Poison Nightshade [Monsters Inc.]

Chapter 3 - The Change

The final buzzer stunned the scarefloor into silence. What had started off being a long day of scaring had finished off quicker than I had expected. In just eight hours of scaring, I had raked up more than
10 000 points from over 90 kids. It had taken more out of me than what I expected, but that was okay for the moment.

Stumbling out of the last door of the day, Victoria's gothic face was the first sight that I saw. Her makeup was smudged around the edges from a long day of directing me, sending down doors and filling in stacks of paperwork.

"Your technique got sloppy halfway through that last one, shall I compile a list of training techniques for you?" She bluntly stated. I puckered my brows, searching for the hint of helpfulness that I assumed was there. A smile cracked onto my lips when I realised that she wasn't joking.

"Don't spare my feelings, let me have the gist." Jokingly, I shrugged my shoulders as I crept to the entrance with Victoria trailing after me, the crowd parting around me like I was the plague. There were no whispers of surprise as I scrambled through the hall, but that was what I loved most about the big leagues. If you weren't number one, the biggest point of competition, you were invisible. I saw Randal's spiked hair before I actually saw him, he was positioned haughtily by the door with his tail swishing in amusement. Despite the overall bodily pain and strain that I carried, I somehow managed to crack a smile.

"Too much for you, Princess?" He teased,a smirk coiling his lips. Summoning two symmetrical lines on either side of his face, dimples.

"What happened to the Queen of Creepy?" I chided lightly, nodding to Victoria as an OK to leave for the changing rooms.

"She's on a break."

"Ouch." I said jokingly, a hand flying to my chest instinctively. Randal only chuckled, with his deliriously intoxicating laugh. I felt like I was so dizzy that I might faint. His enticing cologne didn't help much either.

Randal lead me along the corridor, occasionally bumping into me lightly. Just like what we used to do back in MU, crazy students. We didn't need to talk the entire time, moments lost to the emptiness of the silence and the heat of our emotions boiling over, fusing into one. I was one to admit that it felt good to be in the other's presence. But by the way that Randal was acting, he didn't mind it much either. We parted ways when we finally reached our respective changing rooms, exchanging contact numbers for later. With the promise of a night on the town hanging in the air like a phantom.

***
James P. Sullivan appeared out of his final door with a spring in his step and a toothy grin on his face. His closely guarded ranking of number one secured for another day. If he continued his winning streak he would have the scare record in the bag. A lowly thought invaded his mind, Randal was gaining on him.
Only 300 points away from what he considered to be his prize. Sully, as his friends called him, had worked through tremendous trials to get to where he was today - he was about to let no one get in his way. Not even the purple lizard. Especially not the purple lizard.

"Great job, Sully. You were great today!" Mike Wasowski congratulated him, patting him on his light blue fur.
The little green monster with one eye and two prickles-of-horns on his head,   scurried along the hallway a great deal quicker than usual. Now, Sully was no psychologist but he knew that Mike was nervous. But he couldn't understand why. It took Sully little effort to catch up to Mike, with the green monster's small paces compared to the blue monster's large footsteps.

" Mike?" Sully asked. The small green monster hummed in recognition as he scribbled against the paperwork.
Mike replied, his voice was higher than usual,"Yeah, Sully?"
"Are you alright?"
Mike laughed erratically, "Me? Of course. "