A/N: Hello. :) And here is my second chapter for "Gabe's New Friend". As I mentioned before, I have a few things planned as far as Mac's mother and Terrence, so I think you'll understand why it was a bit shorter than the canon "Eddie Monster". If you want to know why, all you need do is read. We will also be getting into Frankie's past, mainly about her parents in future chapters. So be sure to keep follow the story if you want to know where it leads. And also, Gabe would be portrayed by Ben Feldman, A.K.A. Tylor Tuskmon from Monsters At Work. Hope you like it. :)
Chapter 1: First Day on the Job
The next morning, Gabe was sleeping in his bed when his alarm clock went off. The time was at 7:00 A.M. In almost no time at all, Gabe tapped the alarm clock to stop it before he sat up. Truth was, he couldn't sleep before the alarm clock rang in the first place.
How could he? All he could think about was when Frankie told him about her experience working there. Maybe he should've stopped and thought about what applying here meant before he walked into it. On the other hand, the way she sounded, Frankie sounded as though she was happy to have the help. He can't very well quit it now; that would only force guilt on him. For him, there was only one thing to do: get up off of his bed and begin his first day at Foster's.
Gabe got out of bed and began his daily routine. He got dressed in his usual outfit and ate his breakfast, which was a stack of waffles covered in maple syrup and a cup of coffee. After which, he brushed his teeth, got his socks and shoes on, and went straight to Madame Foster's house.
As luck would have it, it wasn't too far away. In fact, it was as close as a half-hour jog. But instead, he took his car there. He'd much rather save the time and effort for his legs. After he parked just out by the sidewalk, Gabe got out of his car and locked it before walking to the mansion.
"Alright. Today's your first day having a job, Gabe. Your first day… in a nightmare."
But it wasn't as easy to set his mind to it as he thought. His mind was still thinking about Frankie's words of frustration.
How I managed to work all that time, I honestly have no idea!
"No! No. Snap out of it. It's probably not as stressful as you think. Just do good on this first day, and you'll be fine."
But as soon as he opened the door, Gabe was met with a watery surprise. He was suddenly blasted in the face with a water gun, sending him tumbling back to the floor before he heard an almost obnoxious voice calling out. Gabe looked up from the floor to see a blue blob holding a water gun.
"Oh! Score one for the Blue Terror of the—!"
Then, the blob looked down to Gabe and realized his error.
"Wait. You're not Mac."
Gabe stood up from where he fell, already beginning to wonder what the blob was talking about.
"Uh, who's Mac?"
As if to answer, the blob heard the voice of a young boy calling out in slight irritation. He had long brown hair and fair skin. He also wore a red t-shirt with a white sweater underneath, black and white tennis shoes, a dark green backpack, and tan khaki pants. Gabe had a feeling then that he must be Mac.
"Bloo! Did you just spray water all over the new guy?!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know it wasn't you behind the door?!"
Gabe looked on in confusion for a moment as the argument between the two went on and on. Shortly, however, he got tired of it and wanted answers as he cleared his throat.
"Ahem!"
His sharp clear of the throat got their attention in no time at all. They were almost starting to get nervous as they looked at him.
"Can you guys tell me what the heck is going on here and who you are?"
Bloo only dropped his water gun in response before Mac spoke up to him nervously, possibly due to the not-so-great first impression Bloo gave him.
"Sorry. My name's Mac, and you've already met Bloo. He's kinda my imaginary friend who likes to get into trouble way more often than he should."
Mac addressed the last bit with almost a glare, as if he expected his friend to apologize. The impression seemed that way, at least. Gabe looked over to Bloo, and the instant he did, the blue blob held his hand (or rather a stub) out. He was clearly in no rush to apologize.
"Yep. That's me. No hard feelings, right?"
Gabe only crossed his arms before sneering down at him. One look at him was all he needed to know that his reputation as a world-class troublemaker was well-placed by Mac. And if he didn't see that before, the spray of water on him just now would be a dead-ringer for certain. He leaned down closer to the blob before he spoke nervously.
"Uh… c-can I have your name, new guy?"
He furrowed his eyes to glare at the blob before he spoke.
"That's Gabe to you, mister. And the next time you spray me with water…"
Gabe looked over to the water gun before he quickly snatched it and sprayed it right at the blob, sending him back to the bottom of the stairs and drenching him in water before Gabe smiled at him.
"Never lower your defenses."
Gabe then set the water gun down the way he would drop a mic. Not long after, Bloo began to moan as he sat up. As his vision came back into focus, Bloo rubbed his head while he spoke in a momentary daze.
"That… was… awesome! You really got me good! How did you do that?"
Gabe was amazed at how impressed Bloo was. That was a good first impression on his part, at least. He made a slight grin as he replied.
"Just a little something called 'misdirection'. But seriously. If you spray me with water, you better run."
Regardless, Mac moved on with what Gabe was here to do since the introductions were well taken care of.
