Chapter 31

Anna and the Boy

Monster Granny went one way—deep into the ground—and the lucky puppets went the other, out of harm's way. The less than lucky ones went with her, crushed beneath her bulk, never to be seen again. At least they had a grave.

Ty angled himself toward the freshly-made clearing in the army, slashing and pushing with his sword, which canceled his momentum. A successful and safe landing.

Too bad he was surrounded on all sides.

The Puppet Master appeared in the sky again, his teeth shining through the night like a pair of fake glow-in-the-dark teeth. He twirled his finger and—now illuminated—Ty saw Anna walk out of the wall of puppets.

Rain poured down. Slow at first, but it built fast until it became a torrent of water that invoked memories of his grandfather's funeral. That seemed to be some kind of unspoken signal, as both Ty and Anna charged, he raised his sword raised and she with her handcuffs spinning above her head.

They met in the middle of their circle. Anna slung the cuff down with the force of a wrecking ball. Ty swung his sword to the right, gave a mental push, and somersaulted to the left with a speed his opponent couldn't hope to match.

Her weapon sank into the already muddy ground; Ty, on his feet again, stepped forward and swiped at her.

Anna moved the chain of the handcuffs enough to catch it, a metallic crash ripping through the night. She yanked the cuff, rolling more chain out of it and wrapping it around his sword. She pulled him close and glared at him through her wet, messy hair. Her makeup ran down her face, giving her both a comical and terrifying appearance all at once.

“Mine again,” she hissed.

“No, I'm not.”

She glared harder. “Yes, you will be. Once you grow up. Everything will become clear.”

Ty leaned in, almost close enough to kiss her. She gasped in surprise, a smile forming at what she thought came next. Ty was quick to disappoint her, saying, “I think I'll pass on this growing up thing,” as he followed up with another powerful push.

Anna was blown away, the chain going with her. Moving fast, Ty made the bricks of his sword separate—long enough for the chain to pass by—then imagined them back into place.

In one leap he caught up to the puppet. He aimed his sword at her head. Lightning flashed. She stared up at him and her eyes were the real, beautiful chocolate color he loved more than any other.

The sword met only mud, its master changing his mind at the last second.

Another bolt of lightning and his Anna was gone, the puppet impostor back in her full devilish glory. He felt a handcuff snap closed around his wrist. Then mud as she flipped him over and smashed his face into it.

Anna jumped on his back, dug her knees against him, and leaned down to his ear. “You are mine, quit resisting! You love me, we are destined to be together!”

Ty glanced sideways at her, about all he could manage with his face nearly submerged in rain and dirt. Her fake eyes changed back again, human and chocolate.

Ty rolled his head sideways, freeing his mouth from the mud enough to spit out, “Those eyes—they aren't yours.”

“Yes, they are!” She batted her eyelashes, her stolen smile visible in the dark.

“No.” Ty used his uncuffed hand and pure anger to get himself on his feet, even with the puppet still on his back. “You are not Anna. My Anna is nothing like you, will never become anything like you, and we—me and her—will never, ever turn out like you mindless people in this stupid, fake town!”

Sensing what was coming, Anna jumped off of Ty's back—but not quick enough. His sword glowed and trembled in his hand in response to what he willed. Light radiated from his weapon, so intense it gave off physical heat—then the glow hid back inside the blade, the dark eating everything in view yet again.

He couldn't see it, but he knew the puppet grinned from ear to ear, taunting him at his less than stellar performance. He could see, however, the shadow of that smile as it changed to genuine shock in the renewed light from the sword.

The rainbow explosion didn't happen—the colors went together in a precise order, forming a fine, sharp arc. In essence, it was how Ty pictured a sword would cut the air with each swipe; a powerful slash made manifest.

The puppet was carried away. The handcuffs and the interior strings that made up her body pulled to their maximum length—held for a heartbeat—and then shattered. Metal links, broken strings, and wooden limbs joined with the rain.

A large piece dropped from the sky and landed at Ty's feet. His sword's glow was kind enough to grant him the perfect amount of light to see the impostor's head.

“I hate you.” She spoke the words without emotion, her lips unmoving. The construct giving her such an ability no longer functioned.

“Finally, you see things my way.” Ty kicked Anna's replica to the side, where she belonged.

The Puppet Master watched the entire exchange while he hung upside down from his door frame high above the battle. But not high enough. His empty eye sockets bulged as the colorful light show continued from the spectacle below, becoming an immediate and very real problem for him.

