Launch The Assault: Dollhouse

Deeper within the interior layers of the large corporation industrial-sized building that was the Playhouse was a smaller House-themed area for people to play and live in within the confines and shelter and providence of the Playhouse. It was a miniature society built around fun, play, and leisure -- the Dollhouse; attachment to the Funhouse, which was subset to the Gamehouse, one of the main attractions of the Playhouse.

Though the Dollhouse was a communal area of fun and play and leisure, it still held dark secrets, and strict regulation to keep the peace. Further into the recesses of the Dollhouse was where those afflicted with Madness would go -- any who could not be socially acceptable and morally upright were sent to the Madhouse as a Correctional Facility, until their afflictions were out of them.

... But there was something even worse for those who were defective for life. It was down there that the Living Shadow sought to get to... But not before he made a bit of a checkpoint for a different matter. "... Daughter..." he called telepathically, through the Living Shadow's Dark Network, "... Once The First Arm Is Complete, Rendezvous Here With Me In The Second. Don't Be Late."

Soon enough, at the call of her father Grimnyzmal, would come his daughter -- Kurogami Tabitha. She nestled herself underneath the Dollhouse, with her Dollies that she snatched from the Traphouse and the Madhouse. She contained her excitement, as not to give any notice to the unsuspecting Dolls of the Dollhouse, then seeped into the entirety of the Dollhouse. From there, she would communicate privately with her father.

"I Love You, Daddy~!" were her first words, punctuated by a kiss. "Lookit! I Got All These Cool Dollies! I Got... Dead Ones Annnnnddd... Red Ones And... Green Ones..." She showed him her collection of mostly dead beings that were to be used for her playtime in the Dollhouse. "Oo Oo Oo! Tabi Knows What She Wants To Do~!" The Living Shadow would snatch the toys out of her hand and possess them, manipulating them as Puppets in the Dollhouse. "Those Dollies Will Never Know That Some Of Their Doll Friends Are Actually Puppets Living In Their Society~!! TEEHEEHEEHEE~!!" Tabitha dropped her Puppets into the Dollhouse immediately to play with the Dollies.

Knowing how excitable his Dearest Heart got when she was stimulated, Grim would gently remind her first of her duties, since he knew she was also quite the procrastinator. Nothing she didn't pick up from himself, however. He was like that in youth... Hahaha. "I Love You, Too, Dearest Heart," he would reciprocate, "But Do Not Forget About Completing The Mission Before You Play. I Will Take Over Living Shadow Duties For You, But Only After You Finish Purging The Second Arm." He waggled his finger at her. "Don't Dillydally! This Is Very Critical, Dear. Playtime AFTER You Finish Your Chores!" He nodded his head, then ruffled her hair some. "Have Fun, Dearest." Grim stepped into the Living Shadow and transitioned back to the House Veritas Houses, to check on Taomin.

Tabitha would heed her father and take to her chores immediately, following behind him in the Living Shadow and meeting him where his Third Eye was a beacon, right at the Second Arm.

Likewise, from the Second Arm to the Dollhouse, a powerful Presence entered the Dollhouse after filling up the Playhouse, seeming playful in its feeling, but also very powerful and reckless. The pressure from the Presence would settle in the Dollhouse, bringing hints of tension and unrest to the Dolls... All to the Presence's nutrition for itself...

Though the Presence was not confined to a single entity, it did end up finding a vessel for itself to utilize as a decoy or distraction -- a wooden doll of sorts that looked like some kind of rudimentary-carved person. It was perfect. The Presence entered the Vessel and gave it life under its control, allowing the wooden construct to gain mobility. It was wholly thoughtless, as if it wasn't an alive Doll, like the rest of the Dolls. There might have been few that were not conscious, but... It was somewhat strange when they were, since the actual premise of the Dollhouse was for the Dolls to be active.

The wooden construct filled with the Presence would enter the territory where a crowd of Dolls was, looking somewhat outcast, since there weren't many Dolls that weren't made of fabric or felt of some kind. The old wooden one looked ancient... Perhaps that was why it was lifeless? Its driving force must have departed it, which was the equivalent of death to a Doll. But it wasn't uncommon for an empty Vessel like a Doll to gain new life regularly, was it?

... Was that actually how Dolls worked? There was only one way to find out...

Tabitha did indeed rendezvous with her father through the Third Eye and Living Shadow, but she wasn't expecting to get a tagalong when she returned to her playtime. It couldn't be helped -- the Presence also enjoyed playing, just as the Shadow Hands did. So, to let the fun times roll, the Kurogami had to start messing around with the Dollhouse!

