Pinocchio's Family - Secret of the Ringmaster

Chapter 1 - Geppetto Loses a Dream

Pleasure Island Collidi, Italy 1882:

The last three months of 1881 were very eventful for Geppetto, his adoptive older boy who was once a donkey and his adoptive younger boy who was once a puppet. It started out with the afore mentioned puppet coming to life in response to a wish upon a star and it came to fruition several months, two boys, four distinct worlds and two Monstros later in what he was looking on now from a see through part of the circular stained glass window that was the target of bricks from boys destined to be salt mine and circus donkeys. What was outside it was a now truly happy place where orphans and unwanted children went to school and helped to run the great carnival midway to provided the money to sustain the place. As opposed to other orphanages and workhouses Gepetto saw to it that Pleasure Island would be as much like a large family as possible and not just another drab beurocratic State institution that didn't care for its charges.

Indeed Geppetto's adoptive sons Romeo who was more popularly known as Lampwick and Pinocchio the former puppet were encouraged to attend school and Junior Woodchuck meetings on the connected Pleasure Islands rather than on the mainland of either of the worlds of which they were a part. Their duck boy friends. Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck and Doofus McQuack also started attending Junior Woodchucks meetings in the Pleasure Island Duckburg meeting house so that they could remain in a patrol with their new friends from the other world. Pinocchio even continued to perform I've Got No Strings as a guest performer

In Stromboli's puppet shows from time to time and still made good money for the operation at it as people realized that even though he was a real boy now he was originally the stringless puppet they had enjoyed before and still had his spirit.

It was a week after Christmas in the beginning of the first month of 1882 for the Collodi world that the bad news came. That news was that someone was making a legal claim on Pleasure Island Collodi. That someone however seemed to be a complete unknown. The claim was being made by the usual holding company with no traceable address that indicated a crooked reason was behind it. However the mysterious claimant promised to keep the island operating in the purpose that Geppetto set for it.

The claimant became obvious when he showed up with a Collodi policeman and an eviction notice. Like the policeman the claimant wore a uniform but it was of a marching band style and was topped with a yellow short crowned top hat. He was also of East African origin. The claimant was the Ringmaster.

"Sorry, Geppetto." the Policeman said. "It turns out that the city had no right to sell this place to you. "We did not know of this adoptive son of the Coachman when we did. Since he can not be implicated in any of the Coachman's now well known crimes. He is however making no claims on the Pleasure Island on the other side of your barrel ride."

The cop then whispered into Geppetto's ear. "I recommend that you go to the other side of the barrel ride. This creep is going to commit a crime sooner or later and when he does the city and the charities tied to this island will see to it that your claim is validated again."

"But why doesn't he want both of the Islands?", They are pretty much a matched set now. "Geppetto whispered back."

"My guess would be that he heard about that Junior Woodchucks organization that officially owns the other Island from his adoptive father the Coachman and doesn't want to tangle with them in a court of law. They seem to have quite a bit of pull on the other side of that barrel ride for a simple youth club." the policeman returned.

With that the cop went back to the main entrance to Pleasure Island and passed the open oak doors. Geppetto went to an out of action carnival game on the midway and took its barkers megaphone into his hand. "Romeo, Pinocchio, Jiminy, John Worthington, Gideon and Strromboli, meet me at the barrel ride."

The barrel ride was in a white ball shaped building at the center of the park which was essentially the old 8 Ball saloon repainted and refitted to accommodate travel between the Collodi and Duckburg worlds by means of a barrel ride similar to the one on the Duckburg Pleasure Island which was now similarly housed in a white ball shaped building.

Inside the building Geppetto gave the members of his immediate family the bad news. "We've lost the Collodi Pleasure Island. It turns out that the Coachman's adoptive son, the Ringmaster had a prior legal claim to this place. We have to surrender it to him and go to Duckburg."

"But the blue fairy told us we had earned BOTH places." Pinocchio said. "Certainly she will have a way to resolve this."

"Unfortunately the Blue Fairy is not the law." Geppetto returned.

"Well neither is that Ringmaster creep." Jiminy said getting ready to take his usual place under Pinocchio's Tyrolean hat for travel between worlds. "You can bet that he is going to resume the business of turning boys into donkeys and selling them."

"But how could he ever do that?" Lampwick asked. "Magica De Spell's red star was what was responsible got that change and that was destroyed at the end of last year."

"You forget lamp wick," Jiminy said. "This Ringmaster has magic of his own separate from the red star or Magica. Indeed he was probably the source of the magic that always seemed to attract the red star to the Coachman no matter what world he fell into."

"Well," John Worthington said. "I certainly don't want to continue to bark for this place if it is going back into the boy to donkey business."

"I think none of us do." Geppetto said. "That's why I called you all here. We are going to Duckburg and then use that Junior Woodchucks Guidebook modified by the Blue Fairy to try to reset the connection on the Pleasure Island Duckburg barrel ride for my toy making shop in Collodi. I've never renounced ownership to that property and it will be our headquarters in the Collodi world until we can get Pleasure Island back."

With that they all passed into Duckburg's world. Once there they saw Doofus McQuack waiting. "Sorry," Geppetto told Doofus. "The Collodi Pleasure Island has been reclaimed by the Ringmaster. If we want to get back into Collodi's world again we will have to re set this ride for my old Toy making shop. I will Need Huey's Junior Woodchucks Guidebook again. Find Huey and tell him to bring it here bookmarked with the information about Gepetto's toy makers shop bookmarked."

