This chapter marks the second and final rematch between Randall and Candi, this fight wasn't as long as their first due to the fact that I was trying to avoid it becoming a repeat of the first. MI characters belong to Pixar, my characters are mine, quote by Eminem from his song "Not Afraid".

Chapter Twelve

I'm not afraid to take a stand, everybody, come take my hand, we'll walk this road together through the storm, whatever weather, cold or warm, just letting you know that you're not alone, hollar if you feel like you've been down the same road.

-Eminem

Lillian stared at the clock, it was nearly eleven thirty and her mother was barely leaving, "Mom, if you don't hurry up then you're going to be late."

"I know, sweetheart, I know", she hugged her daughter, "Now remember, I want you in bed right after that show finishes, okay?"

"No problem."

With that said, her mother finally went out the door and got into her van, pulling out of the driveway and down the street. Lillian at least waited a good ten minutes just to make sure that she wasn't coming back after forgetting something then when it seemed certain, she bolted upstairs and got dressed. Lillian grabbed the spare house keys, her cell phone, and finally got herself out the door.

From within the dark shadows, Stallion and Celine were watching as she left the house.

"It seems that the resident of the house has a child." Celine told him.

"Now where would she be going at this late an hour?"

Stallion was starting to spread his wings but then Celine placed a hand upon his neck, "Easy, give her a bit of a head start so that way she won't notice us."

They waited until Lillian was about half way down her block and then, "Now?"

Celine nodded, "Okay, now."

Stallion, swiftly but silently, launched himself high up as he used the darkness as his cover, being extremely careful to avoid drifting into the moonlight so as to not cast a shadow.

When Lillian finally made it to the old house, it was about eleven forty six, she made it with enough time but she still wasn't sure how Randall was going to react to his fight which would start when Brendan showed up only fourteen minutes later. Going inside, she then made her way to the music room and as usual, didn't see him at first.

"Randall? Randall, you in?"

On top of the piano, he reappeared but noticed how out of breath she was, "Hey, were you jogging or something?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We've got a problem, Brendan told me before he left school that he was challenging you to a fight at midnight, I tried to get over here sooner but first I went to Morgana's place then when I got home, Mom practically wouldn't leave and-!"

"Whoa, slow down. Brendan's coming over here in a bit to fight me again?"

"Yes, he agreed that win or lose, this will be the last time."

Randall gave a sly smirk, "Alright then, if that's what helps him sleep at night, fine. Of course this time around, I know his little girlfriend's moves so I'll have a better idea of how to deal with her."

Then it just dawned on Randall in relation to Lillian's story, "Hey, wait, who's Morgana?"

"She's this new girl at school, we met this morning when I helped her find the office, turns out that she has few classes with me. During lunch we were talking and talking, the two of us have a lot in common actually. After school she invited me over to her house to look at her pictures, she likes doing photography on the side, a hobby of hers and she's pretty good at it."

Randall was happy for Lillian, she had made herself a first human friend which was nice, it meant that she wouldn't be so lonely at school anymore.

"Which reminds me", Lillian started to ask, "Tomorrow after school, she wants to come over here and take some pictures so if you think you could make sure that you stay invisible so that way we don't accidentally scare her off?"

The reptilious monster gave her a stern look but then nodded his approval. "Thanks Randall." Lillian told him.

Randall tried to give her his best smile though it wasn't easy. He should have figured that sooner or later, Lillian would meet somebody at school who could relate to her but it was clear that for his well being, he had to stay a secret although if Lillian had a human friend, this meant that Lillian would be spending more time with this Morgana and less time with him. What if eventually the time spent with him became less and less until finally, she stopped coming over altogether. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, he was Lillian's friend first but the only reason why he had to stay a secret was because of one thing, he wasn't human. While Lillian seemed to accept this just fine, that didn't mean that her new friend would, in fact, worst case scenario would be her friend trying to contact police about him and he becoming some science experiment.

Then footsteps could be heard, two pairs of them actually when the two looked into the room's entrance. Brendan appeared with Candi right by his side, "So, are you two ready to get this over with and accept defeat?"

"You're assuming that you'll be the winner already, a little overconfident are we?" Randall told him.

"Well, confidence is key."

Lillian rolled her eyes, this was just silly but might as well get it over with, "Okay, so where are we fighting now? Clearly we can't do it here and the warehouse we were at before is a crime scene now so where do you suggest we go?"

"We'll fight at the old coliseum."

"You mean that place with the old amusement park?" Randall asked him.

"Yep, the very one."

Candi giggled, "We're going to fight at my house now!"

Lillian stared at him, "If you wanted to fight there in the first place then why didn't you tell me that earlier, we could have met you there instead."

"I had a different idea of where we were meeting but Candi insisted on that location. Let's get going, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can began."

All four went outside, Candi carried Brendan while Randall carried Lillian, the two monsters started from the roof of the old house and continued heading towards the building. It was going to take some time to get there carrying humans with them, but eventually they would make it with good time. Celine and Stallion saw the new monster and human but still continued their flight towards the new destination.

They had finally arrived, the entrance to the old amusement park was locked up but Candi simply jumped over the gate then Randall followed suit. Once inside the main gates, Randall stared with a look of surprise.

