Monsters, Inc. Junior Novel

by Disney Book Group

  Meanwhile, Sulley charged through the factory until he reached the secret passageway. Growling ferociously, he ripped the tool panel off the wall and ducked inside. He ran through a maze of pipes and rooms, searching for Boo.

  Suddenly he heard Boo whimper. Sulley ran toward the sound. Boo was already in the secret lab. Randall had strapped her to a chair in front of the extraction machine. Waternoose was watching. “I never should have brought you in on this. Because of you, I had to banish my top Scarer,” he told Randall.

  “Ah, Sullivan got what he deserved,” said Randall.

  Fungus set the dial on the control panel. The machine revved up.

  Boo’s brown eyes grew wide with terror as the scream extractor moved closer and closer to her face. Opening her mouth, she began to scream.

  “ROARRR!” Sulley cried, running toward the sound.

  The machine was only an inch from Boo’s face when Sulley burst into the lab, roaring like a thousand lions. He smashed the machine out of the way. It skidded across the floor and hit Fungus and Waternoose, pinning them against the wall. Sulley ran to the chair and released Boo.

  “Kitty!” she cried happily.

  “Stop him!” Waternoose yelled. Randall growled and chased after them.

  Just as Sulley reached the exit, he was hit in the face by something invisible. Two more invisible punches sent him reeling. Suddenly Randall unblended from the wall. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that, Sullivan,” he said. With a whip of his tail, he sent Sulley flying out into the Monsters, Inc. hallway.

  Sulley wobbled to his feet—only to get hit in the face with a snowball! There, right in front of him, was Mike!

  “Look,” Mike told him. “It’s not that I don’t care about the kid!”

  Sulley looked over his shoulder. Randall would be there any second. “Mike, you don’t understand…” he began. But before he could finish, the invisible Randall slammed him against the wall.

  Unaware that his friend was being pummeled, Mike continued his speech. “I was just mad, that’s all! I needed some time to think. But you shouldn’t have left me out there!”

  “I’m being attacked!” Sulley gasped.

  “No, I’m not attacking you,” Mike said. “I’m trying to be honest. Just hear me out.”

  Boo hurried to Mike’s side and tugged at his arm. She pointed to Sulley, whose head suddenly jerked back. Randall was trying to strangle him!

  But Mike still didn’t get it. “Oh, come on, pal,” he said, starting to get choked up. “If you start crying, I’m gonna cry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

  Sulley gasped, flailing his arms and legs. Mike was annoyed. “Hey, I am baring my soul here. The least you could do is pay attention!” He hurled his last snowball at Sulley’s head. Sulley managed to duck, and the icy missile hit Randall in the face. Randall stumbled backward. Sulley took his chance and punched him hard.

  When Randall hit the wall, he returned to his normal color. “Hey, look at that,” Mike said. “It’s Randall!” Suddenly he realized what had happened. “Ohhhhhh.”

  Sulley grabbed Mike and Boo and took off running.

  “Get up!” Waternoose, who was still stuck behind the machine, shouted at Randall. “There can’t be any witnesses!”

  Meanwhile, the trio was charging down the hallway. “I’m glad you came back,” Sulley told Mike as they sprinted along.

  “Hey, somebody has to take care of you—you big hairball,” Mike said. He turned to glance back over his shoulder—and gasped.

  Celia, her snakes flowing wildly, leaped through the air. With a warlike whoop, she tackled Mike!

  “Schmoopsie-Poo!” Mike cried. “I really can’t talk!”

  Sulley grabbed Mike’s arm and started to drag him away. “Come on!” he said.

  But Celia wasn’t going to be left behind this time. Holding tight to Mike’s leg, she got dragged along, too. “Michael, if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, we are through!” she yelled.

  Neither Sulley nor Celia was letting go. Mike was getting stretched like a rubber band. “Okay, here’s the truth,” he said. “You know the kid that they’re looking for? Sulley let her in! We tried to send her back, but Waternoose has a secret plot and now Randall’s behind us and he’s trying to kill us!”

  Celia gasped. “You expect me to believe that pack of lies, Mike Wazowski?”

