Chapter Text
Through a sophisticated system of blink-once-for-yes-blink-twice-for-no, Scarecrow learned that Allese could hear him, she couldn’t speak, she wasn’t uncomfortable, and she was tricked into her current predicament. She looked embarrassed when he tried to get more details and avoided eye contact, so he agreed just to let her tell the story herself when she was restored. Jack was eager to help wash his mother’s hair and asked her endless questions as the strawman repaired his arms. Scarecrow tried to slow the boy’s onslaught of questions, but Allese indicated it was fine. Answering became more difficult as he and Scarecrow began wiping away mud and grime from her skin.
As the tension from the events of the night lessened, Scarecrow relaxed enough to worry. He didn’t want to face the Jester again. He wanted nothing more than to return home to Paris and leave this nightmarish ordeal behind him. But he couldn’t leave yet, not until Allese’s head was back on her body. He stressed over what he could do to prepare himself while he cleaned up his wife’s disembodied head. Great Oz, this was weird. He caught her watching him with a knowing, concerned look and returned a weary smile. She knew perhaps better than anyone how he could get anxious and start to spiral, and while she may not be the brightest candle on the candelabra, she could always sense when he was in danger of such overthinking.
“I’m sorry you were dragged into this mess.” Scarecrow ran his fingers through Allese’s hair in an attempt to untangle it. “And I’m sorry about your hair. We didn’t bring a brush, because, well, Jack and I don’t have any hair.”
“If I knew we would find you here, I would have brought one!” Jack offered, “New York is my new favorite place!” His brow suddenly scrunched, and he frowned, “Umm, actually, this trip has been pretty scary. Maybe it’s just second favorite.”
Scarecrow patted his head and adjusted the boy’s nightshirt. One of the buttons had popped off in the night’s commotion. “Don’t worry, Jack, soon we’ll leave and never have to come back.”
The pumpkin-headed boy nodded but stayed silent for a moment, leaning against his father. “Papa…is Mom gonna be okay?”
The strawman quickly met Allese’s eyes as he placed his arm around his son’s shoulders. She didn’t seem to have an answer either. “I hope so.” Was all he could confidently say. “…Tomorrow I’m going to go help mom. I’ll find someone to watch you while I’m gone—”
“No!” Jack protested. “I wanna come with you.”
“Jack, it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt—”
“But I wanna help save mom!”
Scarercow felt torn. Didn’t his son have just as much right to want to help his mother as Scarecrow did his wife? And more importantly, who in this city did he trust with his child? “… Alright,” he took a deep breath, “but you must stay by my side the entire time. Now, it’s off to bed with you,” he said before teasingly adding, “if you sleep in, I’ll call a babysitter—”
“No!” Jack giggled and ran out of the room. Scarecrow laughed softly and carefully put Allese’s head down. He removed his gloves and said, “I’ll be right back, love. I’m tucking Jack into bed.” He kissed her forehead and left to help their son. When he returned, he finished cleaning Allese up as best he could and prepared himself for bed.
Scarecrow didn’t expect to sleep, but he slipped into bed anyway and set Allese on the pillow next to his. He was too anxious about his impending meeting with the Jester to get any rest. The last time he had interacted with the man with his wife present, she was nearly strangled to death and she earned a nasty scar from a concealed bear trap. He couldn’t bear to imagine the state of the rest of her body. He brushed a stray hair from her face and lingered on the cool rim of the metal encircling her neck. A question occurred to him: “Do you still sleep like this? Do you need to, or-”
“Papa?”
The strawman turned and was surprised to see Jack at the side of his bed. It was unlike him to leave his room once he was tucked in. “Jack? What’s the matter?”
The boy sniffled. “I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about sinking in the water…and how Uncle Tinman pushed you against the wall and made you sad, then when he was able to come into my room pretending to be nice w-when he was just going to… a-and how that Jester guy can get into here too, and y-you have to do something else for him…”
Scarecrow’s heart ached as he jumped off his bed and pulled Jack into a tight embrace. He had to be the world’s worst father. If he was having trouble sleeping, of course Jack was too. Hadn’t Scarecrow agreed to this trip, thinking it would be good for the boy? No child should’ve had to endure anything he had. “Here, you can sleep in my bed tonight, if you would like that.”
Jack brightened slightly at the offer and clambered onto the bed. Scarecrow locked the bedroom door before joining him on the bed. He doubted the Jester would break into their room since he had already agreed to meet with him, but it couldn’t hurt. Jack snuggled between his father and disassembled mother. Scarecrow hugged him close. For what seemed like the first time in a long time, he felt at peace, grateful to finally have his family—mostly— back together again.
They all got some rest before arriving at the building late the next afternoon. As the sun had already begun to rise by the time they settled into bed, Scarecrow expected the Jester to be generous about when exactly he would arrive. The freakshow appeared to be closed when they arrived, but when Scarecrow pushed on the door, it opened. Part of him had hoped it wouldn’t. He took a deep breath and entered, keeping Allese close to his chest and taking Jack’s hand once more in his own.
