Chapter 16- Caught Once Again

Sulley opened his mouth in surprise and swivelled round to be confronted with his own reflection in the camera lens. He turned back round to where Randall was previously standing to find that he had gone. He looked around the room in bewilderment to spot Randall taking the gag off another captive whose blindfold had been left on him.

Randall swiftly ungagged him and slithered on all eights to where the closest camera hung. The reason why Sulley had not taken the camera out with his own fist was because it was much too high to reach and it probably would have hurt; the camera looked strong.

Randall climbed up the wall without a sound while the camera was unknowingly turning the other way. Randall stopped. His timing had to be perfect.

"3...2...1" he counted in his head. Then, slithering across the wall as fast as a cheetah hunting a plump deer, the gag that he had collected in one of his upper hands, he bounded and blinded the camera lens. All that the monsters who were watching the CCTV saw was a dirty white as though it had been snowing in a thick fog.

Randall repeated this until nearly all the cameras that surveyed the dungeon were blinded. He knew that this would put whoever was watching them on alert so their time was extremely limited.

Randall elegantly leapt from the wall just as Sulley had finished releasing Mike.

He ran over to the door, his brain working overtime. A lot of the monsters that weren't freed were gazing longingly at Sulley as if their hopeful looks would convince him to help. But he didn't, even though it was tempting. They had a plan and he was going to stick by it. Anyway, they were going to come back for them as soon as they had got some keys. It was not as though they were going to desert them. That wasn't part of Randall's plan. Was it?

Now that he thought about it Randall might. He remembered what Randall had said before.

If I do manage to get out of this dump I'm not taking you with me. I'd rather just leave you here.

The words sent a shiver done his spine.

Sulley's thoughts were interrupted by the monster he was currently thinking about.

"Sullivan, get over here! Now!" Randall hollered, waiting by the door. Mike was also running to the exit. Sulley shook his head, trying to get his mind out of the candyfloss clouds and back onto earth. Jogging to the door, he tried to get rid of all his doubtful thoughts but they still bothered him like a mother nagging a child for letting the mutt bring unwanted dirt into the house.

Randall saw the fur-rug running towards him so he lifted the heavy piece of wood that blocked their way of escape and clasped the door-handle.

Finally, they were going to get out of there. It seemed as though hours had passed since they had been brought to Monsters, Inc., but Randall was mainly relieved that his plan had worked and he wasn't going to get any form of blame or scolding from anyone, including his two arch-enemies. Randall was about to turn the door-knob when it turned of its own accord.

"What the..." Randall began to say, but before he could complete his sentence the door swung quickly open with a slight creak and hit him squarely in the chest and slightly clipped an arm. He backed away from the living door, clutching his chest and his arm with a wince. By that time Sulley had caught up with the other two, and, like them, he was looking with dread at the door, or rather, what had opened it.

Two immense monsters stood in the doorway, also surprised.

"Err...Boss?" one of the idiots said. "Sumfinks wrong."

"What is it now? Look, just let me through..." said another voice, deeper and slower.

The two monsters parted and in between them came through the legendary Waternoose. Randall recognised him immediately as a member of one of the richest families in the whole of Monstropolis and he knew by the expression on his face that he was most displeased. The three young monsters gave each other some panicked glances (actually, Mike and Sulley did; Randall was still trying to catch his breath after the terrible blow that he had had to suffer) before deciding what to do.

They turned heel and ran.

Chapter 17- Through the Tunnel

Sulley was out in front, Mike following close behind him and Randall was bringing up the rear. That hit he had received affecting was him greatly and he soon ran out of breath. His arm was incredibly sore and was so painful it felt as though it was about to explode.

But he carried on running, determined to catch up with the others.

As the three escapees ran the length of the dungeon, the pounding footsteps behind them making them more fearful, they began to notice something coming up and rising out of the darkness. Sulley reached it first and began to frantically pat it, disbelieving. It was a wall. They had come to a dead end.

Mike joined his buddy and turned around just in time to see Randall coming towards them being closely followed by the two monsters that they had met earlier. Mike's eye widened, his pupil dilating as he started to tug at his friend's fur.

"Mike, we're kind of in a situation here. What is it?" snapped Sulley; desperate to find a hidden passageway that he had heard a couple of other trapped monsters talk about before.

