"I'm Fable." The doll spoke.
Wayne's face turned pale in an instant. His eyes widened in shock as his body trembled. Without thinking, he threw the doll far away and stumbled backward, falling to the ground with a loud thud.
"What the— An actual ghost?!" he shouted, his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to run, to get as far away as possible. But before he could move, the doll spoke again.
"Do not worry. I'm not your enemy. I can't even move by myself, let alone hurt you," it said in a calm, almost bored voice.
Wayne stared at the doll with wide eyes, his breathing uneven. It lay on the floor completely still, just like a regular toy. Only its small wooden head twitched slightly as it spoke.
His fear, although still strong, began to fade just a little. With shaky hands, he slowly crawled toward the doll and picked it up again.
"What is happening? Was what I saw last night actually real?" he asked in a trembling voice.
Fable nodded stiffly, its wooden head moving up and down in a jerky motion. "Yes! That creepy child emperor used dirty tricks and turned me into this toy. He also kidnapped your parents!"
Wayne's jaw dropped. "What? Kidnapped my parents?!" he asked, genuinely shocked. He had thought they just went to work like always and would be back in a few hours.
"Yes!" Fable said with urgency. "That brat hates bad parents, and he thinks yours are terrible. We don't have much time—he's going to kill them soon!"
Wayne's eyes widened even more as he stood frozen. "What? I mean... my parents aren't that bad. Sure, they argue sometimes, but they celebrated my birthday last week! I mean—ugh... forget it!" He shook his head and clenched his fists. "We don't have time! Where did he take them?",
Suddenly, the doll's wooden face twisted into a wide, creepy grin that stretched from one ear to the other. Its painted eyes almost sparkled as it said, "Where else? To the spirit world, of course! That's where his base is. You should know better than anyone else, right?"
Wayne blinked. He did know about it. He had watched every single episode of *Fable vs. Predictor* when he was younger. The spirit world was the place where all the crazy stuff happened in the cartoon.
"But I don't have any powers like him. I don't have magic. I'm just a normal person," Wayne said in a quiet voice, filled with doubt and helplessness. "And you're a doll. You can't help me either..."
But then Fable let out a low, strange chuckle. "Heh... Heh... Just because I'm a doll doesn't mean I'm useless. If you do exactly what I say, we might just have a chance to save your parents... and me too!"
-----
"Go open your parents' cupboard. I'll open a teleportation door there. With that, you can go to the spirit world!" Fable instructed in a serious tone.
Wayne quickly grabbed Fable and ran toward his parents' room. He stood in front of the cupboard, his heart pounding. He grabbed the handle and pulled.
But no matter how hard he tried, the cupboard wouldn't open. He gritted his teeth and tried again, but it was locked tight.
"Figures... you can't open it yet," Fable muttered. "Let's use your cupboard instead. But for that, we need some things that are close to your parents. Personal items. Things they use a lot or care about."
Wayne paused. His mind went blank at first. What could he possibly use?
But then, like something tugged at his thoughts, he remembered.
He picked up his mother's leather belt—she always used it to hit him when she got angry.
He found the old radio his dad never stopped listening to, always playing some boring news or static voices.
Then, he spotted his father's wristwatch. The time on it had stopped at 1:40. Its hands were frozen. It probably broke few days ago, but his dad still kept it like some kind of memory.
Finally, he brought an almost-empty bottle of booze his father used to drink from—still a bit of alcohol left sloshing inside.
He placed all the items in front of his own cupboard, feeling a strange coldness in the air.
"That should do it!" Fable said, sounding a little excited. "Now, turn the dial on the radio. Try different channels. When you hit the right one, the portal will open in your cupboard."
Wayne nodded and sat down. He turned the knob slowly, listening closely to each sound.
One channel had a man talking about politics.
Another one was a comedy show—just people laughing.
Then came sports commentary, someone yelling about a goal.
But nothing happened.
He kept turning, feeling his fingers sweat, until—
A soft, haunting voice came from the speaker. A woman singing in French. The melody was gentle, but also sad and strong.
> Non, rien de rien
> Non, je ne regrette rien
> Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait
> Ni le mal
> Tout ça m'est bien égal
Wayne blinked as a strange shimmer appeared inside the cupboard.
He watched in awe as the back of the cupboard disappeared—replaced by a swirling, see-through light. A portal.
"You did it!" Fable said, a faint happiness in its voice."Now go and save your parents!",
Wayne stared at the portal, stunned.
"Wait… aren't you coming with me?" he asked, gripping the doll tighter.
"No," Fable replied softly. "I'll only slow you down. Just remember—listen to your instincts. Don't try to fight the Child Emperor face to face. I'll be waiting here!",
Fable lay on the floor like a lifeless toy again. It didn't move.
Wayne bit his lower lip, his mind a mix of fear and determination. He looked back at the portal, then at Fable, then at the portal again.
He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and stepped inside.
--------
As Wayne stepped through the portal, a strange wave of dizziness hit him. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his room. The sky above was dark and filled with strange, swirling stars that shimmered in odd colors. The ground beneath his feet was purple and soft, almost like sponge. Weird-looking mushrooms and glowing plants grew all around, some as tall as trees, giving the whole place a magical and mysterious feel.
