Another Day Passed in the Mall as Mr. Wonder was beginning to close up shop after another day of sales…..as he swept the floor he took time to ponder the fact that he had met his quota and then some today. First time in over a week since the announcement of that damn new gaming console over a month ago. He and many other stores in the mall are getting eaten alive in sales from Amalgam Electronics. Not to mention, just last month he saw the Bandanna Republic AND the Bodacious Bootwear close down…..He’s honestly wondering how much longer until his shop is next.

He steps out of the toy store holding a squeegee, a spray bottle full of cleaning solution, and a rag. He then sprays down the front window and wipes off all the fingerprints from today’s window shoppers….He’s been getting a lot more of those lately ever since the Cryptid Critters became the Storefront toys…..his son told him they were the hot new franchise….but honestly just looking at them creeped him out. If a fifty-eight-year-old man found these things creepy, how are kids supposed to find these things cool…….Maybe he should look at that new catalog he recently got in the mail.

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“IT'S TIME FOR PAYBACK BUILDER BOY!” Shouted the Cryptid Critter Trio as they then began to speed down the hallway atop the floor buffer! Causing the floor behind them to become….remarkably squeaky clean. But in their wake. They continuously crashed into multiple obstacles in the way like trash cans, sunglass kiosks and even knocking over a gumball machine!

Dolly Dorothy couldn’t keep her outrage down.

“Are you three CRAZY!? What if this wakes up the security guard!? How is this gonna be explained?!” She exclaimed, ready to grab one of the sharpened colored pencils to throw if need be.

“Why do you care?! Were as good as Charity Trash anyways!” Shouted Gigafoot as he worked the floor buffer’s pedals

“Somethin’ you know all about huh?!” Jersey D. Dave added as he controlled the steering wheel.

“Yeah! You should be rollin’ with us! Once Charity Trash! Always Charity Trash!” Mothdude concluded as he rode on the seat of the floor buffer

Hearing that phrase again. Dolly Dorothy’s pupils shrunk with rage as she grabbed one of her sharpened colored pencils, this time charging it with all the Wonder she could muster.

“I….AM…..NOT!.....CHARITY TRASH!” She cried as she threw it right at the floor buffer. The colored pencil punctured the front metal frame of the floor buffer….but that wasn’t enough!

“Time to become part of the marble floor!” Shouted Gigafoot as he slammed down on the gas pedal! Propelling the Floor buffer to go as fast as nearly 10 miles per hour!” Hank and Dorothy both jumped out of the way in the nick of time….but immediately slipped because of the freshly cleaned and waxed floor! They both tried to stand but slipped once again!

As the floor buffer began to turn around, Dolly Dorothy then channeled Wonder into her heels and created sharp blades at the bottom into makeshift skates.

“How did you do that!?” Handy Hank asked still struggling to stand up.

“I had a ‘Winter Wonderland’ playset a few years back….Not my best playset…” She said as she took a second to gain her balance…and started to skate across the waxed floor like a pro! She grabbed ahold of Handy Hank by his waist and continued to skate across the hall of the Mall!

Just when Dorothy was starting to keep a steady pace ahead of the Floor Buffer. Her skate rhythm was disrupted by a laser blast from Mothdude’s eyes!

“You ain’t leavin’ my sight this time, Builder Boy! I got the adult’s eye view on my side!” He said as he blasted a full barrage of blasts at Dorothy, causing her to start skating in a zigzag formation! But right when a knocked-over gumball machine was obstructing her path, she threw Hank right up in the air…and she limboed right below the bar of the gumball machine. Only for her to catch him on the other side!

There Dorothy realized… they were after Hank….Why not give them what they want?

“Brace Yourself!” Dolly Dorothy exclaimed as she tossed him in the air again and this time she did a triple axel jump right into the air only to grab Handy Hank by the ankles. Keeping up the momentum she then started to wind up spinning Hank….Hank himself gets dizzy from all the momentum and G-Force surrounding him. If he weren’t a toy….he would most definitely vomit.

But then without warning. Dorothy released her grip on Handy Hank throwing him clean at the floor buffer…the magnet embedded into his back allowed him to stick to the metal hull of the floor buffer!

“Don’t Just stick around there! Get up and fight!” Dorothy shouted as she continued to lead the floor buffer away!

Handy Hank tried to detach himself from the hull, but for a split second, he started sliding down. If he wasn’t careful he would have been ripped to shreds by the wax brush down below! So he decided to crabwalk across to the top of the hull to reach the top! But right then and there Jersey D. Dave flew across and swooped down to where he was. Pinning him down with his sharp talons!

“You ain’t goin’ nowhere! Not until I peel off a few shavings of plastic from your face!” He hissed maliciously as he ran a claw across Hank’s plastic face! Sending a chill down Handy Hank's metaphorical spine.

Jersey Dave then opened his mouth and tried to peck at Handy Hank…but he acted quickly and lodged his monkey wrench into his skull mouth!

