Jody swallowed hard in terror. What the hell was this thing? Why was it so unnerving?
It looked like one of those traditional wooden martial arts dummies—made of dense, dark brown wood, thin and lean. Its eyes were hollow, gaping holes. And in the center of its body, there was a recessed black line carved into a large rectangular shape, almost like a cabinet door.
But it became even more horrifying when it started speaking to her.
"You… you're different from the others… I thought I came in real quiet… and yet you still noticed…"
The puppet turned its hollow eyes toward her.
"At first, I thought maybe you had good eyesight… so I turned off the lights. But you still noticed me first every time… So it's not the eyes then… your nose? Or maybe… your ears?"
It began to move.
"Not that it matters… you'll be joining the others soon enough."
Then it did something she didn't expect at all.
The puppet smashed the breaker box in the principal's office—shattering it completely. And with that, the lights were gone for good. The room went dark, pitch black.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Darkness returned.
At the same time, Jody fired a barrage of air bullets at where the puppet had been standing.
But she heard nothing.
She hadn't hit anything.
"Damn it…"
She gritted her teeth in frustration.
Then—something slammed into her from out of nowhere, sending her crashing into the bookshelf behind her.
CRASH!
Books and various objects came toppling down, landing hard on top of her.
"...That thing... it's fast…"
When she looked up in the dark—there it was. A black shape, looming right in front of her.
Without hesitating, Jody raised her fingers and fired again.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
…
"N-no sound again… It's fast enough to dodge my bullets?"
She looked around. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark now—she could make out objects within a one-meter radius.
Statues, books, broken wood from the shelf—they were all scattered around her. She used her foot to nudge things out of the way while scanning the room for movement.
Roll... roll... roll...
She felt something bump against her foot. When she looked down, it was a round object.
She recognized it—it was the red rubber ball she'd seen earlier on the shelf. It must have fallen when she hit the bookshelf.
Jody picked it up and pushed herself to her feet.
And then—
She ran.
She sprinted toward Principal Collins' computer, still glowing faintly in the darkness.
As she reached it, she fired an air bullet at the monitor. At the same time, she released even more of her blue aura.
This was a sign—she was controlling the trajectory of her air bullet. It wasn't going straight—it was going to curve upward at the end.
She was making the bullet move in an L shape, flipped horizontally.
As a result, the bullet struck the underside of the monitor, sending the whole thing flying upward into the air.
At that exact moment, Jody lunged toward the screen's light—turning in midair, facing backward, and aiming her air-charged fingers behind her.
And she nailed it.
The puppet had leapt after her—only five centimeters away from her back.
BANG!
She shot it right in the face.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Both she and the puppet crashed to the floor.
As she prepared to fire again, the puppet sprang up with incredible speed and vanished back into the shadows.
Still, Jody allowed herself a slight smirk.
"Hah… I think I'm starting to figure you out, you creepy puppet…"
She brushed the splinters off and slowly got back to her feet.
She could sense that her opponent was growing uneasy—knowing she'd uncovered something it didn't want her to realize.
"You know… at first, I thought when you smashed the breaker, maybe you could only move in the dark…"
"But when I remembered that the lights were still on when Syd disappeared…"
"Hah. I was totally fooled…"
"But hey… turns out you've got a limit to your ability, don't you?"
Shhhh...
"The truth is… you can only move at high speeds when no one is looking at you."
"That's why you kept trying to cut the lights—so I wouldn't be able to track you."
"Am I right?"
…
Thump.
She heard footsteps—coming from the direction where the puppet had disappeared, now moving to her left.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Judging by your movement speed… you're at least as fast as a Ferrari, huh?"
But then again… when Syd and Seraphina vanished, I looked all over the room… and I never saw this puppet anywhere…
Where the hell was it hiding?
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!—CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER!
She heard it again—closing in fast.
BANG! BANG!—CRASH!
Jody fired another round in the direction of the noise.
But what landed in front of her… was nothing more than shattered pieces of a vase.
"Wh-what the—he—! GKKK—!!"
Before she could process what was happening, something dropped around her neck and yanked her upward into the air.
It was trying to hang her.
"G-GAAGHHH!"
She thrashed wildly, grabbing at whatever was strangling her—and found…
…! A school uniform?!...
What the hell?!
Someone had used a long-sleeved navy school uniform—just like the ones from her school—tied it into a noose, and dropped it from above.
And then… she recognized the scent lingering on the fabric.
That perfume—Seraphina's perfume?! This was her shirt!
Jody clawed at the uniform but it was wrapped tight. She was lifted until her back slammed into the hanging ceiling light she'd noticed earlier…
And behind her, she heard the voice of the puppet…
"Heh heh… Jody Johansson… running to the desk like that was a clever move, I'll give you that. But don't forget—there's a chandelier hanging above your head. Also… I think I've figured it out… you detect my movements through hearing, don't you? Heh… that makes you easier to deceive…"
And in that moment, Jody realized the truth.
