"Who are you? Where is Lady Nightwane?" Luna sounds quite scared.

From the back of the store, one more man comes out, much smaller and thinner than the first two thugs. This one looks like he took all the brain matter reserved for the other two during their creation, but traded in his muscles as compensation. His eyes are those of a dead fish, as he stares at Luna with a grin. If that's not a rape-face, I don't know what is.

"Ohhh, that one's a half-elf!" His voice is quite high-pitched, fitting for such a textbook ringleader. Wait, half-elf? Luna, you're half elf? Now that I think about it, I never saw her ears under her hair. How can this guy tell, though? "Grab her, too."

You just gave away some valuable information about yourself there, brainiac. They're here for this Lady Nightwane, who's a dark elf. By wanting to take Luna, who's a half-elf, he basically announced that they're after elves.

"Stay behind me, Miss Marcott, it's dangerous." Oh, how dependable. But if your spells take minutes to chant, how do you want to protect me? Ah, she's holding her staff like she wants to fight with it. Stop it, girl, we're in a cramped space, and you'll just hit a pillar or a wall.

A thug rushes forward; it's the one with the club. That weapon is much more fitting in such a space. Luna swings and obviously, her staff gets stuck on a crossbeam. Then the thug is already right in front of her and swings down his club.

"Not her face you idiot!" The brainiac yells frantically.

Yeah, he really is an idiot for aiming at a cute girl's face with a heavy wooden club. If that wouldn't knock out a few teeth at least, I'd doubt its apparent material. But his reflexes are good enough as he stops himself just in time and instead punches Luna in the gut. She folds over, falls to the ground and is out cold. Wow, so weak.

"And what do we have here? You have such white skin; you must be a noble." I do? Well, I guess I did brighten up my skin tone a bit since my actual body would be quite tanned from running around outdoors all the time. "Even though you don't dress like one... a disguise?"

Oi, leave my clothes alone! At least I'm wearing some.

"Take her as well. She doesn't look like she wants to fight, so you don't have to knock her out. Just tie her hands and feet. And gag her." Hm, do I want to fight here or let them bring me along so I can see what kind of thing they're running here? Maybe it'll be more efficient if I ask them directly.

"W-where do you want to bring us?" My voice came out just right. Innocent, slightly shaking. I'm getting better at this. "My mother is a very powerful woman; you won't get away with this!"

"We just got a request for kidnapping elves, but taking you is a little bonus for ourselves. But say, who is your mother?" Thank you for telling me that. Hm, I actually don't even know her name, only her title. Well, I call her mama anyway.

"She is the reigning demon lord." I say with confidence. For a moment, the three thugs are stunned. Oh, I know what's coming next. They start to laugh their asses off.

"The lady says she's the daughter of the demon lord! She must have gone crazy from fear!" The high-pitched voice is quite annoying. But I start laughing as well. This goes on for a bit until they finally realize that I've joined them. "W-why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

Ah, he's suddenly nervous.

"Crazy from fear... you gave me a great idea." I think my mouth just split into a grin wider than possible with this human anatomy. Then I cancel my transformation.

For a moment, the three look at me with big eyes and jaws ajar. Then the first starts to scream. It's the thug that didn't move so far. Oh, he wet himself. I'm not going to eat you anymore... The other two join in on the screaming. This is like music to my ears. Why am I reveling in their fear so much? Ahhh, I can see madness growing in their eyes.

"Hahahahahaha!" I practically rip open my face with that laugh since I don't even have a mouth in this form. This sound is not something human, and if I didn't know what I am, it would have grated on my spine. But knowing that, I'm sure these three are feeling its full effect. Maou-mama did say that this appearance drains the sanity of those who see it. I think I can see that happening right before me. Let's see what their individual madness looks like.

The thug with the club thinks he can do something because he has a weapon. He rushes at me and tries to bash me over the head with it. It connects, but I let it slide into me. Without resistance, he stumbles and falls forward. Haha, come into my embrace! I split apart my arms into their individual tentacles and grab him. He screams like a gutted pig as half of his body begins to disappear into my own.

"Hahaha, that can't be... it's a nightmare. Yes, I'm dreaming..." The brainiac claws at his own face and laughs madly, trying to explain this away with rationale. I guess you humans don't know about us Crawling Chaos.

"Yes, this is a nightmare you will never wake up from. This is your reality now." I say in a gleeful tone, and he screams. Ahhh, this feels great. The thug with the club is completely inside me now; there isn't a single part of him poking out. The other one who pissed himself has fainted, his eyes rolled back in their sockets. Wait, it doesn't look like he's breathing. Wow, that effective? His mind shut his body down to preserve itself. "Now, tell me who hired you, and I will ease your suffering."

"He-is-a-merchant-called-Sveinn-Itkonen-he-is-a-black-market-slaver-who-smuggles-elves-and-other-rare-species-into-the-capital-for-nobles-to-buy." He rattles it down without taking a breath. Sveinn Itkonen, huh? Jackpot. This was quite convenient.

"Thank you very much. You can rest now." I grab him and stuff him inside me. He doesn't even try to fight back and closes his eyes as if welcoming my embrace. Madness does that to you, huh?

This dead one... honestly, I don't want to eat him, but I also don't want to leave behind any evidence. I'll have to take him in, too, but I'll put him in an isolated section. It's not like it makes a difference whether his filth is outside or inside his body, though. It all dissolves inside me anyway.

"Hey."

AHHHHH! Whose voice was that!? I nearly breathed out my soul! I turn around but don't see anyone. Wait, don't tell me...

"Yes, it's me, the creepy doll."

