As the Mall had closed after another busy weekend, all patrons had begun to take their leave, from regular mall goers to employees alike. But sometimes the parents at the mall just want a little peace from their young children while they shop. So what do they do? They place their children in the Little Sprouts Daycare Center.

  A sprawling daycare completely decked out with the most secure doors and jungle gyms, the floors completely covered with soft carpets and even softer rugs with a few stains of varying colors on them, and topped off with cubbies for the kids' shoes and anything else they held.

  To the right of the entrance was the Art Station, a table stocked with an abundance of paper, crayons, colored pencils, and even washable paints. But no glitter, not again. Never again.

  To the left of the entrance was a small reading area, complete with a shelf of preschool to 2nd-grade books and beanbag chairs!

  But the thing all of the children in the daycare always noticed first was the mountain of donated toys that they were allowed to play with but not take home!

  As the last child was picked up by their parent, the child handed the daycare attendant a new drawing—a simple doodle of one of the toys in the rotation bins. The daycare attendant happily waved goodbye to the mother and child as they passed through the parking lot doors. She takes a deep breath and begins the end-of-day cleanup process.

  Sweeping the floors.

  Wiping down all surfaces with disinfectant wipes.

  Double-checking the sign-in/sign-out sheets and calling parents if their child was picked up.

  Finally, she picked up all the toys and sorted out which ones were broken and which were not. She pulled out a garbage bag and began throwing away the broken ones. She examined the remains of a toy robot. Its leg was ripped off, and the wires were exposed.

  She shook her head at the busted toy and tossed it into the garbage bag with the rest of the broken toys. The daycare attendant promptly walked to the back room and pulled out a new box. A box labeled ‘Donations’.

  But before she could open the box, she heard her phone’s notification sound.

  She pulled her phone from her apron pocket and checked the notification. It was time to clock out. She looked at the box of toys she still needed to open and quickly decided she could do it tomorrow morning.

  As soon as she locked the doors and left for the night, Chuck retired to the security room. All the Wondergoers began to move again for the night.

  Inside the box, the donated toys kicked and shoved until a violent push tipped the box over, breaking the tape and spilling them onto the floor. The donated toys looked around the daycare and saw that the unbroken toys surrounded them. They made way for the one in charge to walk toward them. An 11-inch-tall robotic toy loomed over all of them and smiled with a sinister chuckle.

  “Welcome to Hell, Me Hearties…”

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

  As various preschool toys began to haul away the ripped-to-pieces remains of the stuffed lion plushie to the back storage bin. All the Wondergoers began to cheer for the next victim!

  The Announcer waddled out to the main spotlight, holding a toy megaphone. The Wonderkeepers noticed that he was a small, fluffy toy creature with bright orange fur covering his entire body. His nose was bright green and sat right on top of his face, while his eyes were simple, like two ping-pong balls with black dots. His fur, while still fluffy, showed signs of age, and a faded stain of an unknown purple substance marred the soles of his feet. Even Mr. Honeybun noticed that his ‘Made in China’ tag was still out as the Announcer toy walked.

  The announcer toy’s movements were stiff and robotic, indicating that he wasn’t a plush toy but an animatronic toy. He cleared his nonexistent throat and spoke.

  “AND SO THIS ROUND ENDS! WHO WILL BE THE CHAMPION FOR THE PRIZE TONIGHT!? TO ALL THE NEWBIES OUT THERE! I’M YOUR HOST, YOUR LEADER, AND THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF THE 1996 BLACK FRIDAY RIOTS! CUDDLE-ME-SAMMY!”

  The audience of wondergoers roared and cheered, demanding more fights!

  “You want MORE!? You all know the drill! Sign-ups are near the restroom, and the betting pools are by the snack table! And those who make it to the final round face the champion! THE CRUEL, THE MERCILESS, THE VINTAGE! THE SWORN ENEMY OF THE LEGENDARY GREENBOLT AND LEADER TO THE MECHANICROOKS, ANCHOR WROUGHT!” Cuddle Me Sammy gestured for the spotlights to turn to the very top of the cubby shelves, revealing a 9-inch-tall gray, mechanical humanoid toy covered in a tattered black cotton cloak.

