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Puzzles’ eyes shot open. He looked around, confused. Just moments ago, he’d been lying in bed with WPNZ in their mediocre motel room, and now he was…well, he wasn’t sure where he was.
The walls and flooring appeared to be made of concrete, and before him was a wide, rectangular opening with an aluminum door rolled all the way at the top. Several neglected workbenches and dusty shelves lined the walls, packed with worn tools that sat in disarray.
From what he could tell based on his surroundings, he guessed that he was in some sort of garage or workshop. But, how had he gotten here? He had no recollection of entering this place at all.
As his vision adjusted to the dim lighting, he started to pick out more details, and squinted at one of the workbenches. Something wasn’t quite right about it, and it nagged at him. The pile of tools littered across its surface looked strange, like their metallic luster didn't glint the right way whenever they hit the light. As for the bench itself, although it showed its age through numerous stains and scores, it was completely textureless. It contained no subtle wood grain when viewed closely, nor did it have any lingering traces of polished residue from when it had first been lacquered.
He took a step closer, and when he did, he immediately picked up on something. The air was stiff and stagnant, and didn’t so much as create a small draft whenever he moved. He also noticed that his footsteps did not echo, despite the fact he could hear his shoes slapping against the concrete. Whatever this place was, carried an uncanny feel to it. It was like he’d accidentally stumbled onto a poorly constructed movie set, and was having to interact with the faux environment.
If that were the case, then he was repulsed by this garage’s amateur craftsmanship. As a stickler for perfection, he would never allow such shabby work to pass under his keen eye. But, for some reason, he could sense that this was not a set piece. It had an aspect of realness to it, but it was still eerie, like it had been reconstructed from someone’s memory rather than-
It clicked for Puzzles right then and there. He froze, dread sinking its talons into him. He was dreaming, his consciousness having been transported into an extension of his TV dimension. The only issue, was that he had no control over his dream world. He would remain trapped in his own mind until he woke up, doomed to act out whatever scenario his disturbed subconscious conjured up.
And this dream in particular, was one that he'd already had the displeasure of experiencing multiple times.
Despite every part of him screaming not to, his pupils shakily drifted over to the garage entrance. It led out into a much larger building, one that was very familiar to him.
A massive industrial warehouse gaped back at him, the pale moonlight revealing the aftermath of an onslaught that had taken place not too long ago. Blood shimmered in dark puddles on the floor, wet streaks smeared across in a brutal painting. Wooden shipping crates had been reduced to smoldering splinters, their contents unsalvageable. Large shelves for storing product had been toppled over like dominoes, with a few stray bodies lying crushed beneath them. Paper scraps and ash wafted through the dead air, while bullet casings rolled along the desecrated floor.
Puzzles remembered it all so vividly now.
“No,” He shook his head, gripped with terror. “No, no, not this again!”
Why? He silently asked. Why did he have to relive this moment over and over again like he was stuck inside a looping film reel? Wasn’t once enough?
Puzzles didn’t want to look down, by the stars, he didn’t want to, but his body betrayed him. He fixed his attention to the floor, already knowing what he was about to see. A spattering of dried, black fluid trailed its way up to the repair shop and past his feet. He steeled himself not to look over his shoulder like he always did, refusing to participate in this game again.
Just when he thought he might actually be able to combat his nightmare for once, he became acutely aware of a new sound coming from behind him. Quiet, barely audible sobs punctuated the air, starting out in hitching breaths, then descending into uncontrollable hiccups. They never fluctuated in volume, nor did the pace at which they were released. They were always even, and strangely rhythmic too, like someone was pretending to cry.
The thing that upset Puzzles the most however, was that he knew the perpetrator behind those sobs. Slowly, cautiously, he turned around. A lump caught in his throat at what he saw.
