Babes in Toyland 2: Barnaby’s Revenge!

[Tenchi Masaki]

Just then, however, two men, one in a people suit and the other wearing a green suit, introduced themselves to the group. They told them they were government representatives. Carson taking their card, said, “It says Emerald Federal Insurance. I am quite sure there isn’t a branch called that.” In a quick counter, the man in purple casually emphasized as he said, “We. Are. Government. Adjacent. And let me tell you, this place is a total hazard zone! No place for children obviously but worry not you lot! Though safety standards are lax to say the least; we’re here to put things right as a feast! Here’s my badge don’t miss it now.” Of course, they couldn’t help but miss it as he flashed it far too quickly for anyone to get a good look at it.

The man in green whispered to the man in purple as he said, “Theodore, we gotta find the fifth dastardly before Bagura gets upset.” Theodore said in a hush, “I know that, you idiot, why do you think we’re here? We’re following the bomb crumbs.” Walter, confused, said, “Do you mean bread crumbs or actual bomb crumbs?” Theodore tipped his hat and bid adieu to the investigators as he had the previous owners of destroyed properties in the area. He then pulled Walter back to their car to continue their search. With his warehouse a burnt-out ruin, Casey, reading over the information given, felt he had no choice but to go with the government's plan to compensate him by selling the land. In a professional tone, Carson said, “Mr. Hughes, as you legal counsel I would advise against any hasty decisions concerning your business or deeds. If what they said is true however you can consider their offer at a later time. Preferably after the trial.”

While Casey started saying how easy that was but much harder to do, Apollo and Nancy worked out a plan to stay in touch. For professional reasons, of course, but maybe they could schedule regular meetings at tearooms, cafes, restaurants, and movie theaters, and then an awkward dinner at Nancy’s house. Apollo trying to hide his nervousness through a broad smile and closed eyes, said, “Hahaha! While it would be nice to have Justice in your home, I already met your dad, he’s right over there.” Nancy turned her head slightly and said, “Oh but not the special kind of meeting mister. You’ll love our housekeeper Helen’s pot roast.” Jenny couldn’t believe they were making long-term plans and name puns. That is until she quickly realized they would all work together for the foreseeable future. Jenny crossed her arms and sulked as she knew the two were basically cheating. Since they were working together on a case, they could set up dates knowing they would review case info as an excuse. The Wright Anything Agency would be handling the case defense of Casey Hughes in court. At the same time, Nancy gathered evidence in the field. Jenny felt it was time to play her trump card and inform them of her ACME Academy status.

Apollo’s mission was blushingly clear: He was to successfully assemble evidence to figure out who the culprit was. This required him to meet with Nancy at various “Date-points” to exchange information they had collected at the different crime scenes. Then once they accomplished their mission, the big dinner date would ensue at Nancy’s house, where her father, Carson Drew, would turn from ally to adversary. Jenny tugged on both of them to get them to pay attention to her and said, “Alright you two seem trustworthy enough to tell this to so listen up. Im from the illustrious ACME Academy and I’d be happy to have you accompany me on this case. If you follow my lead you just might learn something too.”

Nancy was happy to hear that, as she had been recently recruited to ACME’s ranks. She said, “That’s great Jenny! I’ve been hoping to have a protégé! Now I just need to review teacher student regulations.” Before Jenny could protest, Phoenix came over to Apollo and Nancy, giving them both ACME Hobonichi Techo Evidence Planners. Jenny’s eyes widened in disbelief; only field agents got those, while students got the educational version. Jenny said, “Hey! Those are Class-C Evidence planners! You cant get those unless your ACME field agents!” Phoenix revealed to Jenny that he was an ACME agent Class-A in criminalistics. He said, “Apollo joining the Wright Anything Agency made him an ACME agent Class-B after his probationary period was satisfied. Carson is like me, Class-A but prefers to work alone unless called upon like now. Nancy was given membership status Class-B as a result of her exemplary work as an amateur detective with multiple references high-profileofile individuals expressing their approval. The new way involved the academy whereas students such as yourself receive Jr. Detective status. Through proper training and good grades I believe you’ll be given Class-C detective status one day I’m sure Ms. Leclue.”

Jenny felt like passing out at this point; it was bad enough to have Nancy outrank her, but all of them did. She was a part of the new recruitment methods employed by ACME, and they got to be enlisted by the old way, skipping school performance standards entirely. Their work, professional or amateur in the field, puts them in consideration for recruitment. Jenny’s case-solving got her a gold star on the bulletin board at the academy. In short, Jenny felt it wasn’t fair, but in reality, it was common sense. Like Jenny, people under 16 years of age were not allowed to pursue dangerous criminals. Still, Apollo and Nancy were old enough to begin interning at legal and detective offices and gaining experience in the field.

Upon opening their planners, they saw loading screens signaling were syncing together; then, mugshots of a VILE thief named Laverna Heist appeared. Her dossier laid out her crimes as a voice started playing from their planners. It said, “Greetings gumshoes two! Im Lizzi the latest in ACME AI messenger technology and I’m here to tell you this felon is feisty! Roads used to be safe but not anymore as that kleptomaniac pilfered them one by one. She’s focusing on dangerous roads around the globe that are the only means of transport in their respective areas. The last place she was seen however was Talladega Raceway laughing and lapping it up as she drove her car Black Magic round and round. Your mission is simple. Return the rules to the road, and send Laverna to get her kicks in Prison 66! Godspeed gumshoes!”

Jenny fell to her hands and knees, witnessing this level of cool unfold before her. They were getting instant crime updates and logging clues, physical and digital, in their new planners while cross-referencing with the grownups and their planners. Jenny, her hand shaking, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her Jr. Detective Student Planner in shame. She felt if only she were better, then she would be on their level But as she read her assignments, she saw a syncing prompt from Nancy and “Yes” or “No” buttons. Jenny figured Nancy couldn’t be that bad if she was nice enough to be her mentor. She rose to her feet, shook Nancy’s hand, and said, “It will be an honor to work with you, Ms. Nancy.” The planner messenger said, “Stop beating around the bush and formally introduce yourselves already!” Nancy did a respective bow as she said, “Greetings Jenny, I am Nancy Drew.” Jenny, imitating Nancy, said, “Its nice to meet you Nancy,; I’mJenny Leclue Detectivu.”

Once formal introductions were done, the planners brought them up to speed on a search and rescue alert. After highlighting it, they read the details and, without asking each other, knew this would also be a part of their job. Nancy said, “it says “confidential mission” wouldn’t we want to let as many people know as possible? Are the missing persons special in some way? It says they are digital denizens does that mean they are computer programmers? No it must be something else.” Carson explained that it meant they were from cyberspace. Nancy and Apollo then understood why Zack and Ivy were on hiatus from the Laverna case. They were directly called on to help look for the lost until they were found.

Luckily Home 01 was involved, and they posted a message. It said all you need to do is report the general location you find any missing persons via any compatible contact technology. They would be retrieved as soon as possible and sent to Home 01 for transport to their families in Toyland. They saw numbers representing the number of missing persons and how many had been found. As they readied for the case, they kept an eye out for them as they traveled. Nancy and Jenny perused the shopping district looking for leads and heels. Particularly the electronics district, caught their attention. The clues at the crime scenes pointed to chemical explosives; however, the likelihood of a timer or remote detonator was high. Jenny, however, preferred the video game areas, but she heard many complaints from the gamers.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

They said the games they were playing were broken or missing things that should be there. They said items in the game before when they played weren’t any more like they were taken out. Retro gamers began posting secret content online about a Bomberman series game to top things off. They claimed that a strange character was driving around in a car randomly. The game shop owner told Nancy they could see for themselves by playing the game in question. Nancy decided it was time for a bit of cyberwarfare as she and Jenny inserted the game cartridge and started to play. As gamers had reported, no remote bomb items appeared in the game. Then they reached the stage where a car was driving around. Nancy realized it must be Laverna who had gone into cyberspace to steal game items.

She contacted Anya at HQ and had her verify Laverna’s location. Anya then told them more direct intervention was needed as she accessed the game through the wireless router to hack into it. She said, “I gained access now I’ll just get her attention.” She sent Laverna a message, and Drusera, who was kind enough to read it, said, “Laverna is a Carmen wannabe. Nyah Nyah!” Laverna, hearing this screeched to a stop and said, “What!? Im here playing ACME for fools to prove I know what I’m doing, and that makes me a wannabe!?” Laverna was frustrated at not finding the item she wanted or a suitable replacement. Nancy, however, was quite happy to see the suspect onscreen as Anya suddenly realized Laverna had been selected as a potential volunteer by Home 01. Trusting her hunch, she called Drusera, who complied with the request since it was for Laverna’s own good.

Drusera activated the device that got Laverna into this pixelated mess in the first place. Suddenly, the tv screen glowed as Laverna drove through The portal unexpectedly and onto the store floor. Jenny said, “Freeze you felon! Your under arrest!” Laverna casually lowered her window and looked at the kid giving orders. Laverna adjusting her fingerless gloves, said, “I don’t have time for Charlet and I definitely don’t have time for you.” The situation was grim, however, as the double doors into and out of the store weren’t wide enough to drive through. Nancy said, “Give up Laverna your under arrest!” Laverna noticing who was giving orders suddenly lost her composure and started uncontrollably screaming as she said, “Aaahhh! Its Nancy Drew! Oh my god! I ccan'tbelieve I’m meeting you in person! This is amazing!”

As Laverna blinked from place to place around Nancy, Jenny figured that the video game energy hadn’t entirely dissipated yet. This was unfortunate as Nancy wasn’t expecting this response as she said, “Um… I don’t think this is how your supposed to be acting. Can I put these cuffs on please?” Laverna blinking back into her car seat, said, “Nope. Gotta go go go now!” And with that, Laverna drove towards the door as she said, “Time to go on a diet Dru.” Black Magic Nano shifted into its thinner cycle mode, which is quite handy for slipping through tight spaces. Nancy and Jenny raced to her car to begin the chase, but as they neared the door, an explosion occurred in a nearby building! As they ran outside, they saw pink flames billowing from a store and a burnt wreck that used to be Nancy’s car.

As Nancy ran over to try and save her car, Laverna saw a strange girl in an all-pink ensemble consisting of a helmet, dress, gloves, and shoes. She had a gold heart symbol on her helmet, a yellow-orange scarf, and a black belt to accessorize the look. Laverna noticed a remote bomb in her hand and said, “Hey, I’ve been trying to steal that item you know! And all this time it was with you. How rude. All I managed to grab from the game are these… whatever they are and stuffed them into a bag.” The girl turned to Laverna and said, “I’m the Cute Pink Interstellar Star, Pretty Bomber! And these are my remote bombs.” Laverna, happy to compromise, said, “Oh that’s nice I’ll just steal you then.” Pretty Bomber needing a ride anyway, hopped in Laverna’s car after she expanded the cabin to a two-seater, and the two sped off. Nancy, upset, said, “Why can her car do all these things!?”

