The store known as ‘Inkwell’s Bookstore’ was completely muted with only the chilling hum of the store’s AC unit. This hour of silence is very much needed when the land inside the Bookstore awakens. But sadly, in this hour of silence…anything can break in….

Busting through one of the AC vents…was an 11-inch tall figure cloaked in Pixelated and Polygonal darkness. Their wide frame made it a tight squeeze as they pushed themselves through the vent hole…once they had finally broken free. They landed hard on the ground with their steel toe-booted feet. They looked around ready to fight whomever they had woken up with that loud entrance….but no…all the books on the shelves were still closed.

Once they were sure they were still incognito….they walked to the far back of the bookstore to the children’s section. Like any other children's section of any bookstore there were crayons and printed-out coloring pages on tables, a few colorful construction paper cutouts taped to the wall, and even a shag rug of a cartoonish town adorned the hardwood floor, and stacks on stacks of children's books…Those too were thankfully unopened. None of these was their target….their target was hidden behind the puppet theater in the corner of the Kid’s Section…. They walked behind the curtain of the theater and saw a cartoon toy animatronic lamb wearing the visage of an old lady. The Shadowy figure was not interested in the old animatronic toy…but the old Audio Tape next to her….

The Figure gave a big, crooked, square toothy smile as they picked up the tape and quietly took their leave….as soon as they were out of earshot…they let out a laugh of twisted glee.

‘Dah-Hahahahahaha!’

…………………………………………………….

As Hank, Dorothy and now Mr. Honeybun began speeding across the halls of Ol’ Betsy. Mr. Honeybun riding and holding on to the very back of the electric toy car! He was over the moon feeling the wind in his fur at a maximum of 7 Miles per hour!

“WEEEEEEEE-HAHAHAHAAA!” Mr.Honeybun excitedly yelled as he looked around. He’s seeing the mall for the first time again in over 10 years! Seeing all the new stores and equally familiar sights was so exciting….but his smile slowly fell as they began to pass many more advertising posters for the X-Station Unlimited.

“Miss Dorothy…what are all these posters for? They look like the posters Dorothy’s older brother hung up in his room….” He asked a little weary…they gave a bit of intimidation to Mr. Honeybun’s childlike mind.

“That’s the bad guy's big bad plan…the big bad console is gonna be very bad for everyone in the mall. The worst case is that all the shops in the mall close down forever!” Dorothy explained, doing her best for Mr. Honeybun to understand. As soon as they drove towards a corner, Dorothy turned Ol’Betsy hard to meet the corner.

“Oh no! If there are no stores, that means Abby won’t come back!” the teddy bear gasped as he let go of the bar…but quickly grabbed hold again as he started to lose his balance. Hank and Dorothy remained silent at Mr. Honeybun’s realization, unsure if the two could realistically correlate.

As soon as they were close, Dorothy gave the signal to hit the breaks…Hank quickly locked down his monkey wrench to the brakes…and there they stopped right in front of the aforementioned bookstore… A very inviting bookstore with already a massive abundance of bookshelves spanning all forms of genres.

But they noticed that the shudders were down…and all the books were still closed….

“That’s not right….their downtime was supposed to be hours ago….” Dorothy mumbled to herself….as she climbed out of Ol’ Betsy. Hank and Mr. Honeybun followed suit. When the trio of toys walked to the shudders of the store they could feel the eerie quiet from the store.

Mr. Honeybun looked up and gasped in joy. “Ooh! Look!” The teddy bear points upwards to a tiny switch on the side of the header box of the shudders. “That switch opens up the shudders!”

Dolly Dorothy raised an eyebrow and just had to ask. “Why would they put a switch on the outside of the store these shudders are supposed to protect?! That's such a stupid design!”

“It’s for emergencies only. You need a special hook to flip it. Mr. Chuck uses it all the time when the Banker lady comes to take all the money to the vault!” Mr. Honeybun replied as he continued to look at the switch.