"So, you're here for your first day, huh?"
"Yep. Just gotta find Mr. Herriman and get started. Where is he, by the way?"
As if to answer, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Oh, there you are, Gabe!"
It was Frankie. She was dressed up exactly like the last time he saw her. And she looked especially happy to see him again. It was a nice change of pace from when she was venting to him after he filled out the files. The redhead walked down the stairs as she spoke up in elation.
"I honestly didn't expect you back here so early."
Gabe shrugged his shoulders as he replied with a smile.
"Well, we have an old saying. If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late."
Frankie had a feeling about where it was going as she crossed her arms.
"I don't think I need to ask what happens if you're late."
Then, Frankie took notice of how wet Gabe was.
"Oh, no. How did you get all wet?"
Frankie gave a frown towards Bloo for a moment before Gabe caught on. Mac told him before how he's usually a troublemaker, so it was safe to assume Frankie wasn't a fan of it one bit. And the fact that Bloo seemed confused about her angry look didn't help.
"What?"
However, Gabe didn't see that as too big a deal.
"It's alright, Frankie. I was playing with him for a bit."
Frankie's glare dropped when she heard this. Usually, people would get annoyed with his antics. It certainly annoyed her to no end. As much as she wanted to know, however, she had to remind him that it was his first day.
"Well… that's fine. But we still got to get you checked in with Mr. Herriman."
Just when she said his name, the voice of the very rabbit she spoke of rang out in the hall.
"Miss Frances! Where is our new recruit?!"
Frankie frowned at the sound of his voice.
"Speak of the Devil… hang on a sec."
She grabbed the house phone from the side of the wall before she replied back to him.
"He just showed up, Mr. Herriman. I was just going to take him to your office."
"Well, see that you do. If Madame Foster believes he would be a big help to this establishment, then by thunder, he will attend to his duties!"
Gabe overheard the reply from the rabbit. His first day, and already, he had high expectations. It was almost enough to make him walk back out the door. But his conscience wouldn't let him. Especially not with Frankie having to work all by herself.
"Alright, alright. See you there."
Frankie set the phone back where it was before she turned back to him.
"Yeah, I'd get used to that, if I were you. He expects a lot out of everybody. Even Bloo."
Gabe looked at Bloo in slight puzzlement before Frankie took his hand and led him on.
"Okay, let's get this over with."
As Frankie led Gabe away from Mac and Bloo, the two of them looked on before they shouted at him, trying to cheer him up.
"Good luck, Gabe!"
"Yeah, Gabe! Good luck with Mr. Herriman!"
Gabe waved to the two of them with a nervous smile on his face. It was nice to know they cared, but Gabe wasn't certain if he could handle Mr. Herriman's tasks any more than he could handle just signing the file records, especially when he expects a lot from him. Frankie seemed to notice that, because she tried to reassure him.
"Don't worry, Gabe. You're not gonna be in this alone. I'll be with you."
He looked to the redhead full of hope. The pressure would be too much for him if it was just him and Herriman. He barely pulled through it, and even then, it was because of Madame Foster's blessing. But to hear that she's by his side, it helped reduce his worries.
"Really? Thanks."
"Sure. Anything for my work buddy."
Inside Herriman's office, Frankie and Gabe were sitting by each other in two red velvet chairs as the rabbit sat in front of them. His eyes were all on him as he tapped his fingers. He saw how wet Gabe was from Bloo's water gun stunt. The young man was beginning to get nervous with how judging he was.
"Now then, I appreciate your timely manner, Master Gabriel. Though, we will have to talk about your… wet attire."
Gabe tried to explain himself to lower his chances of being fired.
"Mr. Herriman, if I may interrupt—"
"No need. I can already tell this is Master Blooregard's handiwork. Besides, you and Miss Frances have more important matters to attend to, like this list of tasks to do for today."
Mr. Herriman got out a piece of paper, which he handed out to the young man before Gabe took it and looked it over.
"Sweep the floors, wipe the floors, wax the floors, feed the unicorns…"
The list went on for a good while until he stopped at an odd word.
"Extremasaurs? What the heck are Extremasaurs?"
Mr. Herriman quickly brushed him off as he handed him a pen.
"Miss Frances can explain it to you during your tasks. And I expect the both of you to take care of them urgently. Dismissed."
Gabe raised his eyes. He was hardly given any details on how to handle the tasks. Then again, he must've supposed that Frankie would show him the ropes.
"Uh… okay."
With that, Frankie and Gabe took their leave with their list of chores. Once they got out of the rabbit's office, Gabe took another look before he sighed.
"Well, looks like we got our work cut out for us today, huh?"
Frankie only shrugged her shoulders.
"Eh, it's not really anything new for me."
Frankie then gave a whistle, which attracted two sets of brooms, two dustpans, a mop, a bucket full of water, a trash can, a wet-floor sign, and a rag. Gabe was initially surprised at first until he noticed their eyes; they must've been the imaginary friends that Frankie had to rely on for her routine. Gabe turned to Frankie as she cracked her knuckles.
