Through The Multiverse

by Battwell

13. Galaxy Toys (Part 1)

Unknown Earth

Twilight leapt through the Gateway; landing next to Iron Man with a smile on her face. She turned to the main console as the portal closed, sealing them in the unknown dimension known as Vorton. To everyone's surprise, another slot revealed itself on the console, sliding open next to the Shift Keystone.

The Keystone that was currently being held in Twilight's magic was suddenly engulfed in a blue aura. It was then pulled out of her grip and placed in the slot by the A.I. known to our heroes as the Gateway Keeper. Once it was inserted into the slot, an image of the Keystone was projected onto the screen.

"There it is! The Phase Keystone. Now we're talking." The Gateway Keeper said happily, harnessing the power of the Phase Keystone to further stabilize the Gateway.

"That's one down." Sonic stated with a smirk on his face.

"Now we just have to figure out our next move." Tony added.

Deciding to inform the group of how long it would take to locate the next Keystone, the Gateway Keeper said, "Just to let you all know, it's going to take some time before I'm able to find the next Keystone. Maybe you should take this time to relax and gather you bearings?"

"A sound idea." Batman concurred before turning to face the group, "We should take this time to prepare for the next dimension we'll be visiting. We have no idea what will be in store for us after all."

Tony clapped his hands as his faceplate slid upwards, "Alright, I'm gonna make some modifications to my armor while I have the chance." He informed the group before turning to face the monitor on the wall, "Keeps, let us know when you've found that Keystone."

"You'll be the first one I tell."

And with that, everyone went their separate ways. Sonic dashed off to stretch his legs, Mario walked away to train with Batman, and Tony walked over to the monitor to see if he could upgrade his scanner or any other aspects of his armor.

Twilight was about to trot off, but was stopped by the Gateway Keeper. "Hey Twilight, you got a sec?"

Confused, the unicorn turned her body towards the Gateway Keeper and raised a curious eyebrow. "Y-Yes?"

"I noticed how you have been struggling to keep up with the others when it comes to throwing hands. Or hooves in your case. So I got you something to help with that."

Then out of nowhere, an old, dusty book with a unicorn engraving on the front of it materialized in thin air. It fell to the floor before being picked up by Twilight's magic. Her eyes widened as she flipped through various pages to get an idea on what the book entailed.

She looked up to the monitor with excitement in her eyes, "T-This is!"

"A book of combat spells along with various others created by Starswirl the Bearded? Yes! Yes it is!" The Gateway Keeper confirmed her suspicions happily. "I figured that you could use it to help you out in the field. And just an FYI, you wouldn't find this anywhere in Equestria. There are some things he kept specifically to himself."

Twilight looked up with tears brimming her eyes; this act of kindness was better than anything than she could've hoped for.

"T-Thank you, Gateway Keeper..." She thanked the A.I. with a genuine smile on her face.

"You're welcome. Now what are you waiting for? Go and do what you do best."

"I will!" She replied as she galloped away in an excited manner, she couldn't wait to read this book. And it was written by Starswirl no less. She wouldn't waste this chance that the Gateway Keeper has given her.

She couldn't afford to,

Foundation Prime

Fingers pressed against keys.

The atmosphere was calm and collective.

He had an audience with the one he loves.

It was time to give her a show.

Bowser panted heavily after singing that final note, having poured his heart and soul into that performance. When the sound of sniffling was heard, the Koopa King turned his head to see both Discord and Joker shedding a few tears, albeit they were as fake as the eye could see.

"(Sniffle)... That was beautiful..." Discord complimented between fake sniffs before blowing his nose with the white tuff of his tail.

Joker continued his charade of tears before breaking out into full on laughter, unable to hold in his sense of enjoyment. "I-I'm so-o-orry!!! Hahahahahaha!!! T-That was gold!!!" The Clown Prince of Crime said between wheezes of laughter.

His laughter only grew louder when he heard the sound of snoring. Specifically coming from a certain princess. Bowser turned to see that Peach had fallen asleep, or so it would seem. Bowser let out a roar before grabbing the piano and throwing it away from him.

