CLOSED: Andy's toys, Day 4

[Buzz Lightyear]

"I... think so, but my face hurts." Buzz gently pulled one arm free, to rub his face as he looked around. "Weird. Last thing I remember, I was just on my way back to the TV. Then this... strange feeling came over me. And next thing I know, I'm standing here... tied up."

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky looked at Buzz curiously, then glanced at Woody. "Think I should let him go now?" he asked.

[Woody]

Woody glanced at Buzz cautiously and nodded. "Go ahead, Slink. I think he's harmless now. The slap took it out of him."

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky carefully obeyed, keeping a wary eye on Buzz as he unwrapped him. To his relief, Buzz stayed right where he was.

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz shook his head. "I don't understand it. It's as if somehow I literally lost my mind!"

[Jessie]

Jessie remained suspicious of Buzz, until he said that. Then the angry expression on her face began to fade, as she realized something she hadn't thought of before. "Hey, didn't Mickey say something about the Darkness being able to take over our minds?" she asked Woody. Then she slowly turned back to face Buzz. "You don't think..."

[Woody]

Woody's eyes widened in recognition. He had heard Mickey say that, but at the time he didn't believe it. Still, there was no denying the evidence. Buzz had never acted like that before, and it made no sense to scare everyone now. There was only one explination. Still, Woody shook his head to clear his mind. "NO! No, no, no, no, no!"

[Buzz Lightyear]

Struck with an overwhelming feeling of dread, Buzz fell to his knees. "My God, I don't believe it! I really was right all along. Damn it, why did I have to be right?!"

[Hamm]

The other toys stared at Buzz in confusion. "Err... right about what?" Hamm asked, "I'm confused."

[Mr. Potatohead]

"Yeah, me too." said Mr. Potatohead, "Just what is this... darkness thing anyway?"

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz gradually stood back up with a sigh. He had hoped to keep the whole thing a secret, so as to avoid causing unnecessary panic among the toys. But now that they'd all seen it in action, it looked to Buzz like they had no choice but to tell them all about it. He looked at Woody as if to say, "Should we?"

[Woody]

Woody sighed softly. He really didn't want to alarm anyone, but there was no other choice. "The Darkness is trying to kill us all and to do so, he's capturing the princesses."

[Hamm]

Hamm blinked in response. "Okaaaay... and what's that got to do with Buzz?"

[Buzz Lightyear]

"When he took control of my mind..." Buzz replied, "he was probably intending to send me to the Shadow Kingdom to carry out one of those kidnappings. Thereby, not only getting one step closer to his ultimate goal, but giving Buzz Lightyear a bad name."

[Mr. Potatohead]

"So let me get this straight." said Mr. Potatohead, "The Darkness is this crazy, evil bastard; who's been brainwashing Disney characters and kidnapping princesses, so that he can destroy Disney?"

[Woody]

Woody chuckled. "That pretty much sums it up, Potato Head."

[Buzz Lightyear]

Potatohead's summary gave Buzz a moment's amusement as well. But as he soon glanced at Jessie, his smile faded. "Uhh... Jessie?"

[Jessie]

Jessie was looking down at the floor, hyperventilating and fidgeting with her ponytail. The shocking realization that she'd had an encounter with the Darkness, and that it had made physical contact with her, gave her an immense feeling of discomfort. Plus, just the mention of the word 'darkness' was now starting to give her storage flashbacks. As she struggled to clear her head of those morbid thoughts, she finally let out, "I just... I can't believe this is actually happening!"

[Mr. Potatohead]

"Maybe this is more serious than I thought." Mr. Potatohead mumbled to himself.

[Buzz Lightyear]

Not knowing what to say, Buzz just moved closer to Jessie and put his hand on her shoulder, in hopes of comforting her.

[Jessie]

Jessie touched his hand and gradually started to calm down. "I'll be all right. I..." She looked towards the window and noticed the sun was just beginning to go down. "I think I should spend some time by the window, while the sun's still up. Buzz, would you... join me?"

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz gave a light smile and said, "Sure. Don't mind if I do." And with that, the two of them made their way back to the windowsill. Buzz put his arm around Jessie; who happily did the same with him. Buzz was still frowning on the inside though, hoping that he wouldn't become possessed a second time and hurt Jessie.

