(Wow! So sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. It's been what, nearly a month now? Yeesh.
This chapter is mostly light hearted and sweet, and you all should appreciate that, because it is the LAST happy-ish chapter of this fic for many chapters. Shit is about to go doooown. Also, I regret to say I FORGOT the last chapter's flashback and I'm still kicking myself about that since the flashbacks are pretty significant.
And as a final note, I'm starting college in four days. Updates sadly will probably only be once a month, or if it's too busy, longer. But this story is half over, and I plan to finish it, I promise.
Next chapter synopsis: It's nothing but cold, solid shock and betrayal for the gang when Randall is arrested for theft and murder.)
"Mom!" Randall squealed happily as he practically pounced on his mother, wrapping his many limbs around her in a full-body hug. "Merry Christmas!" His new college weight nearly made his poor mother stagger. She held on, laughing and hugging him close.
"My sweetie, you're getting heavy."
"College junk food," her youngest son grinned, giving his mother a wink. "It tends to put on a few pounds." He walked in with her, blinking as she gripped his face to look into his eyes.
"Where are your glasses?"
"Oh, I took them off. My old roommate suggested it." He whirled when he felt his brother lightly tap his shoulder. And he turned just in time to be trapped in a headlock, just like old times.
"Well look who's here! How you doing, Cupcake?" Randall hissed and struggled in his brother's hold, where-as any reaction before would normally be for him to laugh and fight back. Instead, he jerked away, glaring.
"Fine," he muttered, his tone suddenly a little detached as he brushed himself off. "Just finished first semester!"
"Wonderful, dear!" his mother gushed, "How did your exams go?"
"Yeah, you're still in the program, right?"
The sudden hostility and anger that flooded into his eyes and into a teeth-baring growl was unlike either of them had either seen. "Of course I'm still in the program!"
Elsa stared at her baby, feeling the ghost of an old forgotten terror in her stomach at the familiarity of his behavior and rage. Even Silver looked slightly thrown.
"Okay, geez, it was just a joke."
The fire faded from his emerald eyes, and he seemed apparently guilty as he and his family moved to the dining room. He took a few plates from his mother, balancing them on multiple fingers and his tail as he laid them on the table. "I'm in the top of the class, even got a spot in ROR." His brother nearly spat out his eggnog and cinnamon roll.
"You're in ROR?!"
"Yep! Beat out James Sullivan to get the spot. That's right, from that family." He smirked at Silver and gave it a moment to sink in. His older brother actually did look pretty impressed. "Just wait til I get to the industry, I'll be scaring circles around you in no time."
Silver grinned. "You should come visit the factory, see me in action. It's an art, I promise you. Waternoose has been thinking of giving me a promotion."
Randall flared, watching as always, Silver managed to drown out his meager accomplishment with a bigger one of his own. He could never let him be in the spotlight for even one second. "I don't feel like going to the factory just to feel second best to you, thanks."
The older reptile's frills lowered, irked. "I meant so you could get some experience there. You know, to help you?"
Randall was already ignoring him and launching into a new topic, hoping to smother the attention on his brother for once. "I'm going into engineering on the side-taking night classes actually! I want to learn as many skills to help me in the industry as possible. I could take a night job after I become a Scarer. You know, scare as my main profession and do something else on the side."
"What a wonderful idea, darling!" his mother gushed.
"What are you gonna do, make doors?" his brother snorted.
"No!" Randall shot back, resisting the urge to toss a spoonful of potatoes at the smug reptile. "I was thinking more in the lines of building something to help with the scream shortage." He shrugged. "I don't know what yet, but I'm thinking something that would help get the screams we need. You know, make them scream more. I mean, can't you just see it?" He beamed, picturing his moment of fame, the glory, and being looked on as a hero for solving the energy crisis for their entire world.
After all, something like that was bound to benefit the industry, wouldn't it?
"Oh, excellent idea, Sullivan," Randall deadpanned as he watched two energetic little girls bounce their way around the candy store. "What a great place to take them, yeah! Because, you know, we're not putting them to bed in an hour or anything."
