Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was late at night as three figures sat on a couch. Although one of them was having a better time than the other two. Sonny was trying to fix his tower that was due the next day while Sam and Slappy were playing video games. Sam was losing miserably. Who would have thought that a puppet would be good at video games.

“Ah, you’re terrible at this. Heh-hehe-heh,” giggled Slapp, “I’m literally crushing you right now.”

Sonny briefly looks up from his tower and grin while saying, “Can’t believe you're looking to a puppet.”

“Right? And I’m not even using my magical powers,” Slappy boasted. “Heh. Hm?”

Slappy heard a noise as he leaned into the couch a bit more. The other two boys turned to the kitchen where Sarah slammed her purse and belongings on the counter.

Sam asked, “Back so soon?”

Sarah briefly glanced at them then went back to her purse. “Don’t ask.”

Sonny got concerned as he asked, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“What happened?” Sarah repeated as she continued, “Well, turns out the guy I liked is a total scumbag.”

Slappy frowned as he heard that but said nothing.

“Mom expects me to run this entire house by myself. And if I don’t figure out this essay by Friday, I’m never getting out of this town. So no, I’m not okay.”

The boys stared at her but then looked down for a second, nervously.

Sarah looked at them suspiciously. “Why are you guys acting so weird?” she asked.

The boys quickly turned to each other.

“Us?” asked Sam, turning towards her.

“Nothing,” replied Sonny.

“No reason at all,” said Sam.

“I’m working on my science project,” said Sonny.

“We’re just playing video games-” said Sam.

“Just us guys,” said Sonny.

“Nobody else,” said Sam.

“Mm-hm,” hummed Sonny.

Sarah stared at them for a while but turned away. “I’m going to bed.”

As she was leaving, Slappy turned his head towards her and said “Goodnight.~”

The boys turned towards him. But Sarah stopped her tracks as she slowly turned around.

She stared at the couch and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she rolled her eyes. “Goodnight...Slappy,” she muttered. She then continued walking towards her room.

It has been one week since the boys went to take out the trash at some abandoned house and found Slappy there. Thankfully Sam read the book before Slappy came alive. The Quinn family knew the consequences if they reject Slappy into being a new family member. They tried to be nice towards him and he already grew on them.

Sarah was against the idea but after she read the book she reluctantly agreed to have him in the family, but she does not consider him her brother.

One night, she decided to look Slappy up on the internet and saw that this was not the first time that something came out of a book but Slappy appeared in her room and was angry at her. Thankfully their mother, Kathy, ran towards the room and made a deal with Slappy. They will accept him in their home, ONLY if he behaves and not use his magic for harm. If he does, they will contact Stine, since they know who wrote the book. Slappy hesitantly agreed, because of the mention of his papá and not wanting to go back in the book after being abandoned for years.

Sarah made it to her room as she collapses on her bed and felt that everything is already falling apart from her essay, Slappy, and a jerk who was only playing with her. Sarah had no idea how anything is going to be better soon but she could only hope….

She looked at her phone. She already has Mr. Shiver’s number in case of Slappy does something but she would really want to call him right now and take that dummy away. But she bitterly remembers the deal they had so she couldn’t do that. Maybe she would call him to help with her essay...yeah right. All he knew was to write scary children stories so he’s out of the question….

But what the hell is she supposed to do with Tyler? How can he keep a straight face, while probably lying to her? Who knows how many times he’s done this. She doesn’t even know how she was going to do when she sees him. Confronting him tomorrow feels much worse that she rather hang out with Slappy.

Speaking of Slappy….does he always has to be creepy?

*****

Sam turned towards Slappy. “That sounded a little weird Slappy.”

Slappy only giggled. Finally, she was actually addressing him, he thought. This progress of getting closer to his dear sister Sarah was getting better. However, there are some things that need to be dealt with right now. And maybe with that, she will finally accept him as a brother!

“I can’t help but be born this way,” Slappy said while shrugging.

“I mean, he was written to be like that,” said Sonny.

“By the way,” Slappy continued growing as his eyebrows shot down, “Who’s the “jerk” she’s talking about?”

“It must have been Tyler, her friend but I like to call him her boyfriend,” answered Sonny.

