Woody peered with widened eyes through the gap in the backpack as Sid roughly pulled his front door, the sheriff flinching backwards into Buzz as the door opened to reveal a barking dog that lunged straight for the backpack, spittle flying from its sharp teeth - teeth that were certainly sharp enough to rip a toy to shreds in mere seconds.
"Whoa," Sid jerked his hand back, the toys being thrown around the inside of the bag as he swung it back away from the aggressive dog. "hey, boy! Sit!" Woody let out a sigh of relief as the dog stopped its attempts to reach him and Buzz, the dog sitting back on its haunches as its owner commanded, but not taking its eyes off of the backpack for a second. "Good boy!"
"Hey, I got something for you boy!"
"Freeze!" Woody hissed out a warning before Sid shoved his hand into the backpack, rifling around the toys before his hands clasped around the form of the alien from the claw-machine game, pulling the toy away from Woody and Buzz and out of the backpack, balancing it carefully on the dog's snout, the animal tensing as it trained its eyes on the toy.
"Ready... set... now!"
In one quick, fluid motion, the dog flips the alien up into the air and caught it in its slobbery and sharp canine-filled mouth, rabidly shaking the poor toy back and forth, leaving Woody and Buzz to helpless watch, unable to stop the violent treatment of the innocent toy.
"Hannah!" Woody and Buzz glanced away from the dog to see another child, presumably Sid's sister, entering their line of sight with a doll clutched in her hands. "Hey, Hannah!"
"What?"
"Did I get my package in the mail?"
"Mom said it was delayed until tomorrow," Hannah rolled her eyes as she looked down at her doll, "you would know that if you had paid attention when she was talking to you at breakfast." Hannah smirked.
Sid groaned, "Well shut up then!" Sid roughly shoved his sister aside, ignoring her cry of protest as he stormed up the stairs. "I have a new patient in need of desperate surgery!"
Woody and Buzz shared a concerned look, Woody trembling slightly, "No. Not Sid's room. Not there." Woody rose a trembling hand to his cowboy hat, fear clear in his lovingly-painted eyes. "We're never going to make it out of here!"
While Woody worried, Sid ran into his room and slammed the door shut, carelessly tossing his backpack - with Woody and Buzz inside - to his bed as he walked to what appeared to be a makeshift workbench.
"Oh, no, we have a sick patient here, Nurse." Sid rustled around his workbench as he pretended to be a doctor. "Prepare the O.R., stat!" Sid reached up and pulled the string of a single bare lightbulb that dangled above his so-called "operating table", illuminating a room filled with power tools, scattered torn-apart and destroyed toy pieces and posters strewn about his rooms floor and walls.
Woody and Buzz froze and let their limbs go limp as Sid chuckled and turned to stride towards the backpack, shoving his hand in and reaching around until he took ahold of the first thing his fingers touched.
Which just happened to be Woody's leg.
Woody shared a panicked look with Buzz before he was pulled from the safety of the bag, dangling above the floor as his leg was held in Sid's hand, the cowboy swinging back and forth as the crazed child made his way across his room to the well-lit surface, settling Woody down and sparing the toy a toothy grin before loosening a clamp that was tightened to the table and placing Woody's head in it, tightening the contraption enough to the point where the cowboys' head was held securely enough that he wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
"Hmm.." Sid leaned over the limp cowboy, his hands roaming over the toy as he examined it. "It seems that you don't have any injuries that need fixing!" Sid grinned, and Woody felt terror strike his heart. "But that's perfectly okay! We'll just have to give you some!"
Buzz watched on in horror from the safety of Sid's backpack as the child donned a mask he had taken from a tool chest beside him on the work bench, before pulling out a sharp pocketknife that gleamed in the light emitting from the lightbulb dangling above him and Woody.
Was Buzz about to watch the cowboy meet his end..?
"I don't think any patient has been lucky enough to be the recipient of four prosthetics before! You're in luck my patient," Sid chuckled darkly as he brought the blade of the pocket knife to Woody's right arm. "You'll be the first! And if you survive, we'll replace your brain!"
Buzz leaned every which way as he moaned out of the backpack, but as Sid crouched over Woody, fully invested in his "surgery", Buzz had no visuals on what was occurring. He could only hear Sid's dark laughs and occasional doctor-like comments, along with seeing bits of fluff and dyed cotton falling to the ground below the workbench, Buzz's heart dropping lower and lower into his chest as more and more pieces of the cowboy fluttered to lie in scattered piles upon the carpet of Sid's bedroom.
