I'm working away on my other ongoing stories, but I am nowhere near finishing the next chapters and need a break from them. So to everyone who is waiting for those stories to be updated, thank you for your patience.
Alright, first things first. I do not own Ahhh! Real Monsters or any related characters. They are the property of Nickelodeon. I am not making any profit from writing this.
Secondly, I never would have found out about this show if it were not for the Nostalgia Critic. I highly suggest you check out his videos, they are hilarious. You can find them on YouTube.
Okay, I've stalled long enough.
It is a frantic day in the academy. All around, monsters are hugging, chattering, or packing. It is the day after graduation, the last day of school ever for many of the monsters there, and the noise level is therefore triple the usual volume as every monster in the place tries to get in just one last conversation with their friends.
All but one.
The monster in question is named Oblina. She is standing in the doorway of the room that has been home to her for so many years, trying not to cry. She has to duck to stand there now, she's gotten so tall, but she cannot bear to either step away or take another step inside. If she steps away, it will mean she has left it forever; if she steps inside, she is not sure she will be able to bring herself to leave it again.
It is as empty as it was the first day she got here. She and her two roommates packed up and moved out this morning, taking care to sweep in plenty of dust, dirt and slime so that they would not be leaving behind a clean room.
Oblina brushes a tear away from one of her green, cat-like eyes. She is vexed with herself for being so emotional at a time when she feels she should be happy. After all, she is going to start her dream job—she is finally going to be a professional scarer, spending all of her time doing what she loves and being paid for it. She keeps telling herself to pull herself together and be sensible, but it is not working.
"Oblina!" a voice calls. It sounds oddly close. She turns, startled, nearly hitting her head on the roof, and looks down to see her roommates standing just behind her, giving her strange looks.
They've changed since she first met them. Though they have never beaten her in height, they are both taller now. Ickis especially, since his ears have almost tripled in size. His voice is deeper and has less of a tendency to squeak when he is nervous. Krumm has gotten wider in addition to being taller, and his hair is considerably longer.
Those things are not as important to Oblina as the things that have stayed the same. Ickis is still pretty cowardly, and Krumm's first priority is still his next meal. These are things that have annoyed her in the past, but today they seem positively endearing.
"Oh, um, Ickis, Krumm," Oblina stammers. "I am sorry, am I in your way?"
"No, we just came to find you," Krumm replies. "And—to take one last look at the old room."
"Yeah," Ickis says. "You know, before we all, er..." he falls silent, not wanting to be the one to say it.
He does not have to. They all know. It has been hanging over them for weeks, ever since a particular day a few weeks ago.
Several weeks earlier:
"Oblina! Krumm!" Ickis shouts as he dashs into their room, waving a piece of paper. "GuesswhatguesswhatguessWHAT?"
Oblina looks up from her manual, an irritated look on her face. "I am studying for the final, Ickis," she says. "I do not have time for your guessing games."
"I do," Krumm says, his own manual lying forgotten on the ground. "They're serving grubworms in the cafeteria today?"
"No," Ickis replies, looking impatient.
"You have a squish on someone?"
"No."
"You have a squish on Oblina?"
At this Oblina jumps, throwing her manual across the room.
"NO!" Ickis says. "No offense, Bliny, but no. Will you just let me tell you?"
"Oh, ok," Krumm says as Oblina retrieves her manual and sits back down on her bed.
Ickis takes a deep breath and then blurts out, "I got in!"
For a moment the other two are not sure what he is talking about. Then, almost simultaneously, they realize it. Oblina squeals and jumps up to hug Ickis.
"Oh, Icky!" she cries. "I am so happy for you!"
"Yeah, congrats, buddy," Krumm says, patting Ickis on the back with his foot.
Several weeks prior, Ickis had shocked them all by announcing that he wanted to be a teacher. They will never forget the Gromble's reaction when Ickis told him. He had fainted, woken up, laughed, and then followed all of that up by bursting into tears and saying how honoured he was that Ickis wanted to follow the path of the Gromble.
