"Baba! Baba!!" It was a child's high-pitched attempt at a bellow.

"Baba got lost again!" A'Yuan humphed as he stomped his five year old self down the road. He was dressed for the New Year celebrations. A silk robe and a small jade pendant of a rabbit for his birth year. For once, his hair was combed and carefully styled. He looked like the son of a nobleman.

Watching from the forest edge, a man waited. He specialized in selling children. Stealing them from one town and selling them in horrible condition in another. He was the epitome of evil for evil's sake.

In A'Yuan, he saw easy pickings with profit to be had off his possessions as well. A rarity in his business.

He waited, slinking closer until A'Yuan was level with him. He could hear the child muttering to himself about sending Tofu and Rhubarb to find silly Baba.

He leaped out and grabbed A'Yuan, who promptly bit him with very sharp teeth. A squeal and the boy was dropped.

A'Yuan glared at the man who had now stopped shaking his hand and was attempting to grab the dodging boy.

"Go away or Tofu and Rhubarb will eat you!" he yelled.

"Whatever, kid. Come here!!"

A'Yuan put a dozen feet between him and the man before reaching into his robe. What he pulled out was a monstrosity of toy making. It was a lumpy stuffed rabbit with two heads.

"Tofu! Rhubarb! He is very, very bad! You may eat him." A'Yuan said as he sat the two-headed rabbit in the road. "Tell your friends they can come too. He is kind of fat. If you eat all of him, you'll be sick."

His voice was calm. Matter of fact.

The man guffawed. The brat had a helluva imagination!

"You are one crazy kid, but you'll sell just like all the rest." he was still laughing as lunged at the boy.

A'Yuan backed away again and started whistling. It was a bright, happy little tune but off somehow. Like drinking a glass of milk and discovering there was a huge bug in the bottom.

The ruffian paused but saw no one. He looked around again and - wait, wasn't the stupid rabbit thing further away a minute go? He leaned over and picked it up. It was made of rather drab, mismatched pieces of material carefully sewn. The eyes were embroidered on with incredible realism. Who would make something like this? He shuddered involuntarily.

In the periphery, he could hear rustling. As if small creatures were moving through the underbrush. Behind him, the weirdo brat was still whistling his creepy little tune.

Crawling out of the forest was an army. Toys all as grotesque as the fucked up two-headed rabbit were crawling, running, slouching and wiggling right at him with an astounding speed. An adorable puppy with too many legs romped forward. A slug with a seahorse head wriggled toward him in horrifying lurches. A cat with one leg and spikes on his back hopped happily.

They were only the first wave.

Frozen in his disbelief and terror, soon he was surrounded.

In his hand, something began to writhe. He had forgotten he was holding what was apparently Tofu and Rhubarb. He tried to drop the creature but it clung to his hand and smiled. Two identical smiles lined with an inordinate number of teeth.

He shrieked. Looking frantically at the other plushies, the man saw countless variations of the same toothy smile. He began to shake.

The whistling stopped.

Abruptly.

The man screamed.

Briefly.
-----

It wasn't long after that A'Yuan was patting all of his wonderful toys and thanking them for saving him. He also asked a few of the wisest if they had seen his Baba. Seems like his Baba was only a little ways behind him, so if he waited, his Baba should be there soon.

A few whistled notes and the bizarre toys began to move back into the forest.

"I'll be home soon!" he assured them with a wave.

He moved away from the red smears in the grass to sit on the other side of the road. Patting Tofu and Rhubarb, he realized both had red smears on their faces. Pulling a leaf off the nearest tree, he wiped them up as much as he could while lecturing them about eating messy.

"A'Yuan! A'Yuan!!" came a frantic yell.

"Here, Baba!!" A'Yuan waved smiling.

"Oh my little radish!! Where did you go? Don't run off like that!" the Yiling Patriarch exclaimed as he scooped up his son.

"I didn't run off. Baba got losted again. That's okay. Tofu and Rhubarb saved me from the bad man and with all their friends, they ate him up!" A'Yuan giggled as his father tossed him skyward.

"Then I owe Tofu and Rhubarb a thanks for taking such good care of my little radish. Shall we say a piece of candy for each of them?"

"Mn!"

"Well then, let's hurry or we'll be late for the festivities!"

A'Yuan was plonked onto his Baba's shoulders and off they went. He turned and blew kisses at his plushies peering out of the foliage.

Later that night, he carefully laid two candies in front of Tofu and Rhubarb, reminding them to eat nicely.

In the morning, the Yiling Patriarch smiled at his sleeping son. His boy had obviously gotten up and quietly eaten the candies during the night. But how did A'Yuan manage to make such ragged teethmarks in the wrappers though?
~♡~♡~♡~

Lulu🐱🌈✨️ is writing another wonderful story (link below) and had a magnificent line about A'Yuan's Army of Mutant Toys.

This little oneshot is the result.

😁😁😁

❤️🍫🫖❤️

The link! Give it a peek! So fun!!

https://twitter.com/yallahabiba/status/1678797588705730560?s=19