2D, unaware of the impending rescue, took it upon himself to reclaim his freedom. He wriggled his left foot out from between two close branches and pulled at another branch, breaking smaller sections off until he fell the final foot to the ground- right into an ant mound.
Using the stop-drop-roll technique, the singer squirmed away, crawling around a discarded water bottle to create space. He frowned, watching the bugs move about, flicking away the stray one that insisted on clinging to his shirt. Sighing, he turned about, marching off through more bushes. He was approaching the garage, as he found out, and perhaps another door to get back inside.
"How am I going to open the bloody thing?" he wondered aloud. "Unless there's one of those doggie doors, I'm stuck out here."
He kept going anyway, pausing at the edge of the bushes before racing into the garage. The concern of being seen by a human, which plagued many toys minds, fell short of this one. Really, he was worried that something would fall and squish him. It would be a pathetic ending, one that Murdoc would laugh about for years.
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There wasn't a doggie door, so 2D settled on roaming the room. An abused hotdog chew toy squeaked at him as he passed by, sending a small puff of dust his way and adding to the filth on his plastic body.
"Thanks for that." 2D said flatly, looking anything but pleased at his current and worsening predicament. The hotdog sensed his mood, whistling a note of apology and consolation.
"It's not your fault, little guy. Know a place where I could wash off?"
The hotdog hissed, rolling from one side to the other in a way that could have passed for a shrug. Seeing as it had no eyes, there was no way the toy would even know what water looked like. It puffed once more, sending 2D on his way.
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The rescue unit, due to unforeseen complications, arrived nearly five minutes after 2D had managed to free himself from his organic trap. Woody insisted on checking in the bush once they arrived at the site, unknowingly adding two more minutes on to 2D's blind wanderings.
Against their better judgment, the two toys convinced Noodle to ascend into the plant, knowing she would have the easiest time getting around and was less likely to get stuck. She didn't argue and practically leapt into the leaves.
"彼はここではありません!"The young guitarist cried out. In her state of panic over the well-being of her "brother", Noodle had made quick work of searching the area. She leapt down to stand between the Sherriff and spaceman, taking each of their hands to pull them back to the dog. "2D, lost!" she said to Woody. It was fortunate that the plastic man had years of experience under his belt in understanding children, or else they would have to go through some trouble to get Noodle to calm down. He took a deep breath in, sinking down to one knee to look Noodle in the eye.
"Now see here, Noodle…" Woody began, covering his free hand over the one trapped in the guitarist's hand. She looked up at his face, doing her best to hide a sniffle. "Your friend is going to be just fine. He is a very lucky person to have a friend as brave as you are. We will find him, okay?" he said, smiling. Noodle returned a wobbly smile.
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2D shuffled back out of the garage once it was clear that it offered no way to get back into the house. Once back outside and under the sun, he ran off around the perimeter of the garage, stopping quickly when he realized he was rather out of shape for serious running. "Everything is too big!" he grumbled, hands on his knees as he fought to regain his breath. When his nonexistent lungs were finally back in order he stood up, checking out the wooden fence that towered over him. Already missing his six foot high stature and the long legs that came with it, he set off at what appeared to be a snail's pace in comparison. "There had better be a hole in the bloody thing," he said.
His focus was violently torn away from the fence by a sudden barking. The waves of sound seemed to pulse through his chest, startling the toy man. "Flipping heck!" 2D cried, dodging out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled by the rather small, by normal human standards, dog as it skidded to a halt. The singer coughed as another plume of dust assaulted him, waving his arms to clear the air.
"2D-san! よかった!" Noodle cheered, leaping off the hairy steed to hug her friend.
"Hullo, love!" 2D said brightly, hugging her back. "Came to find me, did you?"
"We came as well, 2D, so there's no worry about how to find the way back in. Believe it or not, this has actually happened before." Buzz announced from the dog. Woody quickly looked away.
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The triumphant journey back had its own setbacks: Buster had to refuel. They pulled up to a set of bowls resting on the floor of the kitchen when the coast was clear and waited until their ride had drunk his full. To pass the time, Woody struck up conversation with a pair of Buster's toys, unconsciously introducing them to the band members,
"Pip, Mr. Glub, how's it going?" he called, waving a hand. A ragged clown toy and a rubber whale waved and squeaked back, respectfully. "Have you gone outside lately? It's a beautiful day today."
"Not lately, Woody, been meaning to." The clown said slowly, frowning.
"Last time I went out I ended up stuck out there for days." Mr. Glub drawled. His tough manner of speaking was set back by the lisp he had from his squeaker, but he was no less than a gangster of a chew toy, ready to bust the kneecaps of the toy who thought otherwise.
"Uh, can we leave now? Please?" 2D whispered in Buzz's ear. Noodle sensed his discomfort, but he avoided her gaze when she turned to look at him from her perch on Buster's neck. Woody was still talking to the dog toys and missed the singer's discomfort. "I can't stand whales…" 2D moaned
Buzz turned his head, instantly noting 2D's current position. With his legs curled up under him, the singer was poised to leap away at a moment's notice, unless he just didn't want his lanky legs within grabbing distance of the newly introduced toy. His hands clung to the back of Buzz's open helmet like a baby monkey would hang on to its mother. Clearly, the man was terrified. 2D bit his lip as Buster raised his head, moving to the ceramic food bowl for a quick snack, swaying softly along with the three toys in front of him to the unexpected movement.
"Are you alright?" Buzz asked quietly. 2D shook his head.
"That whale's going to eat us." He whispered, staring with wide blank eyes at the toy that was nearly half his height.