"Okay, let's get to work."
Later, Gabe and Frankie were sweeping the floor towards their dustpans. Gabe swept up considerably, but Frankie was sweeping much more swiftly than he was. Gabe was utterly speechless as he saw her get to her second pile of dust before he even finished his first. After a moment, though, he shook his head and got back to the task at hand. While he worked, Gabe wondered what the job was really meant to be called.
"So, this job I just got accepted to… what's it all about again?"
Frankie turned to her coworker as she dumped the dust into the trash can.
"Well, personally, I think of it like a maid, but Herriman calls us 'Caretakers'. I guess it makes sense since we're taking care of everyone around here."
In response, the trash can spoke up gratefully.
"Well, you've really taken care of me, Frankie."
Frankie gently rubbed the lid of the trash can with a smile.
"And I mean everyone."
Frankie's point couldn't be clearer. Gabe was now mopping the floor while Frankie looked on with a rag in hand as she wiped the floor. Mopping wasn't anything new for Gabe, though it was new to work with a mop that had eyes and a mouth.
"Thanks for clearing my sinuses, Gabe."
Gabe shuddered at the thought of what its sinuses actually looked like. Frankie saw the unnerved look on his face before she tried to reassure him.
"Don't worry, Gabe. It's not as weird as it sounds."
Gabe wasn't quite convinced.
"But… do mops even have sinuses?"
The mop grumbled slightly at this before Frankie decided to cut it short.
"Yeah, it's best for you not to think about it."
As he got back to mopping, Gabe began to wonder about what to expect as far as imaginary friends.
"So, if I'm a caretaker of this place, then what kind of imaginary friends am I gonna be looking after?"
Frankie leaned near the wet-floor sign as she replied.
"To be blunt: everyone. But if you're looking for specifics, it could be anything."
Frankie and Gabe were at the Unicorn stables as she introduced them to her coworker.
"We have friends with horns, with wings, with horns and wings, with horns and wings that talk…"
As a part of her example, a pink unicorn with wings spoke up to Frankie.
"Hey, Frankie."
"Hey."
She picked up the hay on the unicorn's stables and handed it to her.
"Mm, thanks."
"And that's just a handful of friends we have."
Next, it showed a stick drawing of a person before showing a door with eyes as it sneaked away. Then, it showed a man with a little person under his cowboy hat as he lifted it up, and finally, they stop at the infamous Mojo Jojo to Gabe's surprise.
"We also have simple ones, stealthy ones, two-in-ones, and unimaginative ones."
Gabe had a hard time believing what he was seeing as he rubbed his eyes.
"Uh, is that actually—?"
Before he could finish, Mojo spoke up in rude interruption before he spoke dejectedly.
"Yes! It is I, Mojo Jojo! The most powerful being on the planet! At least until I was canceled…"
Frankie gently petted the top of his helmet as she explained.
"Yeah, some kids aren't that creative and just copy what they see on TV. And a lot of them actually turn out different from what they see, too."
"Huh. Who knew?"
Frankie went on with the list again as she introduced them. First up was a furry red being before a fuzzy man waved his hand with a smile. Then, a fluffy, pink girl smiled at them when the two walked by her.
"Furry, fuzzy, fluffy…"
But when they stopped at the fourth friend with a slimy green body, a hat, and a pungent odor that could be seen, forcing Frankie to speak with her fingers plugging her nose.
"...funky."
Unfortunately, Gabe could smell the awful stench and gagged at the unpleasant odor.
"Funky wouldn't begin to cover it, Frankie."
Next up, Frankie showed Gabe a giant dark green elephant before stopping at a small red person, followed by a cute, little bear with red fur and a curl on top of its hair, and they stopped at Mr. Herriman as they washed the floors of his office.
"Big, small, young, old."
Despite them working on the floors, Herriman grew quite offended by that. But Frankie felt as though there was no point denying it.
"Why, I never!"
"What? You are."
After that, Frankie showed him a man with a happy smiley face with a rainbow Afro wig and a white t-shirt with a smiley face on it. Following this were a furry gray monster with tears in his eyes and a superhero adorned with a halo above his head and a shirt with a peace symbol on it.
"Happy, sad, good…"
Then, they stopped at an open door as Frankie immediately frowned.
"Bad."
Gabe scratched his head in confusion.
"What exactly is bad?"
To answer, he heard a snobbish voice behind it.
"Why, I never!"
Frankie pointed her finger to the source.
"That is bad. A.K.A., Duchess."
