Toy Size - 29

After some time had passed since Marvelo disposed of Andy, Woody and company had arrived at the scene. Out in the countryside, in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere lay a large warehouse. Its gray and worn exterior showed it had been around for sometime, yet Warrick apparently bothered to purchase it for himself. Woody wasn't fully surprised to see his interest in such a badly shaped building after he had seen how he kept his own house. No fence of any kind bordered the warehouse. There was nothing but grass and a dusty road leading up to it. Here Rc and the jeep slowed down in their driving as they came closer. It was of a great relief for Bullseye who couldn't possibly run anymore. He was panting as he trailed slowly behind them. Jessie patted his neck for comfort while the others kept their eyes and ears open for any unusual signs.

"We'll find them in there right? We'll find Andy?" Woody asked Trolly for assurance.

The troll nodded.

"They'll be down below, in the basement," he told him.

"But how will we get in?" asked Rex from the jeep.

"We'll find a way," Buzz assured him.

"Warrick doesn't, look after this place well. I'm sure there's an opening somewhere."

They continued on; the closer they got to the building, the more determined Woody became in spirit. From the look of the outside of this place, he was sure he wouldn't like what was happening on the inside. Though he had been warned about what Warrick and Marvelo did to children, he couldn't help feeling it would be worse to see it. He looked over at Buzz and noticed he was expressing the same feelings on his features. He didn't know if it was toy instinct or not, but if Woody had hair on the back of his neck he knew it would be raising just about now.

When they were right up to the building, they circled to the back and looked all about for some way in. Trolly suggested they announce their presence to the toys inside and have them believe they were Warrick's new toys. Buzz had warned him how suspicious it would look for them to arrive from such a long way without Warrick. Besides that, there was the high possibility they'd instantly be confronted with the wizard. Sneaking inside was best and they found a way to do it with the many broken windows. A stack of crates and other junk created the stepping stones to lead them up to the window. They all settled before it, glancing up.

"Alright guys, how do we want to do this?" asked Buzz.

"What do you mean how?" asked Woody incredulously. "We just, go in there and get Andy out!"

"But, the other kids," Jessie reminded him.

Woody growled in slight frustration. He couldn't help it. Andy, was right here and he didn't want to be patient enough to take anything in. He just wanted to get his owner, his best friend out of this place. It wasn't helping that Warrick's conversation with his toys still lingered on his mind, especially the part about punishing Andy.

"We don't even know if we can fully trust what Warrick's toys have said!"

"Hey...what about me?" asked Trolly.

"Ah, no offense. I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about that truck back in Warrick's place," Woody explained.

"But that doesn't make sense," Jessie reasoned. "Why would he take just Andy and leave him here?"

"She's got a point. If there are other kids here, we've got to find a way to help them," Buzz insisted.

Woody sighed. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't guys. I'm just saying...it's still so hard to believe. I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves."

"Oh, it's going to be scary," said Rex cringing. "I just know it!"

"Not if we're together," said Buzz. "Let's go guys! We'll show them how loyal toys are to their humans."

With that, he climbed up the pile, heading for the window. One by one the others followed after him, even Rc, just in case they needed a quick getaway. The jeep stayed behind and for a minute Trolly thought about staying behind also.

"I don't know about this guys. This is, my life you're tampering with, for your human," Trolly informed them.

"A life you wanted to change," said Slinky.

"That's right," said Buzz. "Plus with you around, it will be easier for you to pass us off as Warrick's new toys."

"Well, okay," Trolly decided as he proceeded to climb up after them.

Once they were through the window, they immediately hit the top of a pile of boxes in a small gray room. Buzz took a moment to scan the area as the others came out of the window behind him. It was a very small storage area where everything was boxed up. Buzz couldn't get a hint of what was in any of them, as the labels were removed.

"What kind of place is this?" asked Rex as he and the other toys stepped up to look around.

