Toy Fic
56. The Sacrifice
"Hello, colleagues," Edward said.
The other toys from Sid's room, hidden in a shadowy corner of Sunnyside, lifted their eyes to glare at Edward.
"I had hoped," Edward continued with an insufferable smirk, "that we might all congregate in the basement, as old friends, to enjoy each other's company. Of course, all the plans you have to overthrow me will do you no good at all… so we may as well be civil. I would be honored if you'd join me."
Hippocampus glared angrily. "Sure… we've got nothing better to do, so, sure. Let's go down there."
"Splendid," Edward said.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The basement of Sunnyside wasn't nearly as renovated as the exterior and ground floor, and showed definite signs of the building's great age. Dusty wooden shelves and support beams formed a veritable maze of clutter, and the entire building was heated from beneath by a woodstove.
Bo hoisted herself onto a shelf, interested in the history that must have been hidden among the clutter; while on the floor, everyone from Sid's room, including Lotso and his entourage of tattered puppets, walked along the floor. Everyone kept a distance from Lotso and Edward out of either fear or anger—and even Lotso was trying not to get too near to Edward.
"I'm tellin' you, folks," Lotso said. "This daycare could be… paradise."
"You simply must think bigger, my friend," Edward said. "Your philosophy, that a toy's life is merely waiting to be thrown away… but we could be so much more than that, Lotso."
"Yeah, I've heard what you're saying," Lotso said. "When toys rule the world… well, it has possibilities, I'll give you that."
"You two are sick," Tiny retorted. "Just… sick."
Edward clapped his hands. "Hey! Robots!"
Tom and Crow rushed to his side quickly.
"Amuse us," Edward said pointedly.
"Um… right," Tom said, looking around. "Well, uh, what's with this basement? It's all dusty… anyone been in here for the last hundred years? Ha ha… ha ha ha…" He trailed off weakly.
"We don't work well under pressure, Edward," Crow said apologetically.
"Oh, fine, fine," Edward said, waving a hand. "Doesn't matter much now… Hippocampus, speak your thoughts. That should be sufficiently stimulating."
"I hate you," Hippocampus declared, his teeth gritted. "I thought I might hate you, before, when you… but now… now I definitely do. There's no question."
The basement door opened suddenly, and all the toys ran for cover as a daycare employee entered bearing some wood for the stove. She opened the stove's door and placed the firewood within, prodding at the flames for a moment before returning up the stairs.
She had left the door to the stove open.
Bob Buttons rushed at Lotso, biting the bear's arm tightly.
"Hey!" Lotso growled. "Let go of me, you dumb cat!"
With a mighty screech, Bob Buttons flung Lotso straight into the woodstove—the plush toy was cinders in seconds.
Bo realized that Edward was standing directly beneath her. This was it—she didn't stop to think for even a second. She flung herself off the shelf to land on Edward.
Edward leapt out of the way, and Bo shattered on the ground. The temporary distraction was enough—Ard and Hippocampus wrestled a surprised Edward to the ground.
"Got you now," Ard whispered. "You got nothing, mate."
Hippocampus turned to look at the shattered mess where Bo had landed. He choked up, then gritted his teeth at Edward.
"I don't know what's bad enough for you to deserve," he said.
Bob Buttons gestured to the woodstove, and Edward began laughing hysterically.
"Wow," Ard muttered. "I don't know, Steve… that's harsh…"
The mountain lion snorted.
"It is," Hippocampus agreed. "I don't really want to do it, myself… but…" He looked again at the wreckage of Bo's body.
"Right," Ard said. "Let's do this."
They flung Edward into the woodstove, but he didn't burn away as easily as Lotso. On fire, melting and smoking, he stood up and began to advance on them.
"Hey!" Hippocampus said frantically. "Stay back!"
"Shut the dumb door!" Bo yelled.
Bob Buttons slammed the door and locked it. Edward could be heard pounding on it for a few more seconds, then nothing.
All of the toys stepped over to the pile of shards where Bo's voice had rung out. Hippocampus leaned down and flipped over a piece. It was half of Bo's face, and she blinked up at him and smiled.
"Bo," Hippocampus said, a sob creeping in. "I am so sorry."
"It had to be done," she whispered to him. "I'll be okay, Steve."
"Bo, I… I love you," he choked out. "I always loved you."
She closed her eyes and gave a tiny nod. "I know… I love you too. Can you please… put me in the stove too?"
Steve's eyes widened as he inhaled sharply. "No… no! There must be something we can do… put you back together…"
"No," she said gently. "I'm in a thousand pieces… just scoop me into the fire… it can't feel any worse than… than all of this…"
Steve sighed. "Right… of course."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
They all sat on Sunnyside's back wall as the sun began to set.
"Steve?" Holiday Barbie whispered. "What do you think we should do now?"
"This whole Sunnyside deal…" Hippocampus muttered. "It just wasn't any of our business. We should just… go."