When the piano crashed on the other side of the throne room, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom woke up. She looked around, noticing the destroyed piano and the less than happy Bowser glaring at her. She smirked and asked, "Is it over yet?"

Bowser snarled before stomping over to Peach's dome. "I can't believe you!!! I pour my heart out to you and you fall ASLEEP?!!!!"

"Well what did you expect, darling?"

Bowser's head snapped around to face the Equestrian dome, or more specifically, Rarity. The unicorn mare stuck her nose upwards as she explained herself, "Well it is self explanatory as to why she would pay no mind to a brutish, uncouth, ruffian such as yourself."

The Koopa snarled as fire erupted from the sides of his mouth. His mood wasn't made any better by the laughter of both Discord and Joker. In frustration, Bowser let out a roar that shook the room before stomping out of the throne room, presumably to throw a tantrum elsewhere.

Meanwhile

Exiled marched into the laboratory within his fortress with his hands folded behind his back. It had been a few hours since both Joker and M.O.D.O.K. returned with the Foundation Element. Since then he had told both Eggman and M.O.D.O.K. to create a device capable of locking onto the unique signatures that each Foundation Element emits. That way they wouldn't have to scour every possible dimension in search of each Element.

The laboratory was filled with ancient computers and weapons that were beyond mortal comprehension. But what concerned the ancient being was what was presented in the middle of the lab. There laid a device of sorts with four miniature computer screens on its sides along with a satellite dish on top of the device.

Exiled took note of how both geniuses were adding final editions to the beacon, wanting it to be perfect. That pleased him. There could be no mistakes. Not when he was so close to completing his goal. To ending his exile once and for all.

"This technology is remarkable!" M.O.D.O.K. complimented to the approaching ancient. "It has been essential towards completing the device you've requested."

Exiled tilted his head as Eggman made the final adjustment with his screwdriver. "I am correct in assuming that the device is ready?" He asked the two geniuses with folded arms and expectancy.

"Heh heh!" Eggman chuckled, wiping sweat from his brow, "You would be correct in that assumption, Exiled. With the device completed we will know where every Foundation Element is located, and what dimension they reside in." The evil genius turned to the device and hovered his hand over one of the consoles, ready to activate it. "With the press of a button, the Foundation Elements are as good as ours!"

Exiled marched closer to the device and eyed it for a moment before turning to face Robotnik. "Then let us delay no further. Activate the device, doctor."

Eggman grinned and pressed his finger onto the console, activating the machine. As it came to life, all of the screens on the device lit up as it began searching for the remaining Foundation Elements in the Multiverse. As the satellite dish spun around in a circular motion, both Eggman and M.O.D.O.K. let out laughs of villainy while Exiled simply stared at the device curiously.

"One step closer." He thought to himself. "One step closer."

Unknown Earth

"Alright, the next Keystone has been located!" Relayed the Gateway Keeper. One by one, each of the heroes made their way towards the Gateway, which had already been activated. It had been a few hours since they had returned from Springfield, and they made the most of that time.

Batman and Mario had been training, sparring against one another to see who could come out on top. It had been safe to say that Batman had won every single time.

Why?

He's Batman.

Though he had to admit, the plumber did put up a good fight for a man of his size. The amount of strength he had within him was impressive.

Tony had been making adjustments to his armor, using some of the ancient's technology to upgrade it so that it wouldn't short out every time they made a jump to a new reality.

Sonic had spent most of the time running around to keep himself occupied. There was nothing else for him to do anyhow, so what better way to keep himself occupied than running?

Twilight had studied Starswirl the Bearded's spell book thoroughly. Making note of every spell that could come in handy if the situation called for it. She wouldn't be a liability, not when her friends' lives are on the line. Not when the fate of the entire Multiverse was at stake.

Her attention was drawn to Tony, who clapped his hands together and asked, "Alright, Keeps, what can ya tell us about this place?"

"From what I could tell, this dimension is... unique." The A.I. responded.

"How so?" Twilight asked.

"Welllll... How can I put this? The dimension itself is an anomaly of sorts." Gateway Keeper revealed, much to the confusion of the others. He elaborated, "It's not meant to be there. It's not meant to exist. It's an exact duplicate of the original universe it spawned from."