It was more critical for Nancy and Jenny to stay at the scene and wait for backup. And that backup came running up to them; it just wasn’t who they were expecting. Ruslan was sent in case more cops were needed, and it turned out to be a wise move. Nancy’s planner registered that damages were done to the building, and her car and a replacement were sent over. Usually, a standard C-5 car would do, but Black Magic was a force to be reckoned with. As a result, an extraordinary car arrived, pulling up next to Nancy; the Rally GT 500. Ruslan couldn’t believe his eyes that car was the custom-built Gunsmith Cats Mustang. The car made Tenchi like muscle cars in the first place, and now here it was. Nancy forcing herself from getting overly excited, decided that it would be okay to use this car for the time being.

It was the same year, practically the same shade of blue, and loaded with spy gadgets that would make any detective girl squeal. But the car's arrival was more for helping triangulate and coordinate the search for the missing persons. Using it to drive Laverna to jail would be a bonus, but they would have to catch them first. As the fire department started to combat the blaze, Ruslan greeted the two. Jenny recognizing him, said, “I saw you on tv. You’re Laverna’s boyfriend.” Ruslan nervously said, “No, I’m not! I am Ruslan ACME Detective and bitter rival of Laverna Heist!”

Nancy and Jenny decided three detectives were better than two and hopped in Nancy’s Rally GT and were greeted by the AI. The interior was plush, comfy, and completely relaxed. While running her fingers across the dashboard, the AI spoke. It said, “Hello, I’m Rally! It's nice to meet you, Nancy; I’m sure we’ll catch many crooks together!” Ruslan was at least happy to know he would get to ride in a spy car in this case. But before he could get in, Rally said, “A sack of sad potatoes isn’t riding in my backseat today, I’m afraid. Your job is tailoring Laverna and gathering more clues while Nancy and Jenny pursue them directly. Ruslan, upset, said, “How do I do that without a car?” Rally sighed as Ruslan couldn’t figure it out on his own. Said, “By hoofing it, that’s how. You can’t gather clues while driving in a car; you must go to the Game shop and look for them.” Ruslan went to the game shop while Nancy and Jenny sped off.

They had given him the details in a planner message. As he researched the game, he saw it had a currency called “Bomber Capsules,” and an item called a remote bomb. Ruslan asked gamers for more info on the object and was told a character called Pretty Bomber can use heart-shaped versions that move around after being placed. Ruslan wondered what he was missing and then focused on the Bomber Capsules. They were a form of currency in the game, but it said a store in town was using them for some reason. Ruslan knew he had to head over there… on foot, and as he sent the clues to Nancy, he began walking. He thought, “Here I am wandering these streets; an ACME agent on the lookout for a cute crook. But I’m not here for cute, I’m Ruslan Child. A private eye, a gumshoe the only one standing between this town and VILE’s evil scheme.”

As Ruslan drifted along in dreamland, Nancy drifted around a sharp turn in the road. Trying to gain on Laverna. Meanwhile, Laverna was driving towards Miss Honey's shop, which was unfortunate as she decided to return to bounty hunting after seeing how little money was made. Her student and servant, Kotetsu, was trying to talk her out of it, though. He said, “Madam be reasonable you made a direct conversion where for example “3 Bomb Capsules” equals “3 Dollars”; we can be successful still if we just work harder!” Miss Honey, not in the mood for insolence, said, “…………….. Whaaaaaat!!! I can do what I want! And YOU will do as I say! Everyone bought everything at half price because of that 50% off sale! I didn’t expect all those people to show up like that! Now we’re ruined and I need cash!” Kotetsu pleading his best, said, “Madam we’ve no time bounty hunt the business comes first!” Having already made up her mind, Honey began slapping Kotetsu’s face rapidly and said, “Your credits cancelled!” While submitting to her slaps and wishes, Kotetsu said, “Nooo!!!” Miss Honey said, “Time to bring out my best guns!”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

The two began looking up good bounties to go after and saw one too good to pass up. Honey said, “Wow! This bounty is worth a million Oz coins!… What are Oz coins?” Kotetsu realized they were a foreign currency that actually wasn’t worthless. Honey, however, was upset her world was apparently going through hard economic times. Honey, though focused on the potential profits, read the bounties name, Laverna Heist. She said, “This red menace must be stopped, which is why the reward cant be topped! She thinks she’s the best; but really she’s a pest!” Honey felt the rhyming could use some work, but she decided to capture Laverna was going to make everything okay. Honey and Kotetsu set up a trap outside the store on the road, and Honey felt she would have to wait a bit.

The Black Magic came cruising along mostly because Pretty wanted to shop. Pretty had put on a city pop playlist, and Laverna was hooked. Laverna couldn’t help but sing the chorus to the city pop song, Plastic Love. As she sang, “Dancin’ to the plastic beat, another morning comes!” Laverna, tears streaming down her cheeks, said, “Its true! Me and Ruslan have a plastic love!” Pretty curious about who he was said, “Was he that weird boy that smelled like French fries?” Laverna nodded as she said, “Yup he’s my one and only but it would be nice if he spent more on me instead of ketchup bottles.” As the two laughed at Ruslan’s buying habits, Miss Honey pulled a lever springing the trap. The car fell into a pit they had dug on the road in front of the store. Miss Honey and Kotetsu jumped out of their hiding places as Honey said, “Surrender you crooks are under arrest!”

Unfazed, Laverna throttled up manually, engaged hover mode, and rose out of the hole. Laverna lowered her window and said, “Um, who are you exactly? Oh! And that guy looks like Tenchi’s grandpa sort of.” Honey, not one for chatting with her bounties, said, “None of your business now stop floating like that and give up!” Pretty said, “Hey were here to shop till we drop you dummy! Now stop bothering us.” Honey closed her eyes in annoyance and couldn’t decide what was worse. Being ignored by bounties or customers who were bounties showing up with bagfuls of Bomb Capsules after you lost everything. Laverna set the car down on the ground as Honey and Kotetsu prepared to attack. Honey said, “That is as far as you go! Its gun time!”

Laverna released her ladybug bombs which curled the car in a swarm as Honey fired her gun. The bullets were all blocked as Laverna said, “Presto Chango!” Black Magic turned invisible as magic missiles were fired off, covering everything hit with a mirrored layer. The ladybugs floated up, creating a disco ball effect leading to the lasers firing into it, causing quite the laser light show. Honey and Kotetsu scurried in a panic, trying to dodge the lasers raining down while Black Magic sped off. Angry and slightly toasted, Honey said, “I’ll get you my Pretty! And your little Laverna too!” A cat-and-mouse chase around the town ensued as Honey, and a reluctant Kotetsu refused to stop until Laverna was caught. Which meant hijinks were erupting all over the place.

Ruslan was, of course, too late to see them at Miss Honey’s store, but all he needed was to confirm his suspicions. Ruslan yelled his catchphrase as he said, “Idaho! I knew it!” As he saw the advertisements for items from Bomber man games and their cost in Bomber Capsules. He contacted Nancy, chasing down Laverna as best she could through the town streets. A little occupied with pursuing Laverna and dodging Pretty’s bombs, Nancy took the call. She said, “I’m busy right now spudboy make it fast!” After hearing occasional explosions, Ruslan said, “Laverna and Pretty Bomber headed towards Miss Honey’s shop, and I believe Honey decided to capture them for money.” Upset that Ruslan was giving old news, Nancy said, “Is that all?” Ruslan calmly said, “Oh and could you be careful of the road spikes I placed down? Your coming up to them.”

Nancy and Jenny saw the road spikes in question highlighted on Rally’s windshield. And hit the breaks. Laverna used a sharp turn to avoid them, but that was the real trap, as there was a police roadblock around the corner. Ruslan had already informed the cops of his plan and placed the spikes and trap earlier as he headed toward the store. He knew Laverna’s erratic driving would eventually lead her down the road. Though Ruslan was near the shop, his foresight had paid off. Laverna found herself stuck between a roadblock and a bounty hunter as the police jumped out of their stakeout positions. Nancy and Jenny knew they had underestimated Ruslan’s ability to network and any root system. The first thing he did was contact the police and have them set up lookout points throughout River Heights. Every time Laverna was reported or spotted, it was marked on a map at police HQ and used to predict her next location.

The police ordered Laverna and Pretty to freeze and exit the vehicle. But all Laverna did was release a Please Be Mine onto the ground in protest. This now meant approaching the car was unsafe for law enforcement as they had to deal with disarming the heart-shaped mine. Of course, Honey could care less about dangerous explosives being tossed around, and she and Kotetsu ran toward the car. Suddenly though, Theodore and Walter appeared and informed Pretty her boss wanted to know where she was. Pretty sighed in annoyance as who she hung out with was her business. Walter’s MoM Bots, not caring about blockades, marched through them, knocking them away as they did. One of the cops, shocked, said, “Our barriers! Fallback to secondary defensive barrier positions!” Honey seeing things escalate, said, “Well this is gettin’ pretty crowded I reckon.”

Drusera informed Laverna that the cops had moved out of range. Laverna pushed a button, releasing an electric smoke canister. The area around Black Magic was instantly covered in white smoke, which began conducting electricity coming from Black Magic. The MoM Bots were immediately disabled, and Theodore and Walter had to rely on magic and science to defend themselves. Honey and Kotetsu had learned the hard way to keep a safe distance and were hiding behind some crates. Theodore and Walter appeared unfazed as Walter said, “Ha! You little brat! This is more proof Tenchi’s tech sucks! Observe my Grounder Rod Rk. 2 and tremble! No electric current can hurt me now!” Theodore said, “Magic forcefields trump electricity any day. Master Bagura requests your services Miss Pretty now come with us.”

Pretty entirely uninterested, used the intercom and said, “Not interested, creeps.” Laverna, curious, said, “Is he a pedo or something?” Pretty said, “Only sometimes when he kidnaps Dr. Ein’s daughter Lisa.” As Laverna prepared to reverse out of their dire situation, Drusera informed her of the ongoing search operation again. Laverna rolling her eyes, said, “Fine! Everybody keeps interrupting me anyway! We can look for them as we go stealing along okay?” Honey, overhearing this conversation, thought to herself that they were friendly people after all and started to feel bad about seeing them as nothing more than a payday. She knew the missing persons were scattered about and wanted to use 3% of her profits to help find them. Kotetsu said, “You are truly an angel madam. Anyone else would only devote 1.5%.” As Honey nodded in approval of how great she was, Laverna was experiencing a change from better to worse.

Laverna figured that some magic tricks would take care of the baddies in front of her. But Drusera said, “I’m flattered you think I’m your deus ex machina for every situation. But I’m afraid your carefree usage of my abilities has left the nuclear battery at 30% power. As I’m sure your aware low power mode will engage at 20% meaning no more lasers, magic missiles, or lady bugs will be available. And you have pending messages concerning the search operation from Home 01.” Laverna couldn’t believe the carefree adventure was instantly swamped with rules and protocol. She said, “I don’t have time for any fun right now it seems. I have to take care of these two morons in front of us first though so lets see… 30% power huh? Well I guess these two meanies will see what I still got up my sleeve. Now you see me, now you don’t!”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Laverna demonstrated her experience in this tense situation by selecting a magic trick that was actually quite conservative on power usage. Her remaining magic missiles would be fired off, and temporary cloaking would engage, making it appear that Black Magic was teleporting from place to place. But that wouldn’t be enough to remove the MoM Bots in her way on its own, so Laverna then said, “Tenchi, do something!” Which executed a long-range support request. Instantly hundreds of miles away, weapon trucks and boats in the vicinity targeted hostile forces using Black Magic to get a target lock. At the same time, a weapon satellite also charged an energy beam and fired it down on the MoM Bots blocking their way. Needless to say, Theodore and Walter weren’t about to stick around after this sudden attack. As they detected the missiles coming in, they retreated pretty hastily. Laverna happily said, “Hot diggity dog! Lets burn rubber Dru!”

