Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sec sat back, thinking. It had been about a couple months since he and his family had just appeared in the human world, with nobody knowing how or why. But he'd like to think they were lucky in their situation. They had a house- a fancy high-rise apartment- that had just been paid for, and they kept getting money every month, enough to cover all the necessary expenses and then some. They had all been in agreement that while it was suspicious, they couldn't turn it down. Though it hadn't stopped them all from seeking out other forms of income, just in case.

"Hey, kid. We're here."

Sec was brought out of his thoughts by the Uber driver getting his attention.

"Oh! Thank you sir!" Sec paid for the drive, handing over a rather hefty tip.

"Don't mention it. Just don't say you weren't warned."

As Sec got out of the car, the driver sped off almost immediately, and Sec stood alone in front of his destination. He had decided to try freelancing, getting hired by different companies for odd jobs here and there, mostly art and advertising. As such, here he had been hired to investigate this old building. Nobody else had been willing, something to do with the rumors of it being haunted and people disappearing within, but Sec had more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

From what he had been told, it used to be a studio for a kids' show, one featuring puppets, before a fire had started and a lot of people either died or went missing, including the show's creator himself. And now nobody wanted anything to do with the property at all, the city wouldn't touch it, and it was hard enough to even find an Uber driver willing to come close.

All these thoughts swirled in Sec's head as he approached it, checking his phone as he walked. He had barely any signal, so he just turned it off and stuck it deep in his pocket. He was on his own.

Upon finding a way inside and climbing in, he armed himself with a camera and began his investigation. He found himself in a hallway, lined with small exhibits about the different puppets and show itself, almost like a museum. He slowly walked through, taking pictures of everything as he went, before he turned a corner and froze. There, at the end of the hallway, was a miniature puppet stage, cast in shadow. And on that stage was one of the main puppets, Mortimer Handee. Sec was suddenly really glad he had read the signs as he was photographing then.

He carefully approached the stage, taking pictures of it and his surroundings as he walked. As he got closer, he could make out a figure cloaked in all black holding the puppet up. A squatter? ... Who had apparently learned how to puppeteer? Sec quietly, carefully, charged up his power, feeling energy gather just behind his fingertips, but being careful to not let it get strong enough to start glowing. He didn't want to be caught off guard if there was a fight, but he also didn't want any potential opponents to know what he could do.

The puppet are its puppeteer stayed still, until Sec came right up to some kind of panel right in front of the stage, and they both seemed to spring to life, a spotlight shining down from above.

"Well hello old bean! What brings you to this strange little scene?" Exclaimed the puppet, much louder than Sec had been expecting, especially with how the puppeteer just seemed bored. "Now I can tell you're starstruck, and of course, you should be!" The puppet continued on, regardless of Sec's lack of an answer, "for I am none other than Mortimer Handee! Star of Mortimer's Handeemen, the smash hit TV show! I can tell you're a fan!" Even if Sec wanted to, with how fast he was talking, there was no way to get any words in edgewise. "So wouldn't you know, today's your lucky day, one you'll remember I bet, because I'm giving you your very own Handeemen puppet."

Round portholes on the panel in front of him opened, and up rose five puppets, all of seemingly the same make and model, but with different colors and details to set them apart.

"Pick whichever you like! They're all the same."

Despite the offer, Sec backed up a step- only to run into a heavy curtain. Somehow it had been lowered without him hearing. And given how the puppeteer had barely moved- aside from manipulating the puppet, of course- that meant that they weren't alone.

'Great,' Sec thought to himself, 'am I gonna be jumped by some puppet cult of squatters?'

Without any choice but the one in front of him, he looked over the puppets, before eventually making his selection. The red hair reminded him of his own, but in a different color, and he liked how the teal "skin" looked.

"Hm, that's a strange one. Well, whatever snaps your suspenders!"

Suddenly feeling an odd bit of empathy for the small puppet, he slipped it onto his left hand, and watched as the other four descended back into the panel, and Mortimer's voice became a bit more sinister.

"You know, there's a reason Handeemen puppets are so life-like and true. When you wear them, they really wear you."

The puppeteer suddenly went limp, and Sec spotted a glimpse of a tattoo on their left hand as Mortimer started shouting a chant. It quickly dawned on him that the roles of puppet and puppeteer had really been reversed, but before he could do anything about it whatever spell Mortimer had cast took hold, and he blacked out.

*~*~*

Sec woke up. Or at least it felt like he had. But all be could see was darkness, a rickety, incomplete wooden bridge, and-

"Hello little host~"

And a giant version of Mortimer's head. Sec almost went backwards over the railing with how startled he was when he saw it. But he realized he was trapped, in this weird not-space, and there was nothing he could do.

"Why all the fuss? You're lost in your mind, and your body belongs to us. Listen, can't you hear that Handeemen tune? Just relax, give in to me, and it'll all be over soon."

"Ok, here we go. Lift left hand."

Sec's attention was drawn away by a new voice, and looked down to see the bridge repairing itself in front of him, new boards appearing, going in the direction of the voice. 

"Hey! I said lift left hand! Let's go!"

Sec started walking as the new voice rambled on, something about how something wasn't working right. Behind him, the giant Mortimer head tried getting him to come back, growing more and more aggressive the faster Sec went, until he was full on running. Suddenly, Sec saw something- both a literal and figurative light at the end of a tunnel. 

"Come on! I swear, if they gave me another host with lupus-"

"There's no escape, you're wasting your breathe! I'll show you a fate so much worse than death!"

"Come on, lift left hand? For fucks sake what kind of operation are we running here?!"

Sec reached the light, and woke up for real. He looked around wildly, trying to figure out where he was. It looked like some kind of office, how did the puppet manage to get him here?

"Hey- what the- I'm not making the host do that!"

Sec froze. That was the same voice he had heard. He looked down, his bright green eyes making contact with the yellow ones of the puppet he had chosen.

"Wait, was that eye contact there? Are you awake?!"

Chapter Text

Sec did the only thing he could.

Scream

Or, at least he tried, but when he tried to open his mouth, he was instead met with a tight, tearing pain as the muffled sounds came forth.

"Shit! Right, Riley sewed your mouth shut. Hey, Host, look at me."

Sec looked back at the puppet, bringing it up to his eye level.

"Ok, this is bad! You're supposed to be out! A zombie! Zonked! I'm supposed to control you completely!"

"Welcome to puppet host orientation! Our purpose is to measure your host control and manipulation."

Sec's eyes widened as a few screens on the nearby wall lit up, revealing the face of another puppet. Judging by her bi-colored eyes and her orange hair- almost the same color as his own- he guessed this was Riley, who he remembered from the posters when he came in. 

'And,' he thought, bringing a hand up to his face, only to be met by a cloth sack over his head, 'the one who sewed my mouth shut.'

"Wait a minute! I think there's something wrong with my host!"

"Rhyme, Scout!"

Scout. So that was the puppet sewn to his arm. Sec looked at her as she fumbled through a rhyme, taking in just how... Nervous she looked.

"You've had two failed tests in the past, this third attempt will be your last."

"Dammit!" Scout turned back to Sec- he shuddered upon realizing he couldn't feel his arm past where she was sewn- "Look, you're not supposed to awake so you just gotta play along and act like I have total control of you or we're both dead! Do you understand?"

Sec nodded, at a loss for what else to do. What else could he do, except trust this little puppet who was physically stuck to him?

"Did you say something?

"No! No, just talking to myself. I didn't mean to uh, share the wealth?"

"Surprisingly coherent rhyme, Scout. Your future, perhaps, is no longer in doubt. Proceed!"

"Ok Big-And-Tall, hold me up to that screen and I'll open it." Scout pointed to some kind of touch screen next to a nearby door, and Sec did as she said, watching as it was somehow able to scan her felt mitten hand. They entered the next room- somehow more bare than the first- and approached some kind of device in the center. As they got closer, the top opened up, and from it emerged two buttons, one big, one small.

"Ok, listen up Gulliver's Travels! We gotta press this at the same time! Three, two- no, wait, let's go on three. One, two, three!"

They hit it at the same time, and an odd little jingle played as the buttons went back into the machine.

"That was... Surprisingly well done. Continue forward, let's see how you handle the next one!"

'She doesn't like you, does she?' Sec thought, wishing he could at least talk to his new companion, as they indeed, continued on the path laid out in front of them.

"Please wait here and do not further tread! Another test subject is finishing up in the room ahead."

Screaming came from behind the door in front of them, accompanied by the roar of something... Inhuman. Unconsciously, Sec held Scout closer to him.

"I'm gonna be sick."

The door opened, and they entered a blood-splattered room- before being scared by a body falling down from the ceiling above. Sec stumbled back, holding onto the doorframe as he hunched over, trying to calm his pounding heart as Scout swore up a storm.

"That was a test of reflex and reaction, which you barely passed to satisfaction."

"Test my reflexes when I kick your ass Riley!"

Sec carefully sidled around the body, careful to not actually touch it, as he and Scout went on to the next test, a pair of gears.

"Ok, I remember this one. You have to turn this thing at the same time I do, in the same direction. So just watch me, ok?" She fell silent as the gears turned, giving out the instruction to switch a couple times before the jingle played again.

"Huh, another test passed. But this success, I suspect, was your last!"

'Riley really doesn't like you, does she?' Sec gently pet Scout's head, messing with her hair a little bit as they walked into the next room, and internally chuckled at her indignant expression.

"Please hold steady, the next chamber isn't quite ready."

"Hey, Host, look at me for a second." Sec brought her up to his eye level again, his small amount of amusement stopping when he saw how serious she looked.

"You're killing us out there! You're not passing for a mindless zombie slave at and you're dragging me down with you! I don't think you get how bad this situation is! I don't have time to explain everything to you but basically you're in a decommissioned sound stage filled with murderous sentient puppets from a cancelled children's TV show who were brought to life by an evil voodoo spell, and now they want to drain your life force in order to sustain themselves so they can bring their cancelled show back to life so they can take over the world!"

What

"Does that all make sense to you?"

Sec could only hope his dumbfounded expression somehow conveyed a fraction of what he was feeling through the bag. 

"I'm not explaining it again. It's evil puppets, get with the program!" Her expression dropped to a softer one with a sigh, "look, it takes a lot of felt to admit you were wrong and, well, maybe I've been a little sharp with you. You probably noticed I'm not exactly captain popular around here. I've never really fit in with the other puppets."

'That's an understatement.' Sec thought, patting her head and being surprised when her eyes lit up. Scout glared, and he gently patted her head again, turning the newly-found flashlight off. Scout continued on, as if she hadn't been interrupted.

"I've been trying to find a way to escape from this place for a while now but I can never get past Riley's little dog and pony show. Maybe if you can help me get through this thing, then maybe we can get the hell out of here. But we gotta work together. So what do you say? Are we a team?"

Sec didn't hesitate to nod. He suddenly felt really attached to this puppet he had only known for a few minutes (actually, how long was he asleep for?) and could even imagine how the others would react when he brought her out.

"Ok good. Thank you for being reasonable. I'll remember that."

"I apologize for the pace being slow. The next chamber is ready to go." Riley spoke over the intercom again, and the locked symbol on the nearby screen changed to a hand. 

The door opened, revealing a very dark hallway. Sec could barely make anything out, and he knew that of all his brothers, he was the best at seeing in the dark.

"See, this is an appropriate time to turn my light on."

Sec painfully chuckled as the little puppet sassed him, and he once again patted her head. With Scout's light to guide him, Sec carefully made his way over to the sound of... Well he didn't know what it was, but it was as good a direction as any.