Sonic looked to the others, "Is anyone else confused?"

"Okay, let me put it this way. Something foreign to the original world it was made from appeared in said original world. The amount of energy it built up exploded outwards, sucking various parts of the universe and dragging it to an empty space in the Multiverse. There it created it's own reality, with it's own set of rules. It looks like the original dimension, but it's different in so many ways. We have no idea what could be waiting for you there, since it's not meant to exist."

Batman nodded knowingly, "And we can assume that this foreign object was the Keystone."

"Not just any Keystone. The most powerful of them all, the Creation Keystone." Gateway Keeper added, revealing the name of this specific Keystone.

"Judging by the name, this Keystone can create anything, right?" Mario asked for clarification.

"Yep. If that Keystone falls into the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic."

Twilight looked determined, "Then we won't let that happen!"

"Keep in mind that once the Creation Keystone leaves this new reality, everything should go back to normal. It may take time, but anyone and anything that was dragged into this new world should be placed back into their original reality a few hours after the Keystone is removed from the anomaly."

Sonic rubbed his index finger under his nose, "Heh, no sweat. We'll grab that Keystone, set everything back to the way it was and be back here in no time." He then turned towards the Gateway with a cocky grin plastered on his face.

Tony smirked at the hedgehog's cockiness as his faceplate slid over his face, the mask's blue eyes lighting up as he turned to face the Gateway.

Twilight turned to the Gateway as she used her magic to place the spell book down on the counter next to the main console. She looked to Batman, who nodded to her as Mario stood to her right. She smiled at the dark hero before facing the portal before her and the others.

And with no hesitation, they all jumped through the Gateway.

Earth 1995

"Hey! I was watching that!"

The complaint came as a cowboy accidentally stepped on the 'Off' button on the television remote. But he was no ordinary cowboy, in fact, neither was the being that raised the complaint in the first place. They were currently standing on a bed inside of a child's bedroom. The walls were wrapped in a sky blue wallpaper with clouds on them. The floor was wooden, and was filled to the brim with toys.

As a matter of fact, the little boy who lived in this bedroom wasn't the one who shouted. It was in fact.. The toys.

The toys were alive.

Whenever their owner was away, the toys would come to life and keep themselves occupied until he came home to play with them. That was their day to day life and they were content with it.

The cowboy was the boy's favorite. He was made out of plastic and had brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a brown hat and a red scarf around his neck to go with his yellow flannel shirt. He wore a vest with a cow's pattern over his shirt with a sheriff's badge on the left side of his chest. On his brown belt was a gun holster, not that he ever had one to begin with, and a golden belt buckle. He wore blue pants and brown boots with spurs on the heel of his shoes.

Woody, who was currently carrying an alphabet block in his hands, turned his head back slightly to the source of the complaint, who just so happened to be his friend. He was a dinosaur, specifically a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and was green in color with a pale underbelly that stretched all the way to his tail..

Rex looked at Woody in surprise before the cowboy replied with, "Ah, sorry. But this is no time for television, Rex." With that, Woody walked away from Rex and the other toy who was watching the television.

Standing next to Rex was a piggy bank named Hamm.

Hamm turned his head to Rex and started talking about the program that was pre-emptively shut off. "Gotta say, that Gigas is pretty impressive." The piggy bank said to the toy dinosaur.

"Really?" Rex replies.

But as they were talking, Woody looked down to the floor from atop the bed and saw multiple portals open up on the floor. There, a small squadron of Soulless Ones entered the room, except to fit in this dimension, they were the size of the other toys.

Woody's eyes widened in shock before dropping the block and dashing towards both Rex and Hamm.

"I like Nightwatch most." Rex replies to Hamm before he yelped in shock due to Woody tackling the both of them down. The three of them spiraled across the bed before coming to a stop at the pillows on the bed.

As Woody adjusted his hat back into position, Hamm turned to the cowboy and rightfully asked, "Woody? What gives?"

But before he could respond, a fourth toy jumped down onto the bed and crawled over to them, joining the group. This toy was a brawny electronic spaceman action figure. He had fair skin, blue eyes, an outline of a swirl on his chin, a purple head cap and collar, and a clear plastic space helmet with purple buttons on both sides that open or close it. His suit had a green, white and purple color scheme with multiple buttons on his chest.

