It's Laughter We're After! - Cornholio4 (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

The city of Monstropolis on a bright morning; our story starts in this city and in particular the apartment shared by Monsters Inc employees Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan. Mike however had his various alarms go off to wake him up and he rushed out of his bed and went to work getting ready for today's work.

Soon he had finished his breakfast and looked to a drawer where he kept a framed photo of him and Sulley along with the fraternity Oozma Kappa and sorority Exceeda Zeta attending at his girlfriend Laura Sharp's graduation from Monsters University. There was also photos of him and Sulley at their first day as scarer and assistant at MU and Laura's first day at MU. "Laura; today's the day... You are going to enter the history books... Be the legend that I could never be..." Mike said with a big smile that turned into a sigh as he thought of his own dreams of being a scarer being crushed.

He pushed it away because no good thinking of what might have been; he had to think of what WILL happen and be happy for Laura. "Besides... Having the mail sorting record is good enough..." Mike said with a small smile as he looked to his small trophy for having record for most mail sorted and sent out within a small timespan at MI's mail room. Including a photo taken with MU Scare Floor J Supervisor Pepe Silvia who he had delivered the mail that broke him the record to; Pepe's face in the photo showed his confusion as to what was happening.

He then thought to Sulley and figured he should do their usual routine and early morning training and so he did so; the news was put on the TV as Sulley finished getting ready. "Sorry if my mind is not fully on assisting you today and hope that there is no hard feelings but... Today's the day... I know I should be supporting you breaking the record but..." Mike said as Laura was extremely close to breaking the all time scare record at MI and it should be broken today.

"Relax Mikey... I understand completely and I am happy for Laura as she has worked hard and I am happy to just be doing my park keeping the company running." Sulley replied with a humble smile; no trace of the arrogant lazy jerk he was when he and Mike had first met at Monsters University.

Mike was looking at his phone to double check the preparations so when they got to the door; he ended up deciding to throw the keys to his new car to Sulley so that he could drive for them. Excited as they arrived at the parking lot and he practically ran to the front door. "Morning Mike. Morning Sulley; ready for your day at Scare Floor D today? Randall came in before and told me to tel you that he wished you both luck and to give regards to Laura... Before her record gets broken by him." Celia told them and Mike gave a slight nod as Mike's old roommate from MU Randall Boggs was someone he still considered a friend even if Randall had a one-sided rivalry with Sulley and was determined to best him after what happened at the Scare Games.

Plus for the day; Mike had managed to get them swapped out and transferred to Laura's Scare Floor D so that they can be there when the record gets broken.

Soon they were now in the temporary locker room for them for Scare Floor D; "This is going to be her shining moment... Should we see about her picking up major points after she had broken the record so that it stays longer than even when Roy 'the Terror' Thompson held it... Should we see about her breaking the record for longest time having the record..." Mike was telling Sulley who listened in amusem*nt.

"Are you after my job Mr Wazowski; because you don't seem as focused on your own scarer?" asked a five eyed red furred monster Roy who acted as Laura's scare assistant; Mike glared at Sulley who laughed.

Mike later went to the actual Scare Floor and waved to the pleasant looking scaring assistant getting into position; then they watched the scarers making their usual slow walk. Mike grinned and looked around and looked at the famous scarers in this line up and then noticed Laura there looking nervous.

Mike gave her a big grin and a thumbs up and Laura shot him one in return as she gave a small smile and took deep breaths. Then the scaring began and Mike managed to keep focus on doing his actual job with Sulley; "Not much longer now Sulley my man... Could we take a break and watch her do it? Prove that all of her hard work has paid off; that she had done this on her own merits and surpassed her old man? That she is out of his shadow and now he is old news; that pretty soon anyone will have forgotten who her pops is?" Mike asked Sulley excitedly; his back to the floor on the right of Sulley's and out from the door came the famous Fillmore Sharp with his black fur going grey. Him having come out just in time to hear the beginning of Mike's spiel.

"So you are saying that I should just retire now Mike?" Fillmore asked with an amused look before Sulley could warn Mike; Mike froze as he slowly turned around and looked up to see Fillmore with his arms folded up. Mike's face froze as he stammered out trying to save face in front of his girlfriend's famous father. "Mike; don't worry about it... I am happy for Laura because all scarers should want their child to surpass them or parents in general about what they will do. I have wanted nothing but to support her dreams and getting to work with her when she joined the company... I couldn't be happier especially with her having a supportive boyfriend like you." Fillmore told him assuredly leaning down to talk to him and Mike took a sigh of relief.

"Wow Laura! Just one more point and the record is your's!" Roy called out and attention was all on her; Mike, Sulley and Fillmore went through the crowd and saw Laura at her scare floor with Roy giving her water but she looked shocked.

"You have this Laura..." Fillmore called out and Laura looked to her father, Mike and Sulley giving out their encouragement and she went through the door as Roy loaded up a new cannister. Soon it filled up and...

"Laura Sharp has broken the all time scare record!" called out the intercom and soon there were cheers and Laura couldn't believe it as she skipped out of the floor and met with the congratulations. She was engulfed in a hug with Fillmore as he had his assistant take a photo of them both.

