My name is Andy Barclay. Not Andrew, not Drew, ANDY. That was my Dad's name and what he liked to be called before he died. I honestly don't remember much more about my Dad, he died when I was four. I just know that he loved me and ever since he died, my life's been going to Hell. My Mom worked her ass off to support me, and even managed to get me the one thing I wanted more than anything for my sixth birthday: a Good Guy doll.
Unfortunately the doll contained the soul of a serial killer named Charles Lee Ray, who proceeded to kill my babysitter and a shitload of other people. I was a stupid six-year-old back then (this is coming from a now mature 11-year-old), I would have believed anything as long I had someone to talk to. Chucky told me all of his secrets, which was a bad move because now I was the only person he could transfer his soul into. He failed three separate times to get me, but the third time I ended up in an even worse situation than a killer doll trying to possess my body... * Two Years Earlier A set of surveillance photos, along with newspaper clippings and family photos dropped onto the table. All of the photos were of one Andy Barclay. "This is him," the man said. "He's the one we need." "This kid can't be any older than eight or nine," the man behind the desk said as he looked at the photo. "He'd be killed immediately." "No, he's one... them." The man looked up with a raised eyebrow. "How can you be so sure?" "He's survived the Lakeshore Strangler twice," the man told him. "A supernaturally powered Lakeshore Strangler. I wasn't positive at first, then I did some digging. I found...something very interesting." A file slid across the desk as the man opened it. "Bring him to me. If this boy is who you say he is, then we'll have the ultimate weapon in our possession. The Cult of Thorn will be unstoppable." * Tiffany Valentine returned to her trailer late at night with several voodoo books in hand. For the last few years, she had desperately seeking out her lover Charles Lee Ray, having figured out that he was still alive after the last set of murders involving Andy Barclay. She was sure that within one of the books she'd acquired that she'd find the one voodoo spell that would lead Tiffany to the love of her life. As Tiffany got to the steps of her trailer, she saw the window had been broken. It had to have been one of those punks in the trailer park. The neighborhood itself wasn't very safe, but she had to keep a low profile to avoid police detection. Like her former lover, Tiffany's hands weren't exactly clean when it came to murder. Reaching into her purse, Tiffany wrapped her blood red nails around a freshly sharpened blade before slowly entering the trailer. "Who's in here?" Tiffany asked as the sound of something shattering came from the bedroom. She approached as the rain started hitting the tin roof of the trailer. There was no one in the bedroom, but a wine glass lay on the floor in pieces. Tiffany slowly kneeled by the bed where the glass had been shattered, slowly raising the blanket to look underneath the bed, only to find nothing. As she raised up, a loud clap of thunder struck, lighting up the room and revealing a Good Guy doll sitting on the bed. "Heya, Tiff." Chucky said before letting loose a familiar laugh. * Springwood Spencer Meyer sat on the couch with his friends, stoned out of their minds as they watched tv, their usual Friday night activity instead of studying or planning for life after high school. "Where did you get this shit?" Spencer asked as he took another hit. "I think I'm starting to see things. Dudes?" Spencer looked at his two friends, seeing they'd been slashed to death, their eyes still open and staring at him. "Whoah. I think I need to lay off this weed." "Come on, Spencer," the teen's friends said in unison while remaining unmoving. "We're just starting to have fun." "What the--," Spencer said the room started shaking. Spencer got up and stumbled as he tried to run for the door, but the room's colors started spinning while the objects all around him lost their color, with the whole world becoming twisted and out of shape. "I don't think I like this anymore." "What's the matter, Spencer?" Freddy Krueger's voice said from all around him. "Never been this high before?" The floor started falling apart, leaving Spencer on a tiny platform hundreds of miles in the air in the middle of a mountain range. The rocks on the mountain started forming into a giant Freddy, with a monstrous gloved hand rising