5After writing my saddest story in "Remorseful", it's time for another story on Mike and Randall's friendship and getting my favorite lizard monster forgiven and redeemed. I love Randall and I know you guys love him too, so let's have at some sweet wholesomeness between these two monsters!
~Broken and Forgiven~
It couldn't be real, could it? He had to be dead, no monster could survive that long in the human world, especially when they ensured that he could never return. They had left him for dead, but somehow, he managed to come back through a door.
"Randall's back..." uttered Mike to himself, looking down at the newspaper in his hands, both his hands shaking as he grasped onto the paper firmly.
Four months had passed since Randall's banishment and since then, Mike alongside Sulley discovered that laughter was ten times more powerful than screams and thus, the whole industry was completely revolutionized, with James P. Sullivan becoming the CEO of Monsters Inc., putting an end to the energy crisis.
Mike thought back to Randall, the creepy jerk of a lizard monster that tried to kill both of them. The jealousy and rivalry between Randall and Sulley, how the lizard always hated being the runner-up, furious that no matter how hard he tried, it was always second place for him. Just how much Randall hated the both of them with a passion.
Part of him was afraid that he's gonna need to sleep with a bat in hand just in case a very vengeful and evil lizard monster comes to murder him in his sleep. But another part of him just frowned as he read the contents in which Randall was found in, beaten and starved, possibly even near death. The hospital listed him in critical condition.
"I can't believe Randall's back. Four months in the human world? I'm surprised he's not dead!" remarked George, over at another table to his partner Charlie.
"You're telling me! I bet he's glad he doesn't have fur though." replied Charlie, thinking back to the times when he ended up getting George decontaminated by the CDA for touching human socks.
"I wonder though if he's gonna make it?" added George, taking a sip from his water.
Hearing that just made Mike's heart sink. Randall dying was possible, he could even die during the decontamination process. The smaller green monster sat the paper down and looked down at his food tray, he'd barely eaten during his lunch break. He wasn't really in the mood for eating. He didn't even feel motivated enough to get a kid to laugh.
Did Randall deserve any sympathy though? Mike's own conscience was split. Randall was a criminal and psychopath, involved in a conspiracy with the former CEO of the company to harvest screams by forcibly extracting them by kidnapping children. He even tried to kill them. But at the same time, Randall wasn't always this way. He used to be so warm and friendly, and dare he even say it, adorable too. It was tragic seeing Randall go from this warm and shy teenage lizard to a hateful and jealous criminal that wanted nothing more than to surpass his rival.
In the end, he and Sulley had defeated him. Sulley had grabbed the evil reptilian monster by the throat and with some encouragement from a certain green cyclops, they threw the begging and pleading Randall through a door into the human world, before destroying it and banishing him. It was the end of Randall Boggs and his criminal conspiracy had gone down the drain.
But before that and even before they joined the monster force at Monsters Inc., Mike and Randall weren't bitter enemies, they were best friends and roommates. Best chums, to Randall. The short yet sweet friendship they shared was pretty great. Randall was a great monster to spend time with and it made study sessions a breeze. But sadly, all good things had to come to end, unfortunately.
What happened during the Scare Games and the Scream Extractor conspiracy was horrible, but even worse, just how much it costed both Mike and Randall dearly.
Lunch break was ending soon, most of the other monsters had gone on back to the Laugh Floor. But Mike was just sitting alone at the table, absentmindedly picking at it the food, just as the twins Terry and Terri came along.
"Mike! Lunch's almost over." called out Terri. "What are you doing? You might be best friends with the boss, but even Sulley can't have slackers on the laugh floor, even if you do give him rides to work." Terry just folded his arms, though his brother wasn't cooperating.
"I'm not really in the laughing mood today. Got too much on my plate." commented Mike, keeping his eye on the plate.
The twins knew what was troubling Mike. Just about everybody in the company was talking about Randall. Terri had a sympathetic expression on his face. They knew Mike and Randall had a history, before either of them joined their respective fraternities. Terry didn't really want to get involved, Randall was a criminal, after all. But his brother was persistent on the matter.
"We know, it's Randall, Mike." came Terri, as Mike finally faced the twins. "If you need somebody to talk to, we're all horns for it."
Leaning forward, Terri and Terry each rested a hand on Mike's back to comfort him. "Listen, I don't really understand why you feel bad for the guy..." began Terry.
"...But we heard the doctors at the hospitals are allowing visitors now." finished Terri, trying to be a little more positive, for Mike. "Maybe you ought to go see him. He was your friend and maybe he might be happy to see a familiar face."
"Are you two crazy? He'd probably start screaming and coming after me to kill me!" babbled Mike, waving his arms around.