Drusera said, “Before we do that there is someone outside that wishes to speak with you.” Laverna saw it was Kotetsu on her MFD and asked him what he wanted. Kotetsu presenting a formal letter, said, “My mistress is requesting an alliance to help find the missing persons and would like to join you immediately. And as we are two of the people declared missing, you’ll have found two already.” Laverna wondered why Ruslan couldn’t be more like Kotetsu, but there was an escape to make and an alliance to form. Laverna extending Black Magic to a four-seater, said, “Sure why not? If Luke could pickup a bounty hunter why can’t I?” Drusera informed Laverna that Han was a smuggler causing her to pout as she said, “You know what I mean, now lets go!” Honey and Kotetsu hopped in Black Magic as Laverna peeled rubber and began going in and out of the cloak to evade the remaining MoM Bots.

The police were informed of Laverna’s status as an undercover agent by Home 01. They swore to place barriers wherever she needed them. She suggested they go around any missing persons they located until they could be picked up by Home 01 rescue vehicles. Nancy, however, couldn’t believe what had just happened. She was sure she was supposed to capture Laverna. Still, suddenly the police blocked all law enforcement from entering from their side. The police informed Nancy of the search mission, and Home 01 sent a message clarifying the Laverna issue. It said that Laverna was a lab assistant at Home 01 and, by extension ACME Labs. As a result of her being “in the middle” of ACME and VILE, she was the obvious choice for collaborative efforts between the two organizations. When the situation called for it, charges against Laverna Heist would be suspended until further notice.

Nancy felt this was ridiculous as she said, “Listen Doreen was it? That is the dumbest decision I’ve ever heard! You don’t actually expect me to take this seriously do you?” Doreen then said, “Well yes actually and it seems Tenchi has confirmed something quite interesting as well the passage of time in our world and Toyland is different; but time is passing at the same rate in both our worlds now and we have confirmed its because of Laverna being split between the two. It has brought the passage of time in sync so to speak.” Nancy rested her head back on her seat, trying to take this all in. Laverna was vital to the rescue operation and couldn’t be arrested until after. The one behind the bombings was Pretty Bomber, so that mystery was solved at least. And Honey and Kotetsu were now wanted for bounty hunting without a license but were missing persons too. Nancy taking the wheel and looking forward, smiled as she said, “I was worried this would get too complicated but so far I’m just excited! Lets go get ‘em Rally!” Rally said, “Affirmative Nancy we’ll gather clues and look for the missing persons while Laverna does her part. Ive got reports that Zack and Ivy have found some already as well as Tatiana. Anya is sending out updates as needed to field agents so everyone stays in the loop.”

Jenny couldn’t believe her luck as she messaged Polly and Ann at school. Saying that her mission was going to be so crucial that they’ll have to create Dragonite star stickers since gold and platinum stars won’t be enough. The one out of the loop, however, was Ruslan, as no one contacted him about the case status. This might have been because he wasn’t checking his planner as often as he should have been, but he was busy following leads. The police informed him that Laverna was heading in his general direction. He surmised it was about Miss Honeys' store. He ran over there as fast as he could, hoping he wasn’t too late.

Laverna cruised along, watching the battery power drop to 20% as boost mode ended. She read all the messages sent by Home 01 and better understood the situation at hand. When they arrived at Honey’s shop, they decided what to do next. Kotetsu signaled that a starchy detective was around, prompting the girls to exit the car. Ruslan said, “We meet once again Laverna I hope you don’t plan on running this time.” Laverna sighed as she said, “No you dummy why don’t you find out why for yourself.” Pretty looked straight at Ruslan and winked as she said, “Bang, bang, cutie.” Ruslan felt he was outnumbered, so they were not worried about him. Then the rear window lowered as he saw Kotetsu slowly turning his head and staring at him with eyes that said, “Back off small fry.” Honey felt it would be easier for everyone to tell Ruslan the news or shoot him. Still, she saw everyone was having fun putting him through the fryer. As Ruslan attempted to regain control which he never had, he saw Laverna take out her phone and start reviewing info.

Ruslan, upset, said, “Why does everyone bury their heads in phones all the time! How are we supposed to connect on an emotional level anymore.” Laverna contacted Tenchi to say she was heading for Home 01, but he told her to go to Horseshoe Bay instead. Laverna said, “That was random. May I ask why?” Tenchi told them they were to locate a lost baby there. Laverna said, “Say no more we’re on it.” Ruslan, confused, said, “On what! Another wanted list!?” Ruslan’s phone rang after he placed it on silent. Anya informed him that she had hacked his phone to give vital information. After checking it, he said, “This is awkward.” Kotetsu agreed to manage the store while Miss Honey was out and about with her new friends. Ruslan decided to travel to Toyland to help Jack and Mary by helping the townsfolk.

Laverna, Pretty, and Honey hopped in Black Magic as Laverna highlighted the nearest Weapon Truck on her MFD. Once they rendezvoused, Black Magic would be fully repaired, refueled, and rearmed. Drusera informed them when they were coming up to it as the rear ramp lowered so the car could drive into it. Once inside, Laverna had no intention of leaving, having learned a lesson about fuel conservation. Laverna said, “Now I can play all the movies, video games, and music I want! Hahaha!” Drusera said, “I don’t think these are the choices that lesson was supposed to teach you.” But it couldn’t be helped girl road trips, after all, required fun media options. The weapon truck sped along toward Horseshoe Bay. Their ETA was a few hours courtesy of a few modifications to the weapon trucks to improve travel time, namely, tread deployment and rocket boosters.

Honey found it quite weird that a car was hitching a ride, but she was more concerned with the vehicle itself. And, unable to take it anymore, said, “This car is amazing; where did you buy it!? I can use one when I go bounty hunting.” Laverna smirked as she said, “Sorry Hon, but this car is custom one of a kind but you could buy its stock form Mercedes AMG if you want.” Honey said, “Pass.” on that option, though she did imagine Black Magic in a lovely shade of pink. The trip was uneventful though Laverna realized that she would miss March Day at this rate. And as they came into range of Horseshoe Bay, Laverna opted for a catapult launch. This caused the side panel to open, whereby Black Magic slid to the outside of the truck a few feet above the ground. Next was the car being accelerated forward at high speed by the electromagnetic catapult system. It landed on the road ahead of the weapon truck, which followed a programmed route back to base.

Pretty excited said, “That was so cool! We need to do that again! Let's find this kid quicker than it takes a short fuse to burn!” Honey poked her head between the front seats and said, “So how much is this kid worth anyway Lavie?” As the two looked at her, she said, “Just kidding. Oh! And before I forget here.” Honey gave Laverna and Pretty friendship bracelets she had made. Apparently, Honey treasured friendship more than cash, though she didn’t need the world to know that. As they entered Horseshoe Bay, they saw the bustle of a seaside town in full swing. They learned to find the baby quickly was the utmost priority, but where to start exactly? Well, they needed not wonder for too long as they saw several people headed over in a general direction. Apparently, passersby were saying there was a baby that looked like a cartoon baby on tv, and they had to see for themselves. The girls headed over and saw that it was who they were looking for: Baby Sweet Pea.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Laverna recognized him from pictures Popeye had shown her while sailing with him through the Ribbon Islands. She and the other girls made their way through the crowd and saw the harbor scene unfolding. Crabs were being unloaded, and local fishermen placed them in buckets. At the same time, Laverna picked up Sweet Pea from inside the circle of police on the scene. They were instructed to wait for search and rescue operatives to arrive. Which was not a problem as Sweet Pea was so adorable they just watched him crawl around in a safe area. Having secured him on her back, the three said they had recovered the target. Then they decided to wander around the dock, seeing what they could see. Specifically, the days' catch was hauled in by all the boats. As Sweet Pea got excited as it reminded him of a particular sailor the girls began to sing.



[Crabbuckit]

Took a trip on a bus that I didn't know

Met a girl sellin' drinks at the disco

Said "truth comes back when you let it go"

Seems complicated cause it's really so simple

Walkin' down Yonge Street on a Friday

Can't follow them, gotta do it my way

No fast lane, still on a highway

Movin' in and out, no doubt there's a brighter day



No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

Ah-ahh, check out the crabs in the bucket

It's like flies in a room, scream, writing on walls

Swear this clone been havin' a ball

Claimin' themselves just before last call

Tic-a-tic-a-toc, a-tic-a-tic-a-toc

Clock strikes twelve, clock strikes one

Smokin' gun put these fools on the run

I know it's not that simple, I know it's not that hard



No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

Ah-ahh, check out the crabs in the bucket



It's a conniption fit when the microphone's lit

I take it higher like a bird on a wire, retire the fire

I'll never, cause I'm just moving on up

Choosin' to touch, the unseen, craving the clutch

Damn, if mirrors were created by sand

Then I'm looking in the water for reflections of man

Understand the minds above time when it's empty

Emcee, tragically hip, ahead by a century





No time to get down cause I'm moving up



No time to get down cause I'm moving up



No time to get down cause I'm moving up



Ah-ahh, check out the crabs in the bucket



No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

No time to get down cause I'm moving up

Ah-ahh

Laverna radioed Tenchi to tell him they were coming to Toyland, only for Tenchi to ask Laverna a strange question. Tenchi said, “How long has it been since you got the retrieval mission and now?” Laverna checked her watch and said, “It’s been twelve hours, of course; is your clock broken or something?” Tenchi then said, “I was afraid of that. I need you to come to Toyland as fast as you can.” Laverna realizing this must be about March Day, said, “It’s okay Tenchi I know March Day is important but we can go next year.” Tenchi said, “Ferret its been twelve hours to you, but only twelve minutes have passed here.” Laverna, shocked, said, “I thought time had lined up in both worlds now it’s reversing!?” Tenchi told Laverna Nancy, and Jenny would handle the search efforts in the area; meanwhile, they would go to Home 01 and take the Toyland Express. Laverna knew what that meant and headed back to Black Magic with Pretty and Honey.

Laverna activating four-wheel drive and prepping the Baby-GOV engine, said, “Dru route us to the nearest interstate highway, were going hyper.” Drusera said, “Affirmative unlocking !00% power to boost mode and deactivating the limiter.” All aboard were strapped into their seats while the car drove to the interstate at a top speed of 250mph, and once there, hyper mode engaged. The Black Magic began boosting to 500mph! Travel to Home 01 would only be under 5 hours courtesy of hover mode and boat mode, enabling them to avoid any traffic along the way.

