Disclaimer: I don't own Toy story
Thank you guys for all of your reviews. I didn't realize how suspensful I'd made the last chapter. Just to let you know there are thirty something kids in this place. Andy's hoping for some kind of way out, but before he can do that, it looks like he'll have to experience what's going on here.
The New Toy
Upon the pile of rags, sprawled out in a supposed akward position was Andy snoozing quietly away. He had managed to push away his stress and pride long enough and give in to the situation by getting some sleep. He hoped it would help clear his head a little, after all he had never been kidnapped before. And as a kidnapped victim, he assumed he'd be tied up somewhere until he was traded for money. But he had learned last night that there was no ransom. He was shrunk and brought here to be a toy's plaything. Andy wasn't looking forward to finding out what that meant. It registered as something sick and twisted in his tired mind. But it didn't matter now. He would know soon enough as Marvelo was making his way up the staircase, headed for Andy's cage. Down below him was Pinky, the wrestler, and instead of the soldier, the large gray bunny.
Below Andy's cage, the young boy had woken up at the toys' arrival and called out to Andy to warn him. But the teenager was far too deep into sleep to hear him. Marvelo rapped against Andy's cage with his wand loudly until Andy stirred.
He turned sleepy, yet annoyed eyes in the direction of the noise.
"Rise and shine dear boy," Marvelo greeted.
"What time is it?" Andy asked, irritated.
"What time is it?" he asked in mocked surprise. "Why it's playtime!" He signaled below and Pinky and the wrestler came up to join him. Andy sat up on his rags and watched as Marvelo proceeded to unlock his cage. He noticed the other toys down below were waking the kids and unlocking their cages as well. He turned back around as Marvelo motioned for him to exit, but Andy refused to move.
"Would you like my friends to help you?" he threatened. Andy growled and came to his feet.
"What's this all about?" he demanded.
"You'll see soon enough, now get out."
Andy reluctantly let himself be escorted down the movable stairs.
"See you later then," the boy in the cage below told him.
"Yeah," Andy sighed.
He had no idea where they were taking him, but he was sure he wouldn't like it. He hated seeing the toys doing the same thing to the other kids. Going as far as to carry a child out if he or she didn't want to leave. That pretty much told him it wasn't going to be good. Andy and his guards walked out of the prison area and back down the hall. One of the doors that had been closed upon his first passing by it was now open. It was like a theatre room with little closets, racks and shelves with props and costumes of all sorts. He saw that the kids were being taken into the room. The toys that guarded them pulled them along as they proceeded to pick through the clothes, like a parent trying to find the right thing for a child to wear.
"Move along please," said Marvelo, as he gave Andy a slight push.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on? We're playing dress up now?"
The wizard chuckled softly. "Why I'll be happy to explained. You see-"
"Professor!"
The wizard's delighted expression instantly transformed into anger at the sound of the adolescent's voice.
"Professor, Professor Dumbledore!" It was none other than Harry Potter; well the toy version of him anyways. If Andy hadn't been so caught up in what might be a serious situation, he would have found the meeting with the famed wizard boy amusing. He was apparently a collector's doll, already dressed in his school robes and modeled to be a year younger than Andy. In his hand was a large spell book.
"How many times," Marvelo grumbled.
"Professor, there isn't anything here on how to defeat Voldemort," he informed Marvelo as he scanned the book.
"How many times must I tell you I am not Dumbledore!"
"But sir, I know it's you. You must have forgotten, or been given the confundus charm."
Marvelo growled. "I have been given no charm, only an annoying wizard in yourself. Now get away from me and go play wizard with some other kids."
"But sir, I have to defeat Voldemort. You said so yourself!"
Marvelo turned and shut his book with a loud snap. "You want to defeat Voldemort? Why don't you get ahold of your sorceror's stones and leave me alone!"
Harry jumped and nodded. "Right. I'll see if I can find a library, or maybe Hermione knows something. But I haven't seen her in this dodgy place." Harry wandered away from them, either in search of Hermione or those stones.
