14

Dove-Doll showdown pt.2

Footsteps rushed through the halls leaving the echoes behind them and shadows casting along the walls. One set stopped, then turned to open a door to their right.

"She's not in here." the voice stated and the footsteps ran on. Opening another door and finding it empty the figures continued their search, repeating the cycle as they went.

Inside Dollhouse's lair...

Slam

The sudden noise had Parker jolting up and the dolls guarding her looking over towards the double doors of the basement. Footsteps could be heard running the floor. The dolls looked to each other, then cautiously walked to the door. One opened it and when they went to peek out, two shadows rushed by them and keep on. The dolls immediately chased the figures leaving Parker all alone.

Time stood still as Parker let her eyes wander suspiciously around the room.

Rattle. Crash. Parker flinched, then looked to the left as a doll head hit the floor from the junk pile. She then shot to her right when she quickly sensed a presence. Not seeing anything, she slowly scanned her eyes left and nearly jumped out of her skin when she caught a figure suddenly standing before her.

"AAAH!" She screeched jerking back.

The figure had pink skin with a long striped black and blue beanie that covered the top of his face. Holes were cut out letting his yellow eyes peer through and he had black/red sideburns. He wore a yellow turtleneck with green paint sploshed pants, and blue shoes. He stood at about 2' and carried a big red back sack filled with art supplies.

Parker gathered her breath when realized who he was. She frowned.

"Sketch! I could've went into shock." She fused.

Sketch smiled embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hiya. It wasn't intentional." The tiny man said.

They heard more crashing to the left and turned to the junk pile. "So the rumors are true," a voice said out from behind it. The person sounded like they had a helmet over their face. Clank. Clank. A figure completely dressed in silver armor, from head to toe, came from behind the pile. He had a white cape with his brown guild sig on the front of his chest plate.

"There is a sicko going around making female parts." The figure finished as he inspected a doll's ass part that he twisted in his hand.

"King really sent you with Baytah?" Parker asked incredulously, lifting a brow over at the pink man.

Sketch shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "He didn't. The boy just tagged along, and by that I mean he followed me until I caught him." He said as he stepped up and grabbed her chained hands, calculating the keyhole.

"It's Baytah Dude, and what's so bad about me being here?" Baytah Dude stated tossing the butt back to the pile.

Parker gave him a fake smile, "Oh nothing. You're fine."

"Hmm, I just might have something." Sketch said, then shrugged off his sack. Thumping it to the ground, he started digging deep into it as he searched for something. "Here it is." He muffled, then lifted out of the bag with a treasure chest. Popping it open, thousands of exotic and normal keys glinted under the low hanging lights.

Quickly scanning the box, he pulled a key out and stuck it into the hole. Clink. "Not this one," he grumbled trying for another key. Clink. "No." Clink. "Nada." Clink. "Nope."

"This is taking forever." Baytah mumbled letting out an irritated huff.

"Yeah. Sorry Sketch, but it's not working," Parker said softly. "We can try another way."

Clink. "Let." Clink. "The master." Clink. "Work." Sketch growled and then jabbed another key into the hole and turned it sideways harshly. Click.

The shackles fell to the floor.

"Yes," Sketch and Parker cheered together.

"Okay, let's hurry. Those dolls have probably already caught my ink dummies." Sketch stated with urgency.

Baytah let out a chuckle, "This was easy."

The three retreated to the door, however, stopped short when they saw the dolls entering the room.

"You just had to go and jinx us." Sketch barked at the knight.

"Get ready you guys." Parker stated as the dolls dashed their way.

"On it," Sketch said with a nod and then reached behind him and brought out a paint brush. Swiftly reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a tube of red ink.

"Fear not for Baytah Dude is here." Baytah heroically exclaimed as he took a few steps before the other two. He reached over his shoulder and unsheathed a wide steel sword from the brown sheath on his back. He readied himself and with a battle cry ran at the dolls. Once he got close enough, he swung the blade out, but was about an inch too short. The tip only arched at them before the blade slipped from his grasp and skittered across the floor. Doll 2 cocked her hand over her shoulder and smacked the knight aside. Baytah soared over and crashed into the wall.