Meanwhile, Nancy had a rendezvous with Apollo, and as she ensured her hair and dress were just right, she reviewed the search status. She and Jenny had found seven missing persons, while Apollo had picked up five, along with info concerning their case. As they each pulled into the valet at Chez Carolyn, Apollo couldn’t help but notice her Mustang and stare. The car was nice, but she was nicer, and as he walked over to her, she deftly took his arm as the cameras flashed. Reporters asked if Ned was yesterday's news and that the rumors must be true; Nancy loves “Justice” more than anything. Nancy played coy as laughs broke out, and Apollo said he was the one usually making the name puns. Most people there had come to see Nancy once they learned she would be arriving tonight so they could get an autograph, hopefully. Nancy did her best to sign photos of her as her fans told her how happy they were she got into ACME. Apollo was happiest of all; apparently, he had researched Nancy and seen how many cases she had solved up till now.

It went without saying that he preferred a girl who could keep up with him, and Nancy planned on keeping him on his toes. After signing autographs, they headed inside and were escorted to their table. As they wined and dined over mocktails, steak, and lobster, they caught up on each other’s progress. Apollo said, “I had uncovered a company called Emerald Empire Corporation that was pulling the strings of companies with emerald in their name in the area. I was hoping for more smoke and mirrors to be honest.” Nancy, while twirling pasta, said, “Maybe that’s the diversion, we know Emerald Federal Insurance is trying to get victims to sell their properties for cash. I think that’s a cold trail they want people to follow.” Understanding her logic, Apollo said, “That’s possible the bombings were random and caused by Pretty who isn’t working with them. They must have been using shady insurance salesmen shtick as a cover to track her around town.” Nancy excitedly said, “Exactly! They were popping up everywhere one of her bombs went off, but now they’re nowhere to be seen.” Apollo said, “Mr. Hughes case is pretty open and shut at this point, but we still have to get those two charlatans to answer for their crimes.”

The dinner was delightful, as were the visits to the coffee house they planned to visit next time. During their investigations, the two had been finding missing persons and had continued alerting authorities to their whereabouts. Zack and Ivy had reported over 60% had been found so far, and Laverna had picked up one in Horseshoe Bay to personally bring back to Toyland. Jenny was curious about the time dilation going on. From what she heard, Toyland's time was supposed to be slower than normal. But her planner showed the passage of time had then synchronized. Still, now it was reversing, and Jenny suddenly realized the danger. If time passed in Toyland faster than normal, the missing persons on earth would be left behind as their family and friends age. At the rate things were going, there wasn’t enough time to rescue them before that began. But Laverna’s arrival in Toyland should rebalance the time flows, or so she hoped.

Laverna felt this trip was not as luxurious as the first time as she and Ruslan were in the private car of Jack and Mary. Now they were in the baggage car to be deployed as soon as possible. Honey saw a yellow bag with a black X’s and O’s pattern occasionally bumping against the window. Curiously she said, “Hey what’s with this bag anyway?” Laverna said, “That’s Felix’s magic bag it only works for him.” Honey, disappointed, said, “Aww, I was going to use it to print money. Too bad.” Pretty said, “Wow you didn’t even have to check the tag either. You must know a lot of people here.” Laverna was alerted that they were coming into the station, and she turned on the engine getting ready to depart. As the train came to a stop, the side doors lowered. Laverna said, “Maybe a few people. I helped save Toyland ya know.”

Laverna drove off the train and into town straight for the Toy Factory to see Jack and Mary. Pretty said, “They don’t look like they’re in slow motion now, do they?” Laverna knew Tenchi, er Jack, would be able to tell them everything shortly. Laverna looking back at Sweet Pea, said, “Isn’t that right, sweetie?” They could all see the decorations for March Day still being finalized as they drove through the town toward the gate of the Toy Factory. The girls were greeted by the staff who wanted to see the hero of Toyland return. Georgie Porgy was delighted he needed cookie taste testers for the new recipes. Before the girls could object, Georgie rushed over with samples. As Laverna said, “We don’t have time for cook- mmpf!” Georgie stuffed cookies in their mouths. Georgie then said, “It’s great to see you, Charlet! And you brought friends too; the more, the merrier, I say! So hows the Raspberry Ripple crème?”

Laverna had to admit it was delicious. As they gave their opinions on cookie-ology, they came across Jack and Mary. Jack, growing happy, said, “Hi, Laverna! We have a lot to talk about.” Laverna said, “I brought the package, Jack.” Jack said, “You mean the baby on your back?” Laverna turning a bit said, “Yes, coochy-coo.” Sweet Pea was more than happy to get attention and giggled in response. Jack explained to Laverna that more rapid means of getting to Toyland were ruled out as a way to test his theory on the time flow. As he predicted, time fluctuated and started to reverse the general temporal relationship. Laverna showing her lab assistant credentials, said, “What could be the cause of the temporal anomaly, I wonder?” Tenchi said, “You are, and if you had not come to Toyland, time would be passing faster here than on earth.

Laverna said, “Hey, why am I to blame?” Tenchi said, “Your current situation has you in two places at once and that’s whats causing it.” Laverna began to ask for more information, but she was suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice that said, “Cannonball!” Laverna was toppling to the floor as Charlet jumped onto her from above. Laverna, shocked and upset, said, “What is wrong with you!?” Charlet said, “I’m you that’s what. And since I’m Jack’s favorite and bestest assistant I was experimenting by seeing if I could dive into a Laverna pool.” Laverna said, “I am not a body of water!” Charlet said, “But people are 60% water and I wanted to see you splash.” Jack commended Charlet on her adventurous spirit as Laverna picked herself off the floor. Mary, doting on Charlet, told her to return to Santa's house later.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Laverna, frustrated and fixing her hair, said, “Why is she getting all the attention? I just got here; how about a little more hi’s and hello’s, hmm?” Charlet, who was sent back to Santa, said, “No one cares I’m the greatest and look-it I got a new Mini-magic Kart! It’s totes kawaii, and all over Toynet news so you know.” Laverna buried her head into her hand as she felt she couldn’t have been this much of a hassle. Did she sneak away from Santa through a vent or hop out a window? It didn’t matter; she was here now, and all would be put right. The “Charlet Problem” would be solved, too; the results of the recent pool experiment had Laverna laughing maniacally at the thought of it. Jack asked if she could stop; however, more pressing matters needed to be addressed, namely, dresses. March Day needed her and the rest of their group to be dressed in stately uniform for the parade march.

Laverna happily said, “Yipee! That’ll show the little brat who’s best. I guess she can sit in her little kart and toot the horn as I go by. Hahaha!” Into the room came dear friends to see each other once more. Gabby said, “Oh golly its the older brat. Twice the trouble now.” Laverna happily said, “You better believe it Gabby!”Bo Peep and Tom Piper Son entered along with Simon, Pecos Bill, and Ruslan. Paul Bunyan would be there, too, but he was a little big for the room. They all were seated around a circular table to discuss the parade procedures. The Toy soldiers would be the main draw as the group marched as commanders for public effect. The Air Force and navy would fly and sail in formation along with the special guest serving as the Grand Marshall.

Laverna asked Ruslan what did you contribute last time exactly. Ruslan confidently said, “Oh, I, don’t know while you were stealing berries I’d say 50% after we got here.” Laverna, smiling, said, “Ah you gave 50% like when we get married. How sweet of you.” As Ruslan blushed and wished to hide under the table, Jack said, “So anyway Popeye will be leading the boat parade and D.va will be flying in formation. That should do it for prep now all we have to do is stand there and look heroic until the marching starts.” Bo Peep, not letting Jack off the planning hook, said, “Hey there you didn’t say who the Grand Marshall is.” Jack said, “Oh didn’t I? It’s the Nutcracker Prince.” Laverna said, “Oh well Ruslan, our wedding plans are scrapped.” Ruslan, feeling insecure and off guard, said, “Good! I don’t need a crooked wife! A crooked wife; a crooked life!”

Awkward as this was, Tom couldn’t help but use it to talk about the pipe staff he got from Santa. Happily changing the subject to it, he explained that it could extend to a standard-length pole staff with pipe holes on both ends that can switch between open and closed hole mode. It could separate in the middle for a dual-handed melee option, protrude tapered ends for thrusting, and generate a defense shield by stabbing the ground. Laverna yawned as she said, “Myrtenaster is best.” Tom realizing her intentions, said, “We’ll see about that later.” The talk turned to a tech demo as the others began mentioning their new weapons from Santa and “toys.” Bo Peep casually mentioned she had progressed her Wool Mage training and that her cotton spells were not to be trifled with. While Ruslan said, nothing beats a good Potato RPG launcher in your face while the tater grenades go boom.

As they upped the ante, they began talking about their mechs. Bo Peep said her siege mech Sheep Bot had been upgraded to transform into another mode resembling herself. Tom said that wasn’t as good as his new targeting system and special finisher attack for Mecha-Piper. Ruslan confidently said they could all be backup support for him and his Mr. Potato Head mech. While the others admitted its ability to recover lost limbs using electromagnetic tethers was impressive, it was more suited to soaking up damage like a sponge.

Suddenly Pretty Bomber said, “My Elegant Dream is all you need to win count on it!” At this point, Laverna realized she didn’t have a giant mech to summon and began to pout as she said, “Excuse me Jack where is my giant robo? It can be all black if you want. Oh and a spare holding area for when I kidnap Ruslan would be nice too.” Jack told a jealous, pouty Laverna that giant mechs weren’t needed at VILE, and if she asked nicely, she could borrow the other mechs for test piloting.

After the group had caught up on each other, they headed out to prepare… and spar. Multiple arcs of electricity hurled towards Tom, who deflected them by twirling his staff which proceeded to lock with Laverna’s sword. Laverna said, “You can quit anytime Tom.” Tom smugly said, “Oh fine then it’ll be after you do.” The two clashed and moved about the yard, slowly escalating their sparring. Always being sure to pepper in witty remarks as they fought with the workers watching the spectacle of parries, flurries, and feints unfold. Their battle ended with a fast and furious yet playful display of speed and accuracy, ending with applause from those in attendance. The unexpected yet welcoming action excited everyone for the upcoming March Day festivities. The town learned that King Cole and Queen Anne would attend the ceremony, so excitement was high as the time finally came.

The streets were packed with attendees waving flags and banners and throwing confetti as the parade floats went by. Thunderous cheering erupted as the March of The Toy Soldiers began to be heard playing as the king and queen waved from their balcony viewpoint. The Nutcracker Prince unsheathed his sword and held it above his head, and as he lowered his sword, pointing it forward, the signal to begin marching was given. The war drums started playing, and the trumpets blared as the Toy Soldiers marched through the square and the wide streets in formation as the air fleet flew overhead and the sea fleet sailed by. Laverna kept thinking, “No pressure I can totally do this. Oh! And I can do a cute salute at the prince too. All I have to do is time it right and get my arms to move. Move arms; move.” To be sure, it was a tremendous atmosphere that would quickly overwhelm most in her position. One could feel the cheering reverberating, channeling, pounding, rumbling, and rolling through their body. Then Laverna thought, why couldn’t they treat her this way back home?

As she closed her eyes, focusing on the differences between here and there, they opened again with a softness, turning to resolve to try and move forward on the path ahead. Laverna started off nervously as she rigidly moved her arms and began to march. She, as well as everyone else, was dressed in immaculate military fashion courtesy of Cole and Anne. They felt the heroes of their kingdom should be dressed to impress. They held medals hastily awarded to them by the new monarchs, which glistened in the sun along with their ceremonial armor pieces. Though Laverna would have preferred getting a French braid and an outfit like the one she wore before the battle, she felt at least she had it now.

