"I can't believe we left John and Andy behind," Jacob said while sitting in the passenger side seat of the van as it headed down the highway. "What if they got caught?"
"They've fought monsters solo before," Tommy told him as he focused on the road. "They'll be fine. We can't babysit them all the time." "I'm worried about Andy," Jacob told him. "His drinking's getting worse. How long before he decides to go find the Cult of Thorn to rescue Danny himself? I know his mother's out there and leaving him messages, but—" "I've been faking the messages from her," Tommy said. "To keep his hopes up. Honestly, I have no idea if her or Laurie are still out there. I'm worried about him, too. But I don't know how to deal with this kind of thing, I just wanted to save people from these monsters." "How can we save people if you can't even save your team?" Jacob asked as he stared out the window. "Andy acts like a dick sometimes, but... he's kind of like my little brother now. I don't want to see him drink himself to death or worse." Tommy sighed as he looked over to the teenager. "Okay, we'll try to get him through this, for real this time. You're right, I've just been letting this slide because of what he's been through. Then after that, we can deal with your masturbation problem." "Problem? What problem? I don't have a problem," Jacob told him. "You keep two boxes of tissue paper in the van and one in Andy's backpack." "...Think I should start bringing more?" * "Achoo!" Andy sneezed into a tissue, having it pulled out of his backpack. "Good thing Jacob is paranoid about getting sick. Why else would he bring a ton of kleenex with him?" "Right, puberty hasn't really set in for you yet," John told him. While Andy knew of Jacob's ability to pleasure himself to many things, he hadn't made certain connections yet. "There's a small scrapyard over there. There should be some wrought iron to use as a weapon." "Think we can beat thing without Tommy?" Andy asked as the climbed the fence. "You probably could, you beat Chucky a few times," John told him. "Not on my own, I had my mother, and Kyle, and a police officer to do the heavy work," Andy told him. "I only lit him on fire and melted him." "More than I did," John said. "I never got to take Michael on by myself. I never believed he even existed until the night he killed my friends and my Mom got sent away. I don't even know if I'm strong enough to stand up to him when he comes back." Andy took his hand and held it. "Don't think I'm going soft, but... you don't have to face him alone. I'll help you. I have a score to settle with him, too. He killed my father." "Okay, we'll do this as a team, partner," John said as he picked up a pipe. "Ever play baseball, Andy?" "I always wanted to," Andy told him and found a tire iron. "My Mom was going to sign me up for softball in the spring. Then Chucky happened." "We'll take in a game some night," John told him. "See if you like it." "If we survive," Andy told him. "Think our Moms are okay?" "They're tough," John said. "They're survivors, like us." "The Cult guys said the same thing," Andy told him. "That I'm a survivor. They said that made me special, but I never got what they meant." "The Cult guys are fucked up, and we're going to deliver a world of hurt very soon," John promised. "But for right now, we got a Leprechaun to fuck up." * Cody raced down the street, having conned a guy his size out of his outfit, although the guy's shoes didn't fit so he was still barefoot until he could find a comfortable pair of shoes. After a quick stop to get a very special weapon, Cody raced towards Bridget's house. "Don't worry, Bridget, I'm coming," Cody said to himself. "I'm not losing anyone else. I know how to kill this guy, I just have to get close enough." * It was well after 3 A.M. as Bridget came downstairs, unable to sleep. She headed to the kitchen to make a cup of hot chocolate, thinking about Cody the whole time. "I told him to get rid of that coin," Bridget thought to herself. "Why didn't he listen to me? He's only going to cause trouble for himself. Why can't Cody ever just listen when someone tells him not to do something?" Bridget headed toward the living room upon seeing the glow of the tv. Her father sat on the couch while a late-night movie played. "You couldn't sleep either, could you?" Bridget asked as she sat down, putting her mug of hot chocolate on the table. "Daddy, I know you don't like Cody but he's not a murderer. He was set up. I just wish you'd give him a chance." "Why would I give him a chance?" Bridget's father asked in an Irish brogue. "After all, the lad is a thieving scoundrel. In fact, he deserves the death penalty for stealing that poor Leprechaun's shilling." "Why are you talking like that?" Bridget asked as she noticed her father wasn't facing her when he talked. That's when she realized that a hand was sticking through the back of his head, working him like a puppet. Bridget screamed as Lubdan appeared in front of her. He looked down at the coffee table and picked up the mug of hot chocolate, sipping it before spitting it out. "You could at least offer a guest a