Whoosh. BOOM.

'Fool', Sketch thought as he shook his head. Swiftly uncapping the ink cap, he dipped his brush into the red oil. Pulling it out, he lent forward and began quickly drawing on the ground. When he finished, the drawing peeled from the ground and now a six leg, four arm ink centaur with giant ox horns angrily huffed, scrapping a hoof against the concrete.

"RAAAAA," The drawing roared and then galloped towards the dolls with its head charged out. The dolls parted and the centaur ran straight pass them. The centaur skidded to a stop, then turned and charged at Doll 1.

Parker's hands wisped up and she sent blue wisp balls hurling for Doll 2. Doll 2 side stepped the attacks and transformed her right hand into a canon. Boom.

A beam hurtled at them and the two jumped away just as the attack crashed. Parker sat up on the ground and cupped her mouth as she started coughing from the dust. She quickly gasped when she saw Doll 2 at her side poised to hit her. Parker rolled to the side to dodge the punch and got to her feet. A bright halo of light grew around her hands.

Even though she doesn't like how she got it, she will admit that she felt better for some reason with the necklace on her. It was almost like finding a missing half. She raised her right arm and shot a light beam that hit Doll 2's shoulder. The metal sizzled as it started to eat away. Parker shot another beam at the doll's stomach and it recoiled back.

On the other side, the centaur had rammed a horn through Doll 1 and shook her body off to land next to the other one.

Parker lifted her arm straight with her palm wide. Light stretched from her hand and slipped through the ceiling. Suddenly, in front of them, a thick ray of light beamed on the ground. It circled the floor a bit before coming to a spot over the dolls. It shrunk down until it was a small laser beam between the dolls.

BOOM

The blast waved out through the basement. Parker and Sketch quickly ran to hide as debris and flaming furniture flashed out. Everything was loud and chaotic with fire piles crackling leaving smoke clouding up the room, but finally started to calm down enough for the two to come up. They searched around, but saw no doll in sight.

They let out a breath, however, quickly sucked it back in when they heard crumbling and noticed the dolls struggling to free themselves from the rubble.

"Geez, these dolls sure do drive a hard bargain." Sketch said.

The dolls unsteadily stood to their feet, their wounds sparking and leaking. Out of nowhere, the dolls began slowly rising from the ground with their limbs distorting. They continued to bend and fold until they were tightly molded into cubes and dropped to the ground.

Parker and Sketch's eyes followed the whole thing, then they looked up to see a boy hanging upside down from a hanging lamp.

The boy wore a purple windbreaker, with the hood over his head covering his forehead. He also wore black jogger pants with neon yellow shoes. His skin was caramel and his eyes were olive green.

"Why Danny, aren't I glad to see you, pal." Sketch exclaimed to the boy and Danny gave him a two finger salute.

In the District yard...

Champion slammed his foot down on another doll. Every time they knocked down a few, more seemed to ghost in from out of nowhere. He then saw two dolls who sparked his fire. Pink mask and Horns from the robbery were facing Queen who was standing before them ready to fight.

The fire mage walked up to the girl's back and then he placed a hand on her shoulder making Queen look to him.

"I'll handle these two." He said to her, but his eyes never strayed from the dolls. Queen nodded and then stepped away giving the boy room.

"I think you owe me a rematch." Champion said as his hands flamed up. "You caught me slipping before."

They looked to each other and then Pink mask ran up first and went to kick at Champion, however, the teen lent to the side missing it. Pink mask then bent over to place her hands to the ground and swiped her leg over. Champion ducked that kick too and slid over to his right. Pink mask looked at him while she was still in her kicking pose and aimed to shoot a beam at the boy. Champion quickly jumped back as the beam broke the ground in chunks.

Champion cupped his palms together and brought his arms to his right hip and thrust his arms out. A red sigil formed before his palms and then embers blasted at the doll. Pink mask then did four back flips till she was standing at her sister's side.

