by Joy
NOTE: I've finally decided on my next fic! It will be a spin off of Treasure Planet. No matter how hard I've tried, I couldn't think of a fic much different from the movie, so it'll be somewhat like the movie, but with twists thrown in, new characters, and new scenes. My fourth (should I decide to do one) *might* be a JP3/MI one if I get any good ideas. Yup, Randall is having a very exciting life. lol. Between spies, treaure hunts, pirates, and dinosaurs he's gonna be one busy monster.
******************************************************************
Chapter Eight - Eve of Destruction
It had been several weeks since Randall, Caylin, and Leia were brought to the SSO. All three began an intense training routine and now were nearly finished. Caylin never did too good on the training courses. He was quite clumsy at times, sometimes knocking over one hurdle after another. And his nervousness with a lazer gun proved hazardous. But he still got the job of an informant.
Meanwhile, Randall and Leia did remarkably well, passing every test with flying colors. In fact, Randall proved to be a natural athlete, taking after his proud parents. His quick reflexes and mind made him a formidable opponent for anybody to go up against. Both soon attained level one badges along with the formation of a tight, three-way friendship. Sulley and Mike were even allowed to visit them, wowing over the place as they were shown around.
Leia's leg was healing nicely as well, with some help from Randall and Caylin who, at times, went out of their way to make sure she wasn't pushing herself too far. Even though, more often than not, she could hold her own.
It was now mid-afternoon. After a few hours of horsing around with the games in the lounge, the three walked down the hall side-by-side, heading off to meet a fellow SSO agent to discuss news concerning Bruton and his cronies. It was their first call, but none of them were nervous. Actually, they were eager to find out what was going on.
"So," Caylin began, adjusting the collar of his official SSO shirt. "What do you think Bruton wants to do with your Dad's invention? The one who's closest gets a cookie."
"You know, maybe he needs that Super Scream Generator to power something really large," Leia suggested. "Like a weapon or something?"
Randall shrugged his shoulders lightly. "That's a good concept, but I'm not sure myself. I really don't think we can make any guesses right now."
"Ooh," Caylin replied. "That's a good guess Lei. But I guess we find out soon enough, huh?"
They turned the corner and was greeted by a cat-like monster with well-groomed silver and black fur. She wore an official, navy blue SSO outfit too, like they had on. She turned around towards them, a folder under her arm and smiled, seeing who the three monsters were. "Hello," she greeted, holding out a hand. "I'm Catrina VanOlin. You must be Randall, Caylin, and Leia. Am I correct?"
They nodded in confirmation and Randall took a glance at her folder, then back up at her. "Those the files you were going to talk to us about?"
Catrina nodded. "Precisely," she answered curtly, walking down the hall. "I have alot to do so shall we walk while we talk?"
"I'm the kind who can't chew gum and walk at the same time, but no problemo," Caylin replied, following her and his friends.
Catrina took out a photograph and handed it to them to look at. "You know who this is don't you?" she asked. "His name is Bruton Kilroy. He's evil, he's nasty, he's ruthless. . ."
"And he doesn't brush his teeth," Caylin observed.
Randall, Leia, and Catrina stopped to look at him. He blinked.
"What?"
Catrina smiled and took the photo back, putting it into the folder with some papers and began skimming over them. "Well, from what we know, this guy already has the code and the Super Scream Extractor," she explained, glancing at them briefly. "Our agents have picked up a tidbit of information telling us that he's planning something big with it. It's only logical to assume that it would be used for such a thing as a large weapon or possibly many of them."
"So, you guys haven't found out what they want it for yet?" Leia asked.
Catrina shook her head regretfully. "That's why I had the reccommendation of sending you two to find that out," she said.
"Uh, hey, there's three here. What about me?" Caylin asked eagerly.
"You're an informant," she explained. "That means Mr. Boggs and Ms. Kawaii relay they're information to you via phone and you send it on to us. It's also your job to call for backup, when neccessary."
