Chapter 19: You've Got A Friend In Me:
World of Toys – Al's Apartment:
"I thought he'd never leave," Sora commented with a sigh of relief once Al McWiggin, avid toy collector, full-time Toy Store owner, and occasional thief, left his top floor apartment to drive across the street to fax the photo's he'd taken of his Woody's Roundup merchandise set to the Konishi Toy Museum in preparation for the impending sale. Sora and Donald had landed on the window of the apartment during the early hours of the night, when Al was still eating out for dinner. Woody and Jessie had left them inside out of curiosity, and were surprised to learn that they weren't toys but had been shrunk down to that size.
From there, they'd exchanged information and had gotten caught up on the current situation. Al had been collecting merchandise from an old cartoon called Woody's Roundup for years, and had recently stolen Woody from a yard sale from which the cowboy doll had attempted to rescue a broken toy. Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the prospector were all thrilled that Al was selling them to a toy museum in a place called Tokyo. But because he'd been stolen and his owner, Andy wouldn't even realize it until he was home from summer camp, Woody had no desire to go. Al had taken a massive amount of photos shortly after a cleaner had come to reattach Woody's arm, which had been accidentally ripped during playtime with Andy, then fell off completely as a result of Al's careless handling of the cowboy in preparation for the photo shoot.
"Oh wow!" Woody exclaimed as he examined his newly repaired arm. "Would you look at me? It's like I'm fresh out of the box! LOOK AT THIS STITCHING! Andy's gonna have a hard time rippin' this." He waved his reattached limb in front of Jessie excitedly, even as she glared at the cowboy with a look of frustration on her face. It was obvious to Sora that she was claustrophobic, and since she'd spent years trapped inside a dark box on her own while Al kept the Woody's Roundup toys and memorabilia in storage, he couldn't say that he blamed her. He could also tell that there was a more personal reason that she was upset about Woody leaving, but she didn't talk to him enough for him to be able to figure out what it was.
"Great!" she snapped. "Now you can go." With the mood thus killed, Jessie stormed off towards the window. Equally frustrated, Woody decided that now it was finally time to go home, and walked over to the air vent. Bullseye nudged the cowboy doll mournfully, sad that his friend was leaving. Ugh, Sora thought to himself. This is really complicated. On the one hand, he liked Woody and understood his desire to get back to his family. But on the other, if Al's sale fell through (despite Sora's wish for the thief/toynapper to face some form of retribution for his crime), then it was back to storage for Jessie and the others. Maybe they could just go back with Woody, he'd suggested to Donald.
His feathered friend agreed, but felt that the trio needed to reach that conclusion on their own instead of being prodded into it. They had suggested as much, but while Bullseye liked the idea, the prospector still wanted to go to the museum, and Jessie was suspiciously cynical on the matter, stating that in a few years "his precious Andy" would give up on them and they'd be drifting in the wind until they ended up in either storage or a landfill.
"Woody," Stinky Pete began. "Don't be mad at Jessie. She's been through more than you know. Why not make amends before you leave, huh? It's the least you can do." Woody was skeptical that it would do any good, but he nevertheless agreed to go talk to Jessie. Sora, always having a thing for connecting with people and helping them work out their problems, followed along. Woody tried to explain how important his bond with Andy was, only for the cowgirl to guess what he was trying to say without even saying.
"How did you know that?" Woody asked.
"Because Emily was just the same," Jessie answered. She then proceeded to sing a song about the times she'd shared with her former owner that nearly drove Sora to tears. Even Donald, who'd waddled over during the song, couldn't help but get a little teary eyed at the sorrow conveyed in the cowgirl's singing. As harsh as it was, it was true. Kids outgrew toys all the time. It was a fact of life. But it seemed so much more heartbreaking looking at it from a toy's point of view.
"You don't forget kids like Emily or Andy," she said sadly. "But they forget you."
"Jessie," Woody began, trying to be reassuring and comfort her. "I didn't…"
"Just go," she cut him off angrily. Seeing that she didn't want to talk to him anymore, Woody climbed down from the chair and made his way back towards the air vent. Sora and Donald wished the cowboy luck and promised to stay and keep Jessie company, and perhaps even find a way to avoid her having to go back into storage.
"Maybe if she's so cynical about kids, she could come back to Radiant Garden with us," Sora whispered to Donald as an idea popped into his head. "She could probably fit right in with Cinderella's mouse friends, or with Pinnochio even." Donald was skeptical of the idea, pointing out that they had no idea if it would even work, not to mention the fact that there was no way of knowing if whatever magic in this world allowed toys to come to life would even work outside the book. If they were wrong, Jessie would either still be trapped here or dead, rendered an inert, lifeless doll for eternity. Ultimately, it wasn't worth the risk.
"How long will it last, Woody?" Stinky Pete asked as he shuffled his box up behind the cowboy. "Do you really think Andy is going to take you to college? Or on his honeymoon?" This gave Woody pause. "Andy's growing up," the prospector went on. "And there's nothing you can do about it. It's your choice, Woody. You can go back, or you can stay with us, and last forever. You'll be adored by children for generations!"
"Sure, they'll adore him," Sora rebutted. "But he'd be spending an eternity looking at the rest of the world through a glass case. And if they've got the room under 24-hour surveillance or something, none of you'd ever be able to move again without being seen." Woody thought long and hard about his options. On the one hand, yes, he could be adored by children for generations. But on the other, play time, the thing he enjoyed the most about being Andy's toy, the thing that he had always felt made all the chaos he'd gone through with Buzz a year before worth it? That would never happen to him again. Not unless some idiot decided to steal him from the museum, and even then, they'd just sell him on eBay to another collector for more money.
