The daylight had dwindled to a barely perceptible lightening of the gloom as Shawn stepped outside his front door with Mr. Clayton. The trees were silhouettes against a newly silver sky, its blue and orange hue almost gone. Their branches swayed in the wind, creaking into the gusting air. The first sound of the nocturnal animals came, a hoot of an owl, a rabbit taking cover in the bushes against Shawn's house.

Shawn saw the silhouette of Micheal there. He had been waiting all of this time.

The skinny boy spoke up from a distance with a deep voice

"Have you seen my sister?"

For Shawn, that was an incredibly fraught question. But rather than get into it, he simply shook his head. "No, Michael, I haven't." He adjusted his fake tuxedo slightly. "I got my costume, do you want to come with me trick or treating now? I'm going to get a couple more of my friends and we'll go together."

Michael didn't answer right away. He stood there. A brown leaf from one of the nearby trees fell on his shoulder.

"OK." He affirmed.

"All right, Junior's house is closest, so we'll go there next." Assuming Michael was following him, Shawn started heading for Junior's. He wondered what sort of costume his friend was wearing.

It was certainly dusk now. Michael's face was just a hollow shadow as he followed Shawn. His feet were crunching on the leaves next to Shawn and the boy was holding a mask in one hand and a pillow case in the other. Everything was silent save for the sound of the leaves and the rustling of the chill breeze and night settled over the neighborhood.

Pulling up to Junior's house, there was a single light on in the bay window. The house had a large, yellow candy bowl outside with a sign that read "Take One."

Shawn happily took a piece of candy, picking out whatever was closest to his favorite - sour gummy worms. Then he rang the doorbell - hopefully Junior hadn't set off without him.

Junior answered the door with an annoyed look on his face. Then, upon seeing Shawn, the face became a wide grin of excitement.

"It's you! My best friend!" Junior said. Then he turned back to hallway behind him and said over his shoulder.

"Moooooooom! I'm going trick or treating!"

Shawn smiled back at Junior, like he was excited to see a friend. Which he was, of course, but the important thing was Junior could see it. "We're gonna have fun tonight!" He looked at Junior to see if he was wearing a Halloween costume yet. He remembered Mr. Clayton had said something about bringing Junior in to help tonight, but he wasn't sure what that would involve.

Junior stepped outside, he was wearing a large, boxy costume that was clearly home made. Even in the setting dusk, Shawn could see that Junior was wearing some kind of poorly made Halloween costume that had 'Transformers' written across the front of the cardboard. His legs were also outfitted with cardboard. His arms had cardboard and he moved awkwardly.

"READY!"

Shawn manipulated Mr. Clayton’s arm so it looked like the dummy was giving Junior a friendly wave. “I like your costume!” Well, it wasn’t great, but Junior had clearly worked hard on it, so he wasn’t going to insult him. “Do you know Michael? He’s gonna trick or treat with us.”

"Thanks! Wow! Wow! Wow! I'm so excited to have my best friend tell me that about my costume. It's every time I see you I think you're so famous and fun!" Junior said, jumping and making the cardboard ruffle a bit, the front of the cheap homemade costume sagging to one side.

"Hi Michael!!!"

Michael nodded with a vapid stare at Junior

After the two had introduced themselves - well, more or less - Shawn spoke up again. "Okay, there's one more place we gotta go to. There's a boy named Leonard, we're gonna see if he wants to come along too." Assuming neither of them take issue with that, he starts heading for Leonard's house.

And so they were off to Leonard's house. Michael silently walked alongside Shawn, dragging his feet and disturbing the many leaves and acorns that had fallen during the last few days in the street. Junior on the other hand was giddy with excitement.

"Oh! Do you think they'll give out starbursts? I heard that Twix!!!!.... Someone on the block had full Twix candy bars!"

Despite everything else going on, Shawn was very much looking forward to at least getting the chance to get some candy. “Aww man, I hope so! I love Starburst We gotta get them before they run out!”

Suddenly there was shouting from Junior's driveway and what looked like Junior's Mom came running down the block.

"What did I tell you, Huh!? WHAT DID I TELL YOU!!!" She screamed, a look of anger in her eyes and rage on her face.

Junior staggered backwards as his Mom approached, like a kid trying to avoid a Mac Truck coming down the highway.

"Mom...I, I just wanted to go out to...trick or treat." He offered, weakly.

"What the hell is wrong with you!??" Junior's Mom yelled. Then she seized Junior's wrist with one hand and with the other slapped his backside.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

It looked more like an assualt than a spanking.

"I TOLD YOU NO! I TOLD YOU KIDS WERE DISAPPEARING!!!! NO TRICK OR TREATING!!!"

And she slapped him harder, this time with an audible slapping followed by Junior crying out tears coming to his eyes and running down his cheeks.

Shawn wanted to say something, wanted to come up with some excuse that would make Junior's mom stop. But the words died on his lips - he couldn't make himself say anything. He just stood and watched...

"You get out of here. GO BACK HOME!" Junior's Mom yelled at Shawn.

"And don't let me see you...." She trailed off.

"Wait, didn't I see you on TV? On a commercial about Halloween?" She asked Shawn suddenly.

Shawn was taken aback at Junior's Mom's sudden change in demeanor, but at least it stopped him from getting yelled at. "I was in a Halloween commercial, ma'am." He tried to put on his most respectful look - obviously, he couldn't look too happy or flattered, since it wasn't exactly a happy situation. But at least it gave him a chance to get a word in edgewise. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to get Junior in trouble. Trick-or-treating was my idea, I should've asked you first."

Junior's Mom looked like she was about to say something pleasant in reply, but then Junior let out a squeal which brought all the negativeness flooding back into the conversation.

"Well go home!" She snapped. Then she yanked on Junior's arm pulling him back towards the house, the pair turning their back on Shawn and growing smaller as they faded into growing darkness of what was slowly becoming night.

Shawn thought for a moment he might be able to talk Junior out of trouble...and then Junior's cries brought a quick end to that. He watched them fade away into the dark before turning awkwardly back to Michael. "I guess...we should keep going to Leonard's?"

"Yes." Michael agreed, standing still as a statue and watching Junior's shadow fade away, the boy's sobs still audible.

"Leonard." Michael repeated.

Shawn waited until he couldn't hear Junior's voice at all, on the off chance that his mom changed her mind. When she didn't, he reluctantly turned around and started walking towards Leonard's.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 11:47, Thu 30 July 2020.

There were bright glowing lamp lights from within Leonard's house, illuminating the different rooms and showing that people were home.

As Shawn and Michael headed up the driveway, it was easy to see the path from the grass. There was a sign on the door that read "Boo."

Shawn was relieved that Leonard's family seemed to be celebrating Halloween. He walked up the path and knocked on the door, putting on his best 'happy trick-or-treater' expression.

Leonard opened the door wearing a giant robot costume that was homemade. Unlike Junior's costume, Leonard's was carefully painted and had a silver, metallic glow to it. Red and blue lights adorned the front of the costume and they blinked intermittently. Leonard was holding the head of the robot in the crook of his arm, as if ready to put it on at a moment's notice.

"You are a robot for Halloween." Michael said, sounding much like a robot himself as he said it.

"No." Leonard corrected, "I'm a fake robot. On the outside, everything that I am looks like a robot, but really, my costume is that a real person is on the inside. That is the trick that I made. Get it? So it looks like I'm a robot, but really I am real. Its like having a costume within a costume." Leonard explained.

"Like an egg." Michael observed without emotion.

"I guess." Leonard replied.

"That's a really cool costume!" Shawn was genuinely impressed - the costume wouldn't look super out of place on some of the movie sets he'd been on. "So if being a fake robot with a real person inside is the costume, does that mean that normally you're a fake person with a real robot inside?"" He giggled out loud as he said it, clearly kidding around.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:51, Fri 31 July 2020.

"Come on inside!" Leonard responded with his own giggle and invitation at Shawn's joke. He didn't answer the question though.


As Leonard opened the door, Shawn saw the interior hallway of the house was a complete pig-stye. A long running sock was strewn across the floor and piles of papers and unopened mail had accumulated against the walls.

Shawn follows Leonard inside, pausing to wave Michael in as well. He looked around the house, wondering if they had a bowl of candy set out. "You ready to go trick or treating?"

"Almost!" Leonard said. "I just need help picking out a pillow case. Come to my room." Leonard said, and he ran down the hallway, nearly tripping over a pile of papers before cutting right into a side door.

Shawn followed after Leonard a little more slowly to make sure Michael could keep up, since he knew this was probably the latter kid's first time in the house. He headed for Leonard's room. "Better get a big one!"

Michael trailed behind as both boys followed Leonard into his room.

"Yeah, a big one." Leonard said. "I just need to find it. Can you guys help?"

The room was a disaster. Shawn looked amid the pile of discarded clothes and plastic debris from wrappers that had food still in them all about the floor.

A pillow case could be anywhere. In any of those piles. In the closet, under the bed. It was a total disaster.

"I'll look over here."  Shawn gamely tried to look through one of the piles of debris, though he was limited by the fact that one of his hands was obviously busy with Mr. Clayton, and he didn't want to get food stains on his costume.

He remembered what he saw last time he was here, and kept his eyes open for new drawings that Leonard had done as well. "Oh yeah, have you had any more luck with those dreams? They were pretty scary." He tried to keep his tone casual, like he was asking about a TV show Leonard had mentioned liking.

Shawn moved around a pile near the closet, unable to find on the plain floor a pillow case out in the open.

"What?" Leonard asked, head underneath his bed, butt sticking out.

Shawn picked another pile and wandered around it. "You drew that spooky story about the clowns juggling and showed it to me last time I visited, remember?" He was feeling a little paranoid now after what had happened to Junior, but he kept his tone light. Still, he decided to add a little falsehood to see if Leonard would correct it. "You said your mom wanted to put them on the fridge."

Leonard's butt moved to the side neck still under the bed like he was an ostrich with his head in the sand.

"Uh-huh." He agreed with Shawn, clearly more focused on finding the pillow case. "I don't think its under here." Leonard complained in a  muffled voice. "Where could it be?"