“I AIN’T FALLIN’ FOR THAT AGAIN!” This time he bit down on the wrench and pulled hard trying to get Hank to let go. But only dislodged Handy Hank from the Metal frame of the floor buffer to be freed! Jersey Dave tried to shake Hank off and away from his wrench but he let go and threw him on the top of the floor buffer!

Mothdude saw this and charged a full power eye blast and shot directly at Hank…He was quick to duck down only for the blast to hit Jersey Dave who was trying to sneak up on Hank. Knocking him right off the floor buffer and into the recyclable bin next to a soda machine….

“NO! You’re gonna be a pile of melted ooze when I’m done with you!” Declared Mothdude as he charged up another full-powered eye blast. But the blast charge up was interrupted as a children's colored smoke bomb was suddenly thrown onto the top of the floor buffer between the two. When the fuse reached the end it started shooting continuous purple smoke blinding the vision of Mothdude. Hank looked up in the direction where the smoke bomb came from and saw Doughboy Jack with his troops giving a salute. They used a toy slingshot to fire the smoke bomb through one of the holes in the security gate. At that moment when he looks away, One eye blast nicked Handy Hank right on his right arm. He let out a brief groan in pain as he grabbed where it got him. Through the smoke, he could see where Mothdude was blindly firing away in all directions to try and hit Hank…Hank quickly tightened his grip on his wrench…His pupils glowed bright blue once again and his Wonder surrounded his wrench again….only this time it became one of his other accessories! His Sledgehammer!

Wielding it with both hands he gave one long and mighty swing knocking Mothdude right off the floor buffer and into one of the fake palm trees used for the ambiance of the mall!

“Huh…that’s new! But great!” Said Handy Hank as he looked at his sledgehammer. Being able to switch weapons on the fly is gonna be useful! But wait…..for a split second….he was wondering to himself….how and WHY can he do that!?

He couldn’t ponder why for long…because a giant yet familiar pair of hairless hands grabbed him and tightened his grip on his whole body. It was none other than Gigafoot gripping him once again!

“YOU AIN’T WEASELIN’ YOUR WAY OUTTA THIS ONE BUILDER BOY!” SHouted Gigafoot as he charged wonder into his right foot and stomped on the controls of the floor buffer. Completely breaking them! The floor buffer was now speeding up to double its speed and now that he’s no longer steering it! It was heading right for the display window of the Mall’s fine china shop! All the porcelain dolls inside the display were screaming and panicking in an admittedly overly dramatic fashion!

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Handy Hank had to think fast about what he could do! But saw the colored pencil sticking out of the metal hull thrown by Dolly Dorothy a few moments ago.

“Any Last Words Builder Boy!? Asked Gigafoot!?

Handy Hank looked down at the floor again and saw Dolly Dorothy skating along the floor, readying another colored pencil to throw!

“Yeah…..What’s your favorite color?”

“Huh?”

Then Dolly Dorothy threw a Purple colored pencil charged with Wonder. This time piercing through Gigafoot’s Arm causing it to break off!

Gigafoot let out a scream in pain as he let Handy Hank go! Without hesitation, he connected with the metal hull to his back magnet. He slid down close to the wedged colored pencil in the hull and readied his strike! One shot, One Chance!

With one mighty Wonder Powered Strike! He hammers the colored pencil deep into the hull of the floor buffer! With one loud popping noise the engine of the floor buffer began to emit smoke as it started to slow down!

Handy Hank closed his eyes and braced for whatever impact was about to happen, as did the Porcelain Dolls inside the display window!

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“........You can open your eyes….it stopped…” Said Dolly Dorothy unamused.

Handy Hank opened his eyes to see that he was a mere quarter inch away from the glass…..He took a sigh of relief as the Porcelain dolls applauded from the other side of the glass!

As he detached himself from the hull and jumped onto the floor…he just had to say to Dorothy.

“Thanks…for the help back there.” He said with true gratitude in his voice.

“No Problem….you’re still no storefront toy in my eyes but at least you’re good at giving snappy and relevant one-liners.” Said Dolly as she looked around at the damage to the mall hallway. But noticed Handy Hank has minor melting on his right arm….Her pupils shrank for a moment….she remembered the extreme heat…..her deformed right hand started to shake in fear…..she could still hear their laughter…

“Dorothy?....You okay?” Hank asked. Concerned with how eerily quiet and focused she was staring at him.

She instantly snapped out of her trance and said “F-Fine!.... You should get to Nurse Ruby right away so she can fix that melt on you before it sets!” She points to the partially melted part of his arm.

Just as she pointed it out to Hank the shutters to the Toystore began to open and all of Doughboy Jack’s troops began to spill out in various toy vehicles. They surrounded all three of the Cryptid Critters, each soldier wielding a firearm weapon of some kind ready to fire blasts of Wonder at them should they try anything else.

“Gigafoot, Mothdude, Jersey D. Dave! You are hereby under arrest for Disturbing the Peace, Noticeable Damage to the Mall’s setting, and Grand Theft Floor Buffer! How Do You Plead?” Doughboy Jack asked with a disappointed yet authoritative tone.

