And now...we reach our final chapter...for those who have continued to read this all the way from the beginning, I thank you for sticking with me all this way, I honestly was never sure if I would finish this fiction but I'm glad to see that I did. You guys really helped me keep up my motivation to continue on it. We are also seeing a slight bit of cliffhanger near the end, I do have a sequel planned but after working very hard on this, I'm definitely going to take a breather before starting the next fiction. So...MI characters belong to Disney/Pixar, my characters are mine, and lyrics property of Evanescence.

Chapter Twenty Three

My wounds cry for the grave! My soul cries for deliverance! Will I be denied? Christ! Tourniquet! My suicide!

-Evanescence

Waternoose seemed to be lost, unlike Scourge who knew his way through this place easily, the older monster had no clue! He then wandered into an open space within the zoo, seeing the dark night sky above him. Then he noticed that there was a strange horse statue or he thought it was some type of horse but then it moved, stepping down from it's base. He couldn't believe who it was, "Emmanuel?"

"How dare you call me by my first name, Henry! After what you had done to me so long ago, you do not have the right!"

"And you do", he asked him, "It's been a long time if I recall."

Stallion glared at him, "Yes, it's been nearly fifty years since we last seen each other…for humans that is clearly a short lifetime but for us, almost like a few days passing."

"How have you been all this time?"

Stallion had now lost interest in talking and that became so clear, Waternoose smiled, "Let me guess, you're here to stop me?"

"Yes…very much so." Stallion prepared himself in a fighting stance as Waternoose started to crack his knuckles, doing the same.

Lillian, Brendan, and Morgana were right outside the fence to the old West Port Zoo. When Brendan came looking for Candi, he couldn't find her anywhere so he went to Randall's place but couldn't find him either. When he tried to search for Weasel, his last resort was turning to the other banished monsters. With a little cooperation, he had found one that had spotted Candi and another monster heading to the zoo but Brendan wasn't going alone. He went over to Lillian's and told her of what he heard, they called up Morgana who was able to sneak out and meet them there. When they climbed down the hill and into the zoo's entrance gates, they could see how massive the park was.

"Shit, where are we supposed to start in this place?" Brendan questioned.

"Guess we start down the middle path and go from there." Morgana suggested.

The three started walking as they peered inside old exhibits and cages but didn't see anything. Then they walked by the reptile exhibit but froze, was Candi in there with those three other monsters? The kids ran back and saw that they were in there but Randall was nowhere to be seen. The kids noticed that a key was inside the door's lock and opened it, running in as quickly as they could. Candi was so surprised to see them and rushed over to give Brendan a huge hug!

"How did you guys know we were here?" Sulley asked.

"Word on the street", Lillian explained, "Where's Randall?"

"He used that to get out of here since we were kind of stuck." Mike explained, pointing at the opening in the wall.

"You guys, we need to do something about the camaras." Fungus shouted.

The kids looked up to see that they were recording, "Hey Morgana, think you can shut them off", Lillian asked.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Good, you guys go do that, I'm going to see if I can find Randall and make sure he's okay." Lillian told them. She took off down the pathway in hopes that she would find where Randall could have exited to get out of the exhibit.

Randall had made it out but finding Scourge wasn't so simple, the size of the park allowed the wolf plenty of spaces to hide. Then he saw near a set of bushes was Weasel, the small monster was hurt. He was practically dragging his leg but then he saw Randall approach him, "He went that way!"

"Weasel, you're hurt, I have got to-."

"No", Weasel shouted, "I'll be fine, Scourge is up ahead but he's not staying in one spot for too long, you need to get to him and stop him before he ditches this place!"

"Alright but when I'm done, I will come back for you." Weasel watched as Randall ran towards the direction that he had come from.

He kept going, kept telling himself that as long as he kept up his speed, he could catch up to the mangy wolf. He soon found his way outside of an old snack bar, garbage and trash around his feet. Randall had to stop, take a quick breath, he had to just take a moment before continuing on…but then he heard a low growl. It was familiar but it wasn't from Scourge, he knew where it was coming from. The monster looked behind himself to see that Butch was standing on a brick wall that wrapped around one of the old exhibits. The Doberman knew where he was going, the dog understood well what the monster was going to do. Butch's growls got louder as he bared his fangs, then suddenly he jumped off the brick and ran full speed at the monster.