The trail of black liquid- oil- continued further into the garage, all the way to the opposite side of the room, where a morose scene was on display. Beneath the light of a dingy, swaying bulb attached to a flimsy chain, were two figures. One of them was curled into a miserable ball at the bottom of the table with his knees tucked to his chest and head lowered, sobbing quietly. The other, the source of all the oil, laid lifelessly on the table, arms dangling slack over the edges.
The first figure continued to weep profusely, mourning the loss of his lover from a bullet to his power core.
This dream- nightmare, always made Puzzles feel like he was glimpsing into an alternate reality, one where he had failed to save WPNZ on the night of the heist. It had impacted him much more than he’d like to admit, he’d just spoken with WPNZ a few days ago about how he wasn’t opening up, but he hadn’t been entirely truthful either. Although he’d mentioned that it had affected him too, he’d downplayed the severity of it. He couldn’t help but wonder if he should have told WPNZ more, told him about his guilt riddled night terrors that were eating away at him.
Puzzles just stared down at his sorrowful dream self. He wasn’t sure if he’d looked that pathetic on that night, or if it was just his subconscious trying to work with the memories it’d been given. At first, he felt a sliver of sympathy for his sad reflection. Then, like the flip of a switch, he became irritated. He’d had to watch this exact scene play out on repeat for weeks, why was his subconscious constantly depicting him as a sniveling little wretch? Why was he just sitting there moping and moaning?
Puzzles had enough of his own mind making a fool of him. He marched up to his dream self, casting a scathing glare at him.
“Get up,” He demanded, knowing that the other Puzzles couldn’t hear him, let alone see him. “Get up, you coward!”
Dream Puzzles’ crying came to an abrupt halt, his heaving shoulders going still. Puzzles blinked, curious. This had never happened before the previous times, had his dream self actually heard him? Maybe it wasn’t too late to turn things around and give this dream a happy ending. It wouldn’t be long before WPNZ woke up, and then his dream self would finally quit bawling his eyes out.
Come to think of it, WPNZ should have woken up by now, but he was still lying there, dead. Puzzles waited a minute, expecting him to stir. He waited another. Then another. Why wasn’t he-
Dream Puzzles very slowly lifted his head, revealing his previously concealed features. The background of his screen was a black abyss, his iconic technicolor face replaced with a pair of mismatched human eyes, one of their dark pupils darting left and right erratically. A set of realistic, ruby lips were peeled back into a sickening grin, rows of yellowed, rotting teeth layered overtop of one another. He looked past Puzzles, gazing out at nothing.
“What’s that, Mr. WPNZ?” Dream Puzzles’ voice trembled like he was on the verge of laughing hysterically or bursting into inconsolable rage.
Puzzles felt his internal cables bunch into a knot. He stepped back as his dream self rose to his feet, head cocked at a crooked angle with his arms hanging limply at his sides. With alarming speed and an audible crack, he whipped around to face the table, leering over his deceased partner.
“You’ll stay by my side forever and ever?” He rasped as he caressed WPNZ’s cold, metal cheek. “How wonderful! I knew I could count on you! And you can always count on your Boxhead!”
He propped WPNZ up, then lifted him off the table before pulling him close. He wrapped one arm around his waist, and enclosed the other around his flaccid hand. He had to cling tightly to WPNZ to keep him standing, the assassin’s head leaning so far back that his vacant stare was set towards the ceiling.
“What a marvelous night it’s been!” Dream Puzzles cheered. “Shall we close things off with a dance?”
At that, he led his partner’s corpse in a waltz, stepping from side to side whilst moving about the garage in a circular motion. WPNZ’s legs scraped against the concrete, his slack form preventing him from joining in. Even so, Dream Puzzles never once took his eyes off his beloved, and began to hum a tune- (Waltz of the Flowers, Tchaikovsky‘s Nutcracker Suite) -as he danced.
Puzzles couldn’t watch for another second. He’d seen gruesome things before, as well as conducted many of them himself, but this? It was too much.
“Stop-”
The macabre dance continued, Dream Puzzles lightly dipping WPNZ before bringing him back up.
