Woo hoo! It's time for a sequel! I've had this in mind for ages and ages and it's high time I wrote it.

This will be a friendship/family/drama-type story, all about Randall and his gang of formerly-banished friends trying to re-integrate into the Monster World. There are still lots of loose ends to tie up, what with the death of Suzie, Becca's depression, and Randall still trying to redeem himself with mixed results.

To any new readers, I highly suggest reading my first Monsters story, since this sequel will contain a TON of references to it, as well as flashbacks. To old readers, I recommend re-reading the last few chapters of HW: An Adventure, just to refresh your memory of where we left off. :) This will not be as long as the first, but I'll put just as much effort into it. I hope you enjoy it!

The Monster World: New Beginnings

Prologue

Randall was lounging up in the branches of his tree with worried and aggravated thoughts running through his head.

Had they really been back for almost a month, already? It sure didn't feel like it. Perhaps this was all some realistic, prolonged dream that was going on. But it wasn't. Not for the first time since returning, Randall bit the inside of his cheek to test if the dream would end—nope. Still here. He stretched out a little before reclining back on the branch, trying to sort out his thoughts.

The tree he was in was not a moss-draped tree like the ones back in the swamps, nor one of the colossal pines of a forest. No. He was in his own backyard. A hedge fenced off the surrounding neighbors, but the tree was even taller, offering a place to climb up to when he wanted some time alone. The thick leaves hid him rather well to offer a bit of privacy, but he still had a good view of the sky and of the surroundings below.

It was early—the sun was only just peeking into view. Sunlight glinted off the neighbors' rooftops already, signaling a new day in Monstropolis. A spring breeze whistled and a few fire-breathing birds could be heard squawking, mixed with the distant sound of the occasional car driving by. One of the neighbors had left a kitchen window open, and the clatter of dishes and a radio broadcast drifted out into the early morning air.

These extra noises Randall wasn't used to. It certainly was strange to be hearing them again. After living in the Human World for the last two years, routine sounds in Monstopolis were weird after all this time. The extra noise wasn't helping his state of mind, though…he wanted some peace and quiet so as able to figure out how he would handle today's upcoming events. There was a lot on his mind at the moment.

The sunrise was calming, at least. All yellow, gold, and pink, mixed with the still-dark-blue sky as the night came to its end. Back in the swamps, Randall often watched sunrises like this. When he had been banished and off on his own, it was usually overlooking a swamp. But during the time with his fellow banished outcasts, the scene would often change. The sunrise could be on a beach, in the countryside, or over the forest treetops. They had been overlooking places in France and Spain, or on a ship in the middle of the ocean. One sunrise Randall had watched from the cliffs of Iceland…he didn't want to think about that particular time, though, and tried to steer his mind away from it.

It had only been a month since returning, and he and his fellow banished monsters were trying to figure out where to go from here. Personally, Randall thought they were all off to a rough start—well, except for him. For the last few weeks, he had been working on the maintenance crew at Monsters, Inc., and finding time for a few secret projects on the side. Not long ago, he had constructed a door that led out to Iceland—No! Don't think about that.

The thought of that place made him want to jump out of the tree. It was just one of the things on his mind; some bothered him more than others.

One thing was the fact that he was still not on good terms with his family. The initial reunions with them had gone well, but ever since returning, Randall hadn't seen very much of his father. Dr. Zachariah Boggs was a hard-working astrophysicist who was a man of high expectations and extremely difficult to please. Randall had been out of his father's life for so long that it was hard to know how to earn his respect and approval. Returning to the factory was perhaps an odd choice; that's where this whole mess had started. But his father hadn't said anything about it so far…Not yet, anyway.

Luckily Samuel was here to try and help. His elder brother was an annoying brainiac, but a good listener and giver of advice. (Randall suspected it had something to do with his degree in psychology.) So sometimes it was a convenience, having him around. The brothers often argued, but living in the same house was sort of forcing them to get along, one day at a time. With Sam acting as a bridge between Randall and their father, hopefully things would mend within the Boggs' clan. But it would take a lot of effort.

Randall crossed his arms and looked over at the greenish-grey walls of the house. Having to share the place…humph…not what I imagined would happen when I came back.