Randall tried to brace himself but he underestimated the dog's strength as Butch leaped onto him and clamped down on his arm. The dog now tried to pull and tear at him, Randall tried pushing the dog against another wall but he refused to let go. Then he tried again but this time rammed him into another structure, Butch released with a quick yelp. Then after he started to pant, he tried again but Randall wasn't strong enough to brace this attack. The dog had pulled him down to the ground, he struggled to keep the dog from biting and ripping apart his face. This was all too familiar, this was what had happened when Butch had first received the scar upon his eye. Randall looked around, trying to find anything to use as a weapon, not caring what but then he saw it, it was an old rusty knife. Randall was struggling to grab the blade with one hand while he kept his other three at keeping the dog at bay. With whatever energy he had, he kicked off the damn dog, in that instant he had the blade in his hand. Butch immediately recovered and made his leap, Randall pulled up the knife and held it in his grip. Time seemed to slow down, stand still even but then Butch made contact.

Randall slowly opened his eyes and saw that the dog had seemed frozen, the dog's breathing slowed as he looked down at the monster. Butch realized what had happened…it was over…he tried to serve and protect his master and he failed…a crime that couldn't be forgiven. Randall looked into the dog's eyes, they suddenly closed as the dog's body slowly became limp. For a moment, all he could hear was his own breathing and he felt something wet on his hands. Frightened, he pushed the dog off of him, Butch's body hit the ground and slightly rolled over to reveal what had happened. The knife was lodged in his chest, blood was flowing from the wound, it was on Randall's hands. The monster instantly shot to his feet, hysterical as he approached the dog, he was tempted to place a hand upon the body but decided against it. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. The monster felt sick, he couldn't stay here, not any longer…not after this. He picked up Scourge's scent as he ran away from that scene…the scene of loyalty that had died within minutes.

Morgana had shut off the camaras from inside the reptile exhibit, next she was working on deleting the tape and it's footage. She looked at the camaras, even though they weren't recording physically, they were still showing what was happening in the zoo. She noticed something strange upon another camara, "Hey…what's going on?"

Sulley looked at the footage that she was referring to, he saw Waternoose on the ground as Stallion stood towering over him.

"There's Waternoose! Can you find out where that's recording from?"

Morgana wiped clean the label below the monitor, "It says left of visitor center. That's near the main buidling when you enter!"

The monsters immediately ran from the room, since Waternoose was down for the moment, they had to take this opportunity to catch him while they could. Lillian then looked at another monitor, she saw Weasel limping right past the reptile exhibit, "Shoot, the little guy is torn up!"

"I'll go get him, Candi come on!" Brendan ordered.

That just left Morgana all by herself but then she saw on another monitor the image of a dog on the ground and a shadow that could be seen coming in that direction. Scourge had decided to take an alternate route to backtrack to the main security room. Waternoose was taking too long to get the tape, for all he knew, the old man had gotten his ass lost! Then he smelled the blood, he could smell the death as he saw a body upon the ground…it was the body of Butch.

"Butch?" he questioned.

He slowly walked towards the body, and then he could see it, the puddle of blood, the knife in his heart. The monster placed a claw upon the dog's side, he was cold and wasn't breathing. He couldn't believe it, his most loyal dog, the lead of his pack…was dead. The feeling of knowing that the dog laid there dead was too much…Scourge normally didn't give a damn about his pack but Butch was different. Butch had shown from the beginning that he had the drive and the will to serve him, he was loyal. Then he picked up a scent…it was Randall's…he knew who killed his dog. He started to become enraged, he howled within the darkness of the night. Then a new scent was picked up, he looked to the left to see Lillian running up but once she saw him, she froze.

"Your damn reptile…he killed my dog…"

Lillian didn't know what to say, she started to back away, almost too afraid to even attempt to run.

"He killed my dog!" Scourge said, louder this time.

"I…I'm sorry, I'm sure he didn't mean it!" she told him.

