After a mere 10 minutes following the battle with one of the Janitor’s floor buffer, Handyman Hank was inside Nurse Ruby’s Playhouse once again. Only this time for a real injury and not some torn clothes. He noticed how Dolly Dorothy was leaning on the door waiting for him to get patched up…But she looked mildly impatient. She was grasping her slightly deformed right arm. But he quickly looked away when she noticed him staring.
“How much longer Doc? The Mall is gonna Open in less than an Hour and a Half!” Dolly Dorothy inquired with a hint of edginess in her voice.
“Apologies Dolly Dorothy. Handyman Hank’s material is quite difficult to mold. It is a lot more stiff and rigid than plastic. Perhaps I must do Heating Treatment…” Declared Nurse Ruby as she walked to a red colored pencil box and opened it. As she began to rummage around the box. Handy Hank in a rising panic tone had to ask.
“H-heating Treatment?! What does that mean?!”
“It is simple procedure. I apply heat to deformed area and reshape it, good as new….Unless you wish to struggle and it could go wrong for you…”
Handy Hank swallowed the metaphorical lump in his throat and pleaded “Are there…..any other alternatives?”
“Nyet. If Gospodin Wonder notices you are damaged, He will get suspicious. Like Comrade Doughboy has stated there were too many close of calls with him already!” As she concluded, she finally found the two items she was looking for. A disposable lighter and a curved square of aluminum cut out from a soda can.
At that moment, Nurse Ruby grabbed a pair of tweezers and used them to pick up the curved square and hold it right over the flame, Handy Hank could see the metal turning slightly bright from the heat. And she hovered the heated square of aluminum right over the melted part of his arm.
“Hold still and do not flinch!” She sternly warned as she lightly placed the heated aluminum sheet over the deformity…..he closed his eyes and braced for the extreme heat….but he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and looked at Nurse Ruby….The aluminum square was on his arm but it didn’t hurt! But it was also surrounded by a light green aura originating from Nurse Ruby herself.
“Are you surprised Handyman? This is Power of my own Wonder…the children believed I could heal all with simple touch, so now I have power to do so.” She Quired as she removed the aluminum square….his arm was good as new!”
Handy Hank looked at his arm and felt it, he could feel the heat fading as the materials of his arm were now solidifying! He was completely astounded….but he had to ask…
“Not to sound ungrateful….but why was the Heating Treatment used? Couldn't you just use your Wonder to Heal me completely?” He queried as he continued to touch his now-fixed arm.
Dolly Dorothy shot him a look to let him know that was rude to say to the toy woman who saved him from a lifelong deformity.
Nurse Ruby still answered “I didn’t always need to. You should have seen me in heyday. When Arcade was still around, I healed so many of our toy comrades with speed of floor buffer you just defeated…..But as time changes…no little one wants to play with ragdoll anymore….Wonder Power is fickle thing, some days you have it, and other days you don’t… Greenbolt and his associates were super popular toys in his time, that’s why he had Wonder to Spare….” She looks at a small Polaroid photo on the wall of her and Greenbolt, they are celebrating the grand opening of her Healing playhouse….
Handy Hank didn’t understand….But Dolly Dorothy could see it in her eyes….Her sorrow and regret…So she decided to give her some reassurance. She hugged Nurse Ruby and said, “We won’t let him down….we’re gonna get the Sparks of Wonder and make him proud….”
Nurse Ruby sighed with gentle elation as she returned the hug.
“Thank you…Comrade Dorothy….” As they separated. She suddenly remembered and had to inquire. “Didn’t you have a Doctor playset a long time ago?”
“One back in the 90’s, Why?”
“Doesn’t that mean you have access to Healing through Wonder?”
The Realization hit Dorothy like a ton of plastic colorful building blocks. She closed her eyes and concentrated….thought about her brief moments as a doctor and how many girls said they wanted to be a doctor just like her….she misses those days….But suddenly, a Doctor cap and stethoscope made out of Wonder appeared respectively on her head and around her neck…..But it continued to fade in and out of thin air. Nurse Ruby quickly examined and ran her diagnosis.
