by Joy
NOTE: Whew, long chapter, hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! BTW, just as an afterthought, I thought I'd let you know, I do my fic crossovers original from the movie I'm twisting them with. Although, I might add a few of my favorite movie scenes here and there, I never copy movies - way too predicatable. But whatever crossover I decide to do, you can count on it that it'll be original and exciting. As you can tell, I love writing action-filled, edge-of-your-seat stories with a little humor and/or romance mixed in. ~_^
By the way, if you want to put in your input, you can either review or e-mail me with your votes for my next story. I've narrowed my choices down to three. If you can't choose, vote for two or all three if you want. The results are below.
Jurassic Park 3/MI = 1
Treasure Planet/MI = 3
Lilo & Stitch/MI = 0
Chapter Six - Past Secrets
Randall just finished up the last door of the day and shut it behind him with his tail. Leia jerked the scream canister out of its holder just as the quitting bell rang. While the other monsters finished up their scares, she carried the canister over to a rack by the station's workdesk.
"You know, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this," Leia said, setting the canister down.
Randall pressed the 'return' button and the door was lifted into the air on its way back to the vault. He half-grinned at her. "Yeah," he agreed. "You catch on pretty quick."
"Thankfully enough," she chuckled.
"So, is that hacking offer still open for the taking?" he asked.
Leia nodded, tapping the multi-colored paperwork on the desktop to straighten them. Then she left them on the workdesk for Caylin to do later. "Sure, as long as you've reserved us a computer," she replied.
"Yeah, I've got it all worked out," Randall answered confidently, walking towards the hall. "We just gotta wait another half-hour and it's all ours."
"Great," she said, heading out with him. "What do you want to do while we wait?"
"The Wreck Room is always open," he suggested.
"Is that the place where they have the game room?" Leia asked, making sure her predictions were right.
Randall nodded. "Yeah. Of course, I'm the pinball champion there," he bragged. "So, maybe I'll go easy on you for your first try and play a game of simple, one-on-one ping-pong."
Leia smirked. "You don't think I can handle you, do you?" she asked, reading his expression.
"Hmm. . .not really," Randall replied teasingly. "Nobody's beaten me at pinball OR ping-pong."
"Well then, Hot Shot, let the games begin," Leia declared. "I challenge you to a game of ping-pong."
"You're on," Randall answered, his competitive nature kicking in. "But don't be disappointed if you lose your first time."
"Don't worry about me," Leia replied. "I think I can handle it."
They turned the corner down another hallway and a door with a sign reading, 'Wreck Room'. Randall opened the door and they went into a large room that appeared to look like an arcade. A single stair led down to another part of the room where the had pool tables and a couple ping-pong tables, along with some benches to sit on. Colorful paintings and pictures hung on the walls, giving it a casual feel. Many of the employees liked to come to the Wreck Room to relax after a hard day of work. In fact, a few monsters were already there playing video games, pinball, and pool.
"Hey guys, wait up!" Caylin's voice came from behind them.
He held the door open and walked in. Randall and Leia turned around. "Hi Caylin," Randall greeted. "How's your dog?"
"Midnight? He's gonna be fine, I dropped him off at Mike and Sulley's place before I came down here," he explained, grinning. "So, how'd things go on the Scarefloor?"
"Pretty good, the girl learns fast," Randall replied. "But now I'm gonna show her a thing or two on the finer points of playing ping-pong."
"Uh oh," Caylin said, looking at Leia. "You challenged him didn't you?"
Leia folded her arms and nodded. "Sure did."
"I'd better get some popcorn," Caylin chuckled. "I feel a battle coming on."
"Feel free to take a seat and watch, if you want," Leia offered, heading towards the nearest ping-pong table.
Caylin followed the two down and took a seat on the bench setting against the wall. Leia picked up a paddle and so did Randall. Randall went over the rules and they began to bounce the ping-pong ball back and forth. The game went on for about fifteen minutes and Caylin was beginning to get dizzy watching that ball keep going back and forth, forth and back, and so on.
Randall hit that plain, white ball towards Leia in an attempt to finally get it past her but she quickly shot it back. Randall rebounded it back with a hard, fast swing and she again sent it back his way with a surprisingly small hit. It barely hopped over the net and Randall couldn't get to it fast enough. It hit the green top of the table. He had lost - to a girl!
He stared at her in disbelief and she giggled. "Didn't expect that one?"
Caylin's jaw dropped. "Woah, that's a first," he said, a grin forming on his face. "Two points for cunning."