  Anchor Wrought stood from his throne chair, made entirely of BRIKKOs, and removed his black cotton cloak, revealing his full body armor, which screamed that he was a villain. Along his mechanical-looking body, some parts suggested that he, like Greenbolt, could change into a vehicle as well. But unlike Greenbolt’s inviting, friendly, and heroic aura, Anchor Wrought was repellent, hostile, and downright villainous.

  The evil Mechamorpher toy grabbed his anchor accessory from the connection point on his back and wielded it like a battle axe. He looked down at all of his next potential victims, and his mechanical red eyes focused on Dorothy and her friends.

  He jumped from the top of the cubby shelves and quickly began to convert his body, switching from his humanoid robot form, with a series of twists, clicks, and pops, to a naval destroyer, sporting the MechaniCrooks ‘M’ Emblem on the side of the hull!

  He fell hard as he slammed on the soft, padded floors with great force. Prompting Hank, Tomowa, and Mr. Honeybun to jump in surprise and instinctively draw their accessories. But Dorothy herself remained still and clearly unimpressed.

  Anchor Wrought switched back to his humanoid robot form and exhaled in elation as he walked towards the four of them. Then he knelt to Dorothy’s level and began.

  “Fancy meeting you here again…Dolly Girl! Been a long while, hasn’t it! ‘Ave ye stopped bein’ Greenbolt’s apprentice? Be ye finally here t’ ditch the airlubber and get with a Mehchamorpher o’ the sea?”

  Dorothy wanted to go off on the Mechanicrook leader for speaking bad about Greenbolt, but instead she scoffed in disgust and answered, “Gross. I think I’d rather take my chances under a magnifying glass on a bright and sunny day than spend a single minute with you!”

  Anchor Wrought didn’t like that answer and reached for his anchor weapon. But Hank, Mr. Honeybun, and Tomowa were quick on the draw to stand in his way. This sudden standoff quickly got the attention of all the surrounding Wondergoers. Some were ready to see a fight outside of the arena, while others were hoping someone would intervene to stop it.

  “I don't know what your beef is with Dorothy. But maybe you'd better step back, or things could get ugly.” Hank states as he brandished his monkey wrench and channeled his Wonder.

  Mr. Honeybun was next to channel his Wonder to draw his bear claws. “Don’t you DARE lay a hand on Miss Dorothy!” He growled as he stood in front of the said dress-up doll.

  Tomowa drew one of her kitana accessories and aimed it right at Anchor Wrought’s face. Her big anime eyes showed no fear as she looked directly at the glowing red eyes of the villain Mechamorpher toy.

  “I believe you should be grateful we don't spill your Wonder right here and now for insulting the mentor of our friend…you wasted your only warning,” Tomowa warned.

  Anchor Wrought saw how all three of them were serious in protecting Dorothy. He steps back and says, “Fine….you’ll all get what’s coming to you. You’ll all feel the wrath of Anchor Wrought soon enough!” He looks directly at Hank and gives a personal sneer. “Especially you, ‘Builder Boy’!”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  As Anchor Wrought walked off towards the bathroom to get ready for the next fight. Hank took a moment to register that he had called him ‘Builder Boy’. Then there was also the fact that now he has another being who hates him for no reason aside from the Glitchy one.

  Now that Hank thought about it…why did he go out of his way to try to kill him and not fight off Dorothy and Mr. Honeybun? His train of thought was quickly cut off as Cuddle Me Sammy angrily stormed towards the four of them, which looked kind of silly because he was waddling rather than storming towards them.

  “Care to explain to me why in the hell are you four picking fights with my Champion OUTSIDE of the ring?” The puppet-like toy demanded as he pointed his fingerless hand at the four of them with a level of authority that seemed like it didn’t belong to a preschool toy.

  “No reason to toy with the fluff… we are simply here to procure the Spark of wonder for our quest,” Tomowa stated as she re-sheathed her kitana accessory.

  “....Ah. So you four must be the Wonderkeepers. I’ve been hearing so much about you through the grapevine. From putting a stop to that rat bastard in Wonder City’s backroom, taking out the Percarious pentamino problem all the way in Manuscript City, and even putting a stop to that nasty civil war between the figurines. You lot are all on some real heroic shit right now, huh?” Cuddle Me Sammy prattled, listing all their feats on his nonexistent fingers. But the quartet didn’t pay attention to that, put off by the fact that he was talking so vulgarly for a preschool toy.