It was a small, one-story house with an upstairs loft that served as his nephew's bedroom. He was just above eye-level with the window, where the four-year-old was undoubtedly still sleeping.

This was a thing Randall had mixed feelings about. During his absence, Sam and Rex had moved in, just like that! While banished, he hadn't enjoyed the time of solitude, before running into other banished monsters. But now that they were all back, to suddenly have to share with estranged family? It wasn't an ideal situation. But he supposed he didn't have a choice. At least he had a roof over his head, and was learning to get along with his brother and nephew—well, more like learning to tolerate them.

"Things could be worse, I guess." He shrugged, trying not to complain. The others had their own sets of problems to deal with, too. Some of them had it far worse than he did.

Bernard Brennen had it the easiest out of all of them. Reunited with family—some he hadn't even known about—and with a now-profitable fishing business, the Brennen household was vast and luxurious. Bernard had the good fortunes practically handed to him on a silver platter. Most monsters would enjoy all of that. But Bernard was a humble, down-to-earth man, and he found the changes to be very great and overwhelming. There was still a lot to adjust to. His new life was sure to be good, but he couldn't very well enjoy it with rest of the gang so despondent. The death of one of their own was still looming over them all…

Naomi Jackson was thrilled to be back home. She was a little older then Randall, and he remembered her from college days, but she still acted like a teenager to some extent. The experience in the Human World had given her a greater appreciation for the little things in life. Now living with her mother, she was at a loss as to what to do now that she was back in Monstropolis. Lately she had been filling her days with socializing, shopping and other useless pastimes, much to her friends' chagrin. Always the complainer, and used to getting her own way, she was still the same old Naomi—though maybe not as stuck on herself as before. Over the last few months, she had become closer friends with Becca, trying to filling the sisterly void that Becca missed.

Randall climbed a little higher, wanting to lounge on a different branch to stare at the clouds. His thoughts became very sad all of a sudden. Becca…her only family was dead and he was the one to blame.

Rebecca McKeen had taken up residence at Bernard's place for now, in one of the guest suites of the massive house. The last few weeks had been hard for her; she was back in the Monster World, while her sister was dead and buried back in the Human World. Not long ago, she had refused to come out of her room for days and just poured over old photographs without the heart to argue, boss around, or make some sarcastic remark at her friends. Seeing her like this was a bit disturbing. The older monster Bernard was kind, and had always treated the girls like his own daughters; he felt like the closest thing she had to a parent. But it just wasn't the same. The others were growing more worried about her by the day. They all longed to see her back to her old self: a tough, no-nonsense woman who rarely let anyone see her soft side.

Her depression was only growing…Randall felt obligated to make things right, but yet again, wasn't sure how. If only he had never come up with that stupid plan of stowing away on a ship! The accident would never have happened, and all of them would have made it home!

He still felt responsible for Suzanne McKeen's death. Despite his efforts to save her, she had still slipped away; died in her sleep from her injuries without a word in the cliffs of Iceland. She had been too young to go. Always so cheerful and optimistic that it simply wasn't fair for her life to end so soon. The guilt was eating him alive, like it had been ever since that terrible day. Bernard and Naomi kept saying the same thing: it wasn't his fault. But he knew better. The series of events leading up to the accident was, anyway.

Becca had taken the news very hard. She hadn't forgiven him at first. With the death of her only family, Randall didn't blame her. The two of them patched things up in the end—he suspected that watching over Suzie during her final hours was what gave Becca reassurance: that her sister had passed away peacefully and not alone.

But Suzie was still gone.

She had died months ago, within a long chain of events that had led up to all banishments everywhere being lifted…but she would never be coming home.

Randall sat upright on the branch, tired of all this reminiscence. The others kept on saying that it wasn't his fault…But he didn't really believe them. Deep down, he was positive Becca still blamed him. How could she not? Knowing that he was forgiven did not make his guilt go away. Suzie's death, as well as everyone's reaction to it, had had a profound effect on him.

The whole experience in the Human World had…

Being out there had taught him about learning from his past mistakes; the difference between right and wrong. He had learned there was more to life than meets the eye and his fellow banished monsters had helped him to realize that. Randall had not admitted it to anyone, but he thought of them as friends for life. During his time with the group of survivors, they had taught him about watching each other's backs, and about being there for each other. Yet he still had much to learn. He was still notoriously short-fused and was forever impatient.(But he was working on that.) Already Bernard, Naomi and Becca saw him as a friend, so that was a start. They all had new lives to begin, and he vowed to help them through it no matter what.

