5 Chapter 5: Shawn The Toymaker

"Let me go!" Mikey shouted as he furiously tried to struggle out of the angel's tight grip. She had been carrying him against his will for what felt like hours; up through the huge shaft, down a hallway wider than any he and his friends had been through, and now up a winding staircase. He had no idea where she was taking him, and he definitely didn't want to stay and find out. "Stop! Put me down! Where are you taking me?!"

The demented Alice purred with pride as she began to answer. "Where?" She asked in mock surprise. "To the Toymaker, of course."

"What does he want with me?" Mikey asked.

"That's only for him to know," the toy replied, "and for you to find out soon. If you'd prefer to not fall to your death on the way there, little Searcher, then I suggest that you keep those questions of yours to yourself."

Mikey kept quiet. His mind wandered back to thoughts of his friends. What would happen to them? Would the Toymaker send more killer toys to finish them off? Would they be able to find him?

The angel paused at the top of the stairway, where a metal door with the words "The Creator Lied To Us" were written in ink at the top. She floated down to the ground and turned the door's wheel with one arm, holding on tightly to Mikey's arm with the other. The door swung open in silence, and Alice dragged the little Searcher into the biggest room he had ever seen in his life.

The room was much bigger than the Inkwell had been, with a high ceiling on which hung a huge, golden chandelier. On the rooms walls were shelves that went from floor to ceiling, littered with books and plushes of the poster cartoons. In the center of the room, there was a large, elevated platform with a wooden chair in its center.

Sitting in the chair, his back to the angel and her prisoner, was a figure with the upper body of a Lost One, and the lower body of a Searcher. He wore a lightly colored shirt, had inky wings protruding from his back, and had a big black horn on either side of his head. His head was bowed, as if he was upset about something.

"Master," Alice called to him proudly, "I've brought the Searcher that you've requested."

"...Excellent," the Toymaker said in a soft voice. "And where are the other toys I've sent with you?"

"The Searcher's companions destroyed them all, Master. I'm all that's left."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," the Toymaker chuckled. He then raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Instantly, about eight more toys appeared beside Alice, all similar to the ones Mikey and his friends had fought.

"Now," the Toymaker said, "go to the other four little travelers. Make sure none of them escape, or are left alive."

The angel finally let go of Mikey, and swiftly flew back through the door and down the stairs, the other toys in tow.

"Wait! No! Don't hurt them!" Mikey called after them, trying to follow. But the ninth toy closed and locked the door behind it, leaving Mikey and the Toymaker in the room alone. If the toys reached his friends, they'd be hopelessly outnumbered.

"I'll bet you have a million questions fleeting through your little head right now, little one," the Toymaker said to Mikey, rising up from his chair. "Where are you? Why are you here? What's going to happen to those precious friends of yours?"

"W-who are you?" Mikey asked nervously. "And, um, yeah, all those other questions, too."

"Who am I?" The Toymaker turned to Mikey, revealing one wide right eye, and a pentagram replacing the other one. "I am the Toymaker, as you already know. But, as my guest, you may call me...Shawn. As for the other queries, you are in my workshop, where I make all of my beautifully deranged children. And you're here for a very beautiful reason, yes indeed. As soon as my children have disposed of your companions, you're to have a special meeting with a special someone. Won't that be fun?"

"No! I'm not going to let you hurt them!" Mikey shouted angrily. "They never did anything to you! You murderer!"

"They didn't, did they? I guess not, but I need to make sure they don't intervene when I take you to the Ink Demon." Shawn put his hand over his invisible mouth in fake shock. "Oh, did I just say his name? Oops, silly me. I meant to make it a surprise for you both."

Mikey's eyes widened. What could the Ink Demon possibly want from him? And why would he send this monster after him?

"But, I assure you, I am no murderer," Shawn continued. "I am merely a worker trying to complete whatever he can. The true killer here is the one who built his crooked empire on the backs of those he took advantage of. The one who lied to whoever trusted him most in order to get what he wanted. The Creator. He's the one you should call a murderer, little one. Not I."