Horns swiftly unraveled a thick whip from behind her. The spiked end clanked to the stone. When the embers approached them, she grabbed a part of the whip and lifted it, then started spinning the end like a windmill. The spinning caused strong winds to fan out. Once the embers hit the whip, they sizzled out.

Horns then snapped the whip out and the spiked ball zoomed towards Champion with lightning speed. Champion quickly dodged to the side, yet not quick enough as a spike scratched across his left cheek. He groaned in pain.

Horns retracted the whip and snapped it out again and again Champion dodged the other way.

Snap. Whoosh. Champion stood still and watched as the whip came for him. Taking a small step over, he let the whip wheeze by just a little before he kicked his leg out against it. The force caused the whip to wind around his leg. The boy groaned as the spikes stabbed into his calf, but used the seconds the dolls' arm was lax to arch his leg up and slam Horns over to the ground.

He then turned and shot a string of flames into an oncoming beam, then suddenly Pink mask was at him prepared to punch. Champion lifted his arm to block it and Pink mask went into punch-kick combo mode. Champion held up his own, taking steps back as he tried to block her hits.

Next thing he knew, pain flared across the back of his head, causing his face to fall into the punch Pink mask threw. He stumbled back into a solid figure and looked up to see Horns poised to hammer a hand down on his head. He crouched down. Getting angry, a flaming force field formed around him and he shot up making it expand out and knock the dolls away, but not too far.

Champion ran his knuckle under his mouth and looked down. When he saw blood, he let out a chuckle. He thrust his left arm up. A magic circle glowed on the ground, wide enough that it was under all three.

"Let's see how much you can stand the heat," Champion said with a grin.

"Fire lord grant me power" Champion's hand twinkled like a red diamond. Fire started swirling from the outer line of the sigil until it spiraled up like a long fire funnel reaching high up. It trapped the three inside and incinerated the ones outside running towards the tunnel.

Sizzle. The dolls looked down to see their exterior melting away. Pink mask stared at a smiling Champion then dashed to the boy, however moving slower now. She threw a left hook, but she moved so slow that Champion dodged it then grasped her arm with both hands. He spun her then let her go burning into the wall.

He then jumped around to face Horns, only to see the doll crumbled to the ground in flames.

The fire tunnel dissipated. Champion stumbled to the side, grabbing his head when the world started spinning. Blood dripped from his nose and his head throbbed painfully. 'Dammit, I used too much, but it's still not enough', he thought and gritted his teeth.

King punched his fist through a doll's face and retracted it to let the doll fall to the ground. He took his eyes away from the fight and noticed Dollhouse standing off to the side with a broad grin on his face as he watched the battle with calculating eyes. King clenched his teeth and stealthily marched over to the man. When he was behind him and realized he went unnoticed, he grabbed the man by the shirt collar and slammed him down to his back. King knelt over the man and reared his right arm back and punched Dollhouse. One. Two. Three times across the face. King thought the man would be whimpering or scared, yet he just threw his head back and started laughing. This bloodied man was cackling hysterical while the enemy was over him. Coo-coo.

King's right hand then turned into a steel blade and he placed it against Dollhouse's neck. "Call'em off."

"You think you've won." Dollhouse laughed then smiled at King with blood glistening his teeth.

King glared with a growl and pressed the tip deeper to Dollhouse neck, drawing a light trail of blood. "Call. Them off."

"These people have your mind so morphed and twisted that you don't even realize that you are slowly losing yourself." Dollhouse spouted on like he was having a casual conversation.

"I don't know what you're talking 'bout, but the only thing morphed and twisted is you. You will tell me where Parker is, whether I have to beat it out of you. Now, call'em off."

Dollhouse squinted his eyes at the master with glee. "You're playing right into his hands."

Before King could even comprehend anything

Whoosh. A beam exploded into the master's chest sending the man flying off and falling on his back.