“Well….how are we supposed to reach it? I can’t even jump that high!” Dorothy confessed as she pondered. But Mr. Honeybun looked at Hank and gave a mischievous grin. Hank looked back at Mr. Honeybun…he didn’t like the look he was giving him. Before Hank could even react, Mr. Honeybun grabbed him straightened him out….and did a quick windup spin and threw Hank like a javelin!

He hit his head on the ceiling and quickly grabbed the small switch as he fell back down…he was now dangling off it.

“Hank! You okay!?” Dorothy hollered in worry.

Hank took a moment to focus his daze and said “Y-yeah….Thank goodness I was wearing a hard hat….” Hank then took another moment to register what Mr. Honeybun had just done. “HEY! Why didn’t you throw Dorothy?! She’s much more lightweight than I am!”

Mr. Honeybun gave a huff of disappointment at Hank’s declaration.

“Mr. Hank…it’s rude to comment on a lady’s weight and it’s rude to bearhandle a lady too!” He stated as he crossed his arms.

Dolly Dorothy was honestly touched. “Aww…what a fluffy little gentleman.” She looks upwards to Hank “You could learn a thing or two!”

Hank gave a grumble in annoyance as he then shifted all his weight to flip the switch…but the switch shifting downward forced Hank to let go causing him to fall! Mr. Honeybun reacted quickly and jumped right under the place where Hank was going to land….and completely cushioned his fall. Making an audible squeak.

Hank gave a defeated sigh and said “.....Thank you Mr. Honeybun….”

Mr. Honeybun gave a quick hug as they both stood up.

As the shudders rose upwards. The trio of toys witnessed an amazing sight as the lights automatically flickered on. At first, they see just the normal bookstore, shelves with books of all different genres from child-friendly to adult-oriented, to self-help books and autobiographies and everything else in between.

But in an instant, All the books on all the shelves opened up and all the pages began to fly out and fly around the bookstore….but they all soon began to fold and crease themselves and began to piece together….to form whole buildings and different constructs all made of paper.

“Woah….”Hank uttered.

“Never gets old….” Dorothy mumbled.

Mr. Honeybun didn’t say a word…he just gasped in amazement with stars in his eyes.

But it wasn’t done yet…certain words and phrases that described the characters in every book began to float right off the pages and began to combine….and with a flash of light…small eight to ten-inch tall paper-thin beings began to appear from the words and phrases. Some look like regular people, others look more fictional and whimsical.

A cartoony-looking humanoid, anthropomorphic dog wearing a striped top hat was walking alongside a woman with a braid holding a crossbow. One comes from a child-friendly book while another comes from a book meant for teens to young adults.

A fully armored, black and white sword-wielding, spikey-haired character emerged from one of the manga books from the manga section….he met a pastel-colored grizzled detective-looking character smoking a cigarette, said character just emerged from a grimdark graphic novel.

Then finally, they see characters from pop-up books constantly fighting for who gets to pop out of the book. Each page of the book is fighting over dominance!

“....Miss Dorothy…what are they? They don’t look like toys like us…” Mr. Honeybun questioned as he looked at a children’s book and saw a cutesy-looking bear eating from a jar of honey emerging from the very pages.

“Hank…Mr. Honeybun, Welcome to Manuscript City, home of the Illustrations ....” Dorothy said with hidden excitement.

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But their amazement was cut short as a whole fleet of paper airplanes descended from the city and quickly unfolded to take the form of a whole slew of knights, soldiers, cowboys, and even a few cavemen illustrations surrounding them. Each aiming their guns, spears, and clubs at them all. Hank and Dorothy quickly raised their arms to show they weren’t gonna be a threat…Mr. Honeybun raised his arms a second later.

“HALT! State thy business in raising our defensive shielding!” demanded one of the Knight illustrations.

Hank put on the best confident front he could, standing up straight, cleared his throat, and stated “We are here on behalf of the Founder! We seek the Spark of Wonder you look after!”

The slew of guardsmen all raised their weapons once more. Ready to fire, stab, and bludgeon them if any of them made one wrong move.

But The Leader of this Team of guard illustrations stepped forward and squinted at something pinned to Hank’s shirt. The soldier looked closer at the item in question and realized this was Doughboy Jack’s emblem System. He raised his hand to signal his guardsmen to lower their guns, spears, and clubs.