That only made Shawn's suspicions worse. He walked over to the bed, grabbed Leonard's pillow, then shook it until the pillow fell out and left him with just the pillow case. Then he backed away, making sure that the exit to Leonard's room was clear in case he had to run. "I found a pillow case...though maybe you should tell me who you really are?" He still kept his tone light, in case this was all an elaborate joke or misunderstanding.

Leonard backed up, his butt waggling and then he turned around and coughed a few times. His hands came up to clear the dust out of his eyes.

"What?" He asked. "Where...?" Then seeing the pillow case his eyes brightened. "You found it!" He exclaimed, happy.

Then he looked at Shawn with a confused look. "What?" He asked.

Either Shawn was being completely paranoid, or this Leonard was a good actor. But getting screamed at by Junior's mom had rattled him, and he wanted either proof he was right or reassurance he was wrong before he could go out trick or treating. So he kept his tone playful, so that if this was all a misunderstanding he could pretend it was all just a game.


"Well, maybe you aren't Leonard at all! Maybe you're a robot in disguise trying to trick me!" Shawn gave Leonard a silly grin, but he was paying close attention to his answer. "I'll ask you something only the real Leonard would know! Like, how did we first meet?"

Leonard took a step back and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ummmm...Ummmm....was I wearing the robot costume?" He asked uncertainly. "I remember you came over my house to look at drawings." He looked and Shawn, head moving forward like a kid in a class hoping to get the right answer. "I showed you the big robot drawing and told you the dream I had. I remember that."

Shawn...wasn't entirely reassured by Leonard's answer, but there were enough details that it was clear he remembered part of it. And Leonard was younger than him, and might have genuinely forgotten about stuff. He decided to give him a hint. "You've almost got it - do you remember what happened with Rex?" Surely he'd remember the way Rex had gotten loose - unless it was something that happened all the time.

Leonard smiled. "Of course I do! You got my dog. You helped me when I thought Rex was going to be gone forever. I'll never forget that. Rex is one of the best-est things that ever happened to me. And you helped me from him getting lost forever. I'll never forget that." Leonard said and he started to walk towards Shawn, but then tripped over a pile of clothing or something underneath it and fell forward.

Shawn felt relieved on the inside, though he tried not to show Leonard just how genuinely suspicious he'd been - it had all been a fun game! "That's right! I guess you are the real Leonard!" When Leonard tripped, he tried to rush forward to catch him.

"That's right! It's the real me. But now its my turn." Leonard said, warming to what he saw was a game that Shawn was playing.

"What's the worst thing you've ever done. You can tell me. I'll tell you if you tell me. Then we have to promise that we won't tell anyone else."

Shawn considered what answer to give him - though the idea of the actual truth never even occurred to him. "Okay, but you've gotta extra promise not to tell anyone else." He decided to pick something bad that he'd actually done, so he didn't have to think too hard about the lie. "One time, when I was working on a movie, I had to wear a really expensive costume, and I tore it on a nail. When someone noticed, I said I'd gotten it like that. The director screamed at the costume guy and fired him even though it was my fault."

"Oh!" Leonard said and he brought his hands up to his mouth. "That's a bad lie." He suggested, slowly bringing his hands down.

"That's right." Shawn heard a dead-pan voice say from the doorway of Leonard's room.

It was Michael. He had the same 'nothing' look on his face. But his eyes indicated as they shifted over to take in Shawn, that Michael was thinking of a very different 'bad thing' that Shawn had done.

"A bad thing that Shawn did." Michael said cryptically, although to anyone else it would have sounded very much like he was agreeing with Shawn. Then again, maybe he was doing exactly that.

"Oh." Leonard said. "I think we met before. What's  your friend's name again Shawn?"

Shawn felt a certain relief that Michael hadn't revealed the lie about his lie. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't sure if you already knew each other. Leonard, this is Michael. Michael, this is Leonard."

"We've met." Michael stated bluntly.

Things for awkward for a moment, though Shawn certainly didn't think Michael did it on purpose - it was just the way he was. "Oh, that makes it easier. I'm glad we can all go trick or treating together!"

"We did?" Leonard asked. "OK." He said, seeming to forget about Shawn's mention of what he did wrong.

"Yes." Michael said. But it wasn't clear if he was saying it to Shawn, to Leonard, or both.

"But I came into the room to say that you are on TV."

Michael moved aside from the doorway and Shawn and Leonard could hear the television. It was Shawn's voice. He was speaking as part of the Halloween commercial that he had filmed so recently. It was already on television, presumably broadcasting everywhere. Or at least into every home that had this channel on.

Shawn always felt a bit odd seeing himself on the screen. Even when filming went well, you usually did a bunch of takes with different moods and levels of energy, so it was a bit of a surprise to see which version the director liked, and how it all got edited together.

But at the same time, he wasn't at a review session with an acting coach, so he couldn't get too absorbed in watching his performance. That'd look big-headed and self-centred. So instead he just looked faintly embarrassed at the other him on the TV. "Oh wow, they finished that really fast. I hope my mom sees it." He tried to sound modest and unassuming about the whole thing.

"Yes." Michael said, not indicating whether or not he agreed with the production having been put together or fast or whether Shawn's Mom seeing it was a good thing.

"Wow!" Leonard mused. "That's really something. I don't think I've ever seen someone on TV before. I mean, someone real. It's like you're here..." And he pointed at Shawn with one finger.

"And then you're here." And he pointed to Shawn with the other finger.

But in this case, the fingers were gloved with the silvery gloves that Leonard had as part of his robot costume. And, the movements he made were stilted as the cardboard of his Robot costume shuffled.

"This whole 'living' and being 'alive' thing is really weird and amazing! You're in two places at once!"

Shawn nodded along with Leonard, like he thought it was a really cool insight he'd had. "Well, you're a robot, right? You probably know all about TV broadcasts and stuff!" He giggled, and then pushed a random button on Leonard's cardboard costume for emphasis.

"Oh yeah! Hold on a second!!!" Leonard put on the robot head from the costume and starting speaking with a muffled voice:

"Zeroing in on frequency..."

"Signaled caught...."

"Powering up...."

"Analyzing Robot ...stuff..."

Then he took the helmet off. "What do you think? Did it sound real?"

"No." Michael said, clinically.

But Leonard seemed to be much more interested in what Shawn thought. He was smiling at Shawn with a bright, chipper and optimistic look.

Shawn gave Leonard a thumbs up with his free hand. “That sounded really good! Though if you’re dressing up as a human dressing up as a robot, it shouldn’t sound too real, right?” It made a weird sort of sense to Shawn, anyways.

"Aw, yeah, I guess so." Leonard agreed, sounding somewhat disappointed. "I don't think I can do it with a good robot voice though. Can you?"

"Huh, maybe something like...beep boop." Shawn flattened his voice a little, but he was very careful not to do quite as well as Leonard did. He didn't want to seem like a showoff. "I'm a lot better at my dummy voice." He gestured to and with Mr. Clayton.

"Yes." Michael agreed.

"How's this?" And Leonard started to make beeping sounds.

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bzzzzz!"


18:10, Today: Leonard failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((5,6,7)).

It wasn't very good. For that matter, it wasn't convincing at all. If a kid gave that kind of performance on set, that would be the last time he would see that studio.

Shawn understood instinctively it was a tricky balance he'd have to strike. Leonard wasn't very good, but if he knew he wasn't very good, then Shawn complimenting him anyway would seem like he was making fun. But if he didn't know that, then not being nice would be rude. He tried to split the difference. "I think you're getting better! Try to sound less excited, since robots don't have feelings, right?"

"Right. No feelings. Robots are all stiff and robot like." Leonard agreed. And then he gave it another shot.

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bzzzzzaaat!!!!"



22:29, Today: Leonard failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((6,2,7)).
 

Leonard's adding of the 'Bzzzzzzaaat!!' sound effect would have made things worse on set. A Director like Mr. Bronstein would have accused Leonard of 'Not taking directions well.'

Shawn was feeling especially awkward now that Leonard did it badly yet another time. Luckily, they weren't on a set, so Shawn didn't have to worry about wasting anyone's money. "Ooh, I know! Try holding your nose so your voice sounds funny. Then try to make it sound like that without holding your nose!" He wondered if Mr. Bronstein felt like this all the time.

Michael observed the scene without judgement as if he was watching paint dry.

"Let me try again like you said."


"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bzzzzzaaat!!!!"


Then he tried it again without holding his nose.

09:35, Today: Leonard rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,8,6)).


"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bop!"

"---Beep! Beep! Bzzzzzaaat!!!!"


It was marginally better and would have required a second 'take' but at least it wasn't embarrassing.

Shawn pumped his fist gleefully. “That’s it! Awesome robot noises, Leonard, I knew you could do it!”

"Yes." Michael agreed.

"See, even Michael things so!" Shawn was the essence of encouraging. After all, it was Halloween, not a movie set. It didn't have to be perfect.

Leonard seemed genuinely happy with Shawn's comment.

"I did it!" Leonard jumped. "Ha-HA! I did it! I'm a robot. Now, let's go get some robot candy. Oh! Oh! I hope those full candy bars I heard about are actually being given out. I heard there's an old woman that's giving them out. An old woman. Her kid is my age." Leonard said.

"Ralph's Mom." Michael said.

"Oh yeah, I know Ralph." Shawn kept it vague, since he didn't know what everyone else would remember about Ralph or whatever 'parent' Mr. Clayton had made for him. "If he's there, maybe we should invite him to trick-or-treat with us."

"Is that his name?" Leonard said. "Yeah, I think so. Ummmm...don't know him too well. He must be some house on Main Street. Isn't that where you live? Main Street?" Leonard asked Shawn.

"It doesn't matter. We should really get another member of the group. We could be like the Gobots!" Leonard remarked, highlighting the popular show.

"I am not so sure." Michael said with a frigid voice. "I do not think Ralph will be coming. I believe that Ralph is in trouble."

