I know I didn't put a year, but this takes place in (now) 2002. I put it in the same year that the movie came out. The few dates I mention put it between the November and February 2001 and 2002 calendar.

Disclaimer. I don't own Monsters, Inc or any of the characters in the movie. Though I'd like too. For I'd write a better ending for poor Randall.

Now WARNING. There is some language in here.

Chapter 36

XXX

Randall was mad. No. He was beyond mad. He was pissed. As he now followed Waternoose through the dark factory, he glared both at Waternoose and then back at the monster that was shoving Danielle after them. Waternoose he could deal with, but that monster, Jester was giggling at Danielle and whispering to her. Whatever he was saying had Danielle blushing in anger. Randall growled loud enough that some of the eyes on the stocks swung to focus on Randall. They mocked him and Jester giggled again.

"You just keep walking Boggs, me and the little human is just having a little chat. You just better be remembering those numbers." Jester smirked at him.

Randall growled again, "And you better kept all those hands off of her. If you don't…I swear I-"

"Enough of this disgusting loyalty, Boggs. You just keep quiet and the human will be fine." Waternoose said as he threw open a door that reveled a long dark hallway that led to one of the side parking lots.

"Alive at least." Jester giggled.

Randall growled and clenched his fists. There was nothing he could do! He could take down Jester or even Waternoose, but he couldn't take both. It left one or the other wide open and able to hurt Danielle. He snarled, a bitter taste in his mouth. The idea that he had briefly hadn't worked. He had hoped that if he showed no concern to her that they wouldn't get an idea like this, even when the bastard had broke her wrist. It had hurt him too. He had heard the bone crack and Danielle's cry of pain and it had cut him to the bone. He had to struggle to keep a careless face, though he couldn't help the snarl that escaped. He had hoped that they would hear the disinterest in his voice and leave her alone. But they weren't fooled. The damn Scream Extractor. Just when he was ready to put that terror behind him the thing comes screaming back into his life. And he was right. It would have killed. He had to wonder though…how did they get it out of the basement? Cause that's not where they were heading.

"Waternoose…where did you have the Scream Extractor moved to?" Randall growled.

"Smart boy. It's been moved off the premises." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Randall didn't say any more. This was bad. There would be no way to get Danielle back to her door if they were so far away from the factory. This was not going to have a good out come.

"If you don't stop touching me… I swear I'll give you a body to match that voice of yours!" Danielle's voice hissed.

Randall swung his head back and saw that Jester had moved his hands. The one hand on her waist had moved up until it was under her breasts and a hand clamped down on her right hip.

Randall began to pace sideways, growling. "You better keep those hands off of her," he snapped. There was no point in pretending she didn't mean anything to him.

Jester's eyes swung back over at Randall, "Don't mind us, Boggs, unless you want her to have more then a broken wrist." To prove his point Jester squeezed Danielle's hip until she yelped.

He snarled and lunged toward Jester, forgetting himself, when he was thrown into the hard wall. His head bounced and he hissed. Waternoose had his thick hard-shelled arm up against Randall's neck, while the rest of his body was flaying around trying to get loose. "Boggs…I warn you…you just keep walking." Waternoose then glared over at Jester. "Bobbens…stop tormenting the human and Boggs."

Jester glared lightly at Waternoose then shrugged, "Fine. There's always time later." he then grinned and began to shove Danielle forward. "I may even let you watch Boggs."

Randall was being pushed to the edge and they all knew it. Randall saw Danielle shudder but glance at Randall, "I-I'll be fine Randall." She then yelped again when Jester shoved her hard but yanked back on her hair, his laughs echoing in the hallway.

Randall snarled again and momentarily wondered if his strong jaws would crack Waternoose's plates that covered his arms.

Waternoose's five eyes swung back to Randall who was struggling in his grip. "You don't want the human harmed then you better ignore that for the most part. If you rather her dead…. then just keep on. Now you will calibrate the machine to the proper settings. Do you understand Boggs?"