Scourge's body seemed different, he wasn't the same, something in him had snapped and now, he was nothing like he was before. The wolf got on all fours as he made a bolt to Lillian, she turned to run but she felt his body on hers, he had her!

Waternoose was exhausted, the fight was too much even for his old body. As Sulley practically dragged him towards the visitor center, a huge van came speeding and grinded to a halt. It opened to reveal Roz and a few agents inside, Sulley couldn't believe it, "I told you that we were going to get Scourge and you still come here anyway?"

"I gave you time, Mr. Sullivan, you were taking a little too long for my tastes."

"Where'd you get the van?" Mike asked her.

"Let's just say that we borrowed it, we'll be using it to take us back to where we entered."

"And what closest was that?" he questioned her.

"That information is classified, Mr. Wasoski."

Two agents placed cuffs on Waternoose's hands, pulling him over to the van. Then Brendan and Candi showed up, carrying Weasel as the little monster looked weaker.

"What's wrong with him?" Roz asked the boy.

Brendan didn't hestitate, "He's hurt, that wolf tore him up, if there's anyway to help him then please do."

"Alright", Roz turned to another agent, "Work on him, do what you can to patch him up, we'll take him back home to get further medical attention."

The agent took the monster from Brendan's arms, quickly taking him to the van and proceding with first aid. Candi looked over to Waternoose, he glared at her coldly, almost as if he felt that she had intentionally tried to hurt him. She only smiled back, he couldn't stand to see her and looked away.

Morgana came running back, "You guys, Lillian's…whoa, who are they?"

"Back up", Sulley told her, "What about Lillian?"

"Wolf boy has her! He's running fast towards the lion exhibit!"

"How far is that from here?" Roz asked her.

"Uh, a ways that a way!"

"Agents, get going, this is our chance to capture him before he tries anything rash." The other agents heeded her words as they ran down the pathway to the exhibit.

Randall had lost Scourge's scent for a bit but then he picked it up again, then he saw lights turn on within one of the exhibits. He had a hunch that was where Scourge could be, going on what he could, he ran towards the lights. The lion exhibit was massive, enormous lights near the top of the fake cliff and rock formations. Lillian was hanging from a chain from one of the large lights, she was trying to pull herself down but was unsuccessful.

"Get me down from here!" she screamed.

Scourge ignored her, she started to yell louder, "Damn it, let me down now you mangy mutt!"

"We're waiting for your damn pet to show up so shut your trap or I'll shut it for you!"

"This is low, this is how much of a coward that you are! You have to resort to kidnapping? That is cowardly!"

Scourge glared at her, "I said shut up!"

"No! I'm not going to! Let me down now!"

Scourge got close to her, "I said to shut up already."

Lillian spit at his face, he growled at her and pulled back a claw, she screamed because she knew what was going to happen next.

"SCOURGE!"

He froze to see Randall at the guardrail, looking down upon the scene.

"Well…about time you showed up."

"Scourge…this fight has nothing to do with her, let Lillian go!"

"Oh it has plenty to do with her, you damn bastard…because now we'll be even."

"What are you talking about?"

"I believe humans call it an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…you killed my dog."

Randall became nervous but slowly crawled down into the exhibit, "Scourge, please…I never meant to kill Butch, I never wanted to harm him, I did what I could to defend myself."

"You damn son of a bitch, you could have walked away!"

"He was attacking me, I didn't have much of a choice!" Randall protested.

"You had a choice and you fucking made it!" Scourge yelled.

"Killing her won't bring him back." Randall begged.

"That sympathy shit don't work on me! You want her back…then you fight me!"

The two monsters circled around until Scourge made the first move. He pounced on Randall, the two monsters went flying to the ground, it soon became chaos. The fight turned into a fury of kicks, clawings, and bites. Scourge rammed the reptilious monster into the wall, Randall bit down onto his shoulder. All Lillian could do was watch as the fight continued to unfold but then she noticed that strange suited people were near the guard rail.

"Agents, hold steady." ordered one agent.

A taller monster came up to the guard rail, he held some kind of tranquilizer gun, he carefully took aim.

