Coppelia Revisited, Part 6

"Your boyfriend?" Ryan asked the clockwork girl, feeling entirely clever about himself. "Don't you mean boy toy?"

"No, I meant what I said." She replied. He noticed her voice had a slight metallic echo to it. They started up the dollhouse's balsa wood stairs, battery's held in their arms like kindling.

"So, what's your name? And what's the story with this house?"

"I'm Clockwork. Not very original, but I've forgotten my old one. And the house you're in is where the bad toys go when they try to escape. Lemme guess: you jumped out a window or something?" While she was talking, Ryan admired her copper legs.

"Yeah." They got to the landing on the second floor and Ryan followed Clockwork to a bedroom in the back corner, which seemed to be the only one fully decorated. Dressed in a strong navy blue, it was clearly the room for the boy dolls. There was a large bed in the center of the room, upon which a strong looking superhero action figure laid, one leg high into the air. He was as motionless as Clockwork had been before Ryan activated her.

The doll put the battery down and seductively slid onto the figure, swinging her lower legs up into the air. She played with the lion symbol across his chest, and then kissed the plastic toys neck. "Hey, sweetheart. I brought some sweet, sweet electrical juice for you, so we can play again." Clockwork then got up and started to flip her boyfriend around. After a few, less than impressive tries, she turned to Ryan, "A little help?" Together, the two easily flipped Lionheart so that they could see his back and the hollowed out battery compartment. They quickly replaced the the action figures batteries.

Clockwork's hand played its way up to a small button on the action figures neck. When she pressed it, his eyes flashed and a small speaker roared. Ryan ducked down nervously, but heard no giant steps coming his way. The superhero pulled himself up, then pulled Clockwork into a great hug, her feet dangling a few parts of an inch off the floor.

"You're the best, honey. I knew you could do it." He kissed the bronze doll on the lips for a long minute and then put the copper toy back down.

"I had help." She motioned to Ryan, "This is Peter Pan. Peter, this is my boyfriend, Lionheart."

"I prefer to think of myself as Robin Hood." Ryan said, looking down at his green tights.

"Keep reaching for the stars, bro." The giant, well muscled toy said, slapping Ryan's shoulder, almost sending him out the open back of the dollhouse.

"OK. I have to ask: is there any way out of this place?"

"The thing is, the only door out of this place is locked on the other side. You would have to get some toy out there to unlock the door."

"And none of those dolls are stupid enough to let us out." Clockwork said, with odd look of pride about that fact. Ryan looked down glumly before looking out the window. Across the way, in an out of the way corner, he saw Rosalita.

---

Jewel sat happily, as her owner gently took her leg and held up his quill. He touched the pen on the back of her leg, a few inches below her knee. And then he began to write, the black ink turning to black thread along Jewel's cloth skin. And she was perfectly happy, thinking to herself of being played with, thinking of an owner pulling her strings to send her wild body in whatever direction they wanted, and she giggled.

Curiously, her mind wafted back to the first time she met Parker, at six years old.  The other girl had been hiding behind a tree, watching everyone in the playground from a safe distance. Jewel knew she was supposed to run over to the trees and make a new friend, but her owner wouldn't let her. Instead, Parker and the grove of trees washed away in a black ink.

Then Jewel sat in front of a cake, lings full of air. Her family and Parker waited with baited breath for Jewel to blow the candles out. But her owner wouldn't let her, and the party, too, was washed away by slimy black ink.

She sat on the swing on her front porch. The rain drenched her clothes, and wind ran through her hair. But Jewel smiled despite the storm as she looked into his eyes. They were supposed to kiss. But the rain turned to ink and washed him away.

Memory after memory followed suit, her whole life before this house was lost to an ocean of ink, leaving only her beautiful night with Calliope. Her owner finished his task and let go of Jewel. She smiled at him, but wanted not to. He smiled back, but not as honestly as before.

"May I play?" Jewel asked, hoping for some temporary joy.

"No. Not tonight, my toy, for there is many things in more important in this house than you." He motioned with his hand and Jewel's strings were cut; she fell limp to the floor. She could not even see her friend Calliope. But this is what she had wanted.

---

Ryan ran out to a balcony that overlooked the room and began jumping up and down, flailing his tiny arms toward the beautiful red Rosalita. She stood in the corner, perfectly still, her leg once again teasing the slit in her dress. She didn't look very happy, until Ryan caught her attention. She glanced around the room, but all the other toys were uncaring, and Esmeralda had vanished.

Rosalita ran over to the dollhouse all too quickly, and bent down to look at Ryan. Her face was larger than his entire body, and he backed away toward the door. Clockwork and Lionheart were deeper in the house, but probably watched this meeting with baited breath.

