Chapter 8 - Master of Puppets

A group of young adults with superpowers team up to fight a villain from another world as well as other small villains. A rescue mission is organized for Amari.

Kethri yawned and stretched as she made her way to the kitchen late the next morning. Azaria, Amato, and Antain were sitting around the island counter munching on eggs, bacon, and toast and watching the morning news on a T.V. that was mounted to the wall.

"Good morning," she said as she came into the kitchen.

"Morning sleepyhead." Amato smiled at her. She smiled back and helped herself to some breakfast.

"In other news," the reporter on the screen said. "Last night the local police were baffled when they came across a very odd scene. There had been reports of gun fire at a warehouse off of Bennet Court, and when they arrived on the scene, they found three kilos of cocaine and the suspects either knocked out or mysteriously stuck in the floor. Suspects seemed delirious, claiming that a flying girl named Whirlwind and another called Terra who could manipulate rocks were their attackers. They described both girls as wearing masks."

"Stuck in the floor?" Azaria repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"That sounds familiar," Antain snickered, speaking from personal experience.

Azaria turned to Kethri and crossed her arms. "Where were you last night?"

Kethri looked down at her plate, focusing very hard on a bowl of cereal. "We just went out," she said.

"Take out any drug dealers while you were out?" Antain snorted.

"...maybe..." Kethri said.

"Nice." Amato grinned. "Were you guys trying to be superheroes or something?"

"Trying?" Kethri laughed. "What is this 'trying' or which you speak? According to that news report, I'd say we succeeded."

Azaria sighed and covered her eyes with a hand. "Where's Amari?" She asked.

"She and Cael got into a fight last night when we got back. Apparently he had been hiding one of her ducks and -"

"Cael had it?" Antain cut her off. Kethri nodded. "And to think she blamed me for losing it. Somebody owes me an apology."

"Anyway," Kethri continued forcefully, "She stormed off to the backyard for some reason. I haven't seen her since."

"I know where she is," Azaria said. She got up to leave.

"Does it matter where she is?" Kethri asked.

"We just need to have a little chat." Azaria said.

As she walked out of the kitchen she could hear Amato asking, "So, what's it like to be a superhero?"

"Pretty cool. I've been doing it for a while, but this is the first time I've gone out superheroing with someone else. Amari fell through the roof and almost got shot, but at least she fell into something interesting."

"She did what?" Antain's voice yelled before the door shut, turning the voices into indistinct murmurs.

She would... Azaria thought to herself as she went out into the backyard. She turned herself into a chipmunk and scurried up to the tree house. It was the easiest way for her. "Amari?" She called after turning back into herself. There was no answer. Maybe she's still sleeping, she thought. She pushed open the door to Amari's makeshift bedroom. "Amari?" She called again. "Wake up sleepyhead." Azaria looked around for her friend but found no sign of her. "Hmm, that's odd." She started going into the other rooms. She had looked in the bathroom, rock armory, clubhouse, and dance studio by the time Cael and Kethri came to find out what was taking her so long.

"Azaria, you've been gone for two hours!" Cael yelled up.

Azaria poked her head out. "How did you two find this place?" She asked.

"Antain told us where it was."

Azaria sighed. "Well, I can't find her. I don't know where she is. She would have heard me calling by now."

Kethri flew up to where Azaria was. "Oo, cool room," she said flying into the nest. "What a cute little doll."

"What?" Azaria said, running over. She walked in to see Kethri holding a small china doll. "Where did you find that?" She asked, snatching it out of her hand.

"It was on the floor."

Azaria looked down at the doll and sighed. "Oh meirda..." There was no way that Amari would have had a china doll in her room. Too many bad memories. She clambered back down as a monkey, the doll in her tail. Then she transformed back and hurried to the house.

"Where's Amari?" Antain asked when Azaria came back into the kitchen with Kethri and Cael but no Amari.

"Not here," Azaria said.

"Not here?" Antain repeated, looking confused.

"Not here, as in I don't know where she is."

"Wha-" Antain started.

"But," Azaria interjected, "I have a pretty good idea who we'll find her with."

"And who's that?" Antain asked.

Azaria set the china doll down on the counter. "China Doll."

. . . . .

"So Amari is M.I.A.?" Adamar asked, pouring over his computer. He was running a scan of all the places they thought that China Doll might be.