The unit that the Presence possessed was not one of the Shadow Hands' Puppets, so there was no overlap, but maybe it would make both their plans go off better if they worked together and made alignments in the Dollhouse with their own Toys. So, with command over the entities in the Dollhouse that belonged to her, Tabitha would have them approach the wooden construct made mobile, as well as create divergent distractions to detract attention from them by having her other Puppets draw away the Dolls and split their attention.

After that, the Puppets belonging to her would exchange communication with the wooden Construct of the Presence, so they could further their playful plans together and not independently.

The strange entities in the Dollhouse went wholly unnoticed, for the Dolls were a bunch that liked to deal only with matters they cared about, normally regarding their play, fun, or entertainment. Anything that was too difficult or negative usually went ignored or neglected by them, to keep their spirits up. They bound themselves on mutual implications, and naturally formed cliques based on their likes and preferences -- like one would find in children, or those who required the positive attention from another to prevent them from having to deal with anything about themselves or of any gravity at all.

Easily led astray and distracted, the Dolls of the Dollhouse fell for their tricks and divided their attention... But many of them refused to leave their safe spaces comprised of all the people who always told them pleasant things. It seemed somewhat of an unhealthy attachment, but it only became prominent to notice when they had to split up or were faced with any kind of negativity or adversity. They clung to each other, feeling unsafe and uncomfortable -- and completely non-confident -- when they were apart or alone.

This type of intense fear of being alone or abandoned, or even just not have a protective bubble of people to tell them good things about themselves all day would hurt their fragile and weak minds and feelings, so the Dolls remained in groups of moderate numbers, even when they split apart because the strange Dolls insisted it.

The Dolls, even when separated from a large group, still only interacted with each other, seemingly wanting to ignore anything new or foreign. They had an intense Xenophobia, and it seemed like it was either induced by trauma, or was out of fear of trauma... Which was, in fact, also caused by trauma.

But as long as they were together, the Dolls felt safe... Courageous enough to face something new or foreign, even... But only if they were in a group of their friends and associates.

A chance was seen, and it was taken; most of the intermingling and playing was done in communion, and not independently or individually, but the wooden Construct ended up being some kind of effigy for the Dolls, and the Doullhouse was stirred up to Madness. Some of it was subtle, but some of it was quite obvious, and the little Dollies that were trying to hard to boost and support each other simply could not cope with such fragile existences.

Before long, the wooden Construct started to become more defined and less rudimentary, as if it was being whittled and shaped as it was in motion, refined to a state of chicness. Though, it looked less androgynous now and more like a womanly figure -- almost like an idol. This woman would be unknown to them, but resembled the image that belonged to the Presence that possessed that construct...

Interacting with the Dolls, they all seemed to have some sort of sheltered notion that their world was the full extent of the world... Well, some of the more ignorant ones did. Many did take advantage of each other and feigned innocence in order to keep some sort of social hierarchy that they established amongst themselves based on their likes and preferences, but it all ended with the ignorant Dolls being the ones that supported the less ignorant ones.

What ended up happening was that the less ignorant of them were coaxing the more ignorant of them into doing their bidding, and most of them were females to males. What went on within the Dollhouse was actually rather abusive, mostly psychologically, and stifling, stunting the growth of the lesser for the sake of gratifying the greater. All this was gathered just from slight interactions with them, but it would soon become clear that these ones were different than the others if they didn't conform.

And that's exactly what happened. The nonconforming Puppets and Construct would be rejected and hated by the Dolls of the Dollhouse, who basically only had one-track minds and some kind of unhealthy symbiotic-parasitic relationship with each other. Disgusting as it was, the point of this never was to try to correct anything -- it was to come in and brutally destroy them literally for fun. Whilst subtlety was fun for infiltration, brute, unabashed force was best for when they were discovered. "The Jig Is Up, Tao!" Tabitha giggled crazily, "Come On, Let's Destroy These Little Toys Now~!"

At that very moment, a Great Darkness loomed within the Dollhouse... A darkness that could be felt... Not seen or heard... But felt. Mostly in their minds and hearts. Like their tiny little frivolities of their shelter literally amounted to nothing outside of it, and something greater from beyond was about to fuck with their whole little setup... For FUN.

"Some Of You Aren't Dolls..." the Darkness mentioned through her Puppets simultaneously... "... Some Of You Are Puppets To The Bigger Or Smarter Dollies..."