Buzz Lightyear leaned over towards Woody's direction and asked, "Are they back?"

To which Woody responded by shushing all three of them.

They all then peered over the side of the bed and saw the group of Soulless Ones scouting out the place for any signs of the Foundation Element. This was its last known location according to the device back on Foundation Prime.

As the Soulless Ones continued to look around for anything of value, Woody said to his friends, "All right, guys. Today we teach those intruders who's boss. Is everybody in position?"

Rex, being the nervous wreck that he is, suddenly stoop upright and began to panic. "Wait. Hold on! I don't think I'm emotionally prepared!"

"Would you calm down?" Hamm asked exasperatedly before reassuring the nervous toy, "Don't worry. I got ya covered."

Woody then gazed over to a shelf across the room where a pair of Green Army Men stood on the edge of a bucket.

They gave a salute to a trio of Little Green Men who waved in Woody's direction.

Woody returned the salute to the Green Army Men before turning and nodding to Buzz.

"It's go time."

But unbeknownst to them, just directly underneath the bed, another portal swirled open as Twilight Sparkle and the other heroes leapt right out of it. Once the portal closed was when everyone took note of how short they were, how even a simple wooden desk towered over them like a building in New York City.

"What in the world?" Mario asked, his voice laced with wonder.

"Okay. This is trippy." Iron Man commented as he and everyone else took a look at themselves. They looked the same, except they appeared to be made out of plastic.

Sonic then finally realized something. Their size, the way they all looked, them literally appearing in what appeared to be a little child's bedroom. He then asked the question on everyone's minds. "Hang on a second. Are we toys?!"

Twilight tapped her hoof on her chin, thinking about what the blue hedgehog had asked. It was a valid reason as to their current forms. "It's just like in Springfield! Different worlds, different rules. We've become toys to fit in with the rest of this dimension!"

Batman nodded in agreement before getting back onto the task at hand, "Let's not waste anymore time. We have to find the Creation Keystone and fix this anomaly."

They all nodded, he was right, they had to focus on the mission. Get the Keystone, find their friends, and stop whoever is behind all of this madness. But before they could do that, they had to greet the welcoming committee. Sonic's ears perked up as he heard the sound of metallic footsteps a few meters away. He turned and whistled impressively at the sight of the squadron of Soulless Ones, which caught everyone's attention.

"Looks like we got company." Sonic observed as he interlocked his fingers and cracked them.

Twilight gazed upon them with realization, "Those are the same androids that were in Springfield!"

"This can't be a coincidence." Batman uttered. "They were there in Springfield for a reason. We saw what happened when they gave the Phase Keystone to Joker. We can't let them get a hold of the Creation Keystone."

"If A.I.M. and Joker were in cahoots with these things, who knows who else they've recruited for whatever it is they're planning. We need answers, and our best bet is one of those androids." Iron Man surmised.

Twilight nodded in affirmation, it was time to put Starswirl's Combat Spells to use.

Back on top of the bed, Woody and the others were about to get the jump on the Soulless Ones currently patrolling their home. It was time to take it back from their clutches.

Woody looked at his friends and said, "Okay. We go on three. One, two..."

But just as they were about to attack, Buzz looked down and saw a blue blur dash out from underneath the bed. But what's more is that he saw Iron Man fly out behind the blur with Batman, Mario, and Twilight Sparkle charging right behind him.

Buzz shot open his wings and stopped the group from jumping down, "WAIT!!!" He shouted as Rex nearly stumbled right off of the edge of the bed.

Woody looked absolutely confused and angry, "What are you doing?!" But when Buzz directed Woody's gaze to the group of heroes, his face went from angry to confused. "Who are those guys?"

The toys watched on in awe as Sonic destroyed a Soulless One with a Spin Dash, red mist erupting behind the blue hedgehog as he landed in a crouched position.

"Take them!" Iron Man instructed as he tackled one mid flight and flew it into the air. He then spun it around in a circle before hurling it down to the ground, where Twilight caught it in her magical grasp and threw it into a duo of incoming androids.

