Preface

It's taken me almost or if not a year to create, finish, spell/grammar and error check my story but now I feel confident it's ready to be uploaded for all the world to see. As you can tell from the cover and title this will be a Randall Boggs story. I hope to make my story stand out from the rest but also bring the same enjoyment other Monsters Inc. /University stories have brought me and other readers. But before you begin I like to point out a few things before you read on.

*This is an alternate universe (AU) story.

*Beneath These Scales contains a lot of original characters (OC) throughout the story.

*I have rated this story as K+ which contains minor action violence. If you believe it should be rated higher or lower please message me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Of course you will have to explain why it should be given this rating otherwise it will be ignored.

*This story is through Randall's prospective. This means he'll be narrating the story when he is/isn't in a scene or chapter.

Have fun reading and reviewing! Even if you're not a fan of OC's or don't like any of the so called parings and among other things you should still try to give it a read and if you still don't like it or you can't get into the mood of the story then no worries and no hard feelings. Hopeful if that happens you'll be able to find another story that will suit to your tastes. Disclaimer: Monsters Inc. /University and all the characters included where created by Pixar Animation Studios which the company itself is owned by Walt Disney Pictures. A part from the characters I have created (OC's) everything belongs to those two companies.

Now that's done and out of the way I hope you enjoy the first chapter and if you would be so kind to leave a review and follow the story.

Thank you and enjoy my story I've worked so hard on.

Chapter 1: So It Begins

My name is Randall Boggs and my life just got turned upside down in the worst way possible. It all happened so fast, just about a minute ago I was so close to killing James P Sullivan, my arch nemesis who had destroyed my chances of being number one scarer in Monsters Incorporated and my machine that was going to help stop the energy crisis and end Sullivan's career. Oh and I'm forgetting that one-eyed jerk Mike Wazowski who helped Sullivan with the process of my demise, alright I wasn't killed but I wasn't better off. I was throw though a door into what was meant to be a child's bedroom but it wasn't, I crushed onto the floor with a loud thud. As I picked myself up from the dirty floor I could hear voices before a big human woman with a shovel began to hit me hard on the head with it.

"Ahh!"

I cried in pain as the shovel made a bone crunching sound over my head. The mother kept on attacking me thinking I was an alligator, me an alligator! I received the second smack to the head which was more painful than the first. The brat in the trailer cheered his mother on by jumping up and down, the kid might have had too many fizzy drinks if you ask me. As I was hit for the third time I saw a window that I might be able to fit though and escape this hell hole but I had to time it right, otherwise I would hit into the window and injury myself even more. The human used her shovel to take another swing at me again, this time I ducked from the path of the shovel and jump through the open window with success.

The mother and the boy where amazed how I was able to jump through the small window with ease. "Quick mama! It's getting away, it's getting away!" the young boy shouted. I turn to look at the trailer and see the mother getting a long double-barrelled shotgun out of the cupboard. Luck was on my side since she had to load the gun with shotgun shells before she could fire them first. I ran as quickly as I can into the darkness of the swamps and hopeful away from danger and away from that shovel and gun.

A loud ear piecing sound was heard in the distance. I could only imagine it was the shotgun that was meant for me but because I was no were to be seen it was now used as a warning to anyone who wanted to break into their trailer or what they would call it home. Why would anyone want to attempt to break into that dump I have no idea, I could only guess you had a death wish or something? My mind soon focused to topic at hand. 'How will I get back into the Monstropolis? How will I get back home?' I thought to myself nervously. I picked a random tree to climb on to and maybe have a short rest and then finger out what to do next.

Climbing the tree was a piece of cake for me at least and not before long I found a nice strong branch to rest on for a while. A nice cold breeze blew in my face as I look out from the tree and saw a nearby town which shined like a star in the darkness of space. Then an idea came to my head, an good one! Every kid in this town should be fast asleep. All I have to do is wait for a monster to scare some child, the door should still be open once the monster enters the room so all I have to do is sneak past them and enter back into my world again! Of course I had no idea of the changes that were beginning to happen back at Monsters Incorporated so I wouldn't find out until I get back there, if I ever got back there. I turned around and saw the small light in the distance that must have been the trailer I had been transported too with the van parked next to it. A shiver runs down my spine as I remember the heavy shovel hitting me over my head as the biggest female human I've ever seen hits me so many times with it that I had lost count, was it three or four times I had been attacked I'll never know.

As I climb down from the tree I notice the clouds started to cover the moon. Now on solid ground I began making my way to the small town with high hopes until I felt something wet fall onto my back and notice it was water. I looked up into the night sky and it started to rain. A roar of thunder and lightning decided to join in too as I signed with a deep breath. 'How much harder is this going to get?' I thought to myself. Traffic could be heard nearby as I was getting closer to the town which must have taken me thirty to forty minutes to get this far. I saw the lights of the trucks and cars shine past the trees of the forest I had now entered, once past the forest I should be in town. I kept running thinking what had happened the past few hours ago. How my plans were rained by Sullivan and Wazowski and putting me in this hell whole of a world.

