Dark Valt turned the lights on and smiled. He headed over to the house quickly, and levitated her and a dark figure out. He loomed over the tiny people and had set aside plenty of time to play with his newest friends.

Every night when I go out

The monkey's on the table 

Take a stick and knock it off 

Pop goes the weasel

"I'm so glad I finally have time to play. You would not believe the day I've had," Dark Valt exclaimed after he sang.

Reo had been trapped in the plastic prison for almost a day now. He couldn't move, and was only aware of what was in front of his eyes when he had been put away for the day. The first thing he noticed was his legs felt softer, and he was able to bend them. Soon, he was walking.

Dark Valt grinned as Reo walked towards him. "This is awesome!"

"You son of the bitch! How could you do this to me?" Reo asked.

"You shouldn't have called me that, I did this so we could always be happy."

"You think I'll be happy being a toy for a psychotic bastard? No thanks." Reo ran towards the basement steps as quickly as he could, which wasn't very fast at all.

Dark Valt frowned. "You can't escape so you might as well make the most of it."

Reo continued to run out of the replica town. When he crossed the border where the painted floor of the town ended and the wooden basement floor began, he fell to the ground. A blackness long-stretched hand him from escaping by turning his back to an inanimate doll.

"See? Come on, Reo, hopefully you can show a little appreciation."

Dark Valt lit up his finger and seconds later, Reo began to examine his new plastic hooves. While he was doing this, Dark Valt floated Helena back over and re-animated her.

"Okay, what should we play first? I rebuilt the bowling alley, or we could have a bey battle. I hid a treasure in there and we could go find it!" Dark Valt leaned down to look more closely at the tiny mannequins.

https://youtu.be/Dk-3uAkcPXQ

"Hey! Are you alright?" Reo asked.

"Yeah," Helena replied. "I... I don't know what to think of all this."

"He blew up my house! The gas line even took out our neighbor's house, killing GJ and Sally!"

"That's horrible but—"

"But what? That guy I know... He's obviously gone insane with grief, or maybe he was always crazy! I told my friends when he moved to town! It was not a human! It is a sick, twisted, demented... FREAK!!!" Reo yelled.

"That does it, Reo! I'm going to leave you in the punishment box so you can think about how rude you've been! If you don't learn to behave, I'll stop re-animating you," Dark Valt scolded.

He levitated him into the air while Reo continued to shout. "I'll never play with you! You psycho piece of sh—" The lid to the small shoebox sized prison closed shut, muffling his insults. He was now inside a dark metal box at the new police station. It served as solitary confinement until dolls fixed their attitude. There was some very faint tapping as he explored his new prison.

Helena had finished examining her new body. She had spent all night panicking and trying to move. As a foal she was afraid of being buried alive, and that is what being unable to move felt like. She looked up at Helena and thought about the best way to ensure she never got frozen again.

https://youtu.be/YEuNySeWQy0

"Um? How was your day, you seem stressed." Helena clapped her hands to get his attention.

Dark Valt turned back and quickly smiled. "Oh, it was fine. I just had to go to a city council meeting, investigate the gas line explosion, and then I thought Reo and you would want to have some fun with me. . ."

Helena pondered the guy in front of her. It was a different person than the one who had poisoned her tea and trapped her in a miniature figurine. Dark looked so eager and invulnerable, as if he genuinely couldn't relate to the innocent victims anymore.

She decided to be Dark Valt's first friend. Helena would try to get her to open up, and maybe find a way to undo all of this in the process.

"I'd like to go for a walk and you can tell me about it. Did you recreate the lake?" Helena asked.

"Yeah, it's right over here." Dark Valt grabbed her to levitate her to the lake.

"I'd like to walk," Helena repeated. "So, friend, tell me why the day was so tough."

"Oh, I guess it's the usual. My strawberry milkshake is too busy to hunt all of them down. It's just me, Reo, and you... I have to re-examine my schedule if I'm going to convince all my friends to move into a brand new town with me." Dark Valt looked away towards the basement door and wiped across her face. "Pretty soon, they'll all leave and forget about me."