"Crystal, sir, " Randall snarled out.

It was enough for Waternoose. He let go of Randall and Randall dropped back down on his feet. Without a word Randall was now the one following Jester and Danielle. "I never thought you would go soft. And go soft because of a human?" Waternoose was about to say more when Jester piped up in front of them.

"Waternoose…stop tormenting the Boggs." some of Jester's eyes swung around to stare at Waternoose. "If I can't have a bit of fun… neither can you. Let's just get these two to the van and then to the warehouse."

"You are already walking on thin ice Bobbens."

"I'm scared." the eyes mocked him.

Randall watched this. So Jester wasn't the least bit scared of Waternoose. And even went as far as to openly deify him. So nether trusted each other. That could be good. They followed Jester and Danielle down the hallway until they got to a fire exit door. Jester pushed Danielle into a corner and said something to her. She nodded.

He then grinned in pleasure and opened the door he looked around and his grin widened. He put two claws up to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. There was the sound of a tires screeching and then backing up.

Great, Randall thought. Another one in on this? That made things even more complicated. One he could deal with, two, with a little planning but three? It was looking more hopeless by the minute.

But then again…

Randall's sensitive tongue scented the familiar scent of his old Scare Assistant, Fungus. Randall didn't say a word however. He just waited. He heard Fungus's stutter when the small jellybean monster stuttered out, asking if they had found Randall. Jester reached out and grabbed Danielle and pulled her out of the corner and out the door and into the side of the van. Danielle grunted and then let out a gasp at the sight of Fungus, while Fungus let out a choked gasp.

"Get in the van." Jester ordered Danielle.

Danielle glared up at Jester then threw open the two back doors and climbed in. Jester giggled at her defiance and his eyes swung to Randall.

"Alright, you too Boggs." Waternoose shoved Randall forward.

Randall snarled and walked out and to the van. Fungus's eyes widened.

"R-R-R-Randall?"

Randall looked down at Fungus and had to hold back a wince. The little monster had a badly chipped tooth and a small scar on his lower lip. And the stutter was horrible and when Fungus turned around, Randall could see that slit in the fin on Fungus's back. Randall shook his head. What did they do to you? He thought.

Randall climbed in the van and saw that Danielle was shaking a bit and looking out the small side window. She was holding her wrist to her chest carefully, trying to give it some support. Randall scooted closer to her and reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped slightly then looked at him.

"Danielle? Are you…"

"Alright? Is that what you are going to ask? Because I'm not fucking alight!" She snapped.

Randall winced at the fear and anger in her voice.

"Because the next time he touches me…. he will be pulling back a stump!" she snarled.

Randall blinked. And here he thought she was mad at him. He let her fume a few more minutes then put an arm around her. She had stopped shaking and her right hand wrapped around Randall's hand. Randall's head then swung to look at Fungus who had been shoved into the back with them. "How long as he been working on it?"

"A-A-A f-f-fe-fe-few m-months. H-h-he couldn't g-g-g-ge-get it working, s-s-so he m-m-made m-me help." Fungus said meekly afraid that his even worse stuttering would irrrate Randall and make him fly off the handle.

Randall had a look of annoyance on his face, but to Fungus's surprise didn't yell. "And when you did, and it got to working you all tested it, but it killed the children." Randall's lips curled in disgust. He never thought that he would be so glad that the machine had been destroyed, if that's what indeed what the thing does. Randall sighed and dropped his head in his hands. He felt a hand on his back. He looked up and over at Danielle. She was looking at him.

He sat up straighter and turned toward her and carefully took her left arm. She winced but allowed him to pull it away from her chest. The wrist was black and blue and was swollen. His eyes took it in and then looked back at her. "How bad do you think?"

"It's broken…that's for sure. As long as I don't jar it too much…I-I think I'll be fine. I'll have to be huh? My adrenaline is help keeping it from hurting too much." she pulled her wrist away and back to her chest.