"Right," sighed the wizard. "Where was I? Oh yes. I believe your dress for the day is awaiting you." He pointed to the G.I Joe, who was now carrying a plastic rifle and motioning for Andy to come. Andy stepped further into the room and found that the dress that was awaiting him was an armored suit, like the ones heroes wore in old mythical stories when defeating mythical creatures. It hung nicely in a closet space.
"I think it will suit you nicely," whispered Marvelo.
"Suit me nicely?" questioned Andy. "For what?"
Andy quickly found out as he jumped back, narrowly missing the blade of a sword. If he hadn't been wearing the armor, he was sure he might have been cut. The way it shined showed it wasn't exactly made of foam or plastic. Andy held his own sword at the ready, but he knew nothing about swords; his opponent, however, did.
It turned out Andy was sentenced to have a play fight with a knight for the day. His costume served to further enhance his imagination, but all it did was make Andy feel foolish whether it was protecting him or not. The same was happening for the other kids. After they had been costumed, they were taken to a large play area with miniature sets that made Andy feel like they were filming various kinds of movies. A certain toy or group of toys played with their chosen kids in one of the settings that consisted of different landscapes, houses, buildings and even ships and castles. Apparently Warrick had gone to great lengths to construct their fantasy environment out of real and fake materials. But like Andy, the kids weren't used to such realistic play. Playtime with toys was about a kid's ability to imagine, but these toys had made it real. Though it seemed appealing, the fact that they were taken from their homes, put in a scary environment, and forced to play how the toys wanted took all the fun out of it.
Andy blocked a swipe from the knight's sword with his own and backed away into a large boulder. He was fighting near a rocky mountain landscape, but not too far behind them was a large pink dollhouse. During the battle, Andy kept trying to seek out any means of escape, but it wasn't easy with toys all over the place and a mad knight slashing away at him. The fact that his horse nearby cheered him on in neighs, didn't help.
"You fight well my lad," the knight complimented from behind his helmet.
"Yeah well, I had no practise," Andy breathed.
"It's nice...to get a lad old enough for this sport," he said as he dodged a strike from Andy.
"Sport," said Andy incredously. "You call this a sport?"
"Most definately. Why I haven't been able to prove myself as a knight even in the company of my old owner."
Andy paused at this as he tried to work out a different way to stop this. "So, your old owner. Think he'd be happy...to see you doing...this?"
"Well," the knight started in between rounds. "You could...ask him. He's right, over there."
Andy stopped and looked over at a young blonde boy who was running about a haunted looking forest in order to get away from some kind of swamp thing monster toy. Andy was pulled out of watching when the knight brought down his sword again. Andy just barely had enough time to defend himself.
"I don't understand...how can you toys' do this to us?"
"It's not us in particular, it's Warrick and Marvelo. They're doing us a little favor. All we want is a little playtime."
"All you want is to enslave kids for you own joy...and you know what...I'm not going to let you do that, to me!"
With one great hit of his sword against the knight's, the toy was caught off guard and stumbled back. Andy used the opportunity to get away from him. He weaved in and out of the rocky formations.
"Alazar! Attack!" the knight cried. Andy stopped long enough to see who the knight had called for assistance.
He saw and heard it above a tower of rocks; a large red dragon with many spikes dotting along its neck and face. He roared and took to the air upon spotting Andy. He hurried on. Above him the dragon gave another cry. Then instead of a breath of fire, he spat a stream of steamy mist that narrowly missed him. It was hot enough to melt away some of the paint on the foam mountains. Andy ducked between rocks, but he was in too much open space to hide this way for long. He had to get out of here.
"That's it Alazar! Bring the coward out into the open!"
Alazar swerved in the air to face the boy against the rocks. Andy hurried out of the way in time before he was burned.
"This isn't fair!" Andy cried. "Two against one!"
"To correct you my lad," said the Knight. "It's now one against one. I am currently not fighting you!"
Andy growled as he hurried between another pair of rocks. He didn't recall any knight being in such a position in the movies. They always managed to slay the dragon. Then again, those were movies and this was real life. On the other side, he was brought closer to the dollhouse. Seeing no other way out of it, Andy dashed for it. He didn't bother to knock. He threw open the door and shut it behind him. Being that it was a dollhouse, there was no lock. Andy turned to see what he could use to improvise.