nice cup of tea!" Lubdan shouted as he ran toward her. "I want me gold!" An iron pipe hit Lubdan upside the head before whacking him in the chest and once again in the head. Lubdan fell backward through the glass coffee table, shattering it on impact. "Come on," John said as he extended his hand. "Little fucker won't stay down long." "He— he killed my father!" Bridget screamed. "We don't have time for this," John said as he looked down at the shattered table, just in time to realize that Ludban had disappeared. "Crap." Lubdan suddenly appeared behind John, biting into his leg and drawing blood. He fell back as he reached for the iron pipe to defend himself. As Ludban closed in on John, a tire iron flew across the room, sticking through the side of Lubdan's head, burning him. He pulled it out and saw Andy standing across the room. "You think you can harm me, boy?" Lubdan asked as he used his magic to levitate the iron. "Let's play boomerang!" The tire iron flew through the air, but before Andy could react, it knocked through the plate glass window and into the yard outside. "Andy!" John shouted. "Doubt a wee lad that size could survive that," Lubdan told him as he grabbed Bridget's arm. "But he's not the boy I'm looking for." Cody ran in with an iron crowbar as Ludban pulled Bridget toward the kitchen door. "Let her go you little green bastard!" "Now, that's no way to talk about me parentage," Lubdan told him. "If you want the lass back, bring me shilling to me brother's tomb at dawn!" Before Cody could reach them, Lubdan faded away with Bridget in his grasp, laughing the whole time. "No!" Cody shouted. "I was too late!" John pulled himself to his feet and limped toward the window to see if Andy was actually dead. As he got to the window, Andy suddenly popped up, scaring John. "That didn't hurt nearly as much as you'd think," Andy told him as he spotted Cody. "There's the guy we've been looking for!" "I gotta save Bridget," Cody told them as he rushed upstairs to find the shoes he left behind hours earlier. He raced down the stairs while pulling them on while Andy was patching John up. "How are you alive?" John asked. "That was a plate glass window. You should have died from a multitude of injuries." "Maybe there is something to me being a survivor like The Cult said," Andy told him as he tossed the tire iron at Cody's leg, tripping him as he headed to the door. "Not so fast there, Skippy. You're not going alone just so that thing can kill you." "You don't get it, I lost the one thing that can protect me and now he has my girlfriend," Cody told them. "I have no choice. I'd die for her, I'll do anything to get her home safe." "Then we'll find a way," John told him. "We just have to put our heads together. You know all the ways to kill this thing, right? Let's nail him and get your girlfriend back." "I did have one idea, it's a long shot, but it worked before," Cody told him. "The problem is that someone has to challenge him to a drinking contest as a distraction." "Right here," Andy said as he volunteered. Cody just stared blankly at him. "What? You think I can't handle my liquor? I can drink anyone under the table." "He can," John assured him. "Probably all the eggs he eats. Seriously, google it. Eggs help with hangovers." "I do love eggs," Andy smiled. "And I gotta pee like a racehorse. I'll be right back. Nobody touch my absinthe." As soon as Andy was gone, Cody spotted the bottle. "That'll do. We have less than three hours to come up with the plan to take this little Irish bastard out and rescue my girlfriend." "What are you doing?" John asked. "It's part of the plan," Cody said as he opened the bottle. "Trust me." Minutes later, Andy and returned and looked toward the couch at Bridget's dead father. "Uhhhh... should we call someone to get him?" * In a small motel in Indiana, Tommy sat on a bed as Jacob walked out of the bathroom while holding a box of kleenex. "Are you alright?" Tommy asked. "I could have driven another few hours without sleep. What was the rush of pulling over for some sleep?" "A cat nap wasn't enough," Jacob told him as he sat down on his own bed. "I wanted a few extra hours without distraction." "What's really going on?" Tommy asked. "You've been awfully insistent on sleeping a full eight hours lately. It used to be that you were scared to sleep the whole night. Are you still trying to The Beautiful Dream?" "No," Jacob said as he fell back onto the covers. "I've come to terms with the fact that my parents can't— or won't— see me. Maybe they'll see me someday, I just gotta be patient. I just... found a reason to spend time in the Dream World is all." "Who is she?" Tommy asked with a raised eyebrow. "I know you get... excited every time you get a letter from San Francisco. You got a sweetie in California that's literally your dream girl?" "I don't want to talk about it," Jacob told him. "I want to keep some things personal." "Fair enough," Tommy told him. "If you ever want to visit your girl, just say the word. We'll make the trip for you to meet up." "Thanks," Jacob told him. "But we don't want to meet face to face. It'd probably kill