It definitely went well with Myrtenaster’s opulent design. The metal cross guards flowed like strands in the breeze along with the curved tapered handle. The revolver held a full complement of six light dust capsules as Laverna felt today would be very celebratory. Maybe that was why she “accidentally” let the glitter light sparkle and a subtle glow cover her body; until a stern look from Jack for showing off, that is. The blade was double layered with a mithril base on top of which it was laminated in transparent ceramic zircon. Appropriately held, it had four flat sides at 45-degree angles that tapered into a rounded point for thrusting. It was adorned with finely etched runes and curvaceously flowing lines from tip to hilt. In short, it looked like a jewel, and all the girls wanted it. She could alter the blade's length between two normal or “sword” and a shorter “wand,” as she decided to call it, as it looked like one when the blade was shortened. Efficient in close-quarters combat and more stylish in conservative situations, the mode was perfect for showing it off without showing off.

This was even more apparent as thinking when she was on earth, Laverna got occasional stares from the Comic-Con faithful and geek community for her “fantasy sword.” They couldn’t find one anywhere online because they wanted one even more. She would always tell them as they asked to touch it that, One: they could, but as they weren’t the registered user, they’d be frozen solid. Two: it is like an elemental sword you’d find in Breath of the Wild. And Three: Did anyone notice her matching shield gauntlet, The Hand of Gamelon? No? Figures. As Laverna kept marching, she saw the people waving in the square as she came around the curved street towards the exit to the outside. The toy soldiers marched in unison as they held their guns in formation, either resting on their shoulders or being held in both hands for display.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Over near the harbor, Charlet was hop-skipping from one leg to the next as she saw the lead boat being sailed by a familiar sailor man. This got her spirits up as Santa walked farther back, taking in the atmosphere as he told her. All Charlet heard was, “No I’m not going to walk faster.” He looked like he fit right in any way as the portly belly and beard were quite common in their location. Though the sailors were carrying barrels on their shoulders and dressed in nautical-striped colored shirts and suspenders with navy blue pants as they did every day. But today was special, and so was little miss Charlet who started feeling like a sailor as she started singing. As was the shanty tradition, the sailors marching behind her provided a backup chorus.

[The Wellerman]

There once was a ship that put to sea

And the name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea

The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down

Blow, me bully boys, blow (Hah!)



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go

9The captain called all hands and swore

He'd take that whale in tow (Hah!)



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go



Before the boat had hit the water

The whale's tail came up and caught her

All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her

When she dived down below (Huh!)



As far as I've heard, the fight's still on

The line's not cut and the whale's not gone

The Wellerman makes his a regular call

To encourage the Captain, crew, and all



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go



No line was cut, no whale was freed

The Captain's mind was not on greed

But he belonged to the whaleman's creed

She took that ship in tow (Huh!)



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go



For forty days, or even more

The line went slack, then tight once more

All boats were lost, there were only four

But still that whale did go



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go



[Chorus]

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go

Soon may the Wellerman come

To bring us sugar and tea and rum

One day, when the tonguin' is done

We'll take our leave and go

Charlet thought, “I didn’t know I had such a deep booming voice.” That may have been a little difficult with the Toy Soldier Sailors being machine men. Still, he decided singing would explain it better. As she skipped along, looking out towards the flagship, the SS Olive. There she saw the Grand Marshall of the fleet, Popeye, bobbing along on the waves. The fleet was a technological powerhouse, to be sure. Still, Popeye made them understand a true sailor is measured by his muscle, not his calculator.

[The Last Shanty]

Well, me father often told me, when I was just a lad

A sailor's life was very hard, the food was always bad

But now I've joined the Navy, I'm aboard a Man o' War

And now I found a sailor ain't a sailor any more.

[Chorus]

Don't haul on the rope. Don't climb up the mast

If you see a sailing ship it might be your last

Just get your civvies ready for another run ashore

A sailor ain't a sailor, ain't a sailor any more



We've nearly got a mess, He says we have it soft

It wasn't like that in his day when we were up aloft

We like our bunks and sleeping bags, but what's a hammock for?

Swinging from the deckhead or lying on the floor?

[Chorus]

Well they gave us an engine that first went up and down

Then with more technology the engine went around

We know of steam and diesel but what's it mainly for?

A stoker ain't a stoker with a shovel any more

[Chorus]

They gave us an Aldis lamp so we could do it right

They gave us a radio to signal day and night

We know our codes and ciphers, but what's a semaphore?

The bunting tosser doesn't toss the bunting any more.

[Chorus]

Two cans of beer a day and that's your bleeding lot

But now we have an extra one because they've stopped the tot

So we'll put on our civvy clothes and find a pub ashore

A sailor's still a sailor, just like he was before



The men in the sailing fleet cheered and waved to the people cheering back at them on shore. D.Va went inverted to observe the song & dance and felt it was silly to do so in a plane as she righted herself and continued leading the air fleet. They released colored smoke bombs which burst into vivid, bright hues that took various shapes of objects and people. D.Va, happy the celebration was going so well, D.Va said, “We are in the pipe five by five boys!” Laverna observing the planes, felt D.Va was quite the pilot as she flew overhead. And she felt Hans the Nutcracker Prince was fine too; she just needed to get his attention, which was easy in her position. Or at least she thought it was the Toy Soldier Suppliers who were marching along, led by Ruslan, and their path cut Laverna off from marching in view of Hans as they crisscrossed streets. They carried bags of potatoes to promote Ruslan’s idea of “Pax Potato-ica,” or “potatoes for peace.”

Since they weren’t cookies, however, Georgie and now Laverna, his new cookie convert, could care less. Laverna took in the energy of the crowds and felt renewed as people placed the potatoes they received from Ruslan’s group in bags to be nice. The marching ended with all the heroes meeting in the town square, and the sailors and pilots who had docked or landed earlier came to the meeting area. The Toy Soldiers continued marching through the square back into the barracks area. At the same time, Jack Mary, Laverna, Ruslan, Tom, Bo Peep, Popeye, Gabby, D.Va, Simon, and Pecos walked to a platform and waved to the jubilant crowd. King Cole and Queen Anne gave a speech emphasizing the importance of how to live your life. He said, “If you receive you send every time. Oh! And of course the lessons of being truthful, merciful, and by Jove being good sports. Now off with you merry lot you really are the most wonderful subjects if I do say so myself.”

Anne sensing a kingly spiel coming happily, interjected and said, “I wholeheartedly agree my dear now let us be off lots of managing to do and all that.” King Cole then said, “Oh why of course my love; what would they do without their leaders leading hmm? Now to all near and far we wish you a merry Marching Day three cheers for our heroes gathered there. You see them don’t you? Well if not I’m pointing to them so that should help some.” The crowd cheered as the king and queen exited the balcony. Whether present or watching their Toyvision at home, everyone was glad to see the heroes of Toyland together and happy.

That is, except for a group of miscreants in Bogeyland who found themselves in a pretty sour mood. Barnaby scowled at the Toyvision and said, “This is too much! Why do they cheer that idiot Jack and that little Charli-whatsky!” Cabbie said, “Im going to be absolutely sick! You know I have a Charlet allergy if I see her for more than 30 seconds! Bleck, yuck, achoo!” Theodore rolling his eyes, said, “And seriously whats with the new name huh? It was bad enough when that red menace was skipping all over town. Now she’s using a pretentious new name to boot.” Walter, upset, said, “Why aren’t my robots marching there too!? I sent them marching through the streets enough times already but no! All they want are Jack’s robots since they don’t “terrorize” or “enslave” bah!.” Bagura, not having a previous encounter with them and at this point immensely grateful said, “We just need to get their attention with a bombing run. In fact I have a plan that will really burn their fuses.”

Cabbie, having enough, said, “Im not waiting! I’m tired of Charlet this and that! That little red ribbon will pay for what she did to me. I’m going to Toyland while you plot and scheme.” And with that, she was off to the bus stop. Barnaby and the others felt like singing a sad song as the bus drove off.

[Ticket to Ride]



[Verse 1]

I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, yeah

The girl that's driving me mad is going away



[Chorus]

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care



[Verse 2]

She said that living with me is bringing her down, yeah

She would never be free when I was around



[Chorus]

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care



[Bridge]

I don't know why she's riding so high

She ought to think twice, she ought to do right by me

Before she gets to saying goodbye

She ought to think twice, she ought to do right by me



[Verse 3]

I think I'm going to be sad, I think it's today, yeah

The girl that's driving me mad is going away, yeah



[Chorus]

Oh, she's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care



[Bridge]

I don't know why she's riding so high

She ought to think twice, she ought to do right by me

Before she gets to saying goodbye

She ought to think twice, she ought to do right by me

[Verse 4]

She said that living with me was bringing her down, yeah

For she would never be free when I was around



[Chorus]

Oh, she's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride

She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care



[Outro]

My baby don't care

My baby don't care

My baby don't care

My baby don't care

My baby don't care

My baby don't care

As they finished their choreography, the bus Cabbie hopped on came back into town. While scummy and low, Cabbie did appreciate the bus driver's malicious nature. Cabbie asked why they weren’t on their way to Toyland to exact revenge. The bus driver reminded her that she was in exile like the rest. It was a scam to take advantage of angry villains who suddenly wanted to escape their friends. Cabbie, expecting Barnaby to solve her problems, approached the bad boys and said, “It’s bad enough I’m back here. But then I had to see you four fools turning sideways, leaning backwards, and doing exaggerated hitchhiking motions. Almost as if you were singing a song in my absence.”

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Barnaby trying to make her feel better, said, “We would never use your exiting of a scene as an excuse to sing and dance, my dear.” Her eyes narrowing, Cabbie said, “You’re a habitual liar, sweetie. That’s why I love you.” Theodore wanting to get down to bad business, said, “Can you save your dysfunctional issues for later? We have work to do.” Barnaby embracing Cabbie as she rested her head on his chest, said, “Jack, your time is at an end! Hahahahaha!” Confused, Walter said, “Does that mean we're going to do bad stuff now? Barnaby, frustrated, said, “Yes! Now let’s go!”

While bussing wasn’t an option, portals definitely were courtesy of Theodore West. The baddies made their way into town only to see the festivities of March Day in full swing. They crept about and decided to hide until nighttime. The townsfolk were happy that people from near and far had traveled to celebrate in Toy town. It gave many opportunities for friends, new and old, to see each other while the day was new. Jack and Mary hosted meet-and-greets and explained how the Toy Soldiers worked while they all had to deal with autographs and photo ops with fans. Overall, the day was a hit, with the Holiday rating site giving it an 8.5/10.

Carmen was, of course, making sure everyone knew the impact Laverna was driving around the globe. She even called ACME’s digital chief to tell him about her adventures. If only she knew of Toyland, then she’d really talk his head off, though he’d say that’s all he’s got. Paige was busy logging, filing, and sorting all necessary facts and figures as VILE henchmen decided to embellish any details they heard. The usual suspects were Vic the Slick and Lars Vegas, who kept trying to profit off half-truths. Paige was finally told to issue a notice saying all information regarding Laverna’s mission was to remain off the grapevine. Vic's eyes widened in frustration, and he said, “Gaa! What else are we supposed to do until that brat comes back!? She took all the good bad roads my black market network uses to transport my hot loot! At least we could scam and con to pass the time but now what!?”

