by Joy
NOTE: Okay, it took me a little while to get this one done (mostly because of a trip I went on), but here's the next chapter! If I continue to get reviews till the last chapter, I'll consider writing a sequal. ^_^ So, keep letting me know what you think!
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Chapter Seven - Return to the Human World
"Here, Caylin, take this," Randall said, handing a rope to the gecko-monster behind him.
He was digging through the janitor's closet, looking for a few things they could find useful for their plan. There were plenty of brooms, mops, buckets, and miscelaneous things stuffed in there. Not many of them even looked useful for such a thing as saving the monster world from invading humans, but they knew they didn't have much time.
Caylin took it and gasped, holding the rope out at arms' length. "You're gonna kill them with this?!"
Randall glanced over his shoulder. "No," he replied. "It's for emergencies, when we need a quick way to escape."
He seemed to relax. "Oh."
Leia reached into the closet and pulled out a box. "Maybe there's something useful in here."
"Well, check it out and grab what you think could be useful," Randall answered, busy digging through the stuff himself.
Leia pushed a few things off of the top of the box and found a couple of old walkie talkies at the bottom. She turned around to show Randall when she suddenly heard the sound of shoes walking towards the Laughfloor. Leia shook Caylin's shoulder and pointed at the source of the sound.
"Uh oh," Caylin whispered. "Uh, Randall?"
"Not now," he replied.
"But this is kind of URGENT," he said. "Just stop for a minute and listen."
Randall rolled his eyes and stopped what he was doing to listen. Then he heard the same footsteps, except closer this time. Immediately, he exchanged glances with Caylin and Leia and vanished. Caylin jumped to his feet and bounded into the closet. Leia followed and quickly shut the door. Inside it became pitch black, but they could still hear voices. Both monsters froze inside, hoping they wouldn't be found out.
Caylin pressed his earhole against the door. "Hey, they sound like. . .humans?" he said, gulping at the realization.
"The humans? Great," Leia replied in a hushed tone. "Now be quiet or we'll be caught for sure."
"Okay, I can do that," Caylin whispered. "I'm really good at being quiet. Some monsters just don't know when to shut up, but me? I-"
He was abruptly cut off when Leia clamped his mouth shut. Both paused to listen. Nothing went on outside. "Do you think they left?" she asked, barely above a whisper.
Just then, the door swung open and there stood Randall, looking determined. "A bunch of 'em are heading for Laughfloor C, we'd better follow them," he said, turning to leave.
Caylin stepped out of the closet, a mop end on his head and a bucket on his foot. He parted the braids of the mop and saw that they were already nearing the hallway. He quickly ran to catch up with the two, shaking the bucket off of his foot on the way out. Soon, they reached Laughfloor C.
Randall slowly opened the glass door and peeked inside. His green eyes alertly scanned the area for any sign of life. When he saw nothing, he waved them inside. Caylin hesitantly followed. He didn't like the idea of being in the same place as a bunch of scientist humans.
There was only one lone door in the last station. It was a metal door with the words 'KEEP OUT' in big, bold words. The red paint from them left drips down the door. Leia looked over at Randall.
"This must be the door," she said. "I say we go inside."
"Hey, hey, hey, woah girl," Caylin interrupted, running between her and the door. "Ever heard of Pandora? Bad things NEVER - no - ALWAYS happen when people open doors like this."
"Well, my name isn't Pandora, now is it?" Leia said with a smile.
"We're going in there whether you like it or not, Cay," Randall agreed, stepping over to the door and opening it.
Caylin cringed and closed his eyes tightly, expecting something to jump out and grab him. But when nothing happened, he opened an eye and relaxed. "Hey, that wasn't so bad," he said, letting Randall drag him inside after them.
They went inside to find themselves in a dark, forbidding tunnel. It was made of stone. Randall looked around, as if he had seen this place before, even though he knew he had never been there. Then the realization hit him. This place was just like the one in his dream!
"Randall," Leia asked, looking at his surprised expression. "What is it?"
Randall avoided eye contact with her as he continued walking through the tunnel. "Nothing. Now, I think there might be an opening around this corner."
"If you're right, I'm the Queen of England," Caylin said skeptically, adjusting the looped rope that hung from his shoulder.
They then turned the corner and came to an opening that led to a rather creepy-looking laboratory. It looked like it had been built underground. Many tables of chemicals and concoctions were set around the room. The lights were very dim, making it hard to see clearly, but they could see clear enough to make out the room and everything in it.
Leia smiled and looked over at Caylin, giving him a mock bow. "Your Majesty."
Caylin chuckled lightly and waved her off. "Okay, okay, enough already. But don't ask me how in Monstropolis he knew that."
"I had this dream," Randall replied, not waiting for them to ask. He knew it would pop up eventually. "It was in a place exactly like this. There was this scientist and, well, it really wasn't good. Now, I have the sneaking feeling that it wasn't just a dream after all. . ."
"Is he psychic or what?" Caylin said, half-joking.
"Abviously," Leia agreed, turning to Randall. "Do you think whatever happened in your dream'll really happen?"
"I'm going to make sure it won't," he replied, a certain boldness showing up in his voice.
He clenched his fists in determination and headed for another passageway. There was another door at the end. Caylin clutched his tail nervously as they got closer. Randall reached for the handle and opened it to find that it led outside. There were two scientists having a conversation nearby. The three climbed onto a tree branch just above them to listen.
"Do you realize how rich we're gonna be?" one said with excitement.