"Sora's right," Woody finally decided. "We're toys. We were made to be played with. And I'd rather get torn apart by a rough but invigorating play time than spend the rest of my existence trapped in a glass box unable to move for fear of being discovered by the humans. I'm going home. You can all come with me if you want to. Jessie, I know you're upset about Emily, and I know that sooner or later, Andy will grow up, but that's the great thing about us being long lasting: we get passed on to other kids, and the cycle repeats. I can't stop him from growing up, but I wouldn't miss it for the world." This managed to crack the cowgirl's cynical shell for a moment as she briefly considered the possibility.
"Besides," he added. "He's got a little sister."
"He does!?" Jessie exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so? Come on, let's go!" Her spirits lifted, the cowgirl climbed down from the windowsill. Bullsey practically threw himself under Woody so that the cowboy was riding in his saddle. They all turned around to ask the Prospector to join them only to find to their shock that his unopened box was empty. A violent slamming noise made them whirl around in surprise to find Stinky Pete screwing the air vent shut with his pickaxe. What's he doing? Sora wondered in bewilderment as he reflexively drew his Keyblade and slipped into a battle stance. He didn't want to believe that Stinky Pete was trying to stop them out of malice, but he was prepared to fight either way.
"Prospector!?" Jessie gasped incredulously.
"You're out of your box!" Woody interjected. Way to point out the obvious, Donald mentally commented dryly.
"I tried reasoning with you, Woody," Stinky Pete replied calmly as he marched back towards the box. "But you keep forcing me to take extreme measures."
"Wait a minute," Sora interrupted as things about the incident with the TV after his and Donald's arrival the previous night finally added up together in his mind. "Jessie never turned on the TV last night. You did."
"Look," the rotund prospector answered, his voice never rising above his usual calm yet sad tone. "These three and I have an eternity to spend in a museum so there's no need to go pointing fingers."
"You really are a stinky Pete, aren't you," Woody retorted angrily.
"Prospector, this isn't fair," Jessie snapped.
"FAIR!?" the miner roared angrily, dark smoke swirling around him as his anger rose. Uh oh, Sora thought with a sense of dread. I can see where this is going. I've got to nudge him away from that path before it's too late. "I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NOT FAIR," Stinky Pete went on with seemingly uncharacteristic anger. "SPENDING A LIFETIME ON A DIME STORE SHELF WATCHING EVERY OTHER TOY BE SOLD! WELL NOW FINALLY MY WAITING HAS PAID OFF, AND NO HAND-ME DOWN COWBOY DOLL OR SOME MAGIC SHRUNKEN HUMAN FROM THE STARS IS GOING TO RUIN IT FOR ME NOW!" As if on cue, familiar dark shapes emerged from the shadows cast around the room.
"Heartless!" Sora cried out as his fears were confirmed. The Prospector was sliding into Darkness, and his anger and newly expressed feelings of inferiority were going to cost him his Heart. He didn't look like he'd have enough positive emotions in his heart to keep him from losing himself like Sora had managed to do. "Stay out of their way," he called out to Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye. "We'll cover you!" With that, he and Donald charged into battle as they started casting spells. The Heartless were swarming out of the shadows in large numbers, and because of their reduced size, it took several hours before they were able to clean out the last of them. With Stinky Pete knocked unconscious in his box after a brief duel, the group ran towards the air vent grille only to find it frozen shut, with a powerful barrier spell blocking them from getting within five feet of the vent.
And before they could figure anything out from there, Al returned, forcing Sora and Donald to hide under the table while the greedy store owner packed the quartet of toys into custom foam insulated packaging for the trip to Japan. Once he left to take the boxes of other Woody's Roundup merch down to his car, Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye leaped back out of the foam blocks and raced over to the vent grille, where Donald was attempting to cast Firaga spells to melt the ice holding the barricade shut. Unfortuantely, the barrier was still in place. Since Stinky Pete was still out cold inside his box, Sora quickly deduced that there was a larger Heartless hiding somewhere in the room.
True enough, a minute later, a breed of Heartless known as the Demon Tide, a hive-mind driven mass of Shadows that fought like a single gestalt entity. The larger the swarm, the harder it was to kill, and this one was the size of the whole couch. Calling on his darker powers, Sora launched a blast of Dark Firaga at the head of the swarm before launching himself off the couch to start swinging at the heart of the hive with his Keyblade. It took another half hour to kill the Wave, and by the time he and Donald had managed to finish it off for good, Al had returned. It was too late to get Woody and the others out of there. But maybe we can sneak them out in the elevator if we take the air vent now, Sora realized.
He signaled his plan to Woody before discreetly slicing open the vent cover while Al marched out of his apartment, carrying the green suitcase with the toys inside it behind him. As the duo broke the ice, they were surprised to find Kairi and Goofy accompanied by a group of toys that matched Woody's description of his friends. After a frantic explanation of what was happening with Woody, the group set off at a run back to the elevator. If they hurried, they could still save the day without much trouble and get everyone back to Andy's house. Sora just hoped that they got there in time.
I figured Sora, being Sora, meant that he'd probably point out some of the arguments Buzz used in the movie to get Woody to realize that the museum wasn't the path for him, so I had Stinky Pete's anger and greed be enough to summon the Heartless in order to take the story in a semi-new direction. The plot is still going to the same destination, I just needed to throw in some new wrinkles to account for my changes to canon to keep things on track without handing out Idiot Balls or coming up with excuses for why Sora and Donald didn't suggest anything.
And Other!Buzz isn't with the other group, and I will explain what happened in Al's Toy Barn next chapter. I figured that after focusing on Kairi and Goofy for most of last chapter, this chapter would be mainly Donald and Sora-centric. The Demon Tide is the big shadow swarm from 2.8 and the KH3 reveal trailer.