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After Mark Merlin picks up his friend Andrew Rook from the bus station, then two visit a toy factory so Mark can pick up a present for his sister's birthday party. But the spooky happenings there soon draws in the Los Angeles "Teen Force" and another zany mystery adventure is quickly underway.

Coming up next on Hazardous Materials!

The Haunted Toy Factory - 07/03/2006

Written By The Writing Team Of Darrel Vanwinkle & Joanna Vanwinkle

It was roughly 2 weeks later after the Old Lighthouse mystery. Mark found himself waiting at the Los Angeles Greyhound bus station for the arrival of a pen pal friend of his, Andrew Rook. Andrew's parents were undergoing a divorce and he didn't want to be placed into a foster care home. So, he opted to travel to California and tag up with his friend, Mark Merlin.

Mark wasn't too thrilled with Andrew coming to Los Angeles, but he couldn't talk his friend out of making the trip. "I sure hope nothing bad happened to him during the trip."

And at that moment in Utah, Reena found herself doing chores in the barn, under the watchful eye of her father. "Are you going to watch me every second?"

Mr. Dalton replied, "YES! I am."

Reena said, "You going to watch me when I use the toilet, too?"

He replied with a growl, "You keep it up and I'll give you a second spanking!"

Back in California, Alex was behind the wheel of a car, while the automotive test instructor sat next to him. "Thanks for helping me, Mr. White. I really need my own license."

Mr. White smiled. "As long as you're not a speed demon like your friends Vicky and Erina, I think you should do just fine."

Mikael and Lionel were once again conducting some magic lessons at their home in San Francisco.

Lionel was levitating a book in mid air and it took a lot of concentration. Mikael was watching nearby. The two hadn't seen the rest of the teen force since the lighthouse mystery, but apparently everyone had their own lives to attend to.

Ivan and Genie had not been heard of at all. Ivan was obviously working for his boss, Mr. Carrington in Philadelphia. And Genie was obviously being dragged around with Grim, who was trying to find Genie a new life.

Vicky stood overlooking the bay. Two more weeks of nightmares had deprived her of much needed sleep, making her less than pleasant to be around. So, Vicky had opted to isolate herself from everyone, temporarily, to try to make some sense of what she was going through.

Hel had a hell of a time explaining to his sister that he was not responsible for Garm breaking loose. It wasn't his fault that Tyr's workmanship was shoddy.

Erina was shooting a new film on location in the middle of Death Valley.

Trina had since went through another tutor. Her father just shook his head and let her go on. He had something major to handle at the moment and fighting with his daughter wouldn't accomplish anything anyway.

Kevin was busy with school. He was also working on the private assignment he had given himself. He was determined to find out what had happened to his father.

Vinnie couldn't be reached.

When the Greyhound bus pulled into the station, Mark was very glad when he saw Andrew get off of the bus holding his one bag. "Andrew! How was the trip?"

Andrew had black hair, ice blue eyes, and pale skin. He wore faded ragged blue jeans, sneakers and dirty blue tee shirt. "Hi Mark. Thanks for letting me come out here."

Mark said, "You look like hell. Come with me. I have a friend who is willing to give you a room to stay in. And the first thing you need to do is take yourself a bath and wash that hair."

Andrew asked, "Who did you get to put up with me?"

Mark grinned. "Do you remember when I mentioned in one of my letters about a guy named Mikael? Well, he has a bunkhouse on his property that he's willing to let you live in. He deals in magic, like I and my family do, but like I mentioned in my letters, he's a cat person. So he's agreed to let you live in the bunkhouse on his property. It's like a small home and I'll help you acquire groceries and some new clothes."

Andrew sighed. "Thanks Mark. I'll find some way to repay you for helping me."

Alex finally stopped the car in the final position, as he glanced at Mr. White. "How did I do?"

Mr. White was smiling. "I think your father would be proud, Alex. You're a model driver. I think you did very well. You should go celebrate over an ice cream or something."

Alex smiled. "I think that's a good idea."

Minutes later, Alex sat in a secluded park where no other people might come across him, with 2 bowls of ice cream. He sat there eating one bowl, while Garm sat there eating the other bowl of ice cream. Garm had once again snapped the shoddy chain, yet still wore his spiked collar.

Alex said, "Hela is going to flip her wig when she and Hel find you missing again. Are you enjoying your ice cream?"

Indeed, Hel was once again the recipient of another tongue lashing from his sister. He just rolled his eyes as she ranted. He studied his fingernails. He admired the patterns in the rock walls of the cavern they were standing in. He did everything but listen to anything she was saying.

He just made a grunting sound and nodded when it was appropriate. He was so used to these now that he didn't even bother tuning in to what she was saying. He knew where Garm was. He always knew where Garm was. Hel simply chose not to tell his bitchy sister.

Finally tired of listening to her tirade, and since time moved differently amongst the different planes he had actually been putting up with it for DAYS, Hel simply faded away, knowing that his sister wouldn't notice for some time.

He appeared on a lush estate in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The beautiful snow capped mountains provided security and privacy for the estate, which was a good thing considering who lived there. He listened for a minute, smiling when he heard the sound of gun fire.

Trina took aim at the next target. Not that she needed the practice, she thought, but it was always good to keep her skills honed to a razor sharp edge. She fired all six rounds of the revolver she was practicing with, not her favorite firearm, but she had to be proficient in all weapons according to her father.

"Nice shot," Hel commented, studying the target.

Trina looked over her shoulder. "Thanks, Hel," she said, turning back to the target. All six shots had gone through the same hole. "What are you up to?" she asked, taking out the spent shells and putting them in the collection bin.

"I got tired of listening to my sister so I thought I'd see what everyone was up to. I see you are keeping sharp," he said with a wink.

Trina smiled. "Of course. Until Daddy finds a new tutor, I'm pretty much left to my own devices."

"That could be dangerous," Hel chuckled.

Trina just smiled and tried to look innocent. A difficult feat to accomplish since she was wearing skin tight, leather, jaguar spotted pants; knee-high, black leather, lace-up boots; and a jaguar spotted, skin-tight, leather halter top. She batted her jade green eyes at Hel as she picked up the sig saur and took aim at the next target.

