Chapter 34: The Fear Factory
Chapter 34
The Fear Factory
In the silent halls of the ruins beneath the theow village, the echoing sounds of hurrying steps ran through the once grand structure. Hooves, both natural and tin clattered through the stone paths of the ruins, followed by paws and claws.
It had been only a short time since Spike, Pluto, Caru and Taffy lost their pursuers earlier in the ruins. Only moments before, they were all staring danger in the face, and barely escaped with their lives. Now, as they slowed to a halt, Spike began to realize how lost they were.
A drop of water fell onto the dragon’s nose, prompting him to look up. Water fell from the ceiling as if there were a river flowing above them. The stone walls around them were stained with the marks of dripping water and stale mildew.
For once, Pluto was at a complete loss of where to follow his nose. Whether it was to find Minnie, or to retrace their steps to an exit, he could do nothing. Water masked every scent. And the growths of mildew and lichen only added to the muffling of any smell. Now, there was only the faint scent of what trail they left behind themselves.
The situation was now beyond hopeless. As Taffy looked around, she could see no trace of wires, or coursing electrical current to guide them back to the base of the clock tower. Occasionally, she would glance down and see Caru looking up at her.
<“Where are we now, mommy?”> the doll asked.
<“I don’t know,”> Taffy answered.
<“Mommy? Are we going to stay here forever?”>
Taffy’s cautious steps slowed to a stop.
Spike stopped to see what she was doing, and was bumped from behind by Pluto. Both dragon and hound dog watched as Taffy pensively stared at Caru. He had seen that stare before. It was the same one that Princess Celestia used just before she divulged something terrible to Twilight and himself. Whatever Taffy was going to say next, Spike knew that it was going to be something awful.
After taking a moment to think, Taffy spoke to her daughter.
<“No. We’re going to find a way out. But, if we...If we get caught before we do, I need you to not show what you really are,”> the tinker said.
<“What do you mean?”> Caru asked.
Taffy stopped to think for a moment. She had to explain the situation to the doll in a way that she would understand.
<“When you see any of the other theows again, I need you to act like you’re a doll,”> the tinker said.
<“But, I’m a theow,”> Caru replied.
<“I know. But…”> Taffy paused again. When she thought of how to make Caru understand, she spoke. <“They don’t know that you are anymore. They might look like our friends, but they’re not. If they see that you’re not just an ordinary doll, they’ll...do terrible things to you.”>
<“But, I’m a theow,”> Caru repeated.
<“I know!”> Taffy curtly replied. When she collected herself, she continued explaining to her daughter. <“Caru, you’re a very special theow. Ffion knows it. Aranau knows it--”>
<“And Pike too?”>
<“And Pike too,”> Taffy confirmed.
She faltered a moment to continue explaining. Every one of the theows in the village knew about Caru, and acted as if she were one of them. Even Pike, who treated everyone as if they were a complete stranger, took time to play with Caru when she asked him. To think that they had now become monsters was a heartbreaking reality.
<“None of them think that you’re a theow anymore. To them, you are a toy that was made to be broken,”> the tinker continued.
<“But--”>
<“I know you’re a theow. But, they are not the theows you knew before. If they catch you, you must sing and dance. And that’s all. Do not talk to them. Do not try to make them remember you. If they see you not acting like a doll, they will break you open, and take everything that makes you special. Do you understand?”>
In that moment, Taffy thought she may have been too forceful for Caru. Were the doll any more like a theow, Taffy knew that Caru’s face would be wet with frightened tears.
<“Now please, Caru. You and your friends follow me, and I’ll take you to safety. And remember: act like a doll if any of us are caught. Please,”> the tinker finished.
Spike watched as Caru silently nodded in response to her mother. Even though he didn’t understand a word of what they said, he had the sinking feeling that it was nothing good.
He took Taffy walking onward as the signal to continue their trek through the underbelly of the ruins they were in. With a gentle tug on Pluto’s collar, the young dragon led the hound dog on.
Caru waited to walk until Spike was beside her. Once she was moving, Spike noticed how Caru was walking. For a doll, her steps seemed to trudge, and her gaze was cast low. Exactly the same as a real creature who was deeply troubled or saddened by something.