“Seems like the little ones hardly remember you could be doctor….That means your healing isn’t as strong. Use it wisely and keep each other safe….” She warned as she finally gave them the green light to enter the store's back rooms.
As Handyman Hank and Dolly Dorothy exited Nurse Ruby began walking down the aisle of the store, all the toys on all shelves began to cheer them on as they made it to the backroom door. Dolly Dorothy pulls out the key from her hood and hands it to Hank to do the honors. He takes the key and magnetically straps himself to the door and crab walks his way up to the nob. He takes a deep breath and unlocks and opens the door. Only cracking it open for a brief moment. Dollo Dorothy runs in and Hank jumps down and follows suit. Doughboy Jack’s troops quickly reacted and worked together to close the door behind them.
When the door finally shut behind them….the sounds of the positive cheers from fellow toys were suddenly replaced with the ghostly hum of the air conditioner, the only source of light in the backroom was nothing but the faded fluorescent lights. Handy Hank couldn’t help but notice how there were shelves similar to those outside in the main shop. But instead of inviting and colorful, it was dark, dreary, and admittedly….dusty. The toys out on display in the main aisles were nowhere to be seen and instead packed away in tightly taped boxes.
“Creepy isn’t it?.... I’ve only been here once.” Dolly Dorothy admitted as she continued to walk forward. Handy Hank kept his hand on his wrench as he too continued to walk forward.
“C-Can I ask…why is this place so dangerous?” Handy Hank inquired as he looked around.
“It’s the place where Mr. Wonder holds all of the Recalled for defective toys. If a toy gets recalled…chances are one of them harmed a child….and those children became bitter and anger-filled and passed it down to their toys…Wonder can become something else entirely…Scorn. Scorn doesn’t give toys the power to create like what you've been doing so far, all it does is create misery and despair….”
“So…back here is like…some kind of prison?” He asked.
“You…could say that. Mr. Wonder only waits until the end of the year to turn in all the recalled toys. This year there were hardly any so we should be lucky about that….But the Rat King is gonna be our biggest hurdle…”
Handy Hank then remembered that name Doughboy Jack dropped….
“I know what you’re about to ask, He’s the recalled toy that’s been back here the longest. He’s supposed to be a massive bean bag chair of some kind that came from a cartoon show that got canceled after one year.”
As Dolly Dorothy continued her tale…Handyman Hank noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. As if something was moving behind all the shelves of the backroom….could it be all in his head?
“Umm…Dorothy….How big is this Rat King?” he asked as he continued to see the figure moving between the shelves behind the boxes.
“I’m not sure. Big enough to let a kid lie on top of him? He also must be pretty round too to let that happen beca-”
All of a sudden a puffy four-fingered cartoon rat arm popped out between the boxes on the shelves and tried to take a swipe at Dorothy. This made her jump in fear and swiftly back away from the shelves!
The arm still tried to reach and grab for them both. But they were both out of its reach. The arm retracted…and in the crevice, it came out of…they both saw a glowing purple eye.
“More…..More Filling! I NEEDS IT! I NEEDS TO BE SOFTER!”!” The Rat King shouted as it began to claw its way around the shelves to get towards them both! His giant bean bag-filled body made a loud dragging sound as he pulled himself across the floor. As he appeared at the other end of the hallway his face was revealed to both Hank and Dorothy.
A Cartoonish rat face that looked like it was originally supposed to be friendly, but now due to constant wear and tear by the children who were supposed to be simply lying on him. Is now adorned with multiple stitch marks, ripped by the children and sewn up by Mr. Wonder by the end of the day… His plastic cartoon eyes were sunken in and his mouth which used to have a permanent smile, was now permanently damaged by rowdy children to make it appear that his jaw was broken and hanging open.
