Toy Story There Be Robots Here

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Toy Story_. John Lasseter does.

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**There Be Robots Here**

"Mom, look at this!" said a little seven-year-old boy named Peter excitedly. "Uncle John got me a robot dog for my birthday!"

"That's nice," said Peter's mother, "Don't forget to thank him."

"Thank you, Uncle John," said Peter to his uncle.

"You're quite welcome, son," John replied. "What do you think you'll do with it?"

Peter thought for a second. "I think I'll make him a companion for that robot toy mom got at the Davis family's yard sale. I believe that robots should stick together."

"That sounds good, honey," his mother said. Uncle John agreed.

Peter activated his robot toys. One of them was shaped a little like a cute load-lifting figure, and it had two arrows, one facing up and the other facing down, on its chest, with letters on its left tread and numbers on its right tread. As it rolled around, it showed a succession of numbers from 1 to 9, and letters from A to I, on its treads, and its eyes lit up, showing life-like expressions on its face. The other robot, the robot dog, made automated barking and howling noises while bumping into walls and other things and chasing its tail. Peter watched them for about fifteen minutes, and then played a computer game that he also got for his birthday for a half hour, and finally went off to play outside.

After he was gone, Robot came to life. He called to another toy. "It's all right, Snake. You can come out now."

A green-and-purple, jointed toy snake slithered out from under the bed and joined Robot. "Boy, it's sure lucky we both got bought by the same kid," he said, "I was afraid I'd never see you again, Robot."

"I agree," said Robot, "It looks like we might have a good home here."

"Hey, anyone's welcome here, fellas," said a familiar voice. They turned around and saw Buzz Lightyear approaching them. He looked almost exactly the same as the Buzz they once knew, but he had a fancy blue utility belt on that they didn't remember their Buzz ever wearing before.

"Hey, Buzz!" said Snake, "How did you get here?"

"It's all right, guys," said New Buzz, "I'm a Space Ranger, and I know from my time in Al's Toy Barn that there are plenty more of us where I came from. Star command has us going everywhere in this galaxy, and this boy who calls himself Peter loves my company."

"I will say so," said Robot, "We once knew another Buzz Lightyear, and he was the most awesome friend we ever knew."

"Well, it's good to hear that there are other good Space Rangers like me out there," said New Buzz proudly. "Listen, there's been some damage done to my ship. Are you boys willing to help me out with it a little?"

Robot's eyes lit up ecstatically. Snake hissed in anticipation. "Any time, Buzz," said both of them at once.

"We once did the same for our old friend Buzz, and he sure appreciated it," said Snake.

"Without my assistance, he would never have been able to finish the job right," said Robot.

"Then follow me!" said New Buzz, "It's this way!" They started to walk (or slither) towards the cardboard spaceship, but the new robot dog nearly bumped into them.

"Watch where you're going!" Robot said to it.

The robot dog stopped and looked at Robot. Out popped a plastic tongue and it started to "lick" Robot's face. "What are you doing?" Robot asked impatiently.

Snake and New Buzz watched with amusement. "I think he likes you, Robot," New Buzz said.

"What makes you think so, Buzz?" said Robot, trying to shoo off the dog's advances.

New Buzz shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he senses that you're a robot just like him. Maybe he likes your colors. Or maybe he just thinks that he wants to make friends with someone his own size."

"Dogs are color-blind, Buzz," said Snake.

"Oh yeah, that's true, I guess," said New Buzz.

"He reminds me a little of Bullseye, Andy's toy horse and Woody and Jessie's steed," remarked Snake, "particularly because he isn't talking."

"Who are they?" inquired New Buzz.

"Andy was our former owner," said Robot, "And Woody and Jessie were a couple of Wild West toys we once knew. He looked at the robot dog. "I can see he might be a little easier to control than a real dog, so I should be grateful for that. And I suppose the old saying, 'Birds of a feather flock together,' is true, so I guess that this robot and I should be friends." He reached out and patted the robot dog on the head with his pincer-like hands. The dog responded by saying, "I've just met you, and I love you."

Everyone was startled. "Well I'll be!" New Buzz said, "He does talk!"

"He sure fooled me," hissed Snake.

"My name is Puppybot," said the robot dog. "And I am at your service, master Robot, for as long as we are together."

Robot offered a plastic hand for shaking. "Shake, boy," he said, and Puppybot raised a plastic paw to shake his hand. Then Robot tried out Woody's old trick with Buster. "Reach for the sky!" Puppybot stood up on his hind legs and fell over backwards. Snake took advantage of the moment and used his tail to tickle Puppybot. The little robot whimpered and laughed.

"Looks like we have another new friend here," said Snake.

"I always like to welcome newcomers into the fold," said New Buzz, "and you guys are no exceptions. Let's go take care of my spaceship now, okay?"

"All right," said Robot, "But I think we will have to take rambunctious little Puppybot away from the ship, because he might do some damage to it."

"Just tell him to 'sit' and 'stay,' and I think he'll get the message," said Snake.

Robot tried this out. "Sit, boy." Puppybot sat. "Stay," said Robot. Puppybot looked at him longingly, but did as he was told.

"It looks like he's already loyal, too," remarked New Buzz.

"I'm starting to like this new addition to the family," said Robot. "Here's hoping it lasts for years to come."

"It will, master," said Puppybot, "It sure will."

And Puppybot looked for a private place to play while the others tinkered with New Buzz's spaceship.

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**A/N:** Puppybot is loosely based off a few '80s and '90s toy robot dogs, like Poo-Chi and Spotbot, for example. The line about the toy dog meeting and loving Robot is borrowed from Disney/Pixar's _Up_, which I don't own either. I only own my OCs, not any of the canon characters.


End file.

Toy Story, Friendship