When Gabe looked inside the room, he saw Duchess for himself. She had yellow skin, a long neck, a beauty mark, a trunk-like nose, a mouth that turned sideways and one of her eyes that appeared to be upside down. She wore a white turban with a ruby in it, light blue and purple eyeshadow, pink blush, red lipstick, green and black striped earrings, a blue and red pearl necklace and bracelet, a white dress with black triangles on it, two black bracelets, red nail polish, black and green striped leggings, and black high heels. In his opinion, there was no way she could win any beauty pageants with her appearance, especially not with her attitude.
"If you ask me, Frankie, the only thing bad would be the fact that you took so long to show up!"
Frankie didn't bother explaining anything to Duchess. She simply crossed her arms and gave a scoff before Gabe tried to step up for her.
"Hey, don't rag on her for that. It was on me. She was just showing me around. It's my first day, and—"
Before he could finish, Duchess cut him off with a cross look on her face.
"Aw, great! More incompetent help! As if being stuck here wasn't bad enough!"
Gabe became utterly dumbfounded as Frankie carted him away.
"Never mind that, Gabe. We'll just be out of her hair."
Duchess frankly was in agreement.
"I couldn't agree more! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
With that, they closed the door before Frankie sighed.
"Sorry you had to hear that, Gabe. She thinks she's the best idea ever thought of. But honestly, she's one of the worst."
"We don't have to look after her all the time, do we?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But on the bright side, the pros outweigh even the biggest con here."
Later, to prove this, Frankie knocked on the door in a yellow hallway as she spoke up in a singsong voice.
"Hey, guys! Gabe's here!"
When the door was opened, Frankie and Gabe were met with three friends sharing the same room. One of them was a muscular seven-foot tall, 542-pound monster-like bull with purple fur, horns, fangs, an ape-like face, a devil-like tail, and a skull-shaped belt buckle. He also had a unibrow and wore gray pants and shoes. The next one up was a bird with a palm tree for a head, a crooked red beak, a blue and white airplane body, and orange legs.
And the third had big stitches on the side of his head. Only his right arm was usable in a normal manner as the left arm was nothing more than a stub. His eyes were on stalks protruding from his head; the left eye is utterly broken, so it would rattle when it moved and the eyelid doesn't open and close at all. Gabe didn't know what to make of the trio as he cautiously raised his hand.
"Uh… hi, there. How are you doing?"
The tall man was the first one to speak as he reached his hand out to him before the bull and the bird, though it stretched out its long leg.
"Hey, man! I'm sorry, but it's just so nice to meet you. My name's Wilt."
"Si! And my name is Eduardo. I'm glad you are not so scary."
"Co co co co Coco! Co co coco co!"
Gabe shook their hands (and foot) as he spoke with a smile.
"Uh, thanks."
Frankie introduced the trio to him eagerly.
"These guys are part of the big pros in this house. The tall one is Wilt, the big guy with horns is Eduardo, and this is Coco. Honestly, all she says is Coco, so it's pretty self-explanatory."
As Coco spoke out to him, Gabe became more befuddled than before.
"Coco, co co coco co co, coco?"
Gabe rubbed the back of his head trying to figure her out before turning to her.
"Uh… what did she say?"
"She was just asking what you're doing here at Foster's."
Gabe widened his eyes before he turned to her.
"Wait. You actually understood all that?"
"Yep. To hear, one has only to listen."
"Oh. That… didn't make a whole lot of sense, but okay. Well, it's actually my first day on the job working with you guys. Herriman's putting me and Frankie together to help out around here."
Coco then spoke up again, but this time Gabe tried to listen in.
"Coco coco coco, co. Coco, coco co."
Coco then held out her foot to him again, which he shook with a smile before admitting his difficulty.
"Nope. I still don't understand that."
Later, Gabe and Frankie were in the dining room. It was a very long room with a tall ceiling and high chandeliers, in addition to a long table with several chairs, and a pair of doors that lead to the kitchen. They were on their lunch break at the time. After a hard day of working, it felt nice for him to eat a Peanut Butter Sandwich with chips, especially in the dining room. There was certainly less chaos inside.
"Huh. This isn't too bad."
Frankie couldn't agree more.
"I know, right? As good as it is to help others, it's good to be able to help yourself, too, once in a while."
Gabe took a bite out of his sandwich just as he noticed what Frankie was having for her lunch. It was an instant mac-n-cheese with a drink of orange juice from her canteen. Frankie saw the look and became perplexed.
"What?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. I'm just wondering why you'd eat plain old Mac and Cheese in a place like this."
Frankie set down the fork as she answered him, a bit bewildered by his question.
"It's not until dinnertime. And even if I wanted a bigger meal, Herriman always said, 'it's terribly inconsiderate to eat a massive meal before dinner, Miss Frances.'"
Gabe made a light smile as he laughed a bit from her impression.
"That sounds just like him, Frankie. You got him hands down."
Frankie smiled back at him, feeling happy from his words.
"Well, you live in such a big place for most of your whole life, you tend to pick up a thing or two."
This little bit of trivia made Gabe quite curious.
"Wait. You've been living here your whole life?"