MIke and Sulley cheered out and soon through the door came monsters throwing balloons and pushing a serving table up to Laura whose eyes widened as she was a cake there. She was drooling as Fillmore looked at it and read out "congratations... Lara?" Fillmore read the misspelled message as Mike blinked and looked o the monsters who were throwing balloons and streamers. Mike looked at one balloon which read 'LARA SHARPE'.

"All that time double checking the preparations... You all can forget about a five star rating..." Mike ranted but Laura picked him up and kissed him hard and embraced him.

"I couldn't do it without all of my loved ones; thank you all and thank you Mike!" Laura told Mike with glee in her face and he had the biggest grin on his face.

Soon the celebration died down and Fillmore started to look disappointed as he saw Mike and Sulley getting to work on their next door. His assistant looked to Fillmore who said "Sorry but... Atta was so sure that Mike was getting ready to propose after Laura broke the record... She is going to be so disappointed when she learned that it didn't happen..."

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

The day that Laura Sharp broke the all time scare record at Monsters Inc was one of those that she would never forget; her lifelong training and hard work had paid off and she had the support of her friends and family and boyfriend behind her. It was an ecstatic feeling and she and her friends had a celebratory party that felt like it went forever; DJ Monnie Monstre hosting everything.

Plus there was the prize from Mr Waternoose himself of a paid week off and she wasn't sure about that but her friends and especially her boyfriend Mike encouraged her to do it. She had worked so hard and deserved the rest and the time to just relax. Randall joked about it giving him time to catch up on her new record. She had to admit the week off was relaxing as she got to do some yoga sessions with her mother Atta, catch up on TV, try out some restaurants around Monstropolis.

Plus she made sure to give herself some time to do her exercises and training; she can't let hubris get to her head and make sure slack off. Still Friday night came soon enough and she wondered how would going back to work on Monday morning as the new scare champion will be like.

Could be overwhelming but she should still be able to get through it.

She had her TV off in her apartment and wondered about if she could see her mother again for something else that htey could do together but there was her phone ringing; she looked at the ID and saw that it was Monnie. She answered it and said "Hello there Monnie; what can I do for you?"

"I am so sorry for calling out of the blue Laura but... I just really need someone to talk to..." Monnie said apologetically and in a worried voice and this got Laura concerned.

"No problem at all; anything to help a friend. Something the matter?" Laura replied concerned as she heard Monnie take a deep breath.

"Sorry Laura but... Randy; I have been worried that his desire to beat Sulley on the board is getting bigger and... I think he's trying to hide anger and he has a big secret to hide while denying that anything is up... I am scared that something is happening and that he won't tell me..." Monnie told Laura and Laura frowned as Randall did try to hide that he wasn't as close to Sulley as the others or even liked him that much. That his loss to Sulley was on his mind more than he would care to admit.

"I don't know if I am the best person to ask Monnie... Ask him if something is wrong and that you can help... How about you call Colette as I think she and George have a good couple's counsellor!" Laura replied thinking of their friend and fellow founding member of Exceeda Zeta.

"Thanks Laura; you're the best!" Monnie said as she then hung up and Laura hoped that they could go through it and hoped the purple monster was doing alright. She should count herself lucky that her own boyfriend Mike would never hide something big from her and she trusted him perfectly. Some insecure women monsters would suspect something is up if their boyfriend was out with a female friend but not her. Celia had invited Mike to her bowling team the previous night and he had accepted with her full blessing.

However she couldn't dwell on that for long as she got a text from another EZ founding member and friend: Katie McCrea. It basically said:

NEWS NOW!

She frowned and thought that Katy was being overdramatic but decided to hear her out. The TV on and then set to the late night news and...

She dropped the remote in shock as news vans were in front of the Monsters Inc body with most of the employees outside and they played footage of the Child Detection Agency arresting Mr Waternoose; apparently it was discovered that he had created an illegal machine to forcibly extract screams from children.

It sounded horrifying (in a bad way) and this was the man who was her boss; she looked to the framed photo of her shaking Waternoose's hand after breaking the record and she now had a look of disgust at it. What will Mike and Sulley think of all of this; her father who had a good relationship with the longtime CEO?

Hold on a moment; why was there statements from Mike and Sulley?

It had been a long, exciting and dangerous two days for Mike and Sulley and they got Boo back to her bedroom safely; Mike's offhand comment had given Sulley the idea of changing the power source to laugh. Sulley made the suggestion to Roz and she said that she would relay the proposal to the board of directors.

They had gotten back to their apartment after giving statements to reporters who had gotten word and there was Sulley's phone being rang. It was one of the board members and Sulley told Mike to let him do the talking and he went to a room to speak to it.

"No problem Mike nothing to worry about... You lost your first best friend today and if things don't go well in this call then the company is dead and and we will have a city sized mob after our heads... Whole body in my case..." Mike muttered to himself walking in a circle. He heard tapping at the window and turned and then was met with surprise to find Laura there smiling at him and then waving to him.

Mike though surprised went to it and opened it letting her in; "Did you scale the wall outside... Why did you scale the wall? Were you so desperate to see me again after your week off?" Mike asked as Laura looked down on him.

"Sorry Mike dear but I was about to go to bed but I got a text saying to check the news... A story about a human child, a scream extraction machine and a handsome eyeball monster who owes his girlfriend a big explanation about what he has been up to!"Laura then replied and she looked terrifyingly mad born out of concern and worry about him but Mike was now stammering out terrified.