It was a dollhouse alright, but with his small size it was no different from a regular sized house; except maybe for all the bright pink walls and other accents for the Barbie color. Andy grabbed ahold of a chair and placed it against the door, should the knight have discovered he came here, then he backed away. He could hear the dragon's growls outside, frustrated that he'd lost him.
"That, was too close for comfort," he told himself.
"Finally! A boy, there's a boy in the house!"
Andy spun around. Standing at the foot of the staircase was Barbie's look alike. She was tall, with frizzy blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, and her face graced with a delighted smile (much like the Linda Blair Barbie). She straightened her yellow sun dress then came forward with her hands clasped together in excitement.
"I can't remember the last time a boy was in my house," she said admirably.
"Listen, I don't want to intrude, but you see there's a dragon-"
"After all those wishes of having one that's the right size," she giggled excitedly. "My dreams have finally come true." She laughed happily again. Andy wasn't quite sure what to do. He wasn't even sure if staying in the same house with her was safe. But before he could make up his mind about anything, she hurried over to him and took her hand in his.
"Hi, I'm Skipper. You may have heard of me, I'm Barbie's little sister but she's not here, and I'm not so...little. We're alone, and I'm very mature for my age." She batted her pretty blue eyes at him as she leaned in, forcing Andy to back into the door, startled. Either he was experiencing a delusion or this doll was falling for him.
"Ah, listen. I don't think you heard me," he gasped. "I only came in here because,...there's this dragon."
"Of course there was a dragon," said Skipper. "My knight in shining armor has come to rescue me from it. Ooooh that's so romantic."
Andy ducked away from her and crossed into the livingroom. He didn't have time for this. He looked about and saw the kitchen in the next room. Andy hurried over to it.
"Hey! Where are you going, my knight?" she asked as she ran after him.
Andy scouted around the kitchen for a backdoor but there wasn't one. He needed to find another escape besides the front door, as he had a feeling the dragon or the knight was waiting for him there.
"There's got to be another way out. Listen, is there a back door in this house?" Andy asked Skipper as she came up to him.
"Why? You don't want to leave do you?" she asked with a look of worry. "I've been alone here so long. The only boys around here are kids, they're not like you. You're perfect, you're so handsome and..."
She reached up to cup his face, but Andy grabbed her hands to prevent her. "Listen, I think I'm way too...real, for you."
"And my feelings for you aren't?"
"You don't even know me."
"You're my knight," she stated.
"I'm no knight. I've been kidnapped like all the other kids here, now are you gonna help me get out of here or not?" He asked as he headed back into the livingroom.
"There's got to be a way," he muttered to himself. Skipper stepped out of the kitchen and stood by his side.
"Don't you believe in love at first sight?"
Suddenly the house jolted, like something had banged into it. Skipper lost her footing and without thinking Andy prevented her fall. His eyes fell to the ceiling. From the sudden roar, he learned the dragon had realized he was in the dollhouse and was possibly trying to break in from above. Skipper gasped and her wide eyes met Andy's.
"You, saved me."
"What?"
"And you don't consider yourself my knight in shining armor?" Skipper advanced causing Andy to back up. He tripped and landed in a comfy chair. Skipper threw herself upon him and hugged him tight. Andy struggled to move her away.
"Will you get off of me!" he cried. "I'm not a real toy."
"No," she agreed. "You're a real man." Then without hesitation she leaned in and planted her lips on his. A passionate kiss, that ended too soon for Skipper's liking. Suddenly the livingroom window exploded. The kiss was broken when Andy saw him in time. The dragon opened his mouth to spray them.
"Get down!" He cried as he grabbed Skipper and they rolled to the floor. The dragon's hot misty breath passed over them. Alazar roared in anger and shook the window as if he planned to try and squeeze through. The plastic walls were already showing signs of cracking. Skipper sat up, oblivious to the danger; her mind on the kiss and one other fact.
"Wow! You saved me again, you really are my..Hey! Where are you going? We aren't finished yet!"