Reena was pretty glad when her father was called away to the opposite side of the ranch to try to help catch some loose cattle. "About damned time he turned his back on me. I'm not trying to give him a heart attack, but he made me miss last weeks club meeting and I need to head over and find out what I missed."

Reena changed into some casual clothes, then walked outside and leaped into the air, exclaiming, "FLAME ON!" for effect, as her entire body ignited into flames and she flew off toward the west heading toward California.

Mikael headed outside on the property and entered the bunkhouse that he had been cleaning up for Mark's friend, Andrew. "Mark knows that I am pleased to help him and his friend, but I can't help but to wonder if the boy's parents haven't sent the law after him for running away. I guess we'll find out sooner or later. The olden days were so much simpler..." as his mind drifted to a time of running away from villagers after using magic openly in the village.

Mikael giggled, as he continued to stock the refrigerator and the pantry with supplies. "Okay, maybe it wasn't so simple then. Lionel did learn some things, though. I am so glad I took him as my apprentice." He swished his tail as he thought about Lionel.

Inside the house, Lionel heard the phone ring and he picked up the receiver. "Hello? Hawthorne residence..."

Reena's father was on the other end of the phone. "Is my daughter there?"

Lionel didn't know who Reena's father was, so he asked, "Who is this?"

He replied, "This is Mr. Dalton here in Utah. My daughter, Reena, was supposed to be grounded doing chores and she's gone again. Is she there or not?"

Lionel glanced around. "I sincerely hope not, sir. We're about to have someone important come over and it would not be a good idea if she were here. Have you tried Trina Tracker's cellphone number? It's..." and he named off Trina's cellphone number.

Mr. Dalton said, "Thank you. I'll call Trina and see if Reena is there with her." CLICK.

Lionel hummed. "He sounded mad, but he also sounded like he was forcing himself to stay civil. I hope I didn't do a bad thing by giving him Trina's cellphone number."

Trina was cleaning the guns she had been practicing with, when her phone rang. She carefully laid everything to the side and wiped off her hands before answering the growling phone.

"Trina here, what's the sitch?" she asked, expecting it to be one of the guys.

"This is Mr. Dalton. Is Reena there?" the gruff sounding man asked.

"I haven't seen Reena for weeks, Mr. Dalton. It was my understanding that she was grounded and the rest of us haven't gotten together since we solved that lighthouse thing. You know, we do tend to take a break from each other every once in awhile," she said, respectfully. No sense in pissing off Reena's dad any more than he already was, she thought.

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" he asked.

Trina thought for a moment. "I really have no idea, sir. I'm actually at home practicing like my father told me to. You know, keeping the skills sharp. You never know when I'm going to have to shoot someone," she winked at Hel as she said that. Hel rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me?? What did you say?" Mr. Dalton asked.

"I said that I'm actually doing what my father told me to do because my boyfriend is busy with a friend of his that has come to visit for a while. We do like to give each other some space every now and then. But if I see Reena I'll kick her ass for you and tell her to go home. How's that?" Trina asked, watching Hel try to keep from falling off the chair he was sitting on.

"Oh. OK. I supposed that will be fine. Goodbye," Mr. Dalton said, disconnecting the call.

Hel was laughing so hard that tears ran down his cheeks. "I can't believe you just told Reena's father that!"

"Well, I can TELL her to go home, that doesn't mean she will," Trina winked, going back to cleaning her guns.

Alex and Garm were now entering one of Vicky's warehouse hangouts. "Hey! Anyone here? Particularly Vicky?" He turned to Garm. "If she's not at this one, there are tons more where she could be. I sure hope that hot dog vendor forgives 'us' for molesting his cart of his whole stock of hot dogs."

Mark and Andrew arrived at the Happy Day Toy Factory, which was located about half way between L.A. and San Francisco. "I still can't believe I have to pick up a custom made toy for a little sister. The brat."

Andrew replied, "She's that bad?"

Mark cast an illusion of his sister doing a random whine! "But Mooooooooommmmmmmmmmm! Marrrrrrrrrrrrrk gets to do what heeeeeeee wants!!!!!!!!" Then the illusion vanishes.

Andrew shudders and says, "Poor you!"

Mark nodded his head. "Right. Let's head inside and get this over with."

Zealot, one of Vicky's right hands, looked over from her place in front of the television. "Vicky isn't here, Alex. She said something about doing some internal processing," Zealot shrugged. "The last time she said something like that all hell broke loose. You might try checking Cliffside Park. She likes to go there."

Vicky stared out at the ocean, watching the waves. It was peaceful, it was soothing, but it still didn't help her come to grips with whatever was wrong with her. The dreams were out of her control. Her powers were almost out of her control. She wasn't sure if she was going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread or whether she was going to go insane.

She took a deep breath then, holding it for a moment and then letting it escape. She would love to have some answers. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that any of her friends could answer them. And her father was, once again, out of reach. Of course, she could ask one of her brothers, but she doubted that any of them could help her either. Except maybe Victor, but she wasn't about to ask him anything. He was in Chicago and he could bloody well stay there as far as she was concerned.

Alex and Garm departed the warehouse and headed over to Cliffside Park. It was oddly quiet there, which suited Alex just fine, because who wanted to see a cute boy walking with a giant mastiff hound the size of a horse or was it a hippo?

Alex called out, "Vicky! Are you around?"

Reena had stopped in a truckstop in Nevada to get herself something to drink and eat. Heck, flying under flame power took a lot of energy.

While she was at the counter waiting for her order, a burly though unkempt man approached her from behind and said, "Want to do it, babe?"

Reena didn't even look at the guy, but replied, "Buzz off."

The man then said, "Oh come on, toots."

Reena replied, "I said no."

The man then said, "You know you'll like it, babe."

Reena was starting to get pissed. "Go away you monster."

The man, who stank of beer and body odor, said, "Please?"

Reena growled, "Leave me alone or else!"

Just then, the man grabbed the bottom of Reena's crotch from behind and laughed for a few moments!