“You all are a part of Doughboy Jack’s Army?” The soldier asked in a deadly serious tone. Hank could tell he was not in a joking mood.

Hank quickly glanced at the emblem on his shirt and said “Y-Yes! Yes, we are! Private First Class Handyman Hank and Seargent Dolly Dorothy!”

All the soldiers gasp in astonishment and all salute in respect. Mr. Honeybun mimicked all of them, even sucking in his bear belly.”

Dorothy cleared her throat and placed her arms behind her back. “At ease gentlemen! As my private stated we are here on official business by the Founder to seek the Spark of Wonder under your Queen’s protection”

“UGH UGH OOOG!” One of the Cavemen grunted.

“W-what do you mean the Queen isn’t taking visitors right now?” Mr. Honeybun asked. Hank and Dorothy both give a glance at the teddy bear, realizing he understood what the Neanderthal guard illustration had said.

“....Maybe it’s better if we show you.” The leading soldier illustration began to lead the trio of toys across Manuscript City. Hank took notice of the range of genres that all the various illustrations in the city.

A couple on a horseback carriage ride, a man and woman wearing similar skin-tight suits running away from a giant worm, a kid with glasses soaring around on a broom, even a strange square-headed statue was repeating the number ‘Forty-two’ for some odd reason.

“You must be new here, huh Toolbelt?” The Leading Soldier illustration asked.

“Well….I did arrive at the Mall last night….do Illustrations also use Wonder to help children?”

“Negatory. We use the power of Wonder to inspire our potential readers. Inspiration is a powerful feeling that can allow people to do various things. The common children’s book can inspire a kid to learn to eat their vegetables or tie their shoes, while an adult-oriented book can inspire someone to do better in their lives or even do something they normally wouldn’t do…Our illustrations never know. We tell our stories and hope for the best.” the Illustration soldier explained as they finally made it to the children’s reading section.

The Children’s reading section was a small area of Inkwell’s bookstore where kids could read, color in coloring books, and play with all the plushies they could want. All while their parents or more accurately older siblings could browse for the books they wanted.

As they walked close to the small tree trunk in the shape of a stage, a small group of preschool-level book illustrations blew tiny trumpets in a grand and elegant fanfare. Then a brightly colored stuffed rabbit came out of the curtains of the tiny theater and declared “PRESENTING! The Floofy, the Tender and Loving, The Narrator Queen Herself: Queen Granny Lamby!”

As the curtains opened, it revealed a one-foot-tall animatronic lamb toy. She was wearing a Blue Maxi skirt and no shoes. Hooved feet exposed at the bottom of her skirt, a cream-white long-sleeve sweater, and her platinum gray hair was styled in the way of a bun…. but on top of her head was an origami paper crown that barely fit the top of her head. Her long skirt lightly dragged across the stage floor as she walked to the edge, each movement made a small machine whirr from inside her mechanics… She had a very inconsolable expression on her face.

She sat down on the stage edge…still retaining the same expression.

“......” She silently looked at the trio of toys in front of her. She bowed her head in greeting.

Hank, Dorothy, and Mr. Honeybun bowed to her royal self. But Mr. Honeybun Noticed something was upsetting her.

“Miss Queenie….Can I ask what’s wrong?” Mr. Honeybun asked. Hank and Dorothy tried to shush the teddy bear for speaking out of turn. But it was too late.

“How DARE you speak out of turn in the presence of the Queen! You will be punished for this-” Rainbow Bunny stopped his rant when Granny Lamby raised her hooved hand to tell him to cease his prattling….and instead tell him what was wrong.

The Rainbow Bunny quickly bowed and said “A Hundred pardons my Queen…” He turned to the trio and said “If you must know, the Queen’s voice….has been stolen by an Arcadian. We have been on lockdown trying to track down the culprit and make sure nothing else went missing!” Granny Lamby looked like she was ready to cry….the trio knew this must have taken a heavy toll on her.

“Her…voice?” Dorothy inquired, looking visibly confused.