Randall then glanced at Fungus. Fungus was sitting there with his jaw just about dropped. "W-what h-h-happened t-t-to you R-Randall?"

Randall smiled despite the situation, "Long story, but the facts, after I was tossed into the Human World, I was attacked by…"

"Couillons," Danielle mumbled looking out the window.

Randall looked at her, "Really? I think I can think of something stronger to call them."

"Whatever make you feel better, Randall."

"W-what did she say?" Fungus asked.

"She said idiots. Anyway, I was attacked and almost died. She," Randall nodded his head toward Danielle, "she saved me. I've been in her care since I've been gone. Danielle?" Randall looked back over at Danielle. She looked at him. Randall pointed to the little monster. "That is Jeffrey Frungus. He used to be my Scare assistant. Fungus? This is Danielle DeMarsh. She saved me."

Suddenly Danielle giggled, "This is just fucking great! Here we are in the back of a fucking van and you two are chatting like it's fucking tea time!"

Fungus blinked and then flinched, still unsure of humans in general. "W-w-w-what's w-w-w-wro-wrong with her?"

Randall took in her glassy eyes and had a feeling what it was. "Shock…I think." he grabbed her face in his three fingered hand and shook her head a bit. "Danielle? Danielle, come on girl! Snap out of it!"

She slowly blinked and became more focused and then looked at Randall and then Fungus and back to Randall. "Oh god." she sloped a little, her head resting in her hand.

"Is s-s-s-she going t-t-to be alr-alright?" Fungus asked.

Suddenly Danielle began to curse, using unfamiliar words to Fungus. "She's going to be fine…though I've never seen her that mad before." Randall said as he patted her hair.

"G-g-good. C-c-c-ause we are h-h-here. Randall f-f-for all that it's w-w-worth…I'm sorry."

Randall nodded and opened his mouth but the back doors were swung opened and the grinning face of Jester appeared beside the face of a frowning Waternoose. "We're here." Jester sniggered. "Boggs, Fungi get to work on the machine. I'll watch the little redhead." He reached for Danielle but she scrambled out the van before he could touch her, though he still wrapped an arm around her upper arm.

Randall growled and climbed out after her, Fungus following. Randall looked around. It was an old warehouse on the other side of the city. He could see the city, the skyscrapers and lights in the distance. He growled at Waternoose and Jester as he walked past them and into the warehouse. Right away he could see the Scream Extractor, the chair, and the control panel.

"Move it, Sweetheart."

Randall glanced back. Danielle had frozen at the sight of the machine. Jester shoved her forward as Waternoose closed the sliding doors.

"Alright Boggs. You and Frungus get busy." Waternoose snapped.

Growling to himself, he walked over to the machine. He could see the scratches that Sullivan had given it as he had tore it off of its bindings. Randall took the wench that Fungus handed him and he took the panel off. As he stared at the wires an idea came to him.

XX

Jester pushed Danielle over to the table and he grabbed up some zip ties, but surprisingly didn't see her snag up the little Philips screwdriver and slip it into her pocket. She knew that it was sheer luck he wasn't paying attention when she did that. He shoved her over to a corner that had some bare pipes that led from a sink across the wall and then down. Jester wrapped two hands around her waist and as she made and face and growled at him and tried to squirm away, he grabbed her wrists, both of them. She gasped in pain and froze which allowed him to quickly rig up a set of plastic handcuffs and to hook them through a pipe. He laughed at the pain on her face and let go of her. He then reached out and picked up some of her hair and gave it a pull.

Danielle was getting pissed and it was usually hard to anger her. She pulled her head back and ignored the sharp pain when her hair was pulled out of his grasp.

He sniggered, enjoying how she fought back. All the other human children didn't put up much of a fight. Of course this human wasn't even close to being a child. Not even a teenager. Not with the way she looked. Humans, very interesting little beings. Jester then grinned, "How are you feeling? Good I hope, not too uncomfortable?"