"Yup." Azaria said. She turned the doll over in her hands. "There's gotta be a clue or something on this." She twisted the head, and it accidentally popped off. A rolled up slip of paper fell out of the doll's head.

"Hang on, what's that?" Antain said, pointing at the paper that had fallen to the ground. "Looks like an address." Azaria said as she looked at it. "Adamar, put this in." She handed the slip of paper to him. He pulled up the address. An image of what looked like a medieval castle popped up on the screen.

"What the?" Azaria said taking a step closer trying to get a better look.

"Says that this is Gatterlen Fort. It was a tourist trap back in the day, but was shut down ten years ago. Looks like they had some sort of huge rat infestation or something like that," Adamar said as he scanned through a little article about the castle.

"Oh no! Not the R.O.U.S.'s!" Antain joked. Adamar rolled his eyes.

"Grow up," he said. "Anyway, Az, looks like this place has been empty for years."

Azaria studied the images on the screen. "It definitely fits her style. It's worth a look-see. China Doll, I think we've found you."

"Question," Kethri said from the door. Azaria, Adamar, and Antain all jumped. They were all so into what they were doing that they hadn't noticed her come down the stairs.

"Answer...maybe," Azaria said as she turned to go. She had a friend to save, and there was no time to waste. They had already wasted so many precious hours.

"Who's China Doll?"

Azaria stopped and thought about the best way to describe her foe. "A psychopath," she sighed after a moment. "Our paths have crossed more than once and it's never pretty."

"What does she do?" Kethri asked.

"You don't want to know." Azaria said. "Boys, and Kethri, you hold down the fort. I'm going to get my friend back."

"But -” Antain and Kethri said together.

"She could be hurt." Antain said, looking really worried.

"Mari's a tough chick. I'm sure she'll be fine," Adamar assured him.

"You might need help," Kethri protested.

"This ain't my first rodeo, Kethri. I can handle it. Now you guys stay put," Azaria said and left the room. Antain pouted and flopped down into a chair, looking defeated. Kethri, being her stubborn self, followed Azaria out into the hall and up the stairs to the main floor of the house.

"What part of 'stay put' did you not understand, Kethri?" Azaria said.

"The 'stay' part and the 'put' part," Kethri retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I wanna help. Amari is my friend, too, and I wanna make sure she's alright."

"You don't know China Doll like I do. You'd just be in my way. You can go play 'superhero' some other time, okay?" Azaria said, putting air quotes around superhero. Kethri was about to say something when Cael walked up to them.

"What's this about China Doll?" He asked.

"Not you, too. No one is coming with me, and that's final."

"A rescue mission? I definitely want to come."

“Even if its Amari? I thought that you two didn’t like each other.” Kethri said.

“As much as I don’t like her, no one deserves to be torchered by China Doll.” Cael snapped.  

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" Azaria yelled. Time was ticking, and she could only imagine what China Doll was doing to Amari. She moved towards her room to change and grab her weapons, but Cael grabbed her arm and held her back.

"You really think I'm gonna let you go alone? Remember what happened last time you faced this chick?" He asked.

"Yeah, you got shot." Azaria said glaring at him.

"That's...that's beside the point." He shrugged off her comment. "The point is I know how China Doll works, too, and I'm not letting you go alone."

"Yeah, like it or not, you're stuck with us," Kethri said.

"What, you too?" Cael scoffed.

"If you're going, I'm going to," Kethri huffed. "I may not have fought this China Doll before, but this isn't my first rodeo, either."

Azaria sighed. "Alright, fine. Whatever. Ten minutes. If you're not ready by then, I'm leaving you here. And if you two mess this up, I...I can't be held responsible for what I'm going to do you. Got it?" She said.

Kethri nodded. "Yes, ma'am," Cael said, giving a casual salute.

They met up in the garage ten minutes later. Azaria had changed into her black mission outfit and had decked herself out with a multitude of weapons, anything she could possibly need. Cael was leaning up against one of the cars wearing the outfit he had from the circus. He was wearing a long sleeved, blue shirt with a black armored vest over top. He also had black pants, boots, gloves, and arm guards. He also had a brown bow and quiver strapped to his back. Kethri was pacing back and forth between the cars, wearing her superhero getup.

"Alright, let's go," Azaria said. She grabbed the keys the black Lamborghini Gellado and got in.

"What's the plan?" Cael asked, getting into the passenger seat.

"Get in. Get Amari. Get out," Azaria explained.