And in that instant, Reena burst into flames, grabbed a pool stick, and struck the man so hard that he collapsed on the floor unconscious!

Reena then said, "Now to clean my sword!" She made the motions to wipe it across the man's back three times as she said, "Wipe! Wipe! Wipe!"

Then, the man's drunken friends all got up and charged at Reena and the fight was on!

Vicky, who had been standing at the lookout point, turned at the sound of her name. She smiled when she saw Alex and Garm and waved them over. She hadn't expected to see anyone for awhile, but she was always relieved to see Alex. For some reason she couldn't explain, she always seemed to worry about him.

"What brings you guys here?" she asked, rubbing Garm's muzzle.

Alex replied, "I finished my drivers test and I think I passed it. I went out to celebrate my victory over Ice Cream and Garm showed up, so I had to give him some... then after a hot dog vendor accidentally met Garm, we decided to try and find you. Zealot told us that you might be here, so we came right over. How you been?"

"Great news about your test," Vicky smiled. "Honestly? I think I'm loosing it. Those dreams are getting worse and worse, and they don't make any sense whatsoever. Now, on top of that, I've got to deal with these crazy powers that I have no idea how to completely control."

Vicky sighed.

"I really don't know what I'm going to do. I was just trying to think about who I could turn to, who might actually be able to help me. My family is out of the question," she said, sitting under a tree.

Alex hummed. "Have you considered talking to Vinnie about this? He is into strange dreams and weird events. As for me, I'm just the resident alien unicorn from outer space. Dad still won't tell me where I came from. At least I have you and Garm and the others." Alex patted Garm's neck fondly.

Vicky considered that for a moment. "I might have to ask Vinnie. Have you ever considered that maybe your 'father' doesn't know where you are from?"

Alex grinned. "Maybe I am World Emperor's son or Pentacle's son or even... a lost son of the Golden Yak!" He then playfully struck Vicky's shoulder. "If you want, I'll go with you to see Vinnie. I know how scared you might be to be alone with him..."

Mark and Andrew walked around the toy factory until they reached the room where Mark was supposed to pick up his sister's toy. The box was wrapped and had his sister's name on it. "Well... we got this thing. Let's get out of here."

But as they turned around, they saw a horrifying apparition floating and giggling and cackling like mad! Mark grabbed Andrew and teleported out of the toy factory where they arrived in the parking lot!

Andrew exclaimed, "What in the hell was that, Mark?"

Mark replied, "I don't know, but it looks like it's time for another Hazardous Materials meeting. I only hope Mikael can help me contact the rest of the team. Come on, Andrew. We're heading to Mikael's place anyway..."

And they got on Mark's motorbike and sped away from the toy factory, heading north toward San Francisco.

Vicky rubbed her shoulder. "Now there is a thought," she winked. "But if you were the son of the Golden Yak you'd be locked away in a Tibetan monestary wouldn't you? Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you came with me to Vinnie's place, if he's even home. Not that I'm afraid of being alone with him, he has more honor than that."

Alex smiled, as he indicated Garm's back. "Mount up on the Garm Express. We'll ride to Vinnie's place in style. Won't we Garm?"

Reena was once again in flight while carrying a whole sack of wallets. "I told them not to pester me. Why does no one ever listen to me?" She continued her flight toward the West.

Mikael got a call on his crystal ball. "Hawthorne residence. Mikael speaking..."

And it was Hela! And she wanted to know where Garm was!

Mikael replied, "In case you haven't noticed, Hela... I'm a cat. And Lionel is a cat."

Hela then made some snide remarks about Mikael's friends.

Mikael growled, "Garm has this really weird fetish for pouncing Alexander Hazard and dragging him off to Baphomet knows where. So if Garm is missing again, he's liking fawning all over Alex."

At that point, Hela did some more complaining, and the crystal ball went dark.

Mikael growled softly, flitting his tail. "It's not my fault Garm is stronger than those flimsy chains in Asgard. And it's not my fault that Garm has a thing for Alex."

"Oh this will be fun," Vicky said as she climbed up on Garm's back.

"Well, Trina, I suppose I should be off to see what Mikael is up to," Hel said. "You sure do take your training seriously."

"It's the only thing that my father and I agree on," Trina said, having moved to the indoor gym facility where she was lifing weights. "Give me a call if anything new and exciting comes up," she said, winking at Hel.

Hel smiled. "Will do," he replied, then vanished.

Hel appeared in Mikael's house just after Mikael's conversation with Hela. "Anything new and exciting coming up? Trina wants to know as soon as it happens."

Mikael snarled, then calmed himself. "Mark and his friend Andrew are on their way... and your sister just called me on my crystal ball looking for Garm... and she called all of my friends..." He repeats what she said. "...and I told her that Garm is probably off molesting Alex... again."

Hel frowned. "She actually called you? That's odd. She's never done that before, I wonder why she would do that now? Sorry about that Mikael. She's probably more pissed that I just disappeared in the middle of her rant than the fact the Garm is missing again."

Mikael said, "She didn't even mention you, Hel. She demanded that I tell her where Garm was. Like I care... being a cat. How is Katrina doing? She's not here, so we can say that."

Hel chuckled. "She's good, she was training when I was there and Reena's dad called asked if she was there. What is it with people calling other people looking for other people that those people have no idea where they are?"

Lionel looked in and said, "It must be one of those days. By the way, Mark and Andrew just pulled up in front of the bunkhouse. And Andrew looks kinda cute."

Mikael smiled. "Hel, looks like you get to meet Mark's pen pal Andrew. I hope Andrew isn't anti-cat."

Hel grinned, "I hope he's not freaked out by half-naked gods"

Kevin glared at the bully he had pulled him off of the younger kid. 'Don't loose your cool,' he thought to himself.

"Who do you think you are?" the bully demanded, getting up in Kevin's face.

"Just back off. I don't want to have to hurt you," Kevin said between clenched teeth.

The last thing Kevin remembered before waking up at home with his mom looking over him, was the bully spitting in his face.

"Hi, Mom. What's up?" Kevin asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"It's a good thing I always keep an inner eye on you," she said. "I thought I told you to watch yourself at school?"