Spotlights flicked on at his arrival, making a path for the strawman to follow and bringing to view deep red rose petals scattered under them. Scarecrow was so uncomfortable with the flower usage he almost turned around right then and there, but for his wife’s sake he kept moving on. It wasn’t until they arrived in the back area of the building when they got any kind of interaction.
“I was hoping you’d leave the kid with a sitter, give us some alone time–but deep down I knew you wouldn’t. Oh well,” the Jester’s voice echoed in the large empty-ish space from an undisclosed place.
“... Where are you hiding?” Scarecrow glared around the dark room, feeling too vulnerable under the spotlight. “Face me, I thought this was what you wanted.”
“This is what I wanted. Honestly I’m surprised you came so early, with how late you stayed up I assumed I should be expecting you later-”
“I want this over with. Now get down here and tell me what you want,” the strawman was being straightforward as always but more demanding.
“What I want from you is…” The voice that couldn’t seem to be placed suddenly appeared, right behind the strawman. Before he could react, Scarecrow felt hands on him, the Jester placed his open palms on the man’s chest and slid them down, “one night beneath the moonless sky.”
“Agh! That’s not happening,” Scarecrow replied immediately and turned away, breaking free from the other man’s hold.
“It was worth a shot,” the Jester snickered, but he knew that would be the answer. The head of Allese glared at the Jester, the man only laughed. “Then how about you perform for me annually. Just one time, just one song, but you’ll do it until the day that I die.”
Scarecrow did not want to agree to that, but he could just say that he did for now and run away with Allese somewhere they couldn’t be found. So he nodded, “fine. I’ll come back to sing for you if that’s what it takes to put Allese back together.” The Jester gave a boisterous, victorious laugh and sprung backward into a handstand, clapping his comically large feet together and using a hand to pull a lever Scarecrow hadn’t noticed before. Lights all over the basement shone to light in a dazzling array of colors. None of the straw fam bothered to hide their disgust. Dude was a certified freak.
“So, where’s her body?” Scarecrow asked sternly. The jester jumped right-side-up and snapped his fingers, after which the sound of clanking footsteps could be heard as a wheelbarrow slowly emerged from the darkness, followed by the copper automaton he recognized from before and the eerie woman named Mombi. Unflatteringly sprawled out in the wheelbarrow was Allese’s headless body. The strawman was relieved to see it, albeit simultaneously disturbed beyond measure.
Allese’s eyes lit up at the sight of her body. Scarecrow didn’t want to give up her head, but when Mombi gestured for him to do so, he realized he wouldn’t know how to properly reconnect them himself. Reluctantly he surrendered the head to her. Mombi carried her head over and placed it sideways onto the empty space in between the body’s shoulders. With a click, she twisted the head forward, locking it into place. “Such a lovely head. I would have liked to keep it.” The tall woman spoke before stepping away.
For the first few moments, Allese didn’t move. Her expression seemed to reflect a slight panic, but all fear faded from her face as she slowly began to move her limbs, starting with her fingers and eventually working her way to lifting her arms up. She gripped the sides of the wheelbarrow in an attempt to sit up, struggling to lift herself as her muscles had grown weak from lack of use. She faced her husband, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “Scarecrow…” She whispered, her voice barely audible.
“Mom!” Jack couldn’t stand still any longer. He dashed over to his mother, arms open wide. Allese was immediately knocked down by the little boy as he dove into the wheelbarrow to hug her. “Jack,” she giggled. She embraced him back tightly, sobbing happy tears and showering her son with kisses.
Scarecrow approached the wheelbarrow, heart pounding. The woman he loved had finally, and entirely, returned to him. “Allese…” He offered a hand to help her up, which she took without hesitation. “Allese, I… I thought for so long that you were-“
She didn’t let him say another word, kissing her husband. “I’ve missed you too,” she laughed softly with tears still streaming down her cheeks.
He smiled, cupping her face gently with one hand he took one more kiss from her. “I have missed you so much,” he whispered. Scarecrow picked Jack up, “we both have.”
The Jester interrupted their moment with a slow clap and an uninterested, “great. You’ve been reunited-“
Suddenly, the doors burst open. Standing in the doorway was a familiar silhouette.
“...Tinman?”
The man didn’t answer, silently stepping forward into the light. Once illuminated, everyone could see the specks of dark red that peppered his clothing. He unhooked his axe from the sheath on his belt, holding it in his hand. The weapon was covered in what could only be assumed to be blood. He had his gaze fixed on the Jester.
“Wow, Tinny… You’re looking worse for wear,” the confidence in the Jester’s jab quickly trailed off into discomfort as the Tinman started walking towards him.
