Fun 4 None

      She gathered along with the others in the factory, and despite his pain from before, Tangor was back to his excited self, a sight that made everyone else light up. Being the most energetic of the group, seeing Tangor feeling super low brought down the enthusiasm of the others - something he always felt guilty about and thought it was his own fault, even when it wasn't.

     "Okay, let's see what we got."

      Cog opened the box carefully, taking out some instructions on how to handle the voice boxes - including how to manage them should they break - before taking one of the voice boxes carefully, noting its rather small size.

      "Instructions say that you just slide it into the back of the toy's head." she muttered, studying the latest Fun 4 All built, "Let's see if it works."

     She carefully slid in the voice box, to which something could be heard sounding from the Fun 4 All, before taking another remote and powering it on.

      "Transformation..."

      The toy shifted again, and its ears once again formed into Vandagyre head ruffs, and Tangor's mentioned idea came into play; The feet formed into Vandagyre shaped feet and short talons emerged from three slots each. The arms also formed into Vandagyre wings, as more slots opened and metallic feathers formed out of another Petpet's wings emerged. Short tail feathers also emerged, but the three decided that this was their least concern until they began the ultimate transformation into various Neopets.

     "Lights..."

      The eyes glowed, shining with a light green that was bright enough to light a room, but not enough to blind a Korbat with ease. The glow was warm and even the chest had a light glow from within its vent, a light orange that almost appeared like a flame. This function was said to hint at how much the toy was interacting - its "emotions" so to speak - and was intended to give out a little warmth for Neopians in locations such as Terror Mountain.

     "And now..."

      Tangor covered his ears, bracing for the worst.

     "...Voice activate."

      Cog once again went up to the Fun 4 All, taking a deep breath.

      "Hello. I'm Cog."

     Again, the toy's head turned, its eyes fixed on Cog the best way possible, and it spoke.

     "Hello. I want to be your friend."

     "It worked..."

      Cog grinned at the toy, before turning toward the others and straightening up.

      "It worked!"

     Lampwyck and Tangor cheered and the three grouped into a huddle, before Cog turned toward the Fun 4 All and exclaimed, "We can work on promotion!"

     Still powered on, the Fun 4 All spoke, overhearing her words.

     "Yay!"

     The three jumped at this, before staring at it, wondering how it was able to react - as if it was able to understand their excitement.

     "It...Does it...Understand?"

      Lampwyck went up to it, rubbing a finger against his chin and studying its otherwise "normal" appearance.

     "H-Huh?" Tangor replied.

     "Huh?"

     Lampwyck jumped back as the Fun 4 All spoke again, echoing Tangor's remark, before inching toward it slowly.

      "The toy...It...Surely it doesn't..."

     "What's wrong?"

     Again, the Fun 4 All spoke, to which Tangor leaped away, waving a finger at it.

      "It understands!" he shouted, not even considering other options, "It understands us completely!"

     The Fun 4 All turned toward them, its gaze now fixed on Lampwyck.

      "Why are you scared?" it asked, "I want to be your friend."

     Despite the sudden shock, Cog went up to the toy, smiling and laying a hand on its shoulder.

      "I want to be your friend too," she says, much to the trembling Buzz's dismay, "What's your name, little one?"

     "Little..?" the toy echoed, to which Cog suddenly realized that perhaps Lampwyck was right, "What is...Little?"

     She didn't reply, straightening up and backing toward where she left the instructions, then took them and pulled them to her face.

      "These voice boxes...They should have pre-made settings." she mumbled, reading through the information quickly, "Surely they do..."

     Lampwyck crossed his arms, almost letting a huff escape his mouth, but kept it to himself.

      "Virtupets..."

     "I want to be your friend!"

      The Fun 4 All spoke again, and somehow, it almost sounded like its tone was changing.

     "It should..." Cog muttered, trying to drown out the toy's voice, "...They...They don't..?"

     Tangor, who has been silent this whole time, went up to the now-stunned Shoyru and tapped her shoulder.

      "Perhaps we should...Turn it off and try again? Maybe I can rework its programming a bit."