  Just then the hood covering Boo’s face fell backward. “Mike Wazowski!” she said. Surprised, Celia let go.

  “I love you, Schmoopsie-Poo!” Mike called back to her as Sulley pulled him along.

  Mike, Sulley, and Boo ran onto the Scare Floor. Mike swiped a card key in a door station and they waited anxiously for the door to appear.

  Randall and Fungus were right behind them. “There they are!” Randall cried. But suddenly a voice crackled over the intercom system. “Attention, employees. Randall Boggs has just broken the all-time scare record!”

  Before Randall and Fungus could take another step, they were surrounded by a crowd of excited monsters. The crowd cheered and tossed them in the air.

  Nearby, Celia hung up the intercom phone and smiled.

  The crowd slowed Randall down for a while, but not quite long enough. Sulley gasped as the lizard monster charged toward them. Thinking quickly, he hit the keypad. The door that had been about to drop into the station suddenly reversed and began to head back into the door vault.

  “Grab on, Mike!” Sulley shouted. Holding Boo in one hand, Sulley grabbed a rising door with the other. Mike clung to his tail. The three sailed into the air—up and out of Randall’s reach.

  Inside the door vault, millions of doors on conveyor belts stretched as far as the eye could see. Mike, Boo, and Sulley screamed as the door they were riding dropped steeply into the vault.

  Suddenly Mike cried out, “There it is!” Just ahead on the track was Boo’s door!

  But before they could reach it, Boo’s door split off onto a different track and began to move away from them.

  Their own door began to slow down. Mike looked ahead and gulped. “This is a dead end, Sulley,” he said. Turning to look behind them, they saw Randall riding toward them on another door. It looked like a dead end, indeed!

  Then Sulley had an idea. “Make Boo laugh!” he told Mike. They could use the power to activate the doors!

  “What?” Mike said, confused.

  “Just do it!” Sulley cried. Reluctantly Mike poked himself in the eye. Boo gave a big belly laugh.

  As Boo’s laughter echoed through the vault, the lights on all the doors lit up! Just as Randall was about to reach them, the three friends opened a door and jumped into the human world. They ended up in a house on a beautiful sandy beach.

  “Come on!” said Sulley. “We’ve got to find another door.” Dashing into another house, they found a closet and opened the door. They were back in the vault, standing in a doorway thousands of feet in the air. Door after door stretched below them. Boo’s door was stopped just ahead. Carefully they began to make their way toward it.

  But Randall was right behind them! Entering and exiting through different doors, Sulley, Mike, and Boo jumped in and out of the human world, with Randall hot on their trail.

  “Jump!” Mike said to Sulley, opening a door and waving his buddy through. “I’m right behind you!” Just as Randall reached the door, Mike slammed it in his face.

  “I hope that hurt!” Mike yelled as he jumped onto a moving door right behind Sulley and Boo.

  “Great job, buddy. I think we lost him,” Sulley said. But he spoke too soon. Suddenly Randall appeared next to them and leaped onto their door. He snatched Boo out of Sulley’s arms with his tail. The little girl screamed.

  “Boo!” cried Sulley. At that moment, Randall yanked out the pin that held Mike and Sulley’s door to the track. The door began to fall.

  “Nice working with ya!” Randall said with a sneer. Mike and Sulley’s door plummeted into the vault. Randall took off with Boo
tucked under his arm.

  “Get it open!” Sulley cried as the door sailed through space.

  “I’m trying!” Mike said, tugging at the doorknob. At last the door opened. Mike jumped through. Sulley followed him and shut the door in the nick of time. The door hit the ground and smashed into pieces.

  A door opened in another part of the vault. Sulley and Mike stood in the doorway. They breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one!

  Just then, in the distance, Sulley spotted Randall! Sulley climbed up to the top of the door he and Mike were riding on. Following Sulley’s lead, Mike jumped onto another door. “Aaaahh!” he screamed. The two friends took off, flying along the track at breakneck speed.

  “Looks like we caught the express, pal!” Mike exclaimed.

  In no time they caught up with Randall and Boo. But just as Sulley was about to grab him, Randall leaped through the door he was riding. Sulley followed them into a kid’s bedroom.