“Um…” Spike began. He felt it slightly unorthodox for concerning himself over the emotions of a doll. But, Caru’s lifelike eyes pushed him onward with his question. “Are you feeling alright?”
Caru looked directly at Spike.
Seeing the doll’s eyes in full sent a shiver down Spike’s spines. In the back of his mind, he hoped Caru would not answer. Even if he could not understand her, just the mere idea that she may give a response would have been too much for the dragon’s perceptions of the world.
“Spike,” Caru began. “Ydych chi'n meddwl fy mod yn teow?”
Spike didn’t know how to answer.
“Yn dw i mewn gwirionedd yn teow go iawn?”
One look at Caru's tin face, and Spike didn’t need to understand her language to know what was wrong. Something was deeply troubling her. It was the very same way he once felt when he pondered his displacement from dragon society to pony’s. An outcast among his own peers. Always accepted, but never quite fitting in. It was during those times that Spike wished the most for somepony like himself. And without even knowing her for very long, he knew that Caru often wished the same.
He didn’t know any words to say. But, there was the one connection that bonded all creatures beyond species and language. One that was found deep within that was treasured by all who shared it. Greater than even friendship.
Spike’s eyes met with Caru’s as he slowly placed a claw around the doll’s tin shoulders.
In that moment, a warmth grew in the dragon’s chest, and it spread through his arm, to his claw, and into Caru’s being. And even though she was a doll, Spike thought he could feel the same coming from Caru.
Pluto watched his two younger companions, wondering what they were doing. He watched as a smile bloomed onto Caru’s mechanical face. In the next moment, he was surprised to see the doll rub the top of her head beneath Spike’s chin and nuzzle his shoulder.
That was when Pluto understood that it was the same thing he shared with Mickey. A connection that came from the special place within the hearts of all creatures, and was shared by only those who profoundly knew and understood one another.
The memories of his very best friend made the hound dog want to share in the connection with the young creatures before him. With an excited wag of his tail, Pluto bounded and splashed through the watery floor to the front of his companions, and vigorously licked both of their faces.
Both young creatures laughed under the touch of the hound dog’s tongue. Even if they never would escape the ruins, those moments would have been counted among the happiest in their lives.
“Cenau,” Taffy called from ahead. “Mae angen i ni barhau'n symud. Cadwch yn agos atof mi.”
Spike needed no translation. He, Caru and Pluto all trotted ahead to catch up with Taffy, and kept close to the tinker as they continued on.
As they walked onward, Spike caught Caru’s glance once more. As the doll giggled at the sight of his eye contact, Spike knew that he had collected a new friend who would stay with him forever, even after they parted.
“Aros,” Taffy said abruptly, as she stopped the others from continuing.
Spike could not hear it, but his companions could. Their canine ears all heard the sounds of a quiet rumbling sound. The sounds of heavy moving parts rang to them through the stone halls, and the water around their ankles was rippling not from the water dripping above, but the distant vibrations of something large.
Taffy now knew they were near their destination. The working parts of the clock went as deep as the ruins themselves. And any trace of its moving parts was a surefire straight shot to the surface.
With a quicker, but still cautious pace, the four creatures all traveled the ruined halls to the source of the disturbance.
The sounds of clockwork grew louder. A broken doorway led them to the next room. Freedom was well within their grasp.
When they came closer, Pluto began to grow wary of where they were going. Amid the murky scents of water and mildew, he began to smell that strange scent once more.
They passed to the door, onto a catwalk that overlooked the clockwork of the room. One look, and they knew that their escape was far from near.
Down in the bowels of the clock tower, where the grinding gears and turning wheels had been left to rust, something terrible awaited them.
There, permeating every groove, hole and cranny was the very same protoplasm that had attacked them earlier. Nearly every grinding gear and turning wheel, almost every spinning shaft and bouncing spring. It seemed the entirety of the massive clockwork was covered in it.
And at the very top of the ceiling, a massive blob of protoplasm was attached. It was at least the size of a small lake. Within it, hundreds of multicolored globules swam about. Far more than any of them could handle to destroy the vile substance.
It was the heart of the operation. Pseudopods extended and reached out to operate the heavy equipment. Taffy’s keen eyes noticed every change and modification to the place. Generators had been installed to the clockwork, which sent power to the rest of the evil machines in the ruins.