"Yeah. I grew up with everyone here. My grandma and Mr. Herriman always had to look out for me. Especially when it came to how much of a rascal I was back then."
Frankie took a bite until Gabe wondered about two other people in her life.
"Well… what about your mom and dad?"
The instant he asked, Frankie stopped herself from taking another bite before she abruptly swallowed her food and looked down sadly. Somehow or another, it must've struck a nerve.
"I'd… rather not talk about them."
Gabe began to have his suspicions as he tried to apologize.
"Oh. Sorry, Frankie. Did something... happen to them?"
"No. They're just the last people I want to talk about right now. Especially my dad…"
Frankie grumbled during the last sentence. Gabe wanted to ask more, but he didn't feel it right to ask during his first day. Besides, if he tried, judging from her rant the other night, she would surely tell him to shut it. Then, Frankie quickly moved on, her earlier frown having gone away..
"Anyway, let's get back to work, shall we?"
"But you didn't finish your—"
Frankie quickly took Gabe by his arm before she rushed him outside the dining room.
"Eh, I lost my appetite, anyway. Let's go."
Outside, they had another appetite to take care of. And it was much, much larger than theirs. Frankie and Gabe were outside in the backyard, facing a giant metal cage that rattled with an unearthly roar. This made Gabe remember what the list told him earlier. The last bit told him to feed the Extremasaurs. Even the name itself was chilling his spine.
"So, that's where the Extremasaurs are?"
Frankie got out the keys before she put them in the lock and turned it to open the door as she explained the concept.
"Yeah. Extremasaurs are these vicious and destructive imaginary friends who were created by jerky, teenage boys. That's why we keep them in this cage. If they got out, who knows what they could do?"
Another unearthly roar came from the cage before Frankie shouted.
"Relax! Your lunch is here!"
She tossed up a steak towards the door that led to the cage before a vicious munching could be heard. Gabe shuddered at the thought of what he'd find inside.
"Yeah, I think I'm good just waiting out here."
Frankie made no hesitation to close the door and lock it before removing the keys. As she put the keys in her pocket, Frankie turned back to Gabe as she explained one more important detail.
"And one more thing: when you're done you have to remove the key and put it somewhere nobody could find it. One time someone found the key and unlocked it, it was pretty hectic."
Given the sound of vicious beasts that went on inside, it was hard to imagine anyone trying to open it for Gabe.
"Well, who went and unlocked it in the first place?"
Frankie was quick to answer as she crossed her arms.
"A jerky, teenage boy named Terrence. He did that to kill Bloo and make Mac miserable forever."
Gabe was utterly shocked to hear that. How could anyone be that cruel, even if he was a jerky, teenage boy?
"Wait, what? Why in the world would he do that? From what I saw, Mac's a good kid."
"Why wouldn't he? Terrence was his big brother, and he always picked on him for years. He even locked me and him in the closet back at his home. And even back then, he trashed the apartment and tried to pin the blame on them."
Gabe became more shocked than ever before. What was the problem with that kid?!
"He did what?! Okay, that kid should be sent to prison!"
"Oh, don't worry, he was. His mom made sure of that."
Frankie's face dropped a bit for a moment as she went on.
"She looked a bit upset at him when she did, though. Like she really expected more from him."
Just then, the duo noticed a frisbee flying near them as Eduardo screamed far away. Not long afterwards, the frisbee flew right into the open panel of the bars on the cage, followed by a vicious roar. Far away, there was a groan coming from Wilt, Mac, Bloo, and Coco with Eduardo laying down on the ground. Frankie and Gabe became puzzled at the scene.
"What do you think's going on over there, Frankie?"
"I don't know… but we better check it out before anything else happens."
When the two walked over, Eduardo randomly yelled out in his panicked state as Gabe tried to get to the bottom of it.
"Whoa, Ed. Are you doing okay?"
He only blurted out a yell to answer before Wilt spoke up.
"It's okay, Ed."
Eduardo only gave out another yell before Mac tried to reassure him.
"It was just a whizby."
Eduardo took a second to think about it this time, only for another yell to come out of the big purple monster. Bloo went up towards the cage while Frankie had a guess about what happened.
"Bloo, did you toss it into the cage?"
"That wasn't me!"
Frankie gave him a disapproving look before Bloo retracted his reaction.
"Okay, yeah, it was me. But I didn't know Eduardo wasn't gonna catch the whizby!"
Mac and Gabe helped Eduardo up from the grass before he tried to explain it from his point of view.
"It not just a whizby. It flying disc of doom that fly around and want to eat me!"
Eduardo covered his head with his arms to shield himself before Bloo reviewed the situation, becoming more and more ticked by his ridiculous fears as he sighed.
"The whizby wants to eat you?"
"Si! It want to!"
"The whizby wants to eat you?!"
Eduardo nodded to him nervously before Bloo once again snapped at him.
"It wanted to be caught by you! And now it's gone forever. So, thanks for ruining our game, really."