He scrambled up for the door, his arms reaching and his feet running in space like a cartoon character. He didn't even get a hand through the doorway.

The energy nailed him—right across the back—and dissipated as he fell into the dark, a muddy thunk Ty's only guide to his location.

Ty heard him before his sword's light reached him. “Hey, hey now,” the Puppet Master said as he crawled back from Ty's advance, his hands waving, begging him to stay away. “Okay—okay. Let's just hold on for a second—time out—and talk this...”

Ty swung down. The Puppet Master's hand jerked back, into the crowd...

A familiar face was placed in front of Ty. The blood in his body went cold at the sight of him. His hand came to a halt.

“...Ben?”

The kid from the toy store stared at him, his eyes dead glass orbs. His body reeked of wet wood. And to top it off, he was clothed in a business suit—tie and all.

The Puppet Master popped his head around Ben's shoulder and flashed his perfect teeth. “Checkmate, boy.”

“You will be next,” the familiar words rose up from the back of Ty's mind and with it the memories of that so called dream, everything that happened to Ben now proven true.

A hand clamped down on his right shoulder. He looked up to see another man in a suit, his red lights avoided the direct eye contact that knocked Ty out last time. Somehow he knew that this was the same man as before.

One of his lasers turned, too fast for Ty to look away. The red light bore into his left eye, going somewhere deep inside of him. He tried to fight it, but to no avail and his whole body went stiff.

“What did you say your friend's name was? Ben? Ben, old boy, take his sword.” The Puppet Master laughed. “What am I saying? I don't have to ask.”

Ty could almost picture the strings moving Ben over to him, his puppet fingers trying to pry the weapon from his grasp. To his horror, he felt the red inside of him make the proper connections and disconnections to loosen his grip.

Once the hilt left Ty's hand, the sword's glow was snuffed out, the red lasers their only source of light.

“Woo,” the Puppet Master said. “Didn't realize how dark it was.” There was a snap—Ty could only assume from his fingers—and the storm cut off at once. There and gone, like the flip of a light switch.

“Much better. Now, one more thing and we can get started.”

Another snap. This time it was another red eyed man that met the call, taking Ty by his other shoulder. The two puppets' arms became like ropes, crawling down his body and constricting with the power of large snakes. Then, together, they brought him to his knees.

Ty's eye contact with the laser broke and he could feel control returning to his body. Not like it did any good. He wasn't going anywhere with the two men restraining him. At least he could move his toes again; that was a small victory.

Ty looked upward, about the only productive movement he could manage. The Puppet Master loomed over him, his posture and very self radiating a boastful aura.

“I'll admit, you are quite impressive. You made it far, held your own against my puppets. And that sword...” He looked at it in Ben's hand, only a glimpse, like it was a dangerous animal best ignored. “Very interesting. But, overall, I don't see why that Other Me is in such a fuss over you.

“I mean, look, I can do this.” Yet another snap, this time it caused the exit door to slide out from the pavement behind him. He put his hand to the surface, as his puppet father had done, and removed the lock. He turned the knob and kicked the door open. “There you go! I made it easy for you. No need to worry about a key, and you're only four steps away from freedom! Surely, one as mighty as you can throw those two off of you, steal back your sword, and overpower little old me?”

Ty sat, not even trying to free himself. Inside, though, his mind raced with ideas. The door was right there, wide open! There had to be a way out of this, if he could only think of it...

“Ben, please, give me my sword back.” That was the best he could come up with.

“Did you honestly think that would work?” The Puppet Master managed to squeak out over his laughter. “Boy, nothing of your friend is left in there. He, like a proper little member of society, chose to move on with his life and leave all the childish things behind... such as you.”

“He didn't choose anything; you messed with his mind!”

“I did no such thing. I simply did life’s bidding—those who are young must grow old.”

“Growing up and turning into a puppet are different things.”

The Puppet Master cocked his head to the side. “Are they now? Look around you! Are you so blind? I'm sure you have seen it, the strings that the world has in every living human on your Earth. Seen the ropes binding them, leading them along the same path, day by day. They get up, drink coffee, work, come home, eat, watch TV, go to bed. Every. Single. Day. And you know why? Because they are just another cog in the system, going through the motions. And do you know why that is?”

He vanished into a window he opened under his feet, only to appear in another suspended above Ty's head. He leaned out, upside down, his sharp teeth cut through the air as he whispered, “Because life sucks.”

As the hiss of the last “s” escaped the Puppet Master's lips, he cackled like a complete lunatic, as if he had revealed the world's best kept secret that also turned out to be the world's best joke.