When her eyes glanced to the conveyor belt in the room, the tinker suddenly had flashes of riding the very same contraption. She recalled her half-conscious mind panicking as she was carried along its length, until the protoplasm in the room took over her mind.
With every intention to avoid the plasm, Taffy was about to guide the children back the way they came. Until Spike noticed a familiar shape that was riding the conveyor belt.
“Minnie!” Spike shouted.
The mouse did not respond. She did not even move at the sound of Spike’s voice.
The young dragon’s eyes followed the path of the conveyor belt. To his horror, he saw it was going right into the thick of the massive plasm. Remembering what he had extracted from Taffy’s ear, he knew that he had to save Minnie.
It seemed Pluto had the same idea, as the hound dog quickly grabbed Spike in his teeth and tossed the dragon onto his back.
Spike barely had time to hold onto Pluto’s collar, before his canine mount ran into the room.
Neither could hardly hear the protests of their theow companions over the grinding clockwork, as Pluto leapt from the catwalk to the nearest solid surface.
The path ahead was nothing more than moving clockwork. Every step was a precarious balance between safe passage, a long fall, and getting ground into a fine powder. For Minnie, they knew they could risk it.
Pluto’s paws caught the teeth of a turning cog. His rear paws scrambled frantically to climb up as he was pulled to another cog.
Spike steadied himself on the hound dog’s back. As Pluto pulled himself up, the dragon kept his head low to avoid being struck by the cog above him.
Placing his rear paws on the cog he was on, Pluto leapt forward, just before his tail was swallowed by the grinding gears.
The next landing was on a cog with a spiral groove.
Try as Pluto did to run forward, he was unable to keep up with the speed of the spinning gear. Each step, he was forced to hold tightly and spin around, until he was set upright again. But, every time he tried to move again, he was once more forced to hold on as he was spun around the cog.
With every spin, Spike saw Minnie moving closer to the plasm. Time was running out, and they needed a way off the spinning cog.
Not about to let anything happen to those under her care, Taffy ran down the steps of the catwalk. In all her years of working with clockwork machinery, she knew that one misplaced component, or one missed step in assembly would sink an entire project. If she could stop the working parts in just the right spot, she could stop the whole operation and save the others. Or at the very least, slow the contraption down some.
At the bottom landing, the room was half flooded with water, which was pouring in from the doorway above. Taffy splashed through the water, looking for a means to stop the diabolical clockwork.
Behind her, a second splash was heard.
When the tinker turned to look, she saw a ripple and bubbles at first. In a second, a tiny, tin head broke the surface.
“Mamma!” Caru said, before she sank beneath the water. She jumped up and appeared above the surface again. “Dw i’n dod hefyd!” She sank again.
Taffy waded over to where she saw Caru last sink, and lowered her head beneath the water. She picked Caru up in her teeth and hoisted the doll above the water.
Any other time, she would have told Caru to stay behind. But, with no tools at her disposal, taking Caru with her was the best chance Taffy had of getting anything done.
Spike and Pluto spun around the cylindrical cog for what felt like the hundredth time. Dizzy and disoriented, Spike knew that the ride had to stop. With every pass around, Minnie was getting further away from them.
Time was wasting. In the corner of his eye, Spike saw a moving chain. On the next pass around the cog, he tried to reach for it.
He missed.
Before going around again, Spike shot his long, reptilian tongue at the chain, and snagged tightly.
Pluto had no time to realize what was happening, before he was hoisted upward by his collar.
Upward the two went, getting further from Minnie, as the mouse got closer to the plasm.
Spike swung Pluto, and tossed him to the flat surface of the next spinning cog.
Pluto scrambled up and caught Spike when he jumped next.
They needed to head Minnie off, before she was engulfed by the plasm.
“Giddyup!” Spike said, as he spurred Pluto with his heels.
Though he was tired of being treated like a horse, Pluto had no time to gripe. He still had to rescue Minnie.
The hound dog jumped and rode the next vertically spinning cog.
A tendril of plasm seeped out of the grooves of the cog, forcing Pluto to leap off.