the mystery." "A little mystery can be fun," Tommy said. "Okay, get your rest because we'll hit the road in a few hours. I want to be in Jersey this afternoon. Who knows how many bodies Jason's racked up by now." * In the Leprechaun's lair hidden in a tree in the park, Bridget found herself chained by the wrists as Lubdan made sure all of his gold was right where he left it. "Let me go!" Bridget shouted. "I didn't steal your stupid gold!" "No, but the lad stole me shilling, and he'll come for you, he will. Of that I'm certain, and when he does, this lair will be his tomb, just like me bastard brother," Lubdan told her. "If you hated your brother so much, why do you care if he's dead?" "It's a family thing," Lubdan informed her. "I hated me brother with all me heart, but he was still family. If anything, he should have died by my hand and my hand alone. I'll avenge me brother and hang the hide of the boy who killed him as a trophy." "So, you're not going to try to marry me?" "Of course not, lass, me birthday isn't for another hundred years," Lubdan told her. "And by then you'll be old and saggy. When it's time for me to wed, I'll choose someone a bit younger and firm. Not that you'll live that long at any rate. Once the boy is dead, you'll be joining him. You and whoever else interferes with me getting the shilling back." "Cody killed your brother, what makes you think he won't kill you?" Bridget asked. "This time he won't get the chance," Lubdan told her. "Once he enters my Labyrinth, he'll find a much different experience than he did the last time. Even having the shilling in his possession won't be able to save him this time." * Cody, John, and Andy arrived at the park an hour before dawn with their supplies in their backpacks. "Once we get inside, he's going to pull out every trick in the book to throw us off," Cody told them. "Under no circumstance can we get separated. And we'll need a code phrase to recognize each other if we do because he can take other forms. That's how I got tricked into making out him." "Gross, you made out with a Leprechaun?" Andy asked. "Yeah, and he used way too much tongue," Cody told him as he headed forward. "Just remember, he's going to trick you any way he can. If we get separated, just say 'Morty sent me' so we know who's real, got it?" "Got it," John said as he followed behind while Andy stopped to tie his shoe. "Fucking laces," Andy muttered. "Gotta start wearing boots. Guys, wait up!" As Andy rushed through the tree trunk entrance, he tripped on the other lace and fell forward, landing on his face. The floor gave way as Andy fell into a cavern, sending dust flying up. "I need a drink right now." * "Which way do we go?" John asked as he pulled out a flashlight. "This way," Cody told him. "Once we get far enough we'll be trapped. The place will go around in a circle until we kill this thing. So we need to stick close until we find Bridget. He better not have hurt her." "You really love her, don't you?" "She was the first girl I ever liked," Cody admitted. "Spent years doing everything to get her to like me. I finally asked her what I had to do to get her to like me. She said I just had to be myself, I didn't need flashy card tricks or schemes. I just had to stop trying to impress her and treat her like a regular person. If we survive this, I want to clear my name and get her as far away from this place as possible." "Then you might want to consider not killing this bastard right away," John told him. "I have the iron chains in my backpack. If we can subdue him we can drag him to the police so you can take your girl home. Unfortunately pulling that off is the real trick." "Nearly did it before," Cody told him. "Until my guardian got greedy and got himself killed. Trapped him in an iron safe. Hey, the kid awfully quiet." "Yeah, Andy's only quiet when he's drinking from a bottle," John said as he looked around. "... Shit. We gotta find him." The two started running back toward the entrance, only to end up right back they were minutes ago. "It's started," Cody told him. "We can't go back now, we either have to wait for Andy or just continue on without him." "Dammit," John said. "Let's keep going, maybe he'll find us." As the two walked along, several eyes started glowing while embedded in the wall... * Meanwhile, at Bridget's house, the police had arrived, finding her dead father on the couch. "Jesus, it looks like something just punched right through the back of his head," the officer said. "Think it was our guy?" "Who else?" the other officer said. "We just got word. Witnesses say our murderer was spotted near the park with another man and a little boy." "Get every officer on hand to the park," the officer told him. "Find out exactly where he is in there. Orders are shoot to kill. This killer's reign of terror ends tonight."
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Ed's Note - Be sure to catch up on Mighty Max, and then NW: The Gathering, before you carve into Nightmare Warriors!
by Tobias ChristopherJust a body. Meat, bones, some skin... Archives
July 2020
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