by Joy
NOTE: Ah yes, here is my long (or seemingly long) awaited sequal to Winds of Change! Back by popular demand! I might not be adding some chapters as quickly as others with school and stuff, so ya.
**DISCLAIMER**
BTW, Monsters Inc. and its characters (unfortunately Randall too) belong to those geniuses at Pixar and Disney (yes, don't sue me but hire me instead ~_^). The characters Leia Kawaii, Caylin Swisher, Mitchell Wazowski, Bruton Kilroy and the B.G.B, Naomi, Rayford, Midnight, and the S.S.O are my creations, please don't use them without my permission. Oh yeah, and no, I'm not going to tell you anything about them yet. Ya gotta read the fic. *grin*
And as always. . .Please R/R! Once and awhile, I just need a little motivation to keep going. ^_^ It takes quite a bit of time to write a great story like Winds of Change or Dangerous Secrets (at least for me).
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Chapter One - The New Monsters Inc
Randall casually walked down the sidewalks of Monstropolis on his way to work, a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck and a four-armed denim jacket shielding his upper body from the bitter cold. Caylin was at his side, wearing much of the same thing - except in alot of shades of red, his favorite color. The hardening snow on the sidewalk crunched under their feet as they strolled past the Grossery. The owner smiled, recognising the two monsters.
"Well if it isn't Randall Boggs and Caylin Swisher," the grosser said in his distinct Italian accent. "How are you doing this-a morning?"
The two stopped and Randall shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "We're doin' fine. Though we're freezin' our tails off in this cold," he said. "If Waz-er, Mike hadn't totalled my new stealthcycle, we'd be riding to work today. But, y'know how life goes."
"Yeah, as I always say, when life throws you a wrecked motorcycle - make hot chocolate and try again," Caylin added, in his usual cheerful, joking tone. He was now twenty-eight, but his age never stopped him from acting like a kid.
The grosser chuckled heartily and tossed both of them a spiny orange. "Well, don't get too cold now boys," he said, getting back to work bringing some boxes of fruit inside.
Randall caught his and took a bite out of it, continuing down the sidewalk. Caylin loved spiny oranges and made his disappear in no time. They turned the corner down Scare Street and the huge building of Monsters Inc appeared in all it's splendor. It still looked reletively the same, but since Sulley's decision to expand two years ago, it had been renovated to accomodate the extra scare and laugh floors. But the effort had been well worthwhile. They had now expanded to exporting scream and laugh energy to other countries in the Monster World. Monstermerica had so much that it wasn't a problem to sell large quantities of it to places like Rusha and Ahhstralia.
Randall and Caylin pushed the doors open and entered the lobby. As usual, monsters swarmed back and forth like cars in rush hour traffic as the two made their way towards the hallway leading to the Scarefloors.
Caylin looked at his buddy. "Hey, y'know what?"
"No, what?" Randall replied. He was never into guessing games.
"I kinda need a favor from you," he answered, getting right to the point.
They went into the men's locker room and took a seat on the bench by their adjacent lockers. Randall began to take off his jacket and shot a glance at Caylin. "A favor huh?" he began. "I'm listening, go on."
"Well, my sister, you know Amy. She came over last night and blew up the stove. . ." he said simply.
"Blew up your stove?" Randall said, quirking an eyebrow at him. "I can't even manage to do that. And you know how badly I cook."
"I mean, I wanted a renovation and all, but that wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Caylin commented, hanging his coat on the wall hanger.
Randall hung his up too and chuckled. "Yeah. . .But why're you tellin' me?"
Caylin clasped his hands together and got down on his knees. "Will you pleeease let me stay at your apartment?"
Randall was caught off-guard. "My apartment?"
"Yeah. I need time to get my apartment cleaned out and my kitchen re-built," Caylin said.
"You can get off the floor now, Cay," Randall replied.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Caylin stammered, standing up again. "So, will you?"
Randall shrugged. "I don't see why not. I knew I kept a spare bedroom for some reason," he replied, taking his ID card out of his locker and heading out for the Scarefloor.
"Oh, thank you, Rand," Caylin grabbed his MI helmet and ID card and ran out after him to catch up. He slowed to a walk once they were side-by-side. "I owe you one."
"And that's why I'm doing it," Randall replied, a smirk on his face. "Just kiddin'."
Caylin punched him in the arm. "Very funny, man."
Randall laughed and stopped by Roz's office window to pick up the scare folders and placed them in Caylin's hands. "I'll see you in a few."
Caylin saluted and marched onto Scarefloor H with the folder under his arm and a blue company helmet on his head. He was beginning to like the idea of being "Scare Assistant of the Year" two years in a row.
Randall was beginning to come into his own too. He had been Top Scarer for a straight year and eight months already and won the title of "Scarer of the Month" consecutively every month since then. Both had been on a roll and Caylin planned to help keep it that way for, at least, a little while longer.
The two had become a dynamic duo since teaming up as scarer and scare assistant. Caylin's humorous nature and workout ethic made him equalled only to Mike. He made the atmosphere less stressful with his cheery attitude and constant encouragement.
Randall, meanwhile, did the normal workout routine without complaint and was getting more and more inventive with his scaring technique. Yes, they were often considered the best duo since Sulley and Mike, something which Caylin was growing very proud of.
He ran a card through the slot in Station 6 and a door lowered into its holder. "Stand by monsters," the floor manager, Jerry, said. "We've got Scarers coming in."
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"Oh yeah, you're doing great Rand," Caylin said, taking a scream canister out of its holder and bringing another door in. "Keep this up and you'll break the Yearly Scare Record!"