"Aww, get your tail untwisted!" Emma teased, her smug grin only widening as the reptile scowled at her. "We're just celebrating is all! You know, rejoicing over the fact you're not such a failure in the funny business after all!"
"Oh gee, thanks. What is on your face? You look like you have rabies." The twerp's freckled face was nearly obscured by this weird, white froth—which she licked off with a grin.
"Monster Foam, it's supposed to be this foamy candy you guys have. It's pretty tasty actually, I wish we had some of this stuff in my world." She skipped off with an armload of goodies, and he was certain it was more than he was allowing her to buy.
A tiny little fist tugged on one of his back legs, and he craned his neck down to scowl at a monster-disguised three year old, waving a packet of jelly beans in front of his face. "And what do you want? I'm not paying for you too, that's Sullivan's job." He stared, wide eyed at the menagerie of candy she had gathered in the fabric of her costume, sagging nearly to the floor. "Uhhh, Sullivan?"
"Oh geez." The spotted monster lumbered over to the toddler and shot a sheepish glance at a glaring shopkeeper. "Boo, what all have you got here? I told you just five pieces of candy, not ten! That's way too much for you." Randall and Mike both bit back a laugh as the spotted monster had to fish out several pieces of candy from the little girl's costume, before hurrying to catch up with them in the line.
Randall threw a wayward look back to the sniffling little girl and vanished. He reappeared right beside her, feet curled around the metal rungs of a candy rack to keep himself suspended. Scooping up the pieces of candy Sullivan put away, he winked at Boo. "Hey, if buying you five extra pieces of candy will tick off Sullivan enough, I'm game for it." The little girl giggled, and he snatched her up in his tail.
The cashier rang in the items, and Randall's eyes bulged as the total continued to add up, shooting a glare at a sheepish little Emma trying to win him over with a cute smile. "Oh, you impossible brat. I said nothing over fifteen dollars!"
The cashier merely smiled knowingly and chuckled. "Kids, eh? You just tend to spoil them without meaning to. I should know, I have a few of my own." His eyebrows rose. "When did you have kids, Randall?" He stretched over the register to look over at Boo climbing up Sullivan's tail. "What about you, Sulley?"
Randall tensed on the spot, feeling his heart begin to pound in a moment of panic. Thankfully, Sullivan had already long since prepared with a cover-up. "Oh, they're just kids that belong to our friends. We're watching over them."
The cashier snickered as Boo seemed to lose interest in Sulley's tail, and instead turned to Randall's, climbing over it. "Never thought you'd have a way with the kids!"
"Yeah," Randall agreed, groaning as she gnawed on his frills like a chew toy. "Me neither. But you know, I get by by threatening to chew the toes off annoying little squirts," he hissed to the girl on his head. She squealed and scurried back to Sulley. He grinned smugly as Sullivan shot him a glare the moment they stepped out of the store.
"Chew the toes off children? Really?"
The moment they reached the apartment, Emma angrily tossed aside her pink monster costume and took a gulp of cool, refreshing air. "How much do I have to wear that stupid thing?" she snapped. "It's so warm in there, and it's really annoying. The antenna keep bobbing into my face."
"As long as you want to be able to come here," Randall told her, crossing his arms. "If you don't, the CDA could take you away if they found you. We'd never see each other again." His frills perched back as the group stared at him. "Not that I'd...care, or whatever," he tried to gripe.
"We're at the apartment now," Sulley assured, "so as long as we're here you don't need the costume." Emma flashed him a grateful smile and a knock sounded at the door. "Quick!" the spotted monster shouted, shoving the disguise back to the child. "Put on your costume!"
Randall slithered to the door and opened it with a roll of his eyes. A large, orange monster and a young monster not much taller than Boo grinned at him. "You can relax, Sullivan!" he shouted back to the monster frantically trying to wrangle the kids into their costumes. "It's just Sanderson, and..." He frowned at the little creature suspiciously. Was that a zipper at the back of her? "Who are you?"
A head with brown braids and freckles eagerly poked out of the costume. "My name's Jessie!"
"Oh, Sanderson's kid."
