there?”
Another pause, and only silence followed. Dan huffed and raised his hand before he could knock louder.
“It’s unlocked,” Herbert’s voice from within interrupted him before he could. Dan paused his motion and lowered his hand, pulling the door open and stepping inside.
The lab was quite scarce in terms of materials, mainly bodies. Herbert hadn’t found the opportunity to smuggle parts out of Pathology and the morgue, and frankly Dan was worried what toll this dry spell was having on his housemate. The room around him was clean, and Dan spotted Herbert sitting at one of the back tables, his head down as he flipped through a book. The trunk was resting on the floor next to him, now open.
“Find anything interesting?” Dan made his way over to Herbert’s side.
“Oh yes, Dan. I found exactly what I expected to find,” Herbert answered, the satisfaction apparent in his voice.
Dan raised an eyebrow and looked away from the book in Herbert’s hand over to the open case. He didn’t know what to expect, but Dan certainly didn’t expect to see dolls inside. At least half a dozen dolls were stuffed in the trunk, staring blankly at nothing. A velvet crimson curtain with gold fringe was draped in the left half of the case, imitating the look of a puppet’s stage that framed three of the puppets. Underneath them, the name “Toulon” was painted on with gold and silver paint. Dan raised an eyebrow and looked over at Herbert.
“Really? I never pegged you as a doll enthusiast.”
“I’m not,” Herbert rolled his eyes “And they’re puppets, not dolls. What I’m truly interested in is their owner: Andre Toulon.”
“Oh?” Dan tried to recall that name, but drew a blank “Should I know him?”
“I’d be surprised if you did,” Herbert held up the book that he was reading. Judging by its use of handwritten text and scribbled sketches on the pages, Dan concluded that it was a journal.
“That’s his, isn’t it?”
“Andre Toulon was a renowned and promising chemist for quite some time before simply disappearing,” Hebert placed the journal back down on the table “He reappeared in Egypt as a puppeteer.”
“That’s quite the career jump,” Dan observed, kneeling down and lifting one of the puppets out of the trunk. It stood about a foot tall and felt dense in his hands, probably weighing a pound or two. The puppet was a man dressed in a military uniform, his half-lidded eyes completely black. On his head wasn’t hair or a hat, but a drill. Dan gently touched it and found that the drill spun pretty smoothly despite its age. He prodded the tip, he and recoiled his hand when he felt his finger get pricked by the point.
“Still sharp…” Dan noted with a gasp.
“Are you listening?”
“Hm? What?” Dan looked up at Herbert, not realizing that the other man was still talking.
“I said he lived in Germany during the rise of the Nazi regime before escaping to Geneva and seeking asylum in America,” Herbert huffed, glaring down at Dan.
“What happened to him when he got here?”
“Took up residence at the Bodega Bay Inn in California and committed suicide not long after.”
“Oh…” Dan frowned mournfully as he gazed at the puppet in his hands and over at the rest in the trunk. His brow then furrowed in confusion, “But what does a guy like Toulon have to do with you?”
“There had been rumors about him for quite some time, stemming from his work as a chemist, his unexpected reappearance in Egypt, some archive photos of his time in Germany, and recently the murders at Bodega Bay,” Herbert redirected his eyes at the puppet in Dan’s hands “They say his puppets are alive.”
Dan’s mouth hung open from the revelation as he, too, looked at the puppet he held. He sputtered slightly, trying to clear his now-jumbled thoughts.
“Alive? What do you mean, ‘Alive’? And what’s with those murders you just mentioned?”
“A group of so-called psychics went to the Bodega Bay in for some reason, and all but one were murdered. The only survivor was declared legally insane, since he kept raving about the puppets,” An amused smile spread on Herbert’s lips as he told the tale.
“You don’t believe him?” Dan stared up at him.
“I don’t believe the puppets are alive, but that they can move,” Herbert looked at the journal on the table “Doctor Gruber and I took a lot of inspiration from the stories of Toulon during my studies in Switzerland. He reportedly had a formula that made them move.”