Seeing the Rat King’s horrific sight. Both Hank and Dorothy were paralyzed with fear for a few moments. Handyman Hank looked into the Rat King's eyes as he charged toward him…The glowing purple he could see and feel it. The Aggression and negativity that all the children had given him for who knows how long…..he immediately understood….This was the opposite of Wonder….This was Scorn!
Right when the Rat King was about to place his paws on them both. Dolly Dorothy grabbed Handyman Hank by the arm and channeled Wonder into her feet. She jumped up high, almost three feet into the air and they both grabbed onto a shelf full of small trinket toys. Rat king grabbed the shelf by his base and began to shake it hard!
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“NEEDS MORE! NEEDS MORE! MORE FILLING! MORE FILLING! MORE SOFTNESS!”
Hank and Dorothy grabbed a hold of one of the boxes to still their footing.
“How the heck are we supposed to fight that!? Handy Hank exclaimed as he looked down.
“How the hell should I know!? This is a first for me too!” Dolly Dorothy replied as one hard shake from the Rat King forced her to let go of the box. Handy Hank quickly reacted fast and grabbed Dorothy's hand to pull her back! But in the process, her quiver full of sharpened colored pencils slipped off her back and fell to the Rat King below! He promptly caught them in his mouth to swallow them!
“Damn it! Those took me all morning to-” Her exclamation of annoyance was interrupted when she saw him begin to gag and groan in pain….one of his sewn-up seams popped open and the foam beans began to pour out as well as a various assortment of other items from plastic bricks, wooden longs, jigsaw puzzle pieces and even an assortment of board game pieces! But the first thing that popped out of the seam was her quiver of sharpened colored pencils! They all came out facing the sharp side!
Witnessing this, Dolly Dorothy immediately had an idea!
She had to inquire “Hank! Do you have any tools that cut?”
“Just one!” Hank answered as he understood what she was going for! He raised his other hand high and with his Wonder, appeared his Buzzsaw accessory!
Dolly Dorothy pulls out her precision knife and commands Hank “Let Go!”
Hank lets go and they both begin to fall from the shelf. Dolly Dorothy wields her blade with two hands ready to plunge while Handy Hank’s buzzsaw roars to life with the power of Wonder! The Rat King tries to grab at both of them! But they slice right into his arms! Exposing even more of his inner foam beans! The Rat King lets out a bellowing hiss in pain and rage as he tries to cover the slash marks. In his rage, he used his rat tail to whip at them both. Dolly Dorothy was quick to jump and dodge, but Handy Hank was not. He was whipped right into a metal trash can so hard it left a dent on the side!
“HANK!” Dorothy shouted in alarm and worry. But she couldn’t even check if he was alright because the Rat King got ahold of her in her distraction. His giant cartoon cat hands squeezed on Dolly Dorothy’s slim plastic frame. She tried to struggle and stab him once again, but his grip was too tight.
“MORE FILLING! MORE SOFTNESS NOW MINE!” The Rat King’s jaw opened up even wider than normal and plunged Dolly Dorothy into his mouth….followed by a swallow.
“NO!” Handy Hank cried as readied his own Buzzsaw once again! This time cranking it up to the fastest RPM! The Rat King saw Hank and gave a sickeningly gleeful smile!
“MORE FILLING! MORE FILLING! MOR-.......RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHSSSSSSSSSS!” The Rat king once again let out another hiss as his beanbag belly began to move around…as if something was moving around! Handyman Hank was confused seeing this sight….but his confusion quickly vanished as a familiar-looking precision blade sliced right out of the Rat King’s belly and sliced clean across! ALL of his foam beans spilled out across the floor as the Rat King died on the spot…letting out one last Wimper.
“Softness……must….be….softer…..”
Handy Hank stood there in shock as the Scorn left the Rat King’s eyes. But not a moment later….Dolly Dorothy emerged out of the massive pile of foam beans….her fluffy, curly chestnut brown hair abstracting her vision….she quickly blew it out of her face…and started to shake off all the foam beans static clinging to her pantsuit.
