Nerve-Racking Romeo
Chapter 1 – All's Fair in Love and War
'Frightening' Frank McCay thought he was pretty lucky; he lived a pretty easy-going life while working at Monster's Inc. He loved doing his job, anyway, and most of his fellow employees were pretty cool.
But the only reason Frank was able to keep his cool on the scare floor because he always had the luxury of knowing he was at the top; he hadn't broken the All-Time Scare Record(yet), but he was still pretty far ahead on the score board, and everyone adored him for his talent.
But as of now, the lunch bell range, and despite being an effortless scarer, Frank could be pretty hungry, so he didn't want to waste anytime in refueling.
"LOOK OUT BELOOOOW!" a voice came from high up in the halls of the factory when Frank was on his way to the cafeteria.
But before Frank could react, it was too late; a big blur was headed right for him, and the two collided. All the other monsters passing by either stopped or took a long glance before continuing on.
The object that crashed into Frank was actually a monster; she was almost the same as Frank's height, she had a very slim body, and she was basically an anthropomorphic dragon with rose red scales, with an elongated muzzle, an black fury crest on her chest that grew down to the middle of her stomach, a set of black horns that curled down like a ram's horns, a huge pair of powerful dragon wings on her back, and her tail was almost as long as her body, with a large, dangerously sharp tail fan on the end.
Frank and the dragon-like monster soon shook their heads, and Frank looked into her bright red eyes when she smiled sheepishly at him.
"I am SO sorry about that, Frank," the she-monster apologized while standing back up, and she even picked up his old Monsters University hat for him, "I won't lie to you, I lost a bet to my friend, and she made me do that."
"Hey, I don't blame you, Rory; friends REALLY suck sometimes, don't they?" Frank chuckled quietly while taking his cap back and placing it back on his spiked head, and he got a giggle from Aurora.
Frank and Aurora had actually been competing scarers ever since they met, and a lot of times, they came neck to neck with each other at the top of the score board. But no matter how competitive they got, they always stayed good friends.
"Wanna grab some slime slurpees?" Aurora soon asked.
"Meh, why not?" Frank replied with a chuckle, "how about who ever got the least points has to buy? What's you score so far?"
"Twenty two thousand and eleven."
"Oh, not bad. I just got a measly little—thirty thousand and fifty five," Frank added with a smirk.
"Show off!" Aurora shouted while playfully pushing Frank, and he only laughed back, "but you're buying next time."
"Fair enough," Frank agreed with a shrug.
Eventually, the tentacle and the dragon monsters left out of the cafeteria with their nearly finished slurpee cups.
"By the way, did you ever hear about the school field trip today?" Aurora questioned while taking a sip.
"Oh, yeah, that one…uh, the one from Frighton Elementary, right?" Frank questioned while trying to remember.
"That's the one. Hope you're good with kids 'cause they'll practically be crawling all over you," Aurora pointed out with a smirk.
"Oh, and like I shouldn't wish YOU good luck?" Frank added while pointing a claw in Aurora's face.
"That is true, Frankie, that is true—but I'm a woman; women have motherly instincts, so I'm good," Aurora protested with a wink, earning a scoff from Frank, and the two passed by a trash can so they could throw their trash away.
But after Frank threw his cup away, he looked up towards the Scaring Floor with surprise.
"Really? Ok then, prove it, Missy," Frank added while pointing a claw towards the Scare Floor, and Aurora followed his claw to find the group of Frighton Elementary kids.
"Game on," Aurora said with a grin while cracking her claws.
"Loser buys Chinese."
"It's a date."
With that, the two scarers headed for the scare floor with the others scarers since it was time to get back to work, and when they approached the group of younger monsters, they couldn't help but notice the inspired way they looked at them.
"Well, hey there, kids!" Aurora began cheerfully.
"Are you all on a tour with your school?" Frank asked with a smile.
"Yeah!" the little monsters cheered in reply.