While Vic’s plans were being stopped, Barnaby’s were just getting started as he and Bagura moved into view of the Toy Factory. Barnaby said, “This is the cause of my problems. I’ll think I’ll tear it down now.” Bagura said, “Put down the crowbar Barney, we need more subtle means.” Barnaby playfully said, “That’s funny coming from you.” Their plan was simple yet risky, but they could begin phase two if they pulled it off. They both went off to their first target and set their plan in motion.

The next day Charlet woke up and went to see the Toymaster in his workshop. She noted he was acting a little funny but didn’t feel anything was out of the ordinary. She said hello, and he, almost surprised to see her, said, “Ah! Your, that Cherry they won’t shut up about! Ahem, good morning Ms. Cherry… how… are… you… today?” Charlet, puzzled and still wiping the sleep out of her eyes, said, “Hey what’s with this “Cherry” nickname? Anyway I’m hungry so feed me. And to drink I’ll take the usual elf tears.” Santa, at first interested, said, “Hmm maybe your not so bad if- sigh, your kidding aren’t you.” He whispered as he said, “Darn brats and their toying with despair.”. Then, in a tone that lowered to a murmur, he said, “So anyway now that Marching Day has come and gone, Thank god; we can begin preparing for Christmas Ms. Um, Cherry.”

Charlet thought she had figured out what was going on and said, “Oh, okay, Mr. Blueberry, tee-hee. Why are you blue now anyway?” Thinking fast, Santa said, “I’ve been holding my breath too much. Why are you asking questions?” Charlet said, “I’m a child.” Santa firmly said, “Be that as it may, I’m a busy toy maker and need to bomb- I mean, bring happiness to all now go play or something.” Charlet went off to enjoy herself as she made her way to Jack and Mary. She knew that Santa nor anyone else would ever tell her to go play as that resulted in massive collateral damage, and she felt something was amiss. When she found Mary, she told her how Santa had been acting as they went to Witch Hazel.

Mary said as they entered the shop, “Santa is busy with the planning stages for toy production dear.” Charlet looking up to Mary, said, “That’s what he said you know; then he started mixing gunpowder.” Charlet asked Hazel if she could make the stuff that required her to bend down, turn around and give her a wink. Hazel told her all that wasn’t necessary and just for show, plus Ruslan was too old for her anyway. As Charlet pouted in protest, Hazel gave Mary a pendant necklace and a charm bracelet for Bo Peep. Mary thanked Hazel, who always seemed able to deal with uncomfortable situations, which in this case was Barnaby. Bo Peep felt terrible about not doing enough against the monsters or Barnaby and his threatening of their family. Mary had reassured her that she had done more than enough and that her magic training was progressing faster than expected.

But a girl feels accessories help nonetheless, which was correct in this case. Once they returned to Mother Hubbard's home, Bo Peep was thrilled to receive her ordered items. She said, “Now my magic attack will increase by 15 will, and my charm bracelet will enable me to equip charms to increase my stats or add spells that I haven’t learned yet!” Mary reminded her that practice and hard work made the best mages as Laverna walked into the room. Laverna looking at Charlet, said, “Why are you snooping about? Shouldn’t you be a Santa’s house?” Charlet told her that was what good kids did, and Laverna responded that it was childish. Charlet said surprisingly maturely, “Snooping was the best part of you, Laverna. It’s too bad you lost that somewhere along the way. Growing up sucks.” However, the subject she spoke about made it quite funny to observe. Laverna, in annoyance, hissed at Charlet, who ran off to play with Mary and Bo Peeps' younger siblings.

Mother Hubbard told Laverna there was wisdom in the words of children if you knew how to find it. Laverna felt, though, that she would do training exercises if she needed to learn anything. Carmen was hard on her enough, and now she needed to focus on "spell chat” with Bo Peep, who naturally was in a talkative mood about magic accessories. Specifically Laverna’s Hand of Gamelon and her sword and arrows. Laverna taking Bo Peep’s hand, said, “I told you about this a dozen times already Bo.” Bo Peep persistently said, “Yeah but not the technical stuff. I need to know the finer details of casting with it.” Laverna realized the device was so seamless it wasn’t something she thought about when using it.

Laverna, getting lost in thought, said, “Lets see, the glove is armored and protects my free hand from attacks while letting me use spells that are more suited to multiple targets. And of course lets me use magic energy arrows with my bow. When I change this jewel here on top, I get a different element to use from air, water, earth, or fire; which can be added to the energy arrow if the target is weak to a specific element. Of course I just use it to spam magic arrows mostly but my ballistic arrows are the Arcadian standard. Fire, thunder, and ice supplemented by the bomb, cluster, and cloud arrows. The thundercloud arrows release a electrically conductive smoke cloud that enables multiple targets to be shocked at once. It’s great against MoM Bots, tee-hee.” As Laverna explained her magic arsenal, Bo Peep could see her knowledge was based on combat experience, not advertised claims in Magic Magazine.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Laverna realizing she needed to inspect her gun sword, placed it on the table and said,”This of course is more useful than I realized at first. I wanted to be an archer but enemies don’t exactly care about staying at long range so you can shoot them. Archer-kata makes me effective at close range, but I’m really just wasting my arrows and these aren’t cheap. So it’s usually let arrows fly at long to mid range then slice and dice when they get close.” Bo Peep reminded Laverna she was a defensive spell caster and healer. Bo Peep leaning closer over the table, said, “But now I’ve been working on this spell here, Sheepeo. It’s really neat you see, it causes sheep to rain down on bad people.” Laverna, feeling that wasn’t the most threatening thing to do to a person, chose to encourage Bo Peep to keep practicing anyway.

The next day the King and Queen would tour the Toy Factory and give an assessment of it, which Mary found quite annoying. They weren’t engineers or factory workers, and it was more for show than anything else. But it had to be done, so everyone was assembled for the royal inspection. All was going seemingly well unless you could hear the king and queen speaking. Cole smiling and waving when necessary, expressed in a hushed tone to Anne and said, “How could my father have let things get this far out of hand. The kingdom will run out of oil at the rate it's all gong to these Toy Soldiers. Not to mention the other machinations robot-ing all over the place.” Anne also noted that there were not enough Teddy Bear police around. Enthusiastic as they were to enforce the laws of the land, they were few in number compared to the rising population.

They were both considering budget cuts to solve the problem and decided to inform Jack and Mary while there. They both protested, saying the Toy Soldiers were essential in protecting Toyland. King Cole agreed and said, “Precisely they were essential, now they aren’t my boy! So they get packed up In crates. Um where are your large crates for this task by the way?” Mary incredulously said, “Your majesty we don’t have them anymore they were for the original shipment of Toy Soldiers to Santa. But when Barnaby attacked they marched out of the factory and the crates as well.” Cole looking around at the various machines and inventions, said, “Oh well that is a pity then isn’t it? But not to worry I’m sure you two will figure something out wont you?” Jack and Mary told Cole they would though they both knew it was a bad idea.

Charlet overhearing the conversation, ran up behind Mary and said, “You can’t do that you crazy old coot! The Toy Soldiers keep monsters away. You don’t care ‘cause you got guards.” Cole, more put off at being called old than anything else, said, “Look here young lady I’m thinking of whats best for Toyland long term; now here take this luxury lollipop it’s a very sweet flavor.” Charlet placing it in her coat pocket, said, “Yuck, I want jalapeño flavor.” Anne, smiling, pulled out an immaculate case, lifted the top revealing lollipops lined up in four rows in a north-south pattern, and said, “Here you go, love.” Charlet saw the Queen had quite the lollipop case and said, “Wow you have a collection of spicy lollipops! I like Queen Anne, not King Cole Jack. I’m voting for her in the next election.”

Caught off guard by the outburst, Cole’s eyes filled with surprise as he quickly said, “That is not how monarchies work young lady!” Anne laughed at the scene and informed them the lollipops were specially made in Wonderland with the best ingredients. Seeing Charlet get gifts from the king and queen, Laverna quickly closed the distance and told Charlet to return to Santa’s house. Charlet looking up at Laverna standing behind her, said, “It’s ‘cause I’m cuter than you. Do you need to cope? Here you can hold Mr. Sanbunny.” Laverna’s hand instinctively went to take Sanbunny, but she forced herself not to. Laverna closing her eyes, said, “I don’t need that guy, you do kid.” Charlet felt Laverna could be more honest though she showed off for her new friends Pretty and Honey. The three of them had been about town, running off to places to take photos and sightsee when they could. It was spontaneous and had them going everywhere they could, even for only a few minutes. Since all eyes were on Laverna because of March Day, there were official places she was expected to appear with the others.

This was fine with Laverna as it meant people acknowledged her past accomplishments. Still, she suddenly found it clashing with her girl time with Pretty and Honey. Not to mention people giving Charlet things because they found her adorable. Like royal luxury lollipops, Laverna felt it would keep Charlet busy. It was bad enough that the king and queen were shuttering the Toy Soldiers if they couldn’t figure out something quickly. She talked to Jack, who said the cookie economy was all that mattered to them. Laverna didn’t care and wanted Cabochon Diamond dealt with, which took the power of Ribbons and Toy Soldiers.

The rest of the Ribbons were off helping until the search and rescue were called off. Rumi, Blitzy, Sherry, Fio, and Angela all volunteered and found missing persons where they could. Laverna knew that meant no Ribbons and now no Toy Soldiers, and that would be problematic. But as Ribbon Red, it was her job to stop her if necessary. Laverna then realized the Toymaster could stop it; they just needed to ask him.

But when they went to see him, they learned to their shock, that it was the Toymaster’s idea! While he was speaking about an alternative vision, The group noticed more bomb parts scattered about. The Toymaster looked at Jack, Mary, Gabby, Laverna, and Tom. He said, “It is with great pleasure that I announce my plan to solve the Toy Soldier problem. We will use an alternative that’s far cheaper and more numerous, the MoM Bots. Um, Hohoho.” Awkward trademark laughs aside, Jack and Mary accepted the Toymaster’s wisdom and left with smiles and high hopes, much to Laverna’s protest. Once they were away from the Toymaster’s house, they informed Laverna of the apparent truth. That was not the Toymaster; it was an imposter. Gabby suggested they punch him until he gives up, but Jack and Mary felt patience was a better option.

Meanwhile, back at the Toymaster’s house, Bagura was informing his evil allies all was going according to plan. They would deploy MoM Bots at land, sea, and air to take over Toy Town; without the Toy Soldiers, there would be no one to stop them. Bagura smiling sinisterly, said, “Our plan is glorious! Hahahahaha!” There was one problem, though, Jack and Mary were Tenchi and Kylie, two of ACME’s finest detectives. Had been noticing things were a little off in Toyland and with the Toymaster. Laverna was a little upset since she thought this would be a huge mystery to uncover on her own. But the gang didn’t have time for that kind of branching story arc today. So Jack and Mary would coordinate a counter plan while Laverna sped off to find the Toymaster, the real one's whereabouts.