"...W-well, whoever the Creator is," Mikey said, "he probably wouldn't send scary monster toy things after creatures who did nothing to them! I'm not going with you to the Ink Demon, and you can't make me!"

Mikey turned to leave, but Shawn was suddenly right in front of him. The Searcher looked behind him and in front of him again, confused and afraid.

"I'm afraid escaping our Lord won't be so easy, little one," Shawn said with a not-so-nice tone. "It looks as though you'll be quite difficult to keep in one place until the time of your deliverance has come. Let's place you in a more...secure position until it's time to deliver you, shall we?"

Robin leapt off of the rising chain as it emerged from the shaft. She landed with a wet thud onto the floor, looking for any signs of Mikey. All she saw was a trail of inky droplets leading down a dark and ominous hallway.

Jake, Allie, and Army emerged on another chain and lept off next to Robin.

"It looks like that...thing took Mikey through whatever this place is," Army said.

"Really? What tipped you off, genius?" Jake asked sarcastically.

"Guys, stop," Robin said. "We're not here to bicker at each other. We're here to find Mikey, and get out of here before more of those things come."

"Hello, what's this?" Allie's voice rang out from the left. Robin, Jake, and Army turned and saw her examining a strange, tube-looking device with a large circular object attached to it.

"Oh, hey!" Army exclaimed. "Charley has one of those back at the Inkwell! He said they were called 'tommy guns'. He never told me what they did, though."

"What does this little button do?" Allie asked curiously, pulling a small trigger on the tommy gun. Immediately, loud noises and small flashes of light shot out from the gun, and left small holes in the far wall when they stopped. Everyone stared at the gun, amazed.

"...We're definitely taking this," Allie said excitedly. "And there are some more circle things in this box. Jake, do you think there's enough room in that backpack for a couple of these?"

"Let me check," Jake said, pulling off the pack and looking inside. "Yep. Let's put some in."

As soon as they were finished, Robin asked, "Okay, you guys still got your weapons, just in case?" Everyone said yes. "Alright, let's go. Hang in there, Mikey. We're coming."

The four friends followed the trail through the long, wide hallway, staying as alert as they could in case anything came to attack them. When they reached a part of the hall that branched off into two new halls, they heard sounds from the one on the right. They looked, and saw an even bigger horde of the demonic playthings from earlier headed straight for them.

"RUN!" Robin cried, but before they took one step, Allie pulled the tommy gun's trigger and blasted the creatures with the beads of light and metal. Each toy went down almost immediately, and none of them made it to the group.

"Whoa. That was awesome," Jake said, staring at Allie in loving awe.

"It's nothing, really," Allie said, blushing. "It was just instinct, that's all."

"I think I hear more coming from the left hall," Robin warned. "We should keep moving before they get here."

The group hurried down the hall and up the staircase, Allie mowing down anything that tried to attack them. They soon reached the door to the Toymaker's lair, which was hard to open at first, but soon swung open in silence.

Shawn locked the door of the small cage with a huge padlock he had made not too long ago. Mikey sat in one of the cage's corners, his wrists bound together with a piece of strong rope, staring fearfully at the Toymaker. Shawn had called for another Boris toy to guard Mikey, and make sure he didn't try to escape. The three were in a small room located in a hall near the ceiling of his lair; the perfect place to hide his prisoner until he confirmed that the Searcher's allies were destroyed.

"There we are," Shawn said. "Now, I do hope you'll be comfortable, little one. We wouldn't want you to be too distraught before meeting our Lord, would we? No, we wouldn't."

"I'll ask you one last time," Mikey pleaded. "Please, please, don't hurt my friends. You can take me to the Ink Demon, and do whatever you want with me, but please don't hurt them."

Shawn, who was slightly touched by the Searcher's love for his allies, started to reply, but was interrupted by a shout from outside and below. The look of relief and fear on Mikey's face let Shawn know exactly who was out there.