“Precisely…the same cassette tape that allows her to speak contains all of her very memories….You say you want the Spark of Wonder. But only our Dear queen knows of its location within this store’s walls…and her memory of where it is is on it!” Rainbow Bunny exclaimed.

“That Arcadian’s gotta be using it to find out where it is!” Hank declared.

“Yeah….it’s kind of obvious.” Dorothy deadpanned.

Mr. Honeybun took a moment to think about this predicament….his face lit up as an idea flashed in his cotton-filled head.

“Is there a para-meter in the store’s entrance?” He asked Rainbow Bunny.

“....You mean a perimeter? If so, yes.” Rainbow Bunny answered. Confused at the sudden random question.

“Did any of the other paper guards say anyone left when we came in?” The teddy bear continued to question.

One of the soldier illustrations stepped forward and answered “NEGA-TORY!”

Mr.Honeybun took a moment to deduce these factoids here and there. But then he came to the realization. “Then that means….the bad guy who took Miss Queen’s Voice is still here!”

All the surrounding guards and stuffed animals began to murmur between one another at Mr.Honeybun’s conclusion…the guards slowly began to realize he was right.

Hank and Dorothy looked at each other, wholeheartedly surprised at how well Mr.Honeybun pieces that together.

“How…how did-” Dorothy quietly inquired.

“Mr. Chuck does this same thing every time a momma or poppa loses their child. He always finds the lost child because he thinks smartly!” The teddy bear said with pride as he recalled all the times that Chuck had done this.

Handyman Hank turned to Queen Lamby once more and “Well…Your majesty…If it would please the court…if the entire city is covered already and searching…what place haven’t you looked yet?”

Queen Lamby thought about it for a moment…and raised both her hooved hands.

“Two Words?” Hand asked.

Queen Lamby happily nodded. They then started doing a sipping hand motion, followed by a perk-up face.

Dorothy and Mr. Honeybun began jumping in to guess what she was saying.

“Drink?...Beverage?.....Juice?”, Mr. Honeybun enthusiastically guessed. But then realized she was drinking in a specific way! “...Coffee!”

Queen Lamby happily nodded once more….Then proceeded to start moving her hooved hands in a square motion. Now it was Dodothy’s turn.

“Box?….square?….cube?…..present?”, Dorothy’s guesses were way off…but then saw Granny Lamby point to an empty part of the children’s section….but then it was made clear! “Corner! The Caffeine Corner on the other end of Inkwell’s Bookstore!”

Queen Lamby clapped her hooved hands together and happily tapped her feet! They got it right! The trio high-fived one another in celebration of solving her game of charades.

“Wait…why didn’t you check there yet?” Mr. Honeybun inquired, cocking his head slightly to the right in confusion.

One of the knight illustrations stepped forward to answer.

“We as illustrations come from paper! If we touch the wet scoundrel known as water! We cease to be! The Corner which serves caffeine is the only place in the store that serves any kind of liquid!”

The Toy trio then took notice… it was kind of obvious in hindsight. “Oh…that makes sense….But not to worry your Wollyness! We will get your voice back!” Mr. Honeybun declared with a puffed-out chest.

Queen Lamby waved her hooved hand…signaling all of her illustration guards to let them go, for they have her blessing!

The Handyman, The Dolly, and the Teddy Bear looked at each other and agreed….the thief couldn’t be far…so now that they knew where they could be…they couldn’t stand there and let the queen be silent.

……………………………………………………………..

The figure stood behind the counter of the coffee shop….and knew they didn’t have much time until they realized he hadn't left the Bookstore just yet….so they needed to give them a distraction….then they remembered an item given to them by the Overlords themselves….they reached into their glitchy and polygonal darkness, and pulled out a dark grey, old school handheld console device…..a Redtendo Joyboy!

The figure then inputs the secret button code to summon them forth!

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, SELECT, START!

The Joyboy’s screen started to glitch out for a moment…but the 8-Bit beasts started to come forth! The Figure let out yet another hardy laugh!

‘Dah-Hahahahahaha! Handyman Hank…you are a deadman!’