Bloo crossed his arms before he blurted out one more sentence in frustration.
"You big scaredy cat."
That made Eduardo upset as he retorted.
"I am no scaredy cat! Am I?"
He turned to the others but all they could do was whistle. Gabe only scratched his head. The last time he saw Eduardo, he wasn't that nervous.
"Am I missing something here, Frankie?"
Frankie rubbed the back of her head as she explained.
"Yeah, Eduardo has been known to freak out over random things. He wouldn't hurt a fly, but it's mostly because…well, you know."
Bloo finished Frankie's sentence nonchalantly.
"Because he's a scaredy cat."
Frankie glared at Bloo the instant the words left his mouth.
"Bloo!"
"What? He is!"
Gabe looked back to Eduardo, seeing how sad he was that nobody stood up for him, even if it was the truth. And Bloo was not helping the situation at all. He went over to Eduardo before he stood by his side.
"So what if he is? That doesn't mean he can't learn to be brave."
Bloo had his doubts as he crossed his arms.
"Then why don't you go in there and get our whizby?"
Bloo pointed to the cage with the Extremasaurs inside as an unearthly growl came from it. Both Ed and Gabe gulped at the thought of entering the literal Beast's Den.
"I mean unless you are a scaredy-weardy, fraidy-waidy."
Mac, Frankie, and Gabe didn't approve of Bloo's attitude at all, to say the least.
"Come on, Bloo."
"Ed doesn't have to prove anything, especially to you."
"It's alright, Ed. We'll just buy you guys another one."
However, Eduardo felt otherwise. The mocking words of Bloo stirred him up to anger.
"No! I am not a scaredy-weardy fraidy-waidy! And I'll prove it! Prove it to all of you!"
Eduardo turned back to the door and walked towards it. But before he could reach for the door, Gabe spoke up to him.
"Wait. You're not going in there alone, big guy. I'll help you out."
Bloo crossed his arms in disapproval as he mocked him.
"Oh, right. Because he's too much of a big scaredy-weardy…"
Before Bloo could finish his remark, Gabe put his finger and silenced him with a yell.
"Just shut it, Bloo! Nobody asked your opinion!"
Bloo was immediately taken aback by his outburst. Gabe noticed the shocked reaction before he took a deep breath and sighed.
"Sorry, Bloo. But you're not making it easy on Ed or me right now. So if you're not gonna help, then just go play around that tree for a while until we're done, okay?"
Bloo replied with a small tone in his voice..
"Okay…"
As Bloo walked away, Eduardo felt concerned about his safety as he spoke up.
"But what about the Extremasaurs? Aren't you scared of them?"
Gabe heard another unearthly roar inside before he replied.
"Oh, yeah. To death. But I'm gonna do it anyway. Because true bravery is standing up for your friends, especially when they need you most."
Frankie stopped up to Eduardo next with a smile. She knew he was speaking the truth.
"He's right, Ed. It's okay to be scared. Being brave isn't about not being scared. It's about doing important, sometimes dangerous things despite the fact that you're scared. 'Cause doing dangerous things without being scared is just dumb, right?"
Eduardo pointed over to Bloo as he gestured to her point.
"Like that?"
Frankie and Gabe turned to see Bloo climbing on a tree as he muttered to himself.
"I don't know what they're talking about. How am I supposed to play catch without that whizby?!"
Suddenly, Bloo slipped off of the tree and onto the ground. Bloo moaned from the experience as Frankie nodded.
"Exactly."
Gabe then petted Eduardo in the back as he gestured to the door.
"So, what do you say we go in that cage and get that whizby back?"
Eduardo smiled in reassurance before he nodded.
"Look out, Extremasaurs! Here we come!"
Eduardo then reached for the door and tried to pull it open, only to find it was stuck. Eduardo then turned to Frankie with a smile as he inquired of her.
"Uh, Senorita Frankie? Can you unlock the door, please?"
Later, Frankie unlocked the door. They all had to wait until the Extremosaurs were asleep so as to improve their chances, and not to accidentally let them out in the process. Frankie turned to the two of them as she warned them.
"Okay. The Extremasaurs should be asleep. But it's still dangerous just to walk near them. So you'll have to go in quietly to get your whizby back. And when you do, get the heck out."
Gabe and Eduardo nodded in understanding, though the latter was more nervous about it. Frankie took notice of it, and once again, she tried to dissuade him.
"You know, you don't really have to do this, Ed. You don't have to prove anything."
Being reminded of Bloo's taunts, Eduardo put on a determined look on his face.
"Si, Senorita Frankie. I do."
Realizing his mind was made up, Frankie stepped aside to let Eduardo open the door as she looked at Gabe, hoping he could make it out alive.
"Gabe, I know this is a lot to ask since you're new here, but… can you help keep Eduardo safe?"