Randall shook his head. "I can't believe that happened," he said. "She beat me."
"Don't worry, you did great," she told him with a smile. "I haven't had a ping-pong opponent more challenging than you and that's the truth. You weren't going easy on me now were you?"
"No, I wasn't," he said, still in shock that he had lost to the opposite sex.
Caylin got up and patted him on the back. "Like she said, you did great! That lasted a good, oh, fifteen minutes. I last a good, oh, fifteen seconds."
Leia held out a hand to him. "Good game, Randall."
Randall smirked and shook her hand. "Yeah," he said. "That was pretty good. But you might not be so lucky next time. . ."
Both grinned at each other, just as the Wreck Room door opened. They turned to see Sulley's secretary, Crystal Fearmonger, walk in holding a clipboard against her chest. She looked much like Sulley himself, except slimmer and more feminine with a few other attributes, such as color, that set her apart. In fact, many of the newer employees mistaked her for being related to the CEO, even though she wasn't.
Crystal scanned the room, her eyes finally resting on Randall. She walked over to him, tucking a strand of royal purple hair behind her furry cheek. "Mr. Boggs," she said. "There are a couple of monsters in the office that say they came to see you. Would you like to see them? Or should I ask them to leave a contact address or something?"
Caylin stood next to Randall and Leia. It seemed that Randall was trying to decide what to tell her, Caylin cleared his throat and leaned in close to Randall's earhole. "Er, Randall, two monster that want to see you?" he whispered. "Doesn't that sound a bit eerie?"
Randall nodded. "Hunter and Sloop," he replied in a whisper.
Leia put in her opinion. "It could most likely be them," she added. "But it's your choice. We'll come with you if you do decide to go."
"What are their names?" Randall asked Crystal.
Crystal put her hand on her hip. "If you want to know why don't you go talk to them? I don't see why you're so hesitant, they seem like nice monsters," she replied. "And they're very eager to talk with you."
Randall sighed and shrugged. "Sure, I'll meet them," he agreed.
"Wonderful," she replied, turning out the door and into the brightly lit hallway. "Follow me."
Leia glanced at Randall. He looked nervous. She figured he had every right to be. With BGB stalkers on his tail looking to kill him and so many things happening at once, she would be too. Leia put a hand on his shoulder as a silent reassurance that she and Caylin would be right there with him. Randall glanced at her and she gave him a gentle smile. He seemed to relax a bit and half-grinned, nodding to her as if saying 'thanks'.
Crystal led them to the secretary's office and opened the door, holding it open for them as they filed into the room. Randall was surprised to see - not Sloop and Hunter - but older monsters of his own species looking at him. One was a male, only a couple inches taller than Randall, with eight limbs, royal purple scales, and blue eyes. The other was a female with pink scales, four limbs, wavy chocolate brown hair, and green eyes. His eyes widened as if this were just some dream. They looked as if they could be related to him. . .almost as if. . .no, it couldn't. It just couldn't.
"This is Rayford and Naomi," Crystal announced. "I'll just leave you guys alone for awhile. If you need me I'll be in Sulley's office."
"Randall. . ." Naomi began gently, looking him over as if he were something precious that she hadn't seen for so long. "I can't believe it's you. . ." She walked up to embrace him but he abruptly backed away from her.
Randall squinted at her. "Wha-what are you talking about? I don't even know you. . ." he said.
Rayford's proud smile faded as Randall looked at them as if he had never seen them in his life. He sighed and shook his head, looking at Naomi with an expression of regretful sorrow. He then looked back at Randall, a gentle, caring smile on his face.
"Randall. It's us," he tried. "Don't you remember?"
Randall blinked in confusion. He didn't want to admit that they looked sort of familiar, but they did. "I-I don't know you," he repeated.
Rayford sighed, again the look of sadness overshadowed his face. "We're your parents," he revealed.
The news hit him like a tidal wave. His parents? All his life he had been told his parents were dead. Ever since he was three he had been an orphan, with the exception of the care he, his brother and twin sister got from a family friend. If they were alive all this time, why didn't they tell him? They should have known his whereabouts. After all, wasn't he their son? Didn't they love him? A deep hurt and anger welled up in his heart.
"If you're really my parents then why did you wait so long to show up?!" he demanded, frowning at the both of them.
"Randall. . ." Naomi said in a very motherly way. "Just listen for a moment."
"There's no excuse you can give for leaving a little kid," Randall snapped. "You can't be my parents!"
"We didn't, we gave you Troy," Rayford replied. "But we can ex-"
"My parents wouldn't just give me up!" Randall interrupted, hurt and angry at the same time. "At least not if they wanted me!"
