Chapter

After the toys climbed into the Pizza Planet truck, Buzz took control of the situation. “Slink, take the pedals. Rex, you navigate.” Buzz slid a stack of pizza boxes under the steering wheel and climbed to the top. “Hamm, operate the levers and knobs.” Hamm began pushing all the truck’s buttons while Rex climbed to the top of the dashboard for a better view.

Suddenly, the toys heard someone say, “Strangers, from the outside!” They looked up to see three green toy aliens hanging from the truck’s rearview mirror.

“Oh, no,” moaned Buzz.

Then Rex spotted Al. “He’s at a red light! We can catch him.”

“Maximum power, Slink!” Buzz ordered.

Slinky pushed on the gas pedal with all his might, but the truck wouldn’t budge. On the dashboard, Rex peered through the windshield. “It turned green. Hurry!” he called.

“Why won’t it go?” asked Buzz.

The aliens pointed to the stick shift. “Use the wand of power,” they said.

Hamm helped to get the truck into gear, and suddenly it sped forward.

“Ahh!” yelled Rex as the truck hit a line of orange cones.

“Rex, which way?” asked Buzz.

“Left. I mean right. No, I mean left…left is right!” said Rex.

The truck sped down the street, swerving wildly. “Buzz, he’s turning left, he’s turning left!” cried Rex.

Hamm sat quietly reading the vehicle’s owner’s manual. “Oh, I seriously doubt he’s getting this kind of mileage,” he said.

“Go right!” shouted Rex, spotting Al’s car.

“Right, right, right!” he repeated frantically.

Buzz cranked the steering wheel, cutting across three lanes of traffic. “Oooooh!” cried the aliens.

Al’s car made another turn, sped straight toward the airport, and pulled into the airport’s unloading area. The truck followed. The toys parked it on the curb and peered out the window.

“There he is!” said Buzz. He pointed to where Al was checking his case with the ticket agent. Buzz spied a stack of empty pet carriers, and the toys jumped inside one. Hidden inside the pet carrier, they moved right behind Al.

“The contents of that case are worth more than you make in a year,” Al told the ticket agent. “You got that, sport?”

“I understand, sir,” the agent replied, placing the case on a conveyor belt.

The toys in the pet carrier were put up on the conveyor belt with all the other bags. “Once we go through, we just need to find that case,” said Buzz. The carrier passed through the entrance to the baggage area, which was a gigantic maze of conveyor belts. Hundreds of bags were moving in every direction.

Suddenly, the pet carrier dropped as though on a roller coaster. “Ahhhh!” cried the toys inside. The carrier tumbled onto a lower conveyor belt, bursting open and freeing the toys. “Oww!” they shouted.

“There’s the case!” Slinky yelled, pointing to the right.

“No, there’s the case!” said Hamm, pointing to the left.

“You take that one, and we’ll take this one,” said Buzz.

Hamm and Rex unzipped the case on the left, only to find a jumble of camera equipment.

Buzz and Slinky chased after the case on the right. When they reached a fork in the conveyor belt, Slinky’s feet got stuck on a bag that was heading in one direction while he and Buzz were going in the other.

“Buzz!” Slinky called. “My back end’s going to Baton Rouge!” He couldn’t hold on and snapped in the direction where his feet were stuck—away from Buzz.

Buzz continued to chase after the case. When he spotted it on an upper level, he ran up to it, jumping over luggage on the way.

“Okay, Woody, let’s go!” he called as he reached the case. He opened it, only to be punched and knocked off the belt by the Prospector!

The Prospector climbed out and swung his plastic pick at Buzz. “Take that, space toy!”

Suddenly, Woody popped up and grabbed the Prospector. “Hey! No one does that to my friend!” said Woody.

In their struggle, both toys fell out of the case. The Prospector slashed Woody’s arm with his pick, and Woody’s shoulder started to rip open once again.

“Your choice, Woody!” growled the Prospector. “You can go to Japan together—or in pieces! If he fixed you once, he can fix you again! Now, get in the box.”

“Never!” shouted Woody.

“Fine!” The Prospector had raised his pick to land one final blow, when—Snap! Snap! Snap!—he was suddenly blinded by bright flashes of light.

Andy’s toys were back with the cameras they had found. “Arghhhh!” cried the Prospector.

The momentary distraction gave Buzz enough time to grab the Prospector by the collar and lift him off his feet. “Gotcha!” yelled Buzz triumphantly.

“Idiots!” sputtered the Prospector. “Children destroy toys! You’ll all be ruined! Forgotten! Spending eternity rotting in some landfill!”

“I think it’s time you learned the true meaning of playtime,” said Woody. He pointed down the conveyor belt. “Right over there, guys.”

A few minutes later, a little girl retrieved her backpack from the luggage claim and found the Prospector in the front pouch. “Look!” the girl said, placing a doll in the pouch next to him. “A big ugly man doll! Oooh, he needs a makeover.”

“Hi!” the doll said to the Prospector when the little girl had strapped the backpack onto her shoulders. “You’ll like Amy.” The doll turned to look at the Prospector. Half of her face was covered with marker. “She’s an artist.”

The Prospector shuddered in horror as the little girl carried him out of the baggage claim area.

“Happy trails, Prospector,” called Woody as he watched the Prospector go.

“Buzz! Woody!” shouted Slinky.

“Help us out here,” called Hamm. They were trying to free Jessie and Bullseye from the case. Bullseye jumped out, but Jessie was still stuck inside. The case was approaching the end of the line and would soon be loaded onto the plane.

“Oh, no—Jessie!” cried Woody.

“Woody!” Jessie yelled as the case went over the edge of the belt. The other toys managed to scramble off the belt just in time. But Jessie plummeted down a steep ramp. The toys watched, terrified, as a baggage handler closed the case, loaded it onto a cart, and drove off.

Woody whistled, and Bullseye galloped forward and slid beneath him.

“C’mon, Buzz!” Woody called, and Buzz jumped on, too.

Bullseye reared up. “Ride like the wind, Bullseye!” yelled Woody. Bullseye jumped off the edge of the belt and took off in pursuit of Jessie.

“Giddyap!” called Woody.

The three toys quickly caught up to the moving luggage cart. “Buzz, give me a boost,” said Woody. He climbed onto Buzz’s shoulders, getting just high enough to reach and grab on to a luggage tag on the cart.

Suddenly, the cart turned, and Woody was pulled away from Buzz and Bullseye. He gripped the luggage tag desperately. Carefully, he managed to climb up the pile of luggage, finally reaching the top of the cart. He spotted Al’s case and ran toward it. But just as he was about to reach it, the cart came to a stop and the baggage handler grabbed the case. Woody watched in horror as the case was loaded onto the plane.