Gabe looked back to the Extremasaur cage, hearing a loud, beastly snore inside. It made him want to reconsider, but he looked back at Eduardo. He's trying hard to put on a determined look, but he could already tell how nervous he truly was. Gabe looked back to Frankie and nodded to her with a smile.
"You have my word."
With that, the door opened, letting the sunlight into the cage. When it did, the show saw a pile of bones in front of them, most likely the steak. They also noticed two dragon-like monsters in their path. One of them was a dark blue monster with horns and sharp claws, and the other was big and green with big-like eyes. And at the end of said path was the whizby. Eduardo became stymied for a moment before Gabe whispered to him.
"Okay, we just need to use our tippy-toes and get the whizby from under them."
As the beasts snored, Eduardo and Gabe tippy-toed their way to the whizby, being careful not to step on their claws or tails. When they got to it, Eduardo managed to pick up the whizby and held it close to him. Gabe smiled at him as he patted him on the back softly.
"Good job, big guy. Now, we just need to—"
When Gabe turned around, however, Eduardo saw a monster behind him. It had dark green eyes with thin black slits in between them. That was all he could make out, but it made him scared just the same. So much so, he began to stutter.
"M-m-m-ma… ma-ma-ma-ma…"
"What? What is it, Ed?"
As an answer, he heard a snort behind him. Gabe began to get an unfortunate theory.
"There's an Extremasaur behind me, isn't there?"
Eduardo nodded timidly before the monster behind Gabe stepped up closer to them. It appeared more like a dragon compared to the other Extremasaurs. Its whole body was colored dark red with black spots, with wide wings and sharp claws, along with a large snout. Gabe and Eduardo stared at it in horror before the dragon sniffed at them. The nervous imaginary friend tried to hold on his scream while Gabe was somewhat tickled by it, getting a slight laugh out of him. Unfortunately, that was all it took to wake the other Extremasaurs up.
The two monsters turned to the commotion and saw the intruders. In no time at all, Gabe shouted.
"Scram outta here, Jack!"
Gabe and Eduardo quickly bolted with the whizby in hand as the blue monster slammed its claw to the floor, blocking their path. Gabe and Eduardo screeched to a halt before they ran a different direction, only to bump into the path of the green monster. Gabe and Eduardo then made a break for the door as the monsters chased after them, only to be pulled away by the dragon. They all had a look of fright on their faces as they were dragged into the shadows.
Meanwhile, Gabe and Eduardo jumped straight out of the door and slid on the grass with Eduardo holding onto the whizby. Frankie went over to check on the two of them as he panted.
"Guys! Are you okay?"
"I… I did it! I got the whizby!"
Frankie and the others smiled at Eduardo's triumph, even Bloo, who was recovering from the nasty fall.
"Hooray…"
Bloo then fell backwards, closing his eyes as the concussion did its work.
Play John Powell Music: "The Downed Dragon (3:46/4:17)
Suddenly, they heard the cage shake left and right. Frankie turned back to it and saw that the door was left open.
"The door!"
In no time at all, Gabe rushed over to close the door with Frankie running alongside him. When they got to the door, Frankie quickly dug into her pocket for the keys, and Gabe saw the two Extremasaurs beaten up and badly bruised. He tried to tell Frankie as the dragon stretched out its wings.
"Uh, Frankie?"
"What?"
Frankie looked in the door, expecting to see the Extremasaurs headed for freedom, but what she saw was different. It was the red and black dragon left standing. Its gaze fixated itself to Gabe and Frankie as it drew closer. They wanted to shut the door right away, but they were too frozen to do anything. When the dragon got close to them, Frankie and Gabe looked into its eyes just as it looked into theirs. After a moment of unsettling silence, the Extremasaur dragon roared at them straight in their faces before turning away.
With the dragon having turned its back, Frankie took the cue to close the door and lock it tightly as she could. She took a heavy breath to herself as she spoke in stutters.
End John Powell Music: "The Downed Dragon"
"We… w-we actually… did it. Didn't we, Gabe?"
As an answer, however, Gabe fainted and fell to the floor with a thud.
The next time Gabe woke up, he saw Frankie and Eduardo standing over him. His vision was still clearing up, but he could tell it was them.
"Gabe! Are you doing alright?"
"Did the Extremasaur hurt you, Senor Gabe?!"
Gabe sat up and rubbed his head. Then, he saw that he was in a room with Frankie, Eduardo, and Mac next to him, along with Bloo, Wilt, and Coco. He began to wonder what it was all about.
"Guys…? What happened?"
Mac spoke up to him, still reeling from how close they got to escaping.
"Frankie told us what happened. You and Frankie were face-to-face with an Extremasaur! It looked like a dragon!"
Bloo was easily impressed by that as he spoke, though he was a bit sour; he was too dazed to see it for himself at the time.
"Seriously! That was so cool! Why didn't I ever get to see that?!"
Wilt felt the answer was obvious.
"I'm sorry, but you had a concussion."
