disclaimer: I don't own Toy Story
Lovin the reviews guys!
So, Woody and the others have reunited with old friends, and Andy may find himself in trouble
Rescue Plans in Motion
Once their celebration of reuniting had settled down, they moved onto the more pressing question of what all of them were doing at Warrick's.
"It's good to see all of you, it really is," said Woody. "But, what are you doing here?"
"Didn't you see?" asked the strong man, Rocky Gibraltar. "At the yard sale, no one wanted us, no kid I mean. We were there all day, and just when we thought we'd escaped being sold, this man bought us and brought us here." Rc and Mr. Spell nodded. "He said he'd take good care of us, more than our old owner ever did. He promised when he got more time, he'd improve all of us. He already improved Rc. He rewired him and tossed away his controller."
"Rc?" Woody questioned as the car rolled up to him. He then reversed and showed his interior. Inside, Woody was able to see that Rc had the makings of a real car with a new steering wheel and an actual set of brakes. From what Gibraltar was saying, Rc was now in control of himself. Either that, or he was made to be driven by another toy, but that didn't make sense to Woody.
"He'd said we'd be much happier here," Rocky continued.
At his words, Woody and the others took a moment to study Andy's old toys, to see if they really believed in Warrick. In a way it sounded as if they'd already turned their backs on Andy. That his sentencing them to a yard sale officially broke their trust in their boy. 'But they can't!' Woody thought desparately. It wasn't fair on Andy. He had no idea how the toys felt about such things, but he did now and the rest of his toys had to know this. They needed all the help they could get.
"Well don't believe it," said Buzz. Woody looked around as he stepped closer to the wrestler. "The man that purchased you, Warrick, is not to be trusted."
Rc roared his tires in question.
"What I mean is he is responsible for what happened to our owner," Buzz explained. "He's the reason why we're here."
Mr. Spell asked and typed out his question across his face. "What do you mean?"
"We mean he's responsible for the state of our owner, but before I get into that, what do you guys know about him?" asked Woody.
At this, Rocky Gibraltar, Rc and Mr. Spell gave each other uneasy looks. Clearly they had learned something that wasn't right.
"Well," Rocky started fearfully as he cast a nervous gaze up to the shelves and the table. "He...we saw him, talk to his toys."
Woody and the others exchanged curious glances.
"Well what's so weird about that?" asked Mr. Potato Head. "Other than the fact that's he's a grown man."
"Lots of kids talk to toys," said Slinky.
"So did, Andy, remember?" asked Rex in a soft voice.
"Yeah but, when he talked to them, they talked back," Rocky explained. Rc zipped backwards behind the box he came out in and Mr. Spell's screen momentarily fizzed with static. It wasn't hard to understand how they felt. The idea of toys breaking the rules like that was unatural. Toys were not supposed to be talking to humans, unless it was through their built in speech boxes. But the way Andy's other toys reacted to it showed that it wasn't an accident. That the toys talking to Warrick were doing so knowing that they shouldn't. They had been surprised to hear this, yet at the same time it wasn't so shocking. Afterall, they had spent a good amount of time talking with Andy. But they had been willing to break the rules to help their best friend. It couldn't have been the same for Warrick. His toys had no business speaking to him.
As for Woody, it was more than that. He had broken the rules previous to this little adventure. He looked over at Buzz who nodded at him. He remembered his surprise to the evil kid next door. But afterwards there had been no more talking to humans, until now. But he wondered, they all wondered, if Rocky, Rc, and Mr. Spell would understand that.
"He tried to talk to us too," Rocky continued. "His other toys tried to convince us to come alive, but we...couldn't. We didn't understand how they could. I mean it's not the same as what Woody did to that Sid kid. They talked about all kinds of stuff."
"How about a wizard?" Woody asked suddenly. "Did you guys ever see him talking to a wizard?"
They looked at each other, then Rocky shook his head. "No, we never seen a wizard, but it's like I said. They didn't mind talking to a human."