"This… is the spirit world," Wayne whispered to himself, his heart pounding.
He walked slowly, his eyes wide with wonder and fear. After a few steps, he noticed a desk in the distance. Sitting behind it was a woman—or rather, something like a woman. She had the body of a person but the head of a bunny, with long ears and violet skin. She was flipping through piles of papers and books, like some kind of busy secretary.
Wayne knew exactly who she was. He had seen her many times in the cartoon show. He rushed toward her.
"Miss Sharron!" he called out, slightly out of breath. "Please, I want to find my parents. Can you help me?"
Miss Sharron blinked in surprise and looked up from her papers. "Huh? You know me? Oh… Ahem. Well, that is my job. I suppose I can help. Can you give me more details?"
"Like their names?" Wayne asked, and then he quickly said the names of his mother and father.
Sharron looked through her records, flipping pages quickly. "Hmm, there are many people with those names. Can you give me something more specific? Like… were they good parents or bad?"
Wayne paused, unsure how to answer. "Umm… They were okay, I guess. They celebrated my birthday and stuff… They did fight sometimes though." He scratched his head, then remembered, "Wait! They were just kidnapped by the Child Emperor!"
At that, Sharron's eyes lit up. "Ah! Now that's helpful. Let me check... Yes! Found them." She stood up and waved her hand, and suddenly, a glowing portal opened nearby. "This portal will take you to the place where they're being kept."
Wayne's heart raced. He nodded quickly. "Thank you, Miss Sharron!" Without wasting another second, he ran straight into the portal.
The place on the other side looked like a quiet forest. The ground was grassy and filled with trees. In the distance, he saw a small warehouse. It stood alone, with a faint light coming from inside.
Wayne crouched down and began sneaking closer, hiding behind trees and bushes along the way. His heart was pounding hard in his chest. He didn't want to get caught. As he got closer, he noticed that the warehouse door was slightly open. A soft light glowed from inside.
Suddenly, the door creaked open wider—and the Child Emperor stepped out!
Wayne's breath caught in his throat, and he ducked behind a tree. He didn't even dare to peek. He stayed perfectly still. After a few tense moments, the Child Emperor opened another portal and walked through it, disappearing.
Wayne waited a few more seconds, then jumped to his feet and ran straight into the warehouse.
Inside, the air felt cold and the walls were lined with strange equipment. In the middle of the room, a hologram floated in the air. It showed a live video of his parents—they were tied up and locked inside a cupboard, struggling to break free.
"Mom! Dad!" Wayne shouted, eyes wide in horror. "So that's why I couldn't open the cupboard back home. That evil Child Emperor!"
He clenched his fists. There was no time to waste. He began searching the room desperately—opening drawers, checking under desks, flipping papers. He was looking for anything that might help set them free. A key, a tool, anything.
Then, in the corner of the desk, something caught his eye. It looked like an old button phone—but Wayne recognized it right away.
"Thunder Call," he whispered, his eyes shining with hope.
Wayne remembered everything clearly. Thunder Call wasn't just any weapon—it was one of the strongest weapons from the world of Fable. All you had to do was dial the right number, speak out the address, and then—boom! A giant bolt of lightning would fall from the sky and destroy everything in that spot.
It had once nearly killed the Child Emperor. If the evil emperor hadn't been fully prepared back then, he would've died on the spot. Somehow, he survived.
"He stole this from Fable," Wayne muttered to himself, clenching his fists.
A new determination lit up in his chest. "Yes! If I use this in a surprise attack, there's no way he can escape this time. I'll kill him in one strike!"
Without wasting a second, Wayne dashed outside and hid behind a tree, holding the Thunder Call tightly in his hands. His heart was beating fast. His fingers were sweaty, but he didn't let go.
Minutes passed slowly. Then—just like a miracle—Child Emperor returned. Wayne saw him open a portal and step back into the warehouse, just like before.
"This is it," Wayne whispered to himself. "Now or never."
He ran, faster than he ever had before. His legs moved on their own, driven by the fire burning in his chest.
"Quick… quick… quick…," he repeated breathlessly as he reached the door. He held up the Thunder Call and quickly dialed "911." Without hesitating, he shouted the address of the warehouse into the device.
His voice echoed through the quiet night and reached the ears of Child Emperor. Inside the warehouse, the villain's eyes widened. He could tell something was wrong.
But it was too late.
Wayne threw the Thunder Call into the room and turned around, running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Suddenly—
Splash… Slash… Splash…
A massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the dark sky. It hit the top of the warehouse and exploded with a blinding flash. The ground shook. The air smelled like burning metal. The entire area was swallowed by flames and smoke.
No normal person could survive that.
Wayne's body was trembling as he slowly made his way back to the warehouse. The place was torn apart. The walls were cracked, and everything inside was charred.
There, in the middle of the ruins, was a completely black, burned body. It was the Child Emperor—dead at last.
Wayne's eyes then fell on the Thunder Call. It was lying on the ground, completely untouched, like it had done its job perfectly. He walked toward it, bent down, and picked it up with care.
"I'll return this to Fable," he whispered. "As a thank you."
A soft smile appeared on his face.
"I did it. I won. Father, Mother… they must be free by now!"