"Not the place where we'll find Andy," Buzz answered.

"Then let's leave," said Woody quickly. He hopped down from the box and hurried across the floor. Normally Buzz would have warned him about moving about too quickly in an unknown territory, however, in this case he agreed with him. They quickly crossed the room to the door. They were grouped together at the end, looking out at a long hall that passed the door. Woody looked up and down as if some sign would tell him the best way to go.

"Which way do we go?" he asked more to himself than anyone.

Trolly peered over his shoulder. "We should, go to the elevator."

They all turned to him as if it were the wildest idea they'd ever heard.

"The elevator?" Slinky questioned.

Trolly nodded. "Yep. Warrick built one for us to go up and down this, warehouse. That much I remember, if it's still here. We'll go down to the basement."

"All right, but do you know where this elevator is?" asked Buzz. Trolly scratched his head in a moment of deep thought.

"Uh, I think so. It should be off on the side of the walls somewhere. Follow me."

Without being asked, Trolly stepped out into the hall and headed down the right side of the hall. He held his head high as if he were completely comfortable with taking the lead away from the others. Woody and the rest hesitated.

"You don't suppose," Woody whispered to Buzz. "He could be leading us into a trap?"

"I don't know Woody," said Jessie. "He seems pretty trustworthy."

"Ha, you thought that about the Prospector. Well Buzz."

"We don't have much of a choice. And besides that, I do think Jessie has a point."

"Of course you do," said Woody as he rolled his eyes.

"We can't go wandering around here for too long."

"Think of it this way," said Mr. Potato Head. "We outnumber him nine to one."

With those odds, they would be able to deal with Trolly if they realized he was leading them to a trap. However, that wasn't counting all the toys that roamed about below the warehouse. After several minutes of traveling in and around the narrow halls and past vacant doors, Trolly had finally found what he'd been searching for. In the wall was the dumb waiter for the toys' use. At this point Trolly thought it was best to finally inform them of what area of the warehouse they were traveling in.

"Very few of Warricks' toys I believe, are allowed up here where we are. At least, that's what I remember from the last time I was here."

"Why's that?" asked Hamm.

"This is, I think. This part of the warehouse is a factory."

"A factory?" asked Jessie.

"A warehouse does have many uses Jessie," Buzz explained.

"It's all, for the toys," Trolly explained.

"But, we didn't see anything like a factory up here," said Jessie still confused.

"It's, not where we're allowed," he said with a slight firmness to close any further question about it.

Trolly said no more about it as he climbed up into the elevator made for toys. It was a tight fit as all the others entered, but they managed. Trolly informed them how it worked and got Buzz to help him work the ropes to bring them down. Slowly the halls of the upper level of the warehouse was slipping out of sight. Several minutes later it was replaced with a view of the basement. Immediately Woody was met with a floor thriving with action. Toys were all over the place. It looked as if Warrick did have over a hundred of them. The space was wide and broken off with walls or rooms that created certain departments and halls. When the elevator reached the bottom, Trolly signaled them out.

"Come on," said Trolly.

"You sure Andy will be here?" Woody asked as they stepped out.

"Where else would he, be?"

"How should I know! That's why I'm asking you."

"Hey! What's going on over,..heeerrrreee?"

They all froze as a half man half lizard toy stepped up to them. The reptilian voice caught Andy's toys off guard. Rex trembled from hearing it. Trolly was the only one who wasn't surprised, yet he was having trouble coming up with the excuse.

"Ah, ah, um..." he stuttered as he tried to think of what to say. Buzz forcefully nudged him in the side to snap Trolly out of his nervousness. "Oh, um, these are some new toys, from Warrick."

The lizard man eyed him suspiciously. "What are you doing back here Trolly? The last time you were here, you were beeegggging to go home. Like nothing more than a crybaby."

"Well, I offered to, show these toys, the way of things," Trolly answered nervously. "I..Warrick, he gave me another chance to come back. I sort of, missed the place."