"Oh, I see you've been a naughty doll, Peter. It looks like you tried to escape." Rosalita said, her voice quiet and wary of attracting too much attention from the soldierette. She reached out a wooden finger to poke Ryan, but he backed away from it.

"Well, I didn't really like being turned into a toy. And I'd rather be Robin Hood."

Rosalita giggled, "Toys don't get to choose who they will be."

"Anyway, um, is there anyway you could get me out of here and big again?"

"Now why would I want that, you're a perfect little doll right now." Every time the giant toy called him a doll, Ryan felt just a bit more feminine. He didn't know if that was his imagination, or actual magic.

"I'll be your toy, and I promise never to play with Esemerelda again."

Rosalita gasped. "Find the closet underneath the stairs. That's the door out. I'll go unlock it." The dancer quickly ran out of the room.

Ryan ran back into the house and found the two other toys. "She's going to do it." He said. Clockwork looked at him and immediately burst into laughter. Lionheart was a bit more noble, but his mouth twitched with a smile.

"What's so funny?" Ryan asked.

"Turn around." Clockwork said. He did and saw a mirror on top of the dresser. Unfortunately, the green clad toy looking at him was a girl. Curly blonde hair fell from beneath her cap, and she had a decent bust for a toy her size, as well as well defined hips. Her shirt and shorts had combined into a little tunic and belt, and the green tights she wore sparkled. She had even grown a set of translucent wings.

"I don't get it." She said, crossing her arms across her breasts, trying to hide them a little. "How did this happen?" The tin doll waved her hand.

"It happens to most of the boys who get transformed."

"You have to be a real man to be a boy-toy." Lionheart said, puffing his own chest out. Clockwork grinned and slid her arm up her boyfriend's plastic body, the rest of her body following. She wrapped herself around him and buried her face into his. The sighed in relief, until the button on her stomach thunked and activated.

"Oh no." She said, her arms suddenly and mechanically thrown over her head. She jumped and started to dance uncontrollably. It was Tinkerbell's turn to laugh.

---

The old doctor stepped over Jewel's cloth leg and surveyed his playroom. It had not been lit up such as it was at that moment. Not just the lights all around illuminating the room, but all the dolls looked at him with brighter eyes. They waited and yearned for the beautiful Coppelia to return and bring with her the doll who could bring her to life.

But the room was a slight bit in disrepair. There was dust on the furniture and the mantle. The blinds were mostly closed and hung limp with little beauty, save the lone shade by Coppelia's window. Even his pretty toys had lost their luster in the years since they became perfect.

So Doctor Coppelius reached down to his chairside table and rang a small silver bell. At once, a brilliant porcelain maid stepped up to him, featherduster in hand.

"I need you to start cleaning this place as quickly as possible. It must look like a palace for when Coppelia arrives."

"Of course, owner." Aimee curtsied politely and was away, her delicate little body sweeping the dust away. The doctor then began to go to each of his pretty toys and give them a simple task to clean. He told his sweet Penny Cottontail to sweep, and she happily hopped off to find a broom. He opened the glass case that surrounded the porcelain Victoria and told her to open all the window so the sweet night air could sweeten the room. She gingerly curtsied and went on her way.

He came to his White Queen, draped in a gorgeous roman toga. She sat thoughtfully at a chess table. The stately Black King opposed her, at ease in his throne. Copellius told these star crossed lovers to find and set a his tea table. They nodded and walked away, lightly holding hands. Then he came to his sweet clown Calliope. She was bound up tightly in a ball, the one toy in the room not happy on this special night.

"Sweet doll, why are you sad?" the doctor lightly lifted his doll's chin.

"You took Emily away. She was my present for being such a good toy, and now she is gone."

"Who is Emily, dear?" Calliope pointed with a shaking hand to the jester lying limp on the floor.

"Why, that is Jewel, your long lost sister. Do you not remember her? Do you not remember all the games you played? All the plays you made?" The jester shook her head, and the little bells on her ears jingled. "Then remember them." Calliope blinked and her frown vanished as if it had never crossed her face. Her eyes twinkled once again when she looked to her owner.

"Oh, you found my sister!" Calliope cried, wrapping herself around her owner.

"Yes I did." The doctor said with a laugh.

"And Coppelia has come to life!"

"Yes she did!"

"What must I do to for you?" The marionette touched noses with her wizened puppeteer.

"Get your sister and prepare the best play you have ever made." With too practiced ease, Calliope slipped the rope tying her and ran to her pink sister. Doctor Coppelius stood up on creaking knees. He paused for a moment and caught his breath and calmed his heart that was beating too fast. All his dolls were at work, all but for the quarreling Esmerelda and Rosalita. He wondered what they were up to.