The Wonderkeepers, Commander Aurora, King Augustus, and the surrounding miniatures begin to circle him. All of the miniatures were murmuring among one another, speaking about how an Arcadian spoke through their mouth instead of through a text box! This was completely unheard of!

  Mr. Honeybun quickly circled back, grabbed the Arcadian DJ from behind, and pulled him into a crushing bear hug. His digital body began to glitch out from the pain. Dorothy faced and pulled out her precision blade, now charged with Hank’s Wonder.

  “Explain! Now! Or our dear fluffy friend here will squeeze you into a polygons pile!” Dorothy threatened as she brandished her blade across his helmet, leaving a small scratch with a slight screech.

  DJ Vortexx's helmet began to flash a red exclamation point.

  He exclaimed, but he was quickly cut off by a frustrated punch to his 64-bit helmet. Everyone watching gasped collectively and a few winced as they heard the digital disk jockey’s helmet crack loudly. Who had delivered this devastating left hook? It was none other than Handyman Hank himself.

  “Look!”, the toy Handyman points upward toward the store’s wall clock and shows it was 4:30 A.M. on the dot. “In less than an hour and a half, the Mall will open up again, we all need to get back to our home store, and all the Wondergoers in Critical Quest need to clean up before they open or their whole store gets shut down! So we’re going to ask you again….How can you talk, and WHERE IS THE SPARK OF WONDER!?” Hank shouted as he put his wrench up to the DJ’s chin.

  A shard of DJ Vortexx Helmet fell to the floor and evaporated into pure code. Hank looks up and sees not a face behind the crack, but a checkerboard pattern of black and magenta.

  “What…the hell?!” Dorothy mumbled as she leaned in to get a closer look. He had no eyes, no nose, not even a mouth.

  DJ Vortexx sighed. “Alright, I give….First things first. I have no face, the developers never gave me one. I mean, I think I do have a face but maybe in later sequels of my series.”

  “Versions and Series? Are you saying there’s more than one of you?”’ Dorothy questioned as she kept her knife close to his helmet.

  “Yes!” The DJ answered with frustration. “I come from DJ Vortexx: Smooth Grooves, the fourth game out of ten so far. The equivalent to your toys would be the generations some of you have.”

  Dorothy pondered this new information carefully. She remembered Greenbolt telling her she was a part of the first Generation of MechaMorphers, and the franchise is currently up to Generation Seven. Dorothy herself didn’t have any generations, only new careers that fit the current times. But she decided to ponder later as she listened to DJ Vortexx.

  “I was sent here by the Console Overlords to find and secure the Spark of Wonder. But the truth is, I was never going to give it to them in the first place. I’ve been here for weeks and I and my friends here couldn’t find the damn thing!” The DJ concluded as he adjusted himself in Mr. Honeybun’s grip.

  The crowd couldn’t believe what they heard, an Arcadian who didn’t want to hurt any of them! But Dorothy wasn’t having any of it. She raised her precision blade towards his neck once again and asked him. “You tried to kill us and make us play in your stupid little game!”

  “HEY! Hey! I NEVER said this was a death game! Besides-,” He turns his head towards King Augustus and Commander Aurora, his helmet glitched for a second and showed a red exclamation point once again. “-These selfish two’s senseless battle have been tearing this store apart, I was simply trying to end the problem once and for all!” DJ Vortexx fires back.

  “You speak slander Arcadian! We were only fighting because we thought the other side had stolen the spark! If you do not have it! Then who does!” King Augustus demanded as he was getting ready to draw his longsword. Commander Aurora pulls out her heavy laser pistol and clicks the barrel.

  “Tick Tock Arcadian….I cannot control my itchy trigger finger for long.” She threatens as she rests her finger on the trigger.

  DJ Vortexx looked around, weighed his options, and then realized he was backed into a corner. “Fine…I’ll tell you the one place I haven’t checked yet. But so that you know, I’m not on their side. I never was!” This confused the three hearing this.

  “....what do you mean, who’s side ARE you on?” Hank questioned.

  Before the Digital DJ could answer. He instantaneously began to glitch out and let out a glitched scream in pain and quickly vanished out of Mr. Honeybun’s arms.