"Ok, this definitely wasn't here before!"

They came across a symbol painted on the wall. To Sec, it looked like some kind of illuminati thing, an eye inside of a triangle. But it also looked familiar, as if he had seen it recently, but couldn't remember where.

They found where a door had been jammed open- it being the source of the strange noise- and came across an assortment of old computers, photographs, and a tape recorder. Curiosity compelling, Sec pressed play.

"Ok, it's uh, it's April fifteenth, this is Anthony Pierson, this is log number five- I'm sorry I gotta keep my voice down, I think there's puppets nearby. This is it. This is fucking IT! A real supernatural phenomenon, the one I've been looking for my whole life! And it was hiding here, in a rundown warehouse in bumfuck nowhere I can't believe I almost bailed on this place! I gotta get pictures of everything, not just for the website but for the world! I'm gonna keep my warehouse in hidden compartments around the warehouse, I'll use the Vox Veritas symbol, the pyramid with the eye, to mark where they are, in case I need to find them. I'd keep it at home but who am I kidding, my home's a Pontiac grand dam right now- what was that?! Shit!"

"That guy sounds crazy! And that's coming from a talking hand puppet!"

Sec nodded in agreement, though he couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. He was just looking for his life passion, after all.

"Do you see that?!" Scout's panicked voice brought him back to the present, and he looked ahead to see a dark window. But despite the darkness, he could make out a very, very large figure, far too big to be a human, or a "host". Sec stayed close to the wall, hoping to avoid the attention of whatever it was, but his efforts were in vain as the giant mad dog slammed against the window, cracking it ever so slightly, letting out a low, growling roar.

"AAAHH SHIT!"

"Rosco! Bad dog! Sit, my pet! Don't attack them- not quite yet~"

Well, Riley was totally going to sic Rosco on them at some point. For a moment, Sec wished Red was here, before shaking that thought from his mind. None of his brothers deserved to be here, even if it meant Sec was stuck dealing with it alone. 

"Welcome to Visual Hand Coordination, this custom design Handee Baseball Drop-and-Sort device will test your ability to non-verbally relay information."

"Rhyme, Riley~!"

"INFORMATION RHYMES WITH COORDINATION DO NOT QUESTION MY RHYME PARTICIPATION!"

Scout turned back to Sec, "she's just mad cause she knew that was a stretch. Ok teammate! I think I remember this one! Stick me in that slot, so I can see the balls coming, and then press the buttons that correspond to what I say."

Sec nodded, spotting the red, green, and yellow buttons in front of matching buckets. The two of them worked as a machine, and Sec hadn't been tripped up at all when it changed from colors to items. He and the others had used most of those as nicknames for the others in the past. Eventually the test ended, and the same jingle played as confetti spilled from a hatch above.

"Holy shit, we did it!"

"You passed the test you always fail somehow. That's skeptical, but continue on- for now!"

Skeptical? Sec rolled his eyes. There was no way she would let them out alive, even if they succeeded in these tests. He was just waiting for her to drop the bomb. Scout, on the other hand (ha) seemed delighted, and eager to get to whatever was next. Sec felt his stitched-up lips quirk up into a small smile, giving his small companion a fist bump, as they headed into yet another part of this studio.

Chapter Text

They entered another dark hallway, but Sec could see an open, lit up doorway at the end, with another one of those triangles. He was all set to start walking forwards when-

"Wait wait! Stop, do you hear that?"

Sec paused for a second, listening. It sounded like... Growling. But a very different growling than had come from Rosco. Sec quickly turned Scout's flashlight off, hoping to attract as little attention as possible from whatever it was down the hall. He snuck forward, keeping Scout close, and stopped when he saw Something walk past, silhouetted against the lit doorway. It looked like someone holding a puppet, like him, but the puppet itself... Sec was glad for the darkness, he didn't want to see whatever it was in the light.

Sec felt a sudden tingle in his right palm, and looked down to see it starting to subtly glow. He wanted to slap himself, how could he have forgotten?! He wasn't completely defenseless here after all!

The glowing eyes of the thing turned in his direction, and Sec clenched his fist, winding his power down. No, not yet. Wait until there's an emergency, and it can't be hidden anymore.

As the threat passed by, Sec sped to the open door, finding it led to what looked like an old, run down bathroom, but with washing machines everywhere.

"What are we doing in here? This isn't the way to the next test!" Scout asked, not daring to raise her voice more that a harsh whisper. In response, Sec simply tapped the wall beside the symbol, trying to tell her he was looking for more of those tapes.

Sec looked around- at one point getting startled by a massive rat, almost as big as a dog- before eventually noticing what looked like a false wall. Pushing it aside, he found another little hideout, with a tape recorder on top of a washer.

"Ohoho! How'd you even find this?"

Sec shrugged in response, pressing play.

"Testing, Testing. Uh it's March forth, eleven thirty pm, *ahem!* Start here. This is Anthony Pierson, co-founder of Vox Veritas, we're an independent journalistic haven and blog, we investigate paranormal phenomena and shine a light where the government and the Illuminati don't want light shown." As Sec listened, he looked at what else was in this hiding space. Frightening pictures laid scattered about, showing some things the puppets had done, and Sec shivered, thinking about how long this could've been going on. 

"We're here at the abandoned Handeemen warehouse, a place that the local homeless population say is haunted. Anyone who wanders in, never leaves. What terrible secrets does this place hold?"

'Too many to count,' Sec thought to himself, looking down at Scout.

"Alright, cut there," the tape continued, "this place is bullshit, it's a total wash. If I don't get something soon, I'll get Randy down here to bang some pipes upstairs, get some reaction shots, I dunno. Photoshop a heat reading, whatever. Just once, I'd like to not have to fake this."

The tape ended, and the two left the hiding spot, following Scout's directions to where the next test should be. But upon entering the next room, Sec was blinded by a wall of steam, as Scout was overtaken by a coughing fit.

"Woah, what is this, a sauna?! The next test has to be in here somewhere, hold me up above the steam!"

Sec raised his left arm high, as he carefully pulled the bag away from his mouth. Even if this wasn't normal zombie slave behavior, he didn't to risk suffocating.

"Ok! I can see a shutoff valve! I'll walk you toward it! Go forwards!"

Sec followed where she said, and she kept directing him, in a strange game of hot and cold. Mostly, Sec just focused on not getting lost. But then he heard something else in the mist. A growling, hissing noise, accompanied by heavy footsteps, similar to the sounds the thing from before had made. Above all, Sec just wished he could see...

At that thought, the steam started to clear, though only in Sec's immediate vicinity. Scout looked down, confused.

"Huh, guess there's a draft in here or something?" Her host shook his head, quickly moving forwards as the empty space filled back up with steam. 

"Ok then... Oh! You're boiling! On fire! Crazy hot!" Sec made it to the valve, pulling the switch and stopping the smoke as the room darkened.

"Ok, you got it, good job. And just in time, this smoke is hell on my asthma." Sec tilted his head, momentarily wondering if a being of fabric really could have asthma. Then again, knowing his own family- "I don't have asthma I don't know why I said that." Ah. Ok then.

Sec made his way back through the maze of lockers, at one point jumping back with a muffled yelp when another huge rat fell down from a vent in the ceiling, but eventually making it to what had to be the next test, a large machine very similar in appearance to the ball dropper.

"Welcome to advanced visual hand-sync test, version 1.013. Please approach the Handee Flag and Wave machine!"

"Ok, uh... I've never made it this far."

Sec looked at the machine nervously, carefully putting Scout into the slot, similar to the one on the previous machine.

"Hey, I can see you out there! I have some colored buttons but I don't know which one to push." Sec sighed out his nose as Scout flipped a lever, "ok, it's starting up! Three, two, one."

Flags rose up out of the machine, and a screen above said which one he had to pull. After doing that a few times, more flags appeared, and more words started showing up on the screen. Words like host, meat locker, puppets, danger. Sec just had to ignore them, focus on the colors, even when the color of the text itself changed. 

Eventually, their victory was marked by the jingle playing alongside another bunch of confetti, as the intercom crackled to life with Riley's voice.

"Yes! We did it!"

"Impossible! Even at your best there was no way you'd make it through that test! Ugh!" Sec looked around nervously, starting to carefully gather his power, in case if now was when the trap would spring. "Relax Riley, you've plans in place, just slow down this accelerating pace."

"'plans in place'? What the hell does that mean?!" Scout looked back at her host, and Sec drew his hand across his neck. Scout's eyes widened, and he knew she understood.

"What?! No, there's no fucking way they'd really do that, right?! I mean, I'm a puppet, I'm one of them!"

Sec shrugged, and Scout started to think. She... Had to admit he had a point. She had always been told that if she didn't succeed in orientation, she'd be given to Riley, who'd do who knows what with her. But with how well she and her host had been doing... Well, it gave her some kind of hope, as foolish as it was.

"Ok, uh, it's May third, this is tape seven or eight, I can't remember-"

Oh. While she had been lost in thought, the two of them had been moving, and her host had found another one of these hiding spaces, made by this random crazy guy.

"Ok, uh, they're not ghosts, I can tell you that. They're corporeal, the scientist one, Riley, she has a-a lab downstairs, I found it tonight, and... I've seen some bad shit in my life, I've never seen anything like that, she's like a puppet mangler or something. She had these tapes too, they're just stacked up in boxes. Now a lot of them were burned, but this one actually did play:"

The tape sounded like it switched, and another voice started speaking.

"People think that the occult is all superstition and nonsense, but I can feel something moving inside of Mortimer when I say these words, im-imperfect as they are. His soul is in there. It wants to come to life, I... I'm so close."

The tape sounded like it switched again, and Scout realized she was pressed up close to the human behind her, a fact she became acutely aware of when he started to pet her again.

"That was Owen Gubberson, the creator of Mortimer's Handeemen. I did a little digging at the library, this guy was a nut! Really off his rocker! Obsessed with his puppets, obsessed with the occult, with bringing them to life, he thought his puppets had souls that were trapped in their bodies... Did he go crazy enough to find some occult spell that would bring his puppets to life? And did the world go so crazy that the spell actually fucking worked?!"

"Wow, that was... Owen's voice." Scout fell silent as Sec walked over to the next door, getting her to activate the scanner. Sec was about to start walking through the next dark hallway when he suddenly heard the heavy footsteps again. He quickly stepped back, turning Scout's light off as another one of those puppet things walked past.

"Shit! Another sock puppet! Be careful!" Scout whispered. Sec nodded, quietly sneaking along behind the newly named sock puppet until he saw another lit doorway. Seemed just their luck that these things seemed to hate the light. The door slid closed behind them, as Sec took stock of where they were. It was a very widen hallway, one that branched out, but everything aside from the long straight part they were standing in was blocked off. A door to their left said "human resources", but to their right, next to another, closed, door, was another machine.

"Improbably, you have arrived at the final station. But I have added a special test, just for you, that I think you will find," Riley barely but back an evil sounded laugh, "quite the taxation. Good luck."

As they approached it, Sec noticed a sign on top, reading "Fail-O-Tron". This was it, this was the trap.

"'Fail-O-Tron'?! Oh come the fuck on what is this?!" Scout echoed his thoughts, but nevertheless, he placed her inside the slot, half focused on figuring out how they would survive this.

Everything was red, and even if Sec did things "correctly", it still have a negative buzz, until everything culminated in a completely unfair final round. Sec quickly took his puppet out of the machine, backing away from it as Riley's voice came back over the loudspeakers.