"Not if he's bedridden and possibly in handcuffs too!" interrupted Terry, laughing. Terri pushed his brother's head to shut him up. "I was just saying!"
"I wasn't happy about the prank and finding out all he did, but Randall's a monster like us! Even Fungus went to visit him and it seemed fine for him!" argued Terri with his brother, as Terry just grumbled and rolled his eye.
They recalled at Waternoose's trail when Fungus testified against him in court, the three-eyed red monster put all the blame solely on the former CEO. It turned out that both Randall and Fungus were nothing more than mere pawns in this sinister conspiracy. Randall was to be promised the top spot and become rich beyond his wildest dreams should the Scream Extractor had been successful. However, Randall worked his fingers to the bone, receiving little to no praise for his efforts, with the CEO only being concerned about the energy crisis and treating the lizard and his assistant as if they were slaves.
Fungus spoke of the long and brutal hours they worked on the project. How Randall would go without food and sleep for days at a time to ensure the project was completed, how the lizard monster just wanted to be accepted and not looked at as a joke to the other monsters. It angered Mike a great deal to hear that Waternoose constantly belittled Randall, saying that Sulley was twice the Scarer he'll ever be.
"It's just an idea, Mike." said Terri, as they got ready to leave. But before they left the cafeteria, Terri turned back around and spoke. "How about you do something nice for him, like bake him a cake or something? We'll tell Sulley you aren't felling well."
With that, the twins had left and Mike was alone to collect his thoughts.
"This is the worst idea I've ever had." Mike muttered to himself as he waited in the elevator. When it stopped at the fifth floor, he squeezed past a large red and purple furry monster with a clipboard in hand, and balancing a tray of cupcakes, meandered down the hallway, passing by numerous medical monster professionals.
There was that lingering thought in the back of his mind to turn back, get in the elevator, and head back to his car. But after a little talk with Fungus, Mike was at least somewhat relived to hear that Randall wasn't in any condition to get out of bed. So, at least he doesn't have to worry about Randall choking the life outta him, for now anyway.
From what Fungus had told him, Randall was vastly different from before. He wasn't consumed by hatred or jealously, he was rather sad and at times apathetic, almost always frowning and not even making any contact when Fungus tried to talk to him. He was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained, but also completely broken. The human world had broken him, not just his body.
Mike arrived at the door marked Room 326, which he knocked and entered. Randall weakly opened his eye and sighed. Mike almost dropped the cupcakes in shock; Randall was in worse shape than he realized. One of his eyes was bandaged over, his head was swathed in white bandages, with his three fronds drooping. Several of his arms and legs were in casts. Despite weeks in intensive care, he was still thin from lack of food and stress from decontamination. His scales were slightly pale and sickly, but still maintained that purple color he knew. Mike entered and as Randall attempted to say something, he just closed his mouth and watched.
"Hey, lizard boy." nervously chuckled Mike, greeting Randall. "Cupcake?"
What a stupid thing to say. He hadn't seen him in months and this is the best way he can greet Randall? At this point, he might just make Randall crack a chuckle at his corny way of greeting him.
"Wazowski? What are you even doing here?" questioned Randall, his voice weak and sickly. "Have you come here to watch me die? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the doctors say I'm stable for the moment."
Mike sighed and frowned, looking down at the tiled floor. There wasn't a trace of hostility in Randall's voice, he sounded broken, defeated, and just overall done. He walked over towards the bed, setting the cupcakes onto the bedside table, before taking a seat and making eye contact with Randall.
"Randall. I thought I'd drop by for a visit and see how the runner-up is doing." commented Mike, as Randall winced and narrowed his one good eye at that sentence. "Sorry..."
The look in Randall's eye concerned Mike. It wasn't the same cold and evil bitterness he saw months ago, it was as if the lizard was just staring right through him. It was nothing. He had no light, nor life in his eye. It was just emptiness.
"So, how you feeling?" asked Mike.
"Horrible!" snapped Randall, before growling as he faced Mike. "Thanks to you and Sullivan, I narrowly avoid being killed by some human with a shovel! I spent months hiding from the humans, running and hiding whenever I could, stealing any amount of food just to survive and keep going! Even when I had no strength left, I forced myself to keep going! It was only through sheer luck that I found a door connected to Monsters Inc. that I was finally able to find my way back home! You two nearly killed me by throwing me through that door!"
"Well, you did, you know, try to kill us!" Mike yelled, jumping up and standing in his seat.
"I didn't have a choice in the matter! There couldn't be any witnesses, Wazowski!" snapped Randall, before falling back onto the pillow in his bed.
