Previously on All My Toys...
With urgent assistance from Batman, Dick Tracy found some helpful data that could lead to Deathstroke's killer. They also had to dodge a bullet from a mystery assailant with a snake tattoo on his arm, all before Dick Tracy raced off to meet Miss M for a date at Dixie's Diner.
Over the past year, Miss M was the odd woman out in a custody trial over Yvie with Bruce Wayne and Moth Lady garnering a 50/50 split custody arrangement. Miss M is allowed one weekend out of the month, and everyone's favorite dorkette makes the most out of each weekend, though Yvie has been requesting to shorten her stay with her mom as she does not want to be far from her dad after watching him collapse on the wedding that never was.
Following the recovery process of his aneurism and being in a coma, Bruce Wayne is unable to remember the last 10 or so years of his life. He doesn't remember being a dad to Yvie, or falling in love with Miss M, among a slew of other things. He has stepped up though to raise Yvie, and is slowly becoming aware of what he can't remember through personal accounts of people in his life.
Miss M's chic apartment...
Big Boy Caprice: Sure, you got a funny joke to tell me?
Yvie: No. Did you know that sometimes a number two can come out sideways?!
Big Boy Caprice: Wha-? What are they teaching you in school?
Miss M: I was a ham, though not as funny as Trevor apparently. And Trevor's mom told the teacher that Trevor has been having issues with constipation, so he decided to create quite a fantastical tale about things that can't happen with the human body. Now, everyone knows far too much about Trevor, a fact he might not like when he gets older.
Yvie: Ok pawpaw. See you later. Love you!
Miss M: I'm gonna say goodbye to pawpaw and then I can get us some lunch ok Yvie?
Big Boy Caprice: Sideways bowel movements eh? Wayne might be spending a little too much on that private school...
Big Boy Caprice: Yeah. I just don't want my granddaughter hearing things she shouldn't from some little oobatz dweeb.
Miss M: Yes, I agree. And thank you for the details about the club, I'll let Glo know she can drop by.
Big Boy Caprice: Of course. Tuesday afternoons the singers all come together for their meeting and rehearsals. I am fine to hire her, that girl can sing. But, Lana is in charge of hiring the talent. I'll make sure it happens though. (winks)
Dick Tracy: Here's what we know. Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke, left behind a notebook. Full of dates, money that was owed to him, and a name, mentioned quite a few times, woman by the name of the Baroness. She's got a rap sheet a mile long.
Dick Tracy: Yes, but I've found a work around. There was a case opened at the end of 2024, a plot to murder Miss M. The description of the would-be murderer fits the Baroness. I called in a witness, the Million Dollar Man, and he confirmed that the Baroness approached him about the plan to murder Miss M. She needed funding. Why this case was shut, I do not understand. There's something off about all of this, but I have my plan now for questioning the Baroness. She owed Deathstroke money, a large amount of money.
Arcee: Ok. Are you concerned with how complicated this is becoming? Especially with the Dark Knight?
Dick Tracy: He certainly follows his own tune. I might not agree with his methods, but I do think he will be a nice resource.
Arcee: Big Boy Caprice has been on a list of people with suspected ties to organized crime.
Dick Tracy: Oh yes, when I came to town, I was tasked with looking into that list but everything changed when Evil-Lyn performed all that chaos with the city.
Arcee: It would appear that at one time, Big Boy worked with Lips Manlis, when Lips was alive.
Miss M: Hey Yvie. I was calling for you to come eat some lunch. You hungry?
Yvie: Mom? If I have something to say, will you promise that you won't get upset?
Miss M: Yvie, you don't have to apologize. Honey, if you ever want to go back to your dad's, or if you wanted to go to Mothma's place, I'm not going to make you stay here.
The role of Bruce Wayne is temporarily being played by Buzz Lightyear.
Bruce Wayne: I appreciate you sharing the information with me about your nonprofit, and my contributions. My assistant informed me we have been meeting annually to go over the progress and how I can continue to support. I'm sure you are aware why we didn't meet last year...
Bruce Wayne: Sure. My assistant filled me in somewhat. You created a shelter to support trans women and men. Providing them housing and a variety of resources, including developing personalized goals for each person's future and employment support. It appears to be a rousing success, but I am curious, how did I end up getting involved with this? And please keep in mind, I am thrilled to be a donor, I just, ya know, memory issues and all.
Dr. Sarah: Thank you. Maya would have loved what we have done. I think of her daily. And, everything has paid off. We are making a difference in the community. I've even been in contact with a non-profit on the west coast who is wanting to replicate what we have done, and expand it across the country.
Bruce Wayne: Wow. So this is becoming an even bigger thing than expected.