up. "I think I'm ready to wake up now!" Spencer shouted as one of Freddy's bladed fingers reached toward him. "Not before we have a little... talk," Freddy said. "You're going to my new errand boy. I need a few messages delivered, and you're going to mail them for me. And if you fail--" Freddy pushed Spencer off of the platform, letting him fall before catching Spencer in the palm of his hand. "You're going to suffer the worst death I've ever doled out." Spencer realized he'd fallen into a pile of snakes, worms, maggots and spiders, which were now crawling all over him and getting under his skin. Spencer screamed as loud as he could as he woke up on the couch inbetween his sleeping friends. "It was just a dream, that's all." Spencer said as he shook his hair, letting a few maggots fall out onto his shirt. Freddy's laugh echoed all around as Spencer through his joint to the floor. * Today Early morning in the underground compound belong to the Cult of Thorn where Andy Barclay had gotten up early for the big day. Today he would prove his worth to the cult after two hellish years of intense training, torture and brainwashing to break his spirit so that he could be remolded for the Cult's purposes. After getting dressed, Andy headed to the room up the hall where a boy his age stared into a mirror. Andy dropped to his knees as the boy noticed him. Danny Strode turned to stare at him, remaining silent as kneeled down, placing his forehead against Andy's, knowing that it wasn't going to be an easy day for either of them. "I promised that I would die for you," Andy said. "After everything we've been through, my life is yours until the end, no matter what happens." A tear fell down Danny's face before he stood up and faced the mirror. As Andy got to his feet, his stared toward the door. "We'll get through this together," Andy promised. "Friends to the end, Danny." * A motel just outside of Haddonfield "Andy Barclay was six years old when he got involved in a series of murders that he claimed were committed by a serial killer's soul living inside of his Good Guy doll," Tommy said as he paced around the room. "After getting taken away from his mother and put into foster care, the murders started up again. Andy got put back into the system, but disappeared after his foster father turned up dead. Andy hasn't been since that night two years ago." "Meanwhile, more murders in the style of Charles Lee Ray continued to happen all over the Eastern states," John added as he typed away on his laptop. "But no descriptions matching Andy." "So Chucky never got him?" Tommy asked. "Maybe he killed him." "Nancy said he was alive," Jacob told him. "And that he needed help. Someone else grabbed him before Chucky could get to him. And I can't seem to reach him directly through his dreams, I only get brief flashes when I try. So either he's not sleeping or someone's screwed with his mind enough to where I can't get into his head." "So how do we find him?" John asked. "If the boy is off the grid, how are we supposed to help him?" "You said you can't reach him directly," Tommy said as he looked at Jacob. "How would you be able to reach him?" "When he lets his guard down," Jacob said. "There were moments when he was... weaker. When he thinks about his mother or...," a tear fell from Jacob's eye. "It's too horrifying to even say out loud. These guys, they did some horrible stuff to break him." "You can tell us, Jacob," Tommy said as Jacob whispered into his ear. Tommy's face went pale as he stood up. "These fuckers are dead, I don't care who they are. Do whatever you have to in order to find him, Jacob, we're getting that kid out of there. Andy was last seen in the Chicago area, we'll start there, maybe we'll get lucky and find a clue. Jacob, think you can keep trying to find Andy?" "I guess," Jacob said as he lay back on the bed. "I just woke up from a two year coma, I don't know if I can just go back to sleep for more than a few minutes." "I know you can do this, kid," Tommy said. "You're The Dream Master. If anyone can find this kid, you can. Meanwhile, John and I are going to see what we can find." * "We found him," a man said to the robed leader of the Cult of Thorn later that day. "Michael Myers has been spotted at his old asylum, he murdered half the night staff and ransacked the office. He's not too far away from there." "He's looking for his sister," the man smirked. "He must have given up trying to find his nephew. Keep an eye of him, we'll bring the boys and end this. Once