Chompy (ONC 2021)

~10~

When Luca and I were glooped to Monstruo City, I had no idea my brother and Toothy would end up crying in each other's arms. Didn't see it coming from a mile (or dimension) away. It started with dinner. Like usual, Chompy offered us each a bowl of chocolate soup. Even though Luca still seemed out of sorts, he slurped up around three bowls.

"Why do you need our help? Don't you hate me?" Luca crossed his arms over his chest.

Toothy drummed his claws on the dining table we were nervously seated around. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think we might have started off on the wrong fang–I mean foot."

"You're the last person I expected to hear that from," Luca grumbled, but I nudged my brother with my foot under the table. At least we should hear what Toothy had to say.

As if on cue, the oldest monster in the room reached for the remote and switched on the blob TV.

"Thank you for tuning in to Monster News Network. This is Clawdia reporting to you live from Monstruo City headquarters. Currently, the Board of Monsters is investigating the sudden disappearance of target Isabella Guiluliani. The esteemed Nightcrawlers planned to target some of the children on a field trip to Mt. Helleron, and as you know, they have a 100% success rate at terrorizing their victims. However, before the pack could make a move, she disappeared. The Nightcrawlers and Board of Monsters have come to the conclusion that she had an ally get her out of the situation. There's a traitor amongst Monstruo City, and currently Toothy Nightcrawler has taken charge of the investigation and created a task force to sniff out the enemy. Keep an eye on those around you. You never know. The monsters beside you could be humans."

Humans?  Why did the news anchor say "humans" as if it were a bad word?

Toothy shut off the TV. "I'm the current Director of the Board of Monsters and next up to become the leader of the Nightcrawlers. I can't afford to make mistakes. But I'm starting to see that maybe we've all been making mistakes."

Luca fell silent, as if he understood what Toothy was getting at.

Chompy pulled out a binder and set it in front of me. With a nod of his head, he urged me to open it. I hesitated for a moment. Whatever was inside would probably answer the remaining questions.

Luca placed his hand on the cover, his eyes hungry for answers, too. Together, we flipped the binder open and began reading. With each line, I wanted to cry. Where had things gone so wrong?

"So you see? It's not us who are the monsters. It's you," Toothy sighed.

I flipped through the pages again, reading every word once more. Monster and humans used to coexist.

"It was you humans who labeled us as scary and horrendous. You didn't like the way we looked or acted. You thought we would use our sharp teeth on you or that we'd turn you into kebabs with our claws. Apparently, we're the bad guys," Toothy grunted.

Luca traced a finger over one of the lines in the binder. "So to get your revenge on humans for labelling you and mistreating you like that, you decided to actually become scary?"

Chompy pushed another serving of chocolate soup towards Luca, hoping it would soothe him a little. Even I had never seen him so agitated like this.

"The N-Nightcrawler family thought being scary was the way to protect everyone," Roary spoke up. "They didn't want the remaining monsters to get their feelings hurt, so they glooped us to a hidden dimension–Monstruo City.  But monsters and humans are not so different. We like the same things you like! G-Gardening! Dancing!"

"Cooking and reading and playing sports," Chompy added.

"You play soccer, right? Believe it or not, I used to be the captain of Monstruo City's varsity team. And we even have our own sports!" Toothy bragged.

Roary nodded enthusiastically. "I'm on the junior high Tail Toss team. It's a game where you balance a ring on your tail and toss it to the other monsters on your team until you make it to your side's goal."

And that's when Luca burst into tears. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed into his chocolate soup.

I leaned towards him and rubbed a hand on his back. All those emotions he seemed to have bottled up for years seemed to be coming out, now.

"I understand that feeling," Luca reached across the table to pat Toothy's scaly hands. "You want to protect what you care about." He shifted his gaze towards me as another tear leaked down his cheek.

"I never wanted to study medicine and become a doctor. I don't hate science, but I don't particularly love it either. I thought if I kept doing what Mom and Dad told me, then maybe you could actually chase your dreams. You wouldn't have to fit in a mould and could be who you truly wanted to be. I thought I did my best to protect you." Luca tucked a lock of hair behind my ears. "I failed miserably. Your eyes look just like mine. Broken."

Sniffle.

I glanced up to see the three monsters sitting in front of us wiping their eyes. Toothy scooted his chair over and pulled Luca into a hug, and the two began to cry an ocean of tears together.

"No, Luca, you did more than enough. In the end, we just need to be strong enough to make our own choices and understand each other. That goes for me and you and for humans and monsters," I sniffled.

Chompy nodded and Roary blew his nose so loudly, I felt the ground vibrate.

"What do you want to be then? If not a doctor?" Toothy patted Luca on the head, looking pretty new to the concept of affection.

Luca smiled wistfully at the countless trophies lining one of the distant walls of the Nightcrawlers' living room. "A pro soccer player. It's so exhilarating being able to push your body physically like that."

Toothy laughed. "I definitely understand you. I guess I've actually always had an interest in medicine. Maybe we should switch places. You think people would notice?"

Luca playfully punched the monster in the arm.

"Oh! That reminds me. I should have fixed this a long time ago, but after everything that happened between us, I was too angry to come back and visit." Toothy reached behind him and plucked a scale from his tail. It glimmered beautifully in the moonlight, and we all watched in awe as he pushed Luca's hair back and rubbed the scale gently over his scar.

"Ooooh! It tickles!" my brother squirmed.

Toothy laughed. "Wow, something about you and holding still. Hang tight for me. It's almost done."

Toothy continued rubbing the scale until it crumbled into a glittery dust and dissipated. Luca immediately rushed over to the nearest mirror and checked out his reflection.

"Whoa! It's gone!" he breathed. "I didn't know monsters had healing properties! Maybe you really are cut out for the field of medicine, Dr. Nightcrawler."

"There's a lot of things you d-don't know about us," Toothy patted Luca's shoulder. "So the five of us might understand each other, but how are we going to convince the rest of the monsters and humans?"

That had been the question on my mind ever since I read the notes in Chompy's binder. What next?

Roary raised his tail. "I have an idea, but it's r-really crazy. There's not much of a chance it will work."

A crazy idea was better than no idea at all.

I reached for a pen, ready to take notes and construct a plan. "Alright, Roary. Hit us with your best shot."