“Stop!” Puzzles shouted even louder, his screen turning red from anger. “Stay away from him!”
He was so irate, that he momentarily forgot that he couldn’t actually touch his dream self, and reached out to grab him. Dream Puzzles phased right through him as if he were a phantom, and carried on as if nothing happened.
Before Puzzles’ temper could completely erupt, he noticed something in the top corner of the ceiling. There was a dark blotch that had not been there previously. It began to spread, creeping down the garage walls. Shadowy tendrils grasped at everything in its path, rapidly consuming it and leaving nothing behind but empty void.
Puzzles gasped and staggered back as the darkness reached the floor, the space around him decreasing at an alarming rate. He glanced back over at Dream Puzzles, who didn’t seem to notice the oncoming peril. In fact, he and WPNZ stepped into the black, but their forms did not vanish. They kept dancing, even without a surface to stand on.
“Wait-” Puzzles reached out again just as the last bit of flooring beneath him was devoured by the void.
His pupils shrunk, and before he could react, he plummeted into endless oblivion. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. Not that it would have mattered, because there was no one around to hear him.
Puzzles jolted up in bed. His voice returned to him, and he unleashed a scream so loud that it hurt his throat, not caring if he woke the neighboring tenants. He looked around wildly in the dark, clutching his chest and desperately trying to catch his breath. He was back in the familiar comforts of his motel room, but it did not provide him any relief. Both his screen and thoughts fuzzed over with static as he took in useless breath after useless breath, unable to bring an end to his panicked state.
A large mass beside him stirred, and WPNZ flung the covers off of himself, alert. Puzzles’ shriek had startled him awake, and years of assassin training kicking in, he activated his arm blaster, aiming it towards the presumed threat that was attacking. He quickly assessed that there was no immediate danger, and retracted it. He realized his partner was distraught, and gawked at him, stunned.
“Whoa, Boxhead,” He placed a hand on his Puzzles’ tense shoulder. “What’s goin’ on?”
Puzzles stiffened from the touch, and for a moment, his stifling gasps stopped. He turned towards WPNZ, and physically recoiled. He did not see the concerned expression of his beloved, only the decaying, rusting face of his cadaver, stale oil leaking from every orifice.
“Get away from me!” He violently shirked off his hand and shielded himself from the ghastly sight. “Just- don’t.”
WPNZ sat there, confused. Clearly, something had spooked Puzzles, but what? There was very little in this world that was capable of doing that, so whatever it was, must have been pretty significant.
Puzzles could feel WPNZ’s stare on him, knowing he wanted an explanation. But, what could he say that would possibly make things better? If he told him that he’d dreamt about dancing with his withered corpse, he’d be revolted! But, he couldn’t spend another minute keeping this to himself. He had to tell someone, and WPNZ was all he had.
He sucked in a deep breath, and gripped the bedsheets so tightly that his knuckles trembled. He squirmed in place, feeling like he was sitting on a hot tray of coals that only the truth could extinguish. Hoping not to see WPNZ dressed in a ghoulish form, he faced him again, ready to come right out and say what was on his mind.
“Show me your conductor.” He blurted instead, his body physically wilting in reaction to his cowardice. He refused to look WPNZ directly in the eye, focusing on his bare chest. He slid his hand over the button that opened his chest panel, and prepared to press it. “I need to make sure it’s working.”
WPNZ leaned back, and lightly pushed Puzzles’ hand away. “We’ve been through this already, that replacement’s workin’ just fine.”
Puzzles didn’t respond, frozen in place. He just kept staring at his chest with an upset look, his face ever so subtly glitching from stress.
WPNZ noticed this, and sighed. “If you’re not gonna go back to sleep, then do ya mind telling me what’s botherin’ ya?”
“I don’t know if I can…” Puzzles admitted, shivering.
“Why the hell not?”