Taffy reached a vertical shaft down below. In a moment, her eyes followed the path that the cogs would operate, and knew she had arrived where she needed to.
The shaft was so rusty, it would surely be weak enough to do what she needed. Quickly, she placed Caru back on the floor.
Without even speaking Taffy placed her head underwater, and removed Caru’s tail.
Caru stood on her back legs, and placed her front hooves against her mother’s side to stay above water. Before she could ask what Taffy was doing, the tinker set to work using the slightly serrated edge of the doll’s tail to saw through the rusty shaft.
Pluto’s next landing took him on top of a metal arm that rocked up and down. When it rocked one way, plasm approached from one side. When it rocked the other, the plasm receded, and plasm from the other side approached.
The only chance to escape was through one of the holes in the spinning cog at the end of the arm.
Pluto jumped over the receding plasm, and passed through the opening in the cog.
There was barely anything to land on beyond it. Spike and Pluto looked over the edge of the metal arm they landed on, as the hound dog’s paws barely teetered on the edge.
Spike looked over his shoulder, and saw the plasm creeping up behind them. Shifting his weight forward, he forced himself and Pluto to fall.
Down both fell toward the spinning cogs. If nothing was done fast, they would soon be ground to mush.
Taffy finished sawing through the shaft, which slid off of its base. Once she was done, she replaced Caru’s tail, and carried the doll up the nearest flight of stairs, just before the plasm started reaching down for them.
As they made their escape, the effects of their actions were reverberating through the machines.
Beside Taffy as she ran up the steps, huge pieces of clockwork began to slow down. Some stopped altogether, allowing her to jump across the surface of some to reach another shaft.
The cogs beneath Pluto and Spike slowed dramatically, grinding almost to a halt. It was more than enough for the hound dog to land with his paws on four separate gears, forcing him to step up one paw at a time as the clockwork slowly moved.
In the dark room, the doctor busily worked on her machine console. She had to get the modifications finished, if she was ever going to make the template to make all magic the same as her master’s.
However, there was one complication that she had not counted on.
She first tested the power flow by turning on the monitor. For whatever reason she could not comprehend, the monitors only showed fuzzy images.
“Hm?” she said, as she examined the screens.
Once Pluto’s four paws reached the highest point they could go, Spike leaned his full weight backwards.
Pluto reared up on his hind legs, and pivoted in the direction the dragon leaned next.
With a jerk forward, Spike forced Pluto to jump forward, onto the surface of the next solid cog.
Minnie was closer to the plasm than before. Only now, it seemed she was moving much more slowly along the conveyor belt.
Taffy’s machinations had worked. The path she created across the slowed cogs allowed her to hurry across them all, as the plasm reached for her on all sides.
As she was carried by her mother, Caru winced when the pseudopods closed in.
One reached for Taffy’s leg.
Caru’s leg hydraulically extended, and her tin hoof squashed the globules within, rendering the pseudopod immobile. Once she was done, her leg telescoped back to normal length.
It was just enough to allow Taffy to jump to the next cog, where she placed Caru on the ground and took her tail to saw through another metal shaft. This one traveling horizontally.
As her mother worked, Caru saw the plasm creeping in from over and across the many cogs around them.
The doll yelped when a blob of the stuff dripped from above and landed before her.
Purely on instinct, every tool she had unfolded from her legs, and she frantically started stomping the plasm.
Her amorphous opponent seemed wise to her wild swings, and deftly dodged her attacks. Sometimes, it rose to strike back, but was too little to do much against the doll. Until more plasm started falling from above.
“Mamma!” Caru said, as she huddled closer to Taffy.
The tinker had been aware of the danger the whole time. She just finished sawing through the thin shaft, when she replaced Caru’s tail and picked her up.
She tried running one direction.
The blobs of plasm merged together and quickly blocked her.
Taffy tried running another way and the blob slid to block her path again.
The amoeba tried to reconnect the different wires of her machine, to see what was working and what wasn’t.
She tried over and over touching different wires to a ground, only to keep coming up with duds.
“No!”
She tried the next pairing.
“No!”
She tried the next pairing.
“NO!!!”
She tried the next pairing.
*BZZZZZT*
The sudden flare of sparks blew the doctor backwards. Right towards a shelf full of scalpels, cleavers, bonesaws and drill bits.