  Everyone became quickly alarmed as they all looked around to see where he had vanished, but Hank immediately looked towards the Redtendo MS, where he had originally spawned. But what he saw before him, near the handheld console, genuinely confused him. He sees Mr. Given standing over the handheld console, his cane pressing down on the power button. Standing next to him is none other than Ren Raikuro, with An arrogant smile plastered across his generic anime face.

  “Tsk tsk tsk. Silly Arcadian, he believed he could overtake MY home?” Mr. Given stated as he gestured for Ren to remove the cartridge from the system. His voice and accent sounded different compared to what the trio had heard before. His accent was no longer regal and nasily, but he now sounds smooth, and sinister with a Brooklyn accent.

  Hank, Dorothy, and Mr. Honeybun jumped down from the table to confront Mr. Given. Hank landed on his feet, sending the shock up his whole body. Dorothy landed with perfect skill and precision. But Mr. Honeybun landed right on his furry rear, not being hurt at all.

  Hank stepped forward and demanded. “Mr. Given, What gives! We were gonna hear some vital info here!”

  Mr. Given turns around and quickly clears his throat, surprised to hear them again.

  “OH! W-why hello there Team Wonderkeepers! I could have sworn that you would have left after defeating this rotten Arcadian!” He had innocently declared, hoping he hadn’t just heard him talk.

  “We would have, but you promised us the Spark of Wonder when we beat him, remember?” Dorothy interrogated as she stepped forward, emphasizing the promise the boardgame mascot had made with them earlier in the night.

  “And you even promised us Ten Thousand of your moneys! Where’s the Moneys!?” Mr. Honeybun demanded as even he too stepped forward with a low growl.

  “Oh, why of course! My associates slipped in during the middle of your absolutely cinematic and wonderfully choreographed fight with that rotten Arcadian! Now that I’m back in business, we can discuss your reward!” Mr. Given quickly reached into his blazer to pull out the Given bucks.

  But Hank And Dorothy quickly noticed something off.

  “Hold on a second….aren’t there three other anime figurines in your little entourage? Dorothy questioned as she looked around the store for a glimpse of their presence.

  “Now, now smooth cheeks. There’s no need for that level of hysterical animosity…” Ren flirtatiously decreed as he sauntered towards Dorothy. His face put on the most confident, devilishly handsome smile.

  “Excuse me!? Who the hell do you think you-” Dorothy was quickly interrupted as his armored finger was placed over her plastic lips.

  “Shhhh. How about you be a good girl and ditch this baby overall-wearing loser and the furry bait? I’m much more of a Hero than those two. What do you say?”

  Hank and Mr. Honeybun are both insulted by Ren’s jab at their looks, even though Mr. Honeybun doesn’t even know what ‘Furry Bait’ means. But that hailed in comparison to Dorothy’s outrage and disgust. Her reply to Ren Raikuro’s offer was clear, concise, and straight to the point.

  She gave him a solid left hook punch right in his face, knocking him on his back!

  “I’m not your little dolly!” Dorothy hissed venomously.

  Mr. Given quickly intervened by stepping in between the two and “Now now Miss Dorothy…Is that any way to speak to-.” Mr. Given quickly drops his fake nervous, nasally voice and switches back to his true voice. “-Your new boss?” Mr. Given asked as a toothy grin began to plaster over his face.

  As if on cue, the three other unnamed anime figurines began to emerge from the circular stack of ‘Given’s Game’ Board games from the back of the table. The red armored anime figurine was holding two ominously glowing items. He tossed them towards Mr. Given and before they could react. He managed to catch them both.

  The trio inspected the two items now in Mr. Given’s possession. But Hank knew all too well of that familiar luminous and comforting glow he had seen twice already. These are the next Spark of Wonder. A pair of hand-carved wooden six-sided dice that have looked like they have seen some wear from hundreds of games used in the past. The dice’s boundless Wonder didn’t glow a light green or cyan blue. This Spark has a bright yellow aura surrounding it.

  The board game mascot began to inspect the two dice and said “Well slap my face on all the currency in my board game…That fool Arcadian searched everywhere except the one obvious place…where I hid it.”

  Hank did a double-take after hearing this, in utter disbelief.