Mike calmed down and sat back in his seat. Randall really didn't have any other options, it was now or never for him. He was in a lose-lose situation, regardless. Randall had every right to be angry with him over what happened during the Scream Extractor ordeal. Mike just looked at the ground in guilt, almost unable to look at Randall and realize he and Sulley were to blame for the lizard monster's predicament now.
"Yeah... I guess we didn't make things better. We knew the project you were working on was bad news and after seeing what it did to Fungus, we weren't gonna let you use that on Boo or any other child." replied Mike, looking back up at the lizard monster's face, wincing as he looked at the bandaged eye.
Randall sighed as he looked down at his sheets, clutching the bedding weakly in his hands. He hated Waternoose. The bastard treated him like garbage, promised him fame and wealth if he built the machine and kidnapped a test subject. He was overworked and underappreciated for his work. But at the same time, he wanted it to succeed so he wouldn't be a joke anymore.
"You did the right thing, Mike. You and Sullivan were right to banish me and leave me for dead." whispered Randall, as Mike's eye widened at the lizard calling him by his first name. "It would've hurt the kid if the machine was used on her."
Barely able to register what Randall said, Mike wasn't used to the lizard monster calling him by his first name. He hadn't called him Mike since they were best chums back in college. It was weird.
"Randall, I'm not here to condemn you or anything. I just wanted to come by and check up on you." revealed Mike, as Randall tilted his head at that.
"Why though? After all I've done to you and Sullivan? Abandoning you for those jerks to nearly trying to kill you. Why are you here?" questioned Randall, pondering on what the smaller green monster's motives could be.
Mike frowned. Getting through to Randall wasn't going to be easy, but he was going to be here for the lizard now. He assumed that Randall probably thought he was just here to mess with him and get a laugh out of his injured state, but that wasn't the case. He had long abandoned his hatred for the lizard monster.
"I'm sorry, Randall." Mike confessed, blinking a couple times as he felt tears begin to form.
Randall froze when he heard that. He blinked and looked to face Mike, taking notice of his glazed and teary eyed expression. It strangely pulled at his heart strings.
"What did you say?" asked Randall.
He had to say this. He was a terrible friend to Randall. Too caught up in himself to think about their friendship. He should've tried to talk to Randall before the whole thing with the Scare Games happened, even forgive him for the prank. Randall was owed an apology.
"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for being a terrible friend for you, not being the friend I should've been, holding a stupid grudge over that prank, and never reaching out to you to make things right. I'm sorry for ruining your cupcakes, for cracking jokes about you behind your back, and banishing you. You didn't deserve to be hurt. I was just so caught up in myself and desperate to prove myself to the Dean that I lost slight of what was truly important. I hated how Roar Omega Roar tossed you out. I wanted to undo so many of the mistakes I made when I hurt you." Mike finished, rubbing the back of his head. "I was never a good chum to you."
Throughout Mike's whole apology, Randall kept absolutely silent. It was awkward between them, it felt as if they were stuck in this hospital room for an eternity as he waited for Randall to say something, or anything to show he heard or understood. Finally, Randall spoke. "You were the one bright spot in my college years. The first and only friend I made, but then I just cracked under peer pressure and joined the popular kids. But I felt like I didn't belong. When we were roommates, I felt I belonged and that somebody actually liked me. But then... everything fell apart because of Sullivan."
"What happened to us, Randy?" asked Mike, using the lizard's nickname.
Randall winced at the mention of his nickname, but relaxed and looked over at Mike, as the smaller green monster reached out and placed a sympathetic hand on one of his hands that weren't bandaged.
"MU happened. And of course, Sullivan." spat Randall, feeling Mike giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
Things could've been so different if Sullivan hadn't entered the picture and neither of them had joined fraternities. Randall hated Sullivan not just for humiliating him at the Scare Games, but for always being on top, no matter what. But most of all, he hated Sullivan for taking his only friend away from him.
"I guess we both were real idiots back then." chuckled Mike, as Randall joined in shortly after.
It just felt good to laugh, even if they were poking jabs at each other, though playful. They were pretty stupid though, probably even dumber than Sullivan.
"So, what now?" asked Randall, tilting his head and his fronds raised.
"What do you mean?" questioned Mike.
"You just apologized to me and stuff and I opened up my emotions to you. Are we no longer enemies, Mike?" asked Randall. "Is it possible for us to be friends again?"
Mike paused. Randall had a point, just what were they now? Could they be best chums again? Was a friendship between them even salvageable? But at the same time, Randall had nobody, he was an outcast and really had nobody. He needed somebody in his life, someone to be there for him and care about him.