"Sounds simple enough," Kethri said, climbing into the car as well.

"What if we run into China Doll?" Cael asked.

"I'll deal with her. You guys just make sure Amari is safe." Azaria said. She took off.

After about ten minutes of riding in complete silence, Kethri started to go a little stir crazy. She hated silence. "Cael, turn the radio on," she ordered.

"I don't have to take orders from you," Cael answered, crossing his arms.

Azaria stomped on the breaks, jerking everyone forward. "Cut it out you two. We have a six hour drive ahead of us. I am not going to listen to you argue the entire time. Now sit back and shut up." She flipped on the radio and turned it all the way up to blasting. The rest of the trip was spent in relative silence.

. . . . .

They could see the castle at the top of a hill about five minutes before they actually got there. It would have been more visible if it hadn't started raining, although that definitely added to the creepy factor. A bolt of lightning split across the sky, showing the silhouette of the castle and Kethri shivered. Azaria parked the car in a secluded area off the side of the road. They all got out of the car and made their way towards the castle.

"This place is monstrous," Cael commented, sizing the place up.

"It is," Azaria said, her eyes roaming from the drawbridge to the walls and windows. "The next question is, how do we get in without drawing attention to ourselves?" Normally she would just turn into a mouse or something small like that and sneak in that way, but with Cael and Kethri there, that option was out.

"How 'bout the front door?" Kethri suggested.

"They key part of that phrase was 'without drawing attention to ourselves,' Kethri," Cael snorted. "Walking in the front is sort of, y'know, obvious."

"It's so obvious, no one will see it coming," Kethri said.

"She's got a point, hiding in plain sight works more often than you think," Azaria said, moving towards the main gate of the castle. "Just try to stick to the shadows as much as possible, and for the love of God, stay quiet."

They crept up on the castle, sticking to the shadows. Azaria’s eyes swiveled around, keeping an eyes on her surrounding. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watch and it made her feel uneasy.

Nothing happened as they passed through the gate and over the drawbridge. A heavy door stood at the end. Azaria placed a hand on the solid metal handle, expecting it to be locked. However, when she jerked down, she heard a bolt shift and the door slowly swung open with a eerie creek revealing a large entrance hall.

"This place is really creepy," Kethri said, looking around at the dreary gray walls covered in cobwebs.

"Of course it's creepy. It's an abandoned medieval castle. At night. In the middle of a thunderstorm," Cael replied sarcastically. “I think it was actually Mr. Winkles.”

"Shut up you two," Azaria whispered from the front as they walked farther into the gloomy castle. "We're just here to get Amari and get out. Maybe do some recon, but we can't draw attention to ourselves. That means no touching!" She batted Kethri's hand down, which had been reaching out to touch a ruby embedded in a torch on the wall.

"You're no fun," Kethri mumbled under her breath as they moved on.

The torches were dimly lit with a strange green glow, turning every little shadow into a nightmare. Kethri kept looking nervously from side to side, expecting something to jump out at them. She wished Amari was there. She would be scared of ghosts with her and Kethri wouldn't feel so left out. Azaria looked as cool as a cucumber - if she was scared, she didn't show it. And instead of looking scared, Cael started snickering at Kethri for which she immediately slapped his shoulder. This initiated an all-out catfight.

Azaria heard the scuffling and looked back to see that Cael had crossed Kethri's arms in front of her and was holding them down at her waist as she struggled to get free. Azaria glared and put a finger to her lips. She regretted bringing these bozos along. For once, she wanted to be back with her brothers - the horror! But at least they knew what they were doing.

Cael let go of Kethri and they stuck their tongues out at each other, but at least they were silent. Azaria rolled her eyes and moved on.

The first room they found was at the end of the corridor they were walking in. Azaria easily got in and checked it, but it took a few minutes. So when they turned the corridor and she saw the fifty or so doors spread in front of her, she panicked a little. There was no way she could open all those doors before they were discovered.

She pulled Kethri and Cael back around the corner. "We need a new plan," she whispered.

"What was wrong with the old one?" Cael countered.

"Shh! Keep your voice down. And did you not see how many doors were there? Even I could never open them in time. We have to figure out another way."

"Maybe we could stop and ask for directions," Cael joked.