Oh, so you have self-awareness of the fact that you're a creepy doll. That doesn't help me at all! Why can you talk? Are you actually a human who looks like a doll?

"Can you give me some blood?" Nopenopenopenopenope! That's the prelude to a curse! "But preferably not yours, I don't think I'd like what will happen to me if I ingested your blood..."

"Hey, that's rude." But I can understand where she's coming from. Wait, if you're a human, why aren't you going mad at seeing me? Don't tell me you really are a ghost possessing this body? "What are you?"

"That's rude, too. I'm a proper human, you know? Well, maybe not anymore, but I used to be." The doll responds without moving. Is that voice really coming from her? And didn't she basically just admit that she's a ghost? "I'm just... out of juice. Give me the guy with the club's blood. I need someone who's still alive."

"How do you know he's still alive? I ate him, you know?" He is alive, though. I want to try the experiment about keeping something alive inside me again - this time with two separate test subjects.

"Because you're a Crawling Chaos, and your kind prefers to make them suffer as long as possible." She states in a matter of fact tone. Is that how it is? I didn't know. I'm kind of a newborn, you know? But she knows what I am and she's not afraid. "So, give me some of his blood, and I'll be able to move again."

"And what makes you think I want you to be able to move?"

"Because I can give you a lot of information you might want to know. You're not the first of your kind I'm meeting in this world." In this world? Don't tell me you're also from my world? "Ah, this is so difficult... it was much easier when it was a third-person omniscient narrator..."

You what?

"Anyways, give me some blood, and I'll tell you something good." Consider me interested. She just used a term I'm sure nobody in this world should know about. Furthermore, wasn't that fourth wall breaking? I look around, but I don't see anything like text bubbles. I'm not in a comic, am I? In either case, I make the hand of the thug peek out from my stomach, turn one of my tentacles into a blade and make a cut. I let the blood flow into the cleanest container I can find and put it to the doll's mouth. For a moment, I don't feel any response.

Then the thug inside me dies.

"Hey, what did you do?" I'm not really angry, just surprised. She must have done something, because the brainiac is still alive, and they should have the same conditions within my body.

"I just took his life force." She slides from the chair and stretches. I hear creaking in her joints. She's properly using her lips to speak now. That's much better than her unmoving self from before.

"Oh, is it like a voodoo curse?"

"I wish... I'm sure you will understand if I tell you it's a certain Ninja technique that shares your wounds with someone you are connected to through the ingested blood. And yes, that's how lame my setting is." She rolls her eyes while explaining. I understand, but I also don't really. "But in this world, it changed a little to be more convenient for the plot."

Please don't break my fourth wall any more than that...

"My name is Ootsuki Senka. I'm the cheap knockoff of a Kuchisake-onna."

That's a Japanese name! And the Kuchisake-onna is a Japanese urban legend about a vengeful ghost-

"Ahhhh, you're a ghost after all!?"

"That's what you have a problem with? And you're a Cosmic Horror. How can you be afraid of ghosts?"

"I'm bad with horror stuff..."

"So, what's your name?" She dismisses my worries and continues the conversation.

"I'm Kuroe Makoto. My name is Chaos here."

"Chaos... how original." She looks away from me and seems to speak to somebody invisible. "What if I told her that her name isn't based on the concept but on the amoeba of the same name?"

Wait, my name comes from an amoeba?

"Uhm, who're you talking to?"

"Not important. What will you do about this situation? I'm sure you don't want that girl to know about your identity. I mean, this is a human nation after all."

"If I make her disappear, it's going to cause a commotion... any idea?" Somehow I can talk to this doll-like girl so openly. She's not afraid of my appearance and doesn't care about me practically just killing three people. Well, two. She killed one of them. Oh, we're partners in crime, then.

"How about this..."

Luna wakes up moments later, and I'm back in my human appearance. I hope I'm making a slightly concerned face; I can't tell. She looks up at me, then realizes the situation and sits up abruptly. Luckily I wasn't leaning over her since that would have been a head butt.

"Where are the three men?" She's panicked, but when she doesn't see them in the store, a questioning look appears on her face. "Huh?"

"I do not understand either, but that doll over there went off and scared them away. They ran out of the store." When I think about it, this excuse is so lame... I glance at the doll in question.

"The doll?" Luna stands up and walks towards it. "What do you mean, went off?"

Ah, at least this part is going to be fun.

Senka snaps her head towards the mage, eyes wide open and staring just past her, a creaking sound emerging from her neck in the process. Then she starts to laugh mechanically.

"Kyaaaaah!!!"

Bonk!

Luna just hit Senka over the head with her staff, causing her to fall from the chair. Wow, you're even worse with horror than I am. And now, as agreed...

"I want to keep her." I'll bring her along, as requested. She'll keep acting like an automaton for the time being, until we're in a place where her appearance, coupled with her talking and moving about naturally, will no longer be considered the work of demons. She did say her body requires a lot of energy to stay active, so she prefers to remain unmoving unless absolutely necessary. There are also supposedly no detectable bodily functions in her. Her breathing and her heart are completely stopped. I wonder how she's alive, but I guess that's more like a zombie. Oh, and she did say she was immortal.

"Why do you want to keep this creepy thing?" Luna moves to step on Senka's face. Uh-oh. I quickly pull her away and into my embrace. Ah, she's so light and soft, and kind of smells sweet, too. In this room of mold and decay, she's the only good-smelling thing. I hug her closely.

"I like this design." I do, indeed. Call me crazy.

"You must be crazy!"

Ouch.

- Cursed Creepy Doll has joined the party -