"That's right!" Jessie piped up. "I'm a whole five and a half years old! Isn't that cool? I'm a half year!" Randall's mouth twitched up into the slightest, amused grin.
"Alright Jess," George chuckled as he gave the child a pat on her back. "Why don't you go see the girls now?" She needed no coaxing, bounding toward the two little girls ripping into their candy. She greeted Boo with a tackle hug, before immediately doing the same to Emma.
"Hiya! My name's Jessie, what's yours?" She grinned at the tense nine year old, blissfully unaware to how much she had stiffened in her hold.
"Emma," the girl mumbled, wriggling her way out of the hug. Randall noticed how quiet and un-enthused she seemed, having to snicker at the child's discomfort. He didn't blame her; the twerp was rather annoying.
"Wow, that's a cool name! Can I have some candy? Ou, what's that?!"
Emma was getting dizzy trying to keep up with what the girl was saying, and she found her camera (having fallen out of her pocket when Jessie pounced on her) suddenly snatched away from her. She gasped, instantly growing defensive and angry as she snatched it back. "Give that back! You'll break it!"
Randall scowled as he stormed over at the fuss, throwing a pair of hands on his hips. "Hey! What's going on over here?"
Emma was practically cradling her camera in the crook of her arm, and inspecting it for damages. She pointed an accusing finger at a confused Jessie. "She took my camera from me, and she could have busted it!"
Gently, Randall plucked the silver camera from Emma's arms. "You still obsessed with this thing, kid? What is with you and photos?" He was careful with his tone, making it light and teasing. He knew enough people scoffed at the kid's hobby.
"I don't know, I just love photography," Emma said with a shy little shrug, face going pink in embarrassment when the other monsters crowded around to see the pictures.
"Hey, these are pretty good, kid!" George exclaimed, sifting through some pictures of the little girl, her family, and what appeared to be her backyard. He did a double take at a particular one, and then gave a loud guffaw. "Oh hey, I think I found my favorite ones!" He flashed them toward Randall and Sulley, making sure he didn't tilt them enough so Mike could see it. Both the reptilian and spotted monster burst out laughing.
"What?" Mike griped, having a feeling, judging by the fact they were so diligently trying to keep the pictures away, it had something embarrassing to do with him. His suspicions were confirmed when he finally managed to yank the photos away from them. "Emma!"
The other monsters were nearly hysterical. Mike fought the urge to crumple the photos as he glared at it. One was a photo of him reclined in his chair as Celia knelt next to him, filing the nails on his feet. The other, much worse, was of the two laying side by side with sea weed wraps and cucumbers on their eyes (eye).
"It's not as bad as you think!" Mike spluttered, struggling to be heard over the laughter of his friends. He scowled. "Look, when you're with a woman you have to do some things that might seem a bit...unorthodox—something the lot of you idiots will never understand because you'll never have girlfriends!"
The laughter died down as Mike stormed to the kitchen, and George fondly jiggled Emma's shoulder. "Boy Randall, this kid sure is something."
"Yeah," the lizard mumbled back, with a bit too much fondness in his voice. "She sure is."
"Some of these are fantastic," George mused. "They even make you look less uglier." He snickered when Randall glared. "They kind of give me an idea, the ones with you and her especially. I bet there's a lot of monsters at the company that would love to have some pictures taken with their kid. After all, the two worlds are practically bonded now."
"That's true," Sulley agreed, "I don't think many monsters go in the rooms with cameras though."
"Yeah...but we have a camera," George reminded. "And seeing this kid's photos give me a good idea. What about a company scrapbook?" At the mention of the word scrap book, and of course anything related to cameras, Emma completely perked up.
"A scrapbook?" Randall snorted. "Do we really want to document the embarrassing things we do at the factory? I'd rather not remember I'm a comedian."
"No, that's not what I was thinking," George huffed. "I was thinking the other employees, especially the ones that have formed friendships with the kids, might want to take pictures of themselves with the children, for memories sake."
"That's an awesome idea!" Emma shouted, surprising the group with her sudden excitement. "I've wanted something like that at our school, but the funding was too low or something, so we couldn't make a photo club."