"No," Kethri continued, snapping her fingers. "Sonic screwdriver. We need a sonic screwdriver." She and Cael snickered

"Don't patronize me. I need ideas, not smart-alek responses that are going to get you punched in the face. Do you have anything intelligent to say? Cael? Kethri?" Cael sighed and rolled his eyes. Both of them expected Kethri to make another smart remark, but there was nothing. Azaria looked around, but there was no one in either hallway except the two of them. "Great, and now Kethri's missing, too." Azaria leaned back against the wall and the floor underneath them dropped away.

. . . . .

Azaria and Cael slid down a seemingly endless slide through sheer darkness, broken only by the odd, eerie giggle and pale, glowing, porcelain face. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a light appeared and they were dumped out of a tube onto a plush couch that was black and white checkered. Azaria took in the rest of the room with a glance. It was entirely decked out in red, white, black, and porcelain, the trademark design of... "Oo, look! Guests! Two new playmates for me and my friends." China Doll was sitting on the floor. In front of her was a table with a full tea set laid out, eight cups in all. One was in front of China Doll, five were in front of regular porcelain dolls, and sitting in front of the other two, one on either side of China Doll, were Kethri and Amari! It was obvious that they weren't themselves. Amari looked as though she were made out of porcelain herself, complete with joints and ringlets; the makeup was very convincing. Kethri's eyes were glazed over and her hair had a huge white bow in it, but she didn't look as...finished as Amari did. Both were dressed like dolls, Amari in pale blue and Kethri in white.

Azaria drew her guns from their holsters on her thighs and pointed both right at China Doll. "Let them go," she demanded.

"Ah, ah, ah!" China Doll chided, wagging her finger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Wouldn't want to unknowingly hurt our friends, now would we?"

"They're not your friends, and I never miss," Azaria replied angrily.

"They're my friends now, too. And I know you never miss, but that's not the problem, is it? No, no, no. It's that our friends are now connected to me because I'm turning them into more dollies for me to play with."

"Yeah, like you need any more dolls." Azaria jumped a little. She had been so focused on China Doll that she had forgotten that Cael was there, too.

"But you can never have too many dollies," China Doll answered, pouting. "And these will be so much fun. Why don't you show them how fun you can be?" She patted Amari and Kethri on their heads. The two girls got up stiffly and turned lifeless eyes towards Cael and Azaria. Azaria shuddered. She could swear that, as they moved, she could see some kind of string connecting their hearts to China Doll's heart. But she had to just be imagining it, right?

"Those mean people are trying to interrupt our fun," she told the two. "Go teach them what happens to people that interrupt other people's tea parties."

The two girls moved silently towards Azaria and Cael. As they moved, the lowlight of the room confirmed that strings attached them to China Doll. So she didn't imagine it.

"You seeing that?" Cael asked. He had his bow in his hands, an arrow nocked and pointed at China Doll.

Azaria nodded slowly, calculating. She knew that the string had something to do with why they were acting that way and there was a good chance that cutting the strings would sever the connection. But what then? Would it hurt them? Would it hurt China Doll? That wouldn't be too bad. Would it kill someone? There were too many unknowns. But what other choice did they have?

All these thoughts flew through her head and her decision was made in seconds. "We have to cut the strings," she whispered. Cael nodded, not taking his eyes off China Doll. But unspoken words went between them both and he relaxed the bow and put the arrow back in his quiver. Steadily, he reached behind him and pulled out several small blinking circles which he proceeded to throw and attach to walls, the ceiling, and the floor strategically.

Meanwhile, Azaria shrunk down into a mouse and slipped over to where Kethri and Amari were sitting. China Doll was too focused on Cael to notice.

"Now!" Cael shouted. He pushed a button and lasers shot out of the circles, cutting the strings and separating China from Amari and Kethri. At the same time, Azaria transformed back into a human behind China Doll and, as soon as the strings were cut, she grabbed her and threw her against the wall. The lasers timed out and clicked off.

While Azaria fought China Doll, Cael went to check on Kethri and Amari. Even though they had been released, they still weren't moving. They had just fallen over, face dead and eyes unblinking. He checked their pulses - both were alive but their pulses were slow. He went to help Azaria.

Azaria had China Doll backed against a wall. "You've got nowhere to run, China," she said.

China Doll narrowed her eyes. "You broke my dollies. We were going to have so much fun. You're going to pay for this." She raised her arms and the entire room came to life. Dolls of all sizes rose up and started walking towards Cael and Azaria, surrounding them.