"Screw you."

He laughed in sickening amusement. "You just may later."

"And if you come any closer to me you pencil dicked son of a bitch, I swear I will neuter you and shove the balls down your ugly tchew throat! What kind of twisted ass sicko are you? Feet pue tan, goddamn son of a bitch! You are seriously fucked in the head! You creepy tchew bastard!" Danielle lost it. She was cornered, he had been saying all kinds of nasty suggestions about her and Randall and her in general, her wrist was killing her and she was scared beyond belief. When she got scared, she got mad and mouthy. Though by now she was wheezing trying to get her breath back.

By this time all the monsters had stopped doing what they were doing and was watching a human girl barely over 5'5" yell at a monster almost half her size and doing a damn good job at it.

Jester merely laughed. "You are feisty." he then watched her struggle to breathe then laughed in sheer amusement. "And she has asthma! The irony!" he watched her struggle to try to reach into her pockets. He had remembered back in the cute pink room she had put an inhaler in her pockets. He reached into her pocket and pulled it out of her right pocket. He head it out to her and Danielle reached out to take it but he pulled it away. Instead he pushed his flat face into hers. "You will get it if you give Jester a kiss." he sniggered.

Danielle was still struggling to breath and letting out a cry of pain she reached out and snatched the inhaler away from him, "Embrasse moi tchew," she hissed.

Jester's eyes narrowed and he smacked her upside the head then turned and walked away.

Danielle's head was reeling and she felt something run down the side of her temple. She ignored it and shoved the inhaler into her mouth and fired a shot off. When she finally got her breathing under control she glanced over at Randall. Their eyes met.

XXX

Randall had been watching the show out of the corner of his eye while he 'worked' on the Scream Extractor. It was all he could do not to launch himself over there and ripped in the monster that was threatening her. He was proud of how well she was holding up. But it won't be enough. They needed help.

"Yo-you really like h-h-her?" Fungus whispered as he handed Randall a sundering gun.

"I think I do more then 'like' Funk." Randall said softly and he did some rewiring. He had lied to Waternoose had had told the old monster that once he took a look at the wires there was going to be more then a calibrate. The monster didn't know much about the wire of it, so Randall was using that to his advantage.

"Th-th-then you l-l-love her?" Fungus said in a state of shock.

"I think I do. She saved me, put up with my charming self, and not once treated me like dirt. She treated me as an equal. She didn't turn me over to some agency or anything. I owe her…that's why I really need your help." Randall said as he replaced a green wire with a red one.

"M-m-me? A-a-and a-a-a-are y-y-you sure you a-a-are Randall?" Fungus squeaked.

Randall laughed lowly, sounding like his old edgy self. "Oh it's me alight. I want you to call someone. Anyone. Please Funk." he almost begged.

That was new. The Randall that he knew almost four months ago would have never begged. Not for anyone else. Fungus looked over at the human and then at Randall. He saw the injures the Reptilian monster had endured. He saw the still pink, still healing gash on the side of his head, the smaller ones on his left jaw. He saw the slightly depressed side of his crest. Fungus winced then looked away and at the main monster that beaten and hurt him the same four months. His three blue eyes narrowed then for once in his life gathered the courage to be brave. He will do this. For the four human children that didn't deserve to die the way they did, for Randall who seemed to be back to his normal self, back when he had first met the purple lizard, for the spunky human that saved Randall…and for himself.

He gave a stuttering excuse that he had to go look out in the van for a wench they needed. Waternoose waved him off and Fungus went out there and pulled out the phone. Shaking he didn't call just anybody. He called the only one that would be the safest to call and that would help, since he too was looking for Randall.

After a few rings a monster picked up. "Hello?"

"Uh…Mr. S-S-S-Sullivan? I-I-I know where R-R-Randall Boggs is a-a-a-a-and something ba-a-a-ad is going to happen real s-s-s-s-soon. We ne-eed your h-h-h-help."