"Yes, we're here to learn about scream energy, and what it takes to be a scarer," their teacher added.
"Well, you're in luck 'cause I just happen to be a scarer; I learn everything I learned from my school," Frank began while turning his cap around so the MU on the front faced the class, "Monsters University. It's the best scaring school there is."
"You wish!" a big green monster named Hank 'The Tank' Knapp interrupted while taking Frank's cap from his head and rudely stepping in between him and Aurora, "Fear Tech is the best. Right, Aurora?"
"Hey, don't bring me inta this; I never went to any of those schools in the first place," Aurora protested while raising her arms up in defense, and Frank scoffed while taking his cap back.
"Why don't you guys watch and see who's best, alright?" Frank asked the kids once the other scarers left, and then he lowered his voice while pointing at his cap, "MU is."
With that, the bell to start scaring again rang, and Frank walked out onto the Scare Floor while putting his cap back on.
"Ha! Frankie one. Rory none," Frank mocked once he caught up to Aurora, and she wouldn't here the end of it since their stations are right next to each other.
"Beginner's luck," Aurora chuckled, "but now's the time to scare not care, so get ready, Frankie."
"I'm always ready," Frankie growled while bringing out his claws, and he set his cap on his station's desk, and he and Aurora went into their doors at the same time.
Moments later, both their doors had shrill screams filling the room, and their scare cans were soon filled to the brim with screams. But they were surprised to find that all of the employees on the floor were gathered around Frank's door with shocked faces and medical kits.
"What?" Frank soon asked, but then he followed everyone's gaze to find a small, green, sphere-shaped, one eyed monster standing right behind him, and once Frank moved out of the way, everyone started to crowd the younger monster.
"Do you think he went in there with you?" Aurora asked in surprise when Frank retreated back to his station.
"Well, if he did, it wasn't a good idea," Frank replied while picking his cap back up and walking up to the little monster.
"That was REAL dangerous, Kid; I didn't even know you were in there," Frank told the little monster firmly while putting his hat back on, and the young monster frowned with shame…but then Frank realized something.
"Wow…I didn't even know you were in there…not bad, Kid," Frank stated in a softer tone, and he leaned down to give the little monster his hat; the young monster looked up with a smile to see Frank wink at him before turning and leaving.
But when Frank turned back towards his station, he found Aurora leaned up against his desk with a smirk and her arms were crossed.
"Impressive," Aurora admitted, "you're better with kids—monster ones—than I thought. Guess I'm buyin' tonight."
"Was there ever any doubt?" Frank asked while getting cocky, and he reached a clawed tentacle to his desk to lean over Aurora while grinning at her as he started to lean closer.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Aurora said while pushing Frank's face away with one of her wings, "not on the first date, Romeo."
"First date, my tentacle. You know I was just messin' around; it's what frienemies do, Rory," Frank protested while standing back.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…my place, seven o' clock—don't keep me waiting, Frankie," Aurora added seductively just to play with Frank, and just before she walked back over to her station to start scaring again, she lightly whipped her tail fan on his face.
"I look forward to it," Frank chuckled in a whisper.
But the whole time Frank and Aurora were having fun, Hank had been watching them from afar, and he picked the wrong time to be holding a scare can because he suddenly crushed it out of anger. Ever since Hank first laid eyes on Aurora, he fell head over heels for her, but over the years, he started to realize that all the time she spends with Frank, their rivalry went beyond just school rivalry.
Later that night, Frank left for Aurora's apartment building to get there on time, and it wasn't long before he found her apartment number, and he knocked at her door.
The door soon opened to reveal none other than Aurora.
"Not bad timing; the food hasn't even gotten here yet," Aurora pointed out while holding the door open for Frank to come in.
Aurora's apartment wasn't anything fancy; it was like any other apartment in the whole building; though, she did line the furniture with some decorative leopard fur designs.
"Aaahh, I missed this couch, and I think it missed me too," Frank sighed while plopping down onto his far left spot on the couch.