"Mr. Glub isn't the most pleasant toy to be around, I will admit, but he isn't interested in eating any of us. You've got nothing to worry about." the space ranger assured the singer. 2D didn't look convinced until Buzz told him a few moments later that they would be leaving for Andy's room once the dog was done. The Sheriff must have heard this last part, because he quickly changed topics.
"Oh! I should have introduced you two to the latest arrivals." Woody said. "This little one is named Noodle, and back behind me is 2D. Here, can you give us a wave, 2D?"
The singer, now completely hidden behind Buzz, hesitantly stuck his arm out, shaking it before quickly pulling it back to its previous position. The Sheriff pursed his lips in confusion.
"Anyway, they came with two other toys name named Russel and Murdoc. They're based off a band. Noodle is the guitarist and 2D is the singer." He explained.
"I've always wanted to be in a band." Pip said with a sigh.
"I do the keyboards too." The blue haired man offered bravely, making a small noise of surprise as the furry mass under his body shifted. Buster chose that moment to be done, backing up and standing at attention as Woody had taught him.
"Good boy!" Woody gushed, leaning forward to scratch Buster under the ear just as the creature liked. "Well, we should probably be heading back now." He said to the dog toys. I don't want to imagine what kind of trouble Murdoc could have gotten into while we've been gone. "See you guys later!"
Pip waved his goodbyes and Mr. Glub let loose a manly squeak of farewell, watching the entourage go with glazed eyes. 2D twisted his head around to get a good look at them to make sure they weren't being pursued before Buster bounded through the doorway. Unconsciously, he swallowed a lump that had manifested itself in his throat.
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Russel was waiting for them by Andy's desk when they returned. The expression on his face, which had been grim until Noodle gave him a hug, softened.
"Where's Murdoc at then?" 2D asked, voicing the question that was on more than one mind. He jumped off the dog, his feet sliding out from under him after making contact with the smooth wooden floor. Russel narrowed his eyes, pointing to the door before telling them where the bassist had gone off to. Apparently Murdoc had figured out that Andy's sister still had a Barbie doll in her room somewhere and naturally wanted to pay her a visit. He began asking around to learn of Barbie's whereabouts'. Most of the toys had by then caught on to his personality, knew of his intentions, and refused to tell, out of respect to the doll. It was the dinosaur who was foolish enough to tell the bassist that the doll could be found in the chest at the foot of the young teen's bed.
"Russ, man-" Murdoc began gleefully, hoping either to get a party together or to get the drummer to cover for him.
"No way man, I'm out." Russel said, holding a hand up and walking away. Murdoc shrugged.
"I'll go by myself later then, alone, and you can just piss off. Can't believe you're passing up such an opportunity; have you seen what this kind of bird looks like?"
Some toys were more fortunate than others in being able to reign in their hormones. Murdoc was not one of them.
"I don't believe it!" Woody shouted. "We need to go and bring him back here; he'll end up traumatizing her."
The wagon-patterned chest in the corner shuddered for a moment in response to this before having its lid thrown open by several toys, which began shouting their innocence.
"I didn't tell him anything!"
"It was Rex!"
"That guy is a total creep, Woody."
"He tricked me, Woody, I'm so ashamed!"
"Wait, why did all of you stay behind? Didn't you try to stop him?" Buzz questioned.
"He snuck out when they were all in there. They had no way to know he was leaving. I didn't see him leave either, the sneaky son of a bitch." Russel grumbled. "I wasn't about to go after him with no way of knowing how to get around this place. If he gets found out that's his problem."
Woody pinched his nose, closing his eyes in frustration. The bassist was quickly becoming nothing short of a curse. "Buzz, Jessie, Russel, let's go get him."
As it would turn out, a team was never needed. Barbie was more than able to defend herself, after a quick escape to change into her black belt karate outfit. Murdoc had been surprised, and ever so turned on, when she grabbed him by the arm and flipped him to the ground ("No one talk to me like that, you creep!"). To finish the job, she hog-tied him with a pair of pink leggings, they were from the previous season and she could spare being rid of them. She was further encouraged by the cheers of her fellow resident toys, before kicking his head and spinning it around. After she had decided that her captive looked ridiculous enough, the doll tossed him in the back seat of her pink sports car, hopping behind the wheel herself to deliver the toy back to where he belonged.
To say the occupants of Andy's room were surprised at her entrance would be putting it lightly.
"Hey, everyone!" cheered Barbie, smiling as brightly as ever. She stepped out, walking around the vehicle to grab Murdoc by his shirt and drop him on the ground. "I brought you a little something. Could you make sure he stays in here, away from me?"
"Uhh… Sure." Buzz said. Woody seemed to have lost his voice, unlike Russel, who was roaring with laughter. 2D chuckled, hiding the noise with his hand to keep the bassist from noticing.
"Woo! You go girl!" Jessie cried from the chest. Barbie beamed, curtsying before getting back in her car to drive away.
"What a bitch." Murdoc snapped, wiggling his limbs. "For Satan's sake, I could use a hand over here!"
"No, I think you've got it." Woody said with a smirk.
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EDIT: I found several mistakes here, so they're fixed! I added a little bit more too, just a few sentences total.
AN: The idea to put a whale toy into the story goes to NikkiTheBlueDemon. Thanks again for the great idea!
Here's what Noodle said:
彼はここではありません! translates to: "He is not here!"
よかった! translates to: "Thank goodness!"
Once again, if they're wrong, blame Google.
I have some ideas in the works for another chapter, so you can maybe expect to see another chapter up eventually… maybe.
Thank you for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!
