Toy Tales
Episode One:
Right and Left
Bonnie was a really lucky girl. Today was her sixth birthday, and she was really excited. She loved birthdays - it meant more toys and more things to play with, cake, cake and more cake, candles to blow out, presents, cake, and presents. It also meant that her aunt would be able to come over from Florida and give her something imported from wherever!
She was really excited about that. She had received Mr Pricklepants from her aunt, after all.
This birthday was going to be a bit different from other years - they were spending it at a restaurant!
"Bonnie!" called her mother, making Bonnie stop in her clean up. "Are you almost ready to go?"
Bonnie tossed Woody and Dolly onto the bed and carefully placed Totoro by her toy box. "Uh, yeah! Almost!"
"Well, hurry up. Do you need help?"
Bonnie looked around, seeing she just had to put away her dinosaurs and Slinky. "No, Mom! I just have three more toys to put away!"
"Alright, then, dear. We'll be waiting up front!"
Bonnie tossed the toys in the toy box and then rushed out the bedroom door. "Mom! Wait for me!"
A few moments silence rested in the bedroom after she left. All of a sudden, Woody on the bed blinked and sat up, Dolly following suit, and then Totoro by the toy box blinked. The toy box opened up and then out popped out the other toys.
Woody and Dolly hopped off the bed and then rushed over, each toy bouncing with excitement.
"I hear her aunt's going to be there!" Trixie exclaimed excitedly. "She always gets the most interesting things from her."
Dolly leaned in toward Woody. "Bonnie's aunt travels a lot and always gets some kind of something imported from somewhere. It's where Bonnie got Mr Pricklepants."
"Really?" Woody asked, looking toward the excited group of toys.
"New toys!" Rex exclaimed in horror. "What if we'll get replaced! What if...!"
"None of us are getting replaced!" Dolly barked, pointing a hand at him, causing everyone to stop their chatter and turn to her. "You hear me? None of us are getting replaced! This is Bonnie we're talking about."
Woody's face dropped at those words, having flashbacks to that fateful birthday that brought Buzz Lightyear into their group.
"Every year, the same thing happens - Bonnie gets something from her aunt from overseas. Only really once was it ever a toy, and that was Mr Pricklepants. Now, I really doubt that whatever she's getting from her aunt this year is another toy," Dolly lectured, facing every toy carefully.
Totoro blinked meaningfully, coming up through the crowd and pointing at something with his arm towards his back. Dolly, confused, turned to look at it and then gasped.
"Okay, scratch that - apparently Totoro's an import, too," Dolly chuckled. "Sorry about that, buddy. You were here before I was."
Totoro nodded somewhat.
Dolly turned back to the toys. "So... as I was saying... No one's getting replaced."
"Well, as long as you say so, Dolly," Buttercup agreed.
Buzz looked around anxiously. "So, what do we do until then?"
"I suppose we do what we do every day, Buzz Lightyear," Woody laughed as he approached his friend and put a hand on his shoulder.
(*)
It didn't take long for the party to go by and then Bonnie rushing into her bedroom carrying two boxes excitedly and then tearing off the wrapping, packaging, throwing wires everywhere as she removed the new things and placing them on the bed excitedly.
"Oh, they're so beautiful..." she commented as she started to come up with a scenario.
"Bonnie!" called her mother suddenly.
Bonnie turned immediately to the door. "Yeah, mom?"
"Why don't you come spend some time with the company?" asked her mother, showing up at the door. "You can play with your new dolls tomorrow, okay? I understand that you're excited, but we have guests."
Bonnie gave a sigh, glancing at her new toys. "Okay, mom..."
After Bonnie left, there was a silence before Woody got up and cautiously approached the new toys.
"Um... hello?" he said, upon seeing them.
The two new dolls, appearing identical in appearance, but with some differences, suddenly jumped up and exclaimed something in surprise that sounded Japanese. Woody blinked, confused as he watched the two bicker at each other in the same language.