"I won't forget about you. I may not be thrilled at what you did, and how you did it, but there's no changing that now. I'd like to be your best friend and make the best of this. Would you like that?" Helena asked. She already knew how Dark Valt would reply, thus gaining his trust.

"Yeah! That'd be cool. Look, here's the lake," Dark Valt exclaimed. His demeanor changed to giddiness as soon as his creepy smile finished forming.

Helena walked up to the edge of the lake and examined her reflection. She looked much the same as she did when she was little. The only difference was the unnatural shine to her skin where there should be plastic. Her hair appeared stiff, and yet it almost swayed like real hair.

Helena noticed a sound of a violin, and then sat down and started to cry.

Dark Valt looked at the girl and felt a twinge of guilt. His so-called 'friends' were supposed to be happy, not sad. "What's wrong best friend?"

"I just realized... I'll never get to play my violin again," Helena cried.

"Oh, but I think I can fix that and we can play together! You're still you, I just need to adjust the spell to allow you to tap your magic. It won't be nearly as strong, in fact you probably won't be able to do anything beyond levitate objects your own size and play violin, but I think you've earned it."

Dark left her by the lake to grab the book and violin.

"There, try it now," Dark Valt cheered.

https://youtu.be/-EQ6eHeBrhM

The violin was next to Helena, and she began to focus on it. The energy felt so different and weak, and yet she was able to hover the instrument over to her. With a few tentative plucks, she began to play a lullaby on the violin.

The world's smallest violin was the same one that she had played all of her life. If nothing else, at least Dark Valt hadn't taken away her music.

The lullaby ended and Helena set the instrument down.

"That was beautiful, Helena."

"Thanks, it's... what I was going to play before you turned me into a doll," Helena muttered.

"I meant to ask for my notes, was it painful being transformed?" Dark Valt inquired.

"Not until the end." Helena shuddered. "When it reached my lungs and heart it felt like an anvil was crushing them. Why poison me and do all that anyway? Can't you just cast a spell to do it instantly?"

"No, it's complicated. It all boils down to weakening the pony to a near-death state, suspending their essence while their body is transformed, and restoring it to them. A unicorn would have time to counter the effects. This is the only way to make a immortal." Dark Valt brushed a finger down Helena's back, causing her to shudder. "I'm... I'm sorry if the hemlock hurt too much."

"It was painful, but probably not as painful as your Sister-in-law's funeral. So I forgive you for the hemlock."

"Yeah," he replied. "The funeral was painful. And you know what else painful is that if he dumped me, I don't know what to do."Dark Valt stifled a sob "Maybe I'd go maximum crazy. I'd murder them, set them on fire and watch them burn to death!" He screamed before panting to calm down.

Helena gasped. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You make it sound so horrible." She had never imagined watching everyone she knew die. She didn't even want to think about how she would die one day. Helena realized that the concept of never dying, spending her entire life as a doll, was just as frightening.

"But it'll all be okay. We'll all be together forever soon, perfect and cheerful just like I remember. Come on, what do you want to do next?" Dark Valt asked.

Helena smiled warmly. Many thoughts were going through her mind. Dark Valt seemed to genuinely want to be his victim and friend. Helena would be able to learn all sorts of valuable info about the spells trapping her here. At the same time, Helena also saw another girl in pain with no one else to talk to.

"Want to go to the bowling alley with me?" Helena walked off happily with her violin in tow.

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https://youtu.be/uDJwB3grRa0

"Here's the plan," Rotto announced. Valt and his friends were in the living room again, and were devising a way to get out of their mess–preferably alive and unaltered. On a coffee table they'd laid out an assortment of tools to defend ourselves with. They had a kitchen knife, a hammer, a taser, and the gun; Rotto set it down to insist he could be trusted.

"Valt, have you locked all the doors?"