To my surprised I arrived in town. Out of breath I look around to see a gas station on my right with its bright lights and the parked cars waiting to get fuel before they returned home. Ahead of me is probably the centre of the town and on my left was a row of houses. I want to the row of houses since I would have more chance of finding children there, it looked that the town was getting ready for a upcoming parade in the town centre since there was a lot of decorations that hang over the street lights in blue and red banners and tinsel making me think it was Christmas time for the town and for the humans that lived here.

I saw a house that hanged what appears to be the red, blue and white flag though the front window. It was a green coloured house with four windows at the front and a white door, most of the house on this street where panted the same colour. Since it was the closest house to me I picked the green one, hoping to have a child sleeping inside its bedroom. The rain kept coming down as I went to the back of the house. To my horror I notice there was a dog inside a red and blue coloured dog house. The dog was a brown and black dog with long pointy ears which he or she had gold and black coloured fur.

I realised that the dog had been named Buster since I had seen the gold named plank that was on top of the dog house. Forgetting the dog that was going to make my way into the house even harder for me to break in I had found a drain pipe that I could climb onto, letting me gain access to the windows. The pipe was wet thanks to the rain and had made it very dangerous to climb but I really had no choice in the matter at hand. Soon it would be daylight and I would have to wait another day for the world to be dark again. "This should be a piece of cake" I joked out loud to myself. I took a deep breath and began to climb upwards with my four hands. Everything was going really well when I got to the top of the pipe but then it started to go wrong for me. Next to me there was two windows by the side of me. I reached out to the left window ledge and grabbed onto it with my left hand but my right hand lost grip holding onto the pipe.

My whole body twisted backwards and smacked into the back of the house. The hand that lost grip with the pipe was now holding onto the window ledge but I was facing the wrong detraction. I had to somehow make myself face the back of the house which now lead to my attention of the dog who was the only one to notice the noise I had created. The dog walk over to the house and looked up dumbfounded at me hanging onto the cold wet window ledge. Now in pain from my uncomfortable position I try to turn around but I struggled to move. The dog started to brake at me. "Go... away you dumb fur ball!" I hissed at the dog that wouldn't go away. The dog started to bark even more. "No... Please stop... you're going to get me caught you dumb mart!" My heart started to race faster and faster. Suddenly the window next to me opened with such force that I almost fell off. A human head pop out and looked angry as he looked down at the dog. "Keep it down you dumb dog! Some of us are trying to get some sleep around here!" The human shouted before closing the window and went back to bed.

The dog signed like a lost puppy as it walked over back to his pet house. I finally twisted myself to the front of the house and peek through the window. A boy slept in his bed peacefully with a cuddly toy around his arm. The boy had black hair and was probably aged around six or seven years. "It's Showtime!" I said to myself as I smiled deeply. I opened the unlocked window, it seems this family never heard of home invaders or burglars. As I slowly slid into the child's bedroom. A warm sensation hits my scales before it became a burning sensation. In pain I quickly move away from the window as fast as possible. I look down to see that I was sliding down onto a piping hot radiator. As I recovered from my burns I quietly close the window and lay on the floor to blind in with my surroundings. With the child still asleep all I had to do is wait for a monster and then sneak back into the factory and I'll be home free. I looked around the bedroom, there was a couple of books, a gaming console, posters around his bedroom, all and all it was very messy which made my life easy to stay hidden from anyone's eyesight.

Minutes felt like hours but I still had hope that someone was going to turn up. I kept walking to the closet door to open it hoping I would be on scare floor F but all I found was the boy's clothes and scout uniform. I wasn't going to allow doubt to sink in. If Wazowski and Sullivan could escape the human world then so could I as well. But I started to feel tired now, of course I would be tried. I've spent the whole day getting chased and beaten up by Sullivan's pet brat and an angry mother who attacks anyone on sight. It would only be for a few minutes right? "What could go wrong?" I thought to myself. I looked at the clock that was on top of the child's night stand, it said it was 9:00pm. I still have a lot of time before I would have to find a hiding place to live if the worst should happen.

My eye lids began to feel heavy and I suddenly gave in. After sometime my eyes opened again but this time I felt fully refreshed. It was like I had only been asleep for a few minutes but I was wrong, dead wrong. I looked at the clock, it read 10:45pm. I looked around and saw the child was still sleeping but had moved around from his original position from his bed. Was I already too late? I looked at the closet door and bright light shined though the keyhole of the closet door which was a good sign.

I moved across the bedroom to see that the door was not properly closed. Trying to be silent as much as possible and not wake the child who was still peacefully sleeping I opened the door, step though it and arrived back at the factory. I closed the door and hid behind some large scare canisters that happened to be nearby. I heard two monsters argue with each and waited for them to leave. 'This better not take too long.' I thought to myself but at least I was home again and no one could take that away from me, no one!

So that's the first chapter over and done with. So what do you think? Please submit your reviews and follow this story if you enjoyed it. Before you go I would like to point out the story already completed so you don't have to worry about the story not being updated for some reason. If you have seen any grammar, spelling mistakes or even a problem with the story such as continuity errors please private message me and I'll edit and remove the errors and mistakes in the chapter as soon as possible. I like to keep the review section limited to reviews only. One more thing I like to say is chapters are going to be uploaded every Friday and Sunday so it gives you the reader the weekend to enjoy them even know by the time I do get this first chapter posted it will be the summer holidays again when everyone has the time off to do anything they like, hopefully.

See you for the next update!