Dr. Sarah: Oh right. I forget your memory. Miss M, she worked with me on this and helped present it to you. You didn't just contribute to this shelter, but my boyfriend and I, we were all friends. I was even at the wedding. With my medical background, I jumped in to assist when you collapsed, before the ambulance arrived.
Bruce Wayne: Ah, he's a Ghostbuster. I've seen his commercials. Wow, he and I are friends?
Dr. Sarah: She's been ok. I haven't gotten to spend much time with her lately, I've been a little busy with the shelter and my medical work.
Dr. Sarah: Uhh...
Bruce Wayne: Yeah. It's interesting. I just don't have that same connection now.
Dr. Sarah: Oh, I didn't know you knew. I'm surprised she told you.
Bruce Wayne: (notices phone light up) Oh wait a minute, I have a voice mail from her. (listens to voice mail) I'm so sorry Sarah, I missed a call. M needs me to pick up Yvie a little sooner than expected. I'm so sorry.
Bruce Wayne: This was nice, I will of course continue to support the shelter, and I look forward to working with you more.
Bruce Wayne: Is Yvie ok?
Miss M: Oh really? How did that go?
Bruce Wayne: Is that a dig?
Miss M: Bruce. Let me explain something to you. You have more than let me know where we stand. I've made peace with that. I don't expect you to honor a commitment to me when I am nothing more than an acquaintance at this point.
Miss M: Thank you.
Yvie: Ok, I have all my stuff. I'm ready to go.
Miss M: Of course. I love you honey. When you get back, I'll have more X-Men comics for you to read.
Yvie: Dad, I didn't tell you what Trevor told me at school. It's so silly!
Yvie: Yeah, it's about number twos coming out sideways, but it's really just constipation.
Big Boy Caprice: (humming to the tune of 'Tonight You Belong to Me')
Big Boy Caprice: Come in...
Big Boy Caprice: Look at this buffoso. I was wondering when you'd show up.
The Brow: He ain't sayin' much Big Boy. He's a little drunk. Maybe a little high too. Found him sulking in a bar. Thought he had skipped town.
Cletus: Uhh, I thought I had gone through everything. But when word on the street was that people were sniffin around, I panicked. I thought I could sneak back in before they got there, but I was too late. I panicked Big Boy. I panicked.
The Brow: He claims no one saw him. The streets would seem to agree. We also have the items that would incriminate us Big Boy. I think we are clear.
Big Boy Caprice: (getting heated) You think? Not enough. Get this meth head looking vacca out of my face! (breathes heavy) He can't follow instructions. (heart racing, blood boiling) He's a nuisance! Wait. (slows down) No. He needs to hear this. He needs to understand. He needs to understand what he has signed up for.
Big Boy Caprice: (slams fist on mantle) I run this city. Me! The rich and powerful, they think they run this, that they hold the cards. But I've got them all by the coglioni. They spit on my family. My grandparents, on both sides, came here from Italy. They were fleeing violence. The mafia over there, it was different. Worse. They did everything to get away. To America. Land of so many possibilities. They traded one misery for another. And there was still violence. I was told the stories. How my family and others like them were treated. How they were seen. Especially as their color would get darker from being out in the sun. This country has a demonic view when it comes to skin color, using race as a tool for oppression. To hold people back. Those rich fat cats in town, the slurs they'd have for my family. The disdain. The damage they'd do to our homes, our livelihood, our bodies. I learned you weren't truly anything unless you were the top tier, the ones seen as pioneers. As colonizers. The ones in their hooded robes and secret societies. I loathe them. Hell, we were able to blend in at times. They even gave us our own pioneer so my kind could be seen as one of them, but it's all a facade. And that's just the Italians. There are others who have long had it worse. Like I said, a hatred that is demonic.
Big Boy Caprice: I am proud of my family. They worked hard, pulling what they could to open a little grocery store on the wrong side of the tracks. I dreamt of bigger things though. To sit at the top. I took my family's work ethic and followed down a path that has led me to today. Running the hottest spot in town. Where all those wealthy fools come to gamble, to make backroom deals, to be dazzled by dolls. And I simply take note. I pull the strings and will turn them all into little clowns. And soon, the world will see. It doesn't dawn on them where I came from, and how they have treated my kin, because I look like them. More or less. But they will all realize, and their pretty little lives in their fancy mansions and shiny offices of power, I'm taking it all.
Big Boy Caprice: (sighs) But I can't do that if little meth head looking vaccas get in my way. My legacy will not involve me going back to prison do you understand? Well? Do you?
Big Boy Caprice: You can't speak or something? What's tha matter with you? (grows in anger) Say something!
Big Boy Caprice: Answer me when I'm talking to you! Do you understand!?
Big Boy Caprice: (lunges towards Cletus) Get over here!
Big Boy Caprice: (in a fit of rage, tosses chair across the room) You damn weasel!
BAM!