  “What?” Mr. Given smugly stated as he began to juggle the dice with both his hands, the Wonder beginning to surge through him. “I couldn't just take an all-powerful treasure with me out in the open where any stupid Arcadian could just swipe it now, could I? Now that it's back in the rich man’s hands. I can use it to bring peace back to the store! By putting myself back on top!” He raised the Dice upwards, and all the Given’s Game board games began to shake and open up violently.

  The game boards, the play money, the pieces, and even the fake houses all began to surround Mr. Given like a tornado. Until they combined to make a gigantic board game that encased the entire store. All the Miniatures were levitated and put directly on the space of the game board titled ‘Prison’. When one of them tried to simply walk out, they were electrified to dust.

  “GIVEN! What is the meaning of this!? You told me that the King stole the Spark of Wonder!” Commander Aurora demanded.

  King Augustus jumped in and added, “He had told me that you had stolen it! That you were going to use the Dice to declare War on the rest of the Store!”

  They both looked at Mr. Given. Expecting, no, DEMANDING an explanation.

  “Do you know what it’s like…to be on top? To be the best board game for decades? It makes a mascot feel absolutely invincible! But then, you tabletop games came into the picture around the 70’s. You were a small threat here and there, but soon your popularity began to grow and even surpass my own! I had whole shelves dedicated to my board game, and now I’m reduced to a small circular table in the back next to the damn trading cards where only scalpers and girlfriendless weirdos roam! Everyone in the mall thinks the Arcadians are a threat. It’s YOU tabletop games that threaten my power over kids ages Eight and Up!”

  “So you turned them against each other…all because you missed being the best seller!?” Hank asked, his anger began to rise as his grip on his wrench began to tighten.

  “That’s right, that Disk Jockey Arcadian was a wonderful scapegoat, and you Team Wonderkeeper did an excellent job in disposing of him for me! So now, it’s time to play the game that I know everyone will love and cherish! GIVEN’S GAME!: ENDLESS EDITION!”

  Mr. Given levitated all the Wonderkeepers towards the start, and then Ren Raikuro with his anime figurine entourage followed behind him and entered the start of the board game.

  “Now, How about you be a good dolly and join my harem huh? I’m the Hero of Soul Slayer Knighthood after all!” Ren sleazily asked Dorothy once again.

  Dorothy gagged at the mere thought of that idea and said “I would rather take my chances with a teething puppy than join your pathetic excuse of a club. Hank isn’t even out yet as a toy and he’s more heroic than you’ll ever be and Mr. Honeybun has more heart than half your nameless little entourage!”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Hmph….I suppose you’re going to have to learn this lesson…the hard way!” He draws his overly complicated glowing sword and points it at the three. “Time to see eternity Bitch!”

  Mr. Honeybun went on the attack first, outraged that someone could even call a lady such a vulgar and insulting term! He ran on all fours and drew his ‘Fighty Claws’ ready to claw that anime face right off his vinyl!

  But Ren simply took two steps to the right as a giant mecha fist made contact right at Mr. Honeybun’s snout, sending him backward and crashing into Hank and Dorothy. The three looked up to see a foot-and-a-half tall anime robot figurine that had an aura that screamed it fought for all things good.

  Despite Getting punched in his plush face, Mr. Honeybun and to a lesser extent Hank were completely starstruck at seeing the the epicness of this robot before them. Dorothy simply rolled her eyes.

  “Wonderkeepers. Meet Aegis Crimson, Original mecha fighter from the ManDam series!” Ren Raikuro was introduced with a flurry. “And your little Teddy bear’s doom!”

  “HA! Joke’s on you! I don’t even know the meaning of that Word! Seriously what does Doom mean?” Mr. Honeybun asked much to Ren’s annoyance.

  “Enough Chit-chat! Send them to the Prison Space NOW!” Mr. Given Demanded as he rolled the Dice Sparks of Wonder. They landed making a three…Mr. Given channeled his wonder through his finger, a familiar dark purple aura. The dice flipped again, this time to a solid twelve!

  Ren and his Entourage began to feel the power boost course through them all as they went on the attack.