The three let out groans in pain as Jack’s soldiers began to haul them all away, two soldiers carrying Gigafoot’s broken-off arm as well. Handy Hank walks towards Doughboy Jack and says “Sorry about all of the noise. Did that do any damage?”

“Negatory Private Hank! It would take a whole stampede of actual animals to wake up that sleeping bum on the other side of those cameras!” He points to one of the security cameras on one of the ceiling corners.

“My only true concern is explaining the now wrecked Floor buffer in front of us both! It would take all the manpower I have to get it back in position and we only have two hours left until opening!”

Handy Hank looked at the floor buffer realized how wrecked it was……and saw something…strange? He saw the floor buffer come apart piece by piece and each piece surrounded him…once again his pupils glowed cyan blue….That’s when he realized what pieces were broken…and how he could fix them!

“Doughboy Jack. I-

“THAT’S SGT. JACK TO YOU PRIVATE!”

Handy Hank straightened up and said “Sir! If it would please Sergeant Jack! I think I can Repair the floor Buffer with my Wonder!”

“If You believe you can do this! You will be doing my core a wonderful service!” Doughboy Jack barked back.

As this exchange of dialogue was going down….Dolly Dorothy just rolled her eyes. She remembered her time in Doughboy Jack’s Bootcamp….and smiled….good times.

Handy Hank walks towards the floor buffer once again and grabs the Hammer from his back, with a blue flick of Wonder, it switches back to his monkey wrench…It was charged up with wonder and….he immediately began tapping the damaged areas in a cartoonish manner. Each tap of the wrench starts sending the wonder throughout the floor buffer and after a few more clicks and taps….The floor buffer starts to snap back into place!

“Well strap me to a bottle rocket and send me to the great heavens above! You got some serious Wonder Power there kid! Do you have any idea how hard it is for Wonder to travel through non-accessorized things? I only saw that with Corporal Dorothy here!” Said Doughboy Jack, still in awe.

He then turns around and faces his soldiers in the thousands.

“ATTEN-TION!” Doughboy Jack shouted. All his soldiers fell in line.

“PRIVATES! WE HAVE TO GET THIS FLOOR BUFFER BACK IN STATION AND GET THIS HALLWAY IN PRESENTABLE SHAPE BEFORE OPENING TIME! TEAM ALPHA WILL RETURN THE FLOOR BUFFER WHILE TEAM CRAYONEATER CLEANS THE DAMAGE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!”

“SIR! YES SIR!” His Privates shouted in Unison.

“GOOD! NOW MOOOOOVE OUT!” All the soldiers began to climb aboard the floor buffer and start to fiddle with the controls. The floor buffer roared to life again, briefly startling the porcelain toys once more…and they started driving the floor buffer once again, only this time they were careful and precise on their steering and speed regulation! As Doughboy Jack was about to go back into the Toy Store. Dolly Dorothy stopped him.

“Oh! Jack! We need your help with something….We need to get into the Backroom of the toy store.”

Doughboy Jack froze at hearing that…..

“Why would you want to go back there?” He asked. His voice sounded uncharacteristically fear-filled. Just a minute ago he was fearlessly giving orders to all his fellow toy soldiers….

Handy Hank continued by saying “We’re trying to find the first Spark of Wonder….The Founder said the first Spark was somewhere inside the Backroom.”

“.....And here I thought Greenbolt would be the one to spill the beans on where it was….You are both serious about going back there? Because if you do I won’t be able to send any troops out to help you. I lost too many good soldiers to that damned place….” He signals them both to follow him back into the toy store to his display where he has an assortment of toy helicopters and vehicles…even a giant mech suit…which was glued to the display.

He opens the cockpit of the mech suit and pulls out a door key.

“This here is Mr. Wonder’s spare Key. Take care of it and DO NOT, Lose it. We’ve had too many close calls with him already.”

Handy Hank had to ask…”What’s wrong with the Backrooms? It doesn’t sound so bad….”

“I’ve only been back there once….Just watch each other's back, and DO NOT touch any of the toys marked ‘defective’. But most importantly….Beware the Rat King…."

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It had been a mere few days since Dolly Dorothy had been relieved from the storefront window…..the toys on the higher shelves were kind enough to let her stay until she became relevant again….but who knows how long that will be? Greenbolt told her it could be in about a month or until she gets her animated movie….but animation takes a long time and could take years…..

She looked down at the place where her whole world was, still empty from when Mr. Wonder cleared off the display of her and everything she knew…..But as the front door unlocked she saw a slightly younger Mr. Wonder walks in carrying a box and cheerfully humming a happy tune. He sets the box down and opens it up with a box cutter….she couldn’t see who or what he was setting up and for a moment even pondered if it could match up to her in any way….but the only thing she could see was the banner being taped to the glass of the window…it took her a moment to read what it said because the words are reversed….and she read the banner.

‘Meet the RASCALZ!’