The other monsters [Monsters Inc.]

Wig on head, bike horn in hand, unicycle under butt, Mike Wazowski rode through the door. He closed it behind him, sealing off the cheer floor.

The most important part of being funny was knowing your audience. That started with the door. It was kinda old and expensive-looking. Could mean a couple of things for the kid behind it.

The room didn't look very lived-in. It wasn't dusty or anything, but all the toys were in a box and the stuffed animals were seated in a row beside the bed. Maybe it was someone's room, but that someone couldn't be the kid sleeping in the bed, or it would be more of a mess.

Everything was just a little too neat. Except for the slice of pie on the floor.

Somehow that stuck out the most. It had a plate under it, and there were no bite marks. This was not a plate that had been put down for a minute and forgotten. This pie was deliberately placed in stepping range.

He only puzzled over it for a few seconds, but that was enough for the kid to notice him. They must have been a light sleeper.

Now, normally when a kid first saw Mike they'd be equal parts surprised, intrigued and scared. The trick was to tip them away from the fear and get them laughing. But this kid wasn't scared, nor intrigued, and looked more annoyed than surprised.

The kid sat up in bed. "Miss Toriel!" they called. "There's a Loox in my room!"

He didn't know what the hell that meant, but a parent was the last thing he needed. Time to say goodbye.

But before he could open the door from his side and retreat, it was already opened from the other side, exposing not the cheer floor but an ordinary hallway with an extremely unordinary occupant.

There was a monster standing in the doorway. Not any monster he knew, though she could be family of Sulley's. Not any monster that worked at Monsters, Inc. This monster was wearing some kind of weirdo medieval robe, not at all regulation. And she was angry.

She grabbed him under his arms and lifted him off his unicycle. "I do not know how you got inside," she said sternly, "but I do not tolerate this behavior from anyone."

She carried him off and before he knew it he was locked outside the house.

"Outside" was a relative term. He was outside the house, and there were leaves all around, but there were still brick walls and a ceiling and a cavernous echo. Might be subterranean.

This was all very intriguing and confusing and worrying and it drew the nature of monster-human separation into question, but he needed to get back to the door as soon as possible. In ten minutes they'd check up on him and if he wasn't there he'd be in trouble.

He sighed and started looking for handholds.

One minute later he dropped through the chimney into a fireplace. A fire was burning, which was surprising, because there hadn't been any smoke; even more surprisingly it wasn't very hot. He only ended up covered in soot, not burns.

It sounded like a kitchen around the corner. He snuck in the opposite direction and found his way back to the door.

It only worked from the other side. In one fluid motion he went through it, closed it, grabbed his tricycle, opened it again, and returned to the cheer floor, all before the kid could call for help.

Everyone was staring at him. This would be tough to explain.