That night, Randall was in the room with Travis as promised. He made himself vanish however and just laid on the bed because of his braces.
Travis waited for Fungus to come through his closet.
Around 10, Fungus finally came in. He was alone.
Randall did see him, but stayed quiet for the most part. He was waiting for the right moment.
Fungus got Travis's attention and rode a little unicycle around the room, juggling three balls and tripped up. Travis laughed so hard.
Randall gave a silent laugh and smiled.
"So, you said that you would get Randall in here?" Fungus said.
"You know, you could polish up the act some more." Randall appeared with a devious grin.
It frightened Fungus a bit when he suddenly saw his old work partner appear on the bed below. "Hi, Randall. How… are you?"
Randall got off the bed and helped his friend up. Travis watched.
Fungus saw the braces on his hurt leg and arm. The kid had been right, that he was hurt.
"I've been better." Randall said.
"What happened to you?" Fungus asked.
"Long story. But short story, humans tortured me. Not these, but others."
"Are you going to come back to our world?"
"I haven't been there for three years, Fungus. And if I went back, how would I know they won't throw me in jail? I have nothing there anymore. This is my home now. But you're welcome to come and visit." Randall said.
Fungus was surprised to see his ex-partner actually had some real manners. He really had changed. Maybe living here for him was for the best if they had brought out his more friendly side. He had never seen much of it before now.
"Okay. Well, it was good to see you again, Randall." Fungus said.
"You too, old buddy. And I'm sorry about how I used to treat you. Things were just bad for me, especially from Waternoose's treatment of me. Come back anytime." Randall said.
"Thanks." Fungus said and left out through the door.
"How did you treat him before?" Travis asked.
"Not very nice. Kind of how I treated you a little while back." Randall replied. "It's been a long time since I've talked to any other monsters from my old world."
"Well, now you have at least one friend that knows you're here."
"Yeah. I just hope he doesn't drag in the authorities to get me." Randall said.
Travis hoped not too. He loved Randall so much.
…..
On the other side, Fungus mostly kept most things to himself. He had thought he would never see Randall again and it had done him good for these three years. But now, he might have a chance to rekindle a friendship with him and saw a different side of him.
On his way back from the locker bathrooms later, he paused at a Wanted list picture of Randall and it said all he was wanted for. He couldn't tell anybody where he was. Randall might have been guilty of those things before, but he certainly had changed.
The picture said that Randall was wanted for conspiracy, industrial espionage, assault, kidnapping, and sucker punching.
…..
Fungus began to look forward to coming every night. Even after hours at times.
Randall was hesitant the first time to let Fungus see him under lights, but he saw the reason why.
Fungus saw all the horrendous scars on his friend's body. The whip marks, the long scar down his stomach, one on his face, and the scars on his neck.
"They really did torture you, didn't they?" Fungus stated.
"Yeah. Cut stomach, poisoned, starved, whipped, chains kept on my neck and I pulled on them so much they made wounds on my neck. Broken arm and got hunted down and got a broken leg from getting caught in a trap. My arm and leg are nearly healed now. And Travis's brother corrected my vision for me." Randall gave the story. "And hit in the head with a shovel upon first arrival. Jesse, Travis's brother, fixed my wounds and gave me a life. A new life."
Fungus knew he had been through a lot.
"Does anyone else know that I'm here?"
"No. I haven't told anyone. Not even Wazowski or Sullivan. The way you are now, you should make amends with them."
"I did, before I decided to stay here." Randall said. "I know Wazowski wouldn't miss me."
"What about your family?"
"I doubt they want to see me. I pushed them away years ago."
"But wouldn't it be worth it to make amends with them now? They deserve to see the real new you. This seems more like what you are meant to be, Randall."
"Yeah, but I don't know. I'm still concerned that if I go back, I know where I'll end up going."
"Not if you are invisible. I can set things up with your family if you want me to and I can take you to them." Fungus said.
"Just give me some time first. I'm still not ready to face them."
"That's fine."
Fungus soon left.
Travis then spoke, "Why don't you want to see them? We should all have family in our lives."
"I know. I'm just concerned about how they would think of me after how I pushed them away so long ago. I just need more time to think about it, Travis."
"So, what family do you have over there, anyway?"
"A sister and her son. Our parents are dead."
"I'm sorry. I know how you feel."
"Well, my mom is dead I know. I never met my father." Randall said.
"He might still be alive then."
"Possible, but he didn't want a thing to do with us, our mom had told us."
Travis had been so glad to have had his dad in his life for as long as he had, but Jesse had known him longer. And now Jesse was becoming a dad.
It would still take some days of thinking about it first before he would make the trip back.
….
Soon after, Jesse took the braces off the arm and leg and took x-rays. The bones looked healed. And the tissues inside Randall's stomach weren't hurting anymore, but they still needed time to heal some more internally.
Randall was grateful to Jesse in all he had done to help him get well again. He had also wanted to be well again before he would even go back so his injuries wouldn't give him away.
Randall felt he was nearly ready to face his family again. But he had yet to hear from Fungus if they would be willing to see him.
He had talked to Jesse and Rowan about it and they said that he should see them again, make amends. He was always welcome to come back. And they knew there was a chance he might not come back at all, or come back and say he was going to stay there.
Randall said he would always come back. These humans had shown him the most kindness ever before he met them. Or others might have wanted to show it to him, he just wouldn't let them. But these guys he had made an exception with.
But going back meant also chancing going to jail. Fungus had told him by now that he was on the Wanted list and what he was wanted for. But he needed to do this. He needed to let his family know that he missed them and loved them. He had relearned what it was like to be part of a family again and he wanted to reconcile with his sister and nephew.
Fungus soon did arrive with the news that after he had explained to them that Randall was a different person would his sister allow him to visit. So it was on.
Randall would go tomorrow. He needed time to say goodbye to his human friends. Fungus understood. Tomorrow it was then.
I got the things Randall was wanted for out of a Monsters, Inc comic that I have. It helped a lot.