Andy had jumped to his feet and was heading for the stairs. He saw that Alazar had stopped trying to come through the window in order to see what Andy was doing. He was determined to get the boy. Andy would lead him away from Skipper, even though he had no feelings for her whatsoever. It wasn't in his nature to see anyone hurt who was caught up in his troubles, plastic or not. Alazar backed ouf of the window while Andy hurried on up the stairs. Andy precieved the house was much larger than he thought. But at the moment he needed to figure out what to do. He had no plan. He supposed he could get to the roof and then try whatever came next.
He ran into the room that had double doors leading to the balcony. Andy stepped out on it and looked around. He wondered if he could alert help from this height. Then again, he wondered if anyone would be willing to help him, especially since the only help he could get were from toys. But surely they would see the dragon's attempt to kill him was going too far.
He heard the dragon's cry. Andy stepped out onto the roof and walked carefully along its pink shingles.
"There he goes!" the knight cried from below. "Alazar, this way!"
Alazar followed the command and circled around the house. Andy was right above him on the roof. He figured it was time to bring this lizard down. Without thinking he jumped and landed right on Alazar's back. He roared in surprise. Andy grabbed ahold of the largest horns on his head and made to steer him to the ground.
"Don't let him get the best of you!" the knight cried.
Alazar seemed to take it to heart, because he was refusing to be controlled. Andy held on tight as he flew straight up, then did several rolls in the air. He was a bucking bronco with wings. Andy cried out in surprise. It was like a bad ride on the outside of a plane. He soared over the other toys and kids at play who couldn't help but stop and watch in amazement. Andy would have given anything to be on the ground again; actually he would have given anything to take back the idea of jumping on a dragon like some kind of action star. Alazar flew straight up again then made a huge circle upside down. He nearly lost his grip on the horns as he felt his body slipping down. Andy gritted his teeth and climbed higher. He pushed down against the horns, causing Alazar to point down. He flapped wildly in an attempt to fight back against the pressure, but Andy's amount of force was too great. Alazar shook his head blindly. With his loss of direction, the dragon was much closer to the ground. Andy looked up to see how close and saw they were headed for a cabin structure made of blocks and lincoln logs. Before Andy could veer the dragon away, they crashed head first into it. Kids and toys scurried out of the way as logs and blocks went flying. There was a large pile of rubble hiding the dragon and the boy.
The toys, kids, and the knight gathered closer just as the logs started to part. Andy surfaced from below, pushing the blocks out of the way. He moaned with the rough landing, but was able to get to his feet. There was a rumbling sound behind him and they turned to see Alazar popping his head out from the pile. He gave one final roar before his head fell onto of the blocks in exhaustion. Andy sighed. It was over, or so he thought.
The next thing he knew, the sword was knocked out of his hand and he was knocked to the ground. Andy found himself staring up at the point of a blade. The knight stood over him with his sword pointed directly at Andy's throat. This was it...he was going to die.
But then the knight put away his sword and held out a hand. Andy hesitated before reaching up and allowing the knight to pull him to his feet.
"Amazing fighting skills if I do say so myself," the knight complimented. "And the way you brought down Alazar was unlike anything I've ever seen."
"Uh, thanks," said Andy akwardly. "It was unlike anything I'd ever, done."
The knight nodded and turned to the pile covered dragon. "Come Alazar, let us get you out of this rubble."
Andy turned his attention away from him and took notice of a group of new toys who were ushering the kids away. Inbetween the moving crowd, Andy saw the wizard, Pinky and G.I. Joe coming toward him. He considered taking the sword and stabbing it right through his plastic body, but thought it might not be wise since he was surrounded by his friends.
"Well my boy," the wizard started. "I hope you had fun on your first day, there'll be lots more of it."
Andy gripped his sword angrily. "Fun, you call what I've been through fun? I almost got killed!"
"But you didn't," Pinky commented as he laughed.
"It's no different than what you humans do to us," said the soldier. "Pretending."
"Oh really," said Andy increduously. "What about the way you guys play? I thought you toys were supposed to be kid friendly."
Marvelos stepped forward smiling. "We are. As the pink ape said, you didn't get killed. No one does, it's all part of the play. When you used to make one of your toys play the bad guy, they aren't really a bad guy are they?"