Laverna shrugged and said, “So basically you want me to zoom around Toy Town and find Mr. Jolly? I like this plan.” And so Laverna was off to investigate while the others continued to monitor the search and rescue. They also had to handle the King and Queen’s budget cuts while they were at it. In short, the situation was dire, but they were determined to see things through. This was more about principle than anything else. The good guys were supposed to win, but that was easier said than done. It took effort and sleepless nights; while the baddies partied away, thinking they would win this time. Laverna had tired of that part as it was very embarrassing, to say the least. Why didn’t the bad guys make sure their plans succeeded; no, that wasn’t it, she told herself. There had to be more to it than that. Suddenly she realized that was it and instantly drifted her car toward the Cookie Factory.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Drusera asked Laverna what she was up to and was told she was being intuitive. Drusera logically said, “I hope you don’t mean female intuition it is most unreliable.” Laverna said, “It is when dealing with Barnaby Dru; he wanted the Cookie Factory shut down so that’s a great place to start looking.” As Black Magic pulled into the Cookie Factory premises, Laverna could feel there was a foul air about the place. As she walked inside, there was no one to be seen anywhere, and suddenly the door slammed closed. Up above, on a walkway, appeared Theodore West and Walter Wiley.

Laverna seeing them up above, said, ”Oh puh-lease not you two goofs! I’m not in the mood to play now so how about I poke you full-o-holes with my magic sword Myrtenaster here hmm?”

While looking down at her, Theodore said, “Well, well, well, look who’s here; a red menace come to get cookies and milk I assume?” Laverna crossing her arms and looking up defiantly, said, “The one who eats them actually. I wondered where Santa could be hidden; then I remembered you two were idiots. Barnaby couldn’t help coming here again and now your going to pay for Santa snatching.” The Jester angered, said, “I don’t think you are showing the proper respect to a superior magic user such as I Charlie Sweet!” Walter, similarly upset, said, “And that goes double for me! You brat of a girl! I’m the great scientist Walter Wiley!” Laverna wanting to end the back and forth before they started bragging, said, “Well that’s real nice and all but I gotta go steal stuff and-.” Unfortunately, before she could finish, they did just that by singing.

[Playing with The Best Boys]

[Jester and Walter]

By the power Tesla!

Higgs… Houdini… Einstein… Copperfield…

Tyson… Siegfried… Kaku… Scamander…

Weyland… Potter… Hawking… Angel… Tesla!!!

So it seems you think you are the goddess, with the power to put us on the run.

Well excuse us these smiles on our faces! You’ll know what power is once we unfurl

Both: Girl...



You’re messin’ with the best boys now

Messin’ with the best boys now

Ohh, that’s clever! Ev’ry spell and theory

Shows you should be weary

Messin’ with the best boys now



Stop trying to top us

There’s no way to stop us

Your messin with the best boys now

Think about submission

See a true tactician

Give a science ‘n magic lesson now

Put down your silly sword girl

Your messin’ with the best boys now!



(Chorus of Goons)

By the power Tesla

Higgs… Houdini… Einstein… Copperfield…

Tyson… Siegfried… Kaku… Scamander…

Weyland… Potter… Hawking… Angel…



[Jester and Walter]

You’ve placed your bet

Got no regret

But we’ll still show what you’ll get

You can be our dark cadet

Just know you’ll have to show, respect

Or we’ll have to get rough girl

Your messin’ with the best boys now!



Laverna wondered why she had to put up with the buffoonery. Theodore and Walter were dancing amongst their lackeys, forgetting Laverna was there as they commented on their well-executed routine. Such is the arrogance, vanity, and narcissism of the typical evildoer. Laverna found herself suddenly hit from behind by a lamp held by Cabbie. Cabbie smiling, said, “Now it’s time for you to experience true terror my dear.”

Laverna was in trouble, but all was not lost. Jack and Mary had received word that the search and rescue attempt was nearly complete. Nancy and Apollo had steadily found all information regarding Emerald Empire Corporation. They cross-referenced it with the Wright Anything Agency, much to Carson’s delight. It showed that this company was running several shell companies to place strange devices in River Heights. All they had to do was figure out what they did. But while that mystery was unfolding, Laverna was waking up in a location on the outskirts of Bogey Town. To be precise, it was a run-down area of Toyland that people had forgotten and had become overgrown with the weeds and vines from Bogeyland. The only structure that remained intact in the dilapidated place was the building Laverna was being confined to.

As she stirred, she felt a familiar sensation, but something was strange as she came to. And then gagging as she found it hard to breathe, she quickly began grasping at her mouth. she felt a tube and began to pull it out of her; it must have been two feet at least. Her eyes began to open to blurred vision. She then saw that she was in a tub filled with a strange green fluid and quickly got out. Cold, confused, and soaking wet, she saw a mirror, but her vision was still funny though she could now see clearly. She noticed a mirror on the wall and went over to it to look at herself, and to her shock, she saw her right eye was gone! Horrified and not believing what she was seeing, she covered her face with her hands and screamed, “No!”

Slowly lowering her hands, she saw with her still present left eye that her outfit had also changed slightly. Her red ribbon had activated, and she had transformed into her red ribbon dress. But it was now white with a red flower motif. Her red ribbon was on the small of her back like usual, but her fingerless gloves remained. A new black leather jacket with long sleeves and hood was joined by a leather double strap belt holding a black leather pouch on one side, a spot for her sword on the other, and her black combat boots. Laverna couldn’t fully remember what had happened but knew there was no time for tears. A fiery resolve took hold of her face as she turned from the mirror and searched the room. The door was locked, and her weapons were missing. One of those problems was easily solved as her ribbon caused them to appear on her command.

But there was the issue of her dust being all light elemental. Still, it was better than nothing, especially as it was dark, only dimly lit by candlelight on various fixtures, tables, and drawers. But with the light on her side, she was not afraid. At any time, she could illuminate herself and emit a soft or blindingly intense glow to shine light from her to light up a room or deter enemies if need be. Still, like a flashlight, it would only work if she had the energy to do so. Of course, she knew it would be more practical than simply shining light from the palm of one of her hands held outward most of the time. While the décor and rundown state of the room would have given most pause, Laverna loved the macabre and found it quaint. Making it easier for her to search the room until she found the key and used it to escape.

As she walked through the darkened halls, she could see there was no one to be found, and continuing to follow the twisting path of corridors, they led her to the basement. Most doors were locked, but Laverna could see clues that gave away the location's identity. It was a hospital and a creepy one at that. Walking down the hall, she heard a noise that sounded like metal scraping against stone. It was a robot with a head, arms, and torso sitting on a two-wheeled chassis, and on spotting Laverna, it lunged at her from down the hall, reaching out with one of its hands that had long blades for fingers. Laverna shrieked and ran down the hall and into a room at the end, where she quickly shut the door.

On turning, she saw a man who appeared to be praying over a mechanical man. She asked him who he was and where she was. He told her he was Father Patchwork, and they were at Wildberger Hospital, and that in its day, it fixed the Teddy Bears who were injured by the Bogeymen. Patchwork said, “Hello child, this hospital was started in order to give aid to the brave Teddy Bears long before they decided to become police officers. As a result of their close location to Bogeyland they had to learn to defend themselves from attacks by monsters that wandered across Toyland’s borders. This in turn led them to developing a sense of justice as they started defending others from monsters and not just themselves. As most citizens were law abiding the Teddy bears didn’t have much to do as cops until a monster showed up that is. This hospital then began treating everyone who needed help until… time passed it by.”

Laverna focusing on the problem at hand, said, “Um do you know if this place has working lights? I’m trying to find my way out of here.” Father Patchwork said, “There is a generator that will restore the power just make sure you are careful on your way.” Laverna thanked Patchwork for his help and drew her sword in wand mode. As she made her way to the generator, she was confronted by another two “Bladewheel Bots,” as she had decided to call them. She blasted both with bolts until they were scrapped. If more of those robots came at her, they would be getting magic bolts to the face. Laverna inspected the generator and saw it needed parts replaced, which meant her Hand of Gamelon would come in handy.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

It gave her insight into the surrounding environment. For example, it enhanced her ability to find things based on their importance. These parts needed to be returned to a generator. Wherever they were, the hand would guide Laverna to areas and let her notice things that would otherwise be overlooked or deemed unhelpful. Laverna described it to Bo Peep once. She told her if someone scattered the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the hand would lead you to places and highlight things that would enable you to find the missing pieces, like if a piece is on top of a dusty bookshelf. The hand will cause you to take note of it, and you might even say something out loud or to yourself about this particular bookshelf. It will then lead you to a ladder or something to stand on that will let you find it up there once you bring it back to the bookshelf.

In short, it was her go-to for finding her lost phone or car keys. And now it was being used for more serious purposes. So even though the parts were located in a secret passage leading underground sewer system, it didn’t matter to the Hand. Although Laverna did observe a more enormous mechanical monstrosity lurking down there. Knowing anti-mech combat protocols, she knew hitting and blasting them would stun or stagger them, but they would still counterattack as they felt no pain. Therefore Laverna would have to engage these taller “Slender Bots” with more caution. While making her way forward, Laverna thought, “The Bladewheels can be scrapped by blasting several shots at long to mid range before they get close to me. But I’ll have to maneuver to stay out of reach of the Slender Bots.” Fortunately, Laverna acquired the parts without too much trouble and installed them in the generator.

The lights flickered to life, and other devices became functional again. Happy at the accomplishment, Laverna began studying the rooms more intently as she saw a photo showing two twin portly robots, Digital Dum and Analog Dee. She entered a dining room and saw the priest Patchwork seated at the table, eating soup. She asked him what the two robots were and was told they would be in the repair room. Laverna was sure these robots were the work of Walter and took extra joy in taking each one out as she came across them. That was until she reached the kitchen, where she encountered a most gluttonous robot woman named Lady Gourmanda.

On seeing Laverna, she said, “Come closer my little lady… Mmmm, properly seasoned you’d make a handsome dish.” Laverna bluntly said, “I’m not edible.” Gourmanda, too hungry to care, said, “We shall see about that my lady, Hahahahaha!” Laverna would have loved to avoid this fight, but Gourmanda was not making things easy as she lunged her massive girth at her. When Laverna shot magic bolts or attacked in sword mode, her attacks bounced off Gourmanda’s belly. Laverna seeing this, began to target the fat cook's head and scored a success. While this enraged Gourmanda, it was only a matter before she was defeated. As she went down in sparks and smoke Laverna said, “You should make sure what you want to eat doesn’t eat you first.”

Laverna made her way to the repair room, solving puzzles along the way. She came to the space outside of it where Patchwork was waiting. She could see through the window two robots were lurking about in there. She asked Patchwork about them and was told they were dangerous enforcers of some man named Wiley and that they were placed there to stop Charlie Sweet. Laverna said, “Well that’d be me. If you’ll excuse me I have robots to wreck.” As Laverna entered the room, the two turned to face her. Analog Dee recognized her and said, “Look Dum it’s what’s-her-name from Toyland. Queen Anne’s favorite do-gooder she is.” Digital Dum cocking his head to the side, said, “Oh yeah? We were programmed to destroy that Churley we was. They’ll blame us if she gets away. Does she got any dust to eat?” Analog, thinking about it, said, “Oi! Pretty sure its on her somewhere. Sprinkle it on her and she’ll make a sweet dish.”