“After this night, I don’t think you should be saying that,” said Sam.

“Yeah. Who knows what happened between these two, but I swear to god if I see him next time,” said Sonny slightly angry.

“Don’t worry boys. We will get our revenge on him one day. Right now you have homework to finish, Sonny, while I’m trying to leave Sam in the dust,” Slappy said while giggling.

Sam rolled his eyes but grinned. This must be what Sonny felt every time he beats him.

Before the two began their game Sonny quickly turned to them.

“Also, remember guys...please don’t tell Mom what I almost cause a blackout,” Sonny plead.

Sam made a zipper motion on his mouth. “Don’t worry dude. My lips are sealed.”

“Don’t worry brother! My lips are also sealed” said Slappy.

Sam laughed as Sonny stared at him.

“Slappy, your lips are not even moving,” he said deadpan.

Slappy looked playfully at Sonny. “Well at least they are seal,” he said while his mouthpiece did not move.

“How does that even worked,” murmured Sonny, going back to his tower and thinking about how exactly a magical puppet can talk and eat…

“Ow!” he yelled as he jerked his hands away after getting shocked.

Slappy turned his head and went back to the screen. “Watt did I tell you about touching that one, Sonny? I told you it will hertz.”

Sam snorted at the puns while Sonny sighed. Maybe it was best not to think about how puppets work.

*****

It was almost midnight as everyone was at their bed and asleep.

Sonny, Sam, and Slappy were sharing a room. Kathy decided that Slappy and Sonny would share a room as she tried to make a small corner for Slappy as she figured out what else to do. For now, she gave him a bean bag to sleep on. Slappy was grateful as he jokes it better than sleeping in a trunk while describing how tight it felt and cold along with the fact that it made mobility limited. Kathy decided to ignore that part.

The three were sleeping in their spots from Sonny on his bed to Sam on the floor with an air mattress, and Slappy on the bean bag.

Minutes pass as a head jerked forward and open their eyes. Slappy was now awake.

He lifted his head slowly to look at the boys. After he can confirm that they were sleeping, he slowly and carefully got up. He tiptoed to Sonny and waved his hands close to his face just to make sure. When Sonny didn’t react he quietly made his way to the door. He walked down the hall but stopped at Sarah’s bed to make sure she was sleeping. Sometimes she would wake up very late at night to work on her essay. He heard no clicking noises and went down the stairs to the dining room. On the table was Sonny’s project and thankfully the tools were on one of the chairs.

Slappy giggled softly as he got up on one of the chairs. He then used magic to bring the chair with tools close to him and grabbed a screwdriver.

He knew that Sonny needs help with his project but everyone told Slappy that he couldn’t physically help. But Slappy knew how much it meant to his brother to finish this since it was a large part of his grade. And he wanted to help him and family help each other right? So he decided to fix his project without anyone knowing in the middle of the night.

Slappy looked at the circuits and thought carefully about which to screw on first. If this was going to work, which will, then it had to be absolutely electrifying! Slappy thought all the possibility he could do with only a twist.

As he was about to place the screwdriver on a screw the lights turned on.

Slappy paused in midair and turned his head slowly backward, and hoping it’s not who he thinks it is.

Sarah looks slightly annoyed as she was in her pajamas and holding her phone.

Thankfully it was not Mama, thought Slappy, but he was worried that she would tell on him.

“Sarah! What brings you here? Would you like to take a free nightly lesson on Tesla? Or would you like to take a lesson on writing since your essay is not finished yet? You know I worked with Stine so I may know a thing or two.” Slappy said, hoping that she didn’t call anyone.

“Slappy, leave Sonny’s stuff alone. You know that you’re not supposed to touch that,” said Sarah, a little irritated after the mentioning of the essay.

Slappy stared at her, kinda waiting for what she would do next. He sadly hasn’t done anything so far and who knows how much trouble he would be. At least he knows it’s not enough to call Stine.

“I just want to help my dear brother, Sarah. What’s the problem with that? It’s not like I’m turning this into a killer robot. Although that would be fun, he-he-he,” he giggled.

Sarah really did not want to deal with anything now.