"Uh oh! From what I can tell, it seems your test didn't go so well~!" Riley mocked, and Sec could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"This is bullshit! That machine's impossible! No one could pass that! You're sabotaging us!" Scout shouted, her voice full of rightful anger.

"I warned Mortimer about you! I said you weren't a Handeemen through and through! You had your chance, you couldn't float, and now my dog makes a chew toy from your throat!"

Oh shit

"Host, run! We have to run! Right now!"

"Rosco! Get them!"

Chapter Text

The door next to the Fail-O-Tron slowly opened, and Sec spotted the huge form of Riley's monstrous dog shambling towards them down the hall. He was far faster than he looked, and Sec nearly tripped over his own feet in his panic to get away.

"THAT DOOR STRAIGHT AHEAD! HUMAN RESOURCES! GO THERE!" Shouted Scout, before noticing something, "Host, what the fuck is wrong with your hand?!"

Sec glanced down, seeing his hand glow, feeling the energy crackle through him. He turned back around to face their persuer, gathering and focusing his energy up, before he released it in a powerful blast-

Which blasted him backwards, until he hit the wall they had been running towards. Ok, so he hadn't been able to remember any of the posturing or stabilizing positions Chosen had taught him, but at least he hit his mark! 

And indeed, green energy covered the dog, who seemed to be having difficulties- until he sneezed, shaking the magical attack off easily, and continued shambling his way towards them, a new, angry, glint in his eye.

Sec froze for a moment, before Scout shouting at him to close the door brought him back. There was a pair of buttons like in the test, and upon pressing them, the glass door they were behind safely closed.

"Keep going! We have to shut the door before it gets in!" Sec ran over to a gear terminal, and following Scout's lead, turned the gears to close the much heavier metal doors just as he heard the beast shatter the glass.

Rosco thumped against the doors, but they held firm. The pair were safe.

"Holy. Shit. What the fuck was THAT, Host?! Even on the TV, I've never seen anything like tha-" Scout's ramble was interrupted by Sec retching, doubling over with his free hand on his knees. He could barely breathe with the sack over his head, so with barely any hesitation he ripped it off before doubling over again.

Once he managed to get a few breaths of air, he slowly straightened back up, doing a perfunctory pat down of his person- and realized he felt something in his pocket. He quickly dug around, before too long pulling out his phone! They hadn't taken it! Sec could barely resist the urge to jump for joy as he turned it on- only to see that there wasn't any reception his phone could reach.

He leaned against a wall as he looked at it, seeing if there was any way he could reach anyone, before he noticed the date. It had been several days since he had arrived at the studio. Sec slumped down to the floor, limply holding his phone in one hand as his shoulders shook, and Scout looked on in silence, bewildered. She had been too shocked by her host's apparent powers to dwell on all the many ways the others would kill them. Just who, or what, had she been attached too?!

*~*~*

Riley quickly walked through the halls, going as fast as she could to Mortimer's office. She had lost sight of Scout and her still-awake host, but not before the host did... Something. Whatever it was had disabled the cameras, but she saw green sparks shoot out of the human, clear as day. Making it to the door, she nervously knocked.

"Enter my dear, I know you're here."

Riley gulped, opening the door. There, behind the desk, "sat" Mortimer, working on some kind of paperwork.

"I have news of Scout and her host. This one, more surprising than most."

"Oh? And how exactly is that? Has your rivalry with Scout become old hat?"

"Worst than that, I'm afraid. The host appears to have remained awake."

".... What did you just say?" Mortimer questioned, his voice gaining a dangerous edge as he looked up.

"I-it's not my fault, I'm being honest! A-and I did warn you Scout was not the best! But things are not going well, perhaps it was a problem with the-"

"Continue that rhyme, and it'll be the last you ever make! It's not MY fault the host is awake!" Mortimer cut her off, standing up and starting to approach.

"Neither does it lie with me! But, there is something else that you must see." She left the office, leading Mortimer back to the security room. There, she pulled up the recorded footage of what had just happened. Mortimer raised an eyebrow at the sight of the human glowing, before green covered the lense and the camera broke.

"Well now, that is certainly something new. I do wonder, though, how it got past you."

"Never mind that!" Riley countered. "What do we do about this stranger? It's exsistence could put the whole Studio in danger!"

"Calm yourself Riley, things will be fine. Though, in truth, I wouldn't mind making this host mine." Mortimer mused, bringing his hands up and lacing his fingers together, thinking.

Riley sputtered, "it's too dangerous to be kept alive! I'm sorry, but this time I won't comply!"

"Well, I do concede on that, at least. A pity, though, since he took out your beast." He smirked, before turning serious again. "Still, this needs to be addressed. Perhaps your experiments will be best."

"I can take them on my own! No need to throw those lackies a bone."

"Ah, but I need you safe and sound. Who else will perform the autopsy, without you around?"

Riley scowled, but stood down. There was no way to win this argument, and she knew it.

Mortimer turned, calling a pair of sock puppets to him and giving orders. "Send out the memo, to gather together. A party will be just the thing to make this show better. Whether Scout and her host joins, doesn't matter at all. One way or another, this will be their downfall."

"Are you certain this is the best course of action? Seems like a waste, to watch in relaxation." Riley asked. It wasn't like she was curious about what this strange host would do, but she did have work she was supposed to get back to once Scout failed.

"Do not question me, Riley."

Riley sighed quietly, "yes, sir. I'll send out the order right away. And hope that they are through, by the end of the day."

She walked away as Mortimer started giving orders to the sock puppets, getting them to set up whatever party he was planning. She had to tell Daisy and Nick what had happened. Yet as she walked, a rebellious thought twisted in her mind. Surely, things would be better, go smoother, if she was in charge?

Riley shook the thought away, needing to focus on the task at hand. Perhaps later, though, she could think on it again.....

*~*~*

"Uh, hey, if you actually don't want to die, we should probably get moving. I'm kinda surprised they haven't found us already."

They had been resting for a while. About a half hour, judging by the phone's clock. And Sec knew the little puppet was right, if they wanted to get out of there, they had to keep moving. Sec got up with a stretch, putting the phone back into his pocket. It had been a safe enough spot for it so far. He started to walk, not sure of where he was going, but there was only one way forwards.

"So what's the plan, Greenie? We can't escape, there's tons of them and one and a half of us!"

Sec raised one eyebrow as he let out a snort, 'Greenie?' 

"Don't fucking laugh! It probably fits better than anything else I could come up with right now!"

Sec kept smiling as he turned the corner- only to feel it drop with his stomach as he made out the forms of dozens of hanging bodies in the dark. Peering through a window, he could just make out a rat eating one that had fallen to the ground, and felt bile rise in his throat again.

"Hey, what... Is this place? I've never been in here before? Are those... Hosts?"

Sec quickly made his way through, trying not to touch any of the body bags, when he paused by a window, spotted two more rats. Something growled in the shadows, and a dog with fabric covering its head chased them away.

"Do you see that thing?! That can't be what I think it is!"

Scout's light was a blessing and a curse, for Sec could see well enough to navigate, but that meant he could see everything that was going on. Suddenly, something hit him.

'Oh! Human resources! You sick, punny puppets.'

Sec shook his head, walking on. Eventually, they made it to another door with a scanner. One that was locked.

"No, this door won't open. I need a green security pin, like one I'd wear on my shirt," she said, pointing to the symbol on the casing. "But I don't have one, so we're fucked!"

'Unless I can somehow manage to find one in here,' Sec thought to himself, looking around. Immediately, he could see a line of bodies, all connected to some kind of conveyor belt above. Having no other option, he decided to see where it led.

"What the shit are we doing in here? This is bad! They're gonna catch us, and they won't kill us by the way, nononono. Not for weeks, not for MONTHS." Scout started rambling, the panic getting to her. "They're gonna rip out our guts while we're BREATHING. They're gonna drill into our eyeballs while we're AWAKE. And I don't even know what else they'll do to you, with your..." Scout trailed off, and Sec brought her in close for a hug. It wasn't perfect, but it was the only thing he could think to do.

"I can't do this, I can't do this! Listen, Host, I need you to put me out of my misery. Will you kill me Host?"

Sec only hugged her tighter, vehemently shaking his head no. He had only known Scout for a few hours, but he swore that if anything happened to her he'd burn down this whole studio himself.

"Well, then I'd love to know what you propose, because we can't even get out of this fucking meat locker!" 

Scout fell silent for the rest of the walk down the dark hall, until Sec reached some kind of terminal. The signs nearby were all in a language he couldn't read, but there was a big red button right in front of him. Surely nothing would happen, right?

"Would you keep it down?!" Scout hissed as the machine roared to life, "we don't know what's in here!"

But it did turn the lights on, and now it sounded like something metal was dragging along the floor. Sec followed the sound- becoming pleasantly surprised upon finding another one of the little hideouts! Though it was hard to hear with all the noise, he pressed play on the recording left behind.

"Idiots! Stupid, blind sheep! Bastards! The Times, the Chronicles, all of them laughed me out of the office. Who would make this up, who?! Of course they gotta bring up my record, but that was two years ago, I'm clean for fucks sake! I got so desperate, I-I actually took it to the cops. They told me to submit it to Mad Magazine. It's not enough. No one's gonna believe me. I should just make an anonymous call to 911 and walk away. Let this go. It's not gonna end well if I keep coming here, I can feel it."

"What's that thing?!" Scout interrupted the tape, and Sec turned to see that the body, attached to something dragging on the ground, had been brought into the hideout. Looking at it, he found a green pin on the side, just like the symbol on the scanner. He carefully plucked it off, handing it to Scout.

"Hey... It's a green security pin. What are the odds?" She said, amazed even as she pinned it to her shirt.

The walk back to the door was much quicker, due to the both of them just wanting to get out of there.

"Ah! What was that?!" Scout yelped, before relaxing. "Oh, nevermind, just a shadow. Sorry, I'm a little freaked out. Are you freaked out too, Host?"

Sec nodded, casting a nervous glance at their surroundings.

"You are? Well, you... Seem calm, but I guess having your mouth sewn shut will give you the old strong, silent vibe." Sec simply shrugged in response as they reached the scanner, and upon trying it out, he was relieved to see the pin worked, opening up- an elevator?! How big was this studio that they had an elevator?

The two of them boarded the elevator, and with a little prompting, Scout pressed one of the buttons. Going up, hopefully to freedom.

Chapter Text

The two stood silently for a few moments, feeling the elevator rise, before Scout broke the silence.

"If you're serious about this whole 'escape plan' thing, there's only one way out of here. There's a hole in one of the walls from the fire. But, here's the fun part: it's way back in Mortimer's section, and to get there we gotta go through the sound stage, which is where all the other puppets are! So I hope you're a fast runner!"

Sec shrugged, unsure of what else they could do. The blast he had hit Rosco with had barely done anything to the giant dog, so what were the odds his powers would do anything to the others?

"This feels insane. Do you actually think we're gonna make it out of this?"

Sec nodded. Of course, he had to. He had his family on the outside, people he had to get back to.

"You do. You're either lying or you're crazy, but, y'know what? I'll take it."

There was another few beats of silence, filled only by the sound of the ancient elevator, before Scout spoke up again.

"I can't stop thinking about that... Meat locker. Those hosts... Hanging there. Riley always told us host's loved being hosts! She said the host world- the world where you're from- and hosts are begging to join our world. But I dunno, they didn't look happy in there. You're from the host world, is it- I dunno- is it a good place?"

Sec had to think for a moment on that. There was a lot of good in the world, but also a lot of bad. Then again, with the studio as a comparison... Sec firmly nodded, and saw Scout's face light up.