Bloo only vented to himself.
"Well, if it wasn't for my stupid concussion, I wouldn't have missed the coolest thing ever!"
Everyone made a passing glare at Bloo before Frankie turned back to Gabe.
"The important thing is, we're all okay. And we still managed to save the whizby."
Gabe laid back down on the bed, thinking back to when the dragon came up at them.
"Yeah, but that Extremasaur. It could've attacked us, but it didn't. Why wouldn't it?"
Now, Frankie was beginning to wonder the same thing.
"I don't know, Gabe. I want to know as much as you do, but for now, I think it's best not to tempt fate."
Just then, they heard the doorbell ringing outside. Mac had a feeling he knew what it was.
"Oh! That must be my mom. She came to pick me up. See you later, guys!"
He grabbed Bloo by his stub and went downstairs quickly with him in tow as the others went along with him.
"Hold on, Mac. I want to say hi to her, too. Is that okay?"
"Si! Senor Mac's mom is so nice!"
"Co co coco co, co!"
With the group out of the room, only Frankie and Gabe were the only ones left. Gabe looked around, seeing the big space. It had a window that overlooked the big trees outside. There was also a spyglass beside the window, along with a desk with a computer on top of it, as well as a drawer next to the other side of the bed, pushed against the wall.
"Wait. Who's room is this?"
Frankie sat down by him on the bed.
"You like it? It's actually my room."
Gabe looked out of the window, astounded by the sight.
"Wow… you get to sleep with a view like this? You must be lucky."
Frankie made a slight blush as she held her hands together.
"Well, kinda… I mean. It's pretty cool, I guess."
Frankie scooched over closer to Gabe before they looked out at the sight together. After a moment, Frankie became a little nervous.
"So, uh… what did you think of your first day?"
Truth be told, Gabe was at a loss. A lot of crazy things did happen, he was given a lot of tasks to do, and of course there were people inside who would be rude jerks, like Duchess. But at the same time, there were people who were really nice, like Ed, Wilt, and Coco. As for Bloo… he's still on the fence. And then, there's Frankie.
She always seemed like she knew what to do. Maybe it was all routine for her, but even so, she always looked out for everyone. Somehow, he found himself drawn to her because of it. Gabe even began to blush when he looked at her. And it made it just as difficult for him to answer.
"Well, uh… it-it was kinda… crazy."
Frankie could only imagine why.
"Yeah. Trying to take care of everyone in this place is pretty crazy. I've been there. There wasn't a single moment I never wanted to quit. But… I'm glad I didn't."
Gabe raised his eyebrows puzzlingly.
"What? Why would you be?"
"Hard as the job is, it makes it all worth it to see everyone so happy. And besides, I… I got to meet you."
Gabe began to read into it as he made his own theory.
"Wait. Are you saying… you like me?"
Frankie began to blush beet red as she tried to counter it.
"Uh, no! No, I don't! I-I mean, I do like you! I just don't 'like' like you! That's all…!"
Recovering from an awkward moment with a nervous laugh, Frankie cleared her throat and continued.
"Anyway, I can tell from how you stood up for Eduardo. You're a lot like me. And honestly, I… I'd like to see you here again. That is, if you're planning to work here again."
Frankie sounded a bit sad when she said the last sentence. It sounded as though she didn't expect him to work another day after the craziness that happened in his first. He wouldn't blame her for that. If anyone had the choice, they'd skip out on the second day of anything bad altogether. But this place, the imaginary friends, and Frankie… none of them were worth skipping out on. Except maybe Duchess, but he digressed.
"Actually, Frankie… I am."
Frankie looked back to him in surprise as he explained.
"When you told me about your experience after I applied, at first, I wanted to quit, too. But after everything you've shown me, everyone I've met… I don't think I'd want to work anywhere else."
Suddenly, Frankie quickly hugged Gabe, taking him by surprise as she spoke softly.
"Thanks, Gabe. You're the best."
Gabe felt the warmth of her hug. And he could tell that she really wanted him to be here. What that implied, he didn't know. But what he did know was that things were gonna be pretty interesting from now on.
"Sure thing, Frankie."
Just then, they heard Mr. Herriman's voice calling out.
"Miss Frances! Master Gabriel! Time for dinner!"
The two looked to each other as Frankie finished her hug.
"So, ready to eat?"
"Yeah. Can't wait to see what the big meal is."
Frankie laughed at Gabe's joke as the two walked out of the bedroom.
"That's a really good one, Gabe."
"Thanks. I got a whole book where that one came from."
Meanwhile, outside Foster's home, at the Extremasaur cage, the red dragon was sleeping soundly as the moonlight washed over it. The same couldn't be said however for the other Extremasaurs. They kept their distance and were shaking like leaves. Sadly, they won't be getting any sleep tonight.
A/N: And that concludes the first chapter. :) Don't worry. You'll be seeing more of this dragon in the next chapter. ;)