Lola Hilling: The Blinding Light

6 - I'm Coming, Mother

A few minutes later, The Blinding Light and Apollo approached the Hilling family home. As they neared it, the two friends noticed a blue car parked outside. Frowning to himself, Apollo parkoured onto the roof of a nearby building, looking around the area. Seeing nothing, he dropped down to the ground, running over to join Lola's side.

"Any idea who owns that vehicle?" Enzo asked.

Shaking her head, Lola clenched her fists.

"No, but I think it's safe to say, we should hurry."

As the two reached the front door of the house, they found it already opened. Walking inside, the pair both stopped dead in their tracks. Lola could barely speak, her eyes were wide with surprise. Apollo was simply speechless.

The pink puppet seemed to be strung out on the floor, injured with several dents covering her. Tanya, Lola's mother, stood over the cyborg-like creature, in her iconic pink tracksuit while holding a crowbar in her hands. She was shaking slightly but held her head high.

"H-How...? What happened?" Lola muttered, unable to take her eyes away from her mother.

"Lola..." Her voice trembled.

"Mum, I'm here!" She ran over to Tanya, hugging her tightly.

"I knew you'd come... You always do..."

"Mum, what happened?"

Tanya looked up at Lola, tears falling from her eyes.

"That thing... It broke in... I was upstairs and heard the glass smashing..." She sobbed.

"It attacked you? Why? What did it want?" Lola asked, still not taking her eyes off her mother.

"It wanted to take me... It was asking about Ben and Tmo too!" She cried. "I tried to fight it, I really did... And I guess, I won?"

Lola pulled her mother over towards Enzo, wanting to get her away from the robot as soon as possible. The Russian man nodded, turning towards the exit of the home and running out, followed by the two Hilling women. They all ran out of the front door and down the street, heading for somewhere to hide out.

"So, what happened?" Lola asked, grabbing her mother's hand.

"Well, I heard the glass break downstairs and came down to see this... Thing standing there, in the middle of the living room. I thought it was one of your enemies, so I told it to leave, that you'd be home any minute, and then it started to attack me with its metal limbs." Tanya explained.

"Why didn't you call the police?" Enzo muttered as the trio ran down the street.

"All that came to my head was get the crowbar and protect myself!" Tanya replied. "And I did just that!"

"Do you know anything else about this thing?" Lola asked.

"It kept asking if I was 'the mother', that it had to find me because the project wasn't done yet." She paused. "Then that's when it revealed it wanted Ben and Tmo... Not Sky though..."

"There's probably a reason for that..." Lola sighed. "Sky's been turned into some kind of robotic slave..."

"Goddamnit, I knew something like this would happen..." Tanya trailed off, letting her head fall to her hands.

The trio went silent as they tried to decide where to go. That's when they realized, why not go to The Moonlight Lounge! As they discussed it amongst one another, they each agreed before heading in the direction of the bar. Once outside, they found the place was still closed with The Death Siblings still out. Apollo pulled out a temporary key that the ex-assassin duo gave him, allowing the trio inside.

They made their way through the empty bar to the back area, with it set out as a staff room. A few chairs were lined around a table, which contained various pieces of paper and books. As they entered, Apollo grabbed the nearest chair and sat it down, motioning for his new friends to do the same. Tanya and Lola both pulled out chairs for themselves, sitting down.

"So, what the freak do we do now?" Tanya wondered aloud.

Enzo peered towards Lola, looking for answers.

"Someone's taken control of Dad and Sky... So we need to find who that is!" Lola nodded. "But, I have no idea who'd want to. Blake and Ethan are in prison..."

"Well, what if it's someone related to someone else?" Apollo spoke.

Lola and Tanya looked at him confused.

"Well, think about it! Whoever this person is, they haven't tried killing you really... They want to take you, don't they? So what if it's to get back at someone else? Who would be hurt if the fire dude and his family is?"

The Hilling women wondered upon Apollo's words, with Lola's eyes quickly widening.

"It's got to be one of The Outcasts!" She gasped. "But which one..."

---

Father Flame and Freight-Tale stomped into the laboratory room that The Puppeteer sat within. He was wearing a white lab coat with his cane in his hand. On either side of the room stood two large machines, resembling the kind used for surgery. They had tubes leading from them to different locations in the room.

"What's going on?" The Puppeteer asked, turning to face the duo.

"We were able to strike fear into the residents of London, but the sister escaped..." Freight-Tale robotically spoke.

The Puppeteer grunted in anger, grabbing an empty test tube and smashing it into the floor.

"How dare she escape!" He growled. "The mother did as well!"

Freight-Tale shrugged, looking to Father Flame.

"You can always try again later..." The puppet-like villain added. "You have already gained us two..."

"No!" The Puppeteer yelled. "I plan to get every member of the Hilling family, before moving onto Metalloic and The Golden Edge. I already know all I need to about her and her family! Disney Duchess will lose each person she believes she has until there's no one left!"

"Yes sir..." The two pyrokinetic's spoke in sync. "We have an idea where she could be..."

"Very well, prepare The Dark Woman, The Hot-Headed Señora and The Sleeping Queen for me. Let's see how this sister and mother deal with the original Puppets!" The Puppeteer chuckled in response.

The robotic-like Hilling men marched out of the room, leaving the villainous Puppeteer alone. He began to pace around the laboratory, muttering to himself. He was all up in his own head, with only one want pushing him every part of the way.

He had the power to create and control puppets. And he wanted revenge against Disney Duchess. But, little did people know, he was also extremely old. Impossibly old! He didn't care about the lives of others, so long as it served his desires. Revenge was the driving force behind everything he did, with only his desires being for control of the populace and lavish life for himself. He already owned a new huge mansion on the outskirts of London, but that wasn't enough for him!

His mind flashed back to the last time he saw Disney Duchess. How he easily scared her off and escaped. It made him smile, but it also annoyed him. He could have taken her down then if he just stayed in Disney Land The Country. But, of course, he couldn't bring himself to stay there. Not until he was ready. Not until his secret partner was ready.

Sitting down at a laptop, the man would open it before loading up his emails. Scouring over them, The Puppeteer's eyes landed on a new email from his partner.

"Perfect..." He chuckled. "I knew I could trust you, Doctor Disney!"