Sid paused his gruesome work and looked up as a series of rapid knocks emitted from his door.
"Sid, mom says it's time for dinner!" Buzz mentally thanked Sid's mother as the boy sighed, abandoning his pocketknife on the makeshift operating table and going to his door, and leaving.
"Woody, he's gone!" Buzz burst into movement, diving from the backpack and jumping to the floor, quickly racing across the carpet and to the workbench, making his way to one of the legs and scaling it with ease, swiftly reaching the top and pulling himself onto the top of the workbench, his sweeping eyes spotting Woody's still form in seconds, and racing over to him.
"Oh no..." Buzz grimaced as he looked over Woody's ravaged body. "What did that evil kid do to you?"
Woody's head was still tightly crushed between the two sides of the clamp, preventing the cowboy from moving - although Buzz wasn't sure Woody would be moving even if he wasn't held still. The cowboys' right arm along with his left leg was completely severed, along with his right leg barely hanging on with a few threads. Stuffing had spilled out from the holes that his severed limbs had left behind, leaving the injured cowboy misshapen and lumpy.
"Buzz," Woody gasped, pain audible in his strained voice. "you gotta get out of here. Sid's gonna torture you after he's done with me, I don't want you to have to go through this hell."
"Woody," Buzz frowned, quickly making his way to the clamps' handle, pulling on it as he attempted to loosen it to free the cowboy. "I am not going to leave my *partner* behind! We're both getting out of here and we're going to fix you right up once we get back to Andy's!" Buzz let out a soft cheer as the handle of the clamp loosened, swirling around and loosening the clamp, allowing Woody's head to fall to the workbench's surface.
Buzz quickly raced around and collected Woody's leg and arm, before kneeling at his side and quickly pushing as much stuffing as he could into the holes before gently picking up the cowboy into a bridal carry, folding his barely-connected arm into his lab and settling the disconnected limbs securely beneath it, pressed against Buzz's chest and held in place as the Space Ranger stood to his full height, turning to glance around the room, looking for any way he could escape the torture room that was Sids' home, and exit or-
"There, Woody! I can see the window into Andy's room right across from Sids' window! If we can get the attention of the other toys, we can get out of here!" Buzz reassured the barely conscious cowboy as he made his way across the room to the floor beneath the window that was set high up in the wall, too high for Buzz to reach.
"How am I supposed to..."
Buzz whirled around as a noise came from behind him, the superhero watching as a small yo-yo wobbled into the middle of the floor from behind a box, falling ominously onto its side.
Buzz whipped to his other side as noises came from Sids' bed, the space ranger rearranging Woody to allow himself to point his laser in the direction of the noise, illuminating a creepy baby head looking back at him, half of its face and the rest of its body lost to the shadows beneath the kids' bed.
"Well, hey little fella. Come out here." Buzz motioned towards himself with an friendly smile. "Do you know a way me and my friend outta here?"
Buzz watched as the baby doll moved out from under the bed, drawing back in horror as it moved out into the light revealing a one-eyed doll head that was crudely settled atop a body made of erector set pieces that creepily resembled spider legs.
The baby-spider-thing skittered closer and rose up to tower over Buzz and Woody on extended legs as various mutant and Frankenstein'd toys emerged from beneath the bed and other various hiding places from around the room, a haunting recording of "Pop Goes the Weasel" playing from a jack-in-the-box as the toys gathered around and pressed closer and closer to Buzz and Woody.
Buzz jerked back as a skateboard with the torso of a combat soldier rolled up to him, the soldier reaching out and grabbing onto Woody and trying to pull him from Buzz's protective hold.
"No, what are you doing?!" Buzz tightened his grip, pulling back against the toys' grip on Woody, using his free arm to whack the soldier on the face, pushing the cobbled together creature away. "You creatures aren't going to take him! I don't want to fight any of you, me and my friend just want to escape! We live at the next house over, please!" Buzz tensed and curled his form over Woody's injured body as the tortured toys drew closer once more, the Space Ranger squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for his and Woody's demise, waited for...
Buzz tentatively cracked open an eye as he didn't feel any pain or any suddenly missing or added limbs, before watching on wide eyes as a strange mix of a fishing pole and the legs of a Barbie approached, carefully looping the hook of the fishing wire around Buzz, wrapping the wire around his chest and under his arms before hooking it onto himself, sufficiently trying Buzz to the strange creature.