They had not been sure that Ickis even had a chance of getting into the Monster Teacher's College, but here is the piece of paper detailing his acceptance.
After several more hugs and many pats on his back, Ickis sits down on his bed.
"Finally, I have something to do with my life," he says. "We all do!"
It is true. Oblina recently found out that she landed her dream job, starting right after their graduation. She is going to work with a group of monsters who are commissioned to scare certain humans or groups of humans. Krumm, meanwhile, is going to eventually take over his family's mould farm , since he decided that scaring, while a worthwhile pastime, was not the career for him.
It is while contemplating this that it hits Oblina. After graduation, the trio that swore they would be together forever will be splitting up, going different places, starting their adult lives. Without each other.
She always knew that this would most likely be the case. She thought she had accepted it.
Now, looking at her two goofy yet lovable roommates, Oblina realizes that she has not.
"Oblina?" Krumm says, noticing how quiet she has suddenly become. "Is something wrong?"
Oblina hesitates. Maybe she should not tell them. Maybe she is being foolish. Maybe (and this is what scares her more than anything) it does not mean as much to them as it does to her.
"Come on, Bliny," Ickis says, putting down his acceptance letter and walking over to her. "Spit it out. What's the matter?"
Oblina hesitates a second longer, then explains her troubling thoughts to them. When she finishes, they look a little stunned. Oblina stares at her lap as the reality of their situation sinks in for the other two. When she looks up again, they are looking bleakly at her.
Now Oblina feels guilty. She made them depressed. "You know what?" she says, sitting up straight, trying to keep her voice brisk. "Let us not dwell on it. We still have several weeks left here, and we have a final exam coming up that neither of you have studied for!" She picks up her manual again and pulls it up to eye level so fast she smacks herself in the face.
Ickis and Krumm cannot help it. They burst out laughing, at least until Oblina glares at them. She then orders them to get their manuals and get to studying.
"Now there's the Oblina we know and love," Krumm mutters to Ickis as they go to do as they have been told.
Ickis laughs and replies, "Yeah. And she's right, we've still got tons of time together!"
Present Day:
And now, that time is gone. Their school days together are over.
Life as they knew it is about to end.
"I'm-," Ickis says. "I'm going to miss you guys."
"Me too," Krumm says. "It's been fun."
Oblina opens her mouth to add something, but suddenly it is as if her throat has closed up. The tears that have been gathering in her eyes finally spill over. She lets out one shaky sob. It is quiet, but it is enough to get her friends' attention.
"Oh, Oblina," Ickis says, tears forming in his own eyes. Krumm notices that other monsters in the hallway are looking curiously at them and, holding both eyes in one hand, uses the other hand to gently nudge the other two into their room, closing the door behind him. He knows that if Oblina breaks down, she will not want to do it in the public eye. She is far too proud for that.
Safe behind the closed door, Oblina's few tears and small sobs give way to fully fledged crying, more wild and unrestrained than Ickis and Krumm have ever seen or heard from their friend. They are a little surprised at the intensity of her emotional outburst, although they feel just as torn up about being separated as Oblina does. Although they want to ask her about it, they hold back, simply hugging her, and trying to calm her down until finally her sobs subside.
"I—I suppose I should explain why I am so, well, torn up," Oblina says eventually.
"Well, yeah," Ickis says. "You know, I'm not exactly thrilled about leaving you guys, but you seem...well..."
"Devastated?" Krumm suggests.
"Yeah, that," Ickis says.
Oblina sighs and sits down on her old bed. "Promise me that neither of you will ever tell anyone what I am about to tell you," she says.
The other two nod.
Oblina takes a deep breath and says, "Other than Lugo, you two were my first real friends."
"What?" Ickis says, not sure if he heard right. "Were...weren't there any other kid monsters around when you were little?"
"Well, yes," Oblina says. "But they were all other little rich monsters, who were all raised to look down on any monster who loved to scare as much as I do. They all had mothers like mine. You know what she is like."
Ickis and Krumm nod. They know.
