To Destruction and Beyond

There was once a boy, he was like any average boy his age. He went to school, was raised by both parents, loved to eat, had a best friend, and absolutely loved to watch movies. His name was Stan. Stan was a pretty intelligent kid, and surprisingly enough his best friend was quite the opposite. His best friend Barry wasn't the brightest bulb of the bunch, but he was a very good friend who would always listen to Stan. One of Stan's favorite things that he always made Barry do was watch movies with him. Stan specifically loved Disney movies such as Finding Nemo, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, but there was always one that he could watch on repeat everyday all day and that was Toy Story.  Toy Story came out before he was born, but ever since he turned three he never went one day without watching the movie at least once.  Barry went along with it most of the time because Stan was his friend, and he liked hanging out and playing with him whenever they weren't watching movies.  About two years later they were about eight Toy Story 2 came out and Stan was ecstatic. Barry clearly was not as excited and once again just went along with it because Stan was his only best friend. Barry noticed something though, something was different about Stan.  He was always acting like a super hero or at least trying to, but Barry the being person he is didn't think much of it and pretended to play along. They remained friends for quite sometime, proceeded to go to school together, hangout together and of course watch Toy Story together. Although Barry eventually was quite annoyed with Toy Story he just watched it so he would still be friends with Stan. About ten years later something happened that changed both of their lives forever and tested their friendship.  The Toy Story 3 movie was released.

I went to Stan's house today just like I usually do after school, but something felt different today. When I walked into his house he wasn't eating a snack like usual, it was actually quite silent. I wasn't sure if I should just leave, but then I heard a TV turn on so I followed the sound and it was coming from Stan's room. When I got to his room the door was shut. I twisted the knob so that I could peer in because maybe Stan forgot I was coming over and I didn't want to frighten him. When I opened the door I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Stan was watching Toy Story 3 yet again, except this time he was all dressed up. From head to toe Stan was covered in what looked like a "wanna be" Buzz Lightyear costume. He had what looked like a fish bowl on his head, a white suit with a poorly drawn shield on the front, white rubber boots that were clearly painted by him, a waste basket that was assumably his "jet pack", and last but most importantly he had two pieces of cardboard that were suppose to be his wings. I had no idea what to think, let alone what to say.

I called, "Stan? Staaaaannn?"

All of a sudden he turned and looked at me and said, "My name is not Stan, it's Buzz.  Buzz Lightyear."

I'm not going to lie I was a little scared by the dark gleaming look in his eyes because I knew he wasn't joking.  Stan, now Buzz was running all around his room throwing out his arm and pointing it at objects like some laser was suppose to be there destroying objects. 

Randomly Buzz did a somersault towards me and said, "Follow me Barry I'll save you!"

I didn't think much of it so I just went along because he is my friend and he would never steer me wrong.  It was a nice day so initially all of our friends were outside playing around, but once they saw Buzz and how he was dressed and was acting they could not help but burst out with laughter. 

I saw that Buzz was agitated by this but he just smirked and said, "Ah yes the sound of laughter means that everyone is safe and I've done a swell job of keeping it that way."

Buzz was acting like this the whole day and stayed in his "armour" all day, never wanting to take it off even before bed.  I slept over that night because I didn't think leaving him alone was the best idea, but I must have fallen asleep very quickly because I found myself waking up to a loud ruckus.  I thought I was mistaken of what I saw when I opened my eyes, but I blinked a couple times and my eyesight was correct.  There was Buzz tying up what looked like a kid from our school.

Quickly I asked, "Buzz!  What are you doing?!"

He looked at me and said, "He was trying to take my wings and jet pack.  Stupid villain thinking I wouldn't know it was him. Ha!  So do you believe me now?"

"Believe what?" I asked.

"Do you believe I am a superhero or do I need to capture another villain to prove it to you?" He said.

Without hesitation because I did not want him capturing anyone else I said, "Yes! Yes I order you a superhero!"

I did whatever he said because he was my friend and he promised me that if I stood by him through all of his adventures that we would stay friends and go on vacation together.  That day when we went for a walk, and we we were passing by a lemonade stand when Buzz came to an abrupt stop.  I noticed a man at the stand was trying to get his money back because he was unhappy with the way the lemonade tasted.

Buzz butted in and said, "Sir, you should keep walking and leave the girl alone.  Let her keep the money."

The man looked at Buzz very aggravated but simply answered with, "Okay."

Buzz held is head high because he thought he saved the day yet again, but soon after walking away I looked back and I saw the man take his money back.  Meanwhile Buzz was still walking proudly in his "suit" and as we continued our walk more and more people began to stare and laugh at him.  Now Buzz was super offended by this and I could tell because of the look in his eye.  Without hesitation he went after a group of bystanders and began to accuse them of being villains.  He was trying to capture them and tie them up but because I had no idea what to do I just watched.  Buzz was clearly out numbered and before I knew it they all ganged up on him and proceeded to beat him up.  It didn't last long but it was long enough to leave him laying on the ground moaning in pain.   I attended to him after they all left but I had no clue where to go or how to get him up by myself.  I comforted him as best I could, and after a while a neighbor of Buzz's was walking by and noticed that I was on the ground with Buzz.  He came over and I explained what happened, so he helped me get him up and we took him back to his house.

There I told his parents what was going on with him and without any hesitation they became determined to destroy all of his movies.  His parents and I searched for all the movies in his room while he was recovering from his injuries.  Once we found them all his dad took them to the backyard and threw them in the fire pit and started them on fire.  I watched them as they burned, but I also felt like there were another pair of eyes looking too.  I looked next to me and there was Buzz watching as his most prized possession went into flames, and I could see the heat in his eyes.  He must have been too angry to talk because he said nothing to me except give me a "look" to follow him and so I did.  We walked in silence for a couple of miles but then we stopped at one of the tallest hills in town.  I wasn't exactly sure why but I had a feeling that this was not going to end well. 

Buzz turned to me and said, "I think it's time to get out of this town.  No one appreciates the lives I've saved or the deeds I've done to keep this town safe.  I'm leaving."

Before I could stop him or say anything he began to run and right at the peak of the hill he jumped as if he were attempting to fly and shouted, "To infinity and beyond!" 

Those were the last words my best friend spoke because when I reached the top of the hill there was Buzz at the bottom, dead.  I walked down there but it was just so hard to see my friend like that.  His neck was broken.  He was gone.  I couldn't imagine my life without him but from that day on I promised myself I would never watch another movie again.