Again Woody and the others exchanged looks of worry.
"Well, I hope you won't mind us telling you that we've broken that rule for quite some time," said Woody.
"What? You mean that Sid kid is still around?"
"No, no it's nothing like that. What I mean is, we've broken that rule, with our owner, Andy. We've been, talking to him."
They gasped. Rc rolled his wheels in excitement. Out of the corner of his eye, Woody could have sworn he saw a toy on Warrick's desk twitch.
"Oh no!" Mr. Spell quoted.
"But, but how could you?" asked Rocky, disturbed at the idea. "Why would you.."
"We had no choice, he was in trouble and it's all because of this wizard toy of Warrick's."
"What are you talking about?"
Woody sighed as he prepared to explain, though he was sure they'd never believe him.
"All right, I know this is gonna sound crazy but Andy got ahold of Warrick's wizard and he shrunk him down to our size. We decided the best way to get him back to normal would be to bring him here, but along the way we got separated. We think that he may already be here and we could use your help to find him."
The other toys merely blinked in response.
"Uh, you wanna run that by us again?" asked Rocky.
"We're serious," said Buzz. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true."
"Yeah," said Hamm. "You haven't seen a small human running around here have you?"
"I think we would've of noticed," answered Rocky. Suddenly there was the sound of wheels turning from above them. They all looked up to the desk and saw a red preschool truck with blue eyes, a flat yellow nose and a mustache roll to the edge. But instead of the expected happy-go-lucky look, his expression was quite serious.
"Would you keep it down down there," he said in a rough voice that had something of a Texan accent in it. "We're trying to rest before the master comes...well now, I see what all the ruckus is about. New toys, and in poor condition too."
Mr. Potato Head fumed. "Who are you calling poor condition?" he cried as Slinky jumped in front of him to keep him from charging over to the desk. "If you had any idea of what we've been through-"
"No no no," Buzz interrupted. "We're not new toys. We're here searching for, well, our owner. You see he was-"
"Save it rocketeer, I heard the whole story. You're human's shrunk down a size," said the truck.
"We know how it sounds," said Slinky. "But you've got to believe us."
"Oh-ho, I do believe. All us toys here know about it, 'cept them new toys you're so chummy with."
"You do?" asked Woody incredulously.
"Of course we do. But you won't find you're human here. I'd imagine Warrick has him at the warehouse."
Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang traded each other confused looks.
"Ah, warehouse? What warehouse?" asked Woody cautiously.
Before the truck could answer, a tall, fluffy looking bluish toy troll, with a squashed pink nose and yellow horns on his head came forward on the desk. He looked down at them as if he were guilty of a crime.
"The warehouse," he said in a very soft and quiet voice. "Where he keeps all the...children."
The truck rolled closer to the edge and began to explain. He told them about Marvelo and Warrick's kidnapping scheme. How the wizard was given to some chosen boy or girl and that after he performed his shrinking trick, the child would be whisked away. He confessed that Warrick set up a large warehouse in the country where he kept the kids and told them what they were being kept for, (however Andy's toys weren't so sure they believed that part). Warrick had been moving from one city to another, but in the mist of his criminal actions, he still found time to look after discarded and broken toys. It was all for the toys. His and the wizard's attempt to bring kids and toys together. But the silence that followed the story clearly showed what Andy's toys thought about the whole matter.
These toys were completely nuts.
They were utterly confused by the whole thing. How could it be true? Innocent children kidnapped to play? It didn't make any sense. No human in his right mind would come up with such a crazy idea; but they couldn't account for the wizard. Clearly he wasn't in his right mind either, but it did start an idea that Woody thought he was crazy for thinking. That this whole thing could have been dreamt up by the wizard himself. That it was he who pulled the strings. He who decided to take control of human lives and brainwash other toys into thinking that this was the only way to keep them happy.
But it was ridiculous. Why would a human help a toy do such a thing? And maybe more importantly, if all that were true, what had happened to the wizard to make him make a human do such a thing? He considered those questions, yet he still couldn't fully believe the truck's explaination.