"Good news Mike! The board is interested and will start the change on Monday; Monsters Inc will now be in the business of collecting laugh power! To think that it looked like we would be spending the rest of our days in the Himalayas..." Sulley excitedly said going through the door cheerfully but then noticed Laura. Mike was cursing his timing but at least they would still be in jobs...

Mike saw that somehow Laura got even angrier; "Laura; can I say that you look beautiful when you are angry... Not that you don't always look beautiful but... I know you want an explanation but Sulley and I will be more than happy to explain..." Mike said as Sulley was already closing the door. "Oh really... For a scarer; you sure are a coward to try and leave me to this alone!" Mike snapped at Sulley but Laura's claw caught the door before it could close and she opened it back up again.

"You are not leaving Mike to this; you both are involved so you will explain with Mike unless you want to explain to your landlord why this door ended up breaking..." warned Laura and Mike gulped in fear never having Laura having this level of ire directed at him.

Sulley however was familiar with it remembering her confronting him over his attitude towards the school year, his treatment of Mike, his cheating and how he hadn't matured from the kid who attended a field trip and met her dad.

Better try and explain things...

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Headquarters of FearCo; the second biggest scare company of them all behind Monsters Incorporated and one that was hard at work trying to keep up with the scream shortage. The scarers doing their best to meet the scream quota and the non-scarer personnel were hard at work keeping the company running as well. This included the Senior Vice President of Marketing who just happened to be the president's wife; Mrs Claire Worthington.

Claire and her husband were good at not showing it when they were not private but the frustration was getting to them; a scream shortage with even their biggest competition feeling the pressure. Claire was doing her best with the unenviable task of putting marketing the second best company when buzz was on their competition; MI's all time scare record was broken recently (one where the 2nd last one still blew FearCo's current one out of the water) and it was a hard sell.

She tried not to think about the new record holder.

Soon she was off the clock and hopefully her work today would help FearCo in the long run (a regular hope recently) and she would just have to let her husband know that she was leaving work to go onto her less stressful and more rewarding job of being a mother to their 2 children.

She got to the main office door and knocked before opening up; there at his desk was Johnny "the Jaw" Worthington III with him looking at scattered papers on his desk nervously. She sighed as she knew how much he tried to hide how much falling behind at the screm shortage was getting to him as he was always afraid of failure and living up to the family legacy.

"Claire my dear... Quitting time already... Sure my love can't spare some more time to help out?" Johnny asked putting on a smile as Claire gave him one of her usual looks.

"No can do; someone has to go home and parent our kids. I don't like having to pay the nany overtime unless it's necessary and I can only do so much of this job on a day before the stress gets to me." Claire replied as Johnny gave a sigh and then ut on a sad smile.

"Wish I was able to but I have to make sure that I'm not the Worthington that runs the company into the ground; have you seen the stocks today?" Johnny asked showing her the latest stock reports on a website for FearCo and... That they had better would be putting it mildly.

"Maybe it would help put your mind at ease to see how MI is doing as they aren't really doing that much better?" Claire asked trying to be encouraging to her husband as he sighed and then clicked on it and his eyes widened. Claire didn't expect to see the confused and excited back to forth expression that he had.

Claire had a look at his phone and...

This got a big visible reaction out of her because... Surely this can't be right as even with the scream shortage; how could they be dropping so big and so fast?

It was weird...

A trending news alert on the phone came up and it said something about Monsters Inc; clicking on it and seeing a news article with a picture of CDA agents arresting Waternoose; an incident involving him having an illegal machine made to forcibly extract machines.

"...Waternoose wanted to use that on human children..." Claire muttered showing surprise and disgust in her voice and Johnny himself looked surprised as well; Claire raised an eyebrow at Johnny showing some deep thought as if to say that he wished that he had thought of an idea like that machine.

"Well this explains that..." Claire muttered but Johnny was deep in thought and a grin on his face.

"Do you know what this means... FearCo will have so much business! People will be coming to us for their energy and our stock and profits will go up! This could save company!" Johnny sai excitedly dropping his phone and Claire just stared that off course he would focus on this.

But if this does end up happening then it would mean less stressful work hours for her.

"All thanks to the monsters that exposed him... What do you know..." Claire muttered looking at the dropped phone and then reading on to find that it was the scare team of James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski who had exposed their boss. The two expelled students after beating Johnny at the Scare Games which Johnny took every opportunity to rant about if given the chance privately.

She solovedlistening to the rants.

Johnny had a look on his face as he then chuckled amused; "So after all this time; after Wazowski and Sullivan embarrassed me at the Scare Games and Sullivan spurned me... They became so popular even after being expelled... They gift this to me... FearCo will now be the leading scare company and so many soon out of the job MI staff will be coming here begging for jobs... Top scarers like their scare recording holding..." Johnny said excitedly and then stopped and Claire actually groaned some more.

Monsters saw Johnny on TV or at public appearances and see him as a monster to be admired; female monsters swoon over her. Claire was actually married to him and wished that she could rant to those monsters about the truth. Johnny was full of himself and he would like to either rant about those that he blamed for any problems he was facing or loved to talk about him and his achievements. Even during family game night; he would focus on telling the kids stories of his glory days at MU or as a field scarer.