"What?" Lillian asked him.

"I don't know why but this place reminds me of that game I like to play, the one with the dead carnival."

"Follow me to the fighting arena, lizard boy." Candi seductively spoke.

Randall just gave a stern look as he followed, he wasn't in the mood for her to flirt with him, that wasn't the reason why they were here. The small walk led them weaving through old attractions and game booths until they had made it to a large indoor stadium. Candi and Brendan led their guests through the double doors and down a long open corridor through a huge entrance into what looked like an old three ring circus. To Randall's astonishment, this area still had up a trapeze although the safety net was gone. Candi ran over to an area that contained switches to where she pulled down a lever which then turned on the lighting for the area.

The four positioned themselves within the center ring, "Rules are the same as before, nothing has changed except for the location, fight keeps going till somebody loses", Brendan explained.

"So where do we watch from?" Lillian asked.

"We can watch from the rows of seats, they can use all three rings and then some as their fighting grounds."

As if on cue, the two teenagers stepped out of the arena and took their place up within the stands. Candi smiled mischievously at Randall, somehow he couldn't help but ask, "What?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could make this even more interesting. How would you feel about a bet?"

"What kind of bet?" he asked, perking his fronds at the word.

"If I win, you have to be my boyfriend."

"No way!" he remarked. She frowned at this then thought of something else, "Okay…how about this, I win, you take me out on a date. Is that better?"

Randall thought it over for just a bit, in all honesty a date with Candi was something he didn't want.

"Well?" Candi demanded.

"I'm thinking!"

Brendan was losing patience, "What are they doing?"

"I don't know, looks like they're talking something over." Lillian remarked.

"Are you two going to start anytime soon!" he yelled at them.

Randall glared over annoyed but understood, they weren't here to talk, they were here to duke it out for the final time. "Okay, fine, I'll agree to that. If you win then I'm all yours for an evening."

"And what do you want if you win?" Candi asked him.

"Nothing really, I just want to do this so that way your little boyfriend over there leaves me alone. Besides, I know your moves by now so I'm a little more prepared this time around."

"Don't forget that we're in my place now."

Randall gave his usual sly smirk, he cracked his knuckles as he flicked his tail a bit. Candi's expression became immediately serious as she then ran at him, claws extended and aiming for his face. The beginning of the fight started off simple, Candi's attempted swipes and punches would be blocked by either Randall's own arms or he would just duck out of the way. When he saw an opening, he quickly spun as his tail pulled out Candi's feet from under her but she quickly recovered by landing just a yard or so away from him. She charged again but this time, she would try adding in a kick or two into the mix. Randall kept up with her routine pretty good until she kneed him. Luckily, she only got him just a little above his stomach. It did hurt but he wasn't phased when he got on all his limbs and charged her, ramming head first and sending her flying near the outer ring. Quickly, she shot upward strands of fur which stopped her descent, she then swung with the strands like a child at the playground.

Randall watched her for a few minutes, she was swinging and twirling with the strands, it was almost her way of mocking him. Then she pulled herself up towards the trapeze, running along it till she jumped down, landing behind the reptililous creature. She immediately sprang from the ground and rammed her whole body into his, the two went tumbling across the floor when Randall grabbed her ankle with his tail. He used all the strength he could to toss her off of him but when she landed, she immediately dashed towards the monster then leaped for him. While doing so, she then transformed herself into the large white wolf that she loved to disguise herself as. Randall wasn't expecting that and was really not expecting her to pounce on him and bite down upon his left arm, hard! He growled at her as he jerked his arm around, trying to get her to let go. "Candi! OW! Let go of my…OW, damn it, let go of my arm now!"

She growled a slight response but refused to let go, secretly she was enjoying this little advantage especially since she never used it during their last fight. In fact, she couldn't understand why she didn't, her shape shifting really gave her an edge because she could change into anything and be able to overpower Randall if she wanted. This silly game of tug a war seemed like it was going on much longer than it really did especially since Randall was wasting all of his energy on getting her to release him.

Lillian felt helpless as she watched although she had to admit that what Candi was doing was clever. She looked over at Brendan, his expression wasn't changing at all. It wasn't happy nor angry, just very stern and unmoving. Wasn't this the same guy that before seemed to boast so much on Candi's previous victories against other monsters? Was he that bothered by the supposed tie from before that he was nervous about the results of this fight? Lillian honestly felt that maybe from last time, Brendan had felt a slight jab at his ego. He seemed like the type and to make matters a little more tense, so was Randall. This fight was more about a battle of male pride then a fight between two monsters. That was it, she thought, Brendan felt threatened by Randall who was also male despite not being human. All she was hoping for was when the fight was finished, Brendan would keep to his word and leave them alone, no matter who won.

Stallion and Celine were watching the fight from the comfort of the roof through a broken shingle. The horse like monster was a slight bit disgusted, he was raised that a true gentleman didn't fight a lady.

"Honestly." he remarked.

"What?" Celine asked him.

"How can that scaled deliquent just go on like that, fighting a young lady. Not respectful, not in the least!"