Reading Michael's comments as part of the game, Leonard announced: "Double trouble! That calls for a rescue. Like Double-Dare!"

Shawn was also a little concerned at what Michael might know, but he couldn't upset Leonard by appearing to take it too seriously. "Well, we should at least try to see him, right? Check if he needs rescuing, and if he's fine, get some full size candy!"

Leonard agreed and the boys made their way to the front door, as it to pick up Ralph in the process. Suddenly there was a loud

BANG!

Right outside the front door. It was a hard sound, followed by the chitter of laughter from outside.


"Leonard, trick or treaters!" Leonard's Mom yelled from somewhere inside her room.

"Alright MOOOOOM!" Leonard shouted into the hallway.

"Come guys, help me get the candy for the trick or treaters." Leonard said. He opened the closet next to the front door and an avalanche of scarves and winter gloves came out, falling to the floor and adding to the mess of the hallway.

"Mom, said she put it in here somewhere." Leonard said, scratching his head and looking inside the closet.

Shawn looked around the area near the front door, though he didn't confine himself to just the closet, just in case someone had already gotten the candy out. "Do you see the candy, Michael?"

"The candy...." Michael said and he pointed towards the hallway where they had just come from.

"Is in Leonard's room. I saw it in his closet when you were looking for the pillow case."

Leonard was busy searching in the hallway closet and was too busy to listen to Michael.

"Hurry up guys, help me. I don't want to get in trouble." Leonard said with a muffled voice from inside the hallway closet.

BANG!

Another hard sound, followed by the chitter of laughter from outside.

"Leonard! Answer the front door!" Leonard's Mom shouted from the interior of the house, now sounding annoyed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:48, Wed 02 Sept 2020.

"Thanks, Michael!" Shawn gave Michael a grateful smile out of reflex, though as far as he knew, the other boy didn't really respond to that sort of thing. He headed back to Leonard's room to check the closet for the candy. He wasn't intentionally snooping into Leonard's things, but if he happened to see something, that was hardly his fault, right?

Shawn and Michael went into Leonard's room. Shawn, of course, was greeted by the exact same disaster as before: Clothes, everywhere. Sheets of paper. Drawers were open, exposing junk. Everything was a mess.

"There." Michael observed. He was pointing towards the closet. A round edge of an orange bowl was peeking out from behind the closet door which was ajar.

Not wanting to leave Leonard hanging, Shawn made a beeline for the closet and opened it up in order to grab the orange bowl. As he did, he glanced around the closet, not investigating, really, just seeing if there was anything interesting at first glance. Then he turned around to head back and get Leonard the candy.

Shawn opened the closet door to grab the bowl. Though everything else was a mess in the house, the closet was surprisingly clean. The floors had nothing on the, the walls' were white. In fact, there wasn't even any clothing in the closet. The only thing in the closet was a small desk with a statue of what looked like the Virgen Mary. Around the desk were unlit candles.




Shawn recognized the statue because, in his work on movies, several themes related to Christian sets had been present and some of the studios during his rehearsals and auditions. One of these films, The Exorcist was supposed to be an incredibly scary film Mom had wanted Shawn to see it, while Dad had flat out refused to allow it.

"What is that?" Michael asked, pointing at the statue sitting in the closet all alone, surrounded by white candles that looked like they were brand new and had never been lit before.

"It's a statue of Mary, I think. She's, like, Jesus' Mom, I think?" Shawn didn't know how much Michael knew about religion. Honestly, aside from that one time his Father dragged him to church, and the bits and pieces he picked up from random kids and adults, Shawn didn't know much about religion either.

He picked up the bucket and turned around to rush it back to Leonard. "We found the candy!"

But Leonard was already coming into the room from the hallway yelling. "I think I remember where I put the bowl guys!" His voice was frantic and nervous.

"I remember! Don't touch anything! I remember! Don't touch anything guys! I remember! I remember! I remember! I got it guys! I got it!"

He entered the room and stopped dead in his tracks. Leonard's mouth opened as he took in the scene. He looked at Shawn holding the bowl. Then his eyes moved over to Michael. Then his eyes looked over at the closet door which was open.

He didn't say anything.

Shawn's strategy for awkward moments was to just pretend they weren't awkward moments and then hope that the other person would choose to ignore them with you. He gave Leonard a smile and held up the bowl, like he hadn't seen what was in Leonard's closet - or more accurately, had seen it but hadn't thought anything of it. "We got the candy! C'mon, let's go give it out!"

Shawn could tell that Leonard, for whatever reason didn't want Michael and Shawn to see the statute. The boy's hands were tense and he kept tightening his jaw, the muscles working on the side of his head as his eyes glanced over at the closet. He had the bewildered look of someone who wasn't expecting a janitor or adult to walk in on them in a public bathroom when they were in the middle of going "Number 2."

Whatever the case, Shawn could tell that he was going to have to act his way through this awkwardness, or the moment, and perhaps the night with Leonard, would be ruined.

OOC: Shawn Rolls Manipulation + Expression + Striking Looks + Specialty vs. Leonard's Composure + Empathy -1

OOC: 20:18, Today: Shawn rolled 3 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 5,10(+6),8,3,6,6,1,5,8,2.  Manipulation + Expression + Striking Looks + Specialty (Acting).

20:43, Today: Leonard failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((5,3,2)).

Shawn watched the anger leak out of Leonard as the boy regained his composure, Shawn's presence and carefully chosen words doing the trick.

Leonard's fists loosened and his frown became a smile. "It's OK." He said, rushing over to the closet and closing the door. "You didn't know."

"Let's go give the candy out." And he headed towards the door.

Shawn followed after, taking the candy with him. He felt like he'd avoided letting someone down, and that always made him feel better. "I bet they have cool costumes!"

There was another loud slamming sound against the side of the house, following by snickering.

Leonard opened the door and then immediately something happened.

OOC: 10:24, Today: Storyteller rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((2,8)).

A single egg flew into the house from the front yard as if in slow motion. Shawn watched the egg spiral through the air, its white shell catching the glint of Leonard's porch lights as it tumbled towards him.

The egg exploded against Leonard's shoulder, showering Shawn and Michael with egg yoke. Yellow, gooey, slime covered the floor in Leonard's hallway and even went into the candy bowl Shawn was holding, smothering the Twix and Tootsie rolls with a layer of mush. Leonard's face contorted in pain as he dropped to one knee, the cardboard of his costume making a tearing sound.

"HAHAAH! Losers!!" A kid yelled from somewhere outside in the darkness. bunch of other kids began to laugh.

Shawn was too shocked to move at first, but he snapped out of it when he finally realized what had happened, after being splattered with yolk. He quickly rushed forward to slam the door shut, as much to keep the kids outside from seeing and laughing at them more as to protect from another shot. He looked over at Leonard. "Are you okay?" He tried to take hold of Leonard's arm to stop him from tearing his costume further.

Leonard looked up from his kneeing posture to catch Shawn's eyes. Shawn could see that Leonard was crying. No sobbing. But tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"They smashed it." He said, looking down at the hole in his costume where the egg had punctured the cardboard.

"They are coming back." Michael observed in a stoic voice, pointing to the outside of the house, where 'big kid' voices were heard laughing and Shaun could see shadows moving in the front yard like wraiths.

Michael wiped egg yoke from his pants. "Close the door." Michael advised in a tone that sounded like he was asking someone to pass the ketchup during lunch: cool and collected but also somewhat bored.

Shawn didn't need any further encouragement - he slammed the front door shut, and then turned the lock for good measure. "What a bunch of jerks."

He turned back to try and comfort Leonard. "It's..." He was going to say 'it's okay', but it very obviously wasn't okay. There was an obvious hole in the costume. He reached for some way he could help Leonard, make things even a little better. Maybe he could change the costume a little? "They broke it, but we can fix it. I have an idea - do you have any construction paper? Black and brown colored?"

"No." Leonard said, getting up by himself. "It's OK. Let's....let's just sneak out the back of the house. I mean, so they don't catch us." He got up and wiped his bleary eyes on the cardboard costume.

"OK." Michael agreed. "Maybe we should get some eggs from your refrigerator just in case." He suggested in a flat tone.

"If you want." Leonard agreed. "But none for me. I don't want them to break on my candy."

"Sneaking out of the house seems kinda risky. They can't stay here forever, right? Let's just wait until they leave." Shawn went to the kitchen to get something to wipe his costume off - and Leonard's too. "I don't know if we should get eggs, Michael. hose looked like older boys, they can probably throw them further than us."

"OK." Michael stated flatly.

Leonard sniffled a bit and shuffled back down the hallway towards his room, Michael trailing behind him. Shawn came into Leonard's room and started to clean off the egg, but it appeared that Leonard had already forgotten about the incident and was smiling.

He reached over and grabbed a bunch of loose sheets of paper that were sitting on the end table.

"These are my new drawings." he mused.

Shawn made sure to get as much egg splatter as he could off of his costume suit - he'd only caught a little bit indirectly, but presentation was everything. He looked at the papers in Leonard's hand. "Oh neat, can I see?" He felt relieved that Leonard seemed to be recovering, and it put him in a good mood as well.

"Yes. I've been having some spooky dreams lately." Leonard confirmed. He handed Shawn a piece of paper. "In the dreams, people in the neighborhood die. It's probably just a dream though. But in the dream, there are killers."

Shawn looked down at the piece of paper that read "Killers"

Shawn stared at the page, trying to see if there were any hidden meanings. "That's pretty scary...is that a steering wheel?"

"It means...." Leonard explained "that there are Killers in the neighborhood. That's what my dream says. And the dead flowers...I dunno." Leonard said. "What could that mean?"

Michael's eyes shifted from Leonard to Shawn and seemed to say

'We are killers for what you and I buried in the forest.'

Shawn met Michael’s gaze for a moment, but he didn’t let his expression change. Even if they were killers, there were way more dangerous things out there. “Maybe the killer’s a gardener?”

OOC: 18:42, Today: Leonard rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s.  Who Are the Killers?