Kevin sat up. "I couldn't let that guy keep picking on that kid."

"Lucky for you that you didn't do anything too major to him," she said, turning away. "I have to get back to the office. Why don't you go to Mikael's for awhile," she said as she walked out the door.

Kevin smiled and vanished out of the house, appearing in Mikael's living room. "Hi, Lionel. What's up?"

Lionel smiled at Kevin. "Hi Kevin... you don't look so good. Are you okay?" Lionel brought Kevin some tea. "Mikael and Hel went out to greet Mark and Andrew at the bunkhouse. I think Alex was taking his driver's test today. Trina is practicing and Reena's dad is on the warpath again. I don't know where the others are."

"Thanks Lionel," Kevin said, sipping the tea. "I was protecting a kid from a bully and I kinda lost it so Mom told me to come out here for a while."

Lionel grinned. "Your mom actually SENT you here? She must be slipping. Ivan hasn't been out here in 2 weeks. Is the boy someone you like? Is he cute?"

Mark and Andrew entered the main house with Mikael and Hel. Mark and Andrew were explaining what they had seen at the Toy Factory.

Mark said, "It was ghastly and horrifying."

Andrew added, "It looked mad that we were taking a toy from the factory."

"I think she was foreseeing doing some damage control. And I don't really know the kid, I just wasn't going to stand by and watch some blow hard bully pick on the kid," Kevin fumed, drinking the rest of the tea.

Vinnie opened the door. "Well, this is a surprise. Come on in," he said, motioning toward the spacious living room. "To what do I owe this visit?" he asked Vicky.

"I was hoping you could help me with my dreams. And my powers," she said, sinking down onto the plush, overstuffed armchair.

"I was wondering when you'd come to me. What took you so long?" Vinnie asked, producing ice cold colas from the kitchen.

Vicky took one. "Thanks. To be honest I never even thought of you. Alex is the one who suggested I come to you," she said, indicating Alex.

Vinnie smiled at Alex. "Is that right?"

Alex stood beside Garm. "That's right, Vinnie. Can you help Vicky with her problem?" Alex pulled out a brush and started brushing Garm's fur coat.

"All right, Vicky. Tell me about the dreams first," Vinnie said, sitting across from Vicky.

Vicky sighed. "I'm not sure if I can. When I try to recall them it's like trying to grab smoke. I remember flashes of a book of some sort, full of symbols instead of words. It's like I'm reading the book but it doesn't make any sense to me. And then I'm in some kind of darkness. Suspended is a better description of the sensation I suppose. There is no ceiling, floor, or walls, and there is no light anywhere. Then suddenly everything is blindly bright and intensely hot. It feels like my flesh is being boiled off, but there isn't any water involved. It all happens so fast, like it's in fast forward. I usually only get about ten to fifteen minutes of sleep when I manage to get any sleep at all. And that doesn't even begin to address the new problem of the powers that I seem to have no control over." Vicky finished, drinking the cola.

Vinnie hmed. "Well, I would say you are seeing flashes from several different past lives all run together. Like someone took a movie strip and spliced together scenes that aren't supposed to go together," he explained, considering what she had told him.

"Oh great. So does that mean I need to do some time travelling?" she joked.

He smiled. "I don't think the Time Authority would let you get away with that."

Alex grinned, as he brushed Garm's coat. "Screw them. They aren't the ones having these dreams. So if you aren't suggesting Time Travel, then perhaps you are suggesting Hypnosis? As in hypnotizing Vicky to help her puzzle out her problem?"

Vinnie grinned. "Time travel wouldn't be a good course of action for the simple fact that it would almost impossible to go to every location at the same time to witness the events as they progress. Hypnosis, while a possibility, may be a bit dangerous because it might unlock something that isn't ready to be unlocked yet if Vicky can't control it. Does that make sense?" he asked.

"Makes sense to me," Vicky grumbled. "So what are you suggesting?"

He smiled again. "How much do you know about your mother?"

Vicky spewed cola, coughed and sputtered, and then blinked several times. "Say WHAT?"

"I believe that the basis of your problems lie within the unknown quantity of your mother," Vinnie clarified, handing Vicky a towel. "So why don't you ask your brother?"

"Which brother?" she asked, wiping up the mess.

"Victor."

Alex continued brushing Garm's coat. "I was under the understanding that Vicky's siblings never ever asked about their mother. How are we to know if they will tell Vicky the truth?"

Vicky was shaking her head. "No way! You are out of your mind if you think that for one minute I'm going to ask Victor anything!"

Vinnie sat back and folded his hands. "The way I see it is if you want answers, TRUE answers, Victor is the ONLY one you can ask. Your father will lie to you, Tim doesn't have a clue himself so he can't help you, and Michael, for all intents and purposes, is the only normal one of you so he can't help you either. Or didn't you ever wonder why he joined up with the Navy?" Vinnie paused as he stood and placed his hand on Vicky's shoulder. "Victor is the oldest. And, if I'm not mistaken, he was actually raised by your mother until Michael came along. It was then that your father came to Earth, bringing the boys with him. Michael was a baby, but Victor was old enough to know what was going on, and remember it vividly."

"So did Daddy go and visit Mom to keep popping out kids or did she come here?" Vicky asked.

"You'll have to ask Victor the specifics. I've told you all I can," Vinnie said, pulling out a card from his rolodex. He handed the card to Vicky. "When you want to know what Victor knows, call that number and ask for him. He doesn't like to talk on the phone but he'll make an exception for you. And why you're at it, ask him why you two are named alike when there is so many years between your births."

Vicky looked at the card in her hand. It was a Chicago detective's card. She was beginning to think that Vinnie had lost his mind. Ask Victor. 'Yea, right,' she thought.

"I think we need to get over to Mikael's. I feel a meeting coming on," Vinnie said, looking in the general direction of Mikael's home.

Alex hummed. "That sounds like something that might be getting ready to happen. I wonder what this meeting is about? It's been 2 weeks since our last gathering..." He mounted up on Garm and glanced at Vicky and Vinnie. "Want to ride the Garm Express, or will the two of you be teleporting?"