Doofus never came into contact with the Ringmaster but instinctively knew that the person was too dangerous to have charge of Pleasure Island in Collodi for very long. He went to find Huey Immediately.

Huey was with his brothers Dewey and Louie shooting at some moving targets at Lampwick's sling shot shooting gallery when he got the news of the loss of Pleasure Island Collodi from Doofus.

"Looks like we are going into action again." Huey said.

"Sure does," Doofys returned. "Geppetto wants your copy of the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook with the Information about his old toy making shop in Collodi bookmarked."

"He certainly is entitled to it as an adult leader in the Junior Woodchucks but what does he hope to achieve with it."

"A change in the connection from the blue star connection to Pleasure Island Collodi to the toy making shop. He wants to use the old shop as a headquarters on the Collodi side until Pleasure Island can be restored to his possession. My guess is that he will eventually want us to see if the Ringmaster is restoring the Island's old boy to donkey business and if so how."

"I doubt that the Ringmaster is making donkeys out of boys again." Huey returned. "I think he just saw Pleasure Island making a profit in its original use as an amusement park and decided to take it with his legal claim for that reason alone. There is just no way he can be making donkeys from boys without the red star

And that was destroyed months ago."

"But what if there is another method the Ringmaster has of causing the change?" Doofus asked.

"If there is than I'm afraid that Pinocchio and Lampwick have another mission on their hands." Huey said, "And one we can't be involved with since the three duck boys are too well known in Collodi now.

"So are they." Doofus returned.

"Yes but they can be made to resemble ordinary Collodi boys while we can't." Huey said taking the Guidebook out of his uniform pocket and bookmarking the information Geppetto requested. "I sure hope this works. The toy makers shop is the only way of Getting Lampwick and Pinocchio back into Collodi." He gave the book to Doofus. Doofus ran with it in the direction of the ball shaped building covering the barrel ride."

"Here is the book with the information you wanted bookmarked." Doofus said handing it to Geppetto. Already the Blue Fairy's blue star was out of the barrel ride and the Guidebook Replaced it. Geppetto then walked through the ride and found himself in the familiar environs of his toymaker's shop. "It worked!," Geppetto shouted, "Everybody come on over."

"Not us." Huey and Doofus said. "We've already discussed the idea of duck boys in Collodi alerting the Ringmaster that a new connection between the worlds had been made. If he's turning boys into donkeys by some unknown means you guys will have to handle it yourselves.

The first indication of the Ringmaster's possible activities on Pleasure Island occurred when a woman from one of the charities that supported the Island's operations for children when Geppetto ran it came to the toy ship door.

"It's good you've come back from wherever you went when that Ringmaster person took over Pleasure Island. Strange things have been happening there since you were forced out. "Girls and Adults of any kind are now excluded even as amusement park visitors, the school has been closed down and all manner of tobacco, alcohol, gambling games and other such things have been imported to the place. It's really beginning to look the way it was rumored to look on Friday nights when the Coachman owned the place."

"There can be only one conclusion then." Geppetto said to the woman. "The Ringmaster is using the Island for a boy to donkey machine again. The question that has to be answered is how he is doing it. I can reveal now that that phase of the operation is over with that the Coachman used a red magical star to do it but my own sons Pinocchio and Romeo destroyed that star several months ago. It can NOT be the source of the Ringmaster's boy to donkey power if indeed he does have it this time."

"Whatever the source of the Ringmaster's power is he certainly must be stopped in whatever he is doing to boys on that island." the woman said.

"I realize that." Geppetto returned. "And I also realize that I have to put my sons in harm's way to do it again. It once again seems that only boys under twenty one have access to Pleasure Island again."

"Well tell them to be careful over there." the woman returned. "I would really hate to see them become donkeys, puppets or perhaps even worse."

"I would too but there is no other way." Geppetto said. "Pinocchio and Lampwick must face the temptations of the evil version of Pleasure Island again to bring the good one back. The Ringmaster MUST be caught in a crime like making boys into donkeys for me to regain control."

Geppetto then addressed Pinocchio and Lmapwick. "Remember that law enforce spy that we met in the 1971 world, James Bond I think his name was. Well think of yourselves as my James Bonds. You must Infiltrate the Ringmaster's Pleasure Island and find out if he is turning boys into donkeys and if so how."

Preparations for this trip to Pleasure Island were different from any of the ones in the Red Star missions. In this case there was no way Pinocchio could wear either his Junior Woodchuck uniform or his Tyrolean outfit. Both of those were too well known to the Ringmaster. He had to be made to look like the typical orphan or unwanted street urchin yet still have a hat for Jiminy to ride in as both boys considered Jiminy to be indispensable in the environment of a Pleasure Island run by the Coachman or his adoptive son, the Ringmaster. In his new urchin outfit Pinocchio wore long pants for the first time in his life and found them to be rather binding on his legs but also very warm despite their ragged appearance. A raggedy shirt and vest with a derby type hat with a compartment for Jiminy's matchbox and well worn shoes completed Pinocchio's new ensemble. Lampwick was dressed pretty much the same as during his first trip to Pleasure Island when he became a donkey under the power of the red star. After this hiding of their real identities

Pinocchio and Lampwick knew the rest of the procedure by heart by now. Go to the Crossroads, The Coach departs at midnight.