"The couch is a couch; it can't miss anything," Aurora chuckled while taking a seat on the recliner chair next to the couch.
"Who cares? This leopard fur is SOOO nice," Frank softly protested while raising his arms up to the back of the couch, he leaned his head back, and he crossed a couple of his tentacles over the others.
"Whatever…anyway, why'd you give that one kid your hat? I though you loved that thing," Aurora pointed out.
"Oh, of course I did; I preformed all my best scares back in college when I wore it," Frankie began.
"So…?" Aurora urged.
"Well, I couldn't leave the kid like that; I could see the potential in him, and great things happen to only the best people when they wear that hat."
"Hmph! Since when did YOU become such a softie?" Aurora asked with a smirk.
"Does it matter? I'm still pretty scary on the outside," Frank added matter-of-factly.
"Clearly since everyone knows I'd be the top scarer if not for you," Aurora bragged while puffing out her chest.
"You don't have to boast, Rory; we're not on the Scare Floor right now," Frank pointed out with a cocked eyebrow, and Aurora only rolled her eyes.
But that was when there was a sudden knock at the door; Aurora got up to answer the door to find that it was the Chinese food delivery guy with their food, so she paid for everything and wished the monster a good night before taking the food and closing the door.
Soon, the two dug into their food; Frank got into the cockroach rice while Aurora ate most of the snake egg rolls…and that's when Aurora thought she'd play around with Frank.
"So…speaking of kids…why hasn't such a successful scarer like you considered settling down yet?" Aurora asked sarcastically, but she took Frank completely by surprise, and it caused him to nearly choke on his food.
Frank was sent into a coughing spree while immediately sitting back up to swallow, but Aurora only sat there laughing.
"Oh yeah, ha-ha, very funny," Frank growled sarcastically.
"I was only messing with you; it's what frienemies do, Frankie," Aurora mocked to remind him that that's exactly what he said to her earlier.
"Why would you even ask a question like that?" Frank questioned while wiping his mouth and breathing heavily.
"Well, first off, it was obviously to freak you out. And second, I thought you were the ladies' man," Aurora replied while eating another snake egg roll.
"Seriously?" Frank asked with a grin.
"Yup."
"And why would you guess that?"
"Well…uh…oh…I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
Frank slowly nodded while still grinning.
"You little sneak; I'm not answering that," Aurora protested while putting her food down on the coffee table and crossing her arms.
"Why not? Is it because you like me?" Frank asked slowly.
"What?!" Aurora asked with shock, and a deep red blush would have been visible on her face if she wasn't already covered in red scales.
Frank gave a snarky laugh at her reaction, but Aurora wasn't going to have it.
"You wanna play, Frankie? Alright, then let's play! AHH!" Aurora said while standing up and spreading her wings, and she immediately pounced for Frank.
"Whoa, no!" Frank shouted when he never expected Aurora to suddenly do that, and he once again didn't have any time to react when Aurora collided with him.
Before he knew it, Aurora had successfully pounced on him, and she was not sitting right on top of him with the help of her wings to keep him from escaping.
"Who's the monster now, 'Frightening'?" Aurora laughed while referring to Frank with his Scare Floor nickname.
"Oh, I'll NEVER let you take the spotlight!" Frank protested while laughing back, and he continued to struggle underneath the dragon, and he finally over took her by suddenly throwing her to the side and they rolled off the couch, placing him on top of her this time.
And to make sure she couldn't fight back as easily, Frank used his tentacles to tightly bind Aurora's wings.
"Frankie one. Rory none," Frank said softly while leaning his face closer to Aurora's, and he crossed his arms.
"Oh, but all's fair in love and war," Aurora protested with a grin.
This is inspired from Roadside Romeo, but I don't own that movie or Monsters' University/Inc. I only own my OC.
Frank seems like an interesting character, and he didn't get the amount of screen time he deserved, so here's to hope that this story can give him the praise he deserves.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!