"Nope." Leonard dismissed Shawn's suggestion. "When I look at this and I think of my dream, I know that's not it." He moved the drawing in another direction, trying to get it to take shape or perhaps prompt some additional insight.

"Hmmmmm....One of them is an adult. And they live on Main Street. It's definitely.....an adult on Main Street. That's one of them." Leonard said confidently. Then, with a voice filled with trepidation" he said: "OH GOSH! There's an adult killer living in your Neighborhood!"

Shawn had no idea how Leonard was interpreting his drawing like that, but the other boy seemed pretty confident. "Gosh, an adult killer on Main Street? Are there any houses with dead flowers, maybe?"

"Dead flowers?" Leonard asked, confused by Shawn's comment. "What do you mean dead flowers?"

Shawn poked his finger at the part of the drawing that had a little flower with x'ed out eyes. "You said that was a dead flower, right? If it was in your dream drawing, it has to be a clue. Maybe the killer has the opposite of a green thumb."

"Oh, the dead flower? I just added that because I like it. I mean. I like flowers. So I thought it looked nice." Leonard observed.

"Oh." Shawn felt a little disappointed - he'd hoped he'd figured out a clue. "Hmm, is there anything else the drawing can tell us?"

Leonard sat in silence for a while.


OOC: 06:43, Today: Leonard rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((10(+1),3,4)).

"Yes!" Leonard said. "It's a woman! And Old Woman!"

"Oh wow, that's really good to know!" Shawn looked over at Michael, who he was pretty sure had a good memory. "Michael, do you know how many old women live on Main Street? There can't be too many."

"Ralph's Mom." Michael replied coldly, as if he was already predicting that some dark work needed to be done.

"Ralph's Mom." Michael repeated, eyes shifting from the distant nowhere to make contact with Shawn's own eyes. "Ralph's.....new Mom." Michael said with a hint of 'knowing' to go along with that flat tone Shawn had come to know in Michael's voice.

Shawn met Michael's gaze with a look of concern, but he wasn't sure how much he could or should say in front of Leonard. "Are there any others? Or is she the only one?" If it was true, that meant he had to help Ralph get away, and that meant getting Mr. Clayton's help.

"New Mom?" Leonard said. "That's weird. How does someone get a new Mom?" Leonard asked. But the question really wasn't meant to be answered and he was on to the next drawing of his.

"I had a dream about Junior." Leonard said. "I made a drawing about it. In the dream, Junior kept saying 'Emily!', 'Emily!', 'Emily!' and he was shouting it. Then we made a fort so he could hide from whatever was chasing him in the dream." And with that, he thrust the paper into Shawn's hand so Shawn could see.

Shawn looked carefully at the drawing, though it seemed like most of the important bits were being spoken out loud. "That's a cool fort. Was Emily in the dream, or was it just Junior shouting about her?"

"This?" Leonard said. "No, it's just a cool dream and a cool drawing. You should ask maybe Junior about it if you want. Maybe it happened. Maybe there's an Emily or some fort or thingy. It's just a cool picture for me."

“Sure, but maybe your dreams are trying to tell you something? Like, it’s a warning. That’s why you’re the one who understands them better than anyone!” Certainly, they seemed like a warning to Shawn!

As if that little exchange had made Leonard forget about the eggs, he said "Are you guys ready to go out? I don't want to miss out on the Trick or Treating."

Shawn did want to go trick-or-treating, but the fact that Ralph had come up meant that Shawn couldn't just let that go. He'd told Mr. Clayton that he'd introduce him to Leonard the last time he'd talked about Leonard's dreams, and he especially needed to figure out what was going on tonight with Ralph involved.

"I'm ready to go. But what about you, Mr. Clayton? What do you think of Leonard's dreams?"" Shawn kept his tone light and a little silly, like he was showing off a party trick he knew how to do. But he held Mr. Clayton in front of him and relaxed his arm like he did when he let Mr. Clayton speak through him.

The Puppet came to life with Shawn's hands and opened its mouth to speak

Shawn would have to put on a show to make the Puppet's demands convincing:

OOC: Shawn Rolls Manipulation + Expression + Expression:(Acting- Specialty = +1) + Striking Looks(+2) + Professional Training(+2) with the following results

0 Successes = Leonard isn't convinced and the boys end up leaving to go trick or treating without Shawn gaining additional knowledge about Ralph

1-3 Successes = Leonard is thoroughly entertained and answers 3 more questions regarding his knowledge about Ralph and Ralph's Mom

4+ Successes = Leonard will tell Shawn anything he knows for the remainder of the scene

OOC: 17:29, Today: Shawn rolled 5 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 6,5,8,7,8,9(+3),5,10(+2),6,3,3,10(+1).  Manipulation + Expression + Striking Looks + Specialty (Acting) + Professional Training.

"Wow!" Leonard said, jumping up, his eyes two saucers in a face of total surprise and shock. "Can you believe it?" This time the phrase was aimed at Michael who seemed not only unimpressed, but completely disinterested. But then again, having a disinterested face was one of Michael's normal look. Hard to say when Shawn did see Michael interested in anything, come to think of it.

"WOW!" Leonard repeated. "You said that without moving your mouth." Leonard looked over at Michael.

"He said that without moving his mouth!" He said to Michael, as if Michael had missed Shawn's Ventriloquism.

OOC: Can Shawn decide what Mr. Clayton says here, or is Leonard just interested enough in the show to answer Shawn's questions?

Shawn let Mr. Clayton do his thing until Leonard was thoroughly entertained, and then waited until he had an opportunity to interject his own questions. After Mr. Clayton told a slightly off-color joke about a dream he once had, Shawn decided to seize that moment. "You know, I dream about some weird stuff, but it's always stuff I already know or worry about. Your dreams seem really real, Leonard, and there's new stuff in there too. Do you think they're coming from something inside of you that knows stuff, or maybe are you catching stuff from someone else?"

"It's all coming from inside me I think." Leonard said. "I mean, I know it is. I don't really do anything. It's not like that. You can't really do a dream, you know? It's more like the dream happens to you."

"And that's what it is like for me, Shawn. I just wake up and then maybe start writing before I can forget about stuff. Oh! And other times it happens when I'm alone, I just remember stuff, you know? Then I get my drawing papers and just start writing or drawing stuff. You know, if I had some colored pencils or crayons or that Magic Marker from Picture Pages, I bet I could remember more!!"

OOC: Picture pages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDRlMzKb86A

OOC: Yes! Shawn can make Mr. Clayton say anything Shawn wants him to say. Leonard is also just interested in the show to answer Shawn's questions.

"Gosh, that's really cool! Have you always had dreams like that? Is it like Superman, where he's always been Super? Or more like Spider-Man, and you got bitten by a radioactive dream?" Shawn sounded encouraging, but as he spoke, he made Mr. Clayton wave his arms like he was impatient and uninterested. It was tricky to interrupt yourself as a ventriloquist, but he did his best to make Mr. Clayton cut in. "Aww, who cares about that stuff! What I wanna know is if you've ever had any dreams about me, Mr. Clayton!?"

"Ha!..Yeah!!!..Oh!!" Leonard said with each sentence that Shawn uttered and each switch he made between his voice and the Puppet's. Leonard's eyes shifted between Shawn and Mr. Clayton, like a kid at show taking in all of the characters on stage. His eyes were wide open and there was an eager excitement and energy in his voice.

"You bet I've dreamed like this! I've dreamed like this for a long, long time! As long as I can remember!" Leonard said, eager to join in the show like a volunteer who'd been called up to the stage at a magic show.

"I've never dreamed of you though...." Leonard said. "What...what was your name again?" he asked Shawn's puppet.

"My name's Mr. Clayton, the most magical dummy this side of Albuquerque! I can't believe you've had dreams about this dummy and not me!" Shawn made Mr. Clayton moving his arm like he was poking Shawn in the ribs. Shawn gave Mr. Clayton a look of exaggerated impatience. "What're you talking about, Mr. Clayton? Leonard's never had a dream about me, right Leonard?"

Leonard jumped up and down and then raised his hand but then cut himself off when raising it just so he could say what he had to say

"Yes! I had a dream about YOU!" Leonard confirmed. "And you were  looking to stop something bad in the neighborhood!"

"What, this dummy here? What's he gonna stop? A good time?" Mr. Clayton gave Shawn a fake swat to the back of his head, which Shawn duly rubbed as if he'd actually been whacked. "Aww, come on Mr. Clayton, I'm not that bad. What'd you see me do, Leonard?"

Mr. Clayton's wooden head swayed with the light impact of Shawn's smack and that brought Leonard to a stand, the boy's eyes lighting up even more with excitement.

"Oh, boy, you really got him!" Leonard shouted with unfiltered joy, the cardboard of his costume tearing as he stood. But Leonard was too engrossed in the show, too captured by the magnetism of Shawn's performance to even notice.

"What did I see you do?" Leonard asked himself more than anyone else. "I saw..." he started, as if trying to remember "I saw you begin by trying to pretend you were something that you weren't and you wanted everyone to believe that you were normal and that you weren't a special kid. So you got nervous when someone said you were specialer than the other kids on the block and that made you not want to admit that you were super specialer than the other kids. So, then you kind of just nodded and smiled because in the dream, when the other kids said nice things about you in front of a lot of kids it made you nervous so you just smiled about it."

"And then you went to go find out who the bad guy was without wanting to hurt anyone."

"Shawn? Special? Ha, you really were dreaming, kid!" Mr. Clayton let out a slightly insulting laugh as he waved his arms about. Shawn acted mock offended. "Hey, I'm not all bad. Though I dunno why people would think I was super special. Did the dream tell you anything about why I'd be special, Leonard?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:50, Sat 17 Oct 2020.

Leonard was all smiles until Shawn asked that last question. He was still excited, but his smile faltered a little - something Shawn could detect after years of being on commercials and on filming sets with directors, kids and their parents.

"Well..it was just a dream." Leonard explained, clearly trying to put some distance between himself and what he was about to say. "But in the dream, you thought you were special. You thought you were the good guy and because of that you thought that you couldn't do bad things. Because really bad things were done do you, you thought that that made you good. So you didn't see that you were actually becoming the bad guy." Leonard explained.