The lizard man still looked suspicious, but his interest was now on the new arrivals. Woody and the others stared back at him, but tried not to look too fearful of the place and situation they were in. The lizard studied each one of them in turn. He quickly made up his mind that some of the newcomers could be a welcomed addition. With the cowboy, cowgirl and horse, they could have a good western. With the spaceman, he could blast a child off in space. And the toy car would be a fun ride for any boy or girl. But the others, there was nothing special about them.

"Well, now, let me be the first to welcome you here."

"Ah, thank-you," said Woody, uncertainly.

"You've arrived in time for playtime," the lizard continued.

"Actually, we wanted to, familiarize ourselves with our new home before we, participate," said Buzz.

The lizard bowed in understanding. "Well, by all means. Have a look around."

Buzz ushered Trolly forward as they moved past the toy.

"Just one thing. Have you met Marvelo?" he asked in a sharp voice. Woody was the one to answer as he whirled around. Buzz held him back, worried that he might say something to blow their cover.

"Oh yeah, we've met him," he answered angrily. But upon Buzz's warning look, he softened and did his best to hide his rage. "Uh, we met him and...I don't think he thinks..much of us."

The lizard chuckled. He didn't seem to take the reasoning behind his anger. "Don't be offended by anything he might have said. You'll prove yourselves later I'm sure."

"Yes, I'm sure," Woody said, a bit coldly. Once the lizard walked away from them, Buzz rounded on the cowboy.

"What are you trying to do? Get us caught?"

"Of course not! We're here for Andy remember."

"Then keep your temper in check," Buzz insisted. "We can't have anyone suspect why we're here. We're going to have to play along. Now, he thinks we're Warrick's new toys, so that should make things easier."

"Unless we really do see that wizard again," Woody warned him. "Then it's over. There's got to be over a hundred toys here on his side."

"Then we'll be extra careful and do this as quickly as possible."

As Andy's toys were pretending to be a part of Warrick's collection, Warrick was purchasing a new collection of old battered toys from another garage sale. He had his arms full with two boxes of unwanted playthings, some of which were broken and appeared impossible to fix. But he could fix them; he knew he could do it and make them better than they were before. He'd made it his job afterall. However, he always worried he may come across another toy like Marvelo. A toy who greatly treasured time with a child and was willing to take it as far, if not farther than Marvelo when it came to forcing this desire to come true. It couldn't last. Warrick was sure his scheme wouldn't last. Afterall, they had yet to decide on what to do when the kids grew older. What were they going to do with them? Or better yet, what were they going to do with their current problem, Andy Davis?

As if to answer his question, his cell started to ring just a he reached his car. It startled him out of his thoughts and nearly caused him to drop his boxes as he jumped. He tried to manuver the boxes onto the car while reaching for his phone. It only resulted in him dropping both boxes and losing the toys all over the ground. He sighed and answered his phone with some annoyance.

"Yes yes what is it?"

On the other end of the phone was Marvelo. He was still on the top floor of the warehouse, in a private office space for Warrick.

"I wish to inform you that I have taken matters into my own hands," he told him.

"Meaning?" asked Warrick.

"Meaning that that Davis boy had tried to escape again. And this time he brought all of the children with him."

"All of the chil..what do you mean? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying he nearly ruined our plans!" He shouted as he pounded a fist against the receiver. "That fool nearly managed to sneak every child out of this place, and in the same night he was caught after a failed escape." He paused and let his temper settle before continuing in a calm manner. "Like I said, I've taken matters into my own hands. I've laid down the punishment."

It was difficult for Warrick to wrap his mind around what the wizard was telling him. That Davis kid created a break-out? That teenage boy who was always so suspicious of him? Maybe he was just too old, or their scheme had run on far too long, but Warrick found he wasn't highly upset over the near escape. But that didn't mean he didn't feel Andy deserved his punishment.