Puzzles’ sorrow-filled eyes finally locked with WPNZ’s, relieved that was met with a vibrant yellow and not a dulled gray.
“Because you’ll think even less of me than you already do!”
“Than I already do…?” WPNZ murmured, a pang of hurt flashing across his eyes.
Did Puzzles still think he hated him, even after all this time? Perhaps he still harbored some lingering resentment that he hadn’t quite sorted through yet, but he'd thought they’d long since buried the hatchet.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not enough for me to blast ya to bits.” He reassured him semi-playfully. “Might as well get it off your chest before it makes ya crack.”
For a full minute, Puzzles did not utter a word. Thousands of scenarios played out in his head, each of them a vignette of a potential future with vastly different outcomes. At last, he sat up straighter, and closed his eyes.
“I’ve been…having nightmares.” He breathed, awaiting his partner’s response.
Assuming there was more to it, WPNZ nodded. “Okay?”
“And they involve…” Puzzles’ gaze shifted downward, and he nervously began twiddling his thumbs. Why was it so hard for him to just say it?
“Me.” He finished for him. He’d already suspected as much, given how he’d reacted to his touch earlier. “I take it this ain’t one of those “cheating” dreams, right?”
“They’re so vivid,” Puzzles croaked hoarsely. “And indescribable…”
“It’d help a lot if you told me more about them.” If WPNZ wanted the full scope of what Puzzles was dealing with, then there was no skimping out on the details.
“You don’t understand, they’re…” Puzzles swallowed hard. “I’m not even sure I want to replay them on my screen.”
Then, he frowned, gritting his barred teeth. “I’ve come up with far worse- done far worse! So why am I…?”
He was once a highly feared villain, one who had come inches within achieving ultimate power many times. He’d plotted so many nefarious schemes, and a few of them had almost been successful! So why was he jumping at his own shadow? Why was he so mortified over something he hadn’t even done? What was the point of carrying a guilty conscience over something that never happened to begin with?
WPNZ didn’t seem phased by Puzzles’ warning. “Just show me.”
“You’re certain about this?” Puzzles asked, pulling himself from his frustration.
WPNZ raised his knee, and casually propped his arm against it. “Eh, I ain’t too afraid of things that go bump in the night. Besides, I’ve been in your head, can’t imagine there’s anything worse than that.”
He chuckled, but it quickly died when Puzzles didn’t join in.
“Okay.” Puzzles conceded, sounding grave. “If it’s what you want, WPNZ.”
He drew closer to WPNZ, and leaned his head in so that he would have a good view of his screen. WPNZ adjusted his position, and peered into the crystalline pane of glass, his reflection visible in its smooth, rounded surface. Puzzles reached for one of the dials on his CRT, and apprehensively turned it, his face display switching to gray static. It remained like this for several seconds, until the slightly blurry image of a warehouse appeared.
Puzzles couldn’t say or do anything except watch WPNZ’s expression shift as he was subjected to the horrible dream sequence. By the time it was over, he was left speechless.
“Uh…” He began awkwardly, completely lacking the eloquence to use the right words. “That…that was pretty fucked up, not gonna lie.”
He wasn’t blaming Puzzles, but seeing his own body like that had sent a chill down his metal spine.
Puzzles turned his screen away from WPNZ and stared bitterly at the wall. His reaction was all he needed to know exactly how he felt.
“It’s deplorable, isn’t it? And the worst part is, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. I’ve done terrible things to keep those I love around, to think if I had failed that night…”
“I mean, it’s not like you wanna do any of that, right?” WPNZ asked pensively.
“Of course not!” Puzzles exclaimed, whirling back around. “I don’t want to puppeteer your corpse like it’s Weekend At Bernie’s!”
WPNZ just shrugged. “Then you got nothing to be afraid of.”
“You seem awfully confident about that.” Puzzles muttered.
“Heh,” WPNZ lightly nudged Puzzles with his arm. “That’s rich, comin’ from you.”