Neither the troll nor the red truck expressed any knowledge of Warrick's and Marvelo's past. As much as they seemed to care about the toys, Warrick and Marvelo were still willing to keep them in the dark. Up on the shelves, Warrick's toys began to converse with one another. They had slowly come awake as the truck was sharing their story. Many of them stared down at the truck and at Andy's toys with an angry look. Apparently they didn't think they should have been told so much if they weren't going to stick around as new toys.
"If you don't believe, none of what I just said," the truck challenged. "You can ask Warrick himself when he gets here."
"We're not asking your human," Buzz declared. "You shouldn't even being talking to your human."
"What about you talking to yours?"
"That's different," argued Slinky.
"Different huh? Maybe, but it's no big deal."
"No big deal?" asked Rex.
"Of course not. I know if all toys done it, why, we wouldn't have to worry about getting tossed away or replaced. Admit it, you enjoyed talking with your human didn't you? Well?"
Woody looked around at the others and saw his own feelings refelected on each one of their faces. They had enjoyed talking to Andy. For the first time, they had truly gotten to know their owner, and he had gotten to know them. He was able to see that there wasn't a lot of difference between flesh and plastic. That on the inside, they had feelings and truly cared about others. But there was no time to explain it to the truck. Yes, it had been fun to break the rule, but from what they had experienced there was a time and place for it. Breaking the rules to capture kids was not an excuse.
"We did enjoy it," Woody admitted. "But that's not the point. What your owner and that...that wizard is doing, is wrong! Now tell us where the warehouse is?"
The truck was about to reply, but stopped at the sound of a car rolling up and the closing of it's door.
"It's Warrick! He's back!" cried a ragdoll leapord on the shelf near the window.
A couple of minutes passed before they could hear the front door starting to open. Rex, Hamm and Mr. Potato Head hid with Rocky Gibraltar and Mr. Spell behind one of the boxes while Woody, Slinky and Buzz followed R c behind another. They could hear him moving about the small house in the front room. They could also hear his voice, but not what he was saying until he came into the room. Woody, Buzz and Slinky peeked out and saw he was talking on his cell phone.
"...it's a first offense, that's all. We can't... we go that far for something and...I know, but, he'll learn won't he? You promised that. I'm not being lenient, I just don't think we should go there just yet. But if he pulls anything like that again, there's, no question I guess. Allright. Good night."
He hung up and sighed as he placed his phone in his pocket.
"Anything wrong boss?" asked the red truck.
Behind a box, Rex gasped at seeing the toy's willingness to break rules. Mr. Potato Head quickly covered his mouth.
"Oh, nothing I can't, handle. That Marvelo, I think he's becoming more extreme. He's just impatient, but he has to learn to take it easy." The truck glanced down at where Andy's toys were hiding, but rather than give them away he decided to confirm something.
"Finally nabbed that kid you were after?"
"Huh? Oh, that Davis kid? No, we didn't get the girl, but we got her brother, Andy." At the mention of their owner's name, all of Andy's toys dared being exposed by peeking further from their hiding places. "Nabbed him a night ago. He's not quite squared away, but he'll learn. Marvelo was pushing me to punish him for a little misbehavior but, I'm not worried. He'll learn to accept. No one's coming for him. He's...what the.." He stopped as he noticed a car pulling up behind his own out the window. He was surprised to see it was a police car. "What th..who called the police!"
His toys merely looked at one another as if expecting one of their fellows to confess. Warrick grumbled in irritation.
"I'd better deal with this now, then I can have a nice long rest."
He left the room and slammed the door behind him. Woody rushed out of his hiding spot in a fit of rage. Buzz and Slinky came out slowly while watching Woody rampage silently.
"Ah, Woody?" Buzz started.
"He took him, he took Andy!" he cried angrily. "That no good...and his human..." He was so angry he could barely speak.