"Um... excuse me? Hello?"
The two suddenly turned to Woody in surprise and blinked identical green eyes. Woody took in their appearance closely – blonde hair, green eyes, and clothing that appeared to be similar to one of those anime school uniforms, as well as nifty detached sleeves. They were clearly supposed to be identical twins, but one was a female with shorter shorts, a tank top, and white hair clips in her hair, and a massive white bow. She had a large yellow bow on her shirt, as well. The male of the two had spiky blonde hair with a ponytail, a yellow tie, his shirt had sleeves, and he had longer shorts.
They continued to blink before exclaiming "OOOOOOHH..." in unison.
"We must be in the Americas!" the two then said together, pointing at Woody.
"I don't know anywhere else we'd meet a cowboy, save for Cowboy Bebop!" said the female, giving a light chuckle. "And I don't think he's an actual cowboy."
"Uh... yeah..." Woody returned, glancing at Dolly and giving a shrug. "Um... Welcome to Bonnie's room?"
"Oh, is that her name?" asked the two in unison.
"What a cute name..." started the female.
"... it really suits her!" finished the male.
Woody nodded. "Um... yes, it does. Now, I'm Woody. I'm third in command around here... the first is Totoro, and then it's..."
"Oh my CRYPTON!" exclaimed the two. "We're in the same room as a Totoro?"
"... Yes?"
"AWESOME!"
"Pardon us!" said the female, holding out a hand. "My name's Rin! Rin Kagamine!"
"I'm her twin brother, Len!"
"Is that so? Well, my name's Woody," Woody replied instantly, taking Rin's hand and shaking it.
"It's a pleasure!" said one.
"Very much so," said the other.
"We're very excited to be here!"
"You have no idea how boring that store was!"
"Although being unwrapped was very fun..."
"We're sure we're going to have much more fun here!" both then said.
Wait... which one started that again? Woody was so confused, so he just smiled. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Rin and Len! How about I take you off the bed to meet everyone else?"
"Will we get to meet Totoro?" Rin asked excitedly.
"... Yes."
"Count me in!"
(*)
Woody showed the two around the room as they took everything in, meeting everyone and eventually meeting Totoro, who eventually had to be saved from Rin who wouldn't let go. Len happily helped out in that matter.
As the three walked away from Totoro being comforted by Dolly, Woody turned to the two with a fierce stare.
"Now, here's the stinger. Bonnie is young and she'll be going to the first grade soon. Now, while that means that we'll have more time to do pretty much anything, she's still in day-care right now and the hours of which she'll be gone are virtually unknown," Woody explained, walking past a chatting Pricklepants and Slinky, the two new toys following him loyally. "She can walk into this room right now and we'd have no warning. That's why we have guards."
He gestured to Buttercup keeping watch at the door.
"Buttercup there sometimes switches between Bullseye, Totoro and Slink. You have to make sure they're always in your line of sight or you're with someone who can see them," Woody explained. "Once Bonnie gets into the first grade, we won't have to worry about that because then we'll know when she'll be home."
"Geez, it must get so irritating..." Len began.
"... just having her randomly show up and you'll have..." Rin added.
"... like five seconds to rush back into your spot," Len finished.
Woody nodded. "We've had drills enforced by Buzz himself. They happen every Thursday, which is soon, thankfully, so you'll be a part of that. You will be expected to participate."
"Have you been through new toys before?" the twins asked together.
"You seem so much like a professional!" Len added.
Woody gave a light chuckle. "Oh, I'm a new toy myself. I was previously owned by someone named Andy, who got his fair share of toys now and then. I was the leader of Andy's toys, so I always felt obligated to help out... most of the time. Here, Dolly's mostly helping out Totoro, so I thought I'd be the one to handle new toys."
"Totoro's so awesome," Rin decided to say. Len blinked at her.
Woody frowned, not quite getting her obsession. "Yes... I'm sure he is, in Japan. Somewhere."