When Puzzles didn’t say anything back, WPNZ continued, more sincerely this time.
“I’m just saying, that’s what nightmares are, don’t let it mess up how you see yourself, or me for that matter.”
A part of WPNZ still yearned for a time when he could have calmed his kids after they had nightmares, but that window of opportunity had long since closed. He wouldn't have done a good job anyways, he would have told them to toughen up, and that fearless fighters weren’t supposed to wet their bed over some stupid dreams.
Puzzles finally nodded, though he didn’t feel much better. “Right. Of course.”
He leaned in, and cupped WPNZ’s cheek, caressing it. WPNZ accepted the touch, and listed his head into it, closing his eyes.
“You’re WPNZ,” Puzzles purred, smiling just a little. “You’re my WPNZ…”
They both basked in the moment, and Puzzles’ doubt slowly ebbed away. The longer he looked at WPNZ, the more he was assured that he was still alive and unharmed.
“Dreams are a powerful thing, aren’t they?” He laughed quietly.
WPNZ grinned up at him. “You’re more powerful.”
A stray thought occurred to him.
“Say, Shakespeare, ‘bout that dream of yours,” He started. “If I ever end up like that, y’know, bein’ jerked around by some bozo- no offense-”
“Don’t speak like that, WPNZ!” Puzzles shushed him dramatically and held him closer. “I’d find a way to save you!”
“‘Course ya would,” WPNZ replied. “What, did ya think I’d want ya to put me down? I ain’t goin’ down without a fight!”
Puzzles’ smile faded, and he looked down, forlorn.
“Oh, WPNZ, how do you do it?” He pleaded. “How do you always manage to put a positive spin on things without being in blatant denial? How does optimism come to you so easily?”
The question flattered WPNZ, catching him off guard. “To be honest, most of the time I’m not sure how things’ll turn out. But, if the heavier stuff’s really gettin’ to me, then I try to take my mind off it by doin’ something I enjoy, like killin’.”
“It has been awhile since I’ve taken a life,” Puzzles stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Or tortured someone, now that I think about it.”
“Sure, you could do that,” WPNZ chuckled. “As long as it makes ya happy. You could even write a script or somethin’.”
“My work is often inspired by real life, if slightly exaggerated.”
“Still,” WPNZ continued. “Just write whatever comes to mind in that big, boxy head uh yours.” He lightly knocked on the top of Puzzles’ CRT. “Hell, I’ll even act it out with ya if it makes ya feel better.”
“You will?” Puzzles’ eyes brightened.
WPNZ nodded, then moved around the bed so that he was now sitting behind Puzzles. He wrapped his mechanical arms around Puzzles’ waist, and brought him closer, his steel chest pressing against his cable-woven back.
“M’not going anywhere,” He lowered his head, the rim of his helmet cannon lightly touching the top of Puzzles’ back. He was never going to abandon someone he loved again. “Promise.”
They stayed quiet for a minute, before WPNZ tried lightening the mood.
“Try dreaming of electric sheep tonight, ‘kay?”
Puzzles rolled his eyes. “You and your sense of humor, I swear.”
The two of them shared a laugh, and when silence came creeping back into the room, WPNZ sighed. He parted from Puzzles and laid back down, but not without taking his partner with him. As soon as Puzzles’ back struck the bed, he shifted on his side, and clung to WPNZ, resting his chin atop his cannon helmet. WPNZ noticed right away how much warmer Puzzles’ cables were in comparison to his cold, metal exterior. His body usually only got hot when he was excessively using his weapons, but whenever he was resting, he was cool. He could feel the currents of electricity surging beneath Puzzles’ cables, creating a consistent warmth that flowed over to him.
They both finally felt like they could relax, and WPNZ closed his eyes first. Puzzles did the same not long after, nestling up as close as he possibly could to his partner.
“G’night, Boxhead.”
Puzzles yawned, content. “Goodnight, WPNZ.”