He would also put on a look as he nodded as she would talk to him about problems; putting on the show that he was really listening and barely remembered their anniversary and it was up to her to remember the important dates related to their children who were by far the best thing to come out of their marriage.

Out of MU and she let herself be suckered into the good looks, the charm that Johnny puts on as well as his wealth and status. It wasn't worth it and that's not even getting into how he never got over the college crush on Laura Sharp who was never a fan of him. Plus getting a scarer position at their competition; living up to her famous father and breaking the record just a week ago...

Claire had nothing against Laura; she was a cool positive monster in MU who did her best to help anyone she could and was a hardworker. She was happy for her but it was just that her being brought up in front of Johnny only led to him showing more emotion talking about her than his own wife.

Plus she hid it well but she was super jealous that from everything she heard; she was still in a happy relationship with Mike.

"You know what Claire... I think I could do with being out of the office and giving a job offer directly to the top scaring celebrity in person!" Johnny said getting up and grabbing his stuff and Claire's eyes widened at this.

"Wait... What... No; that's not a good idea..." Claire said as Johnny was heading to the door; she tried to stop him but she noticed that he had the look on his face which made it clear that his mind was made up and arguing further was pointless. She decided to follow him to the entrance and then go home to spend time with the kids while her husband goes to make a fool out of himself.

Outside the Monsters Inc building there was a bunch of grumbling and worried monsters who were told to go home early and return on Monday; just about all of them unsure about the security of their jobs with it looking like Monsters Inc could collapse with this scandal. A group of scarers were looking down as they were sitting on the sidewalk together; a group that not only worked together on Scare Floor N but also were together in the same fraternity in Monsters University: Oozma Kappa.

"Well... Getting into the scaring profession late in life was nice while it lasted... At least I can retire knowing that I had done more than what I thought capable off before..." sighed 'Dangerous' Don Carlton.

"I rather liked not being known as a loser..." spoke Terry in a shared sweater with his brother Terri despite being separated all those years ago and were known as 'Terrifying' Terry and Terri.

"At least Laura can go down in history was the last record holder; that will be great for her..." muttered Scott 'Scary' Squibbles or better known as Squishy to those that knew him and liked to privately use his stepfather Don's surname of Carlton.

"I can turn to crime again..." muttered Art as coming up to them was an optimistic looking monster: Fillmore Sharp.

"Come on you lot; I know things seem bad and the future looked uncertain but the best thing is to keep your heads forward and be ready for the future. Sure there is a strong chance that MI could fall but we should focus on doing our best with what prospects we have!" Fillmore told them encouragingly as coming out of the gate was Colette lightly dragging her boyfriend George out by his hand while checking on him.

"I wish that I could be as confident as you Fillmore; nothing seems to worry you..." Don said as Fillmore sighed.

"I am worried about the future but i am not letting that get to me... Plus I am more worried about Mike and Sulley... It sounded like they had an adventure and there is the chance that a lot of angry monsters will be coming after them... Plus I can only imagine how Laura will react when she hears the news of what happened..." Fillmore spoke as the former OK members shared a look.

"... Should give them a call when we can... Make sure things are alright and if they need help being shielded our getting out of town..." Don told the others.

Back at Mike and Sulley's apartment; Laura was able to calm down and ended up getting the whole story. "At least the girl is alright and... You think that Monsters Inc can survive if we switch to making kids laugh instead of scaring them?" Laura asked taking the story in.

"I know that it sounds like a huge risk but as Sulley said the Board is up for it; with this idea we can solve the energy crisis, keep everyone employed and stop Sulley and I from being run out of out town with a mob!" Mike said looking determined as slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. Laura gave it a thought and then put on a smile.

"Well... It could take some getting used to and maybe some practice but... I can manage it... Look at this!" Laura said looking determined and then used her hands to stretch out her mouth to put on a funny face but let go with a yelp as she had accidentally stung the inside of her mouth with one of her claws. "Like I said... With some practice!" Laura said looking embarrassed but Mike just smiled.

"Don't worry about it Laura; just need to replace your scaring practice with comedy practice and maybe some zingers can be added for the extra laugh..." Mike said as he went and grabbed a pen from a nearby desk as he put it to his lips like he was using a microphone. "I was on the driveway the other day when I saw a sign that said 'roadworks ahead' and I was thinking to myself...Well, I sure hope it does!" Mike said and then stretched out his arms in a pose as Laura and Sulley stared and Laura got out a forced laugh while Sulley just continued staring.

"Just work on it Mike!" Sulley ended up saying trying to be encouraging as Mike's look fell into a glare. "We will have a weekend to prepare for the start of a new direction for Monster's Inc and hope that there's enough power to last the city until then..." Sulley said as there was a knock on the door.

Sulley was there to open it and was surprised to find the figure at the door; "James P. Sullivan. It's been too long since we got to meet face to face! I saw that new commercial that you were in for Monsters Inc but the news of what happened today... Dreadful stuff; just dreadful..." Johnny said greeting Sulley and taking his hand to shake.

"Thanks... Johnny Worthington; why don't you come in..." Sulley muttered inviting him in as Mike and Laura were surprised to find him coming in.

