Woody lay beneath the bed as he listened to Andy and his friends chatter¹.

"Look," Andy said. "You press his back and he does a karate-chop action."

"Come on down, guys!" Mrs. Davis called up the stairs. "It's time for games. We've got prizes!"

"Oh, yeah!" Andy said. He led his pack of noisy friends out of the room. The door slammed. Slowly, cautiously, Andy's toys came to life.

They crept toward the bed, where Andy had left his new toy.

"What is it?"

"Can you see it?"

"Woody?" Rex whispered. "Who's up there with you?"

Coughing from the dust, Woody crawled out from under the bed. The toys gasped² in shock.

"Woody!" Slinky exclaimed. "What are you doing under the bed?"

Woody pulled himself to his feet and slapped the dust from his jeans.

"Uh… nothing! I'm sure Andy was just a little excited, that's all. Too much cake and ice cream, I suppose. It's just a mistake."

"Well," said Mr. Potato Head, "that ‘mistake' is sitting in your spot, Woody."

Rex gasped. "Have you been replaced?"

Woody put one hand on his hip³ and spoke⁴ firmly. "Hey! What did I tell you earlier? No one is getting replaced." But the other toys weren't so sure.

"Now," Woody continued, "let's all be polite and give whatever it is up there a nice big Andy's room welcome."

Woody smiled confidently, ignoring the butter-flies in the pit of his stomach. He turned and clambered back up the side of the bed.

As Woody peered over the top of the bed, late-afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window, momentarily blinding him. He blinked and began to make out a dark silhouette⁵ standing⁶ tall against the light. And then he could see.

A toy man—unlike any Woody had ever encountered— stood boldly in the center of Andy's bed. He wore a white high-tech⁷ space suit. A green control panel studded with a complex array of push buttons, stickers, and lights covered the top half of his broad chest. A clear plastic bubble shielded his head. Through this helmet, Woody could see the arched brow, keen eyes, and strong chin of a confident explorer.

As Woody gawked, the stranger came to life and pressed a blue button on the right side of his chest. Bleep! Bleep!

"Buzz Lightyear to Star Command. Come in, Star Command." The figure paused for an answer. No response.

"Star Command," he repeated more forcefully. "Do you read me?" His mouth tightened⁹ into a stiff grimace¹⁰. "Why don't they answer?" He took a step; then something caught his eye.

Woody followed the new toy's gaze. Buzz was staring at the smashed box in which he had been packaged. The space figure gasped.

"My ship!" he cried. He ran to the crumpled¹¹ box to examine the damage. "Blast! This'll take weeks to repair!"

Fuming¹², he flipped¹³ open a plastic compartment¹⁴ strapped¹⁵ to his arm. "Buzz Lightyear Mission Log. Star date four-zero-seven-two: My ship has run off course en route to Sector¹⁶ Twelve. I've crash-landed on a strange planet. The impact must have awoken me from hypersleep."

Buzz bounced up and down on the squishy surface of the bed. "Terrain¹⁷ seems a bit unstable," he reported into his communicator. "No readout yet if the air is breathable." He glanced around. "And there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere."

Woody poked¹⁸ his head in front of Buzz.

"Hello?"

"HOOO-YAAAAAHH!" Buzz jumped back, arms raised in a defensive¹⁹ stance.

Woody threw up his hands like a holdup victim. "Whoa! Did I frighten you? Didn't mean to. Sorry." He slowly lowered his right hand and held it out to the stranger. "Howdy! My name is Woody, and this is Andy's room. That's all I wanted to say. And also, there has been a bit of a mix-up. This is my spot, see, the bed here—"

"Local law enforcement!" Buzz interrupted, nodding at Woody's badge. "It's about time you got here. I'm Buzz Lightyear, space ranger⁸, Universe Protection Unit. My ship has crash-landed here by mistake."

"Yes, it is a mistake," Woody agreed, "because you see, the bed, here, is my spot."

But Buzz didn't seem to be listening. He strode away, scanning the terrain of what he thought was a strange new planet. Woody hurried to keep up.

"I need to repair my turbo boosters," Buzz informed the sheriff. "Do you people still use fossil fuels? Or have you discovered crystallic fusion²⁰?"

Woody took off his cowboy hat and scratched his head. "Well, let's see. We've got double-A batteries—"

Suddenly, Buzz yanked Woody flat down on the bed. "Halt! Who goes there?" he cried. Andy's toys were peeking²¹ over the edge of the bed.

"Don't shoot!" Rex yelled out. "It's okay! Friends!"

Buzz cocked his head toward Woody. "Do you know these life-forms?"

"Yes," Woody replied. "They're Andy's toys." Buzz seemed to relax.

"All right, everyone.You're clear to come up." He stood and walked over to the toys. "I am Buzz Lightyear," he said boldly. "I come in peace."