At this, Analog burped up a few bones of some unfortunate soul causing Laverna to cover her mouth in disgust. Laverna angered, said, “Gross, foul, half-broken toasters! I’ll smash you to bits!” Laverna saw they were using tag team tactics along with their own individual attacks and weapons. Laverna learned the weaknesses and openings in their move sets and fired off her bow at range to be sure at first. Once she understood their moves better, she could close the distance and attack with her sword or wand at will. The two terrors were at last felled, and as they exploded, Laverna saw runeys wafting about. Her Hand absorbed them, and Laverna noticed her stamina improved.

Upon returning to Father Patchwork, he told her to make her way to the morgue below. Laverna felt the hand guiding her there, so she proceeded to go there. Once she arrived, she came across a cell with a person's skeleton inside. Closer inspection caused Laverna’s heart to drop as the skeleton was the size of a young child and was wearing a red coat, Charlet’s red coat. Laverna starting to tremble and feel uneasy, was alerted by her Hand to a videotape in another cell. At that point, her ribbon took it from there. It started to glow, and place the tape in the VCR causing a projection to appear on the wall. The Hand then pulled Laverna into the projection, and everything went white.

When Laverna could see around her again, she saw Charlet in the cell, curled up on the bed, crying. Laverna, internally overjoyed to see Charlet alive, asked her what she was doing there. Charlet wiping her eyes, said, “Mr. Bagura brought me here for some experiments.“ The Hand caused Laverna to hear what Cabbie had said about true terror after knocking her out. Laverna realized this was a part of it, as Cabbie wanted all of her to suffer. She told Charlet to sit tight and that she would get her out of there once she dealt with the lock. Charlet crossing her arms, said, “Well hurry up before I turn into a bunch of bones already.” As Laverna looked around, she could see the place looked newer. Combined with Jack’s constant yammering about pop culture tropes, Laverna realized she had gone back in time.

“Ah!“Laverna thought as she deduced this Bagura person wanted to experiment. But Laverna felt things were a bit too simple for that as the state of the objects in the room was far too new, and it took a long time to rot into a skeleton. That meant Charlet was placed in the cell in the past and was left there until the unpleasant present. Laverna thought, “But who or what could have enabled this to happen? Theodore the Jester’s magic of course! Bagura pretending to be Santa kidnapped Charlet and the two of them brought her here at some point!” Knowing a person lost in thought when she saw one, Charlet said, “Ahem your s’posed to be saving me you know. But your doing Sherlock Holmes stuff in your head like Mary instead. Your s’posed to be a VILE thief Ms. ACME.”

Laverna, hearing that looked down at her little self and said, “Do you really think I’m more like Mary than Carmen?” Charlet said, “Yup. Your doing hero stuff and your dressed in black not red. But don’t worry I’m gonna be Carmen when I grow up so it’s okay.” Laverna found Charlet’s simple view of people too cute and smiled a bit though she tried to fight it. She wanted to hug her, but the cold iron bars prevented that. As Laverna knelt down to do what a VILE thief does best to locks, she wondered what Charlet had said.

 

[Tenchi Masaki]

Did she really take after Mary? It wasn’t something she had considered too much, but as the bars stood between them, she saw a little girl in a red coat on one side; and a dark one in a dress on the other. Laverna figured she only needed black lipstick and a penchant for tormenting Tenchi when he was bad to make the look complete. But as the lock came undone, maybe a little ice magic played a part in the lock picking, but Charlet didn’t need to know that. As she ran outside the cell, she hugged Laverna, who knelt down to hold her. But Charlet felt Laverna’s breathing take a pace that implied anger building up. As Laverna began to tremble from her wrath, Charlet said, “It was Theodore that cursed my suit cause they didn’t want me to escape so it doesn’t work now.”

Laverna closed her eyes, centered herself, and said, “Harae.” Holy water appeared as floating globules around Charlet as Laverna began to wash her face with the water as it glowed softly. Then Laverna said, “Shubatsu.” And salt sprinkled down on Charlet’s head. Charlet said, “Was that even English? And are you trying to eat me or give me a bath?” Laverna said, “I performed a Shinto purification and now the curse is broken.” Charlet dusting the flecks of salt off her coat, said, “Your like a op anime character now. Maybe I’ll grow up to be you a little too.” Laverna smiling, said, “Lets focus on getting out of here first okay?” Charlet, happily smirking again, said, “That’ll be easy for me I’m gonna roll around in my morph ball while you get attacked by the Wiley Bots. See ya.”

If there was one thing Laverna could be sure of, it was Charlet’s ability to sneak around and cause mischief. She’d be fine on her own in this place as her coat was fully functional now, and that left finding the two responsible, Theodore and Walter. The Jester was going to pay through the nose for what he did, but first, they had to return to the present. Charlet, in her ball, rolled over and hopped through the projection as Laverna followed suit. Before rolling off to explore, Charlet said, “Hey what you did was Usha... Um, oh yeah! Ushi no Koku Mairi. Its to curse your enemies but Jack’s grandpa told me to not use that so I did because I was told not to tee-hee. I pointed at the Jester when I said it and he thought I was having a seizure. And when I told him it was a spell he said a spell that didn’t rhyme didn’t matter cause he’s a dummy.” Charlet pushed her twin sticks forward and headed off to explore a creepy rundown house, one of her favorite hobbies.

Laverna was at first concerned with the cell in the present and whether it was the same or not. She peered into the cell and saw the door was open, and no one was inside. Sighing and relieved, she continued exploring the mansion leading her to the chapel where Father Patchwork was waiting. With a forlorn look, Laverna asked him what was wrong. He said he could not withhold the truth any longer. Walter Wiley was somewhere in the mansion and had come along with his master, Barnaby. A magician named Theodore West, a lady they called Cabbie, and a doctor named Dr. Bagura Buggler. They had come from Bogeyland, having been banished there after attacking Toyland with monsters, and were planning to take revenge. Walter was ordered to guard their new hideout as they went on to sneak into Toyland and cause mischief once more.

Laverna knew they had brought her to their base of operations, but they were so caught up in getting payback that they left Walter in charge. Or, more likely, he was told to “guard the door” until they set themselves up in Toyland to begin the next phase of their plan. Laverna surmised it had to do with kidnapping Santa but what exactly was the question. She knew of Bagura from what Pretty had told her. Still, she needed more information about him before she could speculate further. She decided to find Walter might give her more clues; she just needed to know where to start looking. Patchwork said, “He was staying in one of the family rooms. But had been yelling he was, "Meticulously busy!". As Patchwork heard him shouting aloud to his robots in the lab and ballroom.”

Laverna left Patchwork in the chapel to reach the family rooms. Still, the lights began flickering as she was heading down a hallway. As she entered the room around the corner, she saw a gruesome sight. A machine with the appearance of a boy down on all fours eating a dead deer. It appeared to be tearing and ripping flesh away with its mouth, causing a pool of blood to collect on the floor. Then it stopped, causing a sudden flicker of the lights as it turned its head to face Laverna.

She saw it was a mannequin design of an otherwise handsome face. Blonde hair, in a beige casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up past the forearms covered by a blue cardigan and blue pants. His teeth looked normal until his creepy smile revealed a mandible mouth full of rows of sharp teeth spinning on rollers. The top half of his face lifted up and back, causing the mouth to open to its actual size. His eyes were now glowing red and looked as if they were floating in place from inside a black, smooth, translucent head. The outer “face” was now like a hood on a shirt as it rested in an inverted position, its eyes looking around to see whatever was in its field of vision. And as if things weren’t bad enough, it grasped a sword which it let drag on the ground as it began to walk in Laverna’s direction.

Laverna seeing this “Charles Bot,” shook her head and said, “Uh-uh,” as she ran back around the corner and down the hallway. Charles roared as it quickly pursued her, but Laverna was able to lose him by going into one of the rooms. Laverna heard one of the other doors open and then close, wondering if he had gone inside or not. Could he go into any room or only certain ones, and what attracted or distracted him? Laverna regaining her composure knew sitting around wasn’t going to answer those questions, so with caution, she headed back outside to find Charles gone. After heading to the ballroom, Laverna said sarcastically, “Yay he’s gone for now. I can’t wait to meet Cthulhu.”

Apparently, Charles was roaming the halls, and if it encountered anyone would enter seek-and-destroy mode. Contact with the target would end seek and engage destroy mode, and that target was Laverna. She’d be fine dealing with the other robots on site if she could stay out of sight. She did, however, start to wonder why they were all eating. As robots, they shouldn’t need food. But the world of logic ended as she came across a familiar voice emanating from the ballroom. As Laverna found a place to safely observe, she saw Walter.

He was dancing the day away with an awful rag doll imitation of Mary Quite Contrary surrounded by MoM Bots. The doll had two black buttons for eyes, a triangular cloth for a nose, and a black yarn stitch pattern in the shape of a smile, along with a yellow bonnet and dress similar to Mary’s. As Walter dragged it around the room, its voice box uttered random compliments. Apparently, Walter was training on how to interact with the “Mary specimen,” as he called her. Walter felt so happy he started to confess his feelings by singing.

[I think I Love You]

I'm sleeping

And right in the middle of a good dream

When suddenly, I wake up

From something that keeps knocking at my brain

Before I go insane

I hold my pillow to my head

And spring up in my bed, screaming out the words I dread

"I think I love you!"

Oh no



(He thinks he loves her!)



Wait!

This morning

I woke up with this feeling

I didn't know how to deal with

And so I just decided to myself

I'll hide it to myself

And never talk about it

And did not go and shout it when you walked into the room

"I think I love you!"



(Ha ha ha, he thinks he loves her!)



I think I love you!

So what am I so afraid of?

I'm afraid that I'm not sure of

A love there is no cure for

Please, just make it stop

I think I love you



Isn't that what life is made of?

Perhaps, but it worries me to say

That I've never felt this way!

(Chorus)

(Hey, come on boss, pull it together!)

(Yeah, you've got this!)

(You can handle anything)



No, you fools, don't you see I can't be near the girl I love?

(Chorus)

(Why not? You've got her captive, you like her, so)

I'm supposed to kill her!

(Chorus)

(Oh, yeah, that does put a damper on things)

I don't know what I'm up against!

I don't know what it's all about

I've got so much to think about!

Oh, what am I to do?

I think I love you!



So what am I so afraid of?

I'm afraid that I'm not sure of

A love there is no cure for

Oh, I'm cursed to be this way



I think I love you

Isn't that what life is made of?

It's true, and I'm certain I can say

That I've never felt this way!

Believe me



You really don't have to worry

I only want to make you happy

And if you say, "hey, go away, " I will!



But I think better still

I better stay around and love you

Do you think I have a case?

Let me ask you to your face

"Do you think you love me?"



(Well?)

I think I love you!

(Hooray!)

I think I love you!

(He thinks he loves you!)

Yes, I think I love you!

(He thinks he loves you!)



I'm fairly certain I love you!

(He thinks he loves you!)

And if I can't be your man

Well then nobody else can

Because I love you!

Oh, shut up

(Oops, sorry)