Dan’s eyes widened with realization, “Then your reagent…”
“We had no clue what materials Toulon used, but he showed me that it could be done to animate the inanimate! And now that I have his journal…” Herbert’s eyes went wide with excitement.
“Then…” Dan spoke slowly, taking it all in “You think his formula could reanimate corpses?”
“I don’t need it to, my reagent can,” Herbert paused as he flipped through the pages of the journal “But he may provide the missing pieces I’ll need in my research.”
Dan stood up, looked down at the puppet in his hands one last time before setting it down on the table.
“You don’t look satisfied,” Herbert tilted his head as he observed Dan.
“I’m just wondering,” Dan looked at Herbert with a furrowed brow “How did you get the trunk open?”
Herbert rolled his eyes, “Remember when I told you that I was attempting to create a new cleaner and preserving fluid for any future test subjects?”
“Yeah…?” Dan couldn’t help but recall the fatal chloroform Herbert had made to kill that unsuspecting iguana a few months back.
“Seems like it was better used as a highly corrosive acid,” Herbert sighed in disappointment.
Dan couldn’t help but groan, “Please tell me you used up all of it…”
Herbert straightened in his seat, averting his eyes. Dan let out a deep sigh, resisting the urge to bring his hand to his face.
“Where is it?”
“Back cabinet…”
Dan shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. He shook his head and looked back down at the trunk. He kneeled down and pulled out two more: A six-armed cowboy with a perpetual grin carved into his face and regular looking jester. Dan narrowed his eyes, and spotted lines on the jester’s face, segmenting its head into three pieces. Setting the cowboy down on the table, Dan used his free hand to try to turn the jester’s head. As he suspected, only the top-third of the head moved. Dan turned it back into place and set the puppet down with the other two.
“What do you think their names are?” Dan wondered aloud.
“Why are you asking me?” Herbert frowned and furrowed his brow.
Dan held his hand out for the journal, and bit back a smile when Herbert huffed and passed it to him. Flicking through the slightly-yellowed pages, Dan skimmed his eyes over the swirling chicken scratch and rough sketches of chemical formulas and various puppet designs. He stopped at one page in particular, looking at the image of the six-armed cowboy.
“Six Shooter,” Dan read the name aloud. Herbert pursed his lips in thought and picked up the named puppet delicately.
“Not the most creative of names,” Herbert examined the puppet “But it’s easy to remember.”
“And that one’s ‘Jester’,” Dan pointed out the Jester and then turned his attention to the one in the military uniform “And then “Tunneller’.”
“Really?” Herbert raised an eyebrow, picking up the latter puppet “I would’ve suspected its name be along the lines of ‘Pinhead’.”
“Er, no…” Dan flipped through the pages before kneeling back down to grab another puppet “This is Pinhead.”
The two inspected that particular puppet. Its body was quite large, dressed in a brown sweater, with its hands the same size as real hands. Its head, in contrast, was dis-proportionally tiny. Herbert weighed the puppet in his hands and pulled on the neckline of the sweater. He let out a soft “Hm” of intrigue and did the same thing to the other three puppets on the table. Not entirely interested in what Herbert’s doing, Dan looked back into the trunk to see what other puppets he could find.
There were only two left that he could spot. The smaller one was undoubtedly female, dressed in a silky pink dress and long black hair, and her expression was rather calm. Dan glanced down to find her name. He furrowed his brow when he spotted it. One name was crossed out, but he could make out the name “Elsa”. Another was written underneath and circled for emphasis: “Leech Woman”. Dan shuddered and pulled her out along with the second one.
The second one was dressed in a black hat and trench coat. His face looked more like a skull with its white color, high cheekbones, and black sunken-in eyes. Dan set the two puppets down before flipping through the journal again, spotting the puppet’s sketch and the corresponding name: “Blade”. Dan could see why, as this puppet had a knife and hook as hands.
“This Toulon guy is a bit morbid when it comes to his puppets,” Dan bluntly noted as Herbert snatched up the two set down on the table “Herbert, are you listening?”
“Mm,” Herbert made a noncommittal noise as he set the puppets down “I have a theory.”