Sulley rubbed his chin in thought, grinning as the other two children looked just as excited. "That is a good idea. As CEO, I approve of this. But my approval isn't enough to make it happen. We'd still need Roz's consent."
They all exchanged disgruntled looks, knowing that might be easier said than done. Roz didn't allow any more contact with the human world than what was actually needed to ensure their survival and electricity. The rules were air tight (but when did they listen to the rules anyway...)
"I think we can get Roz's acceptance on this," Sulley assured the group, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm the CEO after all." He looked over at Emma, and gave her shoulder a fond pat. "I think you should be the head of this project. You're the one that knows the most on scrapbooking."
The nine year old pretended to think about it, tapping her chin. "Well okay, I'll do it! But on one condition." Before anyone could ask, she looped her arm around Randall and pressed him up against her side. "Funny Face and I are on the very first page!"
Randall just stared at her, a warmth building in his cheeks, and the same kind of warmth building in his heart.
He smirked down at the metal band. Even in the dim, prison lights he could tell how worn it was, how chipped and deteriorating it was becoming. After three years. Three years in this facility, the third one he had been at. You'd think they'd have learned by now to give him a stronger cuff.
Well, to their credit it was pretty state-of-the-art, and he didn't imagine they realized how many little rocks he had at his disposal, that could eventually chip through the wires. It took three years, but he had done it.
With a final, sharp tap to the metal, the cuff shattered and Silver instantly vanished. And unlike before, where he could barely flicker due to the metals counteracting the invisibility, this time he was able to vanish entirely, for however long he wanted. And needed.
He clung to the ceiling just above the cell door, and waited. The guards made their rounds in about ten minutes.
When he heard the footsteps nearing, he silenced his breathing and stayed positively still, cemented to the ceiling. A guard's yellow eyes peered through the small square window, staring when it didn't see the lizard in sight. The next thing Silver knew, the beam of a flashlight was pouring through the window, and it sighted the broken cuff.
The heavy door was thrown open, and the moment it was, Silver descended with a single, hard chop with his elbow to the guard's head, knocking him out cold on the cement. He hopped over the guard's body, smirking and nonchalantly shutting the door to trap the monster inside.
That was too easy... You'd think the guards at a higher security prison would have the intelligence not to open a convict's door without some sort of back-up. No, they were all the same idiots. He made his way down the pitch black hallways, toward the back entrance. Before he did, something, or rather someone, caught his eye.
He shifted in the air, and materialized in front of Waternoose. The monster's multiple eyes stared at him for a moment before he sneered. "Why am I not surprised..."
"You shouldn't be. I do this so many times it's practically routine for me now. Granted it took me longer this time." He tapped the red indent on his ankle, where the cuff had been on all these years. "Their cuffs are getting better, but not good enough."
"What's the point in breaking out at all? Do you plan on joining the little clown committee as well?"
Silver snorted angrily. "As if. No, I'm gonna get my brother back on the right track, back to doing what he was before. I'm not going to just let him throw his life away for a couple of kids."
"You really think you can help that useless and pathetic brother of yours?"
Silver bristled, his multiple frills flaring in a rage. There was a difference between him degrading and insulting his brother and letting someone else do it. "Don't call him that."
Waternoose was ready to fire another jab at the younger lizard, but knowing only thin bars separated him from Silver's wrath, and knowing Silver wasn't as merciful as Randall had been, he thought better of it. "The extractor is gone, you know."
"Maybe, but there are blueprints; I can work from that, make it ten times more powerful than it ever was. And thanks to Randall, there's a couple of kids to test it out on."
"You honestly think you'll win your way into your brother's good graces by kidnapping the brats he cares about?"
The reptilian monster gave a sardonic snort, feeling hate flooding through him when he thought of the little vermin that corrupted his brother. "He doesn't need them, the brats, or Sullivan and Wazowski. He's completely brainwashed if he actually thinks they care about him, but I'll break him out of it one way or another."
Waternoose only sneered. "And who's to say I won't simply rat you out here and now? I'm sure there's a guard nearby." He was roughly jerked up against the bars by the collar of his prison jacket, as Silver sneered at him.
