Chapter 5

Sulley and Mike stood, open-mouthed at what they had just seen. Neither of them could think of anything to say. "One day, your faces are gonna freeze like that," Randall said.

"So," Purple Wonder said, with a slightly flirtatious smile, "Banishing him was a good idea, was it, hmmm?"

Neither of them said anything.

"This conversation is seeming very one-sided," Purple Wonder observed, tonelessly.

"Yes it was!" Mike snapped, "I say we banish him again!"

"Really?" Purple Wonder raised her eyebrows, "This could be the chance to revolutionize the factory, and you want to chuck it all away? Not what I would do."

Silence.

"Ugh, could we cut the silence and just get on with our plan?" groaned Randall, rolling his eyes.

"Good idea," Purple Wonder pursed her lips.

"Now if you'll excuse us, Sullivan, Wazowski, we need to get through," Randall pushed the two monsters aside and headed for the exit. Purple Wonder dropped Boo on the floor and headed after him. Then she stopped and looked back at Sulley and Mike.

"Oh, and if you were, by any chance, thinking about doing anything to our machine," Purple Wonder said, smoothly.

Shoving her hand into her shiny shoulder bag, she plucked out another remote control, except this one had a green button on it.

Beep.

A transparent wall of shiny green light materialized out of thin air between Sulley, Mike and Boo, and the Extractor and control panel. "I wouldn't touch it if I were you," she said, smoothly, "It's a forcefield." She gave them another flirtatious wink, and headed out of the lab after Randall.

Boo giggled, and ran after them, but Sulley kept a firm grip on her. He didn't trust them one little bit. But then again...

"Sull, what do you think?" Mike asked, nervously.

"What?"

"About Randall. D'you think he's up to something?" Mike carried on, "And that girl. Purple Wonder. She's so weird."

Sulley thought about it. Despite the chaos of Randall's early plot, there didn't seem to be any evil intentions within this. "I suppose they just remade that machine," Sulley said, heavily, "It's not like it's gonna hurt anyone."

"Sull, what're you saying!?" Mike exclaimed, "It's Randall!"

"Boo seems to trust them," Sulley answered, thoughtfully, "And I trust her."

"Fine," Mike muttered, "Come on, let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps." They walked towards the secret exit.

The lizard and the purple girl strode through the corridors of Monsters, Inc.

"So how're we gonna pull this off?" Purple Wonder asked.

"Everyone comes back from lunch about now, " Randall answered, knowledgeably, "And they don't start scaring again for a while. So everyone will be on the Scare Floor-I mean the Laugh Floor-right about now."

"Great," Purple Wonder grinned.

Randall stopped, abruptly. "Hey...maybe you should..." Randall started, uneasily, "...You know, camouflage yourself again, until we get there. Seeing a girl in Monsters, Inc...it'll be a bit..."

"A lot to take in," Purple Wonder agreed. She tied her purple sash around her head and vanished into the background. Randall squinted. He couldn't see anything. But when they started walking again, he could see a faint outline of a girl.

"Hey!" A voice sounded from behind them. They looked round. Sulley, Mike and Boo were following them.

"Just to warn you, buddy," Mike said to Randall, "Any funny stuff, and there are plenty of other places we can banish you!"

"You clearly haven't changed at all, Wazowski," Randall muttered.

"Neither have you!" snapped Mike, "So where did that girl go?"

"You mean Purple Wonder?" Randall said, sweetly, "I don't know."

Purple Wonder smirked as she walked invisible beside Mike. Go on, she urged herself, Do it! Suddenly, Purple Wonder stuck her foot out in front of Mike. "Whooaah!" cried Mike, as he tripped over Purple Wonder's leg, and rolled over the floor like a bowling ball and hit the wall.

Purple Wonder and Randall burst out laughing! "What was that!?" exclaimed Mike, looking wildly around, but of course, he couldn't see anything.

"Must've been the wind," smirked Randall, and he and Purple Wonder walked off, laughing.

As Randall walked into the laugh floor, he winced. It was filled with balloons and and practical joke equipment. Confetti sprinkled from the ceiling.

"A little over the top, isn't it?" Purple Wonder said, disapprovingly.

"Randall?" a voice sounded. Randall looked round. A red monster with three eyes was standing there with his mouth wide open.

"Hey there, Fungus," Randall answered, distractedly, "It's been a while."

"How...when..." Fungus struggled to speak, "You're back."

"Yes," Randall said, flatly, "I'm back. The Scare Floor looks a little different, doesn't it?"

"It's the Laugh Floor now." Fungus said, excitedly, "We're all comedians now. It's so fun. Are you going to be a comedian too?"

Randall pulled a face. "Me? A comedian? Ugh. No way."

"So how come you're back?" Fungus asked, nervously.

Randall folded his arms and grinned. "Remember the Scream Extractor?"

"You mean that machine we invented a few months ago?" Fungus remembered.

"Whatcha mean we!?" snapped Randall, "That was me! I invented that machine! You were just my assistant!"