With a panicked scream, she compressed and contorted her body. Each part of her harmlessly broke through the wall, leaving a hole in the shape of herself between each sharp instrument.
Spike and Pluto were closer to rescuing Minnie. Taffy had not only slowed the machinery for herself, but for them too. With the slowed, or immobile clockwork around them, only a few more jumps would take them to the conveyor belt, where they would run up its length and pull Minnie to safety.
A sudden shout made Spike look to its source.
Looking over, the dragon saw Caru and Taffy blocked by a wall of plasm. Above them, a pseudopod slowly lowered to engulf them.
Firmly gripping Pluto’s collar, Spike reined the hound dog into turning toward them.
Pluto jumped from the cog he was on to a spinning wheel.
The wheel spun as fast as Pluto could run, keeping him on it like a treadmill.
Spike knew what had to be done. He stood atop Pluto’s head, and leaned closely to the chain that spun the wheel. Welling up his flames, they sliced through the chain like a cutting torch.
Without a chain to stabilize it, the wheel spun around faster and faster under Pluto and Spike’s combined weight.
With a sudden jerk, Spike was bucked into the air, while Pluto scrambled to stay atop the wheel.
The chain above fell and draped itself around Spike, as the dragon landed on Pluto’s back.
The surge of weight made the wheel slide from where it was set, and go rolling across the many cogs before it.
Pluto’s paws scrambled madly backwards, trying to stay atop the spinning wheel.
Everything the errant clockwork landed on fell away, or was dislodged.
“Keep it together, you hunk of junk!!!” the amoeba shouted, as she used her pseudopods to hold the insides of her rapidly malfunctioning machine together.
With one loud bang, the machine practically seemed to vomit its working parts out of itself, and into the amoeba’s open suit.
The rubber suit full of cytoplasm started bulging wider, and the nucleus in the headpiece was squished against the top of the acrylic glass.
Before the nucleus could be completely smashed, then entire contents of plasm shot out of the rubber suit, making it crumple on the ground. All but the nucleus, which called back the errant plasm.
When the suit was filled, the front was zipped up, and the amoeba buttoned up her lab coat.
“Alright! That does it! No more Miss Nice Eukaryote! I’m fixing this right at the source!” she fumed, before she stormed out the nearest door.
Spike took hold of the chain that was wrapped around him, and threw it at the rusty metal rods overhead.
The chain wrapped around the metal shaft. Spike held the chain in one claw, and Pluto’s collar in the other, as they were pulled upward.
The wheel continued to roll, and bumped hard into the metal pole that supported the cog Taffy and Caru were on.
The cog wobbled hard, making the doll and tinker lose their hoofing, and slide out of the way of the plasm that was lowering toward them.
Before they fell off the cog, Pluto grabbed Taffy in his paws, who tightened her hold on Caru in her mouth.
All four of them shouted as they swung closer to a giant pair of grinding gears.
Pluto arched his body backwards, pulling all of his passengers backwards, just barely far enough from being crushed by the gears.
They all swung back.
Spike used the weight of the others he was carrying to swing them all side to side, to avoid the rest of the clockwork.
Minnie was practically upon the plasm. In only a few moments, she was going to be engulfed by the substance and have her mind taken over by it.
It was now or never. Despite the protests of his friends, Spike swung them all forward to get extra momentum. Then, he let them go.
Each of them landed on a separate piece of still clockwork, and were able to see Spike swing toward the conveyor belt. However, their spectacle was cut short when the encroaching plasm forced them to run.
Spike landed on the edge of the conveyor belt ahead of Minnie. He desperately tried to pull himself up, even as he was slowly dragged toward the plasm.
With one burst of strength, Spike pulled himself up to the conveyor. It was only three or four steps for him to reach the unconscious mouse, who he desperately tried lifting up.
A sudden chill touched the dragon’s spines on his back. He knew the plasm was reaching for him.
There was no time to think. He held tightly to Minnie, and leaned over the side of the conveyor belt.
The water below was rapidly approaching. If nothing was done fast, it would be all over for him and Minnie both.