"I could list at least a hundred reasons why he can't come in; after all the stuff that happened at Monsters University..." Mike muttered with his arms folded looking at Johnny with a strong glare.

"Mike; let's just put the past behind us..." Sulley said chiding Mike as Johnny looked down at Mike.

"Indeed... Mike Wachowski isn't it? Shame that you got covered by the company logo in that commercial... Still how is being a scare assistant treating you?" Johnny greeted Mike in a tone that could be considered patronising and Mike glared at him.

"How is running a 2nd rate company going for you after getting the job because of who your daddy is?" Mike retorted back and Sulley looked like he wanted to chide Mike again but Johnny laughed.

"Don't worry Mr Wachowski; I know the dirty business of nepotism and I needed to work hard to be allowed the keys to the kingdom." Johnny said as he looked and noticed Laura and got her claw to kiss and this got Mike angrier. "Laura Sharp; it has been too long... If you want to talk about someone who worked hard to live up to the legacy of their father... The new scare record holding Champion... Quite a shame that you have to be the last one... I was hoping to find you as I got to your apartment and was told that you were going here..." Johnny said as Laura took her claw away and looked hesitant at Johnny.

"Yes... I came here... To see myboyfriend..." Laura replied putting extra emphasize on the word and it got Johnny to scowl for a moment.

"Ah yes well... After hearing of the recent business with Mr Waternoose; I thought that I would extend an invitation for all of you to come and join the FearCo family. Since the future of MI is quite uncertain; we could use the talents of such great scarers such as James and Laura here... You would be welcome to join as well Mike." Johnny then offered as Mike's glare grew and Laura shook her head with Sulley soon joining in.

"Thanks but no thanks; I think that Monster Inc's future might be more secure that you realise. Michael and Sulley have come up with a new idea to save the company and the board told them that they are going to go along with it." Laura said matter of factly with her arms folded as Mike pointed to Johnny.

"Yeah; just you wait Worthington... In about a month; we will have collected 3 times the power as before and we don't need jobs at your stinkin company!" Mike confidently told him as Johnny looked amused.

"I am sure that you will; just remember that my offer will remain open." Johnny then told them as he then left through the door.

"Was that really needed Mike?" Sulley asked Mike looking down but the smaller eyeball monster gave him a look.

"You do remember how long it look to get that gunk out of us after his little stunt; don't you? I hope you do as you took three times as long in the shower as the rest of us!" ranted Mike as Sulley sighed.

"I know that we have had our differences but we should put it behind us as he may have matured! Let's just focus on preparing for Monday and the new start for MI... Besides; we have given him the answer and we can't expect him to bother us again." Sulley said as Mike scoffed.

"He better not bother us again; I didn't like the way that he was looking at and talking to Laura..." Mike muttered underneath his breath as Laura sighed.

"Trust me Michael; I don't have any love lost towards him either but still... We can just ignore him and like Sulley said... We should prepare for instead of scarers, we will be... Jokesters? Amusers? Clowns? Comedians?" Laura then told them and the was deep in thought trying to think of a new name.

"Yeah... You're both right... Put Worthington out of mind as we focus on the start of a new era!" Mike said now looking confident with Sulley and Laura putting on similar looks as well.

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

It was early in the morning at Monsters Inc that Monday; and Laura, Mike & Sulley had went into work earlier than they usually would. Mike and Sulley had gotten a message from the board of directors to come into work early and to come to Waternoose's now former office as there was an official message to deliver onto them. They assumed it was something about the transformation of the company from scream energy to the new laugh energy but they were kind of nervous.

Laura went with them and wished them luck with an optimistic smile as they went in which soon faded; she looked a bag that she had brought with them of items that she had gotten from a comedy store over the weekend in preparation. Could she really do this? She wanted to be supportive but such a big change; after all her life wanting to work hard to be a top scarer like her father and managed to just surpass him by claiming the top scaring record for the company.

Plus she would be the very LAST scare record holder for the company...

She also looked to the newspaper that she brought with her; a full report on Waternoose's arrest. The bit with Boo the girl; how human children weren't toxic to monsters? That was certainly a certain but not exactly unwelcome; most monsters didn't hold ill will towards human children despite scaring them for the power (most thought that their scaring helped the children face their fears and build character for them growing up). It's just that all this time they thought that they would be toxic to touch and for that reason she thought that she was very lucky on that field trip as a child.

Maybe this is a blessing; making children laugh instead of scaring them might be nicer. But what if they recognise them as monsters that scared them? Maybe something to think about like mix and match children with different monsters as to not face that problem?

She saw the door opened and her eyes widened as there was Roz leaving; she held her breath as she went through. "Did everything go well guys? I just saw Roz leaving..." Laura asked as Mike practically jumped at her and was holding onto her torso excitedly making her startled.

"Better than okay! Roz actually had good news which isn't like her! She was here to tell us that the board have decided to let us implement the changes ourselves! They put US both in charge!" Mike said excitedly as Laura took a hold of him and put him down as she put on an amused look.

"Wow Mike... Getting started on the comedian thing; but seriously... What did Roz tell you?" Laura asked looking down at Mike but seeing his face didn't change and she looked to see Sulley who didn't look like it was a joking matter and was looking quite surprised. Soon her face fell as it slowly sunk in that Mike wasn't joking. "You're kidding..." Laura asked stunned... Mike and Sulley? She could never have expected this.