  “Boo!” Sulley cried. He hurried toward his little friend, who stood on the other side of the room. But before he could reach her, Randall tackled him. Sulley fell out the open door. Dangling thousands of feet in the air, Sulley clung to the door frame with one hand.

  “You’ve been number one for too long,” Randall shouted at Sulley. “Now your time is up. And don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the kid.” Randall began to peel Sulley’s fingers off the door.

  Suddenly Randall screamed in pain! Boo had climbed onto his back and was pulling on his head fronds! As Randall struggled to get her off, Sulley climbed back into the room. He grabbed Randall by the neck.

  Boo babbled something to Sulley. He put his face up close to Randall’s. “She’s not scared of you anymore,” he told the monster. “Looks like you’re out of a job.” Boo growled in agreement.

  Nearby, Mike held up a door. “All right, Sulley. Over the plate. Let’s see the old stuff, pal. Here’s the pitch.…” Sulley wound up and threw Randall through the door like a baseball. “And he is…outta here!” Mike cried, slamming the door behind him.

  Randall landed in the closet of a house in the middle of a swamp. A little boy saw him.

  “Mama!” the boy called. “’Nother gator got in the house.”

  “’Nother gator?” the boy’s mama said. “Go get the shovel.”

  “Ooph!” Randall grunted as the boy clobbered him on the head with a shovel.

  “Get back here,” the boy said, swinging the shovel again.

  Meanwhile, Mike lifted the door to the edge of the platform and pitched it over the edge. The door sailed into the vault and smashed into pieces. Randall was gone—for good.

  Sulley, Mike, and Boo heaved sighs of relief. Then Boo babbled and pointed to something. The two monsters turned around. Boo’s door was traveling by on a nearby track! They ran to it and grabbed on.

  “Okay, Boo,” Sulley told the little girl. “It’s time to go home. Take care of yourself and be a good girl.” But when he opened the door, all they saw was the vault whizzing by. The door had run out of power.

  “Make her laugh again,” Sulley told Mike.

  “All right, I’ve got a move that will bring down the house,” Mike said. He jumped in the air and did a graceful flip. But then he lost his footing and landed upside down! There was no response.

  Sulley looked down. Boo’s hood was covering her eyes. “Oh, sorry. She didn’t see that,” he said.

  Mike was angry that he’d hurt himself for no reason. “What did you do? Forget to check if her stupid hood was up, you big dope?” he yelled at Sulley.

  Boo didn’t like to see Mike yelling. She began to frown.

  Sulley noticed. “Uncle Mike, try not to yell in front of her. You know we still need her to laugh,” he said in a singsong voice.

  “Hey, Boo, just kidding,” Mike said. He poked himself in the eye. “Ow! Funny, right?” But Boo was in no mood to laugh now.

  Suddenly Boo’s door jerked to the side. It began to move away from the other doors.

  “Whoa! What’s happening?” Mike cried.

  “Hold on!” Sulley yelled.

  It was Waternoose! He was still determined to make certain no one found out about his evil plan. He stood on the Scare Floor, waiting for Boo’s door. “When the door lands in the station, cut the power,” he told a worker standing at a power switch.

  Sulley and Mike peeped out from behind the door as it moved toward the Scare Floor. Waternoose and a team of CDA agents waited for them.

  “What are we gonna do?” Mike whispered.

  The door landed. CDA agents crept forward. “Come out slowly with the child in plain sight,” said an agent.

  Mike appeared at the door, carrying Boo. “Okay, you got us. Here we are. Here’s the kid. I’m cooperating. But before you take us away, I have one thing to say.” Mike stuck out his big tongue. It had a child’s sock on the end! “Catch!” he shouted, throwing the sock right on an agent.

  The frightened agents scattered to avoid the sock. In the meantime, Mike dashed off. The agents chased after him.

  “Don’t let them get away!” called Waternoose.

  Waternoose began to follow Mike when he suddenly heard a noise. Turning around, he saw Sulley and Boo! Mike didn’t have the kid after all! He just had her costume. She was with Sullivan! Waternoose called to the CDA agents, but they were already gone. The mean monster’s eyes narrowed. He would have to take matters into his own claws.