“Dorothy!” Hank shouted as he ran towards her….while narrowly avoiding the foam beans. “Are you Okay!? He worriedly asked.
“I just got swallowed by a beanbag chair and I had to cut my way out from the inside…..HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL!?” She sarcastically asked.
“....Okay dumb question. I get it….” He sheepishly replied.
“That aside, Silver lining….The Rat King is dead. There hasn’t been peace in the backroom since the Summer of 91’.” Dolly said as she reminisced for a few seconds.
But unexpectedly, they both saw a rustle in the foam beans…. Raising their weapons ready for a fight….but emerging from the foam beans were….toy foot soldiers from Doughboy Jack’s Core!
One of them took a deep breath and searched around brandishing his plastic gun in a panic.
“WHERE AM I!? WHAT YEAR IS IT?! IS JACK GOVERNOR?!” Hank and Dorothy quickly lowered their weapons and started helping the other toy soldiers out of the massive pile of foam beans.
The Soldier looked and saw the now deceased Rat King and exclaimed “Well I’ll be damned…..you killed the Rat King! Me and my Platoon Mates have been in that monster’s belly since Christmas of ‘06!”
As Handyman Hank pulled a Heavy Gunman soldier out of the foam beans. He had to ask. “I thought Jack said this place was off limits….why are you all back here?”
“That’s Classified.” He sternly said.
Dolly Dorothy rolled her eyes cleared her throat and stood up straight.. “PRIVATE! Are you ignoring a direct question from a soldier of Corporal Dorothy’s Platoon!?”
The Soldier stammered at hearing the name….Corporal Dorothy.
“THE Corporal Dorothy ....The Corporal who conquered Doughboy Jack’s Gut Check challenge in less than two minutes?!
“The the same! Now answer My Private’s question or face corporal punishment!” She demanded crossing her arms.
The slider took the salute position and said “We are here on direct orders from Doughboy Jack himself to find and Secure the Spark of Wonder in the storeroom! After Many Years of searching every nook and cranny, we have determined it can only be located in one place!”
“And where is that?” Dolly Dorothy asked. Both she and Hank leaning in for the answer.
The soldier points upward towards Mr. Wonder’s Office desk at the other end of the storeroom.
“We have determined that the Spark of Wonder is located in the safe on his desk.”
“At ease, Soldier. I will make sure you and your Platoonmates will be highly commended for your bravery and sacrifice! Now, wait for us at the bottom of the desk ready to capture and transport the Spark of Wonder upon location!”
“MA’AM YES, MA’AM!” The Soldier said as he began to order all his platoon mates to fall in line.
Hank and Dorothy began to walk to the other end of the storeroom…they both began to feel something…comforting….something….safe….
Hank climbed up on top of the chair of the office desk and gave Dorothy a hand to come up too…as they made it to the top of the desk. They looked around at the desk. Tax papers, a fat food bag with the logo of ‘Burger Bettys’ printed on the side. They can smell that whatever was in that bag was half eaten, even a few catalogs of various toys.
One thing caught Dolly Dorothy’s eye. It was a framed photo of a slightly Younger Mr. Wonder, his grown adult son, and his baby grandson. Dolly Dorothy gave a warm smile at this picture….she sometimes forgets that Mr. Wonder was young once too….
But she quickly focused again as Handyman Hank walked towards the small safe in the corner of the desk. It was a PIN lock….and he honestly had to think…how are they gonna open it?!
Dolly Dorothy then sees a sticky note stuck to the side of the desk, written on it in marker ink.
‘New Code: 111615’
Handy Hank was slightly confused “Why would Mr.Wonder…..-”
“Something tells me this is his Grandson’s birthday….He’s gonna be 9 this year…”
Dorothy quickly punches in the code and they both hear an unlocking noise followed by two beeping sounds….Hank Turns the knob and pulls the safe open….What they saw was an assortment of items. A small gold bar, a bag of coins, and even some important documents….But the thing that caught their eye was a Multicolored Sphere the size of a softball, the sphere had six colored sides that were separated by ridges that could be twisted to form various color mixes….The Light green aura of wonder was completely radiating off of it…It was beautiful.