"Just find the right brick, and get a move on! Any time soon would be great, I mean, I'm not complaining or anything."

He had barely finished his sentence when Randall came crashing to the wall, obviously still in pain. The monsters were getting closer now and they were starting to get panicky.

"I've got it!" Sulley cried out, his voice dripping with happiness but edged with urgency. He had pushed a brick in causing a passageway to become apparent. He hurriedly got to his knees and crawled, still being ushered by Mike. Once Sulley had gotten in, Randall was next.

The henchmen were now WAY too close for comfort.

"Come on, come on, come on..." Mike repeated, shoving Randall's tail into the entrance of the passageway. "Get a move on, Lizard-Boy!"

Randall was now fully in the small gap so Mike followed after him. The henchmen had just arrived at the passageway and the first one grabbed at one of Mike's legs. They began to pull him out.

"Help! Help me!" he screamed, trying to get a firm grip on the metal floor. Randall heard his cries and, being so thin, managed to turn around in that confined space. Once he had got his whip-like tail out of the way, he seized Mike's arms and began to pull. Even though he would have preferred to leave Mike to fend for himself, he knew that the Cyclops had a big mouth and, when given a chance, he would blab. Randall grunted, the pain in his chest and arm getting worse with each tug.

The two monsters that had pursued them were strong but they had a weak grip on Mike. With one last yank from the lizard-monster they were forced to let go just as their boss, Waternoose, was coming into view.

The second Mike was free Randall let go of him and, once again, held his arm; the pain was intense. He then turned around and began to follow after Sulley who didn't know what was going on; he wasn't able to turn around as the pipe was by far too narrow for him.

Mike scrambled up as far as he could and then lay on his front, out of breath. They had escaped.

But only just.

Chapter 18- Collecting the Captives

"Where are they?" Waternoose demanded. "You didn't let them escape, did you?"

The two big henchmen made the scene look amusing by cringing under the stern stare of their boss who was half the size of them.

"YOU IMBECILES! If they escape and tell the CDA what they've seen...No. You're going to stop them before they get that far. You." Waternoose shook his head towards the furry henchman to the left of him.

"M...me, sir?" he said with a slight stutter.

"Yes, you. Go back to the upper-floors and get some of your friends. Block all of the exits. They must NOT be able to leave the building. Understood?" The monster had already started walking to the dungeon's door when he replied.

"Yes, sir." He walked into the darkness, the silence being vaguely disturbed by his echoing footsteps.

"And I want you," Waternoose continued, "to get a couple of the captives so we can perform our first test of the machine. We've been delayed long enough and I will personally make sure that those who have made an attempt at escape won't delay me any further." The henchman was quick to answer.

"Which ones, sir?"

The CEO rolled his eyes at the unnecessary question. "It doesn't matter. Five or six will do. Oh, and get that lizard-girl over there; she looks a bit like one of those that has tried to escape. With luck, they might be relatives." He smiled with a chuckle. "Once you have got them, bring them to the lab. I'm going over there now to tell Cyrus to prepare for the hostages, so I'll be waiting."

He made final eye-contact with his employee, nodded and then left. His henchman was left in the shadows, the only source of light coming from torches dotted along the crumbling brick walls.

Chapter 19- A Little Conversation

The three-some had been crawling for ten minutes without a word to each other. Mike broke that record. "Hey, Randall?" he said uneasily.

"What?"

"Why did you save me back there?" Mike had been wondering this ever since that noticeable event had happened, but, in a way, he was afraid of the answer.

"Because, OW!" Randall had caught his tail in a sharp grate. As he untangled it he carried on where he had left off. "Because if I hadn't got you and just left you there with the other monsters there would have been three consequences; A, you would probably blab and we would get caught because of your big mouth, B, Sullivan would hold a grudge with me and C, you would hold a grudge with me."

This was the answer Mike was hoping for.

"Oh...right." They carried on. Mike was relieved. He didn't want Randall to have saved him because he cared. That would make everything awkward.

VERY awkward.

That would mean that he would owe Randall one, and who knows what Randall would ask for as a favour?

"But," said that annoying little thing called a conscience that lived in Mike's cosy (and spacious) head, "he DID save your life. So, technically, you owe him one whether you like it or not."

"Stupid conscience," Mike thought. "It always makes things worse."

But, unbeknownst to the three of them, things were about to get a lot worst before they got better.
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