"But it was just a dream." Leonard equivocated.

"Oh, and you were special because you knew that there was a bad guy in the neighborhood. And even though the other kids kind of new, they didn't know that you really, really, really knew. So that meant that you knew more, so you were special. Like the best secret investigator of evil things on the block." Leonard confirmed, happy he made up for whatever bad things he might have said to Shawn.

Fortunately, Shawn had a little more experience making sure his smile didn't falter, so it didn't when Leonard said he was becoming the bad guy. It was true he'd done a lot of bad things, but he'd also fought the bad guys! And he'd helped people! Still, he wasn't going to hold it against Leonard just because he had mean dreams. Probably. "Wow, a secret investigator? That sounds cool!"

Mr. Clayton let out a bark of laughter. "Oh yeah? It seems like Leonard's the one doing all the work investigating! Right Leonard? You basically know everything, you're like an actual robot computer! Shawn's just some silly kid!"

Leonard reached his arms out in a wide stretch and there was a tearing sound as the flimsy cardboard of his makeshift costume came apart, the back portion of his costume tearing wide open in an unseemly gash from the waist to the middle of his back.

"I'm a robot!" He declared. "That's what I am. For Halloween. Yeah! I'm a robot!" he confirmed to Mr. Clayton.

Michael actually winced at the tearing sound, but his face reformed into a stoic, mask of stone with no expression within a few seconds.

Shawn noticed the rare expression on Michael's face, and made sure to tell himself to remember that for later. Even if the other boy was normally pretty blank, it seemed like he wasn't for everything.

He made Mr. Clayton give the dummy equivalent of a thumbs up at Leonard as he stood. "Yeah, you know everything, right? Me and Shawn, we're gonna try and save the day, but we need to be a better team! Do your dreams tell you what this dummy and me can do to work together even better?" Mr. Clayton patted Shawn on the head almost affectionately.

Leonard had the look of a young puppy who's owner just came home, "You can start by being like the A-Teamn!!!" Leonard said. But he said that first part like he was reacting to the word 'team' instead of actually listening to Shawn's question.

"In the dream, you had to find the bad adult in the neighborhood. Because the bad adult wasn't just out to get you. It was a killer robot clown out to get Mr. Clayton!" Leonard said. "That was the most important thing. And it was even worse than that!" Leonard remembered.

"It was so bad because you decided you didn't want to live in the neighborhood anymore. And so you had to somehow leave and abandon everyone to the monster. And in the dream, other kids got mad at you." Leonard said.

Mr. Clayton waggled his exaggerated eyebrows in a slightly silly approximation of fear. "He's after me? You're gonna protect me, right Shawn?" Shawn faked a look of confusion. "I mean, I don't want anyone to get hurt. Not even you, Mr. Clayton. But I don't know how to fight a robot. Did your dreams tell you how I'd fight a robot, Leonard?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

Leonard looked crest fallen. "No." He said lowering his head. "I don't. But even worse, it might be that he isn't the robot. But that...." He didn't finish.

"The King of the Robots." He said finally.

"The King of the Robots? What's that?" Shawn looked confused, even as inwardly his mind raced to try and figure out how he could stop a killer robot clown. Still, still had the presence of mind to have Mr. Clayton cut in to keep the show going. "I bet Leonard knows all about them - it's his King, after all!"

Leonard looked like he was going to falter, as if the spell of the Show had broken. But then as Shawn brought Mr. Clayton back into the fray, whatever Leonard was thinking was quickly replaced by words and buoyant explanations.

"The King of the Robots makes others into Robots. It means that he's a Robot so he isn't human. And then he wants to make everything else, like other people and other kids into Robots and then they'll all be under his control."

"Wow, that's really scary!" Shawn knew there had to be more to it than that, but fortunately he had Mr. Clayton to be rude or accusatory in his place. He made it look like Mr. Clayton was upset by waggling his eyebrows, and pointed a finger at Leonard. "Wait, but you're a robot! Does that mean you're already under the King's control?" He made the dummy's voice sound a little shrill and silly, demanding an explanation without being too accusatory.

Leonard looked down and saw that, he was in fact, dressed like a Robot. He gave a sheepish little smile on his face like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Well, not exactly. I mean, I didn't think of it beforehand. But now it's starting to make a lot of sense. Yeah, sense. I think it means that anyone can become one of his robots. Even me."

Leonard let out a long sigh.

"The evil neighbor." He started, as if he was going to impart more knowledge. "Whatever is going on..." He added. "It's happening..."

"At Ralph's house." Michael barked out in a flat tone.

"Yeah. I guess so." Leonard confirmed. "But inside there. It's happening in the basement."

Shawn tried to think about some angle, some advantage he might have to stop all this from happening, whatever it was. He glanced between Mr. Clayton and Leonard, and an idea occurred to him; one that he wasn't sure would work or even make sense. But it might be worth a shot, if he was really going to go try and thwart an evil robot who could turn other people into robots...

Mr. Clayton turned to look at Shawn, then turned back to look at Leonard. "Well, if Shawn's going to stop this, he can't be worried about you turning into one of his robots. So maybe I'll do you both a favor and make sure it can't happen!" Shawn looked confused for a moment, then seemed to understand what Mr. Clayton was talking about. "Oh no, Mr. Clayon, we can't do that. Leonard would really have to trust us to do that. And he'd have to promise to do exactly what you said. I don't think he'd do that." He pitched his skepticism in such a way that it was just begging for Leonard to prove him wrong.

"What is it!!?" Leonard asked, shimmying forward. "What is it?" he asked again. "I'll do it! I'll do it!" Leonard so enthralled in the heat of the moment he was all in.

Mr. Clayton leaned forward to match Leonard's energy, like he was confiding a big secret. "Well kid, y'see, a dummy's just a fake doll. Nothing but wood and plastic. Regular ventriloquism teaches you the secret of how to make a dummy act like he's moving around and talking just like a real person. But there's an even bigger secret." Mr. Clayton looked back and forth, and dropped his voice a little, like he was worried about Shawn listening in somehow.

"It's called Greater Ventriloquism. And it teaches you that everything's fake. Everyone's just a doll, a dummy. And if you know that, you'll know that dummies can't be turned into robots." Shawn laying the metaphorical track in front of the train as he went, though he was pretty sure the logic held. The one thing he knew Greater Ventriloquism did was make you into a dummy. And you couldn't make a robot out of one of those, right? "So if you wanna be safe, you just have to trust in Mr. Clayton like you said you would. If you're going to keep your word, all you have to do is say 'I give myself to Greater Ventriloquism' from the bottom of your heart. Then Greater Ventriloquism will take care of the rest!"

Leonard's face was all excitement. He nodded when Mr. Clayton spoke about ventriloquism. He jumped a little when Mr. Clayton talked about an even bigger secret. It looked like Leonard was all into it. Ready to do whatever Shawn or Mr. Clayton wanted.

But then, as the words 'I give myself to Greater Ventriloquism' were uttered, Leonard's face twitched slightly. The muscles on one side of his head worked, jaw clamping.

There was an odd pause.

"No." Leonard said abruptly. "I can't do that." he said, with the kind of firm confidence that Shawn hadn't seen the boy demonstrate before. It was like Leonard knew that 2 + 2 was 4. Leonard seemed that certain about his answer. It came out crisp and natural and completely devoid of uncertainty or fear of Shawn or Mr. Clayton's' reaction. "I don't think the Virgin Mary or the Lord Jesus would like that." Leonard concluded.

OOC: If Shawn decides to try to convince Leonard, Shawn Rolls

Manipulation + Subterfuge + Striking Looks + Professional Training (Actor)

vs.

Leonard's Wits + Composure + Willpower (3). Leonard's Dice pool would equal 8

"Hmmmm." Michael said.

Shawn saw the refusal in Leonard's eyes, and decided it'd be best for him not to push it. Mr. Clayton looked shocked, though. "Really, they wouldn't like it? But it's gonna keep you and your friends safe - why wouldn't they like that?"

Shawn gently pushed Mr. Clayton slightly to the side, as if trying to convey to Leonard that the dummy's opinions weren't his. "That's okay, Leonard. If you don't wanna do it, you shouldn't do it." He looked a little worried, though, as if he wasn't sure what they could do to protect people if he didn't agree.

OOC: 17:02, Today: Shawn rolled 3 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 6,4,8,5,4,8,5,8,5,7,1,5.  Manipulation + Subterfuge + Striking Looks + WP.

Leonard's face twitched with fear as Shawn beckoned him to take a step into the unknown.


OOC: 06:23, Today: Leonard failed (no successes) using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1,7,1,5,7,6,6,1)).

Leonard listen to Mr. Clayton and Shawn watched the boy's resolve slowly crumble. It was just a matter of saying the right words in the right way. The right distraction. In a way, it wasn't really all that surprising. Leonard was, after all, younger than Shawn. Anyone, even Michael, would have said that Leonard was a 'Little Kid.'

"Safe." Leonard said. "We're going to make people safe. Aren't we?" He repeated, as if uncertain.

Shawn could tell Leonard just needed a little push to agree. He let Mr. Clayton stay silent for the time being, wanting to be nice. "We're going to try and help people, Leonard. It's okay if you're scared, but this is important." He sounded a lot more certain than he was - he had no idea if this would work, and even if it did work, no idea if it would help. But he pushed on anyway, because with so much in question, so much weird stuff going on, maybe this would be the difference between Leonard turning into a killer robot or not.

"I am scared!" Leonard confessed. And with that tears began to run down his face. "I don't think its good. But if you say we should do it then I'll do it." He sobbed, reasoning coming out more in a rambling stream of a child who was waking up from a nightmare more than a kid with certain direction.

"What if what your saying doesn't work and things become bad and then bad stuff happens and then its the worst ever!? And what if the bad stuff makes you bad. And then if you're bad that I'll become bad and then we're both bad together and then they'll be no going back to the good stuff because we'll be both trapped in a bad place like bad people forever doing things that are bad and forever saying bad things like cuss words and doing bad things like stealing candy instead of trick or treat!!!" He sobbed.