  Hank clashed his wrench against the three weapons of the Red, Green, and Purple-themed anime figurines. A sword, a dagger, and a staff respectively.

  “Three against one?! How is that heroic!?” Hank asked as he struggled to hold his ground against the three But he managed to get free from their attack.

  “No Hard feelings Handyman! We do what the Hero says, so says the ancient text dating back to the olden years of 2001!” Said the Red Armored anime figurine as he swung his massive sword towards Hank.

  He had barely dodged as he rolled to the side, Only to be met with a swift kick from the Mage anime figurine to his side, putting strain on his hip point of articulation. She had followed up by channeling her wonder to create a magic circle straight from the anime series which they came from and firing an ice spell towards Hank’s leg, freezing it in place.

  “What he means is the Manga book we all came from that was originally released back in 2002 in Japan!” The Mage figurine corrected as she signaled the squire anime figurine to be ready to stab Hank.

  “Let me ask you three something, Is he a guy you’d want to follow? Is he really the hero printed on those pages? You act like you didn’t just hear him openly disrespect me and my friends, especially Dorothy!” Hank asked as he struggled to free his leg, smashing it with his wrench.

  For a small moment, Hank’s words appeared to have gotten to the three of them. But they shook it off.

  “S-sorry Handyman. We’re side characters. We aren’t allowed to choose for ourselves.” The Squire figurine readied to stab Hank right in his face. But before he could even stab him…a Wall of Wonder constructed girders separated Hank from getting stabbed.

  “If you were half the leader I remember you being, you’d be at least a little more convincing to these numbskulls than that!” Foundation Frank stated as he smashed the ice holding Hank’s leg. Frank lowered the wall of girders and drew his weapon from seemingly nowhere. He grabbed a jackhammer gauntlet and attached it to his right hand, He pulled the rip cord as it roared to life with Wonder.

  “How bout you prove me wrong by proving we can beat these nameless nobodies together?” Frank asked as he held his other hand out to help him stand.

  Hank gave a nod of determination as he took it, only for Frank to violently toss Hank towards the red armored figurine. The red Armored figurine retaliated by swinging his sword downward towards Hank. He switched his wrench to his buzz saw and they clashed weapons. The high spinning RPM of the buzz saw against the heavy large sword caused sparks to fly all over the board. But Hank looks down to see the red armored figurine’s legs are exposed, he summoned his sledgehammer in his right hand to slam it right onto the red armor figurine's feet. This caused him to release the pressure, only to be followed up by a left hook punch from Frank, knocking him out cold.

  But it wasn’t over just yet. Frank looks up to see the mage anime figurine floating in mid-air and summoning her wonder to create a large magic circle once again, this time calling down lightning toward the both of them. Hank was quick to dodge all the strikes, but Frank was a tad slower, getting hit by every other strike.

  “Frank! Make a large girder in the middle!” Hank commanded as he ran towards the center of the board.

  He stomped his feet as one large girder began to grow up, now with Hank riding on top of it and elevating him upwards.

  The lightning strikes were getting redirected toward the large wonder girder as Hank raised his sledgehammer into the air, all the wonder lightning was going words it and retaining inside of it like a lightning rod. When the girder pillar stopped and propelled Hank high into the air, he was propelled towards the mage figurine. She was hit HARD with the force of over 100 lightning strikes and a sledgehammer, shooting her down into the ground and cratering it. When the dust cleared she was in an iconic fetal pose.

  When Hank landed Next to Frank, they both looked at the squire figurine…he was wielding his dagger and his hands were shaking.

  “You sure you wanna do this?” Frank asked as he flexed his muscles and his jackhammer gauntlet.

  The squire figurine chose to run at them both, only for Frank to pop him in the face, knocking him out cold.

  “Gotta give Shrimpy credit, he chose to fight like a man.” Frank shrugged.

  Meanwhile, Dorothy was fighting one-on-one against Ren Raikuro. His speed was borderline lightspeed and his attacks were precise like a needlepoint! With each attack he landed, he laughed like an arrogant psychopath.

  “You don’t seem to understand the pecking order you’re in right now. I AM THE HERO AND SAVIOR IN MY ANIME! That means I AM ENTITLED to have WHATEVER I WANT! The HERO WANT’s THE HERO GETS!” He strikes down on Dorothy once again, ripping the sleeve of her turtleneck sweater. Knocking her on her side.

