My Dearest Warlock

The Shine Shine vs. the Pom Pom Pow

Outside, the sun shined brightly, illuminating the backyard and causing the trees to cast long, dark shadows. A gentle breeze moved the tree branches slightly, the gentle smell of blooming flowers fresh in the air. There was, of course, the always present smell of rain that never left because it constantly seemed to rain in Tadfield. Birds flew by overhead, and dogs barked in the distance. Warlock's backyard was peaceful and quiet.

Warlock pulled out a crate from beneath the tree. It was a solid grey color and completely closed in, with some dew on the sides of it. Warlock seemed to ignore it, opening it to pull out the puppets that the Them and Warlock made.

Pepper's puppet was named Infinity. Infinity's hair was a galaxy blue color. Pepper had done this by mixing white, a darker blue, a pale white, and violet. Pepper had bought her a shirt and pair of pants for a couple euros at a yard sale. Infinity was about the average size of a puppet.

Brian had tried his best to make a puppet, but it didn't turn out well. By the time he finished everything, he had a knotted purple ball with extra strings of the side. When Brian seemed disappointed in himself, Wensleydale suggested that Brain's puppet could be a villain alien or a superhero alien, which seemed to cheer Brian up. It also didn't help that the puppet had a spot on him where Brian spilled ice cream. Brian had named him Brainy.

Wensleydale had tried to create a puppet, but the puppet came out as a teddy bear- if teddy bears could be tax accountants. He supposed he should have asked his mum for a puppet making kit, but she'd been at work, and his dad had been right there. The teddy bear looked fairly normal- brown fur, beady black eyes, a quilt sown in the foot, and so on. The bear was set apart by a mini-calculator like device sown in the hand and a small polo shirt with a tie. Wensleydale had named the bear Tim the tax account (who also fought aliens, cowboys, and alien cowboys in his spare time).

Warlock had asked Crowley for a nice puppet, and Crowley provided to the best of their ability. The puppet resembled what Warlock would look like he went on the dark side or was slightly more goth. His hair was a long with fringe that covered one of his eyes. The other eye was accented with eyeliner, which matched very nicely with the puppet's band shirt, ripped jeans, and shoes that had holes in them. His name was Ash.

And Adam had closed his eyes and imagined a puppet. His powers bent a hole through reality, and a puppet appeared to him. Dark curls and bright eyes stared back, as did a mini dog that stuck out of the pocket of the boy's jacket. Adam had named them Jack and Mickey, as he really liked the 9th and 10th Doctors' companions [3]. He'd been tempted to name one of them Rose, but he figured that there could be a kind alien Queen named Rose.

And now, it was time to test them out. As Crowley opened the door for Wensleydale, Pepper, and Brian, it was becoming closer to the epic showdown of the week.

~

"Infinity, are you ready to face off against space cowboy aliens?" Adam held up two straw figures with shredded hats make of a leaf.

"Are there no cowgirls?" Pepper looked at Adam with disappointment. "That's sexist."

"There are space ninjas and horse girls," provided Wensleydale. "The space ninjas accept all genders, and the horse girls are girls, except for Tim. I want to have a horse, and I think hanging out with girls while taking care of horses sounds nice."

"I'm... I'm okay with this."  Pepper nodded.

"I want to be a space cowboy," said Warlock eagerly.

"Me too," said Adam, joining forces with Warlock.

"And I want to be a space ninja," added Brian.

And soon, they were fighting. It was an epic clash between space cowboys, horse people (it wasn't horse girls since Tim the tax account joined the ranch), and space ninjas. Jack and Mickey were facing off against Infinity, and Infinity had nearly crushed them with her horse. Tim, meanwhile, was up against Ash and Brainy- the three of them were fighting each other.

The five of them continued on, battling to win despite the fact that the teams weren't equal. Puppets fell to the ground in battle, each that fell given dramatic speeches by the person playing with them. As the battles begin to slow up, the children laughed and continued on. At the end, it was a battle between Infinity and Brainy. After several battles, with the children on the side calling out encouragement to the one they wanted to win, Infinity won.

Crowley called them in, telling them that dinner was ready.

~

"Aren't you going to eat Mx.Crowley [4]?" Pepper asked.

"No, but thank you for asking youngling. I usually eat by myself. I... chew a bit weirdly. It would likely be very scary for you to witness." Crowley nodded to themselves. "Besides, the garden has a couple of stray mice in it."

"Do... do you eat mice?" asked Brian.

"That sounds like the beginning of a horror movie," commented Adam.

"No! What? No!" exclaimed Crowley, like a liar.

"Do they Warlock?" asked Brian curiously.

"Eww. That's nasty. Do your parents eat mice Brian?" Warlock gave Brian a sneer.

"Of course not!"

"Then don't imply that about one of my parents in that tone," snarled Warlock defensively.

"Oh. You're right. That was disturbing," said Brian.

Warlock gave him a simple smile.

Crowley would be touched later when they went out into the garden, picked up a mouse, unhinged their jaw, and ate a mouse.

Crowley couldn't have been any prouder of Warlock if he tried. Things were pretty good, considering that Aziraphale had been napping the entire afternoon.

~

[1] "I'm not like other girls" = derogatory.

[2] Weird names scientists have given to animals include Pleasing Fungus Beetle, Pink Fairy Armadillo, Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko, Tasselled Wobbegong, Chicken Turtle, Goblin Shark, Screaming Hairy Armadillo, Fried Egg Jellyfish, Ice Cream Cone Worm. None of these are the scientific names, but these are the common names. Here's the site I found these names and several other unique names: https://www.treehugger.com/animals-with-completely-ridiculous-names-4864307 .

[3] It's me. I love 9 and 10's companions.

[4] Mx. is a gender neutral pronoun, according to some research online.