Rex, Hamm and Mr. Potato Head joined the others. They were still a little shocked by what they'd heard.
"If I didn't just hear it, I would've sworn I had on the wrong ears," said Mr. Potato Head as he fit an ear back into place. Rex walked up beside him shaking and with his head hanging low.
"You okay there Rex?" asked Hamm.
"Andy," he said quietly, but it was loud enough and sorrowful enough to stop Woody from storming around. It caused the rest of Andy's toys to gather together with the awful news hanging over their heads. "He's, gone. What are we going to do?"
Woody gaped. It was like they were accepting they were never going to see their owner again. Woody couldn't let that happen, especially now since they knew where he was.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," said Woody. "We're going to get him back."
"But we don't even know where the warehouse is," Slinky reminded them.
"No, but they do," said Woody as he pointed up at Warrick's toys. They either glared or cringed at his accussation. The red truck on the table was glaring and rolled to the edge again.
"Looky here, if you think any one of us is gonna tell you how to get there-"
"You are going to tell us," Woody declared. "Because, deep down, you know this is wrong. Kids shouldn't be taken away from their homes and forced to...do what toys want them to. It's their imagination, their life, that wizard is tampering with and it's wrong. Our owner, we need him and he needs us."
"You're owner's a teen boy," the truck declared. "I heard Warrick say so on several occassions. He don't need you."
Woody paused before continuing.
"I know he's growing up, all kids do eventually. But right now he's still our owner, and he has a family and friends that care about him. He needs to go home. So please, help us."
The truck seemed to be considering his words. All the toys in the room watched him with much anticipation. A minute had passed before he sighed, then shook himself.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. We can't. In case you haven't noticed, we're not in the warehouse. Most of us have never been or don't know how to get there."
Woody and the others were crushed. The feeling that had overcome them during their seemingly endless search through the backyards returned. It was like losing traces of their best friend all over again. The truck rolled away from them before their somber faces could make him feel guilt. He proceeded to take his rightful position on the desk, but was blocked by the bluish troll. But he wasn't looking at the truck, he was looking at the fallen faces of the toys below. He stepped to the edge of the desk.
"Hey, Trolley, what are you-"
"I know how to get there," the troll admitted.
"You do?" asked Rex hopefully. The others looked up as well.
Trolley nodded. "I've been to the warehouse, but, I couldn't bare the way they treated the...children. I, I can show you the way."
When Andy opened his eyes, he didn't find himself in the place he had expected. He had no idea where he truly was , but he had a sinking feeling of what it was. What stretched out before him in the darkened room was what looked like a department store with shelves and counters of various odd looking items that Andy assumed were some kind of toys. But on many of the shelves were boxes with little dolls in them. Dolls that looked as real as he did. Andy gasped and tried to move, but he couldn't. His arms were at his sides, tied down by zipties to the backing of cardboard. Upon looking all around him he quickly concluded that he was in a box. But not just any box. He was in a box meant for toys! He stared out of his prison through the plastic screen of his encasement. His view was up high which meant that he had to be on a shelf, and that those realistic dolls were realistic looking for a reason.
They were kids! Kids that had been tied down and placed in doll boxes. They all seemed to be asleep and eerily still. Andy struggled against his bonds and shook the box so much that he risked hopping the box right off the shelf's edge. It was a long way down as he could see, and not wanting to risk getting broken, he stopped and decided to try something else.
"HELP! ANYONE! HELP" He cried. But the room was silent. No one was here to help him. He looked around as far as the box would let him see, but there didn't seem to be anyone about. Then the lights came up and the room brightened. Andy squinted with the brightness and turned to see who had entered. He was about to call out, but stopped when he saw who it was. It was Marvelo, but he wasn't the same wizard he remembered. He looked to be about six feet tall. Behind him were several more toys, all of them the size of humans. What was going on? Andy started to panic as he watched them all file into the store and look around. The wizard, however, walked around behind a register and awaited the toys who picked out the strage items or boxed up kids for their purchase.