"It is? I knew it!" A slight head tilt from Sec prompted her to elaborate. "I've seen the host world you know. One time, before my first orientation, I found a television in the basement, with working cable! I don't even know how long I was watching it before... Riley... Caught me..." The small puppet started to trail off, but a quick nudge from Sec got her mind back on track.

"Cop dramas, bake offs, nightly news. It blew my mind! But, even on there, I never saw anything on there like you." She tilted her head. "What even are you, anyways?"

Sec could only shrug. Even among themselves, they weren't sure. All they knew was that they weren't quite as human as they looked.

"Anyways, ever since then, I've never fit in here. That's when I stopped rhyming. I just couldn't anymore."

Sec tried to imagine the small puppet on his arm rhyming, but even with the small examples he had from before, he just couldn't. A new thought suddenly struck him, one that made him silently giggle.

'Oh man, Dark is going to have a field day teaching you new swears.'

"Maybe, if we survive this, and that's a collosal 'IF'... I could fit in out there, in your world." Sec spared a glance at where she was sewn to his arm, and she got his meaning. "I know I'm a puppet, but do you think that's possible?"

Unlike before, Sec didn't hesitate at all when nodding. After all, if he and his family could fit in just fine, why not a little puppet among them?

"Wow, thank you... I don't know if I believe you, but it's nice of you to say."

The elevator stopped with a jolt that caused Sec to momentarily lose his balance, and the doors opened after a short, out of tune jingle. Sec made sure Scout's light was turned on as they stepped off the elevator, but anything she was about to say was interrupted by the loudspeakers crackling to life.

"Attention Handeemen of every shape. A defective puppet named Scout and her host have escaped. They have corrupted my data and rendered my tests incomplete, so you must hunt them down now and halt their retreat. Rip out their eyes, eat their guts, burn their skin, throw them in the trash, OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!!!"

".... I have never heard Riley not rhyme. She must be really losing it." Scout whispered, in a voice that sounded equal parts amused and terrified. Sec nodded nervously, before spotting another scanner on the other side of the room, and quickly jogging over to it.

Scout sighed, "I can't open this, I need a different security pin. We got lucky with the first one, so look around, maybe there's something."

Sec glanced around before he spotted something: a spotlight, shining down on something out of sight. Navigating the maze of bookshelves and boxes that made up the majority of the room with Scout's help, they found what someone had been trying to draw attention to. It was a large music box, with a pair of hands clutching it, made to look like Mortimer's hands. On the wall behind it was more of that writing Sec couldn't read.

"That's... Mortimer's handwriting. It says, 'Mind if I join in on the fun?'" Scout's voice was shaking as she spoke, and Sec could feel his own hand shaking just as much as he reached out, turning the music box's crank.

"No! Come on! Are we really doing this? This is a bad idea!" Despite Scout urging him otherwise, Sec kept turning, listening to the song as it played. Even in the context, he had to admit it was a nice melody, and kept a note of it in his mind, to try and show Green later. The song ended, but nothing happened.

"You.. must've done it wrong. Let's try it aga- AAAAGH" she was cut off by Mortimer's head on a spring suddenly popping out of the box, scaring them both. "COME ON! REALLY?!"

Sec leaned on the wall, trying to calm his pounding heart rate, when he noticed something on the small Mortimer's hat. It was a security pin, exactly the one they had been looking for. Scout spotted it a few seconds after Sec did, and didn't hesitate to call out exactly what she was thinking.

"Hey! That's a master pin! Part of one anyways. But why the hell is Mortimer helping us?! That makes no sense!"

Sec could only wish he knew the answer, passing her the pin and sticking the old one in his pocket. They went back through the makeshift maze, but just as they were a few steps from the door, the elevator's jingle played again.

"Shit! A sock puppet! Run Host! Get to the door!"

Sec was already sprinting, nearly slapping Scout with the scanner and wheeling around so she could close it on the other side before Scout could tell him to.

"huff, I am really over this close call shit!"

Sec nodded vehemently in agreement, taking in the room they now found themselves in. He immediately regretted it, as it looked like a fight had gone terribly wrong in it. There was blood splattered on the walls, across the floor, even on the next scanner they had to activate, with a bloody handprint right over the digital mitten on the screen. Something that would turn out to be a problem, as Sec found out when he held Scout up to it.

"Ew, what is that? Is that blood? Nononono, I have a thing about blood, it's like a phobia, I get sick of even the thought of- ulp- I almost threw up just thinking about it. But we gotta get through the door so I just gotta- ok ok! I'm gonna psyche myself into this and we'll be- here we go! I just have to- ugh, gross..."

Sec sighed as his puppet rambled on. Of all things, they were stopped up by this. He closed his eyes, rubbing his face with his free hand. Blood grossed him out too, but he wished he could do this for her. But his hand didn't work on the scanner...

He blinked. He didn't hear Scout speaking anymore, and looked down to check on her, but instead of his puppet, he was greeted by the sight of a pair of teal mittens. Confused, he looked around- becoming terrified when he saw himself standing behind him. His eyes were dull, almost greyed out, and despite still standing, he was still all... Limp, almost slumped over. Looking just like the zombie Scout said he was supposed to be. Sec got chills, but quickly activated the scanner before everything went back to normal, with an odd feeling of vertigo and a headache.

"What the- hey! Either I'm going crazy, or you were just IN my head! Controlling me! How the hell did you- right, you have freaky green magic. Or maybe it's our psychic link going haywire. Either way, stay out of my head!"

Sec nodded, going through the now open stage, coming across another scanner- this one, luckily lacking blood. Upon opening it, Sec could see a huge sign, reading "Main Stage", stretching across an entire wall.

"Hey! That's the exit over there! Let's go!" Sec could nearly feel her pulling on his arm in her excitement, and quickly jogged to the door in question. But when the reached it, he could see there was the symbol of a lightning bolt with a cross through it, and the pin sign on the scanner showed what had to be the completed master pin.

"Dammit! No no no come on! We're gonna need to find the other pieces of this pin before we can open the door. Look around, maybe they're in more puzzle boxes like Mortimer's. Knowing him, he's probably gotten the others to join in on whatever 'game' he's playing with us. But first, we have to turn on the power back on."

Using Scout's light, Sec carefully found his way through the dark set, before coming across the breaker box. But before he reached it, a rat crashed out of a vent, scaring the crap out of both of them before running off.

"Hey, look!" Scout called out, having seen something Sec didn't, "that rat had something in its mouth! See if you can follow it, that might be important!"

Sec looked down, trying to figure out how he could follow a small, speedy rat on his own, before noticing where it had stepped in a puddle of spilled paint. Sec glared at it, suspicious- what were the odds that there just happened to be fresh paint spilled on the ground?- but followed the tiny footprints up to where they climbed the wall and disappeared into the vent. He looked at the high up vent, then at Scout, at which point she got what he was thinking.

"Uh, no. I'm not going up in that dark, scary vent. No way! And don't even think about doing that 'brain swap' thing again, captain body snatcher!"

Sec raised his hand in defeat, sighing out his nose before looking for something he could climb up onto. After dragging over a sturdy looking chair, he climbed up, coming face to face with the vent just as the rat popped out at him from the darkness. Sec let out a muffled cry of fright as he jerked back, feeling the chair slip out from under him as he and Scout fell to the ground.

"Ow! Stupid fucking rat! Go back to Riley and fucking die!" Scout shouted in anger while Sec managed to sit back up, not entirely willing to stand just yet. "Man, that actually fucking stung-"

Sec looked over at his puppet in concern, seeing her rubbing a spot on the back of her head. He felt a pang of pain on his own head, but ignored it, instead pulling Scout closer to inspect her.

"Wh- hey, Host, I'm fine!" Scout protested, even as her host checked her all over. He hummed, his eyes starting to glow, and bright green particles swiftly floated towards her. Scout tried scrambling back, despite literally being attached to him, but it was useless, and she started screaming as the glow converged on her.

"AAAAAAAA NONONONONO!!! WHAT DID I DO?! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRYYYYYYY!!!" She cried out, eyes squeezed shut, before she realized that it wasn't really hurting. In fact, it was actually... Pretty nice? She cracked one eye open, seeing the glow had gathered around what had been hurting, even where she was sewn into her host's arm, and when it faded away, she felt way better than she had been before.

She looked back up at her host, watching as his eyes faded back into their normal green color.

"You... You can do that?!" She asked, astonished. Sec nodded, smiling before standing back up and stretching. It had been a while since he had used his healing power, and he had forgotten just how nice it felt sometimes.

Sec eyed the vent- he HAD seen something before the rat scared them, and he wanted to see what it was, if it was worth the trouble. He climbed back up onto the chair- despite Scout's protests- and found what the rat had grabbed: a key!

He quickly headed back to the breaker box, and with some key turning, switch flipping, and button pressing, managed to turn the power back on.

"Alright! We got power!" Scout cheered, "now we just need to find the pieces of this pin."

Sec pumped a fist into the air, Scout's excitement rubbing off on him, as he jogged over to the nearest door, getting Scout to let them in. It led to what looked like a couple of dressing rooms, but with artist's stuff everywhere.

"Nick Nack's domain. Formerly the dressing room. Don't like his cutesy 'artiste' thing fool you, he's a cold-blooded maniac. Let's hope he's not home."

Sec looked around as he entered, a bit more cautious than he had been a moment ago. Glancing around, he was pleasantly surprised to spot one of the Illuminati triangles, and thusly a hideout, inside of one of the private rooms. Heading over to it, he nodded to Scout before pressing play on the tape.

"Audio log twenty one, it's August tenth, uh... I know I said I wasn't gonna come back here, I-I don't know why I keep coming, I-I just... I found another tape. It's Owen, I'm pretty sure."

"Each of them is who they were on the show but... Twisted. Wrong, somehow. Riley's the worst, she was a scientist on the show, and now- now she's a monster. And- and Mortimer! I...I don't think he understands human beings as anything but cattle! I'm- I'm losing control of them. They don't... They don't listen to me anymore. Mortimer told me the other night that he had a plan to cheer me up... I'm not sure I want to know what that is."

"I don't know what happened to the crazy bastard but it looks like he failed. Just like I failed. I wonder what they did to him..."

"I heard rumors about what happened to Owen," Scout spoke up, her voice quiet. "Something about making him a puppet? I don't know."

Sec felt a chill down his spine as he moved on, exploring the small but intricate rooms. Nothing else happened until they got to a particularly dark one, where the lights didn't seem to work despite everything else being lit up. 

"This room smells weird," remarked Scout, wrinkling her small fabric nose. "Or wait, Host, did you just fart? I'm watching you, Sparkles."

Sec sniffed the air. That... Didn't smell like farts. It almost smelled like... Formaldehyde? Sec knew Riley would be the most likely one to have that, but why was he smelling it in Nick's room? More shivers than down his spine as he moved on, continuing to look for something, anything. Eventually all the exploration paid off, as he found a button that, when pressed, brought down a projector in the main room. Heading back out there, he peered up at the device, momentarily wondering if he'd need to bring the chair in here.

"Hey, hold me up, I think I can reach it!" Sec did as Scout suggested, and she indeed, was easily able to reach it.

"Maybe there's something about Nick on one of the slides. Something for this weird 'game'." She hit the "on" button, looking over at the screen, only for Sec to see her brow furrow in confusion. He looked over as well, but couldn't figure out why she was so confused. It was just a picture of Mortimer with the words "let's all have a cheer" next to him. Scout hit the button to go to the next slide, revealing a picture of Daisy with the words "a cup of tea fixes everything", and her confusion only grew, as did Sec's. And again, finally revealing a slide with Nick. On his, the text read "you must suffer in the arts", with "arts" in red text.