  “If you four want the Spark of Wonder. You need to do it like any other wondergoer stepping into my domain. Fight your way straight to the top and face the champ himself!” Cuddle Me Sammy states as he begins to circle the quartet.

  “Is there... any way we can just breeze past that? This IS kind of an emergency after all, and we only have a few short hours before the Mall opens again.” Hankl pleaded as he turned to face the puppet-like toy.

  “Yeah! I don’t wanna face a big bully like him! He’s mean to Miss. Dorothy for no reason!” Mr. Honeybun Grumbled as he crossed his arms.

  Cuddle Me Sammy took a long sigh through his nose in disappointment, hearing his champion act in such an unsportsmanlike manner. “Yep, he’s been itching to have a real challenge again ever since he and Greenbolt clashed plastic weapons a few months back. The Green bastard put him through three wonder-enforced BRIKKO walls before he finally yielded. But enough about the past, I just know you four would ring in a ton of new audience members from your feats alone. So I’ll do you all a favor and let you skip the line to get signed up.”

  The quartet was relieved at hearing that they didn’t have to speak with the obnoxious villain toy again.

  “As for you, Handyman….I have a feeling a certain…associate of mine would like to meet you. Care to follow while your friends settle up to sign up?” He suggested to Hank as he turned to walk.

  Hank looked at Dorothy, Mr. Honeybun, and Tomowa. The three looked uncertain. But nodded in agreement witha level of caution.

  Hank himself remained vigilant as the three walked ahead to sign up for the next tournament. After walking a few feet away, to the otherside near the Artist table. Cuddle Me Sammy had to ask.

  “Are the rumors true? Can you actually damage Arcadians?” He leaned forward towards Hank. His body language suggests he was whispering a secret, yet his tone betrays him.

  Hank was a little hesitant at first answering that question, considering what kind of attention that feat has given him so far. But as he looked around and saw that there were no other Arcadians that he could see.

  “Y-yes. I can, I still don’t know how or why, only me though. That’s one of the reasons why my friends and I are on this journey in the first place.” Hank explained as he channeled his wonder through his wrench for a few moments to demonstrate to the hugable toy.

  Cuddle Me Sammy stopped for a moment to stare in awe at seeing this kind of wonder.

  “I dunno if you know yet. But there was a time when all the toys had enough Wonder to take on the arcadians straight on. But what we had in Wonder, they had in things called ‘Extra Lives,’ and somethin’ called a respawn point. Any Arcadians you’ve taken down before, chances are all you really did was send them back to where they came. Meaning, they all come back eventually.” The Cudlly animatronic toy explained.

  The toy handyman took a moment to ponder and register this new information and thought back to all the arcadians he and his friends had fought so far. Then he remembered back when Mr. Given shut off the handheld console that DJ Vortexx had spawned from and even took out the game cartridge…The Arcadian Disk Jockey was completely defenseless and at the mercy and neither he nor his friends realized it. But another question was pondered in Hank’s mind.

  “How do you know all this?”

  Cuddle Me Sammy considered the question and answered. “Simple. A long time ago, I myself was the storefront toy just like you. I was the most sought-after toy back in ‘96. One Black Friday morning, adults came in and caused a full-on riot just for the chance to get hold of one of my associates or me. I’m considered the sole survivor because I’m the last Cuddle Me Sammy in the entire Mall. Greenbolt himself took me in, and we fought alongside each other for a time. Sadly, though, I wound up here after my time ended. So I turned this place into a haven where wondergoers from all over can let out any rage and aggression built up from this 40-year-long war.”

  “So, Anchor Wrought fought along with Greenbolt?”

  “Psh, for a very short time. He hated Greenbolt so much he would rather not fight than join those pixelated pukes.” All this talk of his past battles with Greenbolt began to stir up repressed memories as well. Cuddle Me Sammy stood for a few moments with a thousand-yard stare. He could still hear the 8-Bit chiptune music, as his best friend Big Fish got ripped to pieces by the Arcadian they called Tara Craft, the Catacomb Runner. Big Fish got stabbed repeatedly by her big, pointy…knives.

  But he quickly snapped back as they officially arrived at the art table.

  “You should know, this here girly has been dying to meet you, 'cause apparently you two have quite the history.” Cuddle Me Sammy cupped his hands and shouted toward the top of the table. “HEY PAULA! YOU GOT A VISITOR!”