“Look. I’m not in a good mood right now. Tell you what. I won’t tell Mom what you are about to do and you don’t tell her about me leaving this house. Got it?” she asked.

Slappy was relieved to hear this. So he was not going to be in trouble then! As long as they both kept their promises that is.

“Of course! I won’t tattle any tales to Mama,” Slappy said.

“Okay, good. Now go to bed, Slappy.”

Slappy sighed as he failed to fix the tower. But he can tell that the tower will work but only a while. He hopes that Sonny plans to turn it off quickly. Before he moved, he did wonder.

“By the way, how did you know I was down here?” Slappy asked.

“I...couldn’t go to sleep and I actually thought it was Sonny because this is not the first time he did this,” Sarah admitted.,”And hopefully, this will be the last time you will do this too. Be glad that I don’t feel like telling Mom anything.”

Slappy was content but cheerlessly put the screwdriver back to its place and got down the chair. He then moved the chairs back with magic and walked with Sarah up the stair.

Slappy looked at her for a bit. But said nothing as he turned towards the floor. He does understand that she wants to leave town and go somewhere else. That he gets because he too would like to be that free. However, he is forever trapped indoors or with little contact with others because who knows what other people would think of him. He spent years being an unfinished product and only to be left behind as Stine already had another puppet that was completely finished.

Who knows what happened to those two now. But here he is with a new and bigger family to keep him company. Maybe it’s not that bad being good than evil. But that doesn’t mean he can’t pull some pranks on others. Also, the fact that he was unfinished so he can freely do anything else.

He looks up at Sarah as she walked towards her door. She turned to look at him. Slappy waved. She stared at him for a while. Then hesitantly waved back and went in.

Slappy then quietly went towards his room. The boys didn’t look like they moved an inch. He then climbed on his bag and got comfortable.

This was progress, he thought. She is finally acknowledging him. But as he said. He may not be trying to be evil...revenge does not mean being evil. Revenge is payback. Something that Tyler deserves and he didn’t even deserve Sarah.

Slappy then sat up.

Sarah might see Tyler tomorrow at school. He doubts that Tyler would ever come to the house again but that would mean that he couldn’t do anything to him. If Tyler won’t come over here, well that means he will have to go to Tyler.

Slappy waited for a few hours. Puppets don’t exactly need sleep but they do get tired. But Slappy has done enough sleeping in his life.

He got up one more time. Checked on the boys to see if they are truly asleep. A while ago Sam went to the bathroom but Slappy was positive no one will be up. After he saw that they are, he left the room.

He was now in Sarah’s room. He slowly walked towards her backpack. He watched as it unzipped itself. He then slowly got in as it magically closed.

Helping Sonny out failed, he thought. But helping Sarah was his new goal now.

He wanted Sarah to see that he was family now. He tried so hard to impress Stine but nothing worked. But this was not Stine. This was a girl with too much responsibility and wanted to be free. Hopefully one day she can freely walk her pages. And he will help her because she was family to him. No matter how many people will get hurt.

Chapter Text

Sarah woke up but stayed in bed for a while, not wanting to get up. Getting up means that she has to deal with her paper, Slappy, and Tyler. And she did not have the energy to deal with them.

After a while, she looked at the time and groaned. It was getting late, and she did not want anyone going to her room to wake her up. She reluctantly got up and got ready. For some reason, everything felt too heavy for her, from her bed sheets to her clothes, food, and even her backpack.

As Sarah was thinking, she knew that she had to deal with Tyler today. It was better to cut him off now, but how to tell him is something she was struggling to put into words… like her paper.

If only she could easily write her paper, then maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with Slappy for long. But then her family still has to deal with him. They are not bothered by Slappy, though. Although they should be, thought Sarah. She remembered how she begged her mom to call Stine to get rid of him. But since there was no way to contact him directly, Sarah couldn’t get rid of him faster. And even if she finds someone who knows him, what would she say? That a dummy got out of a book that Stine wrote. People are going to think she’s joking and not take her seriously.

Her mind raced until she realized she was at the front of her school. She stood there for a while. Then, I slowly walked in. Her eyes searched the decorated halls with Halloween stuff, looking for Tyler.

She hoped she wouldn’t see him soon because she still had no idea what to say. Maybe after some classes, she can think clearly.