Leia and Caylin, who had stayed quietly shocked during this whole thing, glanced at each other and Leia walked up to him. She set a hand on his shoulder. "Randall, why don't you let them explain?" she suggested gingerly.
Randall glared at Leia and Leia backed off. He then looked back at the two lizard-monsters in front of him, his chest rising along with the tears that began welling up in his eyes. He clenched his fists angrilly. "You're not my parents. . ." he said, his voice straining as he held back the tears.
Naomi's face softened into a sympathetic expression and she made a move towards him, her motherly instincts urging her to embrace him. But she placed a gentle touch of her hand on his shoulder. "Just let us explain," she replied. "We didn't mean for it to turn out this way. . ."
Randall just jerked his shoulder out from under her touch and flung the door of the office open, running out into the hallway. "Wait!" Rayford urged as Randall slammed the door in his face.
He needed time to think and he wanted to do it alone. Everything was happening too fast. First the kidnapping, then the shootout in the diner, and now this. He couldn't figure out why, if they were his parents, would they abandon him like they did. It made him sad to think it was possible that they didn't love him. But then, if they didn't love him, why had they come for him? It was too confusing.
The tears streamed freely down his cheeks as he threw the back door of the building open. He emerged out into the fresh, cool air of the back parking lot and sat himself down on the curb, putting his face in his upper hands. Everything in his life was just falling apart and nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Right now, all he wanted was to be left alone. . .
"Randall?" Rayford's voice came from behind him.
Randall growled softly. "Leave me alone."
Rayford sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. The news had abviously not gone over very well with Randall. He knew all he wanted was the best for his son, but he could never seem to get that message across. At least, not yet. His son now thought he and Naomi were traitors.
Rayford sat down next to Randall and glanced at him. "You know," he began. "Your mother and I only wanted the best for you. . ."
"Oh, and I suppose giving me up was your way of showing it?" he muttered, turning his face away from Rayford's so that he wouldn't notice the tear stains on his cheeks.
"We had to, or you would have been killed," Rayford replied gently.
Randall blinked, clearing his vision from the blurriness of the tears, and glanced over at him. "Killed? Why?"
Rayford took a deep breath, getting ready to explain himself. He knew he'd have to explain everything if his son would come to trust him again. "Okay, here's the story," he said. "It happened about twenty-four years ago, a couple of weeks after you had just turned three. . ."
***********************************************
"Honey, can you hand me that wrench-like. . .thingy over there?" Rayford asked, flipping a welding helmet onto the top of his head.
The couple sat in a large room where a giant machine that appeared to be a generator stood, towering well over their heads. Rayford knelt down in front of the open side panel, tweaking the wires and inner workings of the gigantic machine. Naomi sat casually at a consule nearby that was used to monitor and control the gigantic generator. She turned around in her seat, handing him the tool.
"They're called needle-nose pliers, dear," she corrected him.
"Ah, well, I knew that, I was just making sure you were paying attention," he said matter-of-factly, smiling at her before turning back to his work.
Naomi smiled, shaking her head before turning back to the monitors. She was watching them to make sure everything was going smoothly. Suddenly, the over head speakers crackled to life, causing Rayford to take attention - but not before bumping his head on the side panel cover. He rubbed his head, looking at the loudspeakers as a feminine voice began to speak.
"Will Naomi and Rayford Boggs please report to the SSO conference room? Immediately. Thank you, that will be all." With that, she signed off with a click.
"Gee, what do you know?" Rayford sighed, putting his tools and welding helmet down. "Just when I get started, we get called for some kind of briefing. That's what happened yesterday too. . ."
Naomi chuckled, helping him up to his four feet. "I wonder what they want this time," she said, walking through the doorway as it automatically parted in front of them.
Rayford shrugged, walking alongside her. "I guess we'll find out then, won't we?" he replied.
Both of them turned the corner to come to a door marked, 'Secret Spy Organization - Conference Room'. Rayford opened the door to be greeted by a long table at which a bulky, Komodo dragon-monster sat waiting. Rayford and Naomi approached him.
"Troy? What is it?" Rayford asked the monster, setting his hands on the table.
"Well, there's a little matter I need to talk to you about," Troy replied uneasily.
"RRRRAAAAWWWWRRR!!" came a small, fierce roar from behind them.
Naomi and Rayford turned to see a three-year-old Randall putting on his scariest face, only to find he looked pretty silly. Naomi smiled, leaning down to pick him up into her arms. "And you brought our children out of the daycare? This is highly unlike you, Troy," she commented, holding her son close to her.
