Chapter

A flash went off, blinding Woody momentarily. He was propped up on a stand, posed with the rest of the Roundup gang. Flash! Flash! Flash!

Al fanned through his new photos with a huge smile on his face. “It’s like printing my own money!” he exclaimed. The phone rang and Al picked it up. “Yeah, what?” he shouted. Then his voice turned respectful. “Oh, Mr. Konishi. I have the pictures right here. In fact, I’m in the car right now, on my way to the office to fax them to you. I’m going through a tunnel,” he lied. “I’m breaking up.” He made some garbled sounds and then hung up the phone and left the room.

As soon as Al was gone, Woody leaped from his stand. “Oh, wow! Will you look at me! It’s like I’m fresh out of the box!” Woody admired his repaired arm. “Look at this stitching! Andy’s going to have a hard time ripping this!” He waved his new arm wildly in front of the other toys’ faces. “Hello! Hi! Hello!”

Woody used the cellophane front of the Prospector’s box to check his reflection. Jessie frowned and walked away. “Great, now you can go,” she said before storming off in a huff.

“Well, what a good idea,” said Woody. He walked toward the heating vent. Then he paused, thinking. Bullseye came up and nudged him from behind. Woody stared into the horse’s sad eyes.

“Woody, don’t be mad at Jessie,” said the Prospector. “She’s been through more than you know. Why not make amends before you leave, huh? It’s the least you can do.”

Woody sighed and looked over at Jessie, who was sitting on the window ledge. “All right. But I don’t know what good it’ll do.” He climbed onto a chair and stood just below Jessie. “Hey, whatcha doing way up here?”

Jessie hugged her knees to her chest and stared out the window, avoiding eye contact with Woody. “I thought I’d get one last look at the sun before I get packed away again,” she said.

“Look, Jessie, I know you hate me for leaving, but I have to go back. I’m still Andy’s toy. Well, if you knew him, you’d understand. You see, Andy’s a real—”

“Let me guess,” Jessie interrupted. “Andy’s a real special kid, and to him you’re his buddy, his best friend. And when Andy plays with you, it’s like, even though you’re not moving, you feel like you’re alive—because that’s how he sees you.”

Woody was stunned. “How did you know that?” he asked.

Jessie stared at Woody. “Because Emily was just the same. She was my whole world.” Jessie explained that she had had an owner once, too. Emily had loved Jessie just like Andy loved Woody. And Jessie had loved Emily right back. But then Emily grew up and gave Jessie away. “You never forget kids like Emily, or Andy. But they forget you,” Jessie said sadly.

“Jessie, I…I didn’t know,” said Woody, stunned.

“Just go,” she said.

Woody reluctantly slid to the floor and walked slowly over to the heating vent. He opened the grate and stood quietly in front of it for a moment, staring down the ventilation shaft.

“How long will it last, Woody?” asked the Prospector. “Do you really think Andy is going to take you to college? Or on his honeymoon? Andy’s growing up, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Woody listened silently, a sad expression growing on his face as he began to hear the truth in the Prospector’s words. “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.”

As Woody stood thinking, Bullseye came over and gazed woefully up at the cowboy. Finally, Woody made a decision. “Who am I to break up the Roundup gang?” he asked. He looked back at Jessie, and the two exchanged a smile.

Back at Al’s Toy Barn, the rescue party had made it to Al’s office. The toys rummaged through desk drawers and opened boxes, searching for clues.

“Woody! Woody!” they called frantically.

Off to one side, Rex was talking to New Buzz. Rex was still excited about what he’d learned from the video game strategy book. “You see, all along we thought that the way into Zurg’s fortress was through the main gate. But in fact, the secret entrance is to the left, hidden in the shadows.”

New Buzz nodded. “To the left and in the shadows. Got it.”

Suddenly, they heard footsteps in the hall. “Someone’s coming!” cried Slinky. The toys hid under the desk as Al entered the office, turning on his fax machine as he talked into his cell phone. “Now, let me confirm your fax number. Wait, that’s a lot of numbers.…No, I got it.”

“It’s him,” whispered Slinky.

“The chicken man!” said Hamm.

“Funny, he doesn’t look like poultry,” said New Buzz.

“That’s the kidnapper, all right,” said Slinky.

“A kidnapper,” said New Buzz. “An agent of Zurg if I ever saw one.”

“And the pièce de résistance,” Al said into the phone as he slid a photo of Woody through the fax machine. “I promise the collection will be the crown jewel of your museum!” The photo went through the machine and popped out the other side, falling to the floor near the toys.

“It’s Woody!” gasped Slinky.

“Now that I have your attention, imagine we added another zero to the price, huh? What? Yes? Yes! You’ve got a deal!” Al yelled. “I’ll be on the next flight to Japan!”

New Buzz pushed everyone into Al’s bag.

“Quick! Into the poultry man’s cargo unit. He’ll lead us to Zurg. Move, move, move!”

Al began to laugh. “Al, you are gonna be rich! Rich! Rich!” he bellowed, picking up his bag. He didn’t notice Rex’s tail hanging out the back—or any of the other toys who had sneaked inside.

Inside the toy store, Buzz had managed to shift his box sideways on the shelf. With each shove against the plastic front, he moved another inch. He teetered over the edge and finally dropped to the floor. He kicked open the bottom of the box, then struggled with the arm restraints. He jerked his right arm hard and broke free, then untied the rest of his body and crawled out of the box.

Suddenly, Buzz heard Al whooping and laughing as he walked down a nearby aisle. Peering around the corner, Buzz saw Al carrying a bag—and Rex’s tail was sticking out of it! Buzz raced down a parallel aisle, trying to catch up to his friends. He was almost in the clear when he slipped on some loose balls left over from Hamm’s car crash. Buzz recovered quickly and climbed up a display case. Swinging like a gymnast, he leaped onto a trampoline, then bounced up to grab a toy on a wire. Al was heading for the front door, and Buzz was desperate to follow him.

Sliding down the wire, Buzz let go of the toy and dove for the closing electric doors…and smacked right into them as they shut. “Oof!” he yelled. He jumped up and down on the doormat sensor, but the door wouldn’t budge. He watched in frustration as Al got into his car and drove away. Luckily, the car didn’t go far—it parked in front of a high-rise apartment building just across the street.

Buzz looked around and spotted a large display of boxes by the door. He kicked the bottom box out of the stack, causing the entire pile to topple over. The weight of the boxes made the door open, and Buzz ran through it, chasing Al.

Behind him, Buzz didn’t notice that one of the boxes was caught between the electronic doors.

Over and over, the doors opened and shut, jarring the box. Finally, a large black hand punched out from the top. Then a frightening purple figure emerged. It was an Emperor Zurg toy! Zurg sat up and whipped his head toward Buzz. His red eyes glowed and his claws clenched as his Zurgo-vision finder set its sights on the space ranger. Zurg’s deep mechanical voice growled, “Destroy Buzz Lightyear! Destroy Buzz Lightyear!” Freed from his box, Zurg set off on Buzz’s trail.