She finally goes to her locker and opens it. As soon as she opened her backpack, she quickly shut it and looked around. When she knew no one paid attention to her, she quickly shoved Slappy into her locker.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” Sarah whispered. She even tried to block her locker by standing in front of it.

“What? Haven’t you heard of “take your puppet to school day”? Slappy whispered back without moving his lips.

“Slappy! Go home! I’d don’t want to get in trouble!”

“But Sarah! I’ll make sure no one else sees me! I just want to do a bit of sightseeing! I haven’t been to the zoo before, so here I am!”

“When I tell mom-”

“Sarah! Please! Don't tell mama! I’ll promise I’ll be a good brother!” Slappy plead.

“Besides, why with me? You weren’t really interested with school that much anyway. I’m pretty sure Sonny would agree to take you, and…he already did, didn’t he.”

“Hehehe. Yes he did.”

Sarah didn’t say anything else. She wondered what could be the reason for him being here. They barely even talked to each other. It couldn’t be what happened last night when she found him working on Sonny’s project. So what could the other possible reason be…

Wait. Maybe it was last night. That night, she came back and complained about Tyler…

“Slappy are you here because of Tyler!?” whispered Sarah, although she wanted to scream at him.

Slappy stared at her for a while until “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“What do you- You know exactly what I’m talking about. Whatever it is that you are planning. Stop it. I can confront Tyler myself. “

Slappy’s eyebrow raised. “Are you sure about that?”

Is she sure about this!? Of course she is! She can’t have a dummy doing stuff for her. And she certainly cannot have Slappy, of all dummies, doing anything for her. “Yes! I am-”

“Boo!” crept a voice from behind.

Sarah gasped as she turned around. Her confidence while arguing with Slappy went away as she stood beside Tyler. The only thing she could do was to put on a fake smile.

“I missed you at the show last night,” Tyler said.

Sarah was mentally screaming. She tried to act naturally by grabbing some of her books while smiling while this jerk was in front of her and a dummy in her locker.

“Bet you did. You have fun?” she asked.

“It was okay. A bunch of us hanging out. Totally casual.”

Sarah looked at him, confused. How can this guy say that with a straight face? “Right,” she finally managed to say.

Tyler then turned towards her locker. Great. She hoped that he didn’t see Slappy or ignored him. Maybe he won’t say anything.

“What’s with the dummy?”

Shit.

“Oh, him? We were just hanging out. Totally casual,” Sarah said. Then, she slammed her locker as she walked away.

Tyler stood there confused, not realizing he was being watched.

Slappy observed him. So this is the guy, he thought. It's good that he came so Slappy can have an idea of what he would look like. And the fact that Sarah couldn't even say anything about yesterday proves that she will need help. As Tyler walked away, Slappy was about to use his magic until Sarah ran to her locker.

She didn’t open it but stood with her back to the locker.

“Slappy, go home. I can handle Tyler myself.” she half-whispered angrily.

“Sarah! You need me! You just said that you could confront him, and then you didn’t even say anything to him! It was just “totally casual.” I thought you were a writer! That you knew how to speak at least. Well, you're as useful as a carpenter trying to make a shed with no hammer. Hopefully, the next time you talk to him, you’ll nail this one and I wood not have to go,” Slappy said while giggling.

“UGH!”

Sarah stormed off.

Oops, Slappy thought. Maybe he would not mention her writing next time since it was a sore topic. Then again, Sarah never talked about herself, so Slappy had no idea what to talk about. But right now, she was mad at him. Maybe the sooner he deals with Tyler, the happier Sarah will be now that she will not have to think about him.

After a while, the school bell rang, and all the students hurried to class. As they walked through the halls, no one saw a combination lock turning by itself. Then it clicks.

*****

Tyler was ordered to hang up decorations in the auditorium. It wasn’t a hard job, but it was kinda boring with no one else around.

“Fly, little ghost,” he says as he lets go of another ghost decoration.

He then hears a door closing from the far back of the auditorium. Finally, someone else is in here.

But he didn’t notice the very short figure that stood there.

“Hey, whoever that is can you toss me up some more string?” he asked, without looking up.