Rex rushed up and grabbed his hand, pumping it up and down with enthusiasm. "Oh, I'm so glad you're not a dinosaur²²!"

"Why, thank you," Buzz said, a puzzled look on his face. "Thank you all for your kind welcome."

Rex stared at the panel of buttons on Buzz's space suit. "Say! What's that button do?"

"I'll show you." Buzz pressed the button. A clear, bold recorded voice cried out: "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!"

"Ooooooh!" the toys murmured.

"Hey," said Slinky. "Woody's got something like that. His is a pull string, only—"

"Only it sounds like a car ran over it," Mr. Potato Head joked.

"Yeah, but not like this one," Hamm said with admiration²³. "This is a quality sound system. Probably all copper²⁴ wiring, huh? So, where are you from? Singapore? Hong Kong (China)?"

Buzz looked at the piggy bank, one eyebrow²⁵ raised. "Well… no, actually, I'm stationed up in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector Four. As a member of the elite²⁶ Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps²⁷, I protect the galaxy²⁸ from the threat of invasion by the evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance."

The toys stared at Buzz in silence.

"Oh, really?" Mr. Potato Head said finally. "I'm from Playskool."

Frowning, Woody glanced at Buzz's box. On one side he could see a drawing of Buzz Lightyear. Printed in a cartoon balloon coming out of his mouth was the exact speech Buzz had just given!

Woody snorted and walked over to Bo Peep. He crossed his arms and forced a casual smile. "You'd think they've never seen a new toy before."

"Well, sure." Bo Peep shrugged²⁹. "Look at him. He's got more gadgets³⁰ than a Swiss Army knife!"

Andy's toys crowded around the newcomer as if he were a movie star. Slinky shyly poked a finger toward a large red button on Buzz's upper arm.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Buzz warned, shaking his index finger like a fussy³¹ schoolteacher. "Please be careful. You don't want to be in the way when my laser goes off."

"A laser!" Mr. Potato Head exclaimed. He shot Woody a mischievous³² look. "How come you don't have a laser, Woody?"

"It's not a laser! It's a little light bulb that blinks!" Woody was usually pretty easygoing, but all this fuss over Buzz was starting to bother him.

"Look, we're all very impressed with Andy's new toy—" Woody began.

"‘Toy'?" Buzz exclaimed scornfully.

Woody nodded with a smug smile. "T-O-Y. Toy."

"Excuse me," Buzz said firmly. "I think the word you're searching for is space ranger."

"The word I'm searching for I can't say because there are preschool toys present!" Woody yelled.

Mr. Potato Head chortled. "Gettin' kind of tense, aren't you, Sheriff?"

"Mr. Lightyear?" Rex asked shyly. "What does a space ranger actually do?"

Woody rolled his eyes. "He's not a space ranger! He doesn't fight evil or shoot lasers or fly—"

"Excuse me." Buzz calmly pressed a button on his chest. An outrageous³³ pair of high-tech wings sprang open on the back of his space suit. The other toys gasped in awe³⁴.

"Oh, what? What?" Woody couldn't believe how gullible³⁵ his friends were. He grabbed hold of one of Buzz's wings. "These are plastic. He can't fly!"

Buzz raised his chin proudly. "They are a terillium-carbonic alloy³⁶, and I can fly."

Woody shook his head. "No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

"You can't."

"Can."

"Can't! Can't! Can't!"

Buzz's eyes flashed angrily. "I tell you, I could fly around this room with my eyes closed!"

"Okay, then," Woody challenged the newcomer. "Prove it!"

"All right, then, I will!" Buzz strode toward the edge of Andy's bed. "Stand back, everyone!" he warned. "To infinity… and beyond!" He raised his arms and leaped off the bed. Woody grinned and waited for the crunch³⁷!

Boing! Boing? Woody dashed to the edge and looked down. Then he looked up. He couldn't believe it! Buzz had landed on a big rubber ball. He bounced. Then he plunged³⁸ back down and landed on a toy race car. He went zooming³⁹ down the track. He swooshed through a loop-the-loop. He flew out of the car and into the air. His space suit hooked on to a mobile that swung him around and around, faster and faster.

Then, as his momentum⁴⁰ grew, he hurtled off, flipped into the air, and landed squarely on the bed—right in front of Woody's nose.

"Can!"

The other toys began to clap and cheer excitedly. Woody couldn't believe they actually thought Buzz had been flying.

"Wow!" Rex crooned. "You flew magnificently!" Bo Peep winked⁴¹. "I found my moving buddy⁴²!"

Buzz smiled modestly. "Why, thank you. Thank you all."

"That wasn't flying!" Woody exclaimed. "That was falling with style." He folded his arms and frowned. "In a couple of days, everything will be just the way it was," he said to himself. "They'll see. I'm still Andy's favorite toy."

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