Shawn moved over to Leonard's side, and tried to pat him on the back reassuringly with his free hand. "It'll be okay, Leonard. If it doesn't work, we'll still have done it because we thought it was the right thing to do. And the Virgin Mary and the Lord Jesus will look in our hearts and know we were trying to help people, and they'll forgive us. So I still think we should do it." Shawn and his family weren't particularly religious, but there was stuff you picked up just from celebrating Christmas and talking to other kids.

Shawn felt certain that he was doing the right thing...right? He found himself reflecting on the little statue he’d found in Leonard’s closet, the way the kid had described him as doing bad things and calling them good, the tears in Leonard’s eyes... Thinking about being trapped forever in a bad place... His resolve faltered. Maybe he was just being too suspicious, too ruthless. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt just this once to let things slide...“Wait! Don’t say it. We’ll figure out another way together, one that’ll make Mary and Jesus happy.”

Leonard had closed his eyes as Shawn first spoke, the boy was getting ready to do whatever it was that Shawn said he should do. Shawn observed that Leonard had one hand on the blanket of his bed, hand squeezing so tight the knuckles were white.

The boy's face was all scrunched up like driver waiting for the inevitable impact of a car crash.

But then.....

When Shawn said that they didn't have to do it to make Mary and Jesus happy, Leonard opened one eye. The eye looked around as if just taking a peek before drifting up to Shawn, hand loosening on the blanket.

"Are....are you sure?" Leonard asked with a weedling voice as if he was hoping Shawn was sure as if Shawn being sure about backing out was something that Leonard wanted very much. Shawn could tell that Leonard wasn't sure that Shawn was sure, and so because of that the boy was hedging his bets, the other eye remaining shut as if prepared to go through with it.

Shawn already kind of regretted changing his mind, but he'd already doubled back and wasn't going to triple back. "Yes...yeah, I think I'm sure. We're going to try to do this without - but if we do need to do it later, you gotta promise to say it right as soon as I tell you, okay? No arguing."

He had the beginnings of a sort of idea that he might be able to turn into a plan, but he'd definitely need help from Leonard first. "I think we should get you some paper and crayons. You said the King of the Robots is doing stuff in Ralph's basement. I gotta know whatever you can tell me about that."

Leonard looked like he was going to nod but instead just exhaled in relief. His body deflated as he let go of the blanket and sank into the bed, shoulders slumped as he sat, breath returning to normal.

"Not doing it now is a good thing." He observed, smile returning to his face. It was a smile of relief more than anything else, the kind a kid gets when a teacher realizes that the kid wasn't responsible for some misdeed and therefore spares him punishment.

"What?" Leonard asked, still so focused on the fact that he wasn't going to have to do it after all, that he wasn't paying attention to Shawn's question about the Robots and crayons.

"Geez, and I thought I was the dummy." With the immediate crisis past, Shawn felt like he could bring out Mr. Clayton again to keep Leonard on task. "We gotta figure out what the King of the Robots is doing in the basement!"

Leonard stood up from where he had been momentarily sitting. He raised his forearm to wipe something away from his eyes. Were those tears? Then, without saying anything he walked over to the end table.

It was covered in papers. There was an old water glass in the corner of the end table, Shawn thought he saw something black floating in, maybe some old mold.

He picked up a piece of paper and a pencil.

"Maybe draw it?" He looked over at Shawn uncertainly, as if for guidance.

Shawn noticed what looked like tears, but he didn't mention that to Leonard. He didn't want to make him defensive. Instead, he gave him an encouraging smile. "That's a great idea!"

Mr. Clayton nodded along with him as well. "Yeah! I think 'ol Shawn might have a plan, but we'll need to know what the basement looks like, and how the King's turning people into robots! You know this dummy here with a hand up my back's too dumb to figure it out himself!"

Leonard started sketching. His eyes fixed on the sheet of paper, he drew a large arc on one side and lines coming down and across the page. As Shawn listened to the sound of the pencil flecking on the page, Leonard spoke

"It's in the basement." He said, starting to form a stick figure out of the drawing. "Something is going on in the basement. It's.....maybe more like the robots or robots of like being commanded. But not made of metal." Leonard said.

"The other thing is that there's some kind of tunnel in there..." Leonard said and his face scrunched up as if he was trying to figure out what that might mean.

“You mean like a secret entrance? That’s great!” Mr. Clayton’s face couldn’t move, but somehow conveyed that it was impressed. Shawn also looked encouraged. “Is there a control panel or something for the robots? If we can get to it, we wouldn’t need to fight any robots or anything like that- we could shut them down or reprogram them to be good or something.” Shawn didn’t know anything about programming robots, but it always looked easy in the movies.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm...." Leonard opined. Faint scratching gave way to a louder scratching. The pencil frantically moved across the paper, the sketching beginning to come more into focus.

"Robots..." Leonard repeated. His hand curled around the grip of the pencil, his eyes fixed on the page, details of thick lead dotting the paper into what was becoming a drawing of what looked like a room.

"I think the robots maybe are people. But they act like robots. Like they listen to them."

"People who act like robots? That's crazier than a dummy who acts like a person!" Mr. Clayton leaned towards the paper as if he had eyes that could see what Leonard was drawing. Shawn did too, though obviously he could actually look at it. He thought about how what Leonard said matched the earlier drawings he'd seen. "So the Robot King is making people act like robots, because robots will listen to the Robot King? That makes sense, but how're they doing it?"

Leonard's hand moved quickly with a flourish, the pencil thrashing about the paper as the image of a basement with stairs was now formed on the page.

"Because the Robot King wants them to listen to him. They act like robots. They want to do the stuff the Robot King tells them. Its bad stuff going on. The kind of stuff you or I could get punished for. That's why they listen to him. They aren't adults or kids anymore. They're robots."

He added some more details. There were discarded cardboard boxes in the corner of the room. There was also a bunch of piled up clothing, a long sleeve sticking out from the bottom of the pile.

"There's something else." Leonard said. He moved towards the paper and started to sketch a circle. "Something else down there." he said, this time in a whisper.

"A tunnel."

"Is it a tunnel to get in, or a tunnel going...somewhere else?" Shawn stared at the drawing, trying to orient it with what he could remember of what Ralph's house looked like from the outside. He made Mr. Clayton wave his arms a little. "More important than that, how's the King turning people into robots? Does he have a magic wand? Or a weird raygun? Or maybe there's a big vat of goo?!"

"Hehehehe." Leonard gave a chuckle. "You said 'goo.'" Leonard chuckled again.

"That's a funny puppet." Leonard said. "I wanted to have Evil Horde Slime Pit for Christmas, but my Mom said no. I don't think its fair. I won't ruin my He-Man toys or the rug." Leonard said, abandoning the drawing to plead his case with Shawn.

OOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHncoxvxRO8

"That sounds really cool!" Mr. Clayton seemed excited to talk about toys, so Shawn acted as a sort of bad cop to try to get things back on topic. "Leonard, we gotta concentrate on the Robot King, remember? It's really important!"

"Oh. Right." Leonard said, as if forgetting the task at hand.

The next few moments were in silence, Shawn sitting and looking down. Leonard was drawing furiously. Michael was staring off into nothing, a look that gave no hint of what he was thinking.

Finally Leonard said.

"Here. This is what the basement looks like. Well, sort of. See, its got tunnels. And I wrote Robot because that's how King Robot acts. And that's how he makes others act. Oh, and there are lots of tunnels too."

Shawn looked closely at the drawing, trying to see if he could match it to what Leonard had said earlier. "Okay...I see the tunnels. Do they connect to anywhere? Could someone sneak in that way?" He knew Leonard seemed to pick up more from his drawings than the random viewer did, so he knew he had to get as much information as he could.

"This is what it is!!!!" Leonard explained. "But only the inside."

"Well, it's what's on the inside that counts!" Mr. Clayton nodded in a faux-sage way as Shawn continued to study the drawings. "Well...if they're robots on the inside, is there a way to turn them back into people?"

Leonard put down the pencil and the crayons he had used to color the drawing. He leaned the chair back on its two legs, just like Shawn was told not to do in class because 'kids fall like that.'

After analyzing the drawing for a few seconds Leonard looked up at Shawn, clearly ready to explain and answer the questions  he and the Puppet had.

"Look..." He said, laying one thick finger on the drawing with tunnels. "There's something going on here. I think I know what it is. The Robot brings people to the basement, which is inside Ralph's house. Then, he takes them into the biggest tunnel." Leonard's finger traced a line from the steps of the basement drawing to the largest tunnel entrance surrounded by a turquoise circle.

"No one knows where the Robot brings them." Leonard's voice was tinged with a worried and foreboding tone. "But they never come back."

Leonard summarized the drawings, putting the basement sketch and the Robot sketch side by side as one story.

"That's what the Robot does. He hypnotizes people so that way they act like robots. They follow him back to Ralph's house. He shows them the way into the basement and into the big tunnel. And then they are gone forever."

"The Robot is Ralph's Mom." He concluded. Shawn had heard many accusations and insults on the playground against other kids' Moms. However, none had been made with such a serious tone and it appeared as if Leonard was not intending the final statement to be an insult, but rather a warning.

"Well, we gotta stay outta that tunnel!" Mr. Clayton shook in an exaggerated pantomime of fear. Shawn, for his part, had a feeling he knew where the biggest tunnel led, but it would take too long to explain to the others. "How does the Robot hypnotize people? We need to make sure it doesn't happen to us."

Leonard craned his neck to look upward at Mr. Clayton and then he sighed. "That's just it." He explained. "It's the worst thing ever. All he does is look at you." Then Leonard corrected himself. "All she does..." Then thinking better of that he said again.

"All IT does is look at you. That means that Ralph's Mom is a robot. No.. a King Robot." Leonard pronounced. His jaw dropped, mouth open with the implications of what he just said. Then he said in a small voice.

"that's why more people will be disappearing."