Sec glanced around, quickly spotting a keypad next to a case, one containing a model of a small town. He brought Scout back down, walking over to it.

"Wh- Host? Did you figure something out?"

Sec nodded. He crouched down by the keypad, pointing between it and the screen- but Scout just stared with a confused, blank expression. He suddenly realized something.

'Wait, she can't read English?'

Sec sighed, inputting the code. He was mostly going off of a hunch, and smiled to himself when the case unlocked.

"Well, ok. The piece we need is probably in there somewhere. Nick loves music, so maybe..." She trailed off as Sec spotted the miniature piano, and looked over to where a phonograph sat next to the projection screen. He went over and turned the handle, humming along to the tune that came out. He went back to the model, eyeing the piano. The door was just a little too small for him to climb in, but more than enough for a little puppet!

".... What exactly do you want me to do?" Sec pointed to the piano, miming playing it, trying to push Scout closer. She shook her head, "no way, this is too easy, it's gotta be a trap. Besides, how do you know what exactly I have to play?"

Sec sighed, pointing back over to the phonograph.

"How would I know what notes those are??"

He sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wished he could just talk to her, help her out here...

He blinked. Everything felt weird, everything looked bigger, and- was he inside the case?

He looked down. Indeed, his hands were mittens, and he didn't need to look back to know he was behind himself again. He sighed- how did this happen again? But there was no time to lose. Quickly playing the melody, the same jingle from the orientation tests played, signalling a success. Quickly glancing around the model city, he saw that the clocktower had opened, and swiftly snagged the pin piece inside before everything went back to normal, and that same feeling of vertigo returned.

"What the- hey! You did it again, didn't you?! Wait, what's this? Oh shit, the piece."

Sec wore a smug face as Scout fiddled with the pin, adding the new piece to it. After successfully sticking it on, she looked up, noticed his expression, and sighed.

"Alright, alright, you were right about this. Now c'mon, we've got two more pieces to find."

They left the dressing rooms, being very cautious as they traversed the cluttered sound stage. When they didn't hear or see anything moving, not even any rats, Sec creeped over to the next door he could see, leaving Nick's open behind them. When the opened the next door, however, it lead to a room nearly pitch black, with only a couple scattered lights letting them see anything.

"Riley's lab," Scout stated, "used to be a workshop for the tv show, now Riley uses it to put puppets on rats and torture rabbits and shit. You never know what's going to be crawling around in here."

'Though it looks like the mistress isn't home.' Sec thought to himself, looking around, nearly gagging at some of the sights in the cages. This mess far contrasted with how Yellow and Blue kept each of their respective labs, and Green probably would've intervened long before it got to a state like this. 

"HISSSSSS!!!"

"WOAH! Do not get near those things!" 

Sec backed away quickly, having nearly stepped a rat the size of a small dog while stuck in his thoughts. It was one of three, all chewing on a pile of bones. Judging by the state of everything, he could only guess they were human, and started to feel sick. He shook it off the best he could and edged around the beasts, sticking closer to the wall. Behind the rats, he could see an intricate mechanical box, with the pin piece behind a pane of glass in the front.

"They're blocking our path to that box though! I wish there was some way we could, like, move them or something."

Sec nodded in agreement, looking at where they were now. It was one of the few spots with a light overhead, and looked to be one of Riley's actual work stations. Sec cautiously sniffed the air, wondering if he was right about the source of the formaldehyde scent- only to reel back at the heightened smell of death in the air, seeming to originate from the trash can in the corner. Curiosity overwhelming him, he grabbed a nearby broom, he carefully lifted the lid- and was utterly horrified to find it nearly filled to the brim with severed hands.

He suddenly heard the pitter-patter of small feet running up behind him, and was unable to look away as the giant rats climbed up the sides of the bin, starting to devour the hands as if they were starving.

"Oh man, they're going to town on those!"

Sec could only gag, even as he carefully replaced the lid, hopefully trapping the rats inside. As he shuddered, trying to not throw up, Scout noticed something, pointing it out.

"Hey, I think I see a key lodged in the gears of that... Nightmare machine."

Sec looked to where she was pointing, seeing a machine, something that looked like a shredder on overkill, labeled "The Fun Fountain Confetti Machine". Well then, at least now they knew were the confetti for Riley's tests came from, and he could see the key as well. But his hands were just a little too big to reach it, and he felt a sharp pain when one of the blades cut his finger, and pulled it out with a muffled cry of pain.

Scout looked away, even as he shook his hand off and wrapped it with the hem of his shirt. "Ok, I'll go in there! Just make sure it doesn't turn on during it, ok?"

Sec looked over, his eyes aglow- it may have just been a small cut, but he didn't want to risk infection- and after a moment, nervously nodded. As much as he didn't want to risk it, didn't want to risk her, he was just too big.

She gulped as he placed her near the mouth of the machine, and she pulled herself in the rest of the way. She focused on just keeping herself from panicking, to just getting the key. But just as she managed to wiggle the key out from between the blades, they whirred to life, spinning at dangerous speeds as the door to the machine closed on Sec's arm, leaving him panicked

"What the- hey! HEY! HOST!" She wasn't able to move, stuck not even a full inch from the blades. She leaned back as far as she could, but even that wasn't very far. "Little problem in here!"

Completely freaking out, he pulled at his arm, pulled at the door. He banged his fist on the window, hoping to break it and he didn't even know! It wouldn't free his arm! But he had to try something! Anything that would free them and save the Puppet from being shredded!

Green flashed in Scout's eyes, and as suddenly as it started, the machine stopped. The scent of burning wafted in her face as a loud crack sounded out, and she was finally moved away from the blades.

Sec hold her close, nearly squeezing her with how tight he was hugging, but Scout couldn't find it in her to protest. She was still reeling from how close she had come to death, and found herself hugging back. She could feel how hard and fast her host's heart was beating, and knew that if she had a heart like his, it'd be going at least as fast.

The two stayed like that for a long while, long enough for Sec to notice the rats had quieted down- or maybe they had been scared off, he didn't care enough to find out. A sudden rattle from somewhere deeper in the lab startled them back into alertness, into remembering exactly where they were.

"Right... We should keep going." Scout said as Sec got up, nervously eyeing the direction the noise came from as he grabbed the key they had gone through so much trouble for. Swiftly walking over to the box, carefully stepping over the pile of bones, Sec put the key in the slot, but was surprised when that didn't open the glass panel.

"Look, up top," Scout directed his attention to the top of the box, where indeed, something had unlocked. Sec carefully pulled an odd... Something with buttons on the side up out of the top of the box, but when he tried letting go, it just sank back down. He brought Scout up to it as he held it up, and she tapped on the buttons experimentally, watching as the lights they were connected to lit up. It took a few tries, but before too long she was able to get them all to light up at once, freeing the pin piece with the sound of that jingle.

"Alright, that's another piece!" Scout quietly cheered, sticking it to the pin, "I think we just need to find one more!"

Sec smiled, taking the key out of the lock and slipping it into his pocket, only to see Scout looking at him strangely as he did.

"What are you taking that key for? It's probably useless outside of here!"

Sec shrugged, unable to explain his reasoning. He was just glad to get out of that lab, and happily took a breath of relatively fresher air once they were back in the main room. He stepped lightly as they made their way to the third room, Daisy's, if he remembered correctly. 

'Hopefully it's the final room,' he thought, getting Scout to open the door. But he was solidly not prepared for what lay in the room beyond.

Mannequins.

The room was lined wall to wall with mannequins.

From where he was standing, he could see a path through them, but for a minute he couldn't will his feet to move.

"Ok well fuck this!" Scout exclaimed, looking inside. "This used to be the sewing room, but I guess Daisy got her claws on it. Err..." She glanced around nervously as Sec finally managed to unstick his feet. "Are we sure we need to be in here?"

Sec gulped, following the path through, and doing his best to ignore the feeling of being surrounded, of having others' eyes on him. 'Just ignore it', he told himself, 'it's all in your head.' .And yet, almost more unnerving than all the mannequins, even the ones wearing half-made puppets, was the fact that the sharp smell of formaldehyde had returned, stronger than before. 

"Hey Host," Scout piped up, breaking the uncomfortable, fearful silence they had fallen into, "I was just thinking... Back in the host world, do you have, like, a family?"

Sec nodded. They were probably so worried about him, just thinking about it made him feel sick. He never wanted to put them through anything like this, nothing like what he had experienced before --

"That's nice. I've only ever seen it on TV, but it looks nice."

Sec smiled, messing with her hair. In a way that was impossible to explain, he knew his family would be one member larger once the two of them got out of there. And even that little interaction made him feel so much better, momentarily losing the weight of where they were, and all the... Mannequins... Right, thinking about it just made the feeling return, only worse, and Sec continued on with a shudder, ignoring how his pace quickened with his heartbeat.

The path first lead to an area that was sectioned off by partitions, with screens climbing the wall and a large, tempting, red button on the control panel below.

"Big red button... Guess we have to press it, right?"

Sec shrugged, carefully pressing it, seeing the screens light up- but only for a moment, before they all turned back to black.

"Huh. That was disappointing. Try it again."

And so he did, seeing them light up again- only for them to turn off again. Sec swore he heard something fizzle in the hardware that time. Scout rolled her eyes, and Sec got the distinct feeling she was trying to mess with him.

"Only you could press a button wrong Host. Really hammer it!"

Sec balled his hand up in a fist, slamming it down on the button- only to have the whole thing start to spark and fizzle, going dark as a bit of smoke began to rise.

"Oh, I guess you broke it. Oh well." She shrugged, but Sec froze. Something was different. There was something behind him, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He tried backing up a half step, only for his foot to hit something, confirming his suspicion.

He drew energy to his hand as he turned, ready to attack- only to be shocked by--

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA SHIT!"

A dead body. Not wrapped in a bag, or just a severed hand, but a full body, propped up in a director's chair. Well, that wasn't fully true, as it was only the top half.

Sec fell back against the broken computers with a cry of horror, as loud as he could manage, taking in the gruesome sight. It was dressed in a black hoodie, with mittens covering the hands, but Sec could see blood soaking through the fabric up to the elbows. The jaw lay slack, and Sec could see markings on the chin, as if it was a separate piece, a puppet's.

"Holy shit- that's Owen! That's the guy who made us! And then went crazy and used some kinda voodoo spell to bring us to life. Bet he regrets that now."

'You're telling me', Sec thought, getting up and taking a slightly closer look, simultaneously eyeing the best way to get around it without getting too close. 

"It's... weird, to meet your god." Scout fell silent, but her comment made Sec think for a little. The creators, animators, artists, humans, Alan, were technically the sticks' gods, but they... Most sticks met at least one in their lifetime, their own creator. He supposed he just couldn't understand what it was like, what Scout was going through.

Edging around the body and continuing down the maze-like path, they came to another sectioned-off area, though this one had much more solid walls. There was a table in the middle of the miniature room, covered in sewing machines and blueprints for puppets, but against one of the walls was something horrifying. A hand puppet, similar to Scout, had been strapped into some kind of framework on the wall, with what looked to be an x-ray device showing their insides.

"Ugh, puppet surgery. Riley loves this shit, and I guess she's roped Daisy into it too. Listen, I don't mean to be gross, but if either of them has a piece, they might have left it..." Scout had to take a moment to swallow her own revulsion, her disgust at the idea. "Inside one of these puppet corpses. We should try to open it up and look around."