"Oh, well good," Warrick complimented.

"And I will take it further," the wizard continued.

"Further?" questioned Warrick with alarm.

"With the special equipment we've neglected to try-out all this time."

Warrick could could hear the malice in his tone. Never had he expressed such intense hatred for a human. Not since his twin owners long ago. It made him all the more shocked when he learned he wanted to carry the punishment to the next level; a level Warrick firmly believed was going too far.

"Now wait a minute, I-" The phone clicked off. Marvelo hadn't bothered to ask advice or gain his permission. He had taken control. He was simply telling him what he was going to do without caring about his thoughts on the matter. He had reached a new level of thinking that was truly vicious. Warrick had always feared the day when Marvelo would discard him, and today was that day. He quickly stuffed his phone in his pocket and gathered the toys in the boxes. From where he was, it was a long way to the warehouse, and he wasn't sure he had enough gas in the car to make it. Nonetheless, he was determined to get there in time. He would not let what was suppose to be a special time get so far out of control.

Minutes had passed and the troop of Andy's toys were barely narrowing around the corner of the wall they'd seen the back of on the elevator. If they had crossed around it several hours earlier, they would have found who they were looking for. But before that, they, especially Woody, would have seen that the crazy notion of kidnapping kids for play was true. Buzz had just finished expressing the idea of spreading out to find Andy, and was met with a few opposing arguments of the need to stick together. Woody had been silent during his talk; all his thoughts were on Andy, and his fears increased with the idea that they were too late. But thoughts of his best friend quickly slipped away when they turned the corner of the wall. Buzz and the others were also silenced with the sight that fell before them.

They had found the wall of the cages, some occupied by a few kids.

"I don't, I don't believe it" Woody gasped in shock.

Toys milled up and down the space in-between the cages. One was roughly pushing a kid into a cage, locking the door behind him. Another was dragging a kid out. As if to make the matter even more confusing for Andy's toys, many of the kids were dressed up in a variety of costumes. But the expressions on their faces clearly showed they were not enjoying the reason for it. It was the one thing they had in common, sad faces, along with mistreatment. Rex gulped and shook. Slinky, Hamm and Potato Head merely stared in fright. Jessie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Buzz shook his head and looked over at Woody.

"I...I don't, believe it," Woody continued again.

"I told you," said Trolly sadly. "That's not even the worst of it."

Woody couldn't believe that it could be any worse. It was true! Actually true that Warrick and Marvelo smuggled shrunken kids out of their houses and kept them in this place. Seeing really was believing, but for playtime? It had to be the answer as to why some of the cages were empty. They were off somewhere being made to play. It could be the only reason for their attire. Woody immediately stepped forward, heading down the hall space. His fear for Andy was momentarily replaced by outrage for these poor kids. He didn't understand it. How could any toy treat a child this way? They didn't belong to them, and neither did Andy.

"Come on, Andy could be in one of those cages."

They pushed aside their shock and followed their one-time leader. As they moved, they paid no attention to the toys they passed. They were fully focused on the cages. It wasn't so much the empty cages, but the ones that weren't empty that sent chills through their plastic and stuffed bodies. To see kids curled up, frightened and miserable instead of at home in their warm beds surrounded by kind toys filled them with sorrow. They briefly locked eyes with the group of toys as they passed by. Woody felt, at that moment, slightly ashamed to call himself a toy in their presence as he saw many of the kids sobbing or scooting back at the sight of them. Clearly they were fearful that even more toys were coming in to play. Didn't the toys realize what kind of damage they were placing on a child? Not counting breaking their rule, but kidnapping them for fun? And what about Warrick? Didn't he care about the kids at all? He was a kid once, and he was human; at least he was suppose to be. But the sad fact remained, these kids would never be the same again if they managed to get them out of here. They may never feel the same way about their toys again. They may also never feel the same way toward people.

"How could they do this to children?" Jessie whispered, horrified. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, if she were capable of shedding them.