"Some of them did spend time with me, but I could tell they did not like me," Oblina continues. "The only reason they even invited me to anything was because we were the richest family in the dump and their parents forced them.
"Lugo was my only true companion," she continues. "When everyone else around me was frowning on me or insulting me for loving to scare, or simply not talking about it as my father used to do, Lugo was encouraging me to pursue my interest in scaring. He helped me get my scary books, and he told me about the Academy in the first place. He also assisted me in convincing my mother to let me come here...I am still uncertain as to how we ever accomplished that."
Oblina laces her fingers together and stops for a moment. Ickis and Krumm do not speak. They can see that she has wanted to tell someone this for a long time.
"I was very happy to be coming here," she says. "But I was nervous, because I did not know how to make real friends, not having had very much experience in it. Lugo has been our butler since I was born—I did not have to work to befriend him. When I found out I was going to have a roommate, or even two, I was more nervous still." At this point Oblina looks up at the other two and smiles. It is a shaky smile, but a genuine one.
"Think how lucky I have felt all of these years," she says, eyes bright. "I cannot imagine finding better friends than you two. You were the first monsters my age who accepted me for whom I am, and who truly seem to enjoy spending time with me. Not to mention all of the times you have saved my life."
"Well," Krumm says, sitting down next to Oblina. "You've saved us a few times too, you know."
"Yeah," Ickis says, sitting down on her other side and throwing an arm around her thin shoulders. "I think Krumm would probably agree with me if I said that you are the best friend any monster could have too."
Oblina smiles a little wider. "Thank you," she says. "You have no idea how much that means to me. Now do you know why I am so, as you say, devastated about having to leave you both?" Her smile fades again. Ickis looks at her a moment longer, then takes her clasped hands in his.
"It's not like we'll be apart forever, Bliny," he says. "Every chance I have, I'll come visit you both. We can spend holidays together."
"We can go on scares for old time's sake," Krumm adds. "I'm sure I'll need a break from mould farming now and then."
"I suppose you are right," Oblina says, the smile back on her face. "But I am still going to miss you both so much!"
At this, Ickis and Krumm start to do a little crying of their own. "Trust me, Oblina," Ickis says. "You aren't alone."
"You never will be," Krumm says. "If either of you ever need anything, I'll be there in a second." The other two nod their agreement.
The three of them are quiet for a long time after that, save the sounds of quiet crying coming from them. Then Oblina stands up, turns to face them and sticks out her hand. "Just as we said so many many years ago," she says. "Together forever!"
Ickis and Krumm stand up too, placing their hands on top of hers. "Together forever!" they echo.
And then they have the tightest group hug they have ever had.
A few minutes later:
Now they are standing outside the academy, having bid a last tearful farewell to their old room. Oblina is leaving first, via one of the manholes just outside the dump. Lugo is waiting for her, as he is helping her move her things to her new home, but he has told her to take as much time as she needs.
"So, I guess this is goodbye," Krumm says. "For now, anyway. I'll see you guys."
"Try not to annoy your professors at the college too much Ickis," Oblina says, smiling. Ickis mock-glares at her and then smiles.
Oblina hugs and kisses them both one at a time, then pulls them in for one last group hug. "I love you both," she whispers. "You are like the brothers I never had. Until we meet again, farewell!"
"I love you guys too," Ickis says.
"Me too," Krumm says. Then he kisses Oblina back. Ickis follows suit
Eventually, Oblina realizes that it is time to go. She waves farewell, and then she and Lugo slip into the sewer, and begin their journey to Oblina's new home.
And as they travel, two of the last things her friends said to her linger in her mind.
You aren't alone.
You never will be.
Oblina smiles and breaks into a run, prompting a laugh from Lugo.
Ahead lies her future.
She cannot wait to get there.
So I might edit this one a little later, but I wanted to finish it before my trip. Ever since I started watching this show I have been struck by the close friendship of Ickis, Krumm and Oblina, and I am such a sucker for sappy things like friendship and sibling-like love that I just had to write this.
Please review!