"Woody!" called out a voice, causing said cowboy to turn towards the source. It was Jessie, waving him over. "Take them over here!"
(*)
"I've already introduced Jessie," Woody greeted, bringing the two over. "Now, what is it you'd like to show the twins?"
"This magnificent machine I found under Bonnie's bed," Jessie explained, patting what appeared to be a steam roller of some sort. "I think Austin left it there last time he was here. His loss, huh? It's so cool! What do you think it is, Woody?"
Woody inspected the yellow vehicle curiously. He gave a light shrug. "I'm not sure, Jessie..."
Rin and Len, meanwhile, stared at it with possible stars in their eyes. They could hear the words of one of the songs their characters had sung once, 'Tsu's my Roadroller!' if they recalled, and gave evil smiles to each other.
"We know what it is," they said in unison, approaching the 'steamroller'. "It's called a 'roadroller'. It's an awesome vehicle."
Jessie turned to them, not realizing the dangers of letting Kagamine twins near a roadroller. "Really? What's it do?"
Rin suddenly had a very evil expression. So did Len. "It flattens things..." she explained, as she and Len approached the vehicle and they climbed in. "WOO HOO!"
The two then drove off into the fake sunset in the Road Roller. Jessie and Woody watched wide eyed.
"What have I unleashed into the world?" Jessie asked herself.
(*)
By the time Woody, Jessie, Buzz, and Dolly had started a resistance against the twins being in the Road Roller, and were chasing them down; Rin and Len had run over the following:
One little green alien.
Three Peas in a Pod.
Mr Potatohead's arm.
Mrs Potatohead's ear and earring.
Trixie.
Rex.
Chuckles.
Bullseye.
... And Bonnie's cape.
Woody and Jessie were chasing after the Road Roller, Buzz and Dolly creating a barricade before the two, hoping it would stop the twins.
All their efforts were lost. Because, you see...
Totoro stepped before the Road Roller bravely. He gave a long, icy, brave glare at the two drivers of the Road Roller that just screamed out, "I'm epic, I dare you." Rin and Len's eyes widened in fear of the fierce stare.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Dolly screamed in horror, watching as the Road Roller approached Totoro...
... only for the Road Roller to make a sharp turn to the left towards the bed and stop abruptly.
"Oh, thank the high heavens," Buzz heard Dolly mutter under her breath as the four approached in worry. Dolly rushed to Totoro and patted him. "You alright, big guy?"
Totoro gave her a big grin in response, to which she replied with a light laugh and a hug.
Woody meanwhile, had Rin and Len pinned against a block with the aid of Slinky, Buzz, Chuckles and Jessie.
"That's it! No more Road Roller," he demanded at them. "You will only be allowed to take it out with permission, and even then, no running toys over like megalomaniacs, deal?"
"Deal!" chirped the twins.
Woody gave a sigh filled with a light chuckle as he walked over to Dolly and Totoro, who were smiling. "He alright?"
"He's fine. He didn't even get hit," Dolly reported. "It would be a shame to lose him."
Woody nodded as he glanced at the grinning Totoro. Totoro turned to him in return and his smile widened. "I highly doubt those two would have run you over anyway. Rin loves you to pieces for some reason."
"BECAUSE HE'S AWESOME!" Rin and Len exclaimed in unison at him as they were released. They promptly ran away and back on the bed.
"I'll take that as a sign Bonnie's coming," Woody decided, and he glanced at the two. "Places, everyone!"
(*)
"... And Woody once again saves the day against the Witch!" Bonnie cheered, as she raised Woody high in the air and brought over to her dresser, where Rin and Len were tied up with string. "Woody, you did it! You saved the Singing Prince and Princess! Let's bring them back to their palace so they can play their song!"
Bonnie grabbed Rin and Len in the same hand and raced back to her bed, where a stage was put together. There were multiple slots across the stage, and the word "VOCALOID" spread across it. Bonnie placed Rin and Len on the front of the stage, and pressed a button.