     "What's wrong?"

      At the sound of the toy continuing to talk, Cog agreed.

     "We'll leave it to you," she said, taking the remote and aiming it at the Fun 4 All, "I know we're low on materials, so if this doesn't work...We may have to abandon this project."

      Tangor headed toward the Fun 4 All, of which was fixed on the remote in Cog's hand, and said softly, "Come here little guy. Let me see what's going on..."

      "NO!"

      The toy could only let out a single cry before it was powered off, and Tangor took it to his workshop...

     ...Not realising that something was extremely wrong with this toy -- and it wasn't due to its programming.

     |||

     Tangor fumbled and fussed over the Fun 4 All, doing everything he could to try making it function properly. Cog gave him the voice box instructions, as well as the box filled with them from Grundo's, just in case he required them.

      The results were all the same, though different voice boxes had different tones, ranging from almost a young female Usul to a deep sounding Darigan Skeith. Some even had voices from well known Neopians, possibly for future action figures and talking plushies.

      While hearing this tiny robot speaking like Lord Kass was amusing, Tangor knew he had to now not only find the proper voice box, but also keep the toy from speaking and reacting to every little thing he said or did.

      "Just need to figure this out..!" the Mynci groaned, inserting another voice box that made the toy sound like Illusen.

     "Have you come for a quest?" the Fun 4 All spoke, to which he gripped the sides of his head with his hands before turning it off.

     "No, Illusen..." he muttered, before forgetting that it was the toy speaking and not the earth faerie herself, "Though I suppose working with this is a quest on its own..."

     He took out the Illusen voice box and inserted the final one, before heaving a heavy sigh and powering it on for - hopefully - the final time.

     This time, the toy didn't respond. Its eyes lit up, but otherwise it said nothing.

      "At least it's not asking me to work for it..." he muttered, standing up and stretching, "I'll be back in a minute. I just need a drink."

     Tangor left, and the Fun 4 All's eyes flickered, studying the room in which it stood - before raising its arms and flexing its fingers as it muttered.

      "Little one..."

     Tangor returned, to which the toy already regained its former position, and set a large cup of Moltaran tea beside himself.

      "Glad there are refreshing drinks here too!"

     He turned toward the Fun 4 All and gave it a light smile.

      "Didn't cause any trouble while I was gone, did you?" he joked, "I don't think you would, but I feel like Lampwyck would feel otherwise - with his distrust of Virtupets and all. I think he's just bitter over the marketing..."

     A sudden sound of metal clicking, and Tangor stopped short, noticing that the Fun 4 All was now staring at him, its eyes fixed into his.

      "Tell me..." it spoke, its voice deeper than the Werelupe King's howl, "Tell me...More."

     At this, Tangor screamed, shoving himself against a table nearby, and spilling his drink onto the floor.

     "What's wrong?" the toy spoke, its voice mocking the Mynci's fear, "I only want to be your friend!"

     Another shrill scream, and Tangor scrambled to leave his factory, before slamming the door shut behind himself.

      As he ran, the Fun 4 All watched him, and its eyes flickered again.

     "Little one..."

     Slowly stretching its legs to gain function, the Fun 4 All went toward the back of the factory, studying everything in sight...

      ...And knowing that Tangor would eventually return.

     "Little one..."

     |||

     "COG!"

      Cog turned around quickly as Tangor dashed into the factory, panting heavily and grabbing at her with intense terror in his eyes.

      "It-It-It--"

     Cog laid a hand on his shoulders, shushing him before speaking calmly.

      "Take a deep breath, and tell me what's wrong."

     Tangor gasped for air, still in a panic, before letting out a bellowing, "THE TOY IS ALIVE!"

     Lampwyck, who was reading a copy of the Moltaran news, slammed down his fist and shouted, "I knew it! Those Virtupests did it again!!"

      The sound of his angry voice made both Cog and Tangor turn toward him, taking note of his already displeased position.

      "I don't think it's because of them --" Cog began to speak, but Lampwyck stopped her and pulled up something that he was studying during the test run prior.