"I'm riding with you," Vicky said, climbing up on Garm.

"I'll see you there," Vinnie said, and then vanished.

"I'm not sure if he was any help or not," Vicky muttered.

Alex spurred Garm into a run. "At least Vinnie suggested that you call Victor and not personally visit him. I wonder what the meeting is going to be about."

At Mikael's place, Reena was tired and upset that her father had called. "He has no right to keep me on a leash!"

Out front of the house, a rush of air heralded Genie's and Grim's arrival, as well as, the complaints.

Genie growled, "I don't care what Horus wanted! I don't bow and scrape to no one!"

Grim sighed. "You are way too picky, Genie. You know I can't find you a life here in San Francisco."

Genie growled again, "You mean you WON'T find me one!"

Inside the house, Mikael said, "Sounds like Genie and Grim are back."

Erina walked in followed by Trina. "Look who I picked up along the way," she said.

"What's up?" Trina asked, walking over to Reena. She playfully kicked Reena in the butt. "Go home. Good, that's out of the way, we can get down to business."

Suddenly, a man dressed in red futuristic armor appeared in the middle of the living room.

Mikael exclaimed, "Doctor Crimson? What are you doing in my living room?"

Doctor Crimson lifted his pale red goggles and replied, "Ivan Kingsley asked me to come here. He cannot come because he is installing security systems in England. So, this time, you get the scientific know how of another retired super villain. Me. My wife in the 23rd century sends her regards. What a nymphomaniac! This is a vacation for me."

Mikael chuckled. "Very well, Crimson. I hope you don't regret accepting Ivan's request to help us. For we are Hazardous Materials."

"WOW! Now that suit of armor kicks ass!" Trina exclaimed.

Erina rolled her eyes. "You are easily impressed," she said.

"So Ivan is installing security systems in England in the 23rd century?" Kevin asked, obviously the only one present who caught on to the explanation.

Doctor Crimson shook his head. "I apologize if it came across that way, Kevin. Ivan is in this century installing a system in Linda Star's mansion. Ivan sent me a beacon and I answered his call. If Ivan was in the 23rd century, he'd find out that the Kingsley Security Systems had long corporately took over Carrington Security Systems. And I don't think Ivan needs any unfair help... not to mention what the Time Authority would say about it."

Mikael nodded his muzzle. "I've dealt with them as I know all too well."

"Oh, well, that makes sense then," Kevin replied.

"Ok, then," Erina interjected, "what's going on now?"

Genie and Grim came inside, at the same time that Alex, Vicky, and Garm arrived.

Then Mark stepped to center stage.

"This is Andrew Rook. He's a pen pal friend of mine from the East Coast. His parents are getting a divorce so he came to live out here with us. Mikael is being nice enough to give one of the bunkhouses on the property to Andrew. Anyway, on the way here, we had to stop at a Toy Factory so I could pick up an order my parents made for my lovely sister... you know the one... when we got the toy from the storage room, we saw this horrible specter and needless to say, I got myself and Andrew out of there."

Mikael then said, "Because it would take a lot to put a scare into the son of a Magic Mansion magician, I think this should be our next mission. And the next two missions I have been thinking about, but we'll get into those later. Does anyone know anything about the Happy Day Toy Factory?"

Everyone seemed to consider it for a moment, then Trina said, "Isn't that the factory that produced the 'Wiggle Worms'? It was kind of a really lame toy. I thought it was shut down years ago because they went bankrupt."

Alex replied, "Another Toy Factory bought the place and use the old factory as a storage facility. Though the factory hasn't run since the Wiggle Worms fiasco, like Trina said."

"You know," Erina began, "I recall hearing something about that. Didn't the original owners cover up some, less than appropriate, working conditions that caused quite a few accidents? And the real reason they went bankrupt was because they paid off the families of the workers who got hurt so they wouldn't turn them in. Not that it mattered much, they went under anyway."

Grim said, "That is what happened. I hate to add to the conversation... but being the specter of death, I can verify that no one has died there, therefore... this haunting is not supernatural in origin. Therefore, you should be able to puzzle out the rest of this on your own. I have to head over to a volcanic region where 130,000 people are about to die." And he abruptly vanished from view.

Genie whewed. "Thank goodness he's gone. He tried to shaft me off on Horus as a servant girl."

Lionel exclaimed, "You're kidding! You?"

Andrew stepped off into the kitchen to get himself a glass of kool-aid. "I know Mark warned me... but his friends are pretty strange.... Not Mikael and Lionel and Hel... but the others are just weird." He took a drink of his kool-aid.

"Oh, good lord," Vicky sighed. "Does that mean we've got some disgruntled somebody or other playing with smoke and mirrors and wires? Let's just blow the place up."

"Boy somebody is crabby," Trina said.

Kevin chuckled. "I vote we go over there and check things out. Maybe someone is looking for something that got left behind and they are just trying to scare anyone away that might come across them."

Vinnie glared at Vicky. "We do not blow things up unless it is completely unavoidable."

Reena grinned. "I'm with Vicky! Let's toast the place!"

Doctor Crimson hummed. "Perhaps I could supply your search team with some activity monitors and other scientific equipment. I promised Ivan that I'd let you guys do all the fun stuff on your own, so I have to honor my word to Ivan."

Alex said, "Garm and I will go back to the Hazard Corporation and dig through the files to see what we can dig up on a list of everyone who used to be employed at the factory."

Mark irked. "I guess the rest of us get to go tour a toy factory..."

"Sorry, Alex, but I'm afraid that Garm has to go home and return to work," Hel said, stopping them. "You know it's bad when Hela starts calling people and ranting at them when he is missing."

Trina playfully poked Mark with her elbow. "What are you afraid of? You're a magician for crying out loud!"

Alex awwwed. "Hel... You know Garm is just going to find a way to return and be here for the end of the mystery. But I guess you have a point, Hel. I honestly don't know why Garm keeps coming to where I'm at. When you and Hela figure it out, maybe you can stop it." He turned to Garm and patted his neck. "Sorry old buddy... Hel is making you go home. I hope you enjoyed the Ice Cream." And then, Alex headed out of the house.