This time, it was Shawn's turn to look openly worried, and it was only at the last minute he realized Mr. Clayton should emote as well, since Leonard was looking at him. Mr. Clayton's jaw dropped just like Leonard's. "Is it just her looking at you? Or maybe you have to see her looking at you?" That was what all the hypnotists in cartoons did, right? 'Look into my eyes' and so on? "We can figure this out. There's gotta be a weakness - robots always have a weakness in the movies."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:37, Sat 21 Nov 2020.

"Yes." Leonard confirmed. So there was a weakness to Robot King. But judging by Leonard's mood and body language he seemed anything but happy about it. His shoulders had slumped and his voice took on a hopeless tone.

"Fire."

"Getting burned would wake up any of the Robots. That's what happened in my dream. And also, the Robot King hates fire. Because its in a fake body. A fake woman's body that looks like and old, fake, Ralph-Mom."

"But we can't use fire." Leonard lamented, as if all hope had been lost.

"We can't play with fire! I'll get my suit all toasty!" Mr. Clayton agreed with Leonard exaggeratedly, though understatedly Shawn knew that they couldn't exactly go around burning people in case they were robots. They'd get in big trouble for that. He wracked his brains for other options. "Yeah, we can't use fire unless we're sure no one else would be hurt. Hmm...what about fighting fire with fire? You said that the Robot King just has to look at people, right? Can we learn how to look at people like that? Look at the Robots and tell them not to go into the basement?"

Leonard said "I dunno." And then shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I mean, I once ran into a dog and gave it a look. But then it growled at me. I don't think they like that. If you look at dogs to long in the eyes." He stretched is arms and seemed to notice that his costume was ripped.

"Oh no. Look at that. A big gash in my costume." Leonard fretted. "Well, at least we know that the Robots have a weakness. That's something." He said. Though by the tone of his voice, Shawn could tell that he didn't believe it really was something that they could work with.

"Well hang on, lemme try! Look me in the eyes, Leonard." Mr. Clayton waved his arms around. Shawn didn't have much else in the way of ideas, but if a robot could hypnotize someone with a look, maybe Mr. Clayton could too. He tried to picture Mr. Clayton's eyes getting all swirly like on TV. It was a long shot, though no worse than starting a fire.

Leonard looked up and smiled a dewy smile at Mr. Clayton. His eyes, just seconds ago filled with the disappointment of having a ruined costume on Halloween, now were filled with the excitement of what the Puppet might say.

"Oh, boy, you bet I will!" Leonard said, looking into Mr. Clayton's eyes, his whole body now charged with the energy of a kid that was about to go on a roller coaster.

Shawn abruptly realized he had no idea what he was doing, and now Leonard was expecting something to happen. He had Mr. Clayton vamp a little while he tried to think of something that might work. "That's right, look into my eyes! You're getting sleeeeepy."

Shawn thought back to all his lessons with Mr. Clayton, and recalled some stuff that even if it didn't work, at least sounded spooky and entertaining. "Imagine you're a puppet, just like me! Except instead of some dummy sticking his hand up your back, you've got all sorts of invisible strings moving you around. Those strings are all the stuff that you think is important." Shawn moved Mr. Clayton so it looked like he was holding his arm out. "I've got an invisible string here in my hand. It's not attached to anything right now, but it's a robot string! I'm the only one who can pull it, and if you attached the string to someone, they'd turn into a robot. It's 'cause the string is bigger and stronger than any other string a person can have. Now, Leonard, can you lean in nice and close?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:47, Sun 29 Nov 2020.

Leonard leaned in with a big, expectant smile on his face.

"Alright. I'm ready to play!" He said with excitement. "What am I supposed to do again?"

Mr. Clayton looked at Leonard with his empty eyes, seeming to meet his gaze, though of course he was just a dummy that couldn't see anything. Then in a sudden flash of movement, he poked Leonard lightly on the forehead. "Boop! The robot string's attached to you - you're hypnotized now like the robots!"

Shawn cut in like he was an exasperated babysitter. "Stop being silly, Mr. Clayton. That's not how it works. Right, Leonard?" He looked at Leonard, gauging his reaction to the rather silly way Mr. Clayton was acting. He didn't think it was likely it would work the way Mr. Clayton said, but Ventriloquism was weird, and he couldn't completely rule it out.

Leonard's head moved backward as Mr. Clayton's puppet-hand touched his forehead. With the word 'Boop', Leonard's face lit up in a beaming smile.

"I'm all attached now!" he said, moving his hands out with a flourish. "Now I'm ready!" eager to see what Shawn and Mr. Clayton might have in store.

Shawn and Mr. Clayton looked at each other as Shawn switched into a more conversational mode. "I don't think it worked, Leonard said people acted like robots." Mr. Clayton shook his head. "Well, I haven't pulled on the string yet. I gotta pull the string first, so all the other strings fall out." His tone made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world, despite Shawn just sort of improvising it.

"Well, you shouldn't want to hypnotize Leonard, he's our friend. Ralph's mom's doing it to hurt people!" Shawn looked concerned, which made Mr. Clayton seem almost offended. "Well yeah, that's why I'm doing it, ya dummy! The only way we know how to wake the robot people up is fire! If I turn Leonard into a robot, you can figure out a safer way to wake him up! And then all those other people!"

"That's only if you can do it. You're not Ralph's mom, you know." Shawn was playing the voice of reason in an argument with himself. Except he didn't really know which side of the argument that actually was. All he could do was be both sides as well as he could, and be a gracious loser/winner. "Well, I guess we're gonna find out! All right, Leonard, look me deep in the eyes! Deep, deep, deep. Like you might fall in. I've got your robot string in my hands, Leonard." Shawn pictured the string as hard as he could, telling himself it was actually there. Mr. Clayton paused for a moment, seemingly for dramatic effect, but in actuality so Shawn could mutter "I give myself to Greater Ventrioquism, I give myself to Greater Ventrioquism..." a few times under his breath. Then with a dramatic flourish, Mr. Clayton yanked his arms back like he was pulling on a rope.

Leonard didn't do anything. He just stood there looking up, his eyes bright with anticipation, his mouth open slightly as if he was about to say something or respond to what Shawn or the Puppet had said.

Then, there was a rumbling sound from somewhere. Leonard's hands grabbed his stomach, as if realizing that it was the sound of his hungry belly.

Suddenly, he let out a loud burp that sounded like

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire Or ..."

Shawn leaned in close, trying to see if Leonard was going to say or do anything special. He felt an odd combination of confused, relieved, and disappointed when all he did was burp. Though it sounded a lot like words. "What was that, Leonard?"

Leonard's face scrunched up in a twisted look, half-disgusted, half embarrassed by the sound he made.

"Sorry. My stomach is grumbling." Leonard said. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand where Mr. Clayton had poked him in the forehead.

The skin there had a pale, reddish hue.

"I meant to say..." Leonard started, and there was a grumbling in his stomach again.

He opened up his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a loud burb again.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiire.....or...b..b..BOOM" and Leonard covered his mouth after that last part, the 'BOOM' sounding very loud and particularly garish burbing sound.

"Do you mean BOOM like a loud noise? Or an explosion?" Shawn looked at the red spot on Leonard's forehead with hidden curiosity - he hadn't poked him that hard...

Leonard covered his mouth again, his eyes wide with surprise, his face suddenly glistening with sickly sweat.

"I meant..." Leonard said with sudden weakness in his voice. "Ex...explosion and fire.." Leonard said. "Or fire...I mean..."

Suddenly Leonard's stomach growled again. The red mark on his forehead looked like a sunburn, or some kind of skin rash.

"Bwaaaah!" And Leonard jerked forwards and sprayed black vomit over the dresser. It splattered against the drawings and sketches and turned the paper angry red. Leonard gurgled, fists clenched on the dresser in front of him, his body shaking, then he hunched over and poured out puke again.

"Guuurgh!" And he lurched away, red drool dangling from his lip, eyes starting from his white face, gave a strangled groan and toppled back, dragging one bloody drawing with him.

Shawn rushed forward, horrified at what was going on. "Leonard, are you okay?" He tried to guide his friend towards his bed, though while facing Leonard's head away from both him and the bed.

Shawn reacted to what was happening just in time to dive forwards and catch the Leonard's limp body before he fell. He staggered across the bed struggling to hold him up and then lower him down softly.

"Shit." Michael said in a flat tone, the curse word coming out with all of the boredom of a kid waiting for hours at the dentist's office. He started over to the bed, hurried, but not with any sympathy for Leonard or his plight. His face was emotionless, his eyes dead and flat.

"I think its because you did something with the Puppet. Maybe something magical." He said with his deep voice.

Shawn carefully lowered Leonard onto the bed and stepped back a bit, not sure what to do now. He looked over at Michael. "I think so, but I didn't mean to hurt him." His tone was a little defensive, but he wasn't just trying to justify himself - he needed to make sure that Michael understood he hadn't wanted to hurt Leonard, so Michael didn't do anything that might make things worse.

He looked down at Mr. Clayton, still hanging from his arm. "What did you do? What's happening to Leonard?" Unlike before, when he'd been making up with Mr. Clayton had said, instead he relaxed his mind to let the dummy talk 'freely'.

"I didn't do anything. What a gross, vomit boy!" Mr. Clayton said in a jovial voice, a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons instead of someone who just saw a child vomit blood everywhere and then fall over.

"It's a terrible, terrible thing! But it's not my fault. Greater Ventriloquism always works, its just maybe you took it too far." Mr. Clayton said, suggesting that it was all Shawn's fault.

"Took what too far? What is it doing?" Shawn looked from Mr. Clayton to Leonard, trying to see if anything else was happening to Leonard. Whatever he'd tried to do with ventriloquism, Greater or otherwise, it didn't have anything to do with throwing up.

"I just make sure the wheel spins and tell you what it can do. You didn't ask me what would happen if you tried...tried whatever it is you were trying." Mr. Clayton said defensively, offering his palms out with a sheepish grin.