Danny stabs Michael with the cursed dagger, Danny will become the new embodiment of evil, forever cursed." * "Come on, Andy," Jacob said after having taken a few sleeping pills. Soon he found himself in the dream scape, walking through a hall of mirrors. "I know you're out there, I just need you to be a little drowsy." Jacob found himself staring into a foggy mirror where Andy had started to take a quick nap on the road to where ever he was being driven to. It was a nightmarish scape where the boy found himself in a Good Guy factory where there were hundreds of Chuckys chasing him, all of them armed. "You can't run from me, Andy!" Chucky shouted, leading an army of himself. "I'm going to kill you!" "Get away from him, you little bastards!" Jacob shouted as he jumped through the mirror and landed with a large howitzer. He opened fire on the Chuckys as Andy stopped and slowly walked back. "It' s okay, Andy, they can't hurt you. This is all just a dream." "The real Chucky's out there," Andy said in a scared tone. "He's going to find me." Jacob looked at all the bullet riddled Chuckys before looking at Andy. "You've beaten this guy twice, kid. With help, you can put him down for keeps. Me and my friends can help. Where are you?" "It's not just Chucky," Andy told him. "The Cult of Thorn. Even if Chucky never finds me, the Cult will never let me go." "Tell me where you," Jacob said. "We'll save you, I promise. But we have to know where they're taking you." Andy shed a tear as he looked at Jacob. "Okay, but you have to promise me something...." * "They're heading toward Michael Myers," Jacob said to Tommy over the phone. "He's in Haddonfield." "Sit tight, we're coming back to get you," Tommy said. "We're not that far away." "No, you go to Andy," Jacob told him. "I have an idea on how to deal with Michael Myers. I don't think we're prepared enough to kill him with the Cult around, but I may be able to keep him down long enough for you to get Andy and get out of there. Here's what you need to do." "John, we need to make a quick stop." Tommy said as he noticed a pharmacy that was closed for the night. * An unmarked van arrived near the woods around Haddonfield. "This is it," the robed man said as he looked into the back. "It's you or him, Danny. Do not disappoint us." Andy put a hand on Danny's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I've got your back, Danny. We can do this." "Remember, Andy," the robed man said. "If Danny doesn't come back, then you don't come back." Andy nodded as they got out of the van and started walking. "You don't have to do this, Andy," Danny told him. "Once Michael dies... I won't be the same person. I'll be... just like him." "I don't believe that," Andy said. "I don't believe that you won't be my best friend. We've spent the last two years bonding, both by force and because I really like you. I know you, Danny. You'll be nothing like him." Not too far away, Tommy and John arrived, entering a different section of the forest. "We are insanely under prepared for this," John said. "We were supposed to stockpile weapons until we were ready for him. For all of them." "We're not here to kill, we're here to extract," Tommy reminded him. "This Andy kid is important. Jacob believes it, so I do, too." "And what if Jacob's wrong? You're putting all of our chips on a kid who's been in a coma for two years. And who the hell is this Nancy he was talking about?" "The original Dream Master," Tommy told him. "Who's been... dead for the last few years." "Oh, that makes me feel better." "Just trust me, okay? And get ready, when we do find Myers, we have to move fast." * "Do you remember the first night we met?" Danny asked as he held a golden dagger in his hand. "The night they brought you to the compound?" "Yeah," Andy said. "It was just another night for me, apparently." "You weren't crying," Danny reminded him. "You weren't scared. You tried like hell to get away time after time until they finally had to break your arm to teach you a lesson." "They just dislocated it, actually," Andy said. "Just enough to where when they reset it, it hurt like hell. They had to start my... training and a broken arm wouldn't help that. Then the real torture began. I... hated having to hurt you." "Their form of getting us to bond," Danny said. "That wasn't your fault, Andy. After a while, I stopped feeling pain. Just like you did. We became best friends because of what they made us do. We stopped feeling pain, and I stopped feeling scared. Now the only