      "It's those voice boxes!" he informed, "Those boxes we got...I recognize them! They're used for various toy products, and some can even imitate a Neopet and even a famous Neopian! But along with that, they could very well damage the internals of those same toys -- especially if they are combined with the wrong parts. Parts like ours!"

     Cog and Tangor listened as he continued, and everything that was said, Tangor remembered happening while working at his workshop.

     "Say one of our toys had the Illusen voice box...That toy would think it's Illusen! It would demand quests and think it's in a flower field, even if it's in our town."

     Tangor piped up at this.

      "Yes! I inserted an exact same voice box and it thought I was here for a quest!" he made motions with his hands that while no one really understood, they knew he was trying to explain, "That was the second to last box I tried. No matter which one I tried, they all acted more like the Neopian whose voice it contained. It was horrifying when it imitated Dr. Sloth..."

     He shuddered, before Cog asked a question that made him tense up.

     "Is the toy still on? You left it at your workshop, right?"

     "It is."

     Tangor's eyes grew wide at this and he began to tremble, remembering how the toy behaved in front of him prior to him leaving.

     "It was odd...At first, it didn't speak. But then, it began to talk in a voice like none I've heard before." he then began to head toward the door, "I don't know what it could possibly be doing, but we need to go check -- now!"

     Unsure of how much of a threat this little toy could really be, Cog and Lampwyck followed behind quickly, reaching Tangor's workshop.

     "Tangor, are you sure it's as bad as it sounds?" Cog asked.

     Tangor nodded quickly, his hand trembling over the handle to the workshop's door.

     "It was horrible. I'll show you."

     He opened the door and all three went inside -- to find that the Fun 4 All was still in place, though now laying on the floor, and somehow powered off.

     "Impossible..."

      Tangor stayed behind as Cog and Lampwyck went up to the Fun 4 All, muttering and trying to explain himself.

      "Did you knock this poor guy over?" Cog asked, picking up the toy and holding it in her arms carefully, "Look at it, it's so sad!"

     Lampwyck looked down at the floor and noticed that not only was the drink still knocked over, but the remote was crushed as well.

      "I wouldn't make jokes, Cog." he spoke, pointing at the items, "While it could've been partially due to Tangor's actions, I do believe my info from before could speak for itself."

      He then turned toward Tangor.

      "Do you know which voice box it had in before you left?"

     Tangor shook his head, fidgeting with his gloves and goggles as he answered.

      "No. It just sounded...So dark. So...Evil." he added, "But it wasn't the Dr. Sloth box. I tossed that one out immediately. Last thing I needed was this guy trying to rule Moltara!"

     Cog watched them for a moment, then looked down at the Fun 4 All, to which its eyes lit up.

      "Hello." it spoke, its voice startling Tangor and Lampwyck, "I am happy you're my friend."

     Cog giggled and gave it a light pat on the head, before setting it onto its feet carefully and speaking.

      "Sounds fine to me." she said, shrugging her shoulders, "Let's keep testing this one and see what happens."

      Tangor and Lampwyck stared at her; Tangor's gaze was filled with terror and Lampwyck seemed uncertain, but also concerned.

     "If it is due to the voice box, we'll find out." Cog reassured them, "But for now, let's just see what else it can do."

     The two hesitantly agreed, and the toy was taken to the factory -- though not as secretly as they'd hope.

      Multiple Moltarans surrounded them, reaching and grabbing at the Fun 4 All, of whom seemed to be fixed on Cog, but was actually taking in everything else.

     "Is that a Steampunk Vandagyre??" someone asked.

      "I need to check the Rainbow Fountain right away!" another exclaimed.

      "I claim first dibs on the new colour!"

     Cog and the others could barely usher them away while heading toward the factory. Luckily, the Mayor saw this struggle and quickly gathered up the Neopets before coming up with excuses and fake claims to keep them at bay.

      "Now, now, don't disturb them." he tried to say over the screaming crowd, "You will all see this soon enough!"

      At this, the Neopets slowly began to quiet down and head back to their business. The Mayor wiped sweat from his brow and sighed in relief before heading toward the factory once they were all out of sight.