Dan watched, knowing full well what Herbert was going for as the scientist got out of his seat and crossed the room. Sure enough, Herbert picked up a syringe full of his glowing reagent. Dan audibly groaned in irritation and got to his feet. He was growing too tired for all this, so he turned on his heel and left Herbert to his devices.
l----[--------}---
Sometime during the night, Dan turned onto his back. His eyes were closed as his brain gifted him with one of the most peaceful dreams he’s had in several months.
He was laying in a bed of clouds, which was just as soft as they looked. Light was all around him, and Dan wondered if he finally died. He could’ve, but he knew he was dreaming. Why did he know? Well, Dan highly doubted that he would end up in Heaven after all he’s done. However, a man could dream, and dream he did as Dan reclined back into the soft pillow-y surface. A shape formed itself before him, clouds coming together to form an hourglass body and blonde bob haircut. Dan gasped, sitting up to address the woman revealed.
“Meg!”
He was gently pushed down on the bed by the dream-concocted Meg Halsey. Dan allowed him to be pushed, and a tear rolled down his eye as he gazed up at her smiling face. He smiled back, his heart swelling as she leaned down to kiss him. He leaned into it, closing his eyes and cupping her cheeks. He wished this dream to never end.
Something brushed against him, and Dan opened his eyes. He gasped and pulled away at the sight of the greasy long black hair that replaced Meg’s shining blonde locks. Her rose-tinted, freckle-accented skin paled to a sickly grey. Her eyes darken to pitch black and the woman that replaced his beloved Meg giggled, reaching down to tighten her grip around Dan’s neck.
Dan awoke in a cold sweat, the covers partially kicked off from his tossing and turning. He was still on his back as he blinked the tears out of his eyes. He could feel a weight on his chest and he lifted his head to check. His eyes were greeted with the same greasy black hair, dark eyes, and pale skin greeted him, except it was much smaller. In fact, it clicked in Dan’s mind and he realized it was that puppet from earlier that evening: Leech Woman!
“WHAT THE-!?” Dan flung himself off the bed, grabbing ahold of the puppet and throwing it across the room. It might’ve just been his sleep-deprived self, but Dan heard a soft feminine “Oof!” as it smacked into the wall and landed on the floor with a thud. Dan was only confused for a moment on why that puppet made it into his room, and it was quickly replaced with anger as he figured out who exactly was to blame.
“Herbert…!” Dan growled through clenched teeth, turning to storm out of the room, but was stopped by a woman’s gasp behind him. A stupid thought came to Dan’s head. He didn’t want to believe it, but the possibility was there after talking to Herbert about these puppets. Dan slowly turned around and looked behind him.
Leech Woman was pushing herself to her feet, shaking her head as if to get her bearings.
Dan’s jaw hung open at the sight. Like all the other puppets, Leech Woman had no strings. Maybe she was motorized? No, her movements were too fluid for her to be mechanical. There was only one way to test a third theory.
“Hey!” Dan called out to her.
Leech Woman stopped turned her head towards Dan. She took a step, and then another, and then another, until she was walking towards him. Dan held to the doorway to support himself. He couldn’t believe it, but there she was. She had heard him. She outstretched her arms to him as she got closer.
“It can’t be…” Dan looked down and dropped to his knees, cautiously reaching out for Leech Woman. Her head moved, noticing the hand in front of him and shuffled over to climb into Dan’s hand as it closed around her. He picked her up to inspected closer. She looked up, making soft sounds that sounded like cooing.
“You can’t speak, can you…?” Dan asked aloud, and Leech Woman bowed her head in a nod. Before he could process the situation and formulate another question, a loud “POP” could be heard from the lower floors. Dan’s mind flashed back to the forests of Peru, and he recognized it to be a gunshot.
“Herbert!” Dan called out, sprinting down the hall and practically flying down the stairs to reach the laboratory. He continued to hold Leech Woman close, being careful not to drop her now that he knew the truth. He descended into the Embalming Room and shoved open the door to the lab.
“Herbert! The puppets-!”
“WATCH OUT!”