"What's going on? Don't tell me," Andy muttered to himself in fear. Those strange objects had to be toys for the toys, and the boxed up kids were also in that category. The wizard had taken kids as playthings to a whole new level. He was selling them and making a profit. It didn't make any sense. How did Marvelo get a store to sell kids as toys? But more importantly how did he and the other toys get so big?
Andy bounced up and down in a rage and shouted out to him.
"You can't do this! You hear me! Let us go! Let us go!...You can't.." His next words froze in his throat as he took notice of the arrival of a new group of toys. He started to pale as they entered the store and reviewed the objects as well as the boxed children. It was Woody and Buzz. And behind them were the rest of the gang, Hamm, Rex, Mr. Potato Head and Slinky. Andy stared at them in disbelief. Like the other toys, they were as tall as people and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the inhumane kidnapping situation before them. He couldn't believe what they were doing. It was as if Marvelo was right about how much they hated to be parted from their owners. But surely it wouldn't push them to ignore this wrong for the sake of revenge? Woody and Buzz came further into the room, leaving the others behind. Woody examined the boxed children with some distaste which gave Andy some hope. Maybe he did see the wrong.
"Woody! Help me! WOODY! WOODY!"
He wasn't sure if his calls were truly understood through the plastic, but Woody did eventually wander over after his eyes locked onto Andy's. His fear started to fade away as his old toy cowboy doll came up to him. But it was so daunting to see him so big.
"Well now, what do we have here?" he asked.
"Woody, please. It's me, don't you remember me? Andy."
Woody reached for his box and pulled him down. His large face loomed ominously over Andy, making the teen shrink back in worry. Surely Woody wouldn't hurt him? He'd help him. He'd help make him his right size and get him out of here.
"Hey Woody, you found something?" Buzz cried from a few rows down.
"I think I did," said Woody, smiling. He then carried the boxed Andy up to the register. Andy struggled again, but it was useless. He stared up at Woody, tears starting to form in his eyes from the pain of this betrayl. He sensed his favorite toy wasn't going to help him and he didn't know why. Surely he hadn't been talking to Marvelo. Surely he hadn't decided to enslave him in playtime as well?
"Woody! Woody please...what are you doing?"
Woody ignored him and turned to Marvelo instead. "I'd like to purchase this human."
"Purchase?" Andy rasped fearfully. "I'm not a toy! I'm your best friend remember? Your owner! Woody!"
Woody gave no hint that he was listening. Instead he reached in his pocket and pulled out a couple of play money dollar bills which he exchanged with the wizard. He gave Woody back his change in play coins.
"There you are. I hope you are satisfied with your human. Have fun."
"Oh, I think I will," said Woody. He set the box flat on the counter and proceeded to open it. For once, Andy didn't want to leave the confinement of his box. He was terrified of what Woody might do now. Nonetheless, Woody reached in and pulled out the backing. With a large wicked smile on his face, he began to untie Andy. He made one last attempt to make him understand.
"Please! Woody! I didn't mean to abandon you! You're my best friend! Don't do this!"
Woody picked up his struggling form and brought him to eye level. "Let's have fun now Andy."
Andy shivered with horror. "No.."
"Hey Woody, look what I found!" Buzz cried out. Woody looked around and whatever had caught his attention was apparently more interesting than Andy. He let go.
He abandoned his old friend. Andy found himself falling farther and farther away. He screamed out as he fell, horrified more by the fact that Woody was done with him than the fact that he had been dropped and was heading to a concrete floor. Everything was becoming dark. Woody turned his back on him completely as he fell.