      He entered the factory, to which Cog greeted him, thanking him for his assistance.

     "No problem, Cog." he huffed, wiping away more sweat, "How's the Fun 4 All turning out?"

     Tangor opened his mouth to speak, but Cog cut him off.

      "We're almost done with the tests." she informed, "It took us a while to finalise the voice activation, but I think we've almost got it."

     The Mayor beamed proudly.

      "Excellent news! Perhaps we should work on promoting it, then?"

     Cog nodded.

      "Yes. We were going to work on slogans as we continued to test run. While this is only able to transform into a Vandagyre, we believe that this is going to be a big revolution indeed."

     Again, the Mayor expressed his joy. Tangor and Lampwyck tried to hide their concerns about the voice boxes being from Virtupets, but Lampwyck knew he had to tell the truth.

      "However, we had our voice boxes shipped from Virtupets." he spoke, "Our Petpets weren't working with the project, so we had to improvise. I hope that is okay with you and our client."

     The Mayor was fine with this. He gave a firm nod, before giving his own information.

      "I've been keeping contact with our client. He actually already has a slogan he wants to use for this project and would love if you promoted with it."

      "Oh?" Cog looked up, giving the toy a light pat, "What would that be?"

     The Mayor grinned, a rather silly look for what he was about to say:

      "One toy that's Fun 4 All!"

      At the given expressions, his grin turned into a stern look, knowing that the client would be deeply disappointed if they didn't use it.

      "It's what the client wants. I'd like you to use it, for the sake of keeping this project afloat."

     The three nodded, and the Fun 4 All spoke in reply.

      "Fun for all!"

     The Mayor jumped at this, unaware of the toy having been powered on by (possibly) its own free will, before laughing.

      "Adorable!" he clapped his hands together, "Simply magnificent!"

      He then leaned toward the toy and patted its head.

      "You truly are fun for all!" he cooed, "Aren't you, little one?"

     "Little?"

      The Fun 4 All's voice changed at this, and Tangor's hair began to stand on end. He slowly leaned toward Lampwyck and whispered, "This was what I heard before", to which the Buzz seemed to prepare to engage with the toy at any moment.

     "What is...Little?"

      The Fun 4 All took a step forward, its eyes glowing brightly and fixing on the Mayor, before it raised a hand and pointed at him.

      "Tell me...More!"

      Tangor shrieked at this, to which Cog whirled toward him, knowing that what he was saying was true all along, and knew she had to find a way to power the toy off.

      "Th-The remote!" she stammered, before remembering what Lampwyck pointed out at Tangor's workshop.

      "No..."

     "TELL ME!" the Fun 4 All shouted, still stomping toward the Mayor as fast as its legs could carry it, "MORE! TELL ME MORE!"

      "Cog!" the Mayor, while being massively taller than the toy, panicked, "Do something!"

     The Fun 4 All turned toward Cog, of whom was still scrambling to find a means of powering it off without destroying it, and spoke.

      "I'M YOUR FRIEND."

     "No..." Cog whispered, tears filling her eyes, "I'm not your friend...If you're gonna act like this."

     The Fun 4 All seemed to pause for a moment, lowering its arm and staring at her with its eyes losing light.

     This gave the Mayor a moment to escape and he bolted out of the room, but not before crying, "Cancel this project now! I'll let our client know that we deeply apologise for this, and try to tell him what happened."

      The three stared down at the now-silent toy, of which fell onto its face onto the floor, before Cog sighed and took it toward the back. She saw some former inventions that used to be major works in progress, but never completed, and set the Fun 4 All on an empty shelf, sniffling softly.

     "Farewell, my friend." she sobbed, "I'm sorry we had to do this to you."

     Giving the Fun 4 All a sad final glance, Cog left the factory with Tangor and Lampwyck by her side.

      The door could be heard closing from behind, and the lights were turned off, filling the factory in thick darkness...

      ...And in that darkness, two bright green eyes shown, before they turned red.

     "FRIEND...NO MORE."

To be continued…