Randall's twin sister, who looked almost exactly like him had she not been a girl, crawled out from under the table too. She giggled and hid back underneath the table again, playing a little game of hide-n-seek.
"I know, I know, but I dubbed it necessary after watching young Randall," he said.
"What do you mean?" Rayford asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously. "Has he done anything wrong?"
Naomi looked at the pale purple hatchling in her arms and he looked back up at her with big, alert, green eyes. "'M I scary momma?" he asked eagerly.
She smiled tenderly and nuzzled his nose with hers. "Of course you are sweety," she replied.
Little Randall smiled widely, the proudness glowering off of him. Troy glanced at the innocent little lizard and sighed, looking back at Rayford. "No, no, not at all. I was just watching your son play with some blocks in the daycare," he said. "I'm afraid that he has picked up a few things that he shouldn't have. . ."
"Like. . .?" Rayford pried.
"Like the code to your new invention," Rayford said, biting his lip. "You know, he must have watched you type that code in so many times it must have stuck. He was spelling it out with his blocks."
Naomi gasped and glanced at the little lizard in her arms. He smiled back, innocently oblivious to what they were talking about, and bagan to look curiously around the room. "You mean, Randall's picked up the code?" she asked in dread, holding her baby closer.
Rayford slapped a hand to his forehead. "This is terrible. . ." he muttered under his breath. "No, this is beyond terrible. . .How could I have been so stupid?"
"I know it is," Troy agreed, tapping his claws on the tabletop. "If the Bad Guy Bureau gets wind that your son knows the code, they're going to want to get their hands on him by any means possible. . .He's only a child after all, it would be much easier than getting it from you two. . .And once they get that code, well, we all know it's not good from there."
Rayford sighed frustratedly and ran a hand through his blue-tipped fronds. "What are we going to do?" he sighed, trying to think. "The BGB wants my Super Scream Generator - and the code that powers it - more than anything. For what, I don't know yet, but we have to keep it safeguarded until I can secure it into the core of our other generator."
Troy seemed to be thinking of something. "What was that invention of yours built to do again?" he asked.
"It's simple," Rayford explained. "The President of the SSO found that he couldn't attain enough scream power to keep this place running 24/7, so he employed me to make the Super Scream Generator. This device, once installed into the core of a main generator, can reuse and recycle the screams run through it daily. It also stores an amazing amount of scream power - one charge is enough to power the city of Scarelington for a month or more."
"I see. . ." Troy replied, rubbing his chin. "That still doesn't give me much of an idea as to why they would want it so much, though."
Naomi put Randall on the floor and took a seat. "So, if they got Ray's code from our son, what would they do with him afterwards? Keep him for their own purposes?" she asked with worry.
Troy pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, they'd most likely kill him," he said. "Ray is elected to become the next president of the SSO. So, unfortunately, they'd love to get rid of your offspring before they have a chance to grow up to become talented top agents like you two are."
Rayford stood upright, an idea coming into his mind. "Then, if it's for the children, I'll quit the SSO," he declared.
Troy bit his lip and looked down at the table before looking back up at him. "They'd still track you down. They know your name, where you live, everything," he reasoned. "It wouldn't matter either way. In fact, you'd probably be in more danger if you quit the SSO. Agents have some of the highest in government protection here."
Rayford plopped down into a chair and nodded in acknowledgement. Suddenly, alarms blared and sirens went off out in the hallway. Little Randall and his twin, Raina, ran under the table in surprise. Naomi collected the two into her arms and shot a glance at Rayford. Rayford raised an eyebrow, his fronds perking up at the sound. He got out of his chair and took Randall out of Naomi's arms.
"We've gotta get out of here," he declared. "We've got secrets and kids. . .Gee, what a great time to be under attack!"
Troy stood up and followed them towards the door. All three rushed out into the hallway, just missing a few agent monster who ran past them in an attempt to be prepared to fight back to the intruders. Just then, a couple of large, odd-looking monsters emerged out of the long hallway - BGB agents! The group ducked into another hall. Rayford barely spotted them go past and dropped Randall in Troy's arms, Naomi doing the same with Raina.
Rayford grabbed his shoulder and looked him face-to-face. "I've made my decision. Troy, I want you to have our children," he said, the sadness already gripping his heart.