“Sure,” said a voice.

Tyler stopped what he was doing and looked up for a second as he didn’t recognize the voice. He turned towards the door, only to find a dummy there.

He scoffs. “Okay. That’s hilarious,” he said, a bit amused. “Sarah?” he asked as he looked around to find the blonde.

He then heard a voice clearing their throat, but it sounded too close. As soon as he looked down, he gasped as the dummy was on the stage, close to the ladder.

Tyler was started as the ladders swayed. “Oh! Hey, hey, hey, not funny, not funny,” Tyler yelled as he tried to keep his balance.

He looked over the auditorium again. “Sarah, stop following around.”

“I’d say you're the one fooling around,” the dummy pointed at him.

Tyler stared at him. “How are you talking?”

The dummy didn’t answer him. But he kept talking.

“I love the theater. I always bring the house down,” he said. He then cracked.

Tyler could only stare at him. Was this a prank? How did Sarah do this? Is Sonny in on this?

He didn’t realize that the dummy was looking at the ladder until he felt it move.

“Wait, no! What are you doing? What are you doing,” Tyler yelled frantically.

“Tell me, Tyler. What does it say on the top step?” asked the dummy.

Tyler looked down at the step and read, “Uh…It's not a step?”

“Maybe you’ll remember that the next time you step out of line with my sister.

Tyler looked around one more time, looking for an escape. But he was on the ladder. And the dummy was on the bottom.

*****

Tyler was on a wheeled stretcher with a neckbrace as the medics were rolling him away.

“It was a puppet, man. It was a puppet! It had these supernatural powers. He can move things with his mind. I swear!” exclaimed Tyler as he tried to gesture his hands.

Sarah ran to the crowd's edge to see Tyler on the stretcher. She heard that he had an accident and went to see him quickly, having one fear in her mind.

Tyler looked over the crowd and pointed at Sarah. “She knows! Ask her. It was in her locker.”

Some people looked toward Sarah. Thankfully, most looked unconvinced. Sarah glanced towards the crowd quickly.

“Please tell him real quick. Sarah, tell him,” pleaded Tyler as Sarah ran away into the crowd.

“It’s just the meds kicking in, sir,” said one of the paramedics. He continues, “Last guy said he saw a dragon.”

“It wasn’t a dragon. It was a puppet!” exclaimed Tyler.

*****

Sarah ran towards her locker and opened it quickly. But Slappy wasn’t in there anymore. She looked around the halls for any sign of him.

The school bell rang as students started getting out of their classrooms. Sarah slammed her locker in frustration.

Before she even moved, she heard a voice.

“Sarah!”

Sarah froze, looking everywhere to see where that voice had come from.

“In here!” said her backpack.

Sarah felt her backpack move. She groaned. She really hates the fact that he can appear anywhere.

Sarah tried to walk away but with her backpack in front of her.

“Slappy!” she whispered angrily. “What did you do to Tyler?”

“I was only trying to teach him a lesson!” Slappy whispered back.

“By breaking his legs!?”

“I didn’t think he would try to jump off the ladder!”

“You made him jump off a ladder!?”

“HE decided to jump off! I was about to go away after he turned around one more time!”

“I am so telling mom what you-”

“DON’T! Please, Sarah! I was trying to help you!”

“I didn’t need your help! I could do this by myself. And maybe he wouldn’t have to go to the hospital if I dealt with him earlier.”

“Do you not remember what happened in the morning? You said NOTHING to him about last night!”

“It’s because- I didn’t think- UGH! I don’t have time for this! I’m telling Mom when she gets home!”

Slappy began panicking. This is not how his plan is supposed to go. He didn’t think the guy would jump! He is definitely going to be in trouble. He just hopes it is not enough to be taken to Stine. Maybe he can get Sonny on his side….wait. Sonny!

“Look Sarah. I’m sorry that I went too far, but there’s other fish I have to make sure they aren’t fried!”

“Other fish- No! Slappy don’t you dare leave!” Sarah said as she opened her backpack to see that Slappy had already left.

Sarah stood there, trying to think what he was talking about. What other stuff does he have that is so important, she thought. “Other fish?” “Aren’t fried.” She knows Slappy doesn’t say something without double meanings.