Mark replied to Trina. "You didn't see this thing. And I am normally the guy who knows illusions."

Reena patted Vicky on the shoulder. "We'll have some fun sooner or later."

Mikael hummed. "Shall we get this show started?"

Doctor Crimson began distributing the activity and lifesign detection units to the teenagers, and explaining their usage. "Don't take any foolish chances, my friends. Ivan would have my hide if you took unnecessary chances."

Genie coughed. "Too late for me, Crimson. I'm already dead."

Lionel entered the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table where Andrew was sitting. "They'll get to the bottom of this mystery. They're good at what they do."

Andrew sipped his kool-aid. "I certainly hope so. I hope you don't mind my staying here while they go explore an old factory."

Lionel replied, "Mikael asked me to stay here with you, so it's not like I mind... I've been asked to stay here and practice my spell casting lessons."

"Oh come on, Mark. You said you high-tailed it outta there pronto. Therefore, you couldn't have gotten a very good look at the thing. So let's go get the scary baddie and kick its butt," Trina said, taking one of Doctor Crimson's gadgets.

Vicky sighed. "If it turns out to be some jackass, I'm going to feed them to Victor," and she walked out the door.

Reena headed out with Vicky, while Genie offered to help Hel take Garm home.

Mark and Mikael headed out to Mikael's Witch-Van, where they loaded up Mark's motorbike, and then, Mikael said, "All aboard who's up to hunting some toy ghosts!"

Hel, Genie, and Garm disappeared without a trace.

"Now that is Groovy," Erina said, sliding onto the passenger seat. "I'll be good and let you drive," she winked.

Mikael began the drive down to the Toy Factory.

Mark said, "I hope I'm not in for some embarrassment."

"It's understandable why you'd get out of there quick, considering you did have a civilian with you," Vinnie said. "You'd feel worse if you'd stuck around and he ended up getting hurt."

Vicky stared out the window. She was thinking about Victor. A shudder ran up her spine, she couldn't stop it, at the thought of having to talk to him, even over the phone.

In Hela's Realm, Genie was examining the obviously broken chain that Garm seemed to be able to break loose from each and every time. This chain appears to have some sort of weakening acid on it. If this is true, then someone is freeing Garm on purpose. And every time Hel gets the blame by Hela.

Hel and Hela were in a stormy and heated argument in ancient Scandanavian so Genie couldn't understand a word that was said between them. She did seem to get the feeling that Hel had called his sister many unpleasant names quite frequently throughout the argument.

Then Hel grabbed Genie (being a god he could easily grab the dead) and left Asgard, appearing in the Witch-Van.

Mikael winked at the two arrivals. "Glad you both could join us. How did it go with the return of Garm?"

Genie was quiet but very thoughtful and didn't voice her suspicions.

Mark sighed. "I've seen some freaky things, guys... but that... spook was extremely well done."

Reena said, "Don't beat yourself over it, Mark. You couldn't let your friend be in the line of fire. You had to get him out of there."

Alex was busy in the Hazard information vaults trying to find the data that the team needed. He was by himself, though that wasn't always the most fun in the data vaults. "I sure wish Garm could've come along. I wonder how he keeps getting loose?"

Hel merely fumed. Not a pretty sight to be sure. His white half seemed brighter and his dark half darker. He looked as if he could happily rip whatever spook they came across into a million shards of non existance.

Vicky half-smiled as she continued to ponder her own options.

And an hour later, the Witch-Van rolled up in front of the old toy factory.

Mikael said, "This doesn't look very scary, guys..."

Mark replied, "We're still outside, dunce cat."

Vicky openly laughed at that. "Good one, Mark. Well, lets go kick some spooky ass. It can't be any worse than Victor," she said, offhandedly as she exited the van.

Reena couldn't help the open quick shot and said, "Maybe we'll get lucky and Victor will already be in there!"

Everyone gave Reena a very dirty look! Including Genie! And she's already dead!!

Reena said, "Hey! Someone had to say it!"

Finally they all stood in front of the toy factory. "Well, it doesn't look like much," Kevin said. "Shall we go in?" he asked, indicating that Mark should go first since he had already been there once.

Mark was clearly uneasy about all of this. "Okay guys, follow me. I'll show you the storage room where we turned around and saw the spooky thing." And Mark began walking inside the toy factory again... but he obviously didn't want to have to be here again.

Kevin looked around while sent out mental waves looking for any live brain activity that would indicate someone else was there.

Erina, too, felt creeped out by the place, though she couldn't quite seem to put her finger on why.

Genie reached into a box and pulled out a scary clown mask and held it up to her face and turned to face the others sharply...

''BWAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Mikael hadn't noticed, as he had his X-Ray Vision spell in operation, and he was being NICE not to look at people's clothed bodies. ;)

Vicky rolled her eyes at Genie and picked up a doll. "Now this is scary," she said, pulling the string that made the baby call for it mom.

Trina was staying close to Mark. "You didn't notice how creepy this place was when you first entered?" she asked, looking at the dust and cobwebs.

Mark replied, "I guess the spiders have been busy since I was here this morning. The storage room is just ahead."

And suddenly, the conveyer belts and toy making machines all turned on without warning!

Reena asked, "Okay... who did that? Cause it's not funny. This place is spooky enough without someone playing games."

"My scans aren't picking up any brain activity other than ours," Kevin said, frowning.

"I really am not liking this one little bit," Erina added.

Hel was looking toward the conveyor belts. "Where's the control room?" he asked.

At that moment, Vicky's cellphone started doing it's thing. It was the ringtone she had set for Alex... The Twilight Zone.

Mikael turned to the others, then blushed as he quickly turned off the X-Ray Vision spell. "Maybe Alex has some sort of info for us."

"What's up, Alex?" Vicky asked, not paying any attention to Mikael. "I hope it's good because this place is weirding us all out."

Alex replied, "I have 2 things for you guys. First of all, I am sending you an attachement map of the Toy Factory. That should help you guys get around in there. Secondly, I am forwarding you a list of everyone who had anything remotely possible to do with the Toy Factory within it's last week."