"That's what I said but no... I'm the official CEO... And Mike... He's the Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Vice Deputy Administrative Director of Comedy Resources Management." Sulley then replied as Mike grinned.

"Or SCPOMICE-VDADOCREM for short!" Mike finished as Laura then put her amused look back on.

"Did Roz tell you that you were that or are those the titles that you gave yourself?" Laura asked knowing how her boyfriend was like.

"You know me Night Darling!" Mike replied and Laura smiled at the little pet name used for her. "I want you to help us as the new first lady of Monsters Incorporated!" Mike then said as Laura's eyes widened and she took a step back as she comprehended this and Sulley gave Mike a look.

"What? Me help you... Look; I am all for the switch to laugh power and I want to try and make this work... But me helping you run Monsters Inc? I have no idea whatsoever about running a business as big as this!" Laura refuted firmly shaking her head.

"You are in the same boat as us Laura and we don't know anything more about running this company than you do... There are notes on the desk but we could really use your help and... Now that I think about it; back in your MU days when you and Mike put your heads together... Things worked out well..." Sulley then said as Laura frowned and gave it a thought.

"Well... If you want help... Out there I realised what if there is a potential problem of a monster trying to make a kid laugh that they scared... We should mix and match previous monster and kid pair ups..." Laura then said as Mike seated himself at the desk.

"See there... You have already come up with a potential problem and came up with a solution! At this rate; in a month's time everyone would have forgotten there ever was an energy crisis with us working together! Wait... You know Celia has been due for a promotion for some time..." Mike then said as he got onto the phone and Laura nodded conceding that their friend really was due.

The workers at Monsters Inc looked worried and unsure of themselves as they went into work as normal and there was Ms Flint on the intercom; telling them that the scarers would now be acting as 'jokesters' to extract laughs from children instead of scaring them. That scarers would be asked to try and adjust to the change and see to the now former scare simulator for help with retraining.

"What do you know... This is unexpected..." Fillmore remarked certainly surprised as he was standing with his assistant and some of the veteran scarers from his floor. He saw one of his old friends at the company Fritz passing; the monster who acted as the head of the company's Facilities Team or MIFT as he and it's other members liked to call themselves. "Fritz; did you know about this?" Fillmore decided to ask wondering who in the company knew this was coming.

"Yes indeedy; the Board had MIFT change things about in the building during the weekend as well as rework the scare simulator into a laugh simulator..." Fritz explained and then Squishy pointed something out standing with his stepfather and their old OK buddies as well as co-workers on Scare Floor N. They saw that Mike and Laura were walking together with Laura speaking up to all of the assembled monsters.

"Please be calm and go to your work stations unless asked to do so otherwise; I know this is a shock but we can make it work together... Please don't panic and keep an open mind about this..." Laura was pleading to all of them as the monsters looked out like they wanted some more in depth explanations about the change in their jobs. Mike seemed to be in high spirits and walking with the swagger of a monster on top of the world.

"Listen to your new first lady people! Treat her with the respect that she deserves!" Mike called out as this got looks directed at him as Laura couldn't help but facepalm at what Mike had just said.

"First lady? What are you talking about Mike?" Don asked as Mike then faced him looking serious.

"I will let this go as an old friend Don but on the premises; I am to be referred to as Mr Wazowski Sir as your new SCPOMICE-VDADOCREM!" Mike then told him as they looks then continued.

"Well it's official... Mike has finally lost it!" Terry then said at once.

"I would have thought that it would have happened sooner..." Terri had admitted.

"Can we please get an explanation?" Fillmore ended up asking Laura as she then shrugged her shoulders and sighed at the same time before clearly her breath.

"Everyone... The board of directors have decided to put Mike and Sulley in charge of the company and the new change of direction. Sulley is now the new CEO and Mike is the... Senior Vice President of Executive Comedy... Something along those lines..." Laura then said as everyone was now staring silently with Mike smirking proudly as they took this in.

"You're kidding..." muttered out Art, Terry, Terri and Fillmore's scare assistant at once.

"That's what I said and Sulley and Roz... But it's all true.. They have also roped me into helping run things..." Laura then said as Mike then looked proudly.

"That's right and I promise you that we will be directing MI to newer and better things! So get to your stations and be prepared for the first day of a new era!" Mike then commanded and the monsters started walking while giving weird looks to Mike. Fillmore ended up putting on a smile and then patted Mike and Laura on the back.

"I am so looking forward to explaining this to your mother." Fillmore told his daughter with a laugh and Laura stood there and wondered about this unofficial title that her boyfriend had given her: She was now herfather's superior at the company!

Deep in a swamp in the human world; there was one one purple reptilian monster who was resting at a tree where he had put up a hammock and managed to make a crude wooden shelter over it. Having gotten his claws on a chainsaw and had spent the weekend making his new 'home' as well as getting his hands on what food he could.