"Where are you taking us? What are you going to do?!" Buzz cried out, wide eyes glancing from creature to creature, before widening even more as a headless doll pointed to the window above them. "You're helping us... escape?" The gathered toys nodded their heads. Or... whatever items they had in place of heads. "Thank you, I don't know how o can repay you all..."
Buzz carefully tucked Woody and his limbs closer against his chest as the gathered toys piled on top of each other, quickly forming a staircase for the fishing pole to ascend, which it did carefully, carrying Buzz - and Woody - behind it as it quickly climbed up the staircase of toys to the windowsill, placing the two toys at the edge and undoing the fishing line that had been wrapped around them.
With no hand to shake, Buzz awkwardly patted the top of the fishing like with a few words of thanks. The creature bobbed, before retreating and descending the assembled staircase, before retreating - along with all the other toys - into their hiding places that they had come from, leaving Buzz and Woody alone on the windowsill, so close to freedom and yet, so far.
How was Buzz ever going to get himself and Woody across the gap between Sid's and Andy's home?
As Buzz glanced around the shelves near him, the Space Ranger spotted a coiled up extension cord. Score! He could throw the cord across the gap if he managed to get the other toys attention, and if he could secure Woody he could get himself and the cowboy safely back to the safety of Andy's room.
Buzz carefully settled Woody - who was still not very responsive - next to the window, before moving to drag the cord to the window sill, thanking his lucky stars as he spotted a power strip lying on the other side of the window, which he raced over to and plugged the plug of the extension cord into it to act as an anchor so the cord didn't just fall out the window when he threw it across the gap and put his and Woody's weight on it.
As Buzz returned to the window and peered out at Andy's bedroom, spotting Mr. Potato Head and Hamm, seeming playing the game Battleship in the window, lit by the bright lights emitted by the street lights on the street the houses were on.
Buzz quickly hooked his fingers beneath the window, and pulled up, sliding the wooden-framed glass pane up and leaning out with a call to get their attention. "Hey you guys! Hamm, Mr. Potato Head!"
Buzz watched as both toys looked across the way, visual shock crossing their faces as they saw Buzz waving at them.
"Son of a building block!" Mr. Potato Head's voice - slightly hard to hear due to the distance - came from Andy's room, the toy in question leaning out of his window as he squinted at the form waving at them from Sid's bedroom. "That's Buzz!"
Hamm gasped in horror as he joined Mr. Potato Head at the edge of the window. "He's in the psycho's bedroom!" Hamm turned to call down into Andy's bedroom, presumably to the other toys. "Everyone, it's Buzz!"
Buzz watched as Slinky, Rex, and Bo Peep joined the other two toys at the window, the Space Ranger spotting badly concealed disappointment and concern in the last ones' porcelain eyes when she saw Buzz, he assumed the cause was the fact that she didn't see the confident cowboy alongside him. Speaking of Woody, Buzz shot the cowboy a concerted glance. He needed to get Woody back to Andy's and fixed - soon.
Mr. Potato Head cheered. "I knew you'd make it back Buzz!"
"How did you get over there, Buzz?" Bo Peep questioned as she supported herself with her shepherd's crook, clearly worried about the "missing" cowboy.
It's a long story, I'll have to explain later."
Woody tosses one end of the Christmas lights over, Slinky reaching out to catch them.
"Woah!" Slinky caught them, holding the other side of the cord tightly in his paws. "I got it, Buzz!"
Rex cheered excitedly "He got it, Buzz!"
Buzz congratulated the slinky dog, "Good going, Slink!" Buzz motioned to the cord as he moved towards Woody. "Now just, just tie it on to something."
As Slink darted off to go secure the cord, Buzz called back to the other animals. "Can you guys get a needle and string ready for when I get over there? Also extra stuffing if you can find any..."
"Why do you need that, Buzz?" Rex chuckled, "You're plastic! A needle would break on you!"
Buzz stood up, Woody tucked in his arms. "It's not for me." Buzz moved back into the windowsill, the limp form of Woody clutched in his arms, the gaping holes where his arm and leg were clearly visible. "It's for Woody."
Bo Peep and the other gathered toys gasped, horror filling their eyes and the toys flinching back as they took in the tortured and destroyed body of their leader.
"Woody?!"
"What happened to him?"