“I heard about these…..A Chroma Sphere….There used to be an old rumor that if you solved it and got all the colors on their sides you would get a wish! Mr. Wonder solved it after all!.... Wait! That Means Mr. Wonder was one of those kids from the Founder’s story!”
Handyman Hank reached out and picked it up…..He could feel the Power of Wonder flow through him…and for a brief few seconds….He saw a vision…..He saw…someone's memories.
…………………………………………………..
A memory of the Puzzleman as a child twisting and pulling the same Chroma Sphere, after hundreds of many trials and errors. He finally solved it!
A Second Memory of the Puzzleman, now slightly older drawing in a notebook drawing designs for his various puzzles.
A Third memory of the now teenager Puzzleman. Building his first puzzle box and daring all his friends to solve it….they were all stumped. He gave one small hint and after an Hour and Forty-Five minutes, it was solved!
A Fourth memory of the Puzzleman now as an adult presenting his puzzle boxes to a major toy company he was so nervous his hands were shaking….but the whole group loved the ideas and said children 10-15 will love them!
A Fifth Memory of the Puzzleman using his royalty money to open his toy store…and meeting the love of his life in the process.
A Final Memory of the Puzzleman receiving a Picture of his Grandson in the mail. He looks at the Chroma Sphere one more time and places it in the safe.
“Here’s hoping this little doodad inspires him the same way it inspired me and his father….when he’s ready…”
………………………………………………………………………..
“Hank? Hank! Hank are you alright!?” Dorothy asked as she began to shake Hank. He snaps back into reality and takes a deep breath…..
“The Puzzleman….is Mr. Wonder…..He made Puzzle toys of his own and that’s what helped him make the Toyshop!”
“....Yeah. Every Toy knows that….Except for the part about him being the Puzzleman….that explains a lot.”
“This Sphere toy….it inspired him to make his puzzles…and those puzzle toys became famous….” He said as he leaned on the safe walls between breaths.
“Breathe, Hank! You can tell us all about it tomorrow night! Right now we need to get the Chroma Sphere to a safe place before-”
Everyone hears a muffled alarm sound playing through the Mall’s PA System.
“....-That plays…We need to Hurry! The Mall is gonna open in a few minutes! We need to move! Now!” Dolly Dorothy commanded as she rolled the Chroma Sphere out of the vault and grabbed Hank by the shoulder. The soldier toys pushed the vault shut and locked it.
Dolly Dorothy let Hank go and pushed the Chroma Sphere down the desk and it fell towards all the soldiers who caught it and began to roll it towards the door to the main sale floor.
But something caught Handyman Hank’s eye….he looked at one of the catalogs with a bookmark inside…..this particular catalog was newer than the others and had a more modern look than the others. He opened the catalog to the bookmark page…and he saw…him.
‘The Amazing Handyman Hank 11-Inch poseable action figure. One of Five in the series!’
There was more on the page describing him, but Dolly Dorothy grabbed him and jerked him towards the edge of the desk.
“We gotta move! The guards are gonna do their rounds in a few minutes!”
“Wait! I need to know-” He begged as he was still looking at the catalog, he could no longer make out the words on the page from being far from it now.
“You’ll know tomorrow night! Right now you gotta get back to the storefront!’ She exclaimed as they both ran back to the main store.
Dorothy threw Hank back up on his display and said “Get back into your pose and do not move until closing time! I’ll come to see you afterward!”
Dolly Dorothy channeled wonder into her feet again…and this time jumped into a hole in the ceiling panels….
Handy Hank sighed in sadness as he began to get into position again. As he resumed his stillness…he couldn't help but think….
‘One of Five….what does that mean?’