Sec shakily pulled down the screen in front of the strapped-up puppet, only to discover that it wasn't an x-ray at all, and the unfortunate puppet had been left opened up, with actual hooks pulling the "skin" back. 'Why are there fabric organs?' he thought, letting go of the screen to reach for one- he didn't want to subject Scout to that- only for the screen to pop back up, supported by a spring. 

Scout gulped upon seeing this, and after her host tried it a couple more times, she relented.

"It's ok Greenie, it's... Ok.. besides, they're... Probably already dead, right? Ugh, gross..." Scout cursed under her breath as she pawed through the body cavity, her swears only increasing in fervor when she found the organs would come apart with a *pop!* with a bit of tugging. But none of them held the piece she was looking for, and by the time she was at the last one, she was growing frustrated.

*Pop!*

The puppet's head fell over limp as they let out a ghastly moan, and Sec fell back, away from what they had just done. Scout exploded into more swears, even as she was clutching the organ with the pin stuck to it, and Sec panted heavily, trying not to think about what just happened. Suddenly, a glint caught his eye.

A scalpel. Left abandoned on the floor under the table, but still shiny. Still sharp. 

"Alright, that's all the pieces. Now we just need to- hey! Host!"

Sec ignored his puppet as he crawled over, grabbing the scalpel before getting up. He walked swiftly back through the mannequin room, filled with a sudden determination. He knew he had seen a sign for a restroom somewhere in the main room...

Scout could only watch as her host jogged around the main room, a sharp object in hand and a glint in his eye as he looked for... Something. Appearing to spot it, he suddenly changed direction, and Scout could only hold on for the ride.

It was difficult, since she was attached to the end of his arm, but doable. But at the same time, she was worried about what he was going to do. The scalpel wasn't very big, but Riley kept her tools sharpened, so Scout felt she was right to be worried.

The place he was rushing to, she realized, was the bathroom. He burst in through the door, and she flinched when it slammed shut behind them. He approached the sink, using his other arm to wipe away the grime on the mirror.

As she stared at her host, about to ask what the hell he was doing, when he brought the scalpel to his stitched-up lips and-

Scout froze, unable to move as her host carefully cut the strands holding his mouth closed, pulling them out one by one. Blood dripped down his chin, into the sink as he let out muffled cries of pain. And yet he still didn't stop, plucking away at the twine methodically. Scout couldn't bear to watch, and yet she was unable to look away.

With a few last snaps, the last of the stitches were removed and fell into the sink. Despite the quietness of it, Scout felt there was a sense of finality to the action.

For a moment, her Host simply stood there, panting as he stared at his reflection. Then, without warning, he lurched forwards with a retch, slapping a hand over his mouth as he turned. Scout felt dizzy as he rushed for the toilet, tripping over his own feet as he lunged for it.

They got there just in time to avoid a mess. Though the smell made Scout want to be sick, too, she couldn't find it in her to bring anything up.

After an uncomfortably long time, he finally let go, falling against the side of the toilet and gazing, eyes half-lidded and starting to glow, over to Scout. He wiped his mouth off on his sleeve and took in a deep, stuttering breath.

"H-hi Scout..."

Chapter Text

"So... Your real name is Sec, you and your family were... living stick figures on a computer before you somehow became human, and you came here for pretty much no reason."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Sec winced as the little green lights finished their dance and faded away from his lips, leaving behind fresh scars. "Well, technically I came here on a job to earn some money, but that's besides the point."

"Well now what?"

"Now," Sec paused, getting up and stretching, "we gotta get out of here."

He carefully opened the bathroom door, looking around cautiously. Nothing. If anything, things were even more quiet than before. Taking this as a sign that things were safe, Sec crept out, making his way to the exit door. Suddenly, he noticed something he hadn't before, a passageway, marked with one of the triangles.

"Hey, where are you going?! The exit's over there!"

Sec pointed at the triangle, "there's another one of this Anthony guy's hideouts, I wanna see if I can find another tape."

"But why?"

"I... I'm not sure." Sec answered, shrugging. "I guess I'm just curious about what happened to him."

Scout shrugged in return, and the two of them walked down the hall in silence, jumping at any little noise. But they were uninterrupted, and they got to the little hideaway with ease. Sec pressed play on the tape recorder, and began to look through the pictures next to it.

"Ok this is gonna be my last log-"

Sec immediately looked up from the pictures, looking over to the tape recorder in concern.

"It's August twentieth, I have a plan, I might as well be honest I'm a little drunk... There goes a year and a half..."

The sound of bottles jangling against each other was just barely noticeable as Anthony kept talking, and Sec unconsciously stepped closer.

"The truth is no amount of pictures is gonna prove anything, ok? I need a live specimen, I need Mortimer. So I'm gonna get the bastard. I sold the car and I managed to get ahold of some containment cages, they use them for like wildlife or whatever, I'm gonna break into the office where I think Mortimer spends a lot of his time, rip him off his host, take him out of here, ssslam him down on the desk of the New York Times and 'deal with that motherfuckers!!!'"

He sighed, and Sec spared a glance at Scout, who was listening as raptly as him.

"It's not gonna be easy though, puppets are strong and the have that fucking dog thing... This is so stupid what am I doing.... My whole life I just wanted to prove what I've always known was real, that the supernatural, the unexplainable, is real! That is maybe the only chance I have to get proof and I have to take it!"

Another sigh, another jangle of bottles.

"Oh, I- I did spend the car money on one other thing, I got our logo, the pyramid with the eye tattooed on the back of my hand. I- I just wanna leave a mark on me somehow, so if shit goes sideways, people will know I'm not just a drone, they'll- they'll know what I used to be. That I stood up for something true. Here goes nothing."

The tape ended, and Scout waited a moment before speaking.

"I really hope he changed his mind, went home, and slept it off."

"Oh Scout... I don't think he did..."

Scout stilled, not looking away from the tape. "... What do you mean."

"Scout, when I first came in here, when I first saw Mortimer, there was some kinda tattoo on his host's hand. I didn't really get a good enough look at it to know for sure, but..." Sec trailed off, letting Scout come to her own conclusions with a quiet "oh."

The two went back out to the main room in silence, making their way back to the exit door. Using the completed master pin, Scout opened the door, and they went through, closing it again behind them.

Sec noticed a glow to their left, and he glanced over- only to be startled by the sight of a sock puppet staring at a bunch of computer screens, with another host leaving the room, the slightest glimpse of orange hair visible on their puppet as they walked out. Looking closer, Sec realized that they weren't just screens- it was the live feed from multiple security cameras, and he could recognize several of the locations they were watching.

"They were watching us," he whispered to Scout, "They knew where we were the whole time!"

"But then why wouldn't they come after us???" Scout whispered back.

Sec looked around, his nerves on edge. The room ahead looked huge, but most of it was blocked off by a large curtain, and Sec could see a lever to his right, lit up by glowing lights.

Sec could feel all his hair standing on end. There was no way in hell this wasn't a trap. But what other choice did they have? Sec pulled the lever, and the curtain was lifted.

"Ah ha! Just the puppet, and host, I've been wanting to see! Don't be shy, come! Have some tea."

"Oh shit." Puppet and host swore simultaneously, as they took in the sight before them. Standing at a table in the middle of the room, in the middle of a large stage, was Mortimer, "sitting" at a table. Nick sat to his left, and to his right sat Daisy. Sec couldn't see Riley anywhere, but Rosco was laying on the ground nearby, as if he was a normal dog, and a pair of sock puppets flanked the table.

"And don't try to go for the door, I control this whole room with my Handee control board."

"Dammit! He's got us! I'll think of something, just buy us some time!"

Sec fearfully approached the table, his heart pounding as he tried to keep his eye on all the puppets in the room, trying to stay on guard in case one of them lunged for him, or made any sudden moves. He sat in the only empty chair, noticing a conspicuous gap between where Daisy and Mortimer were "standing".

Mortimer seemed to only just now notice the empty spot as well, and scowled before shouting into the shadows of the room.

"RILEY! You're late! Let's not make our guests wait!"

Riley emerged from a door on the far left side of the room, panting as if she has been running, and attemping to fix her hair. But as soon as her bi-colored eyes landed on the pair, she dropped her decorum as she charged towards the table.

"SCOUT! I'LL RIP YOUR GUTS OUT!"

"Calm yourself Riley, we're at tea!" Yelled Mortimer, stopping Riley in her tracks. "Now apologize! Or I'll rip out your eyes!"

"Sorry..." Riley said, her voice... Surprisingly soft. Certainly softer than Sec had heard it. Scout too, judging by the odd look they shared.

"Not to me, to our guests! And make it your best!"

Riley looked back up, glaring at the pair. It took a moment, but she eventually muttered out a "sorry," as she stepped up to her place at the table.

"Wonderful!"

Mortimer snapped his fingers, and the sock puppets began moving. Sec braced for an attack, but instead, the hulking creatures merely began serving tea to everyone.What...?

"Now then, onto business."

"What sort of business?" Questioned Sec, narrowing his eyes.

"Why the best kind of course! One that will make the best use of you, Host. An offer you won't want to refuse!" Mortimer replied, seeming cheerful, but Sec could clearly hear the undertones of malice in his voice.

"Don't see why they get this, when they've caused such a mess." Riley muttered to herself, only to be shushed by Daisy, placing a hand on her arm to calm her.

"Just tell me what you want," Sec sighed impatiently.

Mortimer paused, appearing to have been caught off guard by how straightforward Sec was being. "Very well then. Though we would have gotten there in the end."

Sec leaned slightly back in his chair, just in time to avoid the arm of a sock puppet as it placed something on a plate in front of him. Was... Was that a cupcake?

Mortimer cleared his throat as he straightened up, pulling Sec's attention back to him, and began to gesture wildly as he spoke, even using his host's spare hand for emphasis.

"You have great potential in being a host, far more than most. And that magic of yours is a welcome surprise! Thus, I have decided to come to a compromise. You become my Host, and use your magic to keep our lessers in line. In return, I'll allow you to keep your mind! All you have to do is promise to stop trying to break out-"

Sec cut him off, straightening up in his own chair, "-Yeah yeah, but what about Scout?"

"Try not to interrupt dear. I assure you, he was getting there." Daisy directed her attention towards him, attemping to hold onto his sleeve, only for Sec to pull away. She side-eyed Mortimer, trying to tell him to hurry up. Mortimer got the message, clearing his throat again.

"Yes Scout, quite the smart one there. Well, I suppose she'll just have to stay here. She'll get a new host, better than the rest. And, we'll just say she passed all of her tests." He said, lacing his fingers together thoughtfully.

"We most certainly will not!" Riley exclaimed, slamming a fist on the table. "Mortimer, I am telling you to reconsider! I refuse to simply let you pass her!"

"That is not your decision to make!" Mortimer shouted back, the tension palpable in the air.

"Settle down, both of you! Here, have some cake!" Daisy interjected. She shoved a pair of cupcakes in front of the feuding puppets, and Sec watched as they begrudgingly ate them. For a moment, he wondered how that worked, how they were able to eat.

"Don't you want any cake, Sugar? Don't be shy, there's plenty more." Daisy offered, gesturing to the cupcake already in front of Sec.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not hungry." Sec said. He could feel his stomach protesting, and the cupcake did smell good, but Sec had to be smart about this. What if it was drugged, or enchanted in some way?