He tried to focus on something less stressful, for today was bound to be rough. All of these things—Suzie's death, his family troubles, and his friends' individual challenges—were not what was making him extra anxious this morning. The reason he was still perched up in his backyard tree was this: the simple thought of going to work today.

For this was bound to be the day he would run into the two monsters who had thrown him into the Human World in the first place.

The sudden banishment had been illegal, but in a way had been a good thing to happen. He never would have met Bernard, Naomi, and the McKeen sisters otherwise. Meeting them had truly been the start of a new life for which he was grateful.

But the thought of seeing James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski again filled him with dread. "What a fun meeting that will be." He mumbled. "What am I going to say when they see me? 'Hey there, remember me? Wanna know what I've been up to?' Like that'll go over well…"

Although he deserved the punishment for what he had done in the past, he still harbored a lot of resentment towards those two. For weeks, the newspapers had been full of re-telling of the banished monsters' adventures. None of their names had been printed—only fake initials—but Randall knew the big blue buffoon and his green beach-ball sidekick would piece together the story. "They may be idiots, but they're not completely stupid."

The reason he hadn't yet bumped into them thus far was because many of the factory employees took their spring/summer vacation times around this time of the year. Today was the day Sullivan and Wazowski were due to arrive back at work. Randall considered phoning in sick just to avoid them. "Maybe if I just went about my day like they weren't even there…?"

An odd fear came over him: once they realized that he had indeed returned, they might toss him through another door…"Wait a second; all banishments are lifted! They couldn't do that even if they wanted to!...Could they?...Maybe they won't even recognize me..."

His scales still retained some of their deep-purple tan, and there were many scars all over his body that would never fade. Permanent reminders of what he had been through…It was true he was looking a bit different now. All that time hunting and fighting alligators had given him some lean muscle and many bite-marks. A particularly massive patch of scar tissue on his abdomen was courtesy of the gunshot wound that had nearly killed him. The long mark on his face came from getting hit by that shovel on day one. Sometimes he wore his glasses to work; if he did so today, maybe Sullivan and Wazowski really wouldn't recognize him. "It's worth a shot..."

Randall decided to stay up in the tree a bit longer. A few more minutes of relaxing in the sunrise couldn't hurt. There was so much going on in his life right now and he needed to figure things out, one at a time. Back in the Human World, Suzie had saved his life while he was recovering from that gunshot wound. It was then when he had resolved to try and redeem himself; prove that anyone could change. He had always been very determined. After all, not many monsters were given a second chance.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It looked like his nephew had just woken up. The drapes in the loft window were pushed aside and a single orange frond appeared, since Rex was too short to see out. Randall watched with amusement as Rex jumped a few times, his head popping into view like a jack-in-the-box. The kid then disappeared into the room to find a chair to climb on.

Randall himself blended into a leafy-green pattern to better hide in the tree. This was becoming a morning ritual: he'd stay camouflaged up here, while Rex tried to spot him. (Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't.) In the Human World, Randall had always slept in trees; he'd gotten so used to it that the habit had yet to be broken. He huddled between the leafy branches, as still as possible on the bark to match the foliage perfectly.

About a minute later, Rex pointed out, "I see you! Right there, near the top!"

As per the game's end, Randall reverted to purple and waved to his nephew half-heartedly. He wasn't much in the mood for games. Rex didn't seem to notice, though, and promptly left the window to head downstairs. "The things I do to keep that kid entertained." Randall mumbled. If Rex was up, then Samuel was sure to be as well. The morning routine had begun, which meant the day was off to a fair start.

"Ugh…I wish I could just skip today altogether." Randall let out a frustrated groan and began the descent from the tree. Time to face the inevitable…weather he wanted to or not.

Yes, I know having Randall meet Sully and Mike once again is pretty typical for Randall fics, but this story will not be focusing on that whatsoever. This story is all about Randall, his family, and the rest of the gang. There will be surprises galore in this add-on to my first Monsters story, and I hope you tag along for the tale! :)