"I don't know, it looked like that she was the one who started the fight. From what I see, the reptile is just defending himself."

"That's no excuse to put your claws upon a woman."

Celine sighed as she walked carefully towards a roof entrance, Stallion wasn't sure of what she was doing, "If you don't mind me asking, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find a closer seat, from my view, it looks like I'm watching an ant and a tiny gecko fight."

Not wanting to leave his spot yet still worried for his companion's safety, Stallion followed her into the stadium.

Back to the fight, Randall stood hunched over a little while Candi held her ground, canine grip still on his arm. He was panting and clearly showing signs of tiring due to this little game of hers. Then his thoughts went to their bet, went to her prize if she won, he then decided to give it one last shot and with what energy he had left, chose to ram Candi's form into a nearby wooden pole. She gave a loud yelp as she immediately let go, falling upon the floor as she quickly changed back. Randall was stunned, that was something he wasn't expecting to happen but then it became clear to him. She wrapped her arms around her chest, feeling the pain of when he had nearly crushed her against the pole. Her shape shifting wasn't perfect, this was his advantage, very strong blows of pain against her body forced it to shift back.

Brendan could tell that her flaw to her abilities was found out, "Damn it Candi, get up", he yelled.

She looked up at him in confusion until she felt herself being lifted up, Randall's tail wrapped around her waist. He immediately spun himself in circles, tightening his grip while Candi was lost in the dizziness she felt from all of this spinning. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, he released her and she went flying across from the middle ring into the neighboring one. She landed upon the ground in a crumpled heap, barely moving from the pain in her chest and now from the spasms of pain she felt in her whole body. Candi was then covered in a shadow as she looked up into the green eyes of her opponent, his lack of expression upon his face.

Then he smiled, "Well, looks like I won."

He offered her his hand to help her but she turned her face away, immediately crying since now this meant that her chance with him was gone. He became concerned, he was hoping that his last attempt at winning didn't hurt her more than he had anticipated.

"You can go now!"

Randall turned to see Brendan jumping down from the seats and making his way over to where the two monsters were.

"She might need some help, looks like I over did it a little."

"She'll be just fine."

"Well, still I-."

"I said she'll be fine!" Brendan retorted.

The two gave each other a deathlike stare, it was clear that the perfect track record set by this kid was tarnished and he wanted Randall out of here so he could fume over it in peace.

"Fine then, have it your way." and with that, Randall walked over to Lillian.

"I will, lizard." Brendan remarked.

"Excuse me but considering that I won, maybe you should be referring to me as Mr. Boggs especially since I beat your girlfriend, I beat your game, doesn't that make me somewhat equal to you?"

"No Randall, it doesn't."

Lillian put a hand on his shoulder, a way of saying that they should just forget it and go, "Remember Brendan, win or lose, you gotta lay off us now."

He refused to look in her direction but still answered her, "I may be a lot of things but I am a guy of my word, you got it, no more fights from now on. You won…now get out of here already."

The two exchanged glances as they left the stadium, Brendan was still until he heard the large double doors close after them. He looked down at Candi, her crying continued but when she looked up, all he could make out of her sobs was the word sorry. He just glared, "Pathetic…this whole fight, all of that, a pathetic performance indeed."

He walked away from the female monster, "Do me a favor and clean yourself up. We have class tomorrow and I'm not going to be on homework collection for you."

Candi was able to slowly pull herself to her knees and then at least to her feet, despite the pain she felt, she still answered him, "O-K Brendan."

She just stood there but then immediately looked up when she heard the door, the boy was gone. Carefully taking one step at a time, Candi walked her way towards the special dressing room that she used as her bedroom. Once inside, she then went towards her mirror, stumbling forward using her arms to catch herself. Her blue eyes then met the gaze with that of her reflection, she was truly a mess. Besides the bruising she had received, her fur was all over the place, almost like she had walked through a tornado. She picked up a hairbrush as she carefully started with the fur upon her head, in hopes that she could smooth it out and fix it. Then her gaze shifted to that of her special wallpaper, the many pictures of fashion models and ladies from the magazines she saw on the shelf, images that she had glued and taped to every inch of wall she could find. She stared at the beauty that these human women possessed then she stared at herself in the mirror again. All she saw was a freak, some misshapen creature, unfit for humans and monsters alike.

"Why? Why can't I be beautiful? Why can't I be perfect…like them? Why can't I be perfect for him? Why?"

She kept shooting glances from her own reflection to the pictures, it was almost like she was hearing the mocking laughter of these perfect models in her head.

"Why?"

She kept asking herself over and over until finally she turned her back from the mirror, grabbing a small heavy jewelry box. The laughter was still there, still she could hear it as she then answered her own question, "Because…I'm not human!"

She screamed as she quickly turned towards the mirror, hurling the box at her reflection. The small box was heavy enough to shatter the mirror, causing some shards to fall off the frame and upon the floor, breaking into smaller pieces. She stared at the mirror or what was left of it then down at the shards, seeing the fragments of her reflection. This was probably the third mirror that Brendan would have to replace, probably giving him a good reason to be pissed off tomorrow if today's fight wasn't enough.