Alex then sighed, "Now for the bad news... My dad caught me here in the Hazard Vaults, and now... I am being forced to spend the rest of the day with him in a..." SHUDDERS "...business meeting for the corporation... So... I wish you luck and I might see you guys tomorrow. Sometimes I hate being a Hazard. Bye."

And the cell phone call ended... which probably meant that Mr. Hazard was standing right there.

Vicky sighed, then she relayed the information to everyone. "I'll have to go out to the van to print off the map and the list so I'll be right back. Try not to start anything without me OK?" she said, heading for the exit.

Genie hummed. "I think I'll pull the old ghost toastie thing and see about finding the switch for the overhead lights, guys." And with that, Genie walked off through a solid wall without a trace.

Mark brrred. "I hate it when she does that. So what do we do now, guys?"

Reena said, "It's times like this that I wish we had a great dane with us." ;)

Mikael said, "Hey! You have a cat! What more do you want?"

Trina shuddered. "This place is really creeping me out, and that is saying something. I hope Genie can find the lights pretty soon."

"We may be better off if we can't see what's around us," Vinnie said ominously.

Genie's voice emitted from the walls. "Vinnie has a point. I just found a room with crates of that old horrid toy called Glack... you know the stuff. It's dark purple and feels like wet snot."

Mark's stomach about lost it when Genie said that. "I didn't need that described to me!!!"

Vinnie laughed. "See what I mean. I don't particularly want to see cat puke either."

"Now that's just wrong," Erina said. "Where is the room where you picked up your sister's present?"

Mark quickly walked forward. "It's this way. You know... it wasn't nearly this dark when Andrew and I were here this morning."

Reena walked after Mark, not wanting to be around Glack.

Mikael hummed, as he cast a sudden light spell into the rafters above them. And boy, when he did that, the bats lofting up there went nuts and went flying and screeching everywhere!!!

Genie grinned from the room she was in. "Hey! I haven't seen a Bad Mouthed Bunny in ages!" She pulled the cord on the bunny's back and the recorded voice said, "Up yours, buddy!" Genie laughed, as she packed up her new find and kept searching!

"Well, it is evening now," Trina said.

"Good job, Mikael," Erina said, watching the bats warily.

Just then Vicky came back in with the map and the info that Alex had forwarded. "Here's the map guys," she said, as she looked over the employee list. "Check this stuff out."

Reena replied, "Thank goodness. The guys are freaking me out on purpose. If they don't want me to flame up, they better quit it. What do you have, Vicky?"

"Well, apparently, this was a hopping place in the past week," Vicky said, handing the list to Mark. "And according to the blueprints of the building there are alot more hidey holes in this place that what you might think."

Everyone, except Genie, gathered around as Vicky spread out the map.

Mark pointed at a certain square on the map. "That's where I picked up my sister's toy and saw the whatever it was..."

Mikael hummed. "That room is roughly another 200 feet over that direction. We're all standing right here." He pointed a spot on the map between the Betsy Wetsy machine and the Scary Caring machine. "Scary Caring was a flopped series of toys based on the bad qualities that were the opposite of the Care Bears. It sold a lot on the Halloween that it was released, but afterwards, it was attacked by the Angry Mothers group for promoting bad traits that might lead children astray. Like... Bad Mouthed Bunny. I think that's the one that sold the most. It taught kids naughty words."

Reena gasped, "You're kidding! I need one of those, then! I might learn some new naughty words that my dad hasn't used over the telephone yet!" ;)

Vicky rolled her eyes. "You know, you're lucky that your dad is even around. Unlike my father who just took off to do God knows what, God knows where, and left me to be raised by my brothers," she vented. "Sorry, guys, I'm just tired," she apologized, sighing.

"OK. Well, lets go on and check out the room where you saw the spook and see if we can't scare it up again," Hel said. "Get it? Scare it up?" he laughed.

Mark said, "Not funny, Hel. Or would you rather I dump Glack on you?" He set off again. "It's this way... and watch your step... I don't want anyone to trip and fall into the Gift Wrapping machine."

Unbeknownst to the group, a jeep pulled up outside of the factory, and a man in dark clothes grabbed his flashlight, his gun, and together with the other man he arrived with, they entered the now noisy Toy Factory...

Genie grinned as she phased through a section of wall into an office with a circuit box. "This ought to help the guys see." And she pulled the lever for the MAIN LIGHTS! And as she did, all of the lights in the factory came on brightly!!

And that's when the guys approaching the room saw the horrid Glack covered apparition hurtling straight at them, wailing and giggling like a mad man!

"OH DAMN!!!" Vinnie said.

Trina screamed a primal cat sounding scream that made everyone hair stand on end.

"Blast it!" yelled Vicky.

"It had to be Glack," Erina mumbled, disgusted.

Mikael yelled, "Don't touch the stuff with your skin, or you'll have the willies for weeks!"

Reena shouted, "FLAME ON!" And her body lit up like a forest fire!

Mark was already casting his spell, "GUST OF WIND!"

And the apparition thing was thrown backwards against a wall, where it splattered with the wet sickening sound of wet gloppy snotty ooze striking a surface... and the smell was that of rotting eggs.

The first mystery man whispered, "Your daughter just screamed. And mine flamed up. They're over there."

The second man nodded. "I'm not sure if it was a disgusted scream or a battle scream."

"!TSALB CITCRA!" Vinnie cast, freezing the Glack covered spook to the wall.

At that moment, police cars started arriving outside of the Toy Factory.

Genie suddenly phased out of the wall to rejoin the others. "I don't know who called the police, guys, but there are about 4 police cars out front."

Mark whewed. "There is a god! Oh, sorry Hel. I just want to get out of here. But... if there is someone inside that spook costume, then how come Kevin couldn't detect them. The guy is human and alive, isn't he?"

Mikael hummed and did the X-Ray Vision thing again. "Ah ha... he's wearing some super high tech device under his hood that blocks people from detecting the guy's presence or activity. But you know what we forgot to use, guys?" And he pulled out one of Crimson's Detection Units. "Dr. Crimson supplied us with these things, but we didn't use them. 23rd century technology could easily thwart 21st century technology." He aimed the device at the frozen spook and it detected the spook immediately. "And ta da! The spook is detected. But before we unmask him, we have to wait for the police to get in here... and that means that Mr. Cat needs to amscray. I don't want to have to explain why a humanoid cat is here. Coming Hel?" And Mikael teleported out and into the safety of the Witch-Van.