Dollhouse got to his feet and straightened up his coat lapels turning to look to the doll who'd helped him. He then looked out to the field. "Can't you see you have already lost," he said loudly so everyone could hear. "The more you knock down, the more there will be to replace them. This is a fight you're going to lose. My dolls are superior."

"You weak bastard," King grumbled as he slowly sat up and glared at the man. "These little robots won't be enough to stop us. They keep coming and we'll just knock'em down until there are none left."

"They are not robots," Dollhouse angrily snarled, then snapped back to his normal facade. "I like that attitude you have there. Well then, I have the perfect piece that will bring you all to your knees." Dollhouse lifted his remote out from his coat pocket and pushed a button on it with a evil grin.

Dollhouse lair...

Danny and Parker went to grab Baytah and Sketch fetched his sword on the opposite end. The group then relinked and started to leave, until the room started to shake so hard that it had the group swaying on their feet.

"What was that?" Sketch questioned with a squeak once the shaking had stopped.

"I don't know, but we need to hurry out." Parker said to them and they exited through the door.

One of the tubes against the far wall began to glow brightly, then the doors slid opened and fog misted out like a river onto the floor. A leg stretched out from the tube and a foot landed on the ground followed by the other foot. The figure looked around, then looked up at the ceiling. Thick smoke suddenly gathered at her feet and the figure flew off through the roof leaving a gaping hole behind. The figure took the skies and flew out through the clouds until she approached the battle ground.

Dollhouse continued to smile as he heard the figure land behind them. The figure was a doll taller than him, wearing armor that covered her breast and hips. Her hair was made up of thick brown metal appendages that swiveled around her head like snakes. She wore a red eye patch over her right eye. Two swords rest on her hip sides.

"My true masterpiece," The mad man started. "I call her Danger Danger."

Manna launched a sharp needle at Dollhouse so fast that the man didn't noticed he was being targeted. Before it could hit him, Danger Danger reached her hand out and pinched the needle between her fingers. Dollhouse face went into confusion, then shock when he noticed the needle in the dolls hand in front of his face, before he then took on anger. A smile slowly took away the anger and he looked at the doves.

"I told you that you cannot win and you definitely don't stand a chance against Danger Danger."

Sketch, Parker, and Danny tried to move as fast as they could, with Danny and Parker struggling to drag Baytah's heavy body along the streets.

"We're almost close to the meeting ground." Sketch declared as they made their way.

"How did you find me anyway?" Parker asked.

Sketch looked up to her, "Oh, I just painted over his footsteps from the meeting ground to his place. Can you believe he walked the whole way. Score one for Dove Clan."

"Yeah," Parker said with a smile and Danny nodded his head along with a smile of his own. The group didn't noticed the two dolls that glided out of the shadows behind them.

The dolls quietly stalked behind the running group, and right when they got close enough to pounce, two air balls rushed out and rammed through each of their chest, quickly followed by two lightening bolts landing in the back of their heads. Their heads exploded and the dolls body crashed down.

The group flinched to a stop when they heard the commotion behind and slowly turned around to see Rockie and K.O glaring at the other.

"That was my kill." K.O grumbled to the ginger.

"Gotta be quicker than that." Rockie said sticking his tongue out at K.O.

Sketch looked at the dolls, then looked over at the boys with his face still in shock. "Wow, thanks."

"No problem," Rockie grinned, placing his hands behind his head. K.O growled and lightly shoved Rockie's head forward.

They all then heard loud shouting coming from in front of them. "We're here." Sketch said, then they ran until they saw the yard come into view and their family facing the dolls and Dollhouse.

Dollhouse continued talking, his voice rising in tone. "I put my heart and soul into her. I made my favorite doll into what she is today and you will fall down to her idolizing her beauty before she crushes you all with her mighty strength. This is the end for you, Dove Clan, for I, along with Mister, will reign over-" Dollhouse never got the chance to finish.

Danger Danger clamped her hands down on Dollhouse's skull and started squeezing her palms together. The man's face went through the whole red color spectrum before blood and brain matter flew out as Danger Danger popped his head.

Thud

Outro: I caught myself, Paramore