thing I'm scared of is what's going to happen when I kill Michael Myers." Andy stared Danny straight in the eyes. "Nothing's going to happen, Danny, because you're not going to kill him." "But the Cult--" "Fuck the Cult," Andy whispered through gritted teeth. "I have an idea, but you to have to follow me on this, okay? If it works, we'll be free. Just you and me. They wanted me to be loyal to you so that I'd die for you, and it worked way too well. There aren't a lot of people I can say I care for in the world, but you? I never thought I'd say this again... but we're friends to the end. It'll be tough for a while, but if you trust me, we'll never have to deal with these guys again. Do you trust me?" "I trust you." "Good," Andy said. "You have a hidden body cam on you, just like I do, but if we whisper low, it can't pick up our voices. When we find Michael, do exactly as I say, and do it fast." * Michael Myers emerged from a shack near the river after having recharged his energy for the day after eating a few small woodland creatures, washing down their meat with their own blood. Now he was ready to find his next target. "There he is." John said from his spot on a small hill. "There he is." The robed man said as he watched through Danny's body cam. * "There you are." Jacob said from the Dreamworld where he'd found Michael, whose consciousness was always partly comatose, allowing him to not feel pain or emotion. Jacob found him wandering through a field of his dead victims, all of them staring up with their eyes open. "Maybe I can stop him from here." A hand suddenly found itself on his shoulder as Jacob turned around to stare up at a teenager looking down at him. He was blonde with a ponytail and a glazed look in his eyes. "Who are you?" Jacob asked. "Freddy sent me." Spencer said as he pulled out a knife and pushed it toward Jacob. * "This guy can't feel pain," John told Tommy as they made their way down the hill. "He just shakes it off. You saw how many rounds we put in him when we met. The .38s we brought aren't going to do dick against him." "Then we improvise and hit him with the tranqs we took from that store," Tommy said. "See that river? We get him close enough to the water and push him in. That'll buy us at least a few minutes to find Andy and run." "Uh... Tommy? I think we won't have to look far for the kid," John told him. "You said he was around 12? Reddish brown hair? Looks like he's used to life kicking him in the sack?" "Shit," Tommy said as he pulled out his gun and saw Andy walking ahead of Danny. "You head off Michael, I'll get the...kids? Who the hell is that?" "Jacob didn't mention another kid," John told him. "Looks like a double rescue mission." * "Find out who those two men are," the robed man said as watched from a van not too far away. "Send our men in as back-up to make sure they don't interfere. We're too close to our plans coming to fruition. No one can stop us now." "Uhhh... sir?" a technician asked. * Andy looked back at Danny, nodding that it was time. As they got closer to Michael, Andy pulled out his sword and swung at Michael, purposely missing as Michael punched at Andy, who pretended to get hit and fell back into the water. Danny ran toward him, intending to fall into the water himself, but Michael caught him by the throat. Andy quickly pulled off the body armor, including the body cam as he got to the surface and saw Michael choking Danny. "NO!" Andy shouted as John plunged several syringes iinto Michael's neck, forcing him to drop Danny to the ground where he fell to the firt with his eyes wide open. "Danny!" Andy started to swim toward the shore where Tommy pulled him out on the other side of the small stream. As soon as Andy was out of the water, he started punching at Tommy. "Let me go! I have to save him!" Andy shouted. "Let me go, you bastard!" "I don't have time for this," Tommy said as he punched Andy to knock him out before slinging him over his shoulder. "Come on, John, get out of there." On the other side of the stream, John saw Michael starting to struggle as John started punching at him. "Getting weak, aren't you?" John asked as he punched Michael toward the water. "This is for my aunt! This for my niece! This is for my girlfriend! This is for my friends! And this one's for my mama!" John punched Michael as hard as he could, sending Michael falling back into the stream where he disappeared under the water. John pulled out his .38 and fired every round he had into the water until he was only making