As they fell to the floor, Batman dodged left and right at the Soulless One's slashes. He ducked under another attack before landing an uppercut on the android, making it go airborne before landing harshly on the wooden floor. The Dark Knight turned around and threw four explosive Batarangs at four androids, blowing them up as they dashed forward with an intent to kill.

Batman then grappled away as Mario dashed underneath him and punched a hole through an incoming Soulless One. The plumber removed his fist from the android's visor and then proceeded to deliver a spin kick to its torso, sending it spiraling through the air before exploding in a blaze of glory.

Mario then dashed forward and leapt into the air before stomping on the head of another android, crushing its head and destroying it. He bounced off of it and kicked another android in the face, sending it right into Sonic's path, tearing right through it as he dashed all around the bedroom.

Sonic slid on his backside as he ran, taking out the legs of a Soulless One before getting right back onto his feet and curling into a ball, taking out a trio of androids like they were bowling pins. He then uncurled as they exploded behind him, striking a pose before boosting downward and crushing another Soulless One under his feet.

He then looked over to see Twilight levitate four androids into the air before slamming them down onto the ground, destroying them all. She then teleported out of the way of an incoming android, avoiding the slash aimed right at her head. She reappeared with a smug smile on her face before firing a freezing spell, holding it in place so Sonic could dash over and wreck it.

And that's exactly what he did.

Once the Soulless One was toast, he gave the unicorn a thumbs up, to which she blushed at the praise.

Flying above them, Iron Man fired missile after missile, completely destroying the enemy forces around him. He then gazed forward and saw Batman glide kick an airborne Soulless One down towards him. Smiling under his mask, Tony halted his flight pattern and proceeded to destroy the robot with a Repulsor Blast. He then grabbed Batman's hand and spun him around in circles before releasing the dark creature of the night.

Batman dove downwards before rearing back a fist and punching the head of an unsuspecting Soulless One, completely destroying it. He stood upright through the red mist and walked out like a complete and utter badass. Batman sent one glare to the last remaining androids and they quickly backed away.

Right into Twilight's magical blasts, which pierced right through their chests.

As the battle came to an end, the toys atop the bed couldn't help but stare slack jawed at their heroic display. Such power. Such precision. They were flying for Pete's sake! Just who were these guys? Where did they come from? It was time for some answers.

The battle concluded, and Iron Man landed behind the now offline Soulless Ones. He made his way forward to try and recover their bodies, but stopped when they suddenly disappeared into red mist. Tony slumped forward, "Well, there goes our only lead." He said tiredly as the rest of the group converged around him.

"We don't have time to dwell on it now." Batman stated with urgency.

"He's right, we have to find the Creation Keystone and move on to the next dimension." Twilight reminded all of them of their current goal.

"Are they new?"

Turning around at the sudden interruption, the five heroes saw Woody, Buzz, Hamm, and Rex all walking towards them. The cowboy had a curious look on his face as he and the others approached the newcomers. But it was quickly overcome with shock as Rex shoved right past him and the other toys with a thrilled expression on his face.

"Wait! Ah-- Ah-- You look familiar!" Rex yelled as he came to a stop in front of Batman, examining his confused form.

The Dark Knight arched an eyebrow at the T-Rex quizzically, but not before looking at the other toys present. They looked harmless, but it was also strange to see figurines moving and talking like actual people. Then again he had only recently come into contact with a blue talking hedgehog and a pastel colored unicorn, so nothing surprised him anymore.

Rex ran on the spot as he tried to think of who Batman reminded him of. "I know this. You're, uh, you're, uhhh..." But for the life of him, the toy dinosaur couldn't think of the character's name.

Luckily, Hamm approached the Caped Crusader and helped Rex out as the name came to him instantaneously. "Nightwatch!" The piggy bank exclaimed, enticing Rex to yelp in happiness.

Batman stared down at the piggy bank in confusion, "Who?" But his attention quickly fell to his chest, where he spotted a red dot aimed right at his bat symbol. Looking up, Batman saw Buzz aiming his right arm at him, moving around him slowly.

"Stay back! For all we know, the intruders sent them." Buzz warned cautiously.