Sarah gasped. Sonny’s project!

She started running towards the car. Did she not stop Slappy from messing with it last night? He said he wouldn’t touch it. Of course, she couldn’t trust a dummy.

She started the car and sped off towards Sonny's school. As she arrived, students hurried out of the school, and firefighters parked in front.

What the hell did you do, Slappy!? Sarah was getting desperate as she tried to find her brother.

Sonny and Sam stood there as she stopped at the front of the school.

“Please tell me you guys had nothing to do with this.”

Sam ran towards the car, “A microwave from the teacher’s lounge exploded!”

“But I had nothing to do with it!” assured Sonny.

“But they do want us to leave school for now to fix the flaming mircowave.”

Sonny was going to continue when he realized something. “What are you doing here?”

“Tyler Mitchell just got loaded into an ambulance. Slappy snuck into my backpack to scare him, and Tyler got hurt.”

“What!?” yelled Sonny and Sam.

“Yeah! So please tell me you also didn’t do anything else with him, too, right?”

Sonny and Sam looked at each other.

“No?”

Sarah sighed with relief. At least they weren’t involved with the fire and Slappy’s plan.

“Get in,” she said.

Both boys got in but didn’t say anything for a while. They drove in silence.

Until Sonny spoke up. “Oh no. We were talking about Tyler last night. And he said something about revenge.”

“What did he say?” gasped Sarah.

“I-I just remember saying that I wanted to get my hands on him, and Slappy said we’ll deal with it later.”

“I think it meant, he’ll deal with it later,” murmured Sam.

“Oh god,” groaned Sarah.

“Wait. What exactly happened at school?” asked Sam.

Sarah told them everything from how she found Slappy trying to work on Sonny’s project, to finding him in her backpack, the encounter with Tyler, the ambulance, and their last conversation.

“Then he said something about fried, and I had to make sure he didn’t mess with your project,” said Sarah.

Sonny stopped to think for a while. “Well it looked the same when i looked at it in the morning. I don’t think he touched it.”

“Wait! Do you think he had somehting to do with the microwave?” asked Sam.

“The alarm happened in the middle of my presentation! If…If my presentation went any longer, I don’t think my tower was going to last,” admitted Sonny.

“Dude! He saved your grade!” exclaimed Sam.

“He blew up a microwave!” Sarah countered.

“I mean… no one else knows about Slappy,” reassured Sonny.

“But we do! And he can’t just do anything he wants!

“He just wants to help!” defended Sam.

“We don’t need his help!”

“Oh? Like how you don’t need help dealing with Tyler?” sassed Sonny.

“I don’t need help dealing with Tyler!”

“You didn’t even say anything to him when you saw him! I don’t know what happened, but we saw how you were when you came back. Whatever he did, it was something really bad. Something you shouldn’t have to deal with!”

“I didn’t asked for anyone’s help!”

“You don’t ask for help for anything! Not for Tyler! Not for your essay! And not for anything else! We literally have Slappy! A magic puppet! He helped you with Tyler! Maybe he can help you with your essay! He was created by one of the most famous authors, and maybe he knows something about writing.”

“A magic puppet who is supposed to be evil!”

“A magic puppet who his creator dumped and no where to go with no family to take care of him!”

“We didn’t have to take him in!”

“Okay! What if we left him out! Who knows what he might do! What if he started hurting people! What if we managed to prevent something bad from happening!”

“He literally hurt Tyler!”

“Tyler was the one who decided to jump!”

“Okay, how about we calm down guys,” said Sam.

“I need Sonny to understand why having Slappy was always a bad idea!”

“And I need Sarah to understand that Slappy might be her ticket out of this place so she can run far away from us!”

“Run away from- I just want to get out of this town!”

“And leaving me behind too,” he whispered, not realizing he said it out loud.

Sam flinched. He knew what Sonny was talking about. He told Sam that he didn’t understand why Sarah would want to leave. Even though it sometimes doesn’t look at it, he does care for his sister. He wondered if Sarah heard.

He looked over to see her griping the steering wheel harder. She was tense but didn’t say anything else.

Sam sighed.

This is going to be a long car ride, he thought.