Reena said, "I hate it when he does that."

Hel vanished without a trace.

"Well, who in the world called the police?" Vicky asked. "I know it wasn't Alex because his dad was torturing him."

Trina tilted her head to the side. "Who cares? I mean really, I just wish they'd hurry up so they can unmask this guy. I don't want to touch the glack."

Just then, a voice that would assuredly make Reena eep in fear spoke... "I called them," said Mr. Dalton. "Just before I called Mr. Tracker. You, young lady, are in deep doo. Just wait until I get you home."

Reena said, "Um, I can explain! They needed me! Honest!"

Then the police came flocking into the chamber.

Mark said, "Ladies and gentlemen... I give you the Glack Phantom... the person who's been scaring people away from the Toy Factory." And with that, Mark cast a shatter spell on the head part of the frozen spook, causing the mask to fall to pieces immediately!

One of the Police Officers said, "Why... that's Slippery Pete. He escaped from prison about a month ago. He was involved in a jewelry robbery and the jewels were never recovered."

Genie exclaimed, "So that's it! He hid the jewels in this Toy Factory and when he came to get them, he couldn't find them. So he discovered the old Glack storage room and came up with the idea to make a Glack Phantom and use it to scare people away, just so he could search for the jewels."

Slippery Pete growled, "I would've gotten away with it, too, if this kid magician and his friend hadn't shown up."

The police officer asked, "Where'd you hide the jewels?"

Slippery Pete replied, "Inside a Bad Mouthed Bunny toy, but when I went to look for the toy, it was gone. And I've been searching for it ever since."

Genie held up her Bad Mouthed Bunny toy and shook it. The sound of jewels were heard in the toy's rear end. Genie then opened the back of the toy and pulled out a bag and handed the bag to the police. Then she repaired and closed the toy.

The policeman open the bag and sure enough, there was the jewels. "Where you're going, the only horrors you'll be dealing with is the Glack we're going to have you neck deep in at the prison." And the officers peeled Slippery Pete off the wall, slapped the cuffs on him, and led him away.

Mark was looked at Vicky's employees list again. "I knew that sounded familiar. Peter Bonne. Obviously an assumed name so he'd remember where he hid the jewels. I guess that wraps up the mystery."

Reena was whining because her father slapped handcuffs on Reena's wrists, behind her back.

Mr. Dalton growled, "When we get home, your mother is going to have some words with you..." And he began to drag her off...

Reena yelled, "No! Not mom! Help! Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hi, Dad," Trina said.

"You'll be happy to know that I have found another tutor for you. And this one should actually prove to be a challenge for you. He's taught royalty all over the universe," Mr. Tracker said, grinning evilly.

"Oh no," Vinnie said. "I feel sorry for you, Trina."

"Gee thanks," she muttered, following her father out.

Kevin was frowning. "That doesn't explain where he got that sophisticated helmet to keep him from being detected."

Genie said, "It's government issue equipment, Kevin. Surely you don't need a road map to figure out who obviously has her fingers in something, do you? And you just HAPPENED to be sent to Mikael's house, on purpose, too... Coincidence? I don't think so..."

Kevin fumed and disappeared.

Vinnie cast a thawing spell at Slippery Pete and helped the police get him down. He watched them lead him away before turning back to the others. "I think we need to get back to Mikael's."

Mark said, "I think that might be a good idea. We left Lionel and Andrew alone together up there."

Genie grinned. "What's wrong with that, Mark? Lionel has no interest in other boys... unlike you do." She then laughed!

Mark just blushed, as he headed out of the Toy Factory toward the Witch-Van.

Genie grinned at Vinnie. "Well, it's true. Even though Mark dates Trina on and off, every time we have a meeting, he's looking directly at Lionel."

Vinnie merely shrugged. "I think it has more to do with the whole mystical/magical attributes that they have in common."

"Darn, we didn't get to blow up anything," Vicky said, frowning.

After a jolly little drive back up the coast, the team reconvened at Mikael's house. Mikael served up refreshments and goodies, while Genie sat off to the side, with the Bad Mouthed Bunny in her lap, pondering something.

Mark exchanged some magical information with Lionel, while Andrew watched TV in the living room, staying out of everyone's way.

Doctor Crimson conversed with Vinnie about the events that had occurred, recording the information so that Ivan could read about the adventure later. Then, Crimson bid the team goodbye and teleported out of the house.

That's when a shiny red convertible pulled up in front of the house and honked it's horn three times! Alex was sitting behind the steering wheel, as he shouted, "Hey Vicky! Want to go tear up some back streets and show off my new car?"

Vicky smiled. "So maybe his dad wasn't torturing him. I'll see you guys later!" she shouted, running out the door and hopping onto the passenger seat. "Let's see what this baby can do!"

As Alex and Vicky sped off, Mikael got a call on his crystal ball.

Of course, it was Hela again. And of course, Garm was off his chain again.

Mikael said, "Alex and Vicky just left in Alex's new convertible car, and no, Garm isn't in the back seat. But I am sure Garm will appear sooner or later. Maybe you should be trying to find out how Garm keeps getting loose. You have to know that Hel isn't doing it. You think he wants you getting mad at him? I know... the moment Garm shows up, I'll let you know."

Hel exchanged glances with Vinnie. "I've been with you guys all afternoon so you know I didn't let Garm loose."

Mikael then walked over to the window and gazed out at the convertible as it got further and further away... when suddenly...

Garm appeared in the back seat!

Mikael face-slapped himself, as he walked over to the crystal ball again. "Hela? Hel? Garm just appeared! He's riding in the back seat of Alex's new car!"

The scene then scrolled skyward, and the ending credits began to scroll past...

**End of Episode Two: The Haunted Toy Factory

Stay tuned for Episode Three: The Mystery of Garm's Chain**