  “You Arrogant vinyl piece of shit….Do you think the world revolves around you just because you’re a main character? Guess what pretty boy! I’m a main character too! My name is my franchise name!” Dorothy proudly declared as she stood back up.

  “You? A main character? Don’t make me laugh! A woman can’t be a main character unless they fawn over a man!” Ren stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Wow….you are a Grade-A, masterclass asshole!” Dorothy shouted in disgust as she ran to clash once again.

  “I couldn’t agree more!” A third voice chimed in as a sword slash rained down toward Ren’s back. He shouted in pain as he fell backward. Dorothy looks to see who her mysterious assistant came from. But it was none other than Tomowa Wakebe herself in all her vinyl form.

  “You have opened my eyes, smooth-chested doll. I have a lot to learn from someone like you. But for now, allow me to help you dispose of this sorry excuse of a main character once and for all!” Tomowa stated as she drew both her Kitana accessories.

  Ren quickly stood up once more, outraged he screamed “HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YOU! YOU AND ALL OTHER WOMEN BELONG TO ME!” he swung his word again, this time firing a beam slash of wonder from it. Tomowa formed an X Shape with her blades and channeled her wander through the blades. The BEam was absorbed by her pose and she went on the attack.

  “What!? Why didn’t you shout the name of the attack!?” Ren demanded as he began to go on the defensive.

  “Why should I?” Tomowa calmly asked as she managed to land a slash across his chest, cutting his armor. Causing him to fall weakly.

  Tomowa readied her blade and channeled her wonder through both of her katanas, ready to stab downwards. She remembers all the horrible things he had said and done to her. He wasn’t the hero, he’s a far cry from the main character!

  So instead….she lowers her weapons and knocks him out cold. He didn’t deserve a hero’s death either!

  Tomowa reached into his armor and pulled out the game cartridge with DJ Vortexx inside.

  She turned to Dorothy and said, “We can apologize later, now we must get the Spark of Wonder.” Tomowa jumps down towards the handheld console, and Dorothy follows suit.

  Simultaneously, Mr. Honeybun and Aegis Crimson stood on opposite ends of the board. Staring each other down with intensity and fury on both sides. Both sides were waiting for the other to make the first attack. But as soon as Aegis Crimson pulled out a beam sword, Mr. Honeybun ran out on the attack! Mr. Honeybun ran with a battle cry ready to fight this tall, admittedly awesome robot. But as soon as Mr. Honeybun landed his first strike on the battle robot….it fell to pieces.

  Not just any pieces, but hundreds of pieces meticulously assembled over hundreds of hours of assembly. Aegis Crimson wasn’t an anime figure or an action figure, but a model figure! Not suitable for play!

  Mr. Honeybun looked around at the now scattered pieces of Aegis Crimson confused, then just gave a confident smile and said “Guess you aren’t suited for ages Zero and up!” He gasped as he realized what he had just done! A Snappy one-liner! He couldn’t wait to tell Hank!

  As Mr. Given watches as all of his entourage falls to the toys, he grows more and more outraged, and soon he faces off against Hank, Frank, and Mr. Honeybun.

  “You haven’t had Wonder through you in a long time have you?” Hank asked.

  “You noticed huh? No! My wonder dried up YEARS ago, and now All I got is Scorn! Scorn made from all the times people cheated, lied and friendships ended in my game! If I want my wonder back, you all need to DIE!” He was ready to throw the dice again and make sure he got a boost, only to hear a familiar jingle!

  The Dice of Wonder disappeared from the air and into the Hands of DJ Vortexx.

  “That’s right Ladies and Gentlemen! DJ Vortexx is back for an ENCORE! And it looks like we got ourselves a cheater in my game! You know what happens to cheaters?” He asked Mr. Given who was slowly backing away.

  “He…Gives them enough money to open a Hotel in Main Street?” He carefully answered.

  “Nope! You my friend are hereby Soft Locked!”

  He snapped his digital fingers. Mr. Given began to freeze up in his iconic pose. His last words before the soft lock got to his head were this “You…CHEATED!”