"Oh I know you wouldn't. You may hate the both of us, but you want the factory back to the way it was more than anyone else. And we all know you're too stupid to find a way out anytime soon, I'm your best shot."
He pulled away from Waternoose, glaring into the darkness. "By the time this is over, the factory will be back to normal. I'll shatter Randall to show him that I'm right. All he'll have left is me."
"Well, aren't you brother of the year," Waternoose mocked sweetly.
A strange, almost gentler look came to the silver monster's eyes as he vanished back into the air. "I practically raised that runt. I've always done what's best for him." He narrowed his eyes, a burning determination growing. "And I'm not about to stop now."
"Alright squirt, don't you think it's about time you get to bed?" Randall asked for probably the fifth time in the past hour. It was past the girl's bedtime, but Emma didn't seem to care, blissfully scribbling away at pieces of construction paper, and snipping patterns with scissors.
"How does this look?" She held it up to the monster.
He looked it over, narrowing his eyes and intentionally taking a while before saying anything. He shook his head in disapproval, and bit back a laugh at the girl's worried expression. "It looks just fine, kid. You've got a real nact for this kind of stuff."
She beamed. "Well I want to be a photographer, and I want to make scrapbooks. Actually, I think I want to have my own scrap booking business!"
Randall was amused. "Well that's great, kid, but with that kind of thing it's the customers that take the photos, not you." She looked even more confused and he bit his lip to keep from laughing. "You just put them in a book all professional."
"Well...I'll have a scrap booking business where I take the photos too!"
"So when people come in they'll tell you what photos they want you to take and you'll take them?"
"Exactly!"
At this he did laugh, shaking his head down at the little girl. "You're impossible." He cleared his throat and tried to be stern. "Okay, seriously, I want to get to bed and I'm not just going to let you run amok while I sleep. Put the photos away for now."
"Wait, wait!" She covered her supplies with her arms, as if to protect them. "I wanna do one more thing!" He sighed angrily, ready to drag her away by her feet, up until she shoved another page of the book in his face. "See? It's us."
He stared. It was the photo of them; Emma had her arms around his face, smushing it and trying to pull his pouting lips up into a grin as he tried to scowl at her. It was now in the shape of a heart, with blue lace frills along the edge of the shape. Underneath it was a small, jade square to write a caption in. "It...looks perfect, kid." The corner of his lips turned up into a slight smile, looking at its homemade depths.
"Thanks!" Her smile fell slightly. "I wish people in my world cared about my photos just as much as you do. My parents think I'm wasting my time, and Tina wants me to be in sports with her." Her nose wrinkled, eyes narrowing. "I know Tina thinks everything I do is a waste of time..."
The lizard got down on the floor with her, partially laying down. He looked at the child, noting the bitterness she always seemed to get on her gentle face when she mentioned her sister. It sort of reminded him of himself and Sullivan. "Again with the bitterness with Tina? Why can't you just let that go?"
"Well...what about you and Sulley?"
In that moment, Randall's drowsiness was shot and his eyes shot open. He shoved himself up onto his elbows to stare at her in horror. "What?" he nearly shouted. What had Sullivan told her about them?! Worse, how much of his past did she know about?
A little freaked out, Emma scooted back and shot him a confused frown. "Well, it's nothing really! I just notice you seem meaner with him. I mean, I know you're really grumpy with anyone, but you just seem worse with him is all."
Randall fell quiet for a moment, heaving a subtle sigh in relief. "We have some issues, that's all. Issues I don't feel like bringing up with you. I've got my reasons for not liking the guy."
"And I've got my reasons for not liking Tina," was Emma's answer. "But maybe you're right...It's time for us to let go of our issues. It's only gonna make us unhappy. Tina only tries to help, even though she ends up making things worse. We used to be friends and do everything together... And I mean, Sulley is letting you live here, isn't he? Maybe we...both should make an effort."
