I.

Her vision was hazy, but Darcel could clearly make out someone standing over her with a peculiar fascination. The previous events of yesterday and her long night came back to her memory one-by-one. She tried to stir but the person looking down at her froze her from moving too fast. There was something about this broad-shouldered hulking mass that left her without the will to move or speak. It wasn't until she was spoken to did she talk out.

"Boo?"

"Who are you?"

The mass shifted from one foot to the other.

"Don't you remember me?"

"Kenny?"

There was an awkward moment as the shadow over the mass's face dissolved.

A pair of lonesome blue eyes peered over her. "No."

Darcel sighed and looked down at the ridiculous suit she wore.

"I don't remember anything…"

Her solitary observer curled his pointed fingers under her chin like before and coaxed her to look up. A warm smile had spread across his large face. Darcel tried to lift her arm to reach out to him but the commotion and her slipping back into unconsciousness stopped the girl. She felt the stranger's incredibly large arms take her up and hold her close to him.

"I'll keep you safe." He promised.

II.

"Michael, I can't believe you pulled such a stunt!"

The two were making their way towards the small, snow-wrapped borough where Mike had hidden Boo's door so that he and Celia could have somewhere to go after the girl had been sent on her way. Now the monster looked back to see that his put out lover stood in the center of the snow in refusal to go with him. Her arms were crossed and her bare locks were shaking from their tails to their noses. Mike scoffed and stomped back over to Celia.

"Sweetheart, if we're going to make our get-on-with-our-lives reservations, than-,"

"What about Sully?"

"What about him? Boo's got it under control."

"She's a twelve-year-old girl, Mikey. Not a warrioress."

"Thirteen, but whose countin'? Now come on, we've only got until tomorrow to leave."

The monster turned his back to resume the twenty yards they had to go.

"The door's not there, Michael."

His green eye encompassed his entire face outside of his socket.

"Celia, that was our only way out of here, our only way to freedom!"

"What about Sully's freedom? What about Darcel's safety?"

When Mike turned around the corners of his eye were gathered with tears.

"I wanted to keep you safe, Smoopsy." He admitted. "I couldn't keep Sully from getting arrested, I landed him in jail myself and if he ever saw me again; it was the only way Hun!"

"The door's under Darcel's seat in the gondola car, googly bear. The only way we'll save ourselves is by going back there." Celia wrapped her arms around her ashamed ex-fiancé'.

"How can I show my face? After leaving my pal in the slammer for ten years."

"How will you ever look at your face if you don't do the right thing, Michael?"

Her words cut deep.

III.

Sully held the girl close to himself and thought quickly on what he was going to do. The purple-blue monster rushed out into the hall and, swinging to a stop, saw that everyone was under attack — alligators from the swamps Randall had frequented during his time in the human world were having their opportunity to devour the escapees. Sully thrust his fingers inside of his mouth and gave a blow, the whistle stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Everyone whose not planning on swearing their allegiance to Randall, follow me."

All monster heads lifted up at the implication and swarmed down the hall to Sully's ceil.

The monster took in the damage to his now half-there room and placed his foot on the side of the car that was the least smashed in. Counting down from three, he forced it back out of the wall and caught a hold of it with one hand. Boo settled comfortably in his other arm. Sully slowly peered out into the dissolving snowfall and saw that there was no one on the grounds outside of the prison. This was very strange, where could the guards possibly be?

As if on cue, the cement-blocked floor beneath the monsters feet began to vibrate.

"All right, Randall!" one of the monsters off to his left shouted. "I proclaim my servitude!"

Sully thwacked his tail resting beside Earnest on the rumbling floor.

"Not now, Ernie."

The tentacle-d monster shivered. "Sorry… just practicing."

"All right, listen, no one is proclaiming anything to that slave driver except their freedom," he told them and then to his frightened friend. "Okay?" Sully directed his gaze on everyone huddled behind him — they nodded their loyalties. "Now everyone grab onto one another and hold on tight." At least a dozen arms were went around someone's limb causing him to smile. "All right!" Sully grinned their way. "Let's get the heck of here... Earnest, grab hold."

He did as he was told and wrapped around Sully's leg.

"Ready yourselves… one, two…"

The floor now quaked devastatingly with the thundering feet of Randall's guard.

Strangely enough the gators waited by for their next commands.

"Jump!"

Like a Newton ball, an enormous mass consisting of nearly all Monstropolis's monsters and the former workers of Monster's Inc dangled from the gondola cable one hundred feet in the air. When their confusion over what to do next somehow assembled into one whole concentrated effort, the monsters teamed together to throw their great combined weights and leverage themselves to the other end of the gondola structure — and their freedom.

…

Mike and Celia watched — wide-eyed; as what could have been a crane ball advanced on them. The monstress grabbed onto her ex's hand and gave it a squeeze before whispering something into his lack-of-ear. The monster felt his jaw drop at this unexpected news. He jumped up and down as the monster meteor drew closer and noticed someone standing at an alarming height in the distance, powering but not controlling the gondola with muscle.

"Hey, Ted!"

The Godzilla-esque monster turned to him.

"I may not be gettin' hitched, but I'm gonna have the next best thing."

"Michael."

"Kids!"

…

Sully covered Boo with his arms and tried to ignore the crushing pressure of everyone piling on top of each other. There was a disarray of disorientation, moans and groans as everyone tried to find their bearings. The siren that Sully had feared sounded through out the air and caused a blaze of panic to arouse in the menagerie of freed prisoners. But of course Sully took charge of the situation and told them their destination above the noise:

Monstropolis.

"Sully!" A familiar voice called from the ensuing chaos towards the abandoned city.

"Mike?" the monster slowed.

"Run, pal! Free yourself and Boo."

"MIKE!" Sully yelled.

The thrusting bodies finally caught up with him and the monster was propelled forward.

"Let's get you safe," he turned to Boo, still trapped inside her monster costume.

How Sully was ever going to reconnect with this child was even more of a mystery then how she had come to be in his presence again. Boo's small face looked disturbed and empty as she slept. Sully pressed her close to his thin body and didn't look at her again.

Therefore, he didn't see the start of a smile on her faint pink lips.

To be continued…

~ Lavenderpaw ~