"Oh yeah," Valt reported. "The key is outside. Someone will have to let us out once we've tracked down our intruder."

"Locked the windows too?"

"Nailed shut. They can't be opened without breaking them; I moved a cabinet in front of the one that broke last night."

"Good, if we hear one shatter we'll know where it's at." With that, Rotto went about deciding how to divvy out armaments. They weren't so worried about three of the weapons; the one they couldn't decide on was Shu' handgun. Eventually, they decided Wakiya was the least conspicuous and most capable of handling it, so the trust fell on him. With the firepower in his control, Rantaro was now in charge.

"Alright," Rantaro began. "Like Rotto said, whoever–or god forbid whatever–is in this house, it's probably trying to get out by now. No one try the doors, no one sneak off, and no one check your phones. Got it?" They all nodded, and Wakiya seemed satisfied. "Okay, good. Now: let's go find our guest."

They searched the bottom floor thoroughly, before deciding to move on with no trace of it on the level. Upstairs, they split up, Unmei with Kamiyu, Daigo with Antonio, Rotto with Diran and Isan, Rantaro with Wakiya and Shu with Valt, and room by room they went; no matter where they looked, no nook, cranny, nor corner turned up a sign of the figure. By the time they convened at the stairs again, only Chiharu's bedroom remained.

"Daigo?" Antonio addressed the raven black haired male, who was clutching a taser as though it were his child.

"Yeah?" Daigo replied.

"I'm going to check the bedroom with Shu." Valt looked just as confused as Shu was by this. "If the intruder is in there, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well what should I do then?" Kamiyu asked.

"Wait downstairs with Valt." Unmei didn't seem convinced by the idea, and watched him with suspicion.

"What if something happens down there?"

"Then take this." Letting go of his own security, Shu offered the gun to Valt. "It's much safer than a taser."

"Shu, are you sure–?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright! You, sis, Kamiyu, Honcho and Wakiya, watch Valt, Daigo, Antonio, Isan and I'll keep an eye on Shu." Rotto said.

"How do you know he's safe to trust with that?" Wakiya pointed out, noticing a potential folly in the plan.

"Look," Shu replied without hesitation, "I want Valt to protected, and when it's over, I'm gonna take a good care of him. I'd know if he wasn't himself."

Having no counter for that, Valt and his group reluctantly agreed to follow Wakiya downstairs while the other men checked the bedroom. Wakiya made them walk ahead of him as he descended the steps; Valt had no doubts that he wouldn't take any chances with him. They set foot in the living room once again and, after double-checking that they were alone, took a seat on the sofas.

https://youtu.be/til3dA-vzZ4

"Wakiya," Valt spoke, to break the silence. "Why am I the one you're targeting?" He didn't waiver, but held the firearm weakly. Unlike Shu, he could tell Diran didn't want to use it.

"You've been here for weeks," Wakiya reminded me. "Why should I trust you? Whatever's going on, you've been around it this whole time."

"Valt and Shu are the ones you should be watching, not us! They were living with those-, those things! There's no way that isn't at least a little off to you!" Rantaro exclaimed in a outraged as he marched towards Wakiya.

"He wants to stop it. He had a point when he told us that. Why would he help track it down if it was him he was hunting for?" Unmei said.

"To avert suspicion, maybe? And besides, what if he's really just trying to trap us all in here with him?" Valt said.

"Well hey, he's your best friend, Valt. Shouldn't you trust him?" She rubbed Valt's back

"I trusted him when he wasn't pointing a gun at my head." He blushed.

They waited there in silence. Valt thought about making another remark, but decided against it. A new thought had just come to mind when Shu came walking through the doorway.

https://youtu.be/MwpiHykfs-I

"Hey guys," Shu called, grabbing their attention. As he entered the room, Valt noticed he was carrying two weapons; moments later, he could just make out the sounds of banging and shouting from upstairs.

"Is that Antonio?" Valt demanded to know, looking towards the sound.