  With Boo under one arm and her door under the other, Sulley raced down the hall. Waternoose scuttled close behind. When he reached the simulator room, Sulley ran inside. He tore a pipe off the wall and jammed it through the door handles. And just in time! Waternoose banged against the door.

  With each shove, Waternoose opened the doors a little farther. Meanwhile, Sulley was desperately trying to get Boo’s door into place in the station. Finally the door locked into position. Sulley dashed through.

  When the monstrous crab burst into the room, he saw Sulley bent over Boo’s bed, tucking her under the covers. Sulley looked up and gasped. “She’s home now. Just leave her alone!” Sulley pleaded.

  “I have no choice!” Waternoose cried. “Times have changed. Scaring isn’t enough anymore.”

  “But kidnapping children?” said Sulley.

  “I’ll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die!” Waternoose roared. “And I’ll silence anyone who gets in my way!” He lunged forward, pushing Sulley to the floor. Then he grabbed the child from her bed.

  But it wasn’t Boo. It was the puppet doll from the training room! The bedroom walls began to rise into the air. “Simulation terminated. Simulation terminated,” said the computerized voice.

  Waternoose blinked in the bright lights. Then his eyes grew wide with shock. The simulator room was filled with CDA agents!

  Mike was sitting in Ms. Flint’s chair. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you guys,” he said to the agents, “but I spotted several big mistakes. Let’s watch my favorite part again.” He rewound the videotape. Waternoose appeared on the monitor. “I’ll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die.…I’ll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die…” he repeated again and again as Mike replayed the tape.

  While the agents listened, Boo peeked out from under the bed, where she was hiding. “Boo!” she said. Sulley put his finger to his lips so Boo would be quiet.

  The CDA agents moved forward and grabbed Waternoose. As they led him out of the room, Waternoose shouted at Sulley, “I hope you’re happy, Sullivan! You’ve destroyed this company! Monsters, Incorporated is dead! The energy crisis will only get worse. Because of you!”

  Sulley was upset. He’d always been proud of working for Monsters, Inc. He certainly hadn’t meant for this to happen.

  The head CDA agent stepped up to Sulley. “Stay where you are,” he commanded. “Number One wants to talk to you.” Sulley and Mike were confused. Who was Number One?

  Two agents walked through the door. Then
they stepped apart, revealing…

  “Roz?” Sulley and Mike exclaimed. Their dispatcher was actually the top CDA agent!

  Roz slithered toward them. “Two and a half years of undercover work were almost wasted when you intercepted that child, Mr. Sullivan,” she said. “Of course, without your help, I never would have known that this went all the way up to Waternoose.” She paused. “Now, about the girl…”

  Sulley scooped Boo into his arms. “I just…want to send her home,” the big blue monster said sadly.

  “Very good,” Roz said. “Bring me a door shredder,” she ordered into a wrist communicator.

  “You mean I can’t see her again?” Sulley asked.

  “That’s the way it has to be,” Roz told him. “I’ll give you five minutes.”

  Sadly, Sulley inserted the card key in Boo’s door. The red light above it blinked on.

  Mike walked over to Boo to say good-bye. “Well, so long, kid.”

  “Mike Wazowski!” said Boo. She wrapped her arms around the green monster. Mike hugged her back. “Yeah, it’s been fun,” he said. “Go ahead. Go grow up.”

  When Boo turned around, she saw that Sulley had opened her door. The little girl squealed with delight and ran into her room. Taking Sulley by the hand, she led him around her room, showing him her favorite toys.

  “Uh, Boo…Oh, look at that—that’s cute,” Sulley said as she handed him one toy after another. “Uh, Boo, well, that’s very nice. Come here, you.” At last he picked her up and swung her over to her bed.

  Boo looked at her closet. “Nothing’s coming out of the closet to scare you anymore, right?” Sulley asked. Boo smiled and agreed. No more monsters in her closet!

  Sulley leaned close to his little friend. “Good-bye, Boo,” he said quietly.

  “Kitty,” said Boo.

  “Kitty has to go.” Sulley opened the closet door and stepped through. Slowly he closed the door behind him.