But before anyone could say anything to defuse the situation, Batman quickly removed a Batarang and hurled it at the Space Ranger's arm. With his aim disrupted, Buzz didn't have time to even see Batman dash towards. The Dark Knight grabbed him by his left arm and threw him over his shoulder, Buzz letting out a grunt of pain as his back collided with the wooden floor.

Rex yelped and took a step back just as Woody rushed forward to help his friend. But he stopped when Iron Man aimed both of his hands at him, his palms hueing with power. "Make a move, see how that works out for ya." The Armored Avenger challenged the cowboy, daring him to make a move.

Sonic crouched down in a running start.

Mario adjusted his hat, ready for action.

Nobody made a move. The standoff continued until both Twilight and Rex wailed for all of them to stop.

"WAIT!!!"

"STOP!!!"

Both parties turned to the unicorn and dinosaur, both with worried and shocked expressions on their features. Twilight turned to Iron Man, "Tony, stand down." She ordered before turning to Batman, "Batman, let him go."

"Alright, I think we all need to chill out!" Sonic suggested as he stood upright once more.

"I'll chill out when they tell their guy to lay off our guy." Tony replied, not taking his eyes off of Woody.

Woody, taking the hint, turned his eyes to Buzz, who was currently being held down by Batman's foot. "Buzz, do you promise not to aim your laser at them again?"

Lightyear, despite not liking this at all, decided to give his friend a firm nod, showing that he would not show any signs of aggression again. Woody, liking that answer, turned back to Iron Man and nodded to the armored hero.

Tony decided to trust their word and depowered his Repulsor Rays.

Batman removed his foot from Buzz's chest, allowing the Space Ranger to stand back up on his own two feet. Now that that was settled, both Rex and Twilight let out sighs of relief as the former turned to Batman, who folded his arms and continued to eye the toys who threatened his group.

"Nightwatch..." Rex whispered in awe at the sight of the Dark Knight.

Woody approached Rex with caution, due to these newcomers. "Slow down there, Rex. We don't know them."

"But we can trust them!" Rex exclaimed as he turned to face Woody. Ignoring Buzz's scoff, the dinosaur continued, "They're the number-one-selling heroes in the country!"

"Yeah, Andy's mom must've bought 'em for him." Hamm piped up as Buzz stayed his distance, slowly walking around the group in a circle.

"Hamm's right. Did you see how easily they took care of the intruders? I bet they're here to figure out why all our friends have gone missing, and why Buzz's laser started actually laser-ing..." Buzz stared at his laser light on his right arm at that, "and all the weird stuff that's been going on."

Twilight, Sonic, Mario, Iron Man, and Batman all looked at each other knowingly. This must be due to the Creation Keystone and this anomaly dimension.

Their attention was brought back to Rex as he finished by saying, "I mean, that's what heroes do, right?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Buzz warned, still eyeing Batman sternly, the Dark Knight returning the glare in kind. The Space Ranger then turned to Woody, who was stroking his chin in thought. He leaned in, covering the side of his mouth, and whispered, "Gotta be smart, Woody."

The Sheriff nodded and casually walked towards the group of newcomers, specifically Iron Man and Twilight, who were standing in front of the group, which surprised the heck out of Buzz. "So, you're...Andy's new toys?"

Twilight chuckled nervously and kicked the floor with her hoof, "Y-You could say that."

Woody then looked around the room before turning to face the group once more, "You sure did a number on those intruders." He complimented.

"Those were...!" Mario started before stopping. It was then that he and the others realized that they all had no clue what those robots were, or what they were even called.

Sonic, luckily, came in to the rescue, "Let's just call them 'Bad Guys'. We've fought them before."

"I knew it!" Rex exclaimed happily, to which Hamm and Twilight chuckled at his childish antics.

Woody pondered for a moment before suddenly saying, "Okay!" Which caught Buzz off guard at how easily Woody was willing to trust these strangers, who not a mere moment ago, threatened them all with violence. The cowboy walked up to Stark saying, "In that case, you're all right by me. My name's Woody. Put 'er there." He offered the billionaire his hand in friendship, to which the armored hero responded by shaking his hand.