Caylin ahhed and Randall looked at the cat-monster briefly, processing the information she had just given him. "When do you want us to leave?" he asked. "We've only got a couple more training days left before we're full-fledged agents, so we could even do it now."
They turned a corner into the mess hall, where the cafeteria was located. It was a large area with a high ceiling and many little places where you could buy food. A small-sized fountain stood in the middle of the room, trickling calmly as monsters passed. Basically, it looked sorta like a food court in the mall.
Catrina paused. She seemed to be in thought about this matter. But she soon turned back to the purple lizard-monster. "You'll be called to head on out tonight," she informed him. "It's easier to move about unnoticed under the cover of night than it is in broad daylight - even if Mr. Boggs can vanish."
"Uh, call me Randall would you?" Randall requested.
Catrina nodded. "Right. Randall," she corrected. "Good luck you two. And take my advice, prepare for anything, because here, it just might happen."
"Oooh, mystical," Caylin said.
Leia laughed at Caylin's antics and gave Catrina a single nod. "Will do."
With that, Catrina headed out of the mess hall, leaving Randall and crew behind to pick up their dinners. Leia got in line with Caylin and Randall simply picked up a bottle of purple slurp soda from one of the venders. Leia glanced over her shoulder at him.
"You picking up dinner?" she asked him.
Randall shook his head, unscrewing the top off of the bottle. "Nah, that meatloaf I had for lunch didn't sit with me very well," he replied. "Now I'm wondering what exactly the 'surprise' in the meatloaf really was. . ."
"I was about to buy a slice myself. But when I saw something moving in it, I changed my mind real fast." Caylin commented.
Leia chuckled. "Okay, but I'll save a sandwich for you - you know, just in case you get hungry later," she smiled, before moving up in line. "Oh yeah, and I'll make sure nothing's crawling in it."
Randall grinned, shaking his head slowly, and took a drink of his soda before heading over to a nearby table. He sat down and grabbed a newspaper that was setting in the middle of the table. Randall flipped through the pages, skimming over stories about triplet three-headed babies, a ten car pileup in - of all places - an alley, and various other articles. Suddenly, he stopped on page A6. What caught his attention was a headline at the top, it read; 'Airport Thief Strikes Again'. Randall furrowed his brow, reading through the article. . .
It seems that the notorious "Airport Thief" has struck again. His ring of thefts from various airports around the state has the local authorities stunned and puzzled. In the past, this thief has been made a name for himself, stealing certain airplane parts - each from a different source. Witnesses argue about the appearance of the thief, but what they do agree on is that he appears to be of the saurian nature. The local police don't know why he steals certain parts and why he picks these certain planes. But, it seems, until the offender is caught it will remain an enigma.
Randall's eyes rested on one word, processing it though his head over and over. Saurian nature? Didn't that mean he was a dinosaur monster? Just then, Leia came over with a food tray. She suddenly noted the enlightened expression on his face as he looked at the newspaper.
"What'd you find in there, Randall?" Leia asked, sitting down on his right and putting her try down.
"You gotta read this," Randall said, giving it to her. "And tell me, doesn't it sound more than a little suspicious?"
Leia took a few moments to read over the whole thing, but once she finished she glanced back at him. A look of realization came on her face. "You kidding me?" she replied. "It sounds just like Bruton. . ."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Randall agreed, folding the newspaper and setting it back on the table. "We gotta tell my parents about this."
"Caylin too," Leia added.
He nodded, taking his bottle of soda and standing up. "They should be around here somewhere," he said, looking around before turning his attention back to her. "I'll bring them over. You stay here and eat your lunch."
Leia smiled and tossed him a nice-looking beefbeest sandwich. "Don't forget this," she said. "You should be eating something too, if we're gonna be leaving soon."