" I locked them in a closet."

"What?" Kamiyu questioned him, getting to her feet. "Why?"

"I do not trust them. I mean, it's like you said earlier, Valt, all of them were sleepwalking. How do we know he's clean?"

"See, Shu agrees with us," Rantaro quipped at Wakiya.

As they debated the credibilities of the missing children, Unmei noticed the shouting from upstairs was beginning to stop.

"Shu, I still don't know," Valt  said, conflicted. "They could really be on our side."

It seemed like our argument had nowhere else to go when our trust circle was suddenly shattered by a cry for help, Daigo, Antonio, Isan and Rotto were in danger.

"Shit," Wakiya remarked.

"Why would he leave them alone?" Rantaro shouted. "Hurry!"

Lightly armed and hardly prepared, they took off for the second floor. They sprinted up the stairs, turned into the hall, and burst into the bedroom; to surprise, They were not in the closet, but was standing in the open, breathing frantically.

"Daigo?" Valt spoke, a bit confused. "How did–"

"It tried to get us!" Daigo panted, trying in vain to regain his composure.

"You saw it?" Valt exclaimed. "Where did it go?"

"We locked it in there." Rotto found his footing and pointed at the closet. It seemed he'd gotten over Shu trapping them, and was now more worried about the intruder.

"Move over, Chris!" Wakiya gestured for him to step aside. It didn't take long to spot Wakiya's finger on the trigger, and he quickly ducked away from the closet. On Wakiya's cue, Valt crept beside the closet, placed a hand on the handle, and flung it open.

Startled by the gunshot that followed, They all ducked on the floor. Shu looked after Valt as Daigo and Isan closer examined the closet. lurking in the dark had been the figure, who he could now identify for the first and last time–the convincing replication of Helena was crumpled on the floor. After escaping its original host, the intruder had copied her image perfectly; the only thing out of place was the hole Wakiya put where her eye had been.

"You were right about it making copies," Shu noted. He seemed oddly unfazed at the sight of the corpse. "It looks just like her... Like she did, I guess."

Rotto and Unmei took Valt and Diran downstairs to help them relax. Shu, Daigo and Isan kept an eye on the body until the Spryzen blader was sure the scarred Valtryek blader was alright, and after a few minutes he came back up to the bedroom.

"I hate to break it to you guys," Daigo  stated firmly, to our dismay, "but we still don't know that we're safe. If it can be that convincing, how do we possibly know for sure that none of us are one as well?"

"Daigo," Shu addressed him curiously, realizing something that didn't add up. "How did you get out of the closet?"

"Well," Daigo replied, "I used the knife to undo the lock." Valt turned to Shu, who was looking at me, a glint of uneasiness in his eye.

"But, I have the knife," Isan informed us, exposing the lie.

https://youtu.be/CoQoGTmkoU0

The room fell deathly silent. They waited for an answer, a defense; Daigo just stood there. Staring. Unblinking. Not moving. Just with a bored expression on his face. Daigo... Or Dark Shu had made a mistake.

"What's wrong, Valt?" Daigo asked. "You look a bit surprised, but confused."

"Honcho?" Valt stammered. "Where's the gun?"

"Really Valt?" Daigo spoke up in Shu's demonic voice, startling Valt and Rantaro. "Are you trying to turn on me for... THAT?"

"Shu gave it to you. Remember?" Rantaro realized.

"I knew you never satisfy me.~," Daigo continued, smirking maliciously.

"D-Daigo, don't move a muscle, or we'll–"

https://youtu.be/ex7VpCrIsjM

Valt fell to the floor as the impersonation moved its hands away, revealing blood red orbs where there were eyes moments ago. It stared straight at Rantaro, and its jaw nearly unhinged; an inhuman, primal wailing escaped from its mouth. It took a single step towards Daigo before they were all shocked by a deafening bang, and the dark version of Shu was gone. Standing over the lifeless creature was Shu, holding the smoking gun firmly in his hands.