Chapter Text
“Do you have any sevens?” The pig asked
“How’d you know? You cheating coins for brains?! This is the third time!” The potato argued, throwing the cards down on the floor. Causing Hamm to roll his eyes at Mr. Potato’s competitiveness
“Oh calm down, potato you’re just as predictable with your rage as a cheesy rom-com set in the 80s. You can always tell what’s going to happen before it ends.” Hamm mocked, he was sitting upright while holding the cards. Suddenly while they’re playing a a green blur comes rushing in knocking the cards out Mr. Potatohead and Hamm’s hands, ruining their game.
“Oh watch where you’re going, you lousy reptile!” Mr. Potatohead shaking his fist in the air.
“Oh I can’t take it anymore!” Rex exclaimed. The anxious dinosaur paced back and forth the room looking at the clock, his face filled with extreme worry “It’s been hours! Surely, Jessie and Buzz would be back by now. Even if Losto said no!”
“Maybe, they’re having a long conversation.” Slinky yawned, he raised his head lifting one eye open from his curled up position on the floor.
“For three hours? What could they be talking about?” Rex stammered
“Maybe how you can shut ya piehole.” Mr. Potato said mockingly. He’s suddenly grabbed by his purple ear. “Ow! What’d you do that for?”
“Oh darling, be nice, Rex is right.” Mrs. Potatohead explained keeping a firm hold on her husband’s ear. “It’s been far too long. I’ll go check to see if anything is wrong.” Mrs. Potatohead let go of her husband’s ear and moved closer to the door.
“Well our game ruined anyways might as well go to check to see if the lovebirds turned into roadkill.” Hamm sighs before following the two spuds Slinky shrugged and stretched out his limbs and went on ahead. Mrs. Potatohead takes out her eye checking under the door.
“See somethin’?” Slinky asked a bit more awake and alert. Outside the door Mrs. Potatohead used her eye, having her arm to turn the eye around to search the area. Mrs. Potatohead suddenly gasped. “I see, I see Andy!”
A wave of shock fills the air
“That’s impossible!” Hamm said in disbelief “Unless Andy suddenly applied to be a security worker there’s no way!”
“Wait! My other eye!” Mrs. Potatohead put her other hand to her empty socket. “He’s looking for us! Andy’s looking for us!”
“So that means he didn’t mean to throw us out?” Rex said, his voice hesitant but hopeful
“That means Woody was right!” Slinky’s tail wagged as he exclaimed excitedly “We got to get home!”
The sound of the door opening disrupts the steam of conversation. It was Lotso walking with some of his men the toys had met before followed by some trucks lighting the classroom with bright white light.
“Lotso, thank goodness you’re here, we need to go!” Mrs. Potatohead said ready to walk out the door and the bear started to block her.
“Go? But y’all just got here, at the right time too. We were running outta volunteers for the littles ones to play with.”
“Play with?” Mr. Potatohead spat “That’s what you call it? I’ve been spit on, drool, chewed, and puked! Those toddlers are three feet worth of nightmare fuel!” The potato got real close to Lotso despite his short height.
“Just look at my handbag!” Mrs. Potatohead yelled as she pulled out her chewed up red handbag bringing the accessory up to Lotso’s face. “I have 200 accessories and I deserve to be-” The screaming was cut off by the strawberry bear pulling off Mrs. Potatohead’s lip, rather due to the audacity or shock Mrs. Potatohead stopped talking.
“There, that’s much better isn’t it?” Lotso chuckled with a smug smile on his face bringing out his goons.
“Hey! Nobody gets to steal my wife’s mouth except for me! Give it back you strawberry beluga!” Mr. Potatohead yelled, having to hop a few times to grab it from Lotso’s grip and hand the mouth back to his wife.
“Who cares about them? Let’s just go home.” Slinky said, finally speaking up and turning around to walk to the other door only to be blocked by a very familiar face.
“Buzz!”