Randall mulled over this for a moment and looked down at Emma. She was falling asleep. "Alright twerp," he began, ignoring the question, "let's get you to bed." He reached out a hand, and a smaller one curled into it. The moment she stood, she stumbled onto her knees, a pained look on her face. "Kid?" He couldn't help the alarm that leaked into his tone.
"I'm fine," Emma muttered as she yawned and leaned into him. She still had that grimace on her face. "Just a little over tired..." Not wanting to chance another fall, Randall scooped her up into his arms, and made his way over to the couch he slept on. She was out before she even hit the cushions. Randall pulled the blankets over her and walked away—just as Sulley was coming out of his own room.
"Boy it took forever to get Boo and Jessie to sleep," the monster sighed. "They were so hyped up on sugar. Boo had a little bit more candy than I remember her having." He gave the reptile a slightly playful glare, but Randall merely shrugged.
"So Sanderson has a shrimp of his own... With another one roaming in our world, don't you think the chances of the CDA eventually finding them get higher? Or, that we'll keep a kid too long and they're taken away from their parents?
"Not as long as they're costumed." Then Sulley narrowed his eyes. "If Boo ever gets taken, I'll have them make a door for every house in the world if that's what it takes to find her. I'd circle the world for her."
Even though these past few weeks with Emma was beginning to give Randall a good understanding when Sulley mentioned doing something drastic for Boo, he still couldn't help but ask, "why?"
"Because that's what you do when you love someone, Randall. ...You don't let them go." He gave a small shrug and a little smile. The lizard was quiet for a moment, and he slowly glanced over to the sleeping nine year old on the couch.
"S...so I was thinking something," he began in a gruff tone, internally hating what he was about to do. But he knew that if Emma was going to make an effort with her sister, the right thing for him to do was try to make an effort as well. "I figure since now I guess we're living in the same apartment, and we're forced to see each other every day, and I'm rather forced to depend on you right now...maybe I shouldn't hate you, and I should try to get along with you..."
The monster's eyebrows shot up in shock as he looked down at the smaller monster. He was glaring at the ground in embarrassment. "What are you saying, you want to be friends?"
"No!" Randall instantly snapped, in a tone mean enough to make Sulley fall silent and purse his lips. His voice softened. "But, uh...I'm asking for us not to be enemies anymore."
The spotted monster shrugged and gave a wry smile. "I haven't looked at you as my enemy in a while now anyway Randall." He chuckled when the lizard stared at him in shock. "Think about it, you work in my company, you live in my house, I'm letting Boo be around you... It doesn't sound like the way you treat an enemy."
"Right, whatever... I guess what I'm asking for is a truce." He thought on what the monster just said. "Although I guess we already got to that point without announcing it."
Sulley smiled and held out a paw. Randall glared at it as if it was poisonous, before reluctantly taking it. "Truce then. Good-night, non-enemy."
The lizard rolled his eyes and made his way to the couch. "Good-night, you idiot."
The sky was a gentle purple mingled with a tinge of pink when Emma made her way down the dark halls. A few stars were still twinkling, the last of the moon barely illuminating her sister's door, before it slipped beyond the horizon.
Tina was already starting to stir around in bed as her room slowly brightened, the sun just beyond the hill. She heard her door creak, and she blearily looked up, eyes focusing and then staring in shock at who was in her room.
"Hey," Emma began quietly, shuffling slightly on her stocking feet. Tina felt panic grip her heart; Emma never came in to see her. Something had to be wrong.
"Emma?" she asked, voice still groggy with sleep. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"No, uh..." The younger sister hesitated and she gave a gentle, slightly bashful smile. "I thought maybe...we could go outside and watch the sunrise together. You know, like we used to when we were younger."
Tina just stared at her, waiting for some indication that this was obviously another one of her dreams formed from her yearning to have a relationship with her sister again. There was no way it could be real. "What?" she asked dumbly.
Emma laughed. "I said let's watch the sunrise together. But hurry up, or it'll be done by the time we get out there." She held a hand out to her sister, and Tina could only stare at it for a moment before slowly taking it.
She yelped as Emma practically jerked her out of the bed with a playful grin. Tina's own face cracked up into a delighted smile, and the two sisters ran, giggling out to the front door.