"What??" Troy replied in shock, holding the twins. "But you love these kids! I can't just-"
"Troy, listen to me, it's the only way to really make sure they'll be safe. We trust you like family. . . Now, what you must do is take them far from here. Move out of the country if you must, just don't ever tell us where. Just bring them as far away from this place as you can. . ." Rayford instructed, kissing his twins on the head, looking at them as if it might be the last time in a long while.
"Daddy!" Randall cooed, his tail swishing happily.
Raina smiled and giggled. "Kissie."
Naomi had tears in her eyes at this news, but she knew it had to be done. She followed Ray's example and kissed her twins, looking up at Troy. "Please, take good care of them," she asked. "And tell Selix we love him too."
Troy could do nothing but nod silently. "I will, you have my word."
Then they ran out from the hallway, off to help fight off the invading enemy agents. Unknown to anyone, Troy took the children and ducked out the emergency exit.
***********************************************
Randall looked down at the sidewalk, as if trying to recall that day, and then looked back up at his dad. "So, you did it to. . .protect me?" he asked, as realization dawned on him.
His father nodded. "That was the first thing on our minds son," he reassured him. "Troy told you we were dead, mostly so you wouldn't come looking for us. But, now, I think it's about the time you knew the truth. I'm sorry it came down on you so hard."
Randall pursed his lips and nodded in understanding, leaning over to embrace him. After so long, it felt good to have a parent around - a real parent - one he could go to for advice and all of that stuff that he had missed so much as a child. "I'm glad you came back," he said.
Rayford smiled, hugging him back. He was glad to be able to hug his son again. Then, holding him at arms' length, looked him over fully for the first time. "I see you've acquired my good looks," he chuckled, making a fist and giving him a friendly noogie on the head.
Randall ducked away from the noogie and chuckled. "Maybe," he joked.
"Oh really?" Naomi spoke up from behind, arms folded. Caylin and Leia were smiling as they stood next to her.
Rayford grinned. "And your mother's too, of course," he added. "Hey, how long have you three been standing there?"
Naomi smiled and approached the two sitting on the curb. "Only since you started telling him our story," she replied.
Randall stood up and Naomi gave him a warm, motherly embrace. She kissed him on the cheek and Randall half-grinned. "Aw gee Mom, not in front of Leia and Caylin. . ." he muttered.
"Oh, don't be silly! They're your friends, they won't mind," she replied.
Caylin chuckled. "That's a really interesting story, Mr. Randall's dad," he said. "I can't believe you guys are actually spies. But. . .why'd you come back?"
Rayford laughed. "Just call me Ray," he replied. "But we can always explain that later. I think Randall's had his head reeling enough for one day."
Randall smirked and Leia walked over to the curb with him. "You ready to head back to Mike and Sulley's apartment?" she asked. "I'm supposing that you could use a cup of coffee or something, after news like that."
Leia turned to Randall's parents. "Hey, Sulley and Mike have more room in their apartment," she said. "And I'm not saying this for sure or anything, but I think they'd like to have you over. You know, to stay for a few days. You must have come from a long ways away."
"Actually, we didn't come from another country or anything, but it would be nice to have a place to stay for a day or two," Naomi replied. "By the way, I think I've met Mike and Sulley. . .They're the big, blue monster and his little one-eyed friend, right?"
Caylin nodded. "Those are the guys. Oh yeah, Randall's apartment is kind of under watch by the Bad Guy Bureau, so that's why we're staying at Mike and Sulley's place," he said. "Just in case they, y'know, try to grab him again."
Rayford nodded. "We heard all about what happened. The both of us were worried to death once the news came, so that's part of the reason why we returned," he commented.
Just as they talked, a car pulled into the parking lot. Inside the hoodless car, Hunter and Sloop sat, their eyes trained on the group of monsters. Hunter took out his micro-blaster as Sloop slowed the car to a stop near a cluster of bushes and trees. He looked through the shot aimer built into the top of the gun and aimed it at the most open monster of the five - Randall Boggs. . .
NOTE: Ooh, Randall's parents make their big return and the tension just coninutes to rise. . . But I'll just leave you hanging until the next chapter gets done. *innocent grin*
I also hope you liked learning a bit about Randall's parents (or at least my version of his parents) - Rayford and Naomi Boggs - and a tidbit of his past. You can tell just by reading this chapter where Randall got his inventive ability, green eyes, and some other little goodies I hid in there. ~_^ It explains alot, but there's still more to be uncovered and more excitement to be found, as my trailer indicates. So, stay tuned! Oh yes, and feel free to continue letting me know how you like it so far! I love getting and reading reviews. (Doesn't everyone who writes fics? ^_^)