As it was custom for many who made unhealthy attachments or perversions to many different people to protect or hide themselves, when one was triggered, many were triggered, and it set off their Mob Mentality. They felt strong as a group, despite all being literally defenseless when by themselves. But even as a group, they were still weak, and only FELT confident; they only FELT strong.

The entire lives of Dolls were fabricated, from their very flesh. They pretended to be alive; they played like they did important things. But that was their whole existence -- a simulacrum of actuality that is scaled down to a more comfortable and easy state. It was a peaceful, fun, and pleasant life of blissful ignorance and childish play and pretend, but it made some of the Dolls gain bad habits like being deceitful, manipulative, vain, greedy, and plenty of other vices that wouldn't occur if their whole society wasn't based around being fake and having fun and excluding anyone that didn't be fake and have fun.

Angered in their many fragile, sheltered ways, the Dolls tried to defend themselves against the Puppets, many to the will and way of a greater Doll, as the Puppets said. Some of the Dolls didn't care about being manipulated or not having a real life, but others of them actually did get bothered, and it sowed division and discord amongst them. They wouldn't have inbred fighting just yet, but they did show hesitance to fight for a cause that didn't really benefit them beyond just making them feel good at the expense of their dignity.

Some. Only some. Others cared nothing for any kind of dignity or honor or anything of the like -- they WANTED to be made useful to someone greater BECAUSE they were so terrible alone. And their entire fake lives were dedicated to someone else whose sole intent was to manipulate others to satiate an insatiable vanity in a closed-off world in order to feel big and strong and important in it.

As the wooden Construct completed its shaping into a womanly figure of unknown, she would begin to speak, and side with the Puppets, as if she was the one controlling them as her own clique. "You Dumb Babies!" she shouted with a cackling laughter. "Quick, Come On, Let's Fuck Up Their Shit And Get Away!!!" It SEEMED like there was going to be a skirmish... But no, the Dolls were ACTUALLY weak. That wouldn't be fun at all just to BEAT them...

It would only be fun if they fucked up their shit, too.

"GO GO GO!!!" the Construct cried, sending forth the Puppets. "Fuck Up Everything You Can And Then Get Out Of There! And I'll Do The Same!"

So, that's what became of this little playtime... Pissing off some joke characters and then fucking up their house. For fun. Because they were ugly. And they had no manners. So, they had to be punished. What better way than storm right into their house for no real good reason and fuck it up as well as them? I mean, essentially, that's what they did to each other, right? When in Rome! "Oh, And Let's Get Some Loot, Too. Not That There Is Probably Anything Worth Anything In This Fucking Place... They Probably Even Use Monopoly Money As Currency."

Tabitha got the message right away about snagging some loot. They may not have had anything of any worth when it came to materials, but they had lots of information that they'd been sitting on about their society. That information about them... That was worth more than actual money.

So the Puppets ended up snatching up as much documentation and as many files as they could muster before giving the angry Dolls the slip. "I've Got Their Paperwork," the Puppet said after catching up to the Construct, "It's Really The Only Thing Of Value They Have That Isn't Completely Fake, But I'm Pretty Sure Most Of This Script Is Bullshit Anyway." Likely ungodly amounts of bullshit, too. There were stacks of papers and these Dolls didn't seem all that... Versatile. They had a one-track mind, a one-track life, and so on. Most of which was manipulated by others or severely lacking in potential.

"They're Deathly Scared Of Negativity Because They Are Too Weak And Fragile To Handle It Without Becoming Wholly Defective, So Let's Go Into The Madhouse. They Will Either Cower In Fear Or Charge In Headlong -- We Want Either Or. It's A Win-Win Situation." No matter what outcome, the benefits to Tabitha and friends would always outweigh whatever the Dolls thought was important and valuable. Maybe not to them, but that was part of their delusional mentality and emotions.

"... Shizuo-cha~n... Izaya Is Up To No Good Again...~"

The Black Alice that was summoned from the Dollhouse belonged to Tzita -- her own personal doll, Tamara (which was a Black Alice representation of herself, the Dark Alice). Tzita had a special role in the Dark Network, much deeper down than anyone that actually comprised it, save for the other Tensei. The 'Black Ops' section of the Dark Network -- which was its own totally independent void within a void -- was comprised of solely Tensei units and their 'Insanity' version of themselves, which amplifies all of their negative traits and completely nullifies the positive ones, thrusting them into the 'Black' forms. This was done before first with Khrona and the Black Dragon, but eventually, was passed down to his other children -- primarily, Triere, who became Black Al'Ice when she was triggered by her partner a long while ago, when they were the first to run the fresh Veritas. The other known occurrence happened with Taomin during the Last Days on the Original Lost World, where she became the Black Rose, her 'Toxic Form'.