The jester slowly began to back up as the distance between him and Tinman rapidly decreased. “Now, now, let’s be civil about this.” He straightened the lapel of his suit jacket with both hands, “we’re both aristocrats. We can talk this out like gentlemen.”
“I’m done talking,” Tinman raised his axe slightly as he drove the other man up against a wall.
“Wait-” but he didn’t get to finish.
Scarecrow quickly covered Jack’s eyes as a sickening wet thunk rang out through the basement. Everyone screamed.
By then, the freaks had already vacated the basement, having begun to make their way out as soon as they saw Tinman draw his axe. That left Scarecrow and his family alone with the metal madman.
Tinman turned to look at them, fresh crimson glinting on his face and shirt.
It was time to leave. Scarecrow put Jack in Allese’s arms and began to push her towards the door, not daring to look back. When his wife and son were out, Scarecrow closed the door behind them and unlatched the heavy drawbar that was on his side to lock them inside. He ignored Allese and Jack pounding on the other side and turned to face the deranged metal man. It was the only way to add some time for their escape. Scarecrow stayed behind because he knew he was the only one likely to survive this.
“It’s wood,” the Tinman said from right behind Scarecrow. The strawman felt a breeze by his face as the axe swung down and slammed into the wooden beam keeping the door closed, nearly splitting it in two. “I can easily break through this. Are you really not afraid to die? I know how to kill you.”
He turned around to face the murderer and tried not to seem as frightened as he was. “Why are you doing this? What has happened to you? This isn’t like you-“
“I guess you wouldn’t know what I’m really like,” he pulled the axe out of the wood, splintering the beam further. He raised his axe high. “You’ll have plenty of time to get to know me after I’ve put you back together.”
Scarecrow wasn’t going to just stand there and take it. He quickly ducked out of the way as the axe went straight into the door. “You can’t be serious right now, this is insane behavior! You’ve always been so rational and understanding and/” he went silent when the axe was pulled free.
“Not anymore, mon chou. I will have you, and it doesn’t matter whether or not I have to rip you to pieces first. I’ll fix you, and we can start over fresh.”
“I don’t want that-” Scarecrow was lucky he was so light on his feet, or dodging the crazed axe swinging would’ve been much harder to do.
“It doesn’t matter. I let you make your choice and you chose wrong. Now I’m just correcting you. You won’t have to worry about making wrong choices ever again, because I won’t let you.”
The strawman had called the police before going to the Jester out of fear that things might go south, knowing he was a wanted criminal in Paris. He didn’t realize just how south things would go, but Scarecrow was glad he had called them in advance. Now he just had to keep Tinman’s attention until they arrived, surely they would be able to do something.
“I thought you agreed with your mother to let me go?”
“Is that why you thought I left?” Tinman pulled his axe out of a table it had wedged into. “I never said that I was agreeing with what she had to say. That woman,” he clicked his tongue, “she liked the sound of her voice too much and wouldn’t stop getting in my way. It was time she reunited with her husband.”
“… What does that mean? Did you kill your parents?” He didn’t like Glinda, but that didn’t mean he wanted her dead. Thrown off by the confession, Scarecrow didn’t notice the broken table leg that had gotten under foot. He fell back, panic seizing him when in an instant his forearm was separated from him. “Ah!” It didn’t hurt, but now he was missing an arm and losing straw.
”Don’t worry,” Tinman stepped on his leg to prevent him from moving, “I won’t kill you.” He raised his axe, “I’m just going to incapacitate you.”
Scarecrow desperately tried to find a way out of his predicament. He remembered the revolver at this hip and figured it was better than nothing. He took aim, getting a laugh from the Tinman who knew it wouldn’t do anything to him. However, instead of shooting the man of metal, he shot the wooden axe handle.
He managed to hit his target in spite of his trembling and the handle splintered into a useless mess while the axe head clattered to the ground. “… That is just like you-“ Tinman began before Scarecrow fired another shot, this time at a power box in the room.
The lights went out and Tinman was startled by the sparks that went flying, forcing him to take a step back. Scarecrow rolled free of his assailant and quietly tried to tie off his missing arm so he wouldn’t lose as much straw. “Scarecrow,” the Tinman said as he stayed in one spot and glanced around the dark basement, “you think of everything. Don’t you? I can’t see in the dark, but you can. Clever.”
The Tinman gravitated towards the only small window—providing little light—in the basement, after picking up the axe head. “I can still cut you to pieces. It’ll take longer, but that’s not out of the cards.” Scarecrow crawled behind one of the cases in the room, blocking him from the view of the axe murderer. He took a second to steady his breathing, trying to stop how badly he was shaking.
There were only four objects in the room large enough to hide Scarecrow, so Tinman started making his way to each one. “There’s only so many places you can hide, mon chou. You’re running out of ideas, aren’t you?”
He was running out of ideas, and he would need help to make it out of this with the rest of his limbs intact.