Author's Notes: I'm taking a tap dancing class right now. How sick is that? :) And also you probably saw this coming...
Jessie found herself wandering the ship for what seemed like ages. Why did Woody ever think she could do this? At the very least, she had the element of surprise. She was certain no one knew her presence on the ship and that gave her a bit of confidence. And yet, there was a constant gnawing at her stomach knowing she could blow the whole thing at any moment.
And it didn't matter if she was caught if she couldn't get the shields down somehow.
After going in circles and ending back up in the shuttle bay again, she started back down another hallway. Why did everything have to look the same?
She finally found a sign over an elevator that said BRIDGE. It looked promising.
Jessie treaded carefully into the elevator. It was large, with a metal grated floor and smooth off white paneling on the walls, matching the interior of the entire ship. An automated jingle was played through a speaker inside, which startled the cowgirl, and a synthetic female voice said simply "Authorization please." A pad came out of a hidden compartment on the wall with a slot to swipe a card.
Before the cowgirl could even contemplate what her next move would be, she heard footsteps from down the hall. She quickly hid herself out of view in the elevator, trying to slow her breaths. Another green army man casually walked in pulling out a keycard. Jessie wasted no time in punching him squarely in the jaw, and then moving the limp body out of sight to the hallway.
Jessie took a moment to massage her fist. She'd forgotten how much it hurt to pull punches like that. After the throbbing went away, she grabbed the card he'd pulled out and ran it through the cardreader. "Approved," the automated voice say drolly. The doors of the elevator closed smoothly.
The cowgirl exhaled sharply, feeling her heart beating against her chest. She pressed herself against the wall next to the cardreader and waited for the doors to open again. They slid open noiselessly, and again the female voice announced "Bridge."
Although she couldn't see into the room, Jessie could tell that there was a group of 10 or 15 soldiers around from the mumbles of confusion as the elevator opened by itself. She quietly changed the settings on her lazer to stun, and held her breath.
"Hello?" someone called out innocently.
Finally another worked up the courage to check inside. Jessie could hear his steps getting closer, and closer… This was it.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles started turning white. And yet, his voice was low, steady and articulate.
"John Porkchop, I presume?"
The pig man looked like a child on Christmas day. "That's evil Doctor Porkchop to you," he corrected politely.
"Where is she?" Woody asked coolly.
"She'll be joining us shortly. In the meantime, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to finally meet you! I've heard a great deal about you. Of course, I'd seen you before in my days working for Alan…" Porkchop said knitting his fingers together.
"You knew who he really was then…"
"I'll admit, he was an enigma to me," the Pig said. He spoke as if it was small talk between friends. "He'd dropped out of the sky one day, gaining followers quickly and promising to cleanse the universe of the evil that resided within. I found his mission boring of course, but then I began to dig around, looking for opportunities.
"When my research surfaced the possibility of an ultimate weapon, I couldn't just let it slip through my fingers. But Alan was making things difficult… He had ulterior motives, I just hadn't calculated to what extent. I suppose it didn't matter anyway, because Lotso finished him off. And here we are…"
"Where is she, Porkchop?" Woody repeated.
The pig grinned. He pulled out a remote box. "You really like to get to the point, don't you Woody? You're taking the fun out of this. I suppose if you MUST know…"
He switched a lever, and from a hole in the ceiling a flash of white started to freefall. Woody flinched, but the soldiers around him held his shoulders. It stopped, as it was being held by a chain. The screens in the middle of the arena held a close up shot of Bo Peep's face, eyes covered with a gag in her mouth. She jerked her head around, clearly frightened to death.
"This is the best part," Porkchop squealed. He cleared his throat. "You must choose, Sheriff Woody! How shall she die?"
The floor started to shake, and two clear tanks began to rise. One was filled with water, and the other had dirt and trees.
"Death by shark?" Porkchop continued. "Or death by monkeys? My genetically modified monkeys, that is…"
Woody felt the blood flush from his face. His head was spiraling searching for something- anything. He could probably break free from the soldiers holding him, but they would shoot him before he got very far, and he had no time.
"Choose!" the Pig cried, flashing his sharp teeth.
"You're making a big mistake, Porkchop," the cowboy jabbed quickly. "Kill her now and you lose the key to your weapon."
"I've already taken all the blood I need-"
"And how idiotic is it to gamble like that? What if someone steals it? What if you lose it?"
Porkchop clicked his tongue a few times, and then slumped angrily like a child. "I'm not going to pretend like you're wrong. I'm aware of the risks, but I have calculated every single outcome." He suddenly leaned forward again, talking with a very different intensity. Each syllable was much darker. "If she's gone, there is no possibility of anyone else getting blood from the source. So I repeat, how shall she die?"
The crowd started to get anxious around them, pounding their feet and shouting things like 'Shark! Go for the shark!.'
Woody was at wits end. He would go after Bo or die trying.
And it was in that moment that Buzz Lightyear was waiting in silence peeking out from the curtain behind Porkchop's throne. He wanted to give Woody a sign, but the cowboy was so far away that it would be nearly impossible.
The Ranger exhaled deeply, contemplating his actions carefully. He slowly pulled back the curtain, and poked his head around the throne.
There was a sudden silence from the crowd, as another face joined Porkchop on the big screen. Woody's eyes widened, and he managed to mumble out "I choose Buzz Lightyear…"
Porkchop was the only one who had no idea what was going on. "Come again?" He asked.
"I choose, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!"