Randall caught it and nodded gratefully, weaving between tables occupied by other SSO agents. He finally spotted Rayford and Naomi casually chatting and laughing at their table with some friends. He made his way over to them and his parents paused to look up at him. Naomi smiled.
"Hello Randall," she greeted cheerfully. "Is everything alright?"
Rayford smiled proudly at his son. "What can we do for you?"
He and Naomi had grown very attached to their son over the past month, it was as if they had known each other all of their lives. And now Randall was following in their footsteps in becoming a great spy. He couldn't of asked for more and with every passing day he grew more fond of his son, wanting to spend as much time with him as he could manage. Though, with his busy schedule, it became hard sometimes. But whenever Randall wanted something, they would - most of the time - be willing to give it to him.
Randall ran a finger around the lip of his soda bottle and nodded. "Everything's fine, Mom," he reassured her. "I just have some news. Can I talk with you guys. . .er, alone, please?" He glanced around at the other three monsters with them, who stared up at him patiently.
Rayford and Naomi looked at each other then back at their friends, dismissing themselves to join Randall. Naomi put a hand on his shoulder. "What was it you wanted to tell us?" she asked.
"I'll show you," he said, motioning for them to follow. "Come with me."
He led them to the table Leia was sitting at and picked up the newspaper, flipping to the page and giving it to Rayford. Rayford and Naomi looked it over. Randall waited for them to finish before explaining. He pointed to the words 'saurian nature'.
"It says here that this guy is some type of dinosaur monster," he pointed out.
Leia turned around in her seat to look up at them. "And you know, Mr. and Mrs. Boggs, we think that this guys could be. . ."
"Bruton," Rayford finished.
"Exactly," Randall and Leia said simutaneously.
Naomi looked at Rayford. "We've gotta let the top agents know about this," she suggested, smiling over at Randall. "Brilliant detective work, Randall."
Rayford nodded, folding up the newspaper and tucking it under his arm. "You don't mind us taking this do you?" he asked. Randall shook his head.
"No, go ahead," Leia replied.
Randall opened his mouth to say something else, when he abruptly paused. He stared at the clear glass setting on Leia's tray. Inside, the orange soda was rippling just slightly, each ripple continued coming in increasingly closer intervals. Leia followed his gaze and turned around to see the same sight. She blinked.
"What's. . .going on. . .?" Leia asked slowly.
Suddenly, a low sound could be heard above-ground. Everyone in the mess hall stopped what they were doing to listen to the deep, mechanical rumbling that sent soundwaves that made the building shake ever so slightly under their feet. Suddenly, the sound stopped and silence enveloped the building. Naomi clung to her husband, looking around and listening once more.
"What was that. . .?" she whispered.
Rayford only shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I was wondering the same thing."
Leia glanced at Randall, who only lifted up his hands cluelessly. "Well, it sounds like it's gone now," Leia said cautiously, not too sure of that statement herself.
Suddenly, an explosion rocked through the above-ground level and a tremor ran through the underground section of the building. Randall, Rayford, and Naomi were shaken off-balance, grabbing onto something to keep from falling down. Leia hung onto the table as the tremor shook throughout the mess hall. Randall sent a desperate look towards his parents and her.
"We'd better get somewhere safe," he said just before the emergency sirens went off, blaring loudly enough to fill the room.
"Like father like son, eh?" Rayford agreed, standing upright and jumping up onto the table. "Everyone move down to level Z12 - to the jungle training room! Now! You know your training!" He had to yell to get the message across to all the monsters in the room.
"Ray - get down from the table!" Leia called out.
Rayford suddenly heard a cracking noise above him and looked up to see part of the concrete roofing heading straight for the table. He jumped down just in time to see the table crash into pieces. Naomi rushed over to him and helped him steady himself, breathing a sigh of relief herself. That was way too close. Randall and Leia joined them.
"Dad! You okay?" he asked.
Rayford nodded, breathlessly. "Right as rain, son. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here."
