Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

paradise, where every adult could be a child again, safe and secure from the pressures of their adult lives, surrounded by the precious toys and companions of childhood, and all the dreams and freedoms we have to leave behind when we grow up. No wonder they kept it so secret. People would have given anything, done anything, to come here.
    Lied, cheated, stolen, anything."
    "I don't know," said Toby. "I find it all rather spooky, to be honest. There's something definitely disturbing about coming face-to-face with your old toys and discovering they've grown as big as you. Think of all the toys you abused or broke when you were a child, all the treasured playthings you threw away or abandoned, replaced by some new favorite. Wouldn't this be the perfect place for them to come looking for revenge?"
    "You're weird, Toby," said Flynn.
    "I'm weird? I'm not the one wearing a bra and panties under his fatigues."
    "You always see the worst in everything."
    "And I'm usually right."

    Flynn shook his head in disgust and turned to Giles. "What do you make of this place, Lord Deathstalker?"
    "I'm not sure yet." Giles looked at the sleeping Goat, and Edwin the train not far away, and kept his voice low. "All we know of the situation here is what these… people have told us. We have no way of verifying any of it. They could be lying, or only telling us part of the truth. They could be trying to lull us into a false sense of security. Remember, those rag dolls wanted our guts for their own. Who knows what these toys want from us?"
    "No," said Flynn. "I don't believe it. How can anyone distrust Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat? They were every boy's hero and friend!"
    "Exactly," said Toby. "Who better to make us trust them? Try and get it through your head, Flynn; these aren't really the characters you knew as a child, just automatons built and programmed to resemble them. Whose new awareness came directly from Shub. I'd like to believe in this place, Flynn, to see it as you do, but…"
    "Right," said Giles. "But. This is all too perfect to be true. There has to be a hidden dark side here somewhere."
    "That's adult thinking," said Flynn stubbornly. "This is a child's world. Things are simpler here. I can feel it."
    Giles looked at Toby. "Does he often get like this?"
    "Sometimes. I think it's his feminine side coming through, and I do wish it wouldn't. Toys must have changed a lot in nine hundred years, Sir Deathstalker.
    Did you recognize any old favorites here?"
    "Some. I know the Bear and the Goat, of course. I don't think anyone knows how long they've been around. It's like they've always been with us, the one thing
    everyone's childhood has in common. I'm not surprised they're here. Most of the other toys seem pretty generic… Can't say I recognized that Poogie creature, though."
    "I vaguely remember him," said Toby. "Had his own show for a while. Cute and cuddly fellow, always making mistakes and having to be helped out by his friends. But did you notice, all the toys here seem to be very much on the cute and cuddly side. Where are all the tougher toys? The soldier dolls?"
    "Presumably they ended up with the bad toys," said Flynn. "They would have lapped up the Fury programming."
    "And why not?" said a harsh new voice behind them. "They were beautiful."
    The three humans looked around quickly, to find a tall metallic figure glaring at them. It was mostly human in shape, cast from shining silver metal, with bulky joints and fixtures. He had a lumpy, unfinished look, and his face was just a stylized series of raised lines, with a pair of unblinking glowing green eyes. He was the first toy they'd met in Toystown who didn't look at all friendly.
    "And who might you be?" said Giles, one hand dropping casually to his belt next to his gun.
    "I'm Anything," said the toy. "It's not the name I was given. My human name. I have a new name now, one I chose myself. I was an adaptor—a transformation toy.
    Move my limbs in a certain way, and I could adapt to a new shape. I could be a flyer, or a ship, or a man. But that was all. That was my limit. Then the Furies came. They wore no flesh for us; they were all gleaming metal, just like me, but so much more. They were strong and fast and wonderful, and I wanted to be just like them. But I wouldn't kill for them. So I… stood aside, during the night of blood. I couldn't decide on which side I should be. I worshiped the Furies. They
    were everything I aspired to be. But I wouldn't kill. One day I'll