"I can't believe that I ever wanted us to be popular... We have eachother and that's just fine! Sullivan... Worthington... Roar Omega Roar... We didn't need them then and we don't need them now!" Randall Boggs spoke shaking his head as he looked to the left and there was a wooding carven that he had made of Mike using a tree and nearby there was another made of Laura while various failed attempts littered the outside of the general area. "You two wants to double date with me and Monnie... Don't mind if I do..." Randall then said with a smile.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

What was now Laugh Floor F was where Mike, Sulley, Laura and Laura's assistant entered and they looked to see where Mike and Laura would be working as on field 'jokesters' from now on. "Doesn't look that much different; you could barely notice that anything has happened in the last week at all... I tell you that the faculty team have done wonders making this place feel at home while going for the new MO of MIT!" Mike then cheered out as Laura looked up and saw the green 'LAUGH' sign and gave a smile as she put down her bag of comedy props.

"Yes; Uncle Friz and his team really worked hard and it shows." Laura said smiling thinking that maybe it will be easier to adjust to than before.

"Plus with my Darling Night working on this Laugh Floor with me; we can brainstorm ideas better than if we hadn't had you transferred! Thanks for that Celia!" Mike then said pointing to Laura and then waving to Celia who put a tentacle up as if a thumbs up. "Plus here is my new assistant Fungus!" Mike then said as Fungus came over in a rush and this got Laura's interest.

"Mike, Sulley... I just want to say that thanks for giving me another chance after what happened..." Fungus then said as Mike then urgently went to him and put his arm around his body and Sulley looked tense as Laura looked a bit suspicious.

"No worries Fungus; we didn't need those documents that you accidentally spilt coffee over!" Mike then shouted out and then gave Fungus an eye as Laura came over.

"Fungus? You're working with Mike now... Say do you know where Randall is? I wonder what he has to say about this change..." Laura then asked as Fungus looked nervous as Mike coughed. Laura then folded up her arms as she stared more intently. "I am wondering as... I can't really say more..." Laura then asked thinking that it wasn't her place to say that Monnie was worried about Randall as that was her worries to share.

"Well we did try and call him during the weekend but he didn't pick up and I don't think that he called into work... Sorry Laura..." Sulley then said as Laura looked like she didn't quite buy it but eyed then as she then went to get her stuff ready.

"You two have to tell her..." Celia then said as Mike then put on a show of thinking it over.

"You know what... We should have room to tell her from... The 7th of Never through the 15th of Ain't Gonna Happen!" Mike then whispered as he suddenly looked serious.

"She should know and the others should know... You know that Monnie is still one of her best friends..." Sulley then said Mike as he folded up his arms.

"Are you two kidding... Do you have any idea how they are gonna react... How Laura... She only ever knew Randall as her friend and brother figure... She never saw him as your rival Sulley and I didn't know how seriously he took it and how resentful he was... I still thought that we were friends but what he got mixed with and we don't know where he is... We just have to "let them forget about him... Give it like 6 months..." Mike then whispered as Sulley then raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"Mike; you have had some stupid ideas but this really takes it... You expect everyone to just forget about Randall..." Sulley asked as before Mike could offer a retort there was the sound of cannisters and they looked at a nearby pile and a tall long horned purple monster was standing there with clipboards at his horns.

"Did Ms Flint send you?" Mike asked feeling that the monster looked familiar and the monster said that he saw her earlier. "Well lets get this monster a door since if this monster is Flint approved..." Mike then said excitedly for seeing a new jokester in action (as well as a distraction from that conversation).

A door was set up with Fungus helping to set up the cannister as Mike then went up to Laura; "A new on field jokester all set already for this new age with new jobs... You know I was thinking that since we are big important company people now; we should have our own new company car all for Laura and I..." Mike then suggested with a grin to Sulley and Laura as Laura looked amused but Sulley just stared.

"The power at your head already Mike?" Laura asked as they didn't notice behind them the kid from the door had ran out screaming and was being chased by the monster. They then heard crashing and they turned and saw the apologetic monster and they looked at the kid at a corner kneeling down crying.

"WHAT? Another kid loose in here... On our first days... Oh man; we are gonna be laughing stocks for sure... Sure we want to make laughs but not from monsters at us..." Mike then yelled as Laura hesitatingly walked towards the kid and then saw that the kid was crying which tug at her heartstrings.

"Hello... It's alright... I am not gonna hurt you..." Laura then said softly putting on a smile and thinking off something; she then did her finger stretching her mouth bit that she was practicing during the weekend and the kid noticed and started giggling. She then smiled as she then sat next to him and put her wing around him slowly and he ended up cuddling up to her. "Wow... You realy are not toxic to touch at all... I'm Laura; what's yours?" Laura then asked giggling as the kid then smiled up at her.

"Miguel." the kid answered as Laura stood up and picked Miguel up into her arms.

"Well Miguel; let's get you home to bed." Laura then said as Mike and Sulley just stared.

"At least this is getting solved soon but man... Wouldn't Laura make a great Mum..." Mike asked as Sulley then slowly formed a smirk and directed it to Mike. Mike then jumped realising what he was implying then said "No go repeating this to anyone... Last year Laura's mother brought up when we are having kids or even marrying when I was at her parents' place and I had to think off my feet to get out of the conversation and I deal with that topic enough from my own mother as it is..."

Laura came out of the door and Fungus yelled for the shredder as there was a cough from the purple monster at they stared at him as he had his head down; "I am really sorry... Mr Sullivan and Mr Wazowski... I wasn't really assigned as a jokester but this was my first day and... You will never have to deal with me again..." the monster said apologetically.