Cletus: (choking) Urghackug
Big Boy Caprice drops Cletus to the ground as he chokes and coughs with a gurgling sound in his throat.
Big Boy Caprice: Don't you friggin dare throw up on this rug! Get up. Get up!
The Brow: You want me to take him out back?
Big Boy Caprice: (slicks hair back) No. Pick him up and take him to a safe house until I know what to do with him. I don't believe he was sight unseen the other night. If he shows up missing, it might bring more unwanted attention. Let's wait and see what the streets say.
The Brow: Got it Big Boy.
The Brow: (shoves Cletus with foot) Come on, get up.
Cletus: Uhhh...
Big Boy Caprice: I'm feeling generous Brow!
The Brow: True Big Boy. Very true.
Big Boy Caprice: That's right. No one will get in my way. No one at all.
Yvie: This boy in my class, Trevor, he always talks about poop. And he told me that number twos can sometimes come out sideways. Isn't that crazy!
Big Boy Caprice: Very crazy. Trevor eh?
Yvie: Yes. He's really funny and makes me laugh. He's the class clown.
Big Boy Caprice: Your mom was the class clown when she was a kid. A total ham.
Yvie: Mom was funny? (eye rolls) No way.
Yvie: He won't care.
Big Boy Caprice: I see. Ah the youth. Well pumpkin, it's time for me to leave for work. I'm glad I got to see you though. Don't listen to Trevor too much, capisce?
Big Boy Caprice: Love you too.
Yvie: (runs to her room) Ok!!
Miss M: Oh dad, kids are just kids, saying silly random things.
Miss M: Trevor is a sweet kid. Her class, the kids, they are all great.
Big Boy Caprice: Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm glad I got to see her, and you too.
Miss M: Thank you dad. I'll be sure to tell her.
Big Boy Caprice: It will be good to see her.
Big Boy Caprice: I'm glad you've got your girl with you for the weekend. Though it needs to be longer. You deserve more than the world.
Miss M: Thank you dad. Love you.
Big Boy Caprice: Love you always.
Across town at the police station...
Arcee: But, how you came into possession of this notebook, is rather questionable and would throw a wrench in the case if I am to understand what you told me earlier.
Arcee: Are you ready for a new layer to this stinky onion of a case?
Dick Tracy: Sure, why not?
Arcee: I found a name to the Manlis LLC, and it belongs to someone very much alive. Alphonse Caprice, or Big Boy Caprice as he is known on the streets.
Dick Tracy: Why is that name familiar?
Arcee: Well, I can't find out much about Mr. Caprice, but he does own the Club Ritz. Which is under the umbrella of properties that are listed under the Manlis LLC.
Dick Tracy: So it would appear there is someone else we need to talk to. Perhaps Big Boy will know something about Deathstroke. Or at least have something to say about a man being murdered on one of his properties.
Arcee: What's your guess on this?
Dick Tracy: I'm not quite sure. There is a connection somehow though. We know the Baroness wanted Miss M dead, for reasons unknown. And...
Arcee: Are you still involved with Miss M?
Dick Tracy: Yes. Becoming involved.
Arcee: So this could really get complicated.
Dick Tracy: Yeah. A little bit. But if any of this brings any harm to M, well, I'll make sure I protect her at all costs.
Back at M's apartment...
Yvie: I dunno.
Miss M: Ok. (notices comics) Well, looks like you've been reading the classics. You wanna hang out in here some more before eating?
Miss M: Of course. Honey, you can talk to me about anything. What's wrong?
Yvie: I think I want to go back to dad's. I like it here, but I don't want to stay the whole weekend. I'm sorry I keep doing that.
Yvie: I just want dad to be ok. What if his memory gets worse and he forgets how to eat or how to take care of Chewie?
Miss M: I understand. I don't think we will need to worry about that, but I understand. We all went through something so big and scary. And it is always going to be ok for you to go to your dad's, whenever. I'll take whatever amount of time I can have with you.
Yvie: I do like it here. And my room. You can always come over too, and maybe stay the night? Like how it used to be when you lived there?
Miss M: Maybe some day. So, how about we eat a little something and I will call your dad to pick you up, ok?
Yvie: Ok!
At the Hey Bestie coffee shop...
Dr. Sarah: Yes, I do believe you were still in a coma, or at least waking up from one this time last year. I also understand about your gaps in memory. Would it possibly be helpful for me to catch you up on what you signed up for?
Dr. Sarah: Of course. We approached you in 2021. I wanted to open this shelter to honor my friend Maya. Maya was a dear friend of mine, she also happened to be a trans woman. I learned so much from having her in my life. We were family. She found herself in a relationship with a man who wasn't able to come to terms with his attraction to her, and he sadly killed her. Not before dragging her through an abusive relationship where she felt she had no where to go. It has been a loss that's haunted me to this day. So, the shelter was meant to be a safe haven for trans people because most shelters in the city will not accommodate the trans community. So, in 2021 when we asked for your help, you graciously secured enough funding to open the doors, and have continued to do so year after year.