"Well, well, well," he grinned. "I guess your companions did find their way after all. Why don't I go have a little chat with them before we depart?"

"No! NO! PLEASE! LEAVE THEM ALO - mmmph!" Mikey started to shout, but Boris immediately clamped his gloved hand firmly over his mouth.

"We certainly can't have them know where you are, now can we, little one?" Shawn chuckled as he went to the room's door. "I'll be sure to tell you of their last words when I'm finished."

He closed the door and locked it, leaving Mikey imprisoned in darkness.

"MIKEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!" Army shouted as he, Jake, Robin, and Allie entered the room. "MIKEY WHERE ARE YO - " He was immediately shushed by the others, who were completely on edge from what they were about to face.

"Sssshhhhh!" Robin hissed. "Are you nuts? Do you WANT whatever's in here to know we're here?"

"Hopefully, there won't be any more angel things for you to be seduced by, and almost get us killed by," Jake teased.

"Ha ha ha," Army replied. "I'm never living that down, am I?"

"Nope."

"That's fair."

"Come on," Allie said, "let's look around the room for Mikey. Whoever took him will probably be here any minute."

And so, the four friends searched the corners, bookshelves, and any other available space in the room for Mikey. But he was nowhere to be found. Robin saw an opening to a hallway on top of a bookshelf near the ceiling, but didn't see any way to get to it.

"Where could he be?" Jake asked worriedly.

"Up there," Robin said, pointing to the opening. "Maybe he's somewhere in there. But how are we gonna get up there?"

"Oh! Perhaps if we climbed up the shelves?" Allie suggested.

"Good thinking, Allie," Jake replied, and Allie blushed again. "Get on my back, Robin. I'll help you get up there."

"Well, well," a voice called down from above, and the four looked up to see Shawn staring down at them from on top of the shelves. "Found my little hiding place, have you? But, of course, I'm afraid you won't be getting your precious little Mikey anytime soon."

"Are you the Toymaker?" Robin demanded. "What have you done to Mikey?"

"Why, yes, I am. And don't worry, your friend is perfectly safe and tucked away, waiting to meet our Lord."

"'Lord'? Wait, you mean the Ink Demon?" Jake asked. "When Sammy came to the village, he kept talking about the Ink Demon being his 'Lord'," he quickly explained to the others.

"Aren't you all smart?" Shawn said, squinting menacingly. "But be careful. Your wits might eventually lead to your demise. Now then. Let us get this over with."

Then Shawn lept off of the shelf, and soared down towards the four friends, sharp inky claws emerging to tear them to shreds.

The four friends leapt out of the way just as Shawn hit the ground. Shawn flew back up again, and flew in a circle around the chandelier, trying to decide who to strike down first.

"Allie! Shoot him down, quick!" Robin yelled. Allie aimed the tommy gun at the flying ink man and fired, but no beads of light came out.

"Jake, get me another circle thing!" Allie called, but Jake was already pulling a circle out of the backpack and throwing it to Allie. She caught it and reloaded the gun just as Shawn flew down to attack her. She fired, but Shawn easily dodged the beads, and went to slash at Army. Army raised his plunger, and whacked Shawn on the side of the head with it.

Shawn crashed into a pile of plushies, momentarily dazed. Army then proceeded to whack him repeatedly, but these blows didn't seem to have as much of an effect. Shawn raised his arm and smacked the animatronic's chest with it, causing him to fly across the room and collide with a bookshelf.

"Army!" Jake yelled, and ran toward Shawn, preparing to bludgeon him with the wrench. But Shawn swiftly moved to the side, and punched the Lost One so hard that he fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Alright, listen," Robin told the Toymaker as he prepared to take flight again, "you're doing this for the Ink Demon, right? Why?"

Shawn flew straight up, and speeded towards Robin, who raised her axe a little too late. He slammed into her, and held her against the wall with one clawed hand.