"Oh yes, of course, it was you, not me at all, silly me, it was..." babbled Fungus, jumping in fright.

Randall chuckled. "Well, if you want to know why I'm back, then stick around," he grinned. He walked past Fungus and into the Laugh Floor. As all the monsters noticed him, the whole room fell quiet. Whispers like "It's him!" or "Randall!" or "He's back!" filled the room.

"Go on," Purple Wonder pestered from beside him, "Do your thing!"

Randall took a breath. "Hi everyone," he said, uneasily, "I see that things are being done a little differently these days. This is the Laugh Floor now."

Everybody nodded, fervently. "Well," Randall carried on, "When I was banished, I had some help coming back." He looked directly to the left. "And now I'm going to make things better." He took a breath. "Purple Wonder, if you'll take off your disguise."

The monsters looked bewildered for a moment, but Purple Wonder untied her sash from her forehead and the monsters saw her appear next to Randall. All the monsters gasped in horror as the saw the purple girl! "It's a girl!" one screamed! "A HUMAN GIRL! RUUUUUN!" Monsters scattered everywhere, screaming and shouting.

"WILL YOU GUYS KNOCK IT OFF!" screamed Randall, over all the commotion, "SHE'S NOT A HUMAN! JUST SIT STILL AND SHUT UP!"

All the shouting stopped abruptly. "Thank you, Randall," Purple Wonder said, then looked at the monsters, "I'm not a human. I know I look like one, but I'm just a girl. A girl, but not a human girl. I'm a 'gifted'."

"Very gifted," added Randall, to emphasize.

"Randall and me have invented something that will blow Monsters, Inc. out of the water!" Purple Wonder announced, with a slightly evil-looking grin, "If you want to see, follow me."

Taking out her red remote, once more, Purple Wonder pressed the red button, and a swirling vortex of colours materialized next to her. The monsters' eyes widened. "It's just a portal," Randall said, flatly, "It's like a door. If you want to see, come with us." The lizard and the girl strode into the portal, and the monsters in the room, including Sulley, Mike and Boo, who had just come in, followed them.

"Say hello to the Laugh Extractor," Randall announced, smugly, giving it a tap on the nozzle.

"It can extract Laugh as fast as lightning, while not harming the child at all," Purple Wonder added, "Flip it up, Randall." She sat down in the seat, and crossed her legs. Randall winked at her, and flipped the switch. The Extractor started to make its strange whirring sound again, and the nozzle started to move. The monsters watched with wide eyes. Purple Wonder shut her eyes, and smiled contentedly, as the nozzle moved towards her face.

Helpless giggles echoed around the pipe room, as tears streamed from Purple Wonder's eyes as she laughed uncontrollably. The laugh canisters were filling up like magic. Quickly, Randall scurried over to the canisters, and began frantically swapping them for empty ones, and even those filled up within seconds. "OK!" giggled Purple Wonder, "That should be enough! Ha ha ha!"

Randall flipped the switch again, and the Extractor gave a hiss and removed the nozzle from Purple Wonder's mouth. She quickly stood up.

"Laugh Extractors could multiply the amount of power you have now by hundreds," Purple Wonder announced. The sound of enthusiastic applause echoed round the pipe room. "Then why don't we get started?" Randall grinned at Purple Wonder. She winked.

"Well," grinned Purple Wonder, "It's certainly made a difference."

The lizard and the girl were sitting in the Laugh Floor, watching the effects of their ingenious invention take place. Helpless giggles echoed from every door on the Laugh Floor! Laugh canisters filled up within seconds! Monsters strode jauntily out of doors, with hugely successful looks on their faces.

It was three weeks from when they had revealed the laugh Extractor to Monsters, Inc, and the two pals had taught the monsters how to build them. Now there was a huge difference in the power!

"I don't know," Randall said, modestly, "Things seem more or less the same to me."

"Well, take a look at those points," grinned Purple Wonder, jabbing her thumb up at the scoreboard. The name Randall Boggs was all the way up at the top, with Purple Wonder beneath it. "You're all in the up-and-up now."

"I couldn't have done it without you," Randall said.

"Oh, sure you could," Purple Wonder replied, waving her hand, dismissively, "Well, probably not," she admitted, and gave a short laugh. Randall laughed too.

"Thank you for helping me, Purple Wonder," he said.

Purple Wonder blushed. She paused for a second. "Lucia," she said, quietly.

"What?" Randall said.

"That was my real name," Purple Wonder admitted, shyly, "I used to be a real girl. My name was Lucia."

"Really?" Randall asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Purple Wonder answered, "Then I became a 'gifted', and Purple Wonder was born. I thought I should tell you."

Randall looked at his friend in surprise. "Well, thank you for helping me, Lucia." he said.

"Hey, what are friends for!?" Purple Wonder exclaimed, giving him an affectionate punch on the arm. Randall hit her back, playfully. Then something in his mind clicked.

Friends...