He looked down at Leonard who was coated in slick vomit, the cardboard box now wet shades of red and dark green.  "What a gross, vomit boy!" Mr. Clayton concluded and then looked back up at Shawn.

"You can't expect to learn to ice skate without falling down sometimes." He said, as if Greater Ventriloquism was all about practice and not about Leonard in the state that he was in.

"You didn't tell me what it could do. That's why we're in this mess." Shawn looked closely at Leonard's face, trying to see if he was looking sicker or better. "What's happening to him, Mr. Clayton? You can't tell me it just made him throw up."

"Why didn't you tell me what you were planning to do!?" Mr. Clayton said, his voice rising an entire octave higher. "How am I supposed to help make things work if you're out by yourself trying to master things that you don't even know about!!...Yucka! Yucka!!!" But the 'Yuckas' lacked Mr. Clayton's sing-song mirth. They came out instead in a petulant, petty and spiteful tone.

Shawn looked down at Leonard.

Even in the half-light, it seemed obvious that he was terribly ill. His face was ashen pale and there was a sheen of sweat across his forehead. His eyes were sunken and ringed with black. His lip quivered. Shawn could see a dark stain down the front of
his costume that looked very much like blood.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:22, Sat 12 Dec 2020.

"Maybe now might not be the time to play with the Puppet." Michael interjected, observing Shawn's ventriloquism.

"We should get help or go." He intoned. Even in Michael's flat tone Shawn could detect that the boy preferred to go. To get up and leave Leonard, lest they get in trouble.

The cowardly part of Shawn was also telling him to leave, and avoid further trouble. But this whole thing was his fault, and he felt like he should at least try to fix it. "Let me try one thing to fix it, then we'll go."

He approached closer to Leonard, looking between him and Mr. Clayton. "If I make you poke his head again and say 'get better', would that work? Or how do I fix this? Now you know what I'm trying to do, you've got no excuse not to help."

Mr. Clayton folded his arms, a small child unhappy that he wasn't in charge of the game. "This is all your fault. I would have gone about it completely different. You're always trying to control everything. And now look, Leonard turned into a gross vomit-boy because of it. I swear, if you just listened to me more then none of this would have ever happened. You're always keeping secrets and trying to fix things. It's no wonder Bradford wanted you dead." Mr. Clayton said, and he shot Shawn a narrow-eyed, disapproving glare.

"What if I don't want to do it. You've stopped practicing with me as much. You're all about Leonard and Ralph and fixing and helping them. What about me? Time was, we would spend hours and hours practicing alone in front of the mirror. It seemed just like yesterday." Mr. Clayton sighed in a resigned tone, like he was recounting days long gone in the past.

In fact, it had been only the day before yesterday that Shawn had spent the entire day in his room, staring at the mirror and practicing, his Dad getting angry that Shawn's room smelled. But, it appeared that this fact was lost on Mr. Clayton, or that he wanted more than Shawn had been giving.

"So now its all about Leonard." Mr. Clayton said. "Leonard and fixing Ralph. I told you that I wanted to 'switch' with you more like we learned to do. That's what I wanted. A lot. And to kill Mr. Cherrywinks, which means killing Ralph's Mom. And to sometimes do bad things and get away with it. That's what I wanted. But you're just interested in Ralph and Leonard now. They're your new friends. New besty-besty friends!!" Mr. Clayton spat out the last words with syrupy irony, like he really didn't approve of Shawn being best friends with either kid and preferred that Shawn was his best friend instead.

Shawn didn't have time for an extended argument with Mr. Clayton, so he tried to cut to the chase. "Look, if Leonard was my best friend, I wouldn't have done this to him, right? I did this because I wanted to figure out how to kill Mr. Cherrywinks, which is what you want. So you fix Leonard right now, or we're not best friends anymore."

 "So what do we do about it." Mr. Clayton said, recasting Shawn's request.

“Use Greater Ventriloquism to...you know, make him better.” Shawn didn’t know much about health, other than that vomiting blood was bad. “You should take the lead, since you know more, and Leonard likes you better than me anyway.” He threw in that bit of flattery in hopes that it would make Mr. Clayton more cooperative.

As Shawn looked down at the pale and vomit-covered Leonard, he realized there was one thing that Greater Ventriloquism could do to fix him. "Wait, I think I know what you're talking about. Dummies don't get sick, do they? If we could..." Though as he thought about it, he came to a disturbing, if paranoid thought. "Wait...is that why you made him sick? Because he said 'no' before?"

Mr. Clayton gave a crooked smile at Shawn's last question. Not affirming it. But not denying it either. "Let's just try it the old fashion way." Mr. Clayton suggested.

"Leonard!"

"Leonard!" Mr. Clayton shrieked.

"Leonard!! Wake up!"

The Puppet jumped on top of Leonard and grabbed the boy by the shoulders. His hand wheeled back and there was a loud crack as he smacked Leonard across the face.

"Wake up! Wake up! You're going to miss the fun!!" He yelled, and he smacked Leonard again across the face, leaving a bright, red pink spot on the boy's face.

"YUCKA! YUCKA!" He screamed with delight.

Michael's eyes darted across the room to settle on Shawn.

"You are strange." He commented to Shawn in a deadpan, flat voice. "You should have been sent to the Chesnut Grove institution or whatever it was called like I was."

Shawn tried to curl his free arm around Mr. Clayton to pull him back off of Leonard, but he was too late to stop the smack. "That's enough Mr. Clayton." He glanced at Michael, but didn't respond. He had to concede it looked pretty bad right now.

"We don't have time to mess around anymore, Mr. Clayton." Shawn grabbed one of Mr. Clayton's hands with his own hand and moved it towards Leonard, more gently this time. "We're gonna try again, and you're gonna make sure it works properly. I don't care if it makes him into a dummy like me, or a robot, or Superman. Just fix him." He squeezed his eyes tightly closed, muttering "I give myself to Greater Ventrioquism, I give myself to Greater Ventrioquism..." and then once again poked Leonard in the forehead with Mr. Clayton's hand.

Shawn closed his eyes. For a moment it felt like he was in the room alone. He was only dimly aware that Michael was in the room behind him. The words seemed to reverberate in his head:

"I give myself to Greater Ventrioquism..." The phrase sent echoes that bounced around the room into the nothingness. Behind his eyelids Shawn could see the glowing, three dimensional pyramid, it's layers burning bright neon and leaving streaks across his vision.

"Craa...." Leonard made a strange choking noise and coughed.

Shawn opened his eyes and saw that one of Leonard's eyes was open.

"I'm sorry." He mewed, reaching out to Shawn with one trembling hand, his voice soft and almost at a whisper.

"I don't think I can go out to Halloween." He said, sounding genuinely sorry.

"It's all my fault." He groaned. "I knew..." he stammered. "Knew I shouldn't have stolen candy from the tray. I took one. Took one that we were supposed to give out."

"I got....." he coughed, starting to recover his voice now. "Sick from it."

"It serves me right. Shoulda...listened..to...mom." He finished.

Shawn opened his eyes, but he could still see the pyramid afterimages when he blinked. He sagged with relief when Leonard opened his eyes. "I'm glad you're okay!" He watched the other boy closely, seeing if color was returning to his cheeks or other signs of actual recovery.

He felt bad that Leonard was blaming himself for this, and tried to concoct an explanation that might make him feel better. "No, Leonard, don't you see? It was the Robot King! You were getting too close to his weakness, so he made you sick from far away! You're a hero!"

A pale, pink hue had come back into Leonard's face. His voice was more steady, though he still clearly blamed himself for what had happened.

"I...it's my fault really. I took something I wasn't supposed to take and I knew it was wrong. It's just that I cou....couldn't control myself."

"I did a bad thing."

"I deserve baby Jesus' punishment."

Shawn took a half-step back from Leonard - still staying close by his side, but far enough that Mr. Clayton couldn't poke him again if he wanted to. "You look like you're starting to feel better, though. So even if it is a punishment, it isn't for long." He watched Leonard carefully - while Leonard seemed to be getting better, Shawn was still leery of side effects. He'd never healed someone before, and he didn't understand what Greater Ventriloquism had done this time any better than he understood what made Leonard sick to begin with.

"We should leave." Michael said with all of the urgency of someone bored, waiting on a long, lunch line at school.

"He's right. You should go." Leonard agreed, reaching a quivering hand out to Shawn, the fingernails caked with orange-colored vomit. Still, a great deal of color had returned to Leonard's face, even if it still looked like a wax candle.

"Get me.....a Snickers if you can...full size...not the small...ones." Leonard pleaded, his sweet-tooth somehow still there despite all that had happened.

Shawn watched Leonard for signs of recovery, especially around the eyes, but he knew Michael and Leonard were both right. "You're both right. We should go. Is there anything else important you can tell me about the Robot King before we leave? Anything at all?" He straightened up in preparation to leave.

"Yes...." Leonard said. He cleared his voice with a loud, rasping sound and then it came out  a bit stronger.

"Fire."

"Or explosions."

"That's what my dream said. That's what hurts the Robot King." And with that he turned over in his bed, and faced away from Shawn, as if giving way to exhaustion and ready to sleep.

"Get some sleep, Leonard." Shawn pulled back and started to leave the room. As he exited, he indicated that Michael should follow him. They needed to figure out what to do with all the information Leonard had given them.

Shawn followed Michael outside of the house. It appeared that the delinquents that had vandalized Leonard's house were all but gone, leaving dripping egg yokes that stained the shingles of the house and fragments of egg shells in front of the door.

"They are gone." Michael said, stating the obvious.

"Now we need to do what we were told to do." He said, a robot receiving a command at the command prompt and ready to execute the program for the user.

Shawn knew that they didn't have much time to stop the "Robot King", but they still needed a plan. "We should scout the house, first. And we'll need to get Ralph out of there." He had a couple of ideas, but one was more complicated and would need help from Mr. Clayton, while the other was more straightforward but also way more dangerous.

"Ugh." Michael grunted in what sounded like general agreement. He didn't show any other expression on his face that indicated whether he thought it was a good idea or not.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: Treat or Treat At Ralph's House