"Why?" He hissed. "Because he promised me that he'd set me free if I completed this task. Then I'll finally be rid of this hellhole for the rest of eternity. But first, I need to free you all. Free your worthless souls from your worthless bodies!" He then threw Robin across the room, where she too collided with some shelves.

Allie fired away at Shawn, and the beads of light caused him to shriek in pain, and turn to her in rage. She continued to shoot, even as he tried to get to her. When he was only a few feet away, he collapsed, and she stopped shooting. It was silent for almost half a minute, but it felt like half an hour.

"I...I know who you are," Allie said softly. "I remember who you used to be."

"You know nothing about me, Lost One," Shawn growled. "You're blind, just like the rest of them."

"Shawn," Allie said, and he froze. "Shawn, don't you remember? You and I were friends. When we were still human."

"...Hu...man?" Shawn asked.

"Yes. The Ink Demon took all that away from us. The Demon you're serving right now."

"How...how do you remember all that?"

"I honestly don't know. But I have memories of this place somehow. Before the Ink Demon. Shawn, you can come with us. You can escape him, too."

Shawn was silent. "Y-yes...I remember being human, once...Joey said he was making us better, and he lied...he lied...Just like the Demon..."

He started to shake hard, ink dripping from his form and onto the floor. "Allie," he sobbed, "I...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's okay," Allie replied.

Robin, Army, and Jake all snapped out of their dazes, and stared at Allie and Shawn in amazement. How had Allie been able to calm him down? Hopefully, she'd tell them about it when they saved Mikey.

Shawn suddenly spun towards the door, where a faint voice was whistling a merry tune. And getting closer.

"He's coming," Shawn said fearfully. "You all need to leave. Now."

"Shawn, wait," Allie said, "please come with us. I don't want you facing the Ink Demon alone."

"I have to. Climb up the shelves, and go into the hallway. Your friend is in the room at the end of it. You must go, now...please."

Allie hesitated. "Th...Thank you," she said, and hurried to join the others, who were already climbing up the shelves to the opening. When they reached it, Allie took one last look at Shawn, then went down the hallway.

Mikey heard the door open, and hesitated to look at who it was. He was afraid that Shawn might've won, and that his friends were gone forever.

"Mikey!" Robin whispered. "Are you okay?"

Mikey opened his eyes, and saw his friends standing in the doorway while Robin came forward to unlock the cage.

"Guys!" He cried, almost crying with joy and relief. "You're alive! Did he hurt you?"

"No, no," Robin answered, breaking the padlock with her axe, opening the door, and cutting the rope off of Mikey's wrists. "We're fine. Did he hurt you?"

"No," he replied. "One of those wolf things was in the room with me, but for some reason, before you guys came here, he just...left."

A loud bang came from below, followed by another one, and another one.

"Come on," Jake said, "we gotta keep moving."

The five friends then went through another door in the room, and went up the staircase that followed.

"...So," The Ink Demon growled as he circled the Toymaker, "you let them get away, eh? Didn't even care to destroy one of them?"

"Yes," Shawn replied, "I did."

"And the little Searcher? You let him go as well?"

"Yes. I did, Demon."

"I think you forgot something, Flynn. Perhaps the title you've given me?"

Shawn looked up, anger fueling his next words. "You are not my Lord. I am not your mindless sheep anymore. You have no power over me. You never did. You're just a mistake. A soulless abomination that Henry and Joey should've destroyed a long, long time ago."

The Ink Demon was silent. Then he chuckled. His chuckles soon escalated into maniacal laughter. Suddenly, he grabbed Shawn by the neck and squeezed hard, making it hard for Shawn to breathe. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You little fool," The Demon sighed. "You're just as much a mistake as I am. And any mistake can easily be corrected."

With one strong yank, the Ink Demon ripped off Shawn's head, and his body fell to the floor and melted into a thick puddle of ink.

"Well, that's that," the Demon said, letting Shawn's head melt through his fingers. "But I guess I shouldn't have sent a lousy toymaker to do a demon's job."