"Who am I aiming for?" he asked.

"The furred monster, the other isn't important." his fellow agent told him.

"Got it."

Randall then had Scourge down upon the ground but the wolf pummeled him with a claw, Randall went down to the ground, Scourge pounced on him.

"You had this coming, reptile!"

Scourge lifted up a claw but then something hit him, he looked to see a dart in his shoulder, he got up to see the agents. Then another shot hit the mark, Scourge could already feel the effects, his vision was going on him, he couldn't see anymore. Falling to his knees, he then heard the commotion of the agents, he could feel them grabbing him and placing him in cuffs. Randall got over to Lillian, untying her and she instantly hugged him, glad to see that he was more or less okay. An agent pulled out a radio, "Number One, we got him."

Back within the factory, Roz watched as the agents were taking Waternoose back to jail and Scourge to be processed at the station. Then she turned her attention towards the monsters, Weasel was tired but after a quick trip to the hospital, he seemed to be okay. Randall was exhausted, a little beat up, but still alive and well. Candi seemed to be different herself though she had gained confidence and Stallion stood there, not much of an expression as Celine rubbed his mane. Lillian and the others were there too, Roz didn't seem bothered by the humans standing there.

"Well Mr. Boggs, I have to thank you…Mr. Sullivan never mentioned who was helping him but despite what happened to you, I'm shocked to see that even you could push aside the past to help us…once again, I thank you."

"No problem…so how long have you been working for the CDA?" he asked her.

"Let's just say that I've been working for them long enough."

He decided to take that as an answer, she wasn't talking about the subject any further.

"Also, I thank you for your information Candi, I promise you that upon his next court date, I will be certain to put a good word in for you."

She nodded, that was some kind of relief to her then Roz smiled, "So…it seems that you banished monsters did quite well, I apologize for why some of you were banished, the CDA was very different before I took over as lead agent…and it seems that maybe, a reward is in order for your efforts."

A look of confusion could be seen as Roz continued, "I am willing to start you all off with a clean slate and if you choose, you can come back to the city of Monstropolis."

The group couldn't believe it, after all of these years of living amongst humans, they could finally come back home but then…they looked over towards the humans. The ones that they knew, the ones that had been a part of their lives for some time…if they returned home than that was it, they could no longer see them again. Randall thought it over, he always wanted to believe that sometimes stuff happens for a reason and now was one of those reasons. He looked over at Candi, Weasel and eventually Stallion, they felt the same as him.

"Thank you Roz but…I'm afraid that we can't accept your offer."

She gave him a glance as he walked over to Lillian, "I know that I can't be her friend forever but for as long as she needs me, I'm going to be there for Lillian."

Stallion approached Celine who embraced him, Candi walked over to Brendan who didn't mind her hugging him very tight. Weasel and Morgana exchanged smiles, as they started to giggle to themselves.

Understanding, she accepted, "Very well…if you do ever change your mind, the option is always open."

Lillian couldn't believe what had happened, "Why? You can go home, you don't have to stay with me."

"ButI want to." He placed his forehead against hers as the two smiled, she gently hugged his face.

The last week of school had finally passed, finals were over and the kids were free but things were a little unsettling. Brendan's parents had decided to purchase a vacation home up north and discovered a wonderful private school. He would be on his way to his new home by early night but he wasn't going alone…Candi was going with him. The two decided to walk home this time, she had to say goodbye to someone before she left. When they arrived at the old house, Brendan glanced over to her, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah…I'm sure."

"Okay then."

They walked up the sidewalk, it seemed like going inside was taking hours when in reality it was only minutes. Inside, they could hear talking, they entered the music room to see that Lillian and Morgana was there. Weasel was also there, he had been staying with Randall until he was completely healed. When they saw the two, Randall had a feeling that something was up.

"Brendan's moving." Candi said.

"Really?" Lillian asked.

"Yeah", he told her, "Mom and Dad saw some private school and I'm transferring."

"Oh…well, I'm sure you'll be okay Candi." Randall told her.

"Actually, I'm going with him." she explained.

He wasn't sure if he heard right, "What? Why? You don't have to go, he's the one that's moving!"