The room filled with shock and happiness, however very quickly the group noticed the tension in the room didn’t dissipate in fact it only seemed to got worse with each passing second went by.
Buzz stood there in the light with a resigned yet determined look on his face. The space ranger spoke in a flat tone with no warmth in the slightest as if he was talking to strangers and people he considered family.
“Everyone needs to step away from the exit. This doesn’t need to get violent.”
“Violent?” Slinky asked with a confused look on his face, an eyebrow raised in suspicion “We need to go home! Andy’s waiting for us! We weren’t being thrown away! If we hurry we can make it home before he even notices.”
A spark of hesitation clipped through Buzz’s eyes but quickly died, “We aren’t going home, Slinky. This is our home now. I talked to Lotso and I realized that trying to go to someone who doesn’t want us isn’t realistic. It’s foolish.”
“So you rather us stay as toddler chewables?” Potatohead scoffed. “At least in the attic we’ll be able to not have our insides on the out’. I’m getting out of here. I’m not staying with Cuckoo cuckoo bear and astro-nut”
As Mr. Potatohead went for the exit, Buzz hesitated. It was only until he saw the look on Lotso’s face of his raised eyebrow and smirk did he remember his choice. His deal. Safety for Jessie over the betrayal of his family.
It was too late for hesitation.
Buzz grabbed Mr. Potatohead by the arm throwing him back to the group before any of the toys could register what just happened Buzz began to restrain the rest of the group causing them to pile up on each other.
It wasn’t hard after that to put them all in cells. The henchman made a game of it. Tossing them into the basket to see if they can make it. When it got to the potatoes, Lotso stopped the game.
“Not that one Twitch. He’s got a bit of a mouth on him. Deserve a night in the box. Let Big Baby take him to the box.”
“My husband!” Mrs. Potato cried out. Big baby opened the door revealing Barbie standing there clearly hearing the commotion.
“Ken? What’s happening? What are you doing?” Barbie asked, confused , looking at the henchmen abusing her friends.
Ken quickly grabbed Barbie trying to steer away from the chaos nervously about being seen. “Barbie! It’s nothing! Just protocol!”
“You lied to me! I can’t believe you would do this! We’re through!” Barbie pushed Ken off her walking towards the cage with a face of anger and betrayal. Ken has a disappointed and sad look on his face. Before Ken could understand what just happened. Barbie walks back and rips the scarf off Ken’s neck.
“And give me back my scarf!”
Soon after that show of defiance Barbie was quickly put into a cell of her own with a defiant and hurt look on her face.
Lotso is helped by the truck standing on a step, his goons standing next to him. Buzz joins the gang standing a bit far away but close enough to be considered a part of the group.
“Listen here folks, it may not seem like it now but you coming here was the best decision of your life. It may seem terrible now but all you have to do is obey. Start at the bottom, get to the top. Life can be a dream come true! Look at Lightyear here. He understood rather quickly and now he’s considered a keeper! Defying will only be hurting yourself” Losto grabs something off the truck throwing it to the floor.
Woody’s hat.
Gasps came from the room. At first Buzz couldn’t believe it. He thought more and more trying to keep his face straight so as not to seem surprised. Was this true? At first he thought maybe it was a trick, Woody probably got out but after what happened earlier and how easily he and Jessie got caught maybe Woody did get caught. Even when trying to protect everyone, someone still ends up hurt
“Well I hope y’all enjoy your night. Tomorrow you’ll have even better playtime.” Lotso chuckled menacingly before jumping back on the truck. “Lightyear watch over your friends. Ken will stay here as well.”
Buzz watches Lotso and his goons leave, having Ken and the space ranger stay to watch the group.
As the revelations start to dwell on Buzz’s mind; he hears a cynical voice whisper to someone, It’s Hamm talking to Rex who’s in the same cage as Hamm. The words are barely audible but Buzz listens in closely.
“You know, betrayal never really comes from an enemy.”
And those words hurt more than Hamm will ever know.
Buzz felt like the ultimate failure.