  Just like that, Mr. Given was frozen, and his power over the dice disappeared. Causing the Game board to disappear and freeing all the miniatures.

  “Boss! You alright!? Did that sick bastard disconnect you?”Frank asked DJ as he looked him up and down.

  “Not to worry Frankie Boy, I’m feeling perfectly refreshed and reset. Thanks to these two lovely ladies here.” He gestures to Dorothy and Tomowa.

  Before they could continue their happy reunion, the miniatures surrounded all of them, both L&L and Spearhead 10k now working together.

  “Drop the Sparks of Wonder Arcadian, and hand them over to the Wonderkeepers!” Demanded Both King Augustus and Commander Aurora. They looked at each other and smiled at one another, they were on the same page.

  “Wait, you’re just going to give it to us, not that we’re not grateful. But why?” Dorothy asked.

  “That Spark of Wonder has been nothing but trouble for both of us, take it and leave so we may punish this billionaire and clean before the store opens!” Commander Aurora stated as she pointed to Frozen Mr. Given.

  “Not to worry, I was just aiming to.” He floats down from his turn tables and hands Hank the wooden dice. He feels the power of Wonder flow through him once again, followed by yet another flash of memories.

  ………………………………………………………………………

  The First Memory was of a boy who was walking through a hospital, holding the first edition of Given’s Game. He walks inside one of the hospital rooms to see his little sister in the room with bandages around her head. She was happy to see him.

  The Second Memory was of the boy and the girl playing the game, but the little sister looked bored out of her mind playing it.

  The Third memory was of the boy cutting paper, writing down rules, and finally carving a pair of dice out of wood.

  The Fourth memory was of the little sister loving the game he made just for her. She gives him a big, long hug. For some reason, he felt a bad feeling from the hug so he savored it.

  The fifth memory was of the boy looking at the pair of dice again, he was wearing a suit as he saw his mom crying and his dad consoling her. Today was one of the worst days of his life. The day she could finally rest.

  The Sixth Memory was of the boy now a teenager. The games he made were now a lot more complex and fun to play, his friends and classmates were borderline addicted!

  The Seventh Memory was him pitching his idea to Mr. Wonder’s toy company, all the investors played the game and had a blast. If Adults loved the game, so would children!

  The Eighth Memory was of him getting married to the woman he had loved, the woman in question being one of the investors from the last memory.

  The Ninth Memory was him welcoming his Twin children to the world, a daughter and a son.

  The Tenth Memory was of his Kid son wearing knight armor made of cardboard and his daughter pretending to be a space alien.

  The Eleventh memory was of both his children pitching their ideas for a new brand of Board Game on the rise. Tabletop RPG’s. He approved them both.

  The Final memory was of the two siblings bickering across the Thanksgiving Dinner Table. But he shushed them both, by handing them the Wooden Dice. His inspiration and most prized possession.

  Hank thought he was done….but there was one last memory. Strangely…This one didn’t belong to the GameMaster.

  A sea of endless stars, a bright white square in the center, and someone whistling a slow echo tune.

  …………………………………………………………

  When Hank Snapped back to reality, he was in the passenger seat of Ol’ Betsy. Along with Mr. Honeybun, Dorothy and…Tomowa!?

  “You have returned to us, Hank of the Handyman. Sensei Dorothy and Kawaii Cutie Honeybun were worried.” Said Tomowa as she took a bow.

  “W-what's happening!?” Hank asked still in a daze.

  “No time! We need to get back to the Toystore now! DJ Vortexx and Frank will meet us at the Fountain tomorrow Night!” Dorothy explained as she sped off. Little did they know Two groups were watching them leave.

  The First group being Frank and DJ Vortexx himself.

  “You don’t know your origin either huh Franky Boy?” Vortexx asked.

  “Nope. All I know is the names of our teammates and that He of all people was our leader….I’m just wondering How Paula will react when she sees him with that Dolly?” Frank asked as he rubbed his chin.

  The second group…was a Six-foot long wooden snake. With a tag on the end of his tail. The tag was labeled ‘5,000,000 Tickets!’

  “So she’s out and about again…the Don would want to hearrrrrrrrrr about this!”