clicking sounds. "JOHN! Fucking move already!" Tommy shouted with Andy over his shoulder. "Get the kid and go!" Before John could go back for Danny, the Cult's men were already all around him and fully armed, ready to open fire. ".... Shit," John said as he dived into the water and started swimming, noticing bullets hitting the water around him. Several of them hit their mark, getting his shoulder and in the side. John swam as hard as he could until he finally had to get above water where he saw Tommy running with Andy. Taking a deep breath, John ducked back under the water until he thought he was alone. He resurfaced and crawled back onto the surface, now thinking about the bullet wounds. "Oh, fuck." "Really?" Tommy asked as he grabbed John's hand. "You'd better be able to walk 'cause I'm not carrying your bitch ass." * "Is the boy alive?" the robed man asked as the doctor examining nodded. "And Andy?" "The kidnappers got away with him," another man said as the robed man nodded. "Should we pursue?" "No, I want to know who they are and why they got involved," the robed man said as he lowered his hood, revealing Dr. Sam Loomis. "Then I want to kill them slowly for interfering. We'll find Andy again. For now, get the boy back to the temple for recovery. Michael is still alive, I feel it. We'll let him go for the time being until we're ready for him to die." * In the Dreamworld. Jacob unleashed a sonic scream toward the teenager trying to kill him, sending him to his knees as Jacob punched and kicked at him until the older boy was on the ground, begging for mercy. "What do you mean, Freddy sent you?" Jacob asked. "Sent you for what?" "For him," the teenager said as he pointed to Michael. "To make sure his message got through." "What message?" Jacob asked. "The same one that I sent to the other monster," the teenager said as he laughed as he started fading away. "Oh, won't Freddy be pleased to know that you're alive." "What?" Jacob asked as he tried to keep the other boy there. "Come back! What message!?" * "You have to learn to start tranquing people," Jacob said as he tried to console Andy, even though he was tied up. Andy had a black eye while screaming and trying to break loose. "That shiner's not going away any time soon." Tommy pulled out the bullets in John's side as he tended his wounds while sitting in an old shack miles away. "John had all the tranqs we had and he needed those. Besides, we got the kid." "You didn't get Danny!" Andy shouted as he looked at Jacob. "You promised! YOU PROMISED!" "I'm sorry," Jacob told him. "We'll get him out of there, I swear." "Don't make promises we can't keep," Tommy said. "We don't know what we're up against with this cult. Plus we have bigger issues. Like why Freddy's trying to get ahold of Michael Myers, or any other monster. He said he was going after Jason the next time he wakes up, but what other monsters are there?" "Chucky," Andy told him. "He's still out there and he's searching for me. He's the reason my mom got locked up in a mental hospital." "My mom's in a psych ward, too," John told him. "Heh, maybe they're roomies." Tommy raised his head. "Son a bitch, you might be right!" "Say what?" Jacob asked as he looked at Andy. "Where's your mom now?" "Westin Hills in Springwood," Andy told him. "I haven't seen her since the trial five years ago." "That's where my mom is," John told him. "Do you think that's where Freddy's sending them? But why?" "Because my mom has to be there, too," Jacob realized. "That place is the main user of Hypnocil. Maybe-- maybe my mom's there and she's on the stuff. That's why I haven't been able to get in contact with her through my dreams. All of our moms are in Springwood." "And they're all in danger," John told him as Tommy pulled out the final bullet. "OW!" "I can't go to Springwood, I'm not ready," Jacob said. "I can't." "You have to," Tommy told him. "Freddy's going after your mom and he's got two supernatural killers on his side, maybe more. Westin Hills will be a slaughter ground unless we stop them." "The four of us?" John asked as he looked at Andy. "My mom's in trouble, I'm going," Andy said. "I have to save her." "Okay, then," Tommy told him. "Load up, gentlemen. We're going to save our moms." TO BE CONTINUED...
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Ed's Note - Be sure to read Mighty Max before you carve into The Gathering!
A Special Seriesfrom the mind of Tobias Christopher! Archives
October 2019
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