"Now hold on." Buzz tried interjecting but was ignored.

His faceplate slid up, revealing his mustached face. "Tony Stark, but I also go by Iron Man."

Woody smiled at the hero before turning his attention to the others.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." The unicorn greeted kindly with a bow of her head.

Sonic snapped his fingers as he pointed towards Woody with his index finger, "The name's Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog!"

Mario twirled his cap around his index finger as he introduced himself, "It's-a-me! Mario!"

Batman, clearly not too fond of these individuals due to their hostile nature earlier, remained silent before declaring, "I'm Batman."

"Nightwatch!" Rex exclaimed right in the Dark Knight's ear.

He leaned back before reiterating, "Batman!"

Buzz walked over and stood by Woody's side, placing his hand on his chest and saying, "And I'm...Buzz Lightyear." He introduced sternly, still weary about these newcomers.

"Call me Hamm. It's a real honor."

Rex then got a little too close for Batman as he exclaimed, "And I'm Rex! I'm your biggest fan. In fact, I've been playing your game for months now. And I've already gotten you all the way up to LV 47. But that Bahamut boss is really tough. Slinky and I can't figure out how to beat him"

"I'd rather fight Ra's Al Ghul and his League of Assassins than endure another minute of this." Batman thought to himself as Rex continued to ramble on and on.

"Oh, I wish Slinky and the others were here. They'd be so happy to meet you!" Rex finished as the Army Men hopped over towards the group.

"All troops at attention, sir!" The Sarge reported to the cowboy, giving him and the heroes a salute.

Suddenly, the Little Green Men rolled over to them riding a skateboard before slowing down and hopping off of the board.

"Strangers!" One said in awe.

"From the outside!" Another added.

"Welcome!" The third one finished.

"Excuse me." Buzz suddenly piped up, approaching the group with a curious look on his face. They all turned to him as he stopped in front of Twilight. "You said that you've battled those intruders before. Tell us where and why."

Twilight looked flustered before Batman came to her defense, "I don't see how that's any of your business."

But before Buzz could retort, Woody placed a hand on his shoulder, wanting to defuse the tension between him and the Dark Knight. "Take it easy, Buzz. What matters is that they got those intruders out of our way--for at least a little while. No need to interrogate 'em."

Rex nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Buzz!"

"Woody's right!" Hamm agreed.

Buzz, seeing how he was outnumbered on the subject, sighed and relented, "Noted. But still..."

"Hey." Sonic started, getting the toys' attention focused on him. "Have those "intruders"--those... let's call them androids--been a problem around here?" The hedgehog asked the Sheriff.

Woody shook his head, "No, they just showed up a little while ago."

"In fact..." Buzz began to ponder as he stroked his chin, "those "androids" materialized...right after our friends up and vanished."

The five heroes all looked at one another, knowing why that was. It seems that when the Creation Keystone fell into their original reality, it sucked them all into this duplicate reality, leaving them and their friends separated. Woody, Rex, Buzz, and Hamm being the ones stuck in this alternate world while their friends remained in their original world.

Woody gazed up to the window above Andy's desk in sadness. "It wasn't always this lonely. One day we woke up, and we were the only toys left here." He then walked over and sat on top of a wooden block, lifting up his leg and staring at the underside of his boot, where the name 'ANDY' was written in faded ink. "Nobody's heard from Mom, Molly, or Andy... We keep waiting for Andy to come home."

Twilight's ears fell flat on her skull, as someone who is a soul believer in the Magic of Friendship, it hurt to see someone who had been apart from their friend for so long. It was a lot like her situation at the moment. She slowly approached Woody and asked, "You really care about him."

The toy nodded in affirmation, "Yeah... He's the best friend that toys like us could ever hope to have." He said sadly before standing up and rejoining the group. He then placed a hand on Buzz's shoulder and smiled sadly at his friends.

Twilight, feeling sad for their current predicament, decided to try and help. "All right. We'd better start looking!"

"Huh?!" Woody exclaimed confusedly.

"What?!" Batman and the others also exclaimed in confusion.

Sonic walked over and leaned into her ear, whispering, "Uh, Twi? We have a mission, y'know, saving the multiverse, remember that?"