"Oh yeah," the other replied. "The Scientific Organization for the Proof of Monster Existance is really going to make a name for itself now! I knew they existed all along. Those skeptics are gonna go down crying now!"
"And now we have three hundred of them!" the first enthused.
"So, where is the first shipment going?" the second asked. "I wasn't here for the briefing."
"We've sold fifteen of them to poachers," the first replied. "They shelled out the big bucks to have a monster head put on their wall. They should be coming soon to pick them up."
"Wonderful!" the second agreed. "Fifteen is a small sacrifice, anyways. We'll always be able to get more later."
"And the boss was thinking about a new amusement park," the first added, rubbing his chin. "Something like Monster World Tours or something of the sort. That will be interesting, just like animals in a zoo. Bet kids will like that."
"Yeah, but what about the ones in the warehouse?" he second asked. "They're going to labs and stuff for research right?"
"Bingo buddy," the first agreed with a smirk.
"Ha ha! We'll give Bill Gates a run for his money," the second agreed. Both laughed in glee.
Randall's brow furrowed as he watched them, this behavior was disgusting! He had never seen such cruel humans as these, but their intentions were very real. They were planning to turn the Monster World into an amusement park? Like animals in a circus? This situation, he knew, could get really serious really fast if something wasn't done.
Caylin rolled his eyes. "Great! We get the choice of being either, one; the zoo animals, two; the lab rats, or three; heads on some sick human's wall!" he complained quietly.
"Over my dead body! It's not going to happen," Randall replied decidedly. "To any of us."
"Please don't say that, Randall," Leia replied. "You're not going to die."
"No, not if I have anything to do with it, but there's still that chance," Randall said.
"We'll stick by ya, buddy," Caylin said. "Even if I have to do something crazy. . .Like, dress in drag and do the hula!"
Leia covered up a giggle at the thought. "Let's just hope it doesn't come down to that," Randall said, smiling himself.
Caylin glanced nervously down at the scientists, hoping they didn't hear their quiet conversation. But, luckily, they were too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice them. Randall made the motion for them to climb down. Leia nodded and almost soundlessly hopped down to the lower branch. Suddenly, she heard a loud crack and the branch fell out from underneath her.
"Leia!" Caylin exclaimed, still trying to keep quiet despite the sudden shock.
Randall wrapped his tail around the branch and dove to catch her. He missed by just an inch and she landed right in-between the scientists, much to thair dismay. Randall hung from the branch and bit his lip. 'I should have caught her!' he scolded himself mentally.
"Well now, what's this?" the first scientist snickered, grabbing her by the hair.
Leia wrapped her tail around his leg and tripped him, turning around to give the other a roundhouse kick. But the first got back up as he back was turned and took a firm grip to her fronds, jerking her over. Leia winced and let him pull her over.
"Stupid monster," he sneered, picking her up by her fronds and turning to the second scientist. "Get me a cage!"
Randall growled from deep within his throat and disappeared, jumping down from the branch. Caylin peered over the edge of his branch at the scientists and gulped, pressing his body against the trunk of the tree.
"I'm a tree. . .I'm a tree. . .I'm a tree. . .Please don't see me," he chanted, closing his eyes and hoping he would look invisible enough.
The second scientist brang a cage over and smirked. "Throw her in."
"With pleasure," the first said, walking over.
But suddenly, something invisible punched him in the stomach. He quickly released his grip on Leia and tried to punch the air back, but kept hitting nothing. Leia ran towards the tree Caylin was in and began quickly crawling up to hide herself. Meanwhile, the invisble Randall kept punching the first scientist in one place or another, so fast that he couldn't seem to keep up.
Hearing the commotion, more scientists ran out of the underground lab. They spotted Leia and went after her, she kicked one after another off of her. "Leave me alone you jerks!" she exclaimed.
Caylin, on the other hand, was still trying to look invisible. "I'm a bored tree. . .I'm a very bored tree. . .Oh, the heck with the tree," he said, jumping down and tackling the scientist that caged Leia, clinging to his head and pulling his hair. "RRRRAAAAWWWRRR!!! You have angered the ferocious attack lizard! Now you shall be cursed with premature baldness!"
While Caylin continued his somewhat odd attack, Randall was making his own attacks. He knocked down one scientist after another, his invisibility giving him the edge. He stood in a stance, ready for who ever might come near enough to take down. He gave a quick glance to Leia's cage. She was already trying to pry her way out. Randall would have gone over there and broken it open, but there were just too many guarding her by now. Even if he was invisible, it would be difficult to sneak past them without touching one.
A couple of the scientists picked up her cage and began towing her off. "Bring this. . .CREATURE to the warehouse with the others."
Randall frowned and bared his teeth, getting ready to pounce on one of them, when a scientist bumped into him. He momentarily turned visible and the scientist looked at him and it seemed like he was in a state of shock. Taking this guy down was going to be too easy. . .
Meanwhile, Caylin was attacking one scientist after another. "Yeee haww!" he cheered, riding on one like a cowboy.
He then grabbed onto a tree branch as more kept closing in to capture him. He gulped nervously and backed up, going to the highest branch ont he tree. They began to climb up after him.
"No touchy!" he ordered meekly, trying to stay out of their reach.
On the ground, Randall gave the scientist a strong left hook, knocking him down. He then sensed the presence of someone else behind him and spun around. He was right. This one had a dart gun and shot him at the base of his tail. Randall growled fiercely, ignoring the slight prick of the dart. But he couldn't seem to find the energy to leap at him.
Everything began to spin around him and then all he saw was blackness. . .