"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Andy woke up in a cold sweat. He was shaking horribly and still feeling the intensity of the fall. He looked all around him in confusion and quickly realized he was in a familiar cage in a familiar warehouse. Andy released a small sigh of relief. It had all been a dream. A very bad, yet realistic dream which clearly came about from being in this prison. Slowly he pulled his knees up to his chest and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to go back to sleep. If anything, he was going to stay up all night and come up with an escape. If that dream told him anything, it was that he couldn't sit around and be treated this way forever. At least, that was his own feelings about it. Help may not come through the police. It may not even come from any other toy here besides Mr. Wuzzles. The only thing he could do was stay here and behave like the human toy he was meant to be, like all the other kids were doing -or he could do something about it. He was the oldest one here. He was in the years where he needed to start taking responsibility. Mom wasn't here, and neither was Woody. He was really on his own.
Aside from outside help like Mr. Wuzzles, he felt it was time for him to be more responsible for himself. He wasn't a kid anymore.
Andy smirked at the thought. If he had learned anything from the toys he'd been traveling with, he had come to realize that Woody still thought of him as a kid. He had been a little annoyed that Woody worried over him so much. But then there was the dream. Andy shuttered at the thought of it. To see Woody as himself. One minute playing with his toys and the next turning his back on them. Andy didn't want to believe Woody was like that. He knew him now. He knew he was just as worried about him as he was for himself. Yet, the cowboy wasn't here. He wasn't coming to help him, so Andy was alone.
He opened his eyes and gazed up at the dark ceiling. The fear that he was subsiding started to return again. He couldn't bare it. He just couldn't bare being locked up in this place, forced to play to the desire of these wicked toys for another day. He had to get out of here and he had to do it now. After the stunt he pulled in Warrick's office, who knew if Marvelo was planning to punish him tomorrow. He didn't like the way the toys and kids insinuated what happened when kids were bad around here.
"Hey, hey Andy what's the matter?"
Andy looked down to see Cole looking up at him. He couldn't be sure if he had woke him or not.
"Can't sleep?" he asked, concerned. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"The worst," Andy sighed.
"Oh, well, do what we do when we have bad dreams. Try not to think about them. Least, that's what my mom and Alissa used to tell me."
Cole looked away as the mention of their names filled him with a sudden sadness. Andy studied him carefully. He himself wasn't a kid, yet they were all in the same situation. At the mention of a mom and sister, Andy started to think about his own. How would they feel when they found out he wasn't home? How would his mom take to having to report to the cops that her son's gone missing? Andy couldn't bare the thought of how she would feel. And these kids. They had parents who knew they were missing. But day by day these kids were accepting their new way of life. It wasn't right for them to lose hope like this. They still had a lot more growing up to do; just as he did and he felt it was in his best interest to restore faith. Afterall, he hadn't yet accepted that his life, his home would forever be here.
"You'll get to hear them say things like that again Cole."
"Huh?" Cole asked as he frowned up at Andy. "What makes you so sure?"
Andy wasn't looking at him. He was staring straight ahead, out into the open warehouse as if daring Warrick's toys to confront him with his wild idea.
"Because, we're bustin' out of here."
Well, it seems Woody and the others have also found a toy in Warrick's bunch that's willing to help. So if toys like Mr. Wuzzles and Trolley are willing to risk their necks...then there's still hope for Andy and the others! Like Woody said, deep down, some of these toys may understand how wrong Warrick and Marvelo are.
So finally they know where their owner is. Rc and the others weren't aware of the kidnapping plot as it hadn't been talked about in front of them. They're still new and they're meant to adjust to the situation first, so the information on Andy's kidnapping is new to them also. Originally I wasn't going to have Warrick's toys explain what happened to the kids. It was going to be an unexpected surprise, but great surprises are still in store for them!
I enjoyed writing that dream sequence which was basically inspired by Woody's dream in TS2. So eerie. You know it could be a fic all by itself! Like a Twilight Zonish episode. Here, it gave Andy a dose of what toys go through with abandonment, but more importantly it stressed his concern that Woody wasn't going to be there for him as he was starting to believe what Marvelo said about him. That in turn inspires him to try another rescue plot. I'll explain more about that situation next chapter. Right now it's a crazy thing for him to attempt. There's two rescue plans in motion. Who will be more successful?
Tune in next time and find out! This is a major turning point in the story.