Chompy (ONC 2021)

~9~

Flip. Flip. Flip. Another night had passed without a sign from Chompy or Luca. It was Friday night, now, so I sort of hoped either of the two would have some free time. I looked through my binder and read over my glittery purple notes on everything I knew about the monster world. I'd added everything from glooping to Chompy's mom's signature chocolate soup.

"Isa? Little bean?"

I pulled my head out of my notes and grinned when I saw my brother leaning over me. I hadn't even heard him come in.

"You're back!" I pulled him in for a hug. "Gosh, the week was way too long with you gone."

Luca laughed, gesturing for me to keep my voice low. "Mom and Dad don't know I'm here, and I know they would throw a fit if they found out. I skipped my soccer practice to come see you."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, I get that you're a celebrity at your school. No need to rub it in."

My brother leaned back and reached for the bag of jalapeno chips poking out from my dresser. I guess I wasn't that good at hiding snacks as I thought.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions," Luca managed in between bites. "Ask away."

While his hands were reaching into the bag of chips, I took the opportunity to push his mop of dark hair back.

"Hey, whoa, you know I'm sensitive about revealing my forehead," he whispered harshly.

Just as I expected, the scar rested on the right side. It was faint but definitely there. Luca realized what I was looking at and froze.

"Ah, you found it. I guess this means I should start from the beginning. Come on." He stuck out a hand and helped me to my feet. Grabbing his sacred bag of chips, Luca paved the way to his room, making sure I was aware of the creaky floorboards. I never ventured down the hallway where his room was. No one did after he moved out.

His room was just like I remembered it when we used to hang out and play board games. The walls were a calming shade of blue with warm lighting from his lamp. His desk was neatly organized with a poster of the periodic table hanging over it.

"Notice anything strange?" he asked.

I scanned the room. Everything was spic and span. His binders from the years were color coded and tucked cozily on a shelf, and he had plenty of books about medicine.

"I mean, it's a little dusty since you haven't been staying here regularly, but everything else looks fine." What was I supposed to be looking for?

Luca flung himself onto his bed, and that's when I noticed it.

"I think I was around your age. Maybe younger. Every night, I started hearing these sounds. Tapping and scraping and bumping and hissing. No matter how many times Mom and Dad checked under my bed, the sound would appear just about every night. I tried to tell them, but they didn't believe me. Apparently I had a big imagination."

Luca paused to pop another chip in his mouth. This one must have been loaded with extra jalapeno seasoning because he grimaced and tried to hold in his cough so that he wouldn't wake up our parents.

"Whew, that chip was spicy," he bit his tongue. "Where was I?"

"The part where Mom and Dad didn't believe you," I reminded him.

Luca's lips formed a thin line. "Ah, yes. Because of that, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I stuck my head under my bed and met Toothy. He left me with a strong impression and a pretty nasty scar. I told Mom I got hurt playing soccer, but in reality, Toothy has really sharp claws."

"Why did you fight him? What went wrong between you two?" I tried to understand.

Luca rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, he said something about me being horrible. He called me the monster. And when I told him he was, he got all mad and started wrestling me. Kept saying something about how I 'had it all backwards'."

As if on cue, a gelatinous substance appeared out of thin air and quickly took the shape of 6'0 tall Toothy.

"Wow, speak of the monster, and he shall appear," Luca pushed himself forward as if he were shielding me. "I won't let you hurt us anymore."

Toothy rolled his eyes–his signature move. "I'm not here to pick a fight, yet. Grab on."

It's not like we really had a choice, though. Toothy wrapped one scaly arm around me and the other around my squirming brother. He didn't give us any room to resist against his brute strength. I recognized that dizzying feeling of my body changing forms and momentarily became a liquid. It was only because of my previous glooping experience with Chompy that I could prepare myself for the trip.

"What's happening?" Luca gurgled. I had a feeling his midnight snack was about to make a reappearance.

However, I tried to tune everything out and really focus on the experience. The previous times, I'd simply felt nauseous and dizzy. But this time, I noticed a stinging sensation prickling along my skin and the faint smell of... flowers!

I thrashed in Toothy's hold, and we all collapsed when we arrived in Monstruo City.

"Wow, it couldn't hurt you guys to stay still for just a second?" Toothy gagged, nausea taking over his senses.

Meanwhile Luca was busy decorating the flower garden with his, erm, jalapeno chips. I sniffed the air and caught a lingering whiff of those sickly sweet flowers.

"You're a smart one, aren't you? Guess all that studying paid off. You connect the dots pretty fast," Toothy brushed some dirt off his shoulder. "Let's go inside. We have a lot to talk about."

Luca and I decided it was probably best to listen to him for now. But when we made it into the house, I saw two familiar faces.

"Chompy! Roary!" I ran forward and squeezed them into a hug. "I was worried about you, you know?"

"We were w-worried about y-you, too," Roary whimpered. "Getting caught by Toothy is probably my b-biggest fear in life."

"You say something about me, kid?" Toothy huffed.

"Nope!" Roary squeaked, zipping his lips.

Luca staggered into a floating blob chair. His dark hair clung to his sweaty forehead, and his complexion was paler than usual. "Tell us why we're here. You're not keeping us here for good, are you?"

Toothy smirked. "I wouldn't keep you here longer than I needed to even if you paid me."

Chompy lightly whacked his older brother with his spiky tail. "Remember what we talked about? We're not here to fight."

Toothy sighed, furrowing his eyebrows and placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose as all stressed adults (and monsters) do.

"Sadly, no fighting today," Toothy admitted in annoyance. "Right now, we need to work together."