Leia looked around at the monsters running in what one could describe as organized chaos, making it out safely. But as more pieces of concrete rained down from the damaged roof, she knew things could start getting bad fast. Rayford had a good point. Leia, Randall and his parents jogged out towards the 'down' escalator, where the rest of the monsters were filing out.
They were just about to get onboard when Randall spotted Caylin still out in the mess hall. His tail was stuck under a boulder of concrete and he was struggling fiercely to free himself. Randall looked from Leia and his parents to his best friend and sighed, running out towards him.
Naomi gasped and tried to stop him, but was unsuccessful. "What are you doing??" she gasped.
"Randall, come back here!" Rayford called urgently, worry gripping his heart as Randall rushed out into what looked like a warzone.
Leia held Randall's mother back gently as she attempted to go in after him. "It's Caylin," she explained, trying to calm his mother. "He's in trouble. Randall's going to help him. He's fully capable and you know he can handle himself better than most monsters. He'll be okay, Naomi."
Ignoring his parents' desperate calls, he dodged another falling concrete boulder and found his way to the frantic gecko-monster's side. He had grown strong during his month of training, so lifting the small boulder wasn't too much of a task for him to accomplish. Caylin whipped around and a smiled formed on his face.
"Randall! Am I glad to see you! But gee whiz, you have impeccable timing, y'know that?" he said happily, pulling his tail out from under the rock of concrete.
"Yeah, I try," Randall replied, dropping the boulder again. "Now beat it before the whole ceiling falls in. I'm right behind ya."
"Right on it, Double-0 Boggs," he said, still managing to keep that continuous humor of his.
Caylin ran off zig-zagging around big pieces of the roof, Randall keeping constant pace behind him. Back at the escalator, his parents let out their breath, relieved that he came out okay. Leia smiled. She was confident, after what she had experienced with him the past month, that he'd be able to handle himself well.
A loud crack suddenly echoed through the nearly-empty mess hall and Naomi gasped, staring speechlessly up at the ceiling above Randall. The purple lizard-monster, meanwhile, didn't note the look on his mother's face. He was busy keeping an eye on Caylin and making sure nothing went wrong. But something went very, very wrong. . .
A giant piece of the roof detached itself and plummeted down towards where Randall was heading. Rayford called out and Randall turned to look up, but it was too late. He hit the floor, pinned down by the heavy piece of concrete that now sat on his midsection. The wind was knocked out of him and he felt a sharp stab of pain radiate through his body. He groaned, trying to lift the boulder off of himself, but it wouldn't budge.
"Randall! No!" Caylin exclaimed in panic, not sure whether to go back or not.
Randall looked up at him, desperation filling his pained expression. "No, keep. . . going!" he urged between deep breaths.
Rayford's eyes widened and he rushed out to his son, pushing Caylin towards the escalator with Leia and Naomi as the remainder of the ceiling began to cave in. "You three get to level Z12 with the rest of the monsters!" he instructed.
"But we can't just-" Leia began hesitantly.
"I said go!" Rayford ordered, standing firmly on his decision.
Leia then nodded grudgingly toward him and helped Caylin and Naomi onto the escalator. As they disappeared, Rayford rushed to Randall's side. His eyes were closed and and his breaths close and labored, abviously he didn't have the strength to pull himself out from underneath the concrete. Rayford quickly went to work, using every last bit of his strength to push the boulder off, but it finally rolled off.
Randall took in his first big breath of air as the weight lifted off his chest and stomach. He was barely aware that he was being picked up and carried. Randall felt too light-headed from the lack of oxygen to acknowledge anything clearly. Finally, he gave up trying to fight it through the pain and blacked out. . .
******************************************************************************
NOTE: Ooh, things are looking bad for Randall. Will he survive? (Are you nuts, how could I kill off Randall?) And what caused the massive explosion? And is the 'Airplane Thief' really Bruton? So many questions. . .so many cliff-hangers. . .stay tuned for the next chapter - Aftermath!