Scout suddenly nudged him, getting his attention. She pointed to the free hand of Mortimer's Host, laying on the table as he ate, and Sec paled when he spotted the tattoo. It was true, Anthony had fallen to the puppets. Done in by his obsession.

"So then, what do you say? Will we be partners, 'till the end of days?" Mortimer asked, reaching across the table, obviously intending for Sec to shake his hand.

Scout subtlety shook her head no, too scared of Mortimer to do any more, only to watch in horror as her host reached across the table to him... Only to slap his hand away, an angry glare across his features.

"Are you kidding me?!" He shouted. "After everything I've seen in this little house of horrors, you think I'd join you willingly?! And that's assuming I trust you to keep your word, that this isn't a trap!!!"

"Now then calm down, we can talk-"

"No! In fact, just to clear everything up, I will never be joining this little circus you have here! I just want to go home!" Sec slammed his fist onto the table, and green lighting ran throughout the room, causing the lights to flicker as a sound similar to thunder rang out.

Sec looked up, the surprise wiping the glare from his face. "Huh... I didn't know I could do that."

"How do you not fucking know you can do something like that?!" Scout shouted at her host, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

Mortimer stayed still, stunned at the display. He had... Greatly underestimated what Riley could have put them through. He attempted to regain some of his composure, to try and not lose his control of the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Nick attempting to sneak away from the table, uncomfortable with his proximity to the human, but a sharp glare from Mortimer sent him scurrying back into his proper place.

"Well then..." Mortimer started, unable to stop himself from glaring across the table. "You don't have to take me up on this offer, that is true. But the other option, well, it won't end well for you."

"There's another option?" Sec asked, meeting Mortimer's gaze. "What is it?"

"Why, a game of course! And the rules, I will enforce." Mortimer glanced around the table at his "family", only to see all of them looked highly uncomfortable. Regardless, he continued.

"If you can make it through the tunnels, why, we'll let you go! But it'll be far tougher than your challenges from before. All of us, you'll need to beat to reach the goal-"

*ping!*

Mortimer paused, glancing around for the source of the noise. "Ahem, all of us, you'll need to beat to reach the goal-"

*ping!*

"-in order to-"

*ping!*

"Oh, where is that blasted noise coming from?!"

Sec pulled his phone out of his pocket, watching as his screen lit up with notifications.

"Oh, would you look at that. My phone finally had signal, and it look like my family's been trying to get ahold of me this whole time!"

"Your... Family?" Sec heard Mortimer's voice falter slightly, was he... Scared?

Sec leaned back in his chair, barely able to keep himself from smirking as he rested one leg on the other. "Yeah, they're probably worried sick! I'm honestly surprised they haven't been able to track me here. I can't wait to see them again." Sec silenced his phone, slipping it back into his pocket, looking back up at Mortimer, who looked visibly annoyed.

He cleared his throat, continuing on, as the others began to grow nervous. Mortimer was a tempest at the best of times, who knew what would happen after his patience with this host ran out?

"Yes well, if you can reach the door, freedom will be yours, along with Scout. But if you are caught, you will be my Host for as long as your body holds out."

"So if I win, we get to leave and you won't come after us?" Sec asked, mostly to himself, but gaining a gleam in his eyes. He started to draw up his magic, feeling it crackling beneath his skin. "Cool, cool. So let me just-"

"Ah, why not use the actual switch? Wouldn't that be best? If we couldn't turn the lights back on, it would be quite the mess." Nick spoke up, frantically gesturing to the control board next to Mortimer. With a bit of silent shuffling, the control board was pushed over to where Sec and Scout were sitting. The two looked at it for a moment, before looking at each other, and sharing a nod.

There was a crackle, the sound of thunder, and the lights went off with a shatter and a scream.

Chapter Text

Sec ran as fast as he could, using the dim emergency lights and his gut instincts to lead him and Scout in the right direction, not wanting to turn her flashlight on and lead the puppets right to them. After passing through, and closing, a couple doorways, Sec felt it was safe enough, and turned Scout's flashlight on.

"Finally! It's so dark I could barely see you! But..." Scout trailed off, as they both took in their surroundings. "Where the shit are we now?! What the hell even are these tunnels?! Who builds scary bullshit maze tunnels like this?! I hate this place!"

"Scout!" Sec could feel her starting to panic, even more so than was obvious, and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down. "I know it's hard, but we have to stay calm. What if they hear us?"

Scout simply stayed silent, and Sec continued through the dimly lit tunnels, until they eventually came across a sort of crossroads, with three doors leading off to who-knows-where.

Sec felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and pulled it out, quickly sending a text into the group chat.

Nap Boy: Hey jellybeans, I'm alive, can't exactly talk right now. Come get me?

Sending his location, Sec fully silenced his phone before it could blow up with notifications, and slipped it into his pocket, focusing on his surroundings once more.

"Fuck! Uh, ok which door do we..." Scout trailed off, looking at the options. "Ok, maybe you can hear Rosco, or anything else they've sent after us. There's no way they're still just sitting around."

As if on cue, loud banging sounded off from behind one of the doors, and was steadily getting closer. With a quick shared nod, they went through the door on the opposite side of the room, making sure to close it behind them.

"I'm impatient to see this done. Rip their throats out Rosco, have your fun."

Sec glanced upwards for a split second as Mortimer's voice sounded off over the speakers. Scout gulped nervously, and Sec kept some sparks charged up, using them as an additional light source.

They came upon another crossroads, this one with only two doors, one of which was already open. Sec started for the open one first, only to see Rosco turn the corner and start charging towards them. Scout got the door closed just as Rosco slammed against it, and the other door opened. They ran through it as Rosco continued his assault on the door, seeing another way to go at the end of the hall.

They closed another door behind them, but Sec could just make out the sound of Rosco finally breaking through the door at the crossroads. Focusing on the room ahead, he saw two paths, one with yet another door, and one marked with a bright red arrow and some of the puppet writing.

"Geez, how many doors are down here?" Sec tried to joke, but the mirth was caught in his throat as he started towards the path with the arrow.

"What are you doing?!" Scout shouted. "That says 'don't go this way'!"

Sec glanced at the path, unsure, but nodded to his puppet after a moment. He'd been trusting her so far, to do any different now wouldn't make any sense. They went through the door, finding themselves in yet another hallway.

"I'm going to have to do some research on the construction of this place. I mean, just look at it, no wonder this place became a deathtrap in the fire!"

Scout held a mitten over her mouth, but Sec could feel her start to shake, not from fear, but from containing her laughter. He smiled, not slowing his pace. He had a feeling they were close. He couldn't explain it, but he just knew they'd be out of there soon.

Rosco crashed against the ground behind them, the sudden loud noise causing Sec to jump and flat out sprint, using the energy he'd been charging up to give himself a boost, making it through and closing the next doorway. How? How had Rosco been able to sneak up on them?!

The sudden sound of rats hissing under the grates below his feet caused him to jump again, and he heard Scout gasp.

Clap

Clap

Clap

Sec froze as Mortimer came out from the shadows, slowly clapping as he came forward.

"Well, well, well," Mortimer smirked, continuing to approach until he was a mere few feet away. "I'm surprised you've made it this far!"

Sec involuntarily backed up, hitting the wall behind him as his heartbeat grew heavy. "Wha- How did you get here?!"

Mortimer sighed, ignoring the question. "Now listen, boy. I'm going to give you this offer one last time. Join me, become my host and give me your powers, or die, and Rosco will tear you both to shreds."

Scout froze, paralyzed from fear. She had never heard Mortimer not rhyme. 'We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna fucking die!'

Suddenly, she felt a deep, foreign rage, bubbling up from deep within. Confused, she looked up at her host, seeing the same anger reflected on his face.

Mortimer only had time to realize what was about to happen, his eyes only able to widen ever so slightly, before the large green blast of energy hit him square in the face, knocking him off his host and sending him to the ground.

Sec breathed heavily, feeling some of his anger release. As scared as he was, there was a lot of anger mixed in with the fear. Anger about what these puppets had been doing to other people, what they had tried to do to him.

Quick, loud thumps rang out from behind them, and Sec sprinted, glancing back to see they had almost gotten caught between the giant dog's teeth. Scout was screaming at him to run, and he could see another puzzle station, one of the gear ones, at the end of the hall. He noticed the thick, heavy door it was connected to, just like the one at Human Resources, and grabbed the handle of the larger gear when they got close enough.

"Ok, watch me, watch me!" Scout shouted, and Sec focused on her, trying to ignore the sound of Rosco steadily getting closer and closer as they turned the gears, Scout calling out when to switch directions. Suddenly, the gears got caught on something, refusing to move, stopping the doors from closing all the way.

"Something's jamming the gears! I think I can get it!" Yelled Scout, climbing into the machine before Sec could say or do anything otherwise.

"I got it!" She yelled triumphantly, before a ripping sound filled the air, and a sudden pain racked through him.

"HOST! PULL ME OUT! PULL ME OUUUUT!!!!"

Sec pulled her out as she screamed, and was horrified to see her right arm had been completely torn off. Only the sleeve of her shirt remained.

"Shit, oh shit, oh god..." She cut herself off with a brief coughing fit before turning and looking to Sec. "Sec, be honest with me. Does it look bad?"

Sec's painted grimace was the only answer he could give, and she let out a sigh, holding onto her stump with her other hand.

"No, it's fine, I'm fine, let's just... Go."

Sec carefully held her close, holding onto what was left of her arm even as stuffing leaked out as he walked. They turned a corner to find another tunnel, but this one having a gentle slope upwards, and Sec could see light at the end.

"Is that a light up there? I think we're getting out!" Scout piped up, only to fall into another fit of coughing.

"Scout don't strain yourself, just rest."

"No, it's fine, I'll be fine, don't- don't worry about me."

But while her persistent coughs only made Sec worry more, he kept walking. They were almost out, he could almost feel a slight breeze from the exit.

"Hey, uh, Sec, you remember what you said before about how I could make it in the host world? Did you mean it?"

Sec nodded, "of course! If a bunch of displaced stick figures could make it out there, no reason a little puppet couldn't. Especially since you'll be sticking with us!"

"You... You really mean it?"

Sec nodded again, but Scout sighed in response.

"You are... weirdly nice. I mean, we kidnapped you and sewed your mouth shut, and, here you are, letting me down easy while I'm about to- shit" another fit of coughing, and Sec carefully readjusted his hold on his puppet and her sleeve.

"So..." Scout started, "when we get out, I guess people are gonna wanna know why you have a talking puppet on your hand. I was thinking... I was thinking, we could take advantage of it, y'know? Open a novelty restaurant or have a talk show. Which one you like?"

"Probably the talk show. A restaurant would be more my brother's thing."

Scout chuckled weakly, "yeah, a talkshow. We could call it 'Talk To The Hand!'"

The two shared a brief laugh before Scout broke down again, needing to take a few deep breaths before being able to speak again.

"You know what? Why don't you decide? I'm feeling... Kinda tired anyways."

"Scout...." Sec trailed off, and they continued the walk in relative silence. Sec could see the exit, it was right there, he could see where the door had been gone for who knew how long, almost smell the fresher air mixing with the scents of the studio and the tunnels.

"I'd have liked to see more of your world, but I made a friend, and there's probably nothing out there better than a friend..."

"Scout, you're not dying. I won't let you!"

Scout looked up, making eye contact with her host, and saw that his eyes had been glowing. How... How long had he been doing that?

Sec continued speaking, his voice having a new, desperate edge to it. "It- it probably isn't perfect, it can't really fix fabric, but I promise I'll keep you alive until we can fix you up. One of my brothers, he's really good at sewing, we will fix you!"