Dan ducked away just in time to see the door get punctured by two bullets. He quickly turned his head to spot the cowboy, Six-Shooter, standing atop the table with his bandana covering his permanent grin carved into his face. A soft whirring noise followed, and Dan glanced down quickly. The uniformed puppet, Tunneller charged at him, his head bowed and the drill on his head whizzing around and around. Dan quickly side-stepped him ad scanned around the room as he heard Tunneller’s drill bury itself into the wooden door.
“Herbert where are you!?”
A hand shot up from behind one of the back tables and waved. Dan bolted in that direction but fell completely flat on his face. He used his free hand to brace himself, but his nose still hit the hard floor and a wetness rush out of his nostril. He swore and look back to see Pinhead holding onto his leg. Dan wriggled and kicked the puppet off, crawling back to his feet to come face to face with the jester puppet smiling with a cooing laugh as he sat on a stack of books. He made no move to follow, simply watching Dan as he rushed to the table Herbert was crouching behind, also holding a puppet.
“Dan, I didn’t expect that one to fire real bullets.”
“Well now we know! Wait,” Dan looked at the puppet in Herbert’s arms “You have a puppet.”
Herbert looked at the puppet in his arms, which (by process of elimination) was the puppet named Blade. His head swiveled to look Dan and then at Leech Woman.
“How the hell did you get them to move!?”
“I told you Dan, I had a theory,” Herbert carefully moved Blade’s clothes to reveal several punctures in the puppet’s chest area “The chemical formula that was written in Toulon’s notebook must’ve been injected into the puppets. It was a similar compound to the reagent, so-“
“So you put the reagent inside them,” Dan concluded Herbert for him “But why are they acting like this?”
Herbert pursed his lips in thought, “My reagent isn’t exactly like Toulon. It might’ve made them more energetic.”
“Energetic?” Dan laughed incredulously “Is that how you put it?”
The conversation was interrupted by Leech Woman making more noises in Dan’s arms. It sounded different from before, no more of the soft sighs and little twitters and instead sounding like she was being strangled… or vomiting. Dan looked down and found the puppet’s mouth inhumanly wide as a black mass was gradually being expelled from her mouth. Dan led out an alarmed noise of surprise and dropped her onto the floor. As she landed, the mass fell out of her mouth, looking to be some giant black slug.
“Hm, I should’ve known,” Herbert observed “The Leech Woman cough up leeches.”
A mocking laugh accompanied them as Herbert and Dan started down at Leech Woman. The two slowly looked up, remembering that they weren’t the only ones in the room. Standing next to them were the remaining four puppets standing before them and staring at them with their unblinking eyes. The laugh came from Six-Shooter, who readies his hands over his miniature guns. Pinhead flexed his giant hands, and Tunneller kept his knees bent to get ready to run forward.
“What happens now?” Dan asked cautiously.
“Why are you asking- ow!” Herbert interrupted himself with a pained exclamation. Dan looked over to see Herbert holding his hand, blood seeping out of his palm. Blade was on the floor, some fresh blood on his bladed hand. He looked up at Dan, a hiss escaping the puppet’s mouth as Dan held his hands up in defense. To Dan’s surprise, Blade instead turned his attention the other puppets and moved over to them. Jester stepped forward, the three sections of his head rotating with a whizz. When they stopped, a sad frown replaced the smiling.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Dan wondered aloud as he watched the puppets silently look and gesture at one another.
“They seem to be communicating,” Herbert hypothesized, cradling his hand.
The two men paid no mind as Leech Woman stood up on her own two feet and shuffled over to join with her puppet companions. They all continued gesturing and staring at one another, the only noises coming from them being little laughs, sighs, grunts, and hisses. It only lasted a few moments longer before they all stopped, their stances more relaxed. Jester looked over and moved to Dan and Herbert. He came to Dan first, patting his thigh. Dan raised an eyebrow, but he couldn’t help but bite his lip to hide his amusement when Jester did the same to Herbert, causing the scientist to scrunch his face up in a confused frown. The sections of Jester’s head spun again, and the smile reappeared again when they stopped.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Herbert questioned with a frown.
“I think,” Dan swallowed as he scanned his eyes over the other puppets “I think we’re on their good side.”