  Hank hears the rustling of paper and the capping of markers and other items. But then he hears something strange. He hears the rolling of a roller blade.

  Jumping off the edge of the table with a triple axel jump was a humanoid toy just like Hank. She landed on the floor with style and grace. Hank immediately noticed shes wearing boots with retractable roller blades. The boots themselves had an admittedly cool streak of white through them.

  Upon closer inspection, she wore loose-fitting dark-purple overalls stained with various colors of paint, and a lavender colored letter ‘P’ was printed across the front. Along with a lavender colored shirt, which is also stained with various paint colors.

  Clipped to her waist was a utility belt with tiny paint cans of the immediate color spectrum. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, and black. Magnetized to her back is a gigantic paintbrush that was relatively the size of a mop. The brush was clean, but the handle was stained from endless uses of faded paint.

  As soon as she turned around, she and Hank locked eyes. She had piercing cyan eyes and messy, dirty blonde hair wrapped in a ponytail. The moment she realized she was in the presence of Hank, he quickly got giddy and skated towards Hank to pick him up and give him a spinning hug.

  “OH! EM! GOODNESS! HANK! I FINALLY GET TO SEE YOU IN PERSON!” She exclaimed as she let go. “Foundation Frank said you were coming over! Now you’re finally here!”

  “Yes! I-I’m Here! W-who might you be!?” The Handyman asked as he took a moment adjust from being in a daze.

  “Oh! Where are my manners…I’m Painter Paula! Master Painter Extraordinaire and third member of the Building Crew, and also…other things too.”

  The comprehension hit Hank almost immediately. Foundation Frank introduced himself by punching him through a wall of girders, another member of his lost past, greeting him with a dizzying spin hug was actually a welcome change of pace. He did want to ask what she meant by ‘Other things’. But Paula’s excitement was honestly contagious in the moment. He would ask later.

  ………………………………………………………………………….

  After signing up for the next tournament. Dorothy, Mr. Honeybun, and Tomowa were next in line to officially start taking bets for the pool.

  “I bet 60 Beads that Punchem Clobber goes down in round three!” Declared a plush penguin. Three toys took that bet.

  “I bet a bottle of resin that Baby Waah Waah rips RoboSaurus head clean off in one minute!” Toys took the bet.

  Dorothy turned to Mr. Honeybun and asked, “Do you still have those Given Bucks?”

  Mr. Honeybun happily pulled the roll of Given bucks from seemingly nowhere and handed it to Dorothy.

  She gets up on top of Mr. Honeybuns' head and declares, “I WADGER 1 MILLION GIVEN BUCKS FOR ANCHOR ROUGHT TO NOT WIN IN THE FINAL ROUND! TICKETS FROM PAPA BRICCOLINI’S ONLY! ANY TAKERS!?”

  The entire betting pool went quiet. The deafening silence alone told anyone that it was a stupid bet. In fact, everyone knew that was a stupid bet because Anchor Rought always wins, and the fact that hardly anyone pays in tickets.

  “I will take this bet.” A raised hand in the crowd said.

  The crowd thinned out to reveal an Illustration. He was a tall, Steampunk-themed scientist. His goggles over his forehead, a scar down his left eye, and a frilly shirt and vest poking through his labcoat with perfectly pressed and unwrinkled pants. His loafer shoes tapped across the carpeted floor somehow as he walked towards the dress-up doll, the teddy bear, and the anime figurine.

  “I wager 9 million tickets that one of you lot would make sure Anchor Rought doesn’t see victory.” He clearly states as he looks over the three.

  “....State your name,” Tomowa demands as her growing suspicions of this new illustration face before her and her friends.

  “Of course, where are my manners…I am Dr. Byron S. Winter. Supervillain extraordinaire and master inventor!” He shouted with a level of flair saved only for Saturday morning TV shows.

  The leading bet taker began writing down the pool for the bet.

  ‘Wondereepers Vs. Dr. Winters: Million to one odds.’

  As he walked out of the betting area, he turned around and said, “I expect the best from all of you…especially the Handyman.”

  As soon as he left, Tomowa rolled her eyes and said, “Ugh…aura farmers…”

  The three walked off, sure that they now have a secure bet. Little did they know, this whole thing was being watched overhead through the vents.

  ‘Dah-hahahahahahahahahahahahah!’