Scout quieted down, her silence only broken by coughing fits, until Sec finally crossed the threshold and was on the outside...

Sec stood still for a moment, breathing in the fresh air as he took in the sunlight. Scout's gasp brought him back down to reality, and he looked down to see her looking around, utterly amazed.

"Not quite like what's on TV, huh?" He carefully rubbed her back, focusing on keeping his healing powers up. "Alright, now we just need to-"

He was interrupted by a cherry red car racing past them on a nearby road, only to turn and zoom right back around, screeching to a stop near where Sec was standing. The door popped open before the car had even fully stopped, and out of the car came-

"SEC!!!"

Sec was almost knocked off his feet by the force of Blue's hug, and hugged back the best he could without the use of his arms. He could see Chosen getting out of the car after Blue, and Dark behind the wheel, keeping the vehicle idling.

"Sec! Holy crap what happened to you?! You were gone for days, and- by the creators, your face-!!"

"I'm sorry," Scout piped up from her spot between the two, voice heavy with pain, "who are you?"

"Oh, right," Sec held Scout up, keeping his hold on her sleeve. "Blue, this is Scout, Scout, these are Blue, Chosen, and Dark's in the car. My brothers."

"Wh- Sec is she sewn to your arm???!?!"

"Yeah I... I have a lot to explain." He weakly chuckled, as the weight of all the magic he had used recently, everything he had been through began to weigh on him and he started to sway on his feet.

"Who did this to you?" Chosen asked, a dangerous edge to his voice as he lit a fireball in his hand. 

"It's not important right now. Look, Scout needs help and... And I just wanna go home..."

Chosen and Blue shared a quick glance before helping Sec into the car, getting him to lay down in the backseat.

"So," Sec said, trying to get more comfortable, before Blue put his head in his lap, "where'd you get the car? Looks nice."

"It's a rental!"

"Oh you rented a car?"

Dark stayed silent as he began to drive off, giving Sec all the information he needed.

"Dark..."

"Hey don't blame me! We had to come get you and it looks like our timing was perfect!"

"That's not important right now." Chosen interjected. "What happened to you? You were gone for days!"

Sec sighed, looking to Scout, who nodded back.

"Can you call the others? I- we, don't wanna have to explain this more than once."

"Yeah, a lot of fucked up shit happened."

Chosen blinked for a second, surprised by the little puppet's swearing, before setting his phone in between the front seats and video calling one of the others- who specifically, it didn't matter, everyone would gather around the phone. It only rang for a second before getting picked up.

"SEC!!!"

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"WHAT'S THAT ON YOU?"

"ARE YOU HURT?!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Sec smiled, a tear coming to his eye.

"Look, it's a really long story, but I guess it's gonna be a long drive. But first, can you guys make sure we've got spare fabric and stuffing? Scout's gonna need to get her arm fixed."

Chapter Text

The car pulled up outside the apartment building with a screech, stopping to let Blue jump out, carrying Sec in his arms. Chosen hesitated for a moment, looking at Dark, as sirens could be faintly heard in the distance.

"It's fine Cho. I'll just put the car back and meet you back home!"

Chosen sighed. "Don't get caught."

"What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Dark laughed- then suddenly got serious. "But uh, in all seriousness, if I'm not back by ten can you come bail me out?"

"Of course." Chosen sighed again, rolling his eyes with a smile. "You know I will."

Dark flashed a smile, "ok love you!" Before speeding off, and Chosen ran inside to join Blue.

Blue stood in front of the elevators, waiting for any one of them to open. Sec lay in his arms, a jacket draped over him to hide both the puppet and the two's injuries. The story the two had told them... Blue could barely suppress a shudder just thinking about it. Chosen ran up to them just as one of the elevators opened, and the two dashed in, staying in tense silence all the way up to their floor.

Green met them in the hallway as the elevator doors opened, hurriedly leading them into the apartment as Blue took the jacket off of Sec.

"Put him on the couch." Green said, splitting off to the kitchen. Blue did so, finding Red and Yellow were already there with a first aid kit and... sewing supplies?

Ah. Right. The puppet needed help. Even now, she was still bleeding red-tinted stuffing. Sec was finding it hard to think, everything going fuzzy.

Blue grabbed the well-stocked box of medical supplies and got to work on Sec's injuries, while the other two started to argue over who got to stitch Scout up. The argument was halted when Purple elbowed his way in, snatching the sewing kit.

"Sec?" Scout's voice piped up, weak and shaky, "can't... Can't you do it?"

"Sorry," he replied, his voice also growing weak, "need both hands."

With his free hand, he reached out, carefully taking Scout's remaining hand to keep her grounded. His power flickered, and he could feel himself start to slip away, even as he tried to stay conscious. But his efforts failed, and his vision faded to black as Purple approached with the threaded needle...

*~*~*

Sec slowly drifted back into wakefulness, hearing the sound of his brothers' voices, along with oddly epic music. Looking up, he saw Purple punching Mango in the face, and taking the staff. Ah, they had been playing the videos. How long had Sec been out for, if they were only now getting to this part?

"He's awake!"

Sec felt his heart skip a beat, and looked down, his green eyes meeting his puppet's yellow ones, bright, happy, alive. That was all he could see before he was enveloped in a group hug. Tears came to his eyes as he hugged back, not sure who he was holding onto but holding on with all his... Might.... His arm... Sec realized with a start that he could feel his left arm, and as soon as the hug broke up he shakily held it up in front of him. It looked normal, save for the bandages around where Scout had been attached, a bit of red bleeding through. He flexed his fingers- everything felt normal, as if nothing had happened to him.

"Hey! Host! Look at me!"

Sec looked back down at Scout, who was "sitting" on his stomach. Her right arm had been replaced by one made out of a bright orange fabric, and her grin shone as if her flashlight was on. Sec quickly picked her up and held her in a tight hug. Despite the group hug they had been in moments before, he still needed to feel she was still here, that she was ok.

"So," Sec said after a minute, his voice scratchy, "what'd I miss?"

"Well, you see..."

*~*~*

Three days. Sec had been missing for three days. Chosen paced around the living room, trying to think of something, anything. They had been searching everywhere they could think of, but with no luck. They were getting desperate, even considering going to the police to report him missing.

Yellow suddenly gasped, getting everyone's attention.

"Sec's phone! The messages went through!"

The others all pulled out their devices to check, and sure enough, the notifiers had changed from 'sending', to 'delivered'. And yet, no messages were sent in return. Chosen returned to his pacing, this time staring intently at the screen in his hand, as some of the others attempted to send more messages, trying to get through to their missing brother.

Nearly a half hour later, a message was finally sent in return.

Nap Boy: Hey jellybeans, I'm alive, can't exactly talk right now. Come get me?

It was followed by a location, and Chosen was headed for the door before he realized he was moving. He was dragged back to the others by Dark, but was the first one back out after the eight of them quickly came up with a plan.

*~*~*

"I still can't believe you stole a car."

"Well what did you expect us to do Cho? Walk?!" Dark violently yanked the wheel, and both Chosen and Blue held on for dear life as the car screeched around a corner. They were getting close to the address Sec had texted, and Dark could feel himself getting more and more anxious as they got closer. He knew how strong the kid was, Sec kicked his ass for stick's sake! So what was there that could have possibly kept him captive for three days?!

Dark sped down the road, spotting a figure standing near some kind of door leading into the ground. He did a double-take as he drove past, and Chosen whipped around in his seat.

"Hey wait, wasn't that-"

"It was!"

Dark quickly turned the car around, nearly driving off the road in his rush, and watched from the driver's seat as Blue and Chosen got out and helped Sec inside...

*~*~*

Red gasped as Sec went limp, and went to check his pulse. It was steady, almost calm, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he told the others. The puppet Sec had brought back with him- Scout, her name was- looked up at the others nervously as Purple sat on a nearby chair. He carefully got Sec's arm- and more specifically, the puppet on it- and began to work on her, carefully sewing up the stump where her arm had gotten ripped off. 

Purple worked quickly and efficiently, and the hole was closed in a matter of minutes. Scout carefully felt her new "scar", before looking up at Purple.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," he replied, carefully leaning down and petting her head. She begrudgingly stayed still and accepted it, as the room grew silent. The silence lingered until Green broke it, asking what everyone was thinking.

"So what now?"

"Well," Blue spoke up, picking up the first-aid kit and holding a glowing red bottle, "we should probably get Scout off his arm-"

"No!" The shout left her before she realized it had formed, and suddenly all eyes were on her. She swallowed, looking around nervously, and held onto Sec's shirt. "I... I don't know what'll happen if we're separated. I don't wanna die."

"Hmm..." Yellow hummed to himself, bringing his hand up to his chin in thought. "Wasn't there some time when those guys were alive without hosts?"

"Hey, yeah! That tape Sec mentioned, the one where Owen said they came out wrong, that seemed to be before they had hosts!" Green added, snapping his fingers as he spoke.

"So," Red continued, leaning over the back of the couch to pet Scout, "you'll probably be ok!"

Scout looked between the tall beings- there was no convincing them otherwise, it appeared. She sighed, continuing to cling to her human's shirt as she lowered her head.

"Alright then, fine. But if you kill me, I'll... I'll fucking haunt you!"

Blue took Purple's seat, gently held Sec's arm up, and began to cut. Scout flinched every time she heard one of the threads snap, her eyes squeezed shut, until Blue was finished, and he carefully slipped her off the arm, gently placing her on Sec's chest.

Scout cracked her eyes open- she was still alive? She looked back at Blue bandaging her host's arm, where she had been attached, before a loud noise caused everyone to jump. The puppet looked up to see a large television on the wall had lit up, and on it... Was a small black stick figure, running around with an arrow thing.

Chosen quickly scanned the room, sighing when he spotted the floating remote. "Really, Victim?"

Victim made himself visible with a giggle, and shrugged, placing the remote back down on the coffee table. 

"What? It was too quiet in here. And besides, Scout told us a whole lot about her on the car ride over, it's only fair she knows our stories!"

Chosen glanced at the puppet, only to sigh as her attention was focused on the TV. Purple glanced over to him.

"Movie night?"

"I guess."

And so the sticks started to settle in, watching as the adventures they had gone on played out. Dark returned home not long after, just in time to see when he and Chosen had first teamed up. 

Around the time the sticks were fighting off spiders as they raced down minecart tracks, Red leaned over the back of the couch again.

"Hey Scout, can I borrow you for a moment?"

"Wh- hey!!" She protested as he easily picked her up, bringing her over to the kitchen table, where a pile of different fabrics had been gathered.

"We want to make you a new arm, but we thought it'd be best to let you choose the color. So, what do you think?"

Scout looked at the pile before her, before looking back to the couch, at her still-unconscious host, and then at the TV, where his past self and his friends had performed amazing feats of valor.

Pulling herself forwards, she spotted a bright orange fabric and pulled it from the pile.

"This one."

*~*~*

"And yeah, that's pretty much everything."

Sec sat back as he processed everything he'd been told, absently petting Scout, who happily leaned into his hand. Suddenly, his stomach let out a gurgling complaint, and Sec doubled over in pain.

"Oh- Sec you must be starving! Hang on I'll get you something!"

Blue quickly got up, running over to the kitchen, and returning sooner than Sec would've thought possible, carrying a steaming bowl on a tray.

"Here, we had stew the other night." Blue said, as Sec carefully took the tray from him. His stomach growled again as he took in the smells, and he smiled, glancing around at everyone as he started to eat.

It was good to be home.