"I came over here to say goodbye, this will be the last that I see you guys…"

Brendan watched as she hugged both Lillian and Morgana, she patted Weasel on the head but when she faced Randall…she wasn't sure of what to do. Turning away from them, Brendan made a choice, "You can stay here Candi, if you want to."

She turned to him, "But you said-."

"I know what I said but…I don't own you, you can make any decision that you want so do what you want."

She smiled at him, that was a pretty big thing for him to do, "I'm going with you."

Brendan looked at her, "I told you that you don't have to."

"I know but I want to…besides, you're my friend, my best friend…friends stick together, right?"

The boy looked at her, she was willing to go with him anywhere, even to hell and back if he chose…she was truly his friend.

"Candi…I have something to say." Randall began.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say that I…I…", he sighed, "I wanted to say that you be careful out there, okay?"

Her spirits dropped a little, "Sure thing, I'll do that." As the two left, Randall couldn't help but mentally kick himself, he had his chance and he screwed it up but not much could be done about that now, the moment was over.

Night fell, Randall stood upon one of the highest buildings within the city, watching the roads down below. "She's leaving, I see." He turned to see Stallion walk up to him, peering over the city.

"How did you know?" Randall asked him.

"Lillian informed me."

Then Randall saw it, the large moving truck with the limo following right behind it, "I was so stupid earlier."

"Why is that?" Stallion asked.

"I had my chance…you know, I always thought that maybe I found Candi to be annoying and don't get me wrong, she is but…after what happened, the outbreak as humans call it, she left me alone. I guess you could say that I got so used to her annoying me that once I got a true moment of peace, I didn't want it. It kind of sucks when you go falling for the town's most popular girl, isn't it?"

Stallion nodded, "If there is something that time has taught me…where there is a will, there is a way…if it was meant to be than fate shall reward you one day…if not then there will be another."

"What if there never is?"

"Then if that's what fate has weilded then you must be strong enough to accept it."

Randall understood although it sounded bittersweet to him, "So…now since Scourge and Waternoose are back in jail, what are you going to do?"

"The same as I always have, move onward to the next tyrant and stop him as I can."

"What if another like Scourge shows up?"

"Then that's where you come in." Stallion told him.

Randall laughed, "So it's my job now?"

"Randall…Scourge ran this city no different than his own pack of dogs, he made himself alpha male and through respect or fear, he kept that title…these monsters haven't known anything different…as the victorious one, you now hold that place."

"What if they don't listen to me?"

"Show them who you truly are and in time, they will."

Stallion turned away from the monster, but then Randall called out, "Hey Stallion?" Stallion turned to look at him, "For what it's worth, I'm glad that you helped me out", Randall told him.

"No, thank you, I had the honor to meet a strong and brave monster and now, this city is in your hands, it's under your protection. Doing what you can to uphold that is all you need to do to thank me." Stallion spread his wings and took flight as Randall looked back towards the road, West Port was his now and he would do what he could to keep it safe.

"Sit down here!" A police officer commanded. The wolf did just that, he had been going through questioning, processing and all that mess for the past week. His trial was coming up to decide how long his jail sentence would be. His thoughts always returned to Butch, he had never truly noticed how undying the dog's loyalty was until after he was gone. Then he looked to see that three teenage monsters were walked into the station, told to sit down near Scourge. They were two males and a female, the female looked almost like a human but she had wings, horns, and a devil tail. One of the males was having to sit on the floor, he looked like a huge brown dog. Then the one that appeared to be their leader took his seat, he looked like the same type of monster as Randall but he was black with red markings. The kid was decked out in all kind of body jewelry and décor, his red eyes glanced over at Scourge.

He gave a slight nod, "What's up?"

Scourge gave a wicked smile, he liked this kid, he had potential, "Name's Scourge, you?"

"Leo…what's it to you?"

"Tell me Leo, if there was one thing that you want…what would that be?" The kid thought it over, "Simple, respect…respect once I rule this damn town."

"Really? I think I could help you with that." Scourge told him.

Leo's fronds perked up, "I'm listening…"

Scourge held his dark grin, looks like he had himself a new dog…