Bruce Wayne: I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
Dr. Sarah: Yes, talk about dreams coming true.
Bruce Wayne: You were mentioning a "we" do you have partner?
Bruce Wayne: I see. Thank you. I have tried to learn the gaps from these past number of years, but something like this just slips through the cracks. I'm sorry I don't remember our friendship, though I hope that can change. I'd greatly enjoy rebuilding a friendship, with you and your boyfriend. What is his name?
Dr. Sarah: Winston Zeddemoore.
Dr. Sarah: Yes, very good friends.
Bruce Wayne: That is cool. How is Miss M?
Bruce Wayne: I see. Ok. You were there. Were we really in love? Like, on the wedding day. Was it really something special?
Bruce Wayne: I'm sorry, I shouldn't be prying.
Dr. Sarah: No. I just. The two of you, I'd never seen either of you happier. I know you can't remember, but you must understand, you both overcame so many obstacles to get to that day.
Dr. Sarah: But knowing what your life was like, do you ever hope you get your memories back? And, ya know, find your way back to this life that everyone has no doubt told you about?
Bruce Wayne: In theory that sounds nice. But, I don't have that connection. And I suppose if one day I do, it might be too late since she has been seeing someone.
Bruce Wayne: She didn't. I just... stumbled upon the information.
Dr. Sarah: I see.
Dr. Sarah: No, I completely understand.
Dr. Sarah: Of course. Have a nice evening.
Bruce Wayne: You as well.
Some moments later...
Miss M: Yes, she just really wanted to be back home with you. But, she was able to stay here a little longer than she normally does. So, I'm counting this as progress.
Bruce Wayne: Agreed. I just left a meeting with your, I mean, our friend Sarah. She was telling me all about Maya's Place.
Bruce Wayne: Great. I don't remember anything, but she was patient in catching me up and I'm certainly on board in supporting as much as I can.
Miss M: Well look at that. I'm glad you are able to honor your commitment to the shelter.
Miss M: No, why?
Bruce Wayne: I don't know how we might have bickered before, but I distinctly get the feeling that was a dig.
Miss M: Why would that be a dig?
Bruce Wayne: Because I can't remember Sarah or the shelter, but I am willing to still help, while I am not able to offer the same with working on us, as a couple.
Bruce Wayne: I think you are a little more than that. We are co-parents.
Miss M: That we are. And as co-parents, a word of advice, please do not perform a stunt like you did the other night when you swooped in.
Bruce Wayne: I apologize. No more drop ins.
Bruce Wayne: Are we good?
Miss M: We're great. All is great.
The two stare at each other, each wanting to say something but instead they retreat into the silence.
Bruce Wayne: Great kiddo.
Yvie: Thanks mom. For calling dad.
Yvie: Oh cool!
Bruce Wayne: That so huh?
Bruce Wayne: Well, would you hear that. Man, that Trevor is something else.
Yvie: I know right?!
Miss M: (fights back tears) Bye!
Miss M: (whispers to self) It was totally a dig. Totally.
Later on that night in the penthouse high atop the Club Ritz, home to Al Big Boy Caprice.
Big Boy Caprice: You've been a hard man to find Cletus. Is that because you messed up? Thought you could get away? Let me ask you something. What was your reasoning to shoot at a detective and Batman? His suit is bullet proof. Did you know? I naturally assumed everyone knew that. But even more important, why didn't you follow my orders? I wanted you to clear at Deathstroke's motel room before anyone could stumble upon anything.
Cletus: Uhhh...
Cletus: Ahhhh!
Big Boy Caprice: Answer me! Do you understand?!
Big Boy Caprice: Now get him out of here, because if he stains that bear skin rug I will snap his neck.
Big Boy Caprice: Consider yourself lucky. When you aren't high in the clouds I'll come back for that answer.
Up Next: Someone from Swans Crossing is engaged and one of your favorites becomes a smidge delulu...
All My Toys is back! Get ready for more soapy toy drama you will ever know what to do with. Also, I want to add info with how you can help support people in our nerdy blogging community. I have never asked for money for my writing and that will never change, but I will ask if you can please donate (if you can) to a family in need. If you can't donate right now, please spread the word to those who might be able to. Thank you so much and thank you for supporting my dorky blog. Hugs to you all.
Supporting the West Family- dear friend and fellow blogger William Bruce West is healing from a stroke and his family needs support. Will has contributed so much to the blogging community, his opinions on pop culture are the stuff of legend. Please check out the West Family GoFundMe and consider donating, they are very close to completing their goal. West Family GoFundMe
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