"Oh man..." Cael said, getting to his feet. Azaria backed away from China Doll, her head swiveling. The dolls advanced slowly on them with unblinking eyes, staring. Cael and Azaria bumped into each other's backs.

"Any ideas for this one?" Azaria asked.

"Actually, yes." Cael grinned. He dug a small vial out of a pouch on his belt. "Grab Kethri and get ready to run out that door. Don't worry, she's light." He jerked his head towards the door on the other side of the room. Azaria nodded and scooped up Kethri. Cael had warned her, but man was she light. She tossed her over her shoulder so she would still have a hand to work with. Cael did the same with Amari. He smashed the vial on the ground. A cloud of smoke exploded from where the glass had broken, hiding them from the dolls.

"Let's go!" Cael shouted.

Azaria ran for the door, Cael close behind her. They tore open the door and dashed up the corridor which twisted and turned through the dark. Azaria ran, not really knowing what direction to go to get out. Her only thoughts were to get Amari and Kethri to safety and put a good deal of space between them and China Doll.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Cael called as they skidded around a corner.

"Um...no," Azaria admitted.

Cael slowed to a stop. "Hang on," he said, "We need to think this through."

"China Doll and her creepy minions could be on us at any minute. Do you really think stopping is really a good idea right now?"

"Running blind really isn't a better one. We're gonna end up trapped somewhere."

Azaria skidded to a stop. "True," she said slowly. She looked around, trying to find out where the heck they were. They were standing in a long, empty hallway. At the end of the hall was a window. "I think I found a way out," she said as she moved towards the window. Looking out of it, she saw a moat not too far below them. "You know how to swim, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" Cael said.

"It's gonna come in pretty handy here in a second," she explained, taking a few steps away from the window.

Cael put a hand on her before she started running forward, seeing what she was going to do. "Amari and Kethri?" He asked.

"Oh," Azaria said, looking over at the girl on her shoulder.

Cael smirked. "Allow me." He grabbed Amari under one arm and Kethri under the other. He swung them back and then threw them forward before jumping after them.

"Cael, what are you doing?" Azaria yelled, diving after him. She splashed under the mucky, disgusting water of the moat.

Moments later, four heads popped up. "What? What happened?" Amari spluttered. She took a sniff and wrinkled her nose. "And what is that smell?"

Cael grinned. "You're welcome."

"For what?" Amari accused. “Trying to drown me in smelly water?” Cael just grinned and said nothing.

"How the heck did we get here?" Kethri asked, looking around. "And why the heck am I wearing a dress? Where did my costume go?"

"It's a long story," Azaria sighed. "Let's just get out of here. This place stinks."

It took a few minutes to get everyone out of the muddy water and onto dry land. Azaria lead the way back to the car. Amari and Kethri were still confused as to how they got there and what had happened.

"You guys really don't remember anything?" Cael asked, as Azaria drove home.

"Nope," Amari said. "Last thing I remember, I was in the tree house then I woke up in that stinky moat."

"Yeah, and I remember being behind Cael when we were in the castle, then everything went blank," Kethri added.

"What happened?" Amari asked.

"You really don't want to know," Cael said. Amari glared at him.

"And what if I do?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No really, you don't," Cael said. Amari was about to protest when Azaria cut her off.

"Mari, just drop it," she said. Amari threw her hands in the air.

"Okay, fine," she said. Feeling defeated, she slumped back in her seat and stared out the window.

. . . . .

The sun was just about to peek over the horizon by the time they made it back to the house. Azaria parked the car in the garage and yawned. It had been a really, really long day.

"I don't care what you guys are gonna go do, but I'm gonna go get some sleep," she said as she made her way inside, everyone else following her.

"Sleep sounds good," Amari yawned, breaking off towards the door.

"You're not going to the tree house, not for a while anyway," Azaria said, grabbing her and pulling her back.

"But -" Amari said. Azaria gave her a look that told her not to continue arguing or she was going to end up tied to her bed with duct tape. "Okay," she huffed.

The house was quiet as they crept into the foyer. It looked like no one was up. Good thing, too. Azaria didn't really feel like answering questions at the moment. She nodded a good-night to everyone and headed for the stairs with Kethri. Just as her foot landed on the bottom stair, a light from the living room flicked on. Everyone turned around and saw Sasha standing in the living room, her arms folded over her chest and a stern look on her face.

"And just where do you think you're going?"