"I would like that, lizard boy. But I want us to remain best chums, no falling out and stuff this time around." came Mike, a genuine smile on his face, as Randall's face softened and a smile began forming on his face. "I want us to be friends for good!"
Mike saw Randall smile, but the lizard monster quickly hid it as he looked down again. Something else was on the lizard monster's mind and it seemed to be upsetting.
"Randall...?" asked Mike, concerned.
The banishment must've been utter hell for Randall, it was a miracle that he managed to survive for as long as he did and make his way back through a door. He was a very resourceful monster. Alone and the runner-up to somebody he could never top, Randall didn't have an easy time. Whatever was on the lizard's mind seemed to be very painful, as if he reliving memories from a nightmare. Then, Randall began talking.
"That time I spent surviving in the human world was hell for me." breathed Randall, his tail curling around himself as a way to comfort himself as he remembered his banishment. "I was beaten and tortured by the humans, chased and bitten by animals, just running for my life most of the time as I avoided being hunted down like some animal. I harbored so much hatred for you and Sullivan. I plotted ways to kill the both of you if I ever somehow managed to return... but then... I just gave up. I let go of my hatred. I gave up on my bitterness and anger. I gave up on revenge..." said Randall, trying to keep his voice from quivering.
Mike squeezed Randall's hand a bit more, as a way to reassure the lizard monster it's okay. But he was concerned for him, none the less.
"I just wanted to die. I felt the world was better off without me." revealed Randall, as Mike gasped in response. "I tried killing myself multiple times."
Mike looked over at the lizard monster's arms that weren't bandaged or wrapped in casts, seeing numerous faint dark purple scars that were in small straight lines across his arms. He took notice of a couple more scars like the one on the right side of his face, along with another one that went almost all the way down his back. He could tell the ones on the arms were from suicide attempts and it broke Mike to see Randall get to the point of depression and being suicidal.
A new feeling crept over Mike and he couldn't keep the tears held back anymore. They freely fell from his eye, landing on the seat he's sitting in, as he sniffled and cried at hearing the horrifying details of Randall's banishment. He felt the guilt becoming too much for him. At this moment, he didn't care if it was awkward, he wanted to hug Randall and not let him go.
"I really am a terrible monster, Randall. I should've been banished instead of you." whispered Mike, sniffling as Randall's fronds perked up.
"Will you not beat yourself up over this?" frowned Randall, before squeezing Mike's hand. "I know it wasn't your fault. You were just doing the right thing while I was being used as nothing more than hired help. I just... I wanted to be accepted and have friends. I wanted to show everyone that Randall Boggs could be somebody."
"I guess you and I are more alike in that regard." remarked Mike, as Randall scoffed and turned away.
"We're very different." commented Randall.
Mike just laughed, and slowly, Randall joined in. He relaxed and laid comfortably in his bed, as he just felt content having someone with him.
"Seriously, though, cupcake?" motioned Mike, grabbing the tray. Randall looked at the cupcakes, seeing an oddly familiar feeling wash over him as he see the cupcakes each bore a letter than spelled out 'Be My Pal' in icing.
A sense of nostalgia overcame Randall. He just chuckled and smiled at Mike, who just smelled back at him and handed him a cupcake.
"You're such a loser, Mike." remarked Randall, peeling back the wrapper and taking a bite. "But I'm happy to have my old chum back."
"Well, I'm glad you're back, Randy. Welcome back." chuckled Mike, grabbing a cupcake himself and taking a bite. "Don't eat too fast, wild man."
"Heh, wild man." chuckled Randall, shrugging as he rolled his eye just as he noticed Mike get up from his seat.
Mike walked over to the bed, before grabbing the metal rails and climbing up, climbing into the bed with Randall. Before the lizard could say anything, the smaller green monster sat beside him on the bed, before putting an arm comfortably around Randall and looking at him warmly.
"What are you doing, Mike?" asked Randall.
"Just thought I'd make up for lost time, lizard boy." remarked Mike, laughing as he leaned close to Randall. "Besides, I don't have anything better to do, so how about I spend the day with you and sit beside you."
Randall just smiled and wrapped his tail around Mike as a way to show his affection, both of them laughing as they enjoy the cupcakes. Grabbing the remote, he flipped on the TV and relaxed into the bed with his smaller green monster by his side, all forgiven and a friendship mended.
The end.
Can I marry Randall? I love writing stories about Mike and Randall and then forgiving each other and becoming friends again. Nothing would make me happier than to be with Randall, to love him, to hold him in my arms, caress his scales and stay close to him as I comfort him. I think I'd be a great friend to Randall, do you? Anyway, let me know what you thought of my latest story, and don't forget to review, favorite, and follow! Feedback is appreciated! RandallBeast19, taking flight!