As she placed multiple toys down as an audience, an instrumental song began to play that made Woody feel strange. Just hearing it, I knew that whatever it was about... it didn't end well. Bonnie appeared confused as she listened to it, and the door to her room opened.
"Oh... Servant of Evil, eh?"
Bonnie looked up at the sound of the voice and smiled upon seeing her babysitter. "Is that the name of the song, Alice?"
"Yup," Alice replied, coming into view of the toys. "Servant of Evil... that's a Kagamine classic."
Alice's blonde hair always captivated Woody whenever she was seen. She had blue eyes as well, and frail skin. She always wore interesting clothes that she called "Cosplay" and "Lolita". To add to her strange personality, she was half-Japanese, which probably explained a lot that she did.
Alice looked at Rin and Len with smiles. "So you got them from your aunt, eh? No Miku? No Yuki? No Kaito, Meiko, or Luka? Weird."
"Who's Miku and Yuki?" Bonnie asked politely.
"Miku's the most popular! I would have accepted it if your aunt gave you her, but Rin and Len? The songs they sing are great, but they almost always have really upsetting endings. Take Servant of Evil, for example."
At that point, a weird sound came from the song and Alice had a grim face.
"My point exactly," Alice said in a dark tone.
A music box began to play from the song now. Woody almost felt sad. The song ended.
"What happens in Servant of Evil, Alice?" Bonnie asked.
"It's a story I'll save for Halloween," Alice said with a light laugh.
(*)
The next day, Bonnie was off to day care. Woody approached Rin and Len, who were humming Servant of Evil.
"Hey. Um, what's Servant of Evil about, anyways?" Woody asked them.
"It's a second in a series of three songs," Rin replied.
"Daughter of Evil is first, and then Servant of Evil," Len added.
"Regret Message is the last one."
"Here's the story in a nutshell, off the top of our heads."
"It's about a girl who is evil and rules a kingdom with an iron maiden."
"She tells her servant, a boy who looks just like her to do her evil deeds."
"But one day she does get captured and she's to get her due by the iron maidens."
"But her servant approaches her, says 'we look the same'."
"He switches places with her, and gets killed in return."
"The girl is sad, because she loved him and that she got to live on and he didn't."
"So she leaves a message in a bottle, a wish, and leaves it in the ocean."
"Her wish is that, if they are reborn, that they be reborn as twins."
Woody frowned. "And since you sing it, is it meant to imply that you are them reborn?"
The twins nodded in unison. "It's very popular!"
Woody gave them a smile. "A man that would do just about anything for his woman... that's something to look up to."
"Even die," Len added grimly. "But I would do that for Rin any day!"
"Really, Len?" Rin asked, sounding impressed.
"Sure! You're my twin sister! My other half!" Len said, looking determined.
Dolly and Buzz approached from behind during this display.
"Oh, Len!" Rin screamed excitedly. "I love you!"
"I love you, too, Rin!"
The two hugged.
"Aww, isn't that sweet," Dolly told Buzz and Woody. "Those are true siblings, right there, Woody."
"Eh... I don't think that was meant to be a brother/sister hug..." Hamm mentioned from above, on the dresser.
"Silence, Hamm," Buzz warned from below, on the floor. "You're ruining the moment."
"I was just saying," Hamm replied, disappearing.
Woody frowned, contemplating the Servant of Evil. His eyes widened as he thought about the daughter and the servant at a more different angle.
"... and he told her, 'we look the same'..."
"She loved him, and she wished that they be reborn as twins."
My god, he thought. It was meant to imply they had become Rin and Len. Maybe Hamm was right, but he wasn't going to ponder about it any longer. He approached the two, who were now speaking to each other in Japanese and smiled.
"So, anyone up for a game of checkers?" he asked them.
"Checkers?" the two asked in unison. "How do you play?"
He took the two and led them to the middle of the room. "My dear Rin and Len, you have a lot to learn..."