"Shh, we don't want them to hear," Buzz whispered.

"We've got to get them out of here," she continued.

"We will, somehow," Woody promised. "But we've got to find Andy."

So far, he wasn't found. They looked at the top and bottom cages, but their owner was not in sight.

"Andy's got to be in one of these cages," Woody whispered to the others.

"Maybe they're keeping him someplace special," said Slinky."

"Maybe he's where the other kids are," said Mr. Potato Head.

"Maybe we should ask," offered Rex.

"Right Rex," Woody said sarcastically. "We'll just walk up to one of these toys and say-"

"Hello."

They all froze when a blue and green alien figure stepped before them. She had octopus like tentacles moving about her waist like a living skirt and black markings up and down her arms and face like a warrior. She talked with a thick tribal accent.

"Can I help you find what you are looking for?"

"Ah," Woody stammered, caught off guard at the sight of the toy. "Ah, actually, we're new and uh...we ah.."

"We were curious about some of the children you have here," Buzz intervened.

"Well if you are new, you haven't yet had playtime," said the alien.

"Negative," Buzz answered. "But we heard you were keeping an older child here."

"Ahh, curious of him are you?"

"Very. I..I believed he'd be able to handle a blast off into space better than the smaller ones."

"Ah well, you've arrived a little late. He's being punished."

"Punished!" cried Woody, temporarily letting his concern slip through when he was suppose to be indifferent to the children's plight.

"Yes," answered the alien, cocking a suspicious eyebrow. "He formulated an escape with our children."

The toys exchanged curious looks at the thought of Andy attempting to free all the kids. It didn't seem possible with so many toys around, and apparently it wasn't since he was somewhere being punished. But his desperation to escape and free the others was understandable. They hadn't been there for him, and Andy had to find a way to survive on his own. Now he was being punished for it. Woody tried not to let the information fill his head with imagined tortures forced on his boy. Instead, he forced himself to ask the next question without expressing his emotional state.

"Where, do they, punish him if you don't mind me asking?"

She paused and Woody feared she wouldn't answer. "On the topmost floor. But you do not need to go up there to wait for him."

"No no no," Buzz assured her. "We were only curious. We'll find someone else."

The alien nodded, but not before giving Woody another suspicious look. Woody was far too caught up in what he had learned to bother pretending he was on their side. Andy,he thought sadly. He had been right. Andy was in some great danger and he hadn't been here to see that he was all right. 'But it can't be too late!' he thought desperately. Rex shook worse than ever.

"Oh no, poor Andy," Rex cried. "He-"

Mr. Potato Head quickly reach up and shut his mouth.

"Keep those thoughts to yourself," he warned him. "We can't get busted now."

"He's right," said buzz. "I think we're already starting to draw suspicion." He glanced back at the alien who was chatting with a storm trooper and looking back at them. The toys walking about also cast them curious looks.

"Well what are we gonna do?" Jessie whispered.

"We're gonna save him of course," Woody insisted. "Let's go."

"We can't all go," Buzz whispered to him. "We don't want to draw attention."

"Then I'll go, wish me luck," said Woody. He quickly turned and headed in the direction of the elevator before Buzz could say anything more. Buzz didn't dare call him back. Instead, he started to walk away from the others. Jessie frowned and walked up next to him.

"Buzz, you think it's all right for him to go up there alone?"

"It'll be easier and less suspicious."

"What do we do now?"

"We try and figure out a way to get us all out of this mess. We should all keep some distance between us and keep our eyes open for that wizard, as well as Woody and Andy's return."

"And then what?" Jessie pressed.

"And then," Buzz started. For once he wasn't so certain what the best thing was to do. He sighed. This whole adventure was becoming a lot more difficult and impossible than he'd ever imagined. The simple task of restoring Andy to his human size had led to an attempt to rescue a bunch of kidnapped kids. "Hope for the best."