"What did that insane child do?!"
Buzz waved a hand for silence, calming the enraged and worried toys as they expressed their worry for the toy that they had been furious at only hours ago. "Guys I will explain everything later. Right now we need to get back to Andy's bedroom and get Woody some help."
As Slinky and Rex returned, Mrs. Potato Head trailing behind them with a needle and black thread clutched in her hand, a small tuft of stuffing in her other, Buzz prepared himself to cross the gap between Sid's and Andy's houses. He had to hurry, they needed to get back before Sid returned to continue his twisted surgery on Woody.
"Everyone, hold onto the cord! Don't let it slip while I'm coming across!" Buzz watched as the toys on the other side all gathered around the cord and grabbed onto it, nodding in Buzz's direction to show that they were ready.
Buzz took a reassuring breath in, before using one arm to pin Woody - and his limbs - to his chest, before jumping from the window and grabbing onto the cord. After a brief moment of swinging back and forth, Buzz threw himself forward and let go of the cord, letting himself sail through the air for a brief moment before he latched onto the cord again, successfully making it a few inches along the cord. After a few minutes of swaying back and forth and throwing himself along the cord, with only one brief scare where Woody slightly slipped and Buzz had to quickly readjust to prevent the weak cowboy from plummeting the twenty feet to the ground, Buzz successfully made it to Andy's windowsill, the other toys quickly swarming forward to pull him up into the room, Buzz quickly laying Woody out on his back and lying his dismembered limbs next to where they had been severed from.
As he looked up, Buzz could see that the gathered toys surrounding him and Woody looked vaguely sick as they finally got a close-up look at the injuries Sid had inflicted upon the usually boisterous and loud sheriff now laid out on the lid of the toy chest that was against the window, the only wounds coming from him now were weak moans of pain.
"We've got to stitch him up fast, before Andy comes back in." Buzz commanded, "Bo Peep, you probably have the steadiest hands. Would you-?"
Bo Peep solemnly handed her shepherd's crook to Rex, who clutched it in trembling talons. "Of course. Mrs. Potato Head?"
"Slinky, you can untie the cord, just throw it out the window and back to Sids' side when you can." Buzz turned to Woody, "Me and Mr. Potato Head are going to help Woody.
As Mrs. Potato Head handed Bo Peep the needle and she began to thread it while Slinky worked on detangling the cord that he had wrapped around Andy's bed leg, Buzz and Mr. Potato Head stuffed the stuffing that Mrs. Potato Head supplied - apparently it had originated from a hole in Andy's pillow - into the holes in Woody's body, trying their best to push and knead the stuffing around to get it to lie flat and not appear misshapen or lumpy. As they finished, Bo Peep settled at Woody's side, with Buzz kneeling behind the cowboy so he could prop him up when needed so Bo Peep could stitch everywhere that was needed.
The room was silent as unusually somber toys watched as Bo Peep carefully looped stitch after stitch, pausing occasionally to pull on the string to securely tighten the new seams that reunited Woodys' limbs to his body, the cowboy - who had began to start to come back to awareness - shifting slightly as the needle pierced his cloth skin again and again, new rows of nest black stitching slowly forming across the injured parts of his body.
But after a little while, Woody's left and right arm had been completely reattached, and his left arm that had been just barely holding on by a few threads had been resecured and sewn into place.
Right as Bo Peep tied off the last string and Buzz had gone to thank and congratulate her, the gathered toys heard the sounds of Andy's loud and exuberant footsteps pounding up the stairs.
The toys went limp instantly as the door opened, before closing softly as Andy shut it behind him. Tear tracks were visible on his cheeks as he turned back to his room, obviously upset about his missing toys.
Except- they were right there!
Andy gasped and ran to his toy chest, quickly snatching up Buzz Lightyear and Woody, grinning in delight before hugging them to his chest as he turned and raced out of his room.
"Mom, mom! I found Buzz and Woody! They were in my room all along!"
"I told you sweetie! You weren't looking hard enough!"
As Andy perched on the living room floor in the middle of a sea of boxes, having Buzz and Woody chase each other from box to box, leaping and flying around in a magical game of make-believe, Buzz would catch glimpses of Woody as Andy ran him past, a bright grin in place on the cowboys' vinyl face.
They were going to be alright.
And Buzz certainly wouldn't say no to starting a friendship with the cowboy, he'd wager that they'd been through enough to warrant that much.