Trouble on Toy Island

Author's note: Okay, time for the fourth chapter. And don't worry, Matt, er, Mat. I wasn't THAT bored.

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Chapter 4: Fun & Games
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05:36 PM - WEST TOY ISLAND
Arnold and Clover arrived at the board game area. The floor was decorated with all kinds of game boards, and there were giant game pieces. Arnold led Clover over to one part of the area.
Two toy soldiers were waiting in the area. One was pushing some chess pieces around while the other was sitting on a bench nearby.

"Hi," Clover said to the soldier moving the pieces. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing much," the toy soldier replied. "Just setting the chess pieces up for another game of chess. Want to go up against us?"
Before Clover could respond, Arnold spoke. "Sure thing, guys. Let's go."

EAST TOY ISLAND
Sam and I had just reached the giant toy store area.

"Wow," I exclaimed, "this is just like Jason said! It's the way a real toy store would look if we were the size of mice. Come on, Sam, let's check out that train set."
The train set was huge, and by "huge" I mean HUGE. Two toy soldiers were at the switch panel, flipping switches and altering the directions that the train went on the track.

I walked up and greeted the soldiers, and they stopped the train and looked at us. I then spoke up. "Will you let us ride the train?"
"Go ahead, get on," one soldier replied.
"Rides are always free on Toy Island," the other added.

We got on, and began to ride around. The toy soldiers adjusted the track constantly as we went.

WEST TOY ISLAND
"Queen's pawn from B-4 to C-3, capture knight," Arnold commanded. Clover shoved a gigantic pawn over, bumping the knight. She then removed the knight from the board, tiring herself out with all the effort despite that the pieces were lighter than they looked.
"Bishop from F-6 to C-3, capture pawn," the soldier on the bench shot back, and the other soldier moved the bishop and removed the pawn.
Clover nearly collapsed. "Arnold, all this moving is killing me. Can you pause a minute before your next move?"

EAST TOY ISLAND
After a while, we got bored and got off the train. We climbed up on one of the shelves and took another look around. "Say, Leo," Sam mentioned, "does this shelf look familiar?"
"Yes, it does," I concurred. "I think this is the same shelf we saw in that commercial. Come on, let's try the jingle. One, two, three, and-"
"This is Toy Island, full of toys / For all the girls and all the boys / The carnival is lots of fun / So come together, everyone."

We sang the first line together, then I sung the second by myself, then Sam got the third line solo, then we sang together again on the last line, just like the toy soldiers did.

The two of us continued singing until a soldier approached us. "Great job, you two. You'd make great Toy Island toy soldiers."

I smirked. "You think so? Where do we sign up?"
"I wish you could, but we toy soldiers are made, not hired. Didn't one of us tell you? Dan Ti makes us with his own hands."

Sam decided to do some investigating. "Tell us a little more about the way you guys are made."
"Well, for every male toy soldier he makes a female, and vice versa. We're with our mates all the time. We all get numbers, too. The males get odd numbers, the females even. I'm Number 237. Number 238, my mate, is right over there."

"Interesting. Where are you made?"
"We're made at the … that's none of your business!"

I balked. Then, I noticed something familiar about 237's glasses. "Hey, a friend of mine who came here last week has glasses like yours. Heard of him?"
238 approached and stood next to 237. "Might be a coincidence, might not be. Sometimes Dan Ti makes us based on some of the tourists."

"Well, okay. Be seeing you." I had heard enough, but I decided to check one thing. I made an exaggerated salute.
Sam looked at me funny. "Salute, Sam! He's a soldier, remember?" I whispered in her ear. She saluted as well.
The soldiers returned our salutes, knocking their hats off in the process. In the moment between then and when they took their hats again, we recognized their hairstyles as Jason's and Megan's.
Sam gasped, but I pulled her away. "Come on, let's go."

06:00 PM - TOY BLOCK CASTLE - SOUTH TURRET
We all gathered at the turret. Clover was the first to speak. "So, how'd it go?"
"Sam and I took a ride on a neat train set, and learned a little about the toy soldiers," I responded. "And you?"
Arnold answered this one. "Clover and I played a game of chess against two toy soldiers on the biggest chess board you'll ever see. We beat them by a few pawns."

He then glanced at Clover. "Hey, want to try Toy Tunnel with me?"

Toy Tunnel? I had heard of that place. When Jason had called me, he was on Toy Tunnel. His call had been cut off for some reason.

"Hold it, Arnold," I said, stepping between Arnold and Clover. "You can't go on Toy Tunnel. It's, um, getting a little late. Let's return to the plaza for dinner, and find a place to stay for the night."
A nearby toy soldier suggested we spend the night at the Toy Island Marionette Motel, just outside the park. The stay was free for Toy Island tourists, so we agreed to stay there.
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That's all for now. Just you wait, though!