Twilight looked at the hedgehog, daring him to challenge her, "You saying you're willing to leave someone in need?"

Sonic shook his head, holding up his hands defensively, "Now I'm not saying that!"

"But we do have a job to do, Twilight." Mario reminded the unicorn.

"I know, but what if they've seen something? Or-or they could help us find the Keystone?" She pondered to the group. To be fair, those were very real possibilities. "Besides, who better to help us navigate this world than them?" She asked as she pointed a hoof to Woody and the others.

They all looked at one another, letting Twilight's point sink in, before turning back to her and nodding. "Alright, Twilight." Batman started before adding, "But they'd better not slow us down."

Twilight beamed at the Dark Knight as she nodded, grateful that they were willing to give her idea a try. "Thank you. I promise you won't regret this." She then turned back to Woody and asked, "Have you gotten any clues we can go on--any other strange things that happened?"

"Well..." Woody began to answer before adding, "There is one thing."

"One big thing." Hamm added.

"Huge, miss!" The Sarge added.

"What thing?!" Rex asked, feeling completely out of the loop.

Buzz walked up to Twilight and Iron Man, explaining, "After everyone went MIA, the intruders didn't come alone. They arrived with a guy wearing a green robot suit, and a monster dressed in black, with a rather long tongue. As a matter of fact, they're the only other toys we've seen, outside of you five."

Tony looked down in thought, his hands placed firmly on his hips. "I might have an idea on who the monster dressed in black could be... But I'm completely lost on the guy in the robot suit."

"I might know." Batman suddenly informed the group. "And if that's the case..." He drifted off.

"Then it's a safe bet to say that these guys are working with Joker and A.I.M.." Tony finished what Batman was inferring.

"And Eggman too." Sonic added.

Woody looked at the group curiously before asking, "You know who they are?"

Tony looked to Woody and responded, "We might have an idea. And they're bad news."

Buzz raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Seems like you have a lot of enemies."

"In our line of work, it's a given." The Iron Man replied instantly.

Sonic then looked at Twilight with worry on his face, "I don't know about this, Twi." He placed a hand on his hip and suggested, "Maybe we should handle this on our own."

Hearing the hedgehog, Woody shook his head and said, "I'm sorry. But we're not gonna leave this to you."

"Huh?"

The cowboy approached the group with determination in his plastic eyes. "If those guys had something to do with our friends vanishing, then they're our problem too. We've got to work together." He declared as he extended his hand out to Iron Man once more, although a little hesitant, he reciprocated the handshake all the same.

"All right." Tony agreed as the handshake concluded, "The more the merrier, right?"

Twilight smiled at the sight before her. New bonds being forged. New friendships being ignited. She then looked to Woody and asked, "So then, where can we find these guys?"

The Sheriff looked down to the Sarge and asked, "Sarge, any word from the recon team?"

"The latest reports place them in town, sir. At Galaxy Toys!" The Sarge replied as he pointed to the Galaxy Toys poster on the bedroom door.

Woody, filled with newfound determination, then declared, "Then Galaxy Toys is where we're going. Tony, Twilight, and everyone else. Follow me." He ushered them as he and the other toys looked out the window, seeing the sunlight shine through the open window. "It's out the window and down the roof."

Woody moved to show them, but was stopped by Buzz, who placed a hand on his shoulder. "Not so fast, cowboy." When said cowboy turned to face him, Buzz walked in front to face him directly, "You seem pretty gung ho about going, but shouldn't we stay here and wait for Andy?"

Woody looked down to his feet and folded his arms, " Well... You've got a point, but...we've tried waiting." He then gestured to Twilight and the others with his hands, "Look, if we go with Twilight and her friends, we might find a clue." He then extended his hand out to Buzz, "Are you with me, Buzz?"

To no-one's surprise, Buzz smiled and took his hand instantly, "Of course." He then dropped his hand, still eyeing Batman suspiciously before turning to face the window. Ready to finally get some answers as to the weird happenings that have been occurring in their lives. He looked to see Tony's faceplate slide back over his face, his eyes lighting up. He looked determined, ready to get started, ready to find his friends. "Okay, let's move out!"