"I don't know," Andy answered through gritted teeth. "I'm looking at a bad guy right now."
Marvelo frowned but waved the insult off. "Come now, enough chatter. There will be time for more later. Right now, lunch."
They escorted him out of the play area and down a hall to a room across from it. Here, there were several miniature lunch tables set up for the kids who were already sitting down to eat. A few toys passed out trays of lunch. Andy couldn't help frowning at what they were given to eat; pieces of cookies, muffins, candy and any other form of sugary sweetness that would make a mom complain.
"You call this lunch?" asked Andy. "It looks more like snack time."
"Only for a little while," said Marvelo. "Later we'll reveal what they should be eating, fruits and vegetables. Although I don't have much taste for it's affects of making a child grow. Now take a seat."
Andy walked off on his own between the tables. As he moved heads turned, which made Andy truly feel like the new kid in school. He was the oldest one here and stood out like a lemon in a barrel of apples. However a few toys ordered that they stop gawking and eat. Yes, the lunch menu did seem a bit too sweet, but Andy was starting to understand why it was so. It was meant as a sugar rush to keep the kids energized for playtime. Apparently there was more to come than just one hour with a toy. Andy stopped next to a table that was occupied by the familiar blonde.
"Ah, is anyone sitting here?"
She shook her head without looking up.
"Thanks." He plopped down in the seat. He was suddenly wishing he were in his cage again. He didn't care if they fed him or not.
"You don't have to look so worried."
Andy turned to the girl who still managed to put on a brave face. She was dressed in a pink tou tou with wings. He assumed she'd been made to play with ballerinas or fairies.
"I mean you are old for your age, which means you shouldn't be scared at all."
"Oh, I'm learning pretty fast that you can be scared, even if you're as old of a man as me." She giggled at the teen and he smiled. "I'm surprised you aren't scared."
"Oh I am, most of the time. I just don't want the other kids to worry more." She stopped and rubbed at her eyes. He could tell whatever she'd been through she wanted to cry about it, but refused to make a fuss.
"You look familar."
"I'm Emily Mills. What's your name?"
Andy was momentarily stunned with this knowledge. Emily Mills. She was the last kidnapped victim he had seen on tv before getting kidnapped himself. Her worried parents had been all over the news.
"Ah, it's Andy, Andy Davis. I thought I knew you."
"I bet you do."
"Your parents have been all over the news talking about you. They're really worried and they miss you so much."
"I bet they,...do," she said as her voice started to crack. "I miss them too, but I'll, I'll never see them again. My place is here now."
A tray of pieces of donuts and cookies was placed before Andy by a thin monster toy with many arms and a chef's hat. Andy waited until he stepped away before leaning in to Emily.
"You're place isn't here Emily, it's at home, and the same goes for every boy and girl here." Emily stared at him with hopeful blue eyes. "Don't worry Emily, you'll see them again, I promise." He smiled softly at her which helped to ease her fears. He didn't know how he could promise such a thing. It seemed impossible now, the way they were trapped. But surely this couldn't go on forever? They would all grow up and what would happen to them then? He didn't know and wasn't sure there was a good answer for it. He just didn't want it to be that long for any of them. He picked up a piece of donut and nibbled on it as he looked all around the room. No. His place wasn't here either. His place was at home, but the problem was he didn't know how to get back to it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Skipper or Harry Potter. I did have a Skipper doll when I was a kid, maybe before I had my other Barbies. I had fun writting her as being lovesick for Andy. Especially the kiss. Just shows what being trapped in this place and listening to Marvelo can do to a toy. Anyways, I also have a Harry Potter doll, and being a fan, I decided to make him kind of annoying here (if only to piss off Marvelo) and add a little humor to the scene.
So now you see how kids are being played with; in a realistic/fantastical environment with dress clothes to match. It could nearly be a dream, but some of the toys could carry the play a little too far or make it too scary, not to mention their poor treatment. Andy survived his first day, but for how much longer? Will he get lucky somehow? Hmmm.
Guess you'll have to keep reading to see!