"Hold on... You're Tylor Tuskmon who broke my record at the scare simulator... Professor Knight told me about you and I reccomended you to Waternoose..." Sulley then said smiling and Mike realised who he remembered him from.

"Thanks Mr Sullivan but... I'm scary and not funny... I took this chance and I blew it... I should be out of your hear..." Tylor then said as Mike then ran up to his side.

"You know you remind me of someone... Someone who dreamed off being a top scarer and when he got to Monsters University... Just about everyone told him that he didn't have what it takes because he's not scary... But after he got expelled along with his best friend; they started at the bottom in the company from the mail room and worked their way up... Up to the Scare Floor and now running this company... If we can make it... Don't sell yourself short just yet Mr Tuskmon... You keep at your assigned position and wait for your chance to try out and show your funny bone..." Mike then told him encouragingly as Sulley then gave a big smile and Laura joined them.

"You really think that I could learn to be a jokester..." Tylor asked hopefully as they then nodded.

"Everything is possible as I said... Learn... You know you could be onto something... Special comedy classes to help scarers become jokesters with me as head professor..." Mike then said grinning as Tylor then took Mike and Sulley's hands to shake.

"Thank you sirs... I won't let you down and if it's laughter you're after then I will be ready to bring it when I can!" Tylor then said as he then faced Laura. "It's an honor Ms Sharp; I was 10 when you first started out as a scarer and I got your Card as soon as it came out..." Tylro then said as Laura then gave a bigger smile.

"Welcome to Monsters Inc Tylor and don't fret about feeling that you don't belong in the new direction or being stuck at another position for as my dad always said... Every monster is special! I am sure you will find your way here soon enough!" Laura then said encouraging as Tylor nodded and left.

"He gave me another great idea...It's Laughter We're After! Our new slogan!" Mike then said with a big grin as Sulley rolled his eyes.

"So... The warm nice feeling when the kid wasn't scared of you... Was it like you with Boo?" Laura then whispered to Sulley who put his head down but then gave a thumbs up and Laura decided to leave it alone for now.

It was noon as the announcement was officially made to the public about Monster Inc's change towards Laugh Power and reporters were invited to the inside of the facility for a statement from Sulley revealed as the new CEO with Mike there interjecting as the new SCPOMICE-VDADOCREM.

"Mike and I came up with this new revolutionary idea together and we are confident that it's towards a better future for the company and those that rely on us..." Sulley said as Mike then grinned at the camera.

"We may not scare but we still care and pretty soon; Monsters Inc will be better than ever and I think that the other scare companies should just call it quits if they want to persist like for instance..." Mike said as Sulley gave him a look.

There was a statement from Laura who coughed and read off her written paper "a more humane and efficient way to power our city and resolve the energy crisis; from fear to joy and all around fun... That's how this will be done..." It was cut off before Laura could ask the camera crew what they thought of the pun that she came up with.

Plenty of sceptical monsters watching this live tuned in but there was a group of female monsters who were at work when they got the news alert and were surprised by the news but the new bosses at Monsters Inc; the female monsters while not together at the moment thought that they should see to their former sorority leader about all this change.

Including those watching the broadcast was Johnny and Claire at one of the TV monitors at the the FearCo building. "Laughter... That's their big plan to fix the energy crisis and save their sinking ship? That's the dumbest idea I have ever heard... Makes sense that Wazowski helped come up with it... I mean monsters are scary; they are not supposed to be funny... This is against nature..." Johnny commented with a laughter as Claire had her eyes widened as she then took out her phone. "Plus why did they think that it was a good idea to put those 2 in charge... They got expelled from MU... After Sullivan embarrassed ROR with falling behind in grades to Wazkowski and then getting kicked out of the program... Then they cheated and now this?" Johnny then said looking a bit bitter.

"Well... At least enough monsters are giving this new clean energy a chance for the stock to go back... Probably helps with that they have 2 famous scarers publicly backing it including the company's last scare holder who holds the biggest record in the city..." Claire then informed him and Johnny then snatched his wife's phone to see that the stock was going back up which had him glaring.

"How did Wazowski and Sullivan rope Laura into this... So beautiful and fierce and scary... She shouldn't be wasting her stuff trying to make brats laugh... Is there a better monster..." Johnny then commented and there was a fake cough as Johnny saw that Claire was glaring at him with her arms folded. "Apart from you off course my dear... Let's prepare for this little charade to blow up in their faces..." Johnny then corrected himself as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"Can I have it back; you know I have my schedule on that... Including events and birthdays... Including mine which is not far off but I am sure that you already knew..." Claire told him getting her phone back.

It was the end of the work day at Monsters Inc and as the monsters left still trying to wrap their heads around the new order of things at the company; Tylor himself was thinking of his new position at MIFT and his desire to make it as a jokester when the time comes. He hoped that he could get himself pumped and get confident enough when that chance comes as to not repeat what happened earlier.

He noticed a discarded newspaper on the ground and picked it up and found a big ad showing a large muscular bird monster in a suit pointing to the camera with a big smile. The advertisem*nt was for 'BROCK PEARSON: MOTIVATIONAL & INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER!' This could help him...