There was a sudden jerking stop, and Spike held tightly to Minnie to keep from falling from her. Looking up, he saw a large wrench had been hooked into the scaffolding that held the conveyor belt up. Looking to the owner of the arm that held it, Spike was overjoyed to see Minnie had regained consciousness.
“Spike! What in the name of all that’s good and wholesome has been going on!?” the mouse asked.
There was no time to answer. More of the plasm was creeping toward them.
Minnie quickly swung them onto the next nearest cog.
Pluto’s loud barking, and the shouts of Caru and Taffy echoed through the room. Not a word was understood, but Minnie and Spike knew it was a signal to regroup and escape.
It was Pluto who was the first to facilitate the endeavor. Putting his pointer instincts to good use, he pointed his nose at a doorway at the next nearest catwalk.
Minnie took Spike by his claw, and guided him across the jammed clockwork.
Taffy carried Caru up a set of cogs, careful not to set them in motion as she walked.
Pluto ran as fast as he could through the clockwork, wishing to leave the room as quickly as possible.
The plasm in the room started to reach for them all. One way or another, it was going to corrupt all of their minds at once.
Under the steps of each of the runners, the unstable clockwork started to wave and rumble. Beneath their feet, hooves, paws and claws, it seemed almost as if the entirety of the working parts were coming undone.
The plasm that reached for them all was smashed by the falling clockwork, and what wasn’t quickly receded to avoid the chaos.
The entire tower seemed to rumble and roll, and the catwalk started pulling loose from the heavy bolts that fastened it to the wall.
Minnie quickly fixed the problem. After fitting her wrench around a bolt, she swung the handle, and let it spin like a propeller until the catwalk set itself to the wall.
A cog fell and slammed against the catwalk, making all on it wobble and shake.
Spike began teetering toward the edge, coming dangerously close to falling into the mess of falling clockwork and writhing plasm.
Caru quickly placed her front hooves on the two nearest bolts, and spun them at her wrist.
The bolts sank into the wall, stabilizing the catwalk, and allowing Spike to shift his weight back to safety. Caru facilitated the rest of the effort by snatching Spike’s claw in her teeth and pulling him forward.
“Thanks, Caru!” Spike quickly said, as he scratched her behind her tin ears.
There was no time for the doll to appreciate the gesture. The bolts would not hold long, and they all had to run.
There came a cacophony of thunder, as the clockwork rumbled loose.
One after the other, Pluto, Minnie, Spike, Caru and Taffy rushed out the door, as the sounds of thunder quieted behind them.
The floor of the next room splashed quietly, as the water displaced beneath their hurried steps. They didn’t know where they were running. They had no idea how to escape. But, the longer they ran, the sooner they found themselves in more unfamiliar territory.
Things were now seeming completely hopeless. For as much as they tried, it seemed like they only ever went deeper into the unknown ruins.
Taffy began to hear a whirring, grinding sound. The very same that came from dislodged or worn clockwork.
<“Mommy...I need to stop…”> Caru said.
It was a disheartening sight for the tinker. The immense stress Caru had been under seemed to have taken its toll on her mechanical body. She was practically limping, and her joints moved more stiffly than before.
<“Oh, dear! Oh, no! Caru, sweetheart, lie down. Mommy’s going to make you better!”> Taffy said, as she gently laid the doll on her side.
Once again, she opened the panel on Caru’s side, and peered at the clockwork within.
There was nothing terribly wrong. Only that several of Caru’s working parts were slightly dislodged. Thankfully, her core remained steadfast and firm.
Minnie gasped at the sight. Even though it was only a doll who needed attention, her heart faltered at the sight of Taffy’s worried face. Her instincts completely took hold of her, and she rushed to the doll’s aid, tools in hand.
Taffy readily accepted everything Minnie offered her, and quickly applied them to fixing her mechanical daughter.
Spike and Pluto looked over what was happening, as the two adults worked. To them, it was like waiting for a friend to move from operation to recovery.
Taffy nudged Minnie aside, and started working by herself.
Minnie took the hint, and allowed the tinker to work by herself.
“Oh, the poor thing. Why do the worst things have to happen to children?” Minnie said.
Pluto wasted no time greeting Minnie, now that they had a reprieve. The hound dog placed his paws on Minnie’s hips, too drained to greet her with his normal jump.