[Mr. Potatohead]

"So... any idea what we're supposed to do about this?" Mr. Potatohead asked.

[Hamm]

"I don't see anything we can do, except wait for this whole thing to blow over." Hamm replied, "And hope that that won't take long."

[Woody]

Woody bit his lip nervously and looked over at Hamm, Mr. Potatohead, and Slinky, but focused more on the latter. "Slink?" he questioned, gaining the attention of the slinky dog. "I'm not too sure about Buzz right now. Keep an eye on him for me, okay?"

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky nodded. "Gotcha." As quietly as he could, he made his way to the top of the shelf. He stopped and lay down about three feet away from the windowsill, watching Buzz and Jessie; who were sitting arm-in-arm.

[Buzz Lightyear]

"...so if anything, it serves me right for what he made me to do you." Buzz said to Jessie.

[Jessie]

"Aw, don't be so hard on yourself. I realize it wasn't you." Jessie sighed and looked down. "But it frightens me, knowing that he actually attacked me. I never thought I'd have a run-in with him, especially in the form of someone I care about."

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz was about to say something else on that subject, but quickly changed his mind and tried to think of a new subject. Luckily, Jessie soon saved him the trouble.

[Jessie]

She looked at the sole of her boot, where the name "Andy" was written. "I'm looking forward to the next morning, when Andy comes home from that sleepover." she said, "I always feel better when he plays with me. And he's just so creative."

[Buzz Lightyear]

"You can say that again." Buzz replied with a smile, "Like that time he had Rex play Godzilla. And who would show up to save the day but Buzz Lightyear, Sheriff Woody, and Bazooka Jane?"

[Jessie]

Jessie chuckled. "Now there's a play time that I'll never forget."

She had especially loved the conclusion of that play time, where after having Bo Peep give Woody the usual 'My hero!' routine, Andy made Buzz go up to Jessie and say, 'Say baby, how'd you like me to take you to infinity and beyond?' then made her respond with 'Would I?! Yee-haw!'. But that was as far as he got before Mom called him down to dinner.

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky remembered that play date and was about to laugh along with Buzz and Jessie, but quickly stopped himself and thought, 'Whoops, I gotta keep quiet!'

[Buzz Lightyear]

"You know," Buzz continued, "if I didn't know any better, I'd think Andy somehow knew all along." Buzz and Jessie turned their heads to meet each other face-to-face. After losing themselves in each other's eyes for a few seconds, they began to move their heads closer. But before their mouths could touch, their attention suddenly turned to a faint metal sound nearby.

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky had been inching closer as stealthily as he could. But despite his efforts to stay quiet, his spring had now given his presence away. 'Crap!' he thought. "Err... I uh... I just..." He quickly thought of a good excuse. "I just wanted to say, Buzz, when I uh... tied you up back there... I didn't mean..."

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz held up his hand to stop him. "Don't apologize. You did the right thing. If you hadn't stopped me, I could've done something I'd never forgive myself for."

[Slinky Dog]

Slinky cleared his throat and looked around. "Yeah, well... guess I'll uh... just leave you two alone now." Slinky made his exit, while still trying to keep an eye focused on Buzz.

[Jessie]

Jessie looked back out the window. "Well, it looks like the sun's almost set." she said, as she stood up and stretched, "Think I'm gonna turn in now. G'night, and let's try not to think any more about... you-know-who, okay?" She kissed Buzz on the cheek and walked away.

[Buzz Lightyear]

Buzz turned and watched her leave, with a smile on his face. Then he turned back to face the outside. As the sky got dark, Buzz stood up and glared at it with a look of rage. "I know you're watching, Darkness. I swear, you will NOT get away with what you've done! You hear me? The heroes WILL stop you, and you WILL pay!" With that, Buzz made his way to Andy's bed.

[Darkness]

Darkness watched from a tree branch outside of Andy's room and smirked at Buzz Lightyear's outburst. "Well, that was amusing. But I have little time to be playing with toys right now. I've got more important things to take over..." He laughed menacingly and disappeared, heading back to his castle in the Vale of Shadows.