In secret, the Black Ops were grown from their darkest recesses -- where their roots were -- and could draw power from their own dark pasts via 'The Insanity', and become stronger, like Khrona used to, at the expense of something specific that they'd already been through in the past. Now, they had control (most of them), and could assume their 'Black Ops' forms anytime. Yet, this was the first one had come up in a long while.

Tzita was a Black Alice for a reason, but not in that being her personal role in the Black Ops, though her role specifically (alongside the Black Adam) being multiplicative about other entities -- that is, not limited to just themselves, like the other Black Ops units did -- it meant that they could call upon others of their kind, and replicate. Tzita just so happened to put all of that data into her play-toy that she stole off some dude a long time ago. She'd never done much with Tamara before, but now...

Tamara was the stencil model for her own Black Alice design, since... She was going to be that way, quite unapologetically, as often as she liked. Like she used to, before all that shit with Khrona and purifying her with the Crystal Heart. It was all necessary and important, yeah, but some people liked being toxic all day. And quite honestly, it was better now, because she could easily shift from the Black Alice back to her Dark Alice form, which was the one that retained the Crystal Heart.

That aside, all the females had a 'Black Alice' version. Tzita's true 'Black Ops' form was known as 'Black Heart'. So... One can only wonder why she wouldn't just summon the actual Black Alice, and instead take her place herself?

Quite honestly, it seems like she just wanted to play in the festivities. "Good Work, Tabi~!" Shinzita would speak through her Cauldron, and through her Black Alice doll, "This Place Is Done. Now We Can All Have Some Fun! You Can Play With Tamara For A While, And I'll... Finish What I Was Doing."

Clearly, something personal and secret, known only between the Tensei, went on -parallel- to what happened with -everywhere else-, including the places that they invaded or conquered.

Since things were getting sentimental, once Black Alice was activated, the Dark Messenger -- who was the true Black Alice, Pinna -- picked up on the psychic invocation, and appeared immediately. She stood before the Black Alice Doll, Tamara, and gazed up to Tzita through the cauldron. "... You've Grown Old," was all the very taciturn, monotonous Pinna found it necessary to say. When she looked at Tzita, she saw all the entities that existed as the same stencil archetype as her, who didn't make it -- and Pinna, herself? The child version that eventually became the Head Witch everyone loved.

But Pinna was her own entity, much more primordial than Tzita herself. She was simply the closest, eldest relative that Tzita would have to those... Other versions, now lost. "... I Suppose The Large Breasts Never Went Anywhere, Though." Pinna was gazing into the past and the present simultaneously, all without any level of concern for anything going on around her. With her psychic powers, she simply came and arranged it all how she wanted, sorting through her own things, with a closer relation to the Creator than the rest of them could know. Save for Tabitha.

When Pinna came to look upon the Living Shadow, she recognized her then, and why she was drawn to this invocation. Silently and completely emotionless, Pinna looked into the second iteration of herself, after herself. Her proverbial 'daughter'. "... You've Grown." Pinna didn't seem to care about if anything else understood her. She never at all cared for anything outside of herself. Even her own sisters, she barely cared for. Though, the level of love she did have for them was enough for her to correct them and protect them. That was why Pella and Mirei... And even Virei... Were still there. On planet Horrideth. The Psion Planet.

"... Do Your Best." Pinna used to remain mostly silent, letting her stuffed supercomputer doll, Doom (true name lost in translation) do most of the talking for her, and she only corrected him if he was too far out of line. All the while, she would probe others with her psychic powers, which were already at planetary levels even all those years ago (Furcadia, 2006).

All Pinna cared about was destroying things and playing with her powers. Literally nothing else concerned her -- that has been her entire prerogative since conception. That is, considering her species being Horridethian, the Psions A.K.A. Planet Destroyers.

But, a thought came to Pinna during such sentimentality, and she immediately realized the truer nature of her summoning. The great waves, which all Psychics drew from, were converging... Drawing her. And with her, other Psions. She sensed them... Her people. And she wanted to play with them.

"..." Pinna would suddenly disappear, as if nothing happened.

=Things Were Exactly As She Wanted Them Before She Left, However, No Matter What That Might Entail.=