Randall didn't give him a reply. He was mentally in full scare-mode, concentrating on his craft more than anything else. But he knew Caylin was right, a hundred more scares and he'd break the record. All the more of a reason to keep it up. He opened his next door and vanished, slithering inside. Caylin pressed his ear to the door just as a ear-piercing scream came from inside.
The canister immediately filled up and Caylin barely had time to get out of the way as the door swung open. Randall scrambled out and promptly shut the door behind him. Randall pressed his back against the door, closed his eyes, and shook his head slowly. He looked as if he had had a little scare himself, since he was breathing faster.
"What happened?" Caylin asked.
"The kid had a pet wolf!" Randall exclaimed. "No one told me about a wolf. I mean, what kind of kid has a pet WOLF? For Monstropolis sake."
Caylin flipped over the file pages for the child and shrugged. "It's an Inuit boy. That means they live all the way in Alaska."
"No wonder it was so darn cold there. . ." Randall muttered. "Ah well, at least I didn't get torn limb-from-limb and I got the scare. What more can ya ask for?"
Just then, the quitting bell rang and the monsters began filing out. Caylin picked up his paperwork and both of them headed for the door. Randall ran a hand through his fronds and grabbed a can of free soda slime that was setting on the coffee table with the snacks and other goodies. Caylin ducked into the men's locker room and came out carrying their coats and stuff. They passed the Daycare Center door and Mike and Sulley were standing there.
Caylin stopped. "Hey Mike, Mr. CEO! Picking up Mitchell are ya?"
The green eyeball and blue CEO turned around. Mike got a smile on his face. "Yeah. The little guy's so hyper, he NEEDS daycare," he said. "So, we're picking 'im up."
"Hi Randall, Caylin," Sulley replied, then held up a hand and smiled. "But, please, call me Sulley."
"Hey," Randall greeted. "So, how's Mitchell?"
"Just peachy," Mike replied, opening the daycare door and calling for him.
Three-year-old Mitchell Wazowski came running towards his 'daddy' on two short legs. He looked so much like Mike, but he was lavender like Ceila with a big, curious green eye and short, red snakes for hair that stuck out from under his backwards 'Monstropolis Sluggers' cap. Mike scooped the round child up and handed him to Sulley.
"Hewwo Uncuu Sulley!" Mitchell cooed excitedly, wiggling in Sulley's furry grip.
Sulley chuckled, barely able to hold onto the kid. "Why don't I just put him on the floor Mikey?" he said, setting the hyper toddler on the tiled floor.
Mitchell ran up to Randall and looked up at him with a big eye. "Hewwo Uncuu Wandall."
Randall smirked and ruffled the cap on his head. His snakes hissed excitedly, conveying Mitchell's every feeling. "Hey there," he replied. "How's life with Sullivan? Be a good boy and mess up his fur for me, will ya?"
Mitchell giggled and ran back to Mike. Sulley chuckled. "I heard that," he said accusingly.
"Yeah, and. . .?"
Caylin smiled. "Anyways," he said. "Great seeing you guys. We'll drop by your place Friday for Charades Night. I can do a great impression of the Abomidable Snowman! And I hear Randall's pretty good at charades too."
"Sounds great," Sulley replied. "See you then."
"Yeah, and watch us beat your team's butt," Mike added.
"Oh, we'll see about that, Wazowski," Randall replied.
"Then let the games begin," Mike shot back with a smile.
Caylin chuckled. "We'll settle this once we get in the arena guys, then you can go at each other," he said. "Bye Sulley! Bye Mike!"
Sulley and Mike waved, carrying Mitchell towards the Laughfloor locker rooms. Randall slipped his arms through the sleeves of his coat and zipped it up. Boy, he hated winter. When you were a cold-blooded reptile-monster, winter was a hard time to be out and about. Normal reptiles would shut down their vital systems and hibernate in weather like this.
They passed by the receptionist's desk on their way out and headed out into the freezing wind. Randall shivered at the sudden change of temperature. Inside it was toasty warm, but outside it was the exact opposite.
The trees along the road had no trace of leaves left and the streets were a bit icy, monster snow trucks came by every once and awhile to clear it after a big snowfall, but sometimes a few patches were left untouched. He was glad that, at least, today it was sunny and clear. Blizzards were a lizard-monster's worst nightmare.
Caylin passed a few stores, looking in the windows every once and awhile at what they had to offer. "Hey, Randall," he began. "Have you talked with Leia recently?"
Randall blinked. He had called her a couple of times earlier in the year, but for some reason she never answered. And he had seen her face on the cover of a couple of magazines last year. But since then, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her. He simply shrugged, his hands in the pockets of his jacket.
"No," he said. "I can never get ahold of her number. And I have no idea where she is now. For all I know she could be in Scarely, Norway."
Caylin nodded and furrowed his brow. "It's kinda strange though, don't ya think?"
Randall shook his head. "Not really, I mean, she said she'd be busy n' all with that tour of hers."
"Yeah, but she said she'd return your calls," Caylin pointed out.
Randall just half-rolled his eyes and kicked some snow from the sidewalk. "Women. . ."
Caylin patted him on the back with a gloved hand. "Don't worry, you'll hear from her again," he said. "Sorry I brought it up. Now, let's head over to your apartment for some nice warmness."
"It's okay," Randall said, a half-grin on his face to show it wasn't taken too seriously.
Caylin smirked. "Race ya there."
"You're - Hey!" Randall exclaimed as Caylin shot off like a rocket down the sidewalk without warning. "You cheater!"
"Hey, I thought you'd be experienced in that," Caylin called back with a smile, picking up the speed.
Randall smirked and took off after him. "Okay, you're really in for it. Now, stand still so I can kill you properly!"
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NOTE: Didja like it? I thought I'd start you guys out easy and introduce you to their world two years later and let you in on what's been going on since Winds of Change.