That puppet—it was hanging from the ceiling light! It had used fake noise to cover the sound of it climbing up onto the fixture!
As mentioned earlier, the chandelier-style light fixture looked like it came from a Victorian mansion—it was more than capable of supporting the puppet's weight.
She kept struggling. Her blue aura flared out stronger and stronger, signaling that she was expending a huge amount of energy.
Sweat poured down her face. Her consciousness was slipping—fading—but still, she fought on.
"Give it up, Jody Johansson… I must say, though… not many people could figure out my conditions like you just did. I respect that."
The puppet gripped the other end of the noose and began to tighten it.
"It's over! Jody Johansson! You're finished!"
Just as the puppet was about to claim its victory, Jody twisted her body and turned her head to face it—with glowing blue eyes, pulsing with aura… and a sly grin stretched across her lips.
!!!
The puppet was shocked. It suddenly realized that hanging her wasn't working. It moved to leap away—but too late. Jody had already grabbed hold of its wooden arm.
"W-what the?! Why?! Why aren't you suffocating?! I'm hanging you right now!"
"Heh. True. You're hanging me. Under normal conditions, I'd be dead by now—tongue hanging out and all. But right now, my body is in a non-standard state."
"W-what?! What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Gotta thank Syd for this one… because right now, my body has the properties of metal. You know—ductility. If you really want to hang me, I suggest taking me to a steel-cutting plant. Besides… this uniform? It barely even touched my neck."
With that, Jody yanked the puppet down from the chandelier.
Both of them crashed to the ground.
CRASHHHHH!
Principal Collins' desk shattered from the impact.
The entire room was a wreck now.
Good thing that puppet didn't know about Syd's Martial Art technique…
Jody got up, raised her hand, and fired a barrage of air bullets at the wooden figure.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!
Its arms and legs were torn apart—rendered incapable of moving.
But it was still trying to crawl into the shadows.
Jody dug into the pocket of Seraphina's uniform—the one she'd taken back from the puppet.
Inside Seraphina's pocket… was a lighter. She remembered.
But then, the puppet laughed.
"Looking for the lighter, are you, Jody Johansson?"
!!!
"If you had that lighter, you'd be able to see me—and win, right? That's your plan, huh?"
Jody broke into a sweat.
The puppet had already dragged itself back into the shadows. Even in its damaged state, it moved incredibly fast.
"But sorry to disappoint you… I already broke the lighter!!"
It threw the shattered pink lighter—Seraphina's—out from the darkness. The broken pieces landed at Jody's feet.
"Tch!"
Jody decided to run. She bolted for the window near the desk.
But when she reached it… she found that it was sealed shut.
She tried to shoot the lock with an air bullet—when suddenly, the mutilated, even more terrifying puppet came from behind.
It grabbed both of her wrists and slammed her head into the wall.
Jody lost her balance, and it forced her face-down onto the ground.
"Oh… I think I understand now, Jody Johansson… That red aura inside you—that's what kept you from dying, right? Makes sense… But if that aura came from someone else… it can't last long, can it?"
Hrk…
Jody tried to struggle again. But this time, she couldn't escape. The puppet had the upper hand.
"Let me go, you freak!!"
She screamed. Her blue aura raged around her.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
"You're tough, Jody—but now, this is where you die!"
And then—
Creak…
There was a sound behind them.
"?!"
The puppet turned—and saw it.
At the door, which had been busted open earlier… a red rubber ball was rolling on its own, nudging the door open.
!!!
The puppet panicked. It turned to snap Jody's neck—but stopped, frozen, when it saw her grinning.
"Heh. You really fell for it, huh, puppet? All I had to do was pretend to be losing…"
When it turned back to the door… it finally realized. The red rubber ball was rolling by itself, pushing open the door Syd had kicked in.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!"
Sunlight flooded into the office.
"You didn't notice when that ball disappeared from my hand, did you?"
Jody stood up effortlessly.
"It rolled on its own because it's filled with air, dummy. I was never going for the lighter or the window. That was just misdirection—to keep your attention off the door. Since Syd busted it in earlier, we could push it open from either side."
Jody stepped over the writhing puppet.
"But… just to be sure…"
BANG!
She destroyed the window lock and threw it open, letting in even more light.
Then she returned and stood over the broken puppet.
"Well? I'm staring right at you now. What are you gonna do?"
"Ggggaaaaahhhh…"
"Heh."
She aimed her fingers at the creature's body—
And unleashed hell.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Its head was obliterated—shredded beyond recognition. Now only the torso remained. Its limbs were gone.
Shattered wood flew in every direction.
Now, it wasn't a puppet anymore.
It was just a log.