Spike also took the moment to reunite with his friend, who he thought was lost to the perils of the ruins. With a quiet sigh, he gently hugged the mouse, but always kept his eyes on Caru.
Minnie gently placed her hands on Spike’s back, and held the little dragon closely to herself. After the terrible things she had experienced in those ruins, she wanted nothing more than to rush him and all of the others to safety.
For as much as she had seen and experienced, she did not wish to tell Spike just yet of the terrible plot the master of the ruins had in store. She would wait until later to reveal that to her young companion.
A guttural growl reached their ears.
Looking to the far end of the room, Pike appeared in the doorway, glaring at his prey.
Taffy wished to run, but knew she could not leave Caru behind.
Minnie drew her hammer from her belt and raised it to defend herself and the others.
Pluto looked around, and saw that the way they had come from was blocked by more of the corrupted theows. And they were soon joined by more. Then, over the sounds of their growling, there came rushed footsteps.
In a moment, the amoeba came storming into the room.
“Aw, will you look at this! Everything goes wrong at once around here! The machines here keep malfunctioning! They aren’t dead yet! She’s not under my control! And I still can’t find the heart I’m looking for!” she angrily fumed.
“Who’s that?” Spike quietly asked, as he and Pluto huddled closer to Minnie.
“She’s the one who did all of this,” Minnie answered, as she glared at the doctor.
“That’s it! I’m taking care of this whole shenanigan! All of you: rip apart the dragon, the theow and their little dog too! Leave the mouse!” the amoeba ordered the corrupted theows.
Each one of the theows growled hungrily at their prey.
Pike slowly made his way toward Taffy, who backed away from Caru’s side.
“Mamma!” Caru said.
<“Be a doll, Caru! Just like I told you!”> Taffy said, as she warily eyed Pike.
Caru was not one to not do as her mother said. But, she knew that Pike still existed within the beast that approached her mother.
<“Pike! Stop! Don’t you remember my mommy? You told me you like her!”> Caru said.
<“Caru, be quiet!”> Taffy shouted.
But, her worst fear had already been realized.
“Wait! Now, hold on just a second!” the amoeba said, as she hurriedly walked past the theows under her control.
Taffy tried to intervene, only to be stopped by Pike’s snapping jaws.
The amoeba knelt down to examine Caru, and was amazed by what she had found. Even though it was just a doll, she marveled at the lifelike face, and even more at the uncanny expression of fear in its eyes. The very same as a real child, whose heart was gripped by fear.
She looked into Caru’s open side, and saw something even more astonishing. The working parts inside of her were like nothing she had ever seen. It was almost as if each part was meant to accommodate a living, breathing creature. Most of all, there was what was unmistakably the most important working component. The heart of the doll.
A beaming smile morphed beneath the headpiece of the doctor’s suit. She had found both the heart she needed, and the part that would fix her derelict of a machine. A core to power her evil devices, and a heart that she could forge and manipulate and copy, all in one convenient package.
“This is it! I can finally finish my work here!” the amoeba said, as she reached into Caru’s side.
“Na!!” Taffy shouted, as she tried to save her daughter.
Pike’s jaws clasped around her neck, and threw her to the ground.
Taffy lifted her head, just in time to see the amoeba remove Caru’s heart.
“Caru!!” Spike shouted.
“M-Ma-amm-a-a...Spi-i-i-i-ke…” Caru stuttered, before her head laid lifelessly on the floor.
The doctor took a moment to savor her find. But, she knew she could not stay. There was much for her to do, and now she had the means to do it efficiently and effectively. She quickly left the room, but not before giving one last order.
“Alright. That’s all I needed. Now, kill them,” she said, dismissively waving her hand.
“Caru!” Taffy called one last time, as the theows who were once her friends closed in on her, Minnie, Pluto and Spike.
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9376542
I think that if you keep reading, you'll find a pleasant surprise, or several.
The clock tower fight here was better than The Castle of Cagliostro! I hope that amoeba gets killed good!
Ok, I can see why you wanted an amoeba specifically, but I stll think that Disney's amorphous blob deserved at least a shoutout of some form in this arc. It just seems like a missed opportunity.
9598549
A missed opportunity? How absent-minded of me. (Rimshot)