Chapter 27
"You better have a good fucking reason as to why you broke my tape or I'm gonna-!" Rhonda was cut off by Rosie placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll settle this later."
"Chip do you mind explaining to us why you broke the tape?" Rosie asked with an eyebrow raised. "You know, before Rhonda ends you."
"Right, uh, I guess I'll start from the beginning." Chip said as he pulled up a seat. "It was eight years ago. I was still twelve and my Dad was a part of the police department. In Horrorville, where I'm from, there was this gang called the Mensen. They were just awful and destroyed everything they could get their hands on. One night, they started a riot."
"The one in the video?" Nadya asked curiously, to which Chip nodded. "So the police that were in the video, your Dad-"
"Yeah, they were sent to try and contain the riot but it...didn't go to well. He didn't come home that night." Chip stated rather quietly. There was a small length of silence as they processed that. Rosie was about to say that Chip could stop if he wanted but he continued. "Things kind of feel apart for me and my Mom. She had to look for work and was suffering from depression for a long time. As for me, well, I took a more violent approach."
Susan looked at him confused. "What does that mean?"
"There's another gang in town, the Kurai Beasts. They're not like the Mensen but they do have similar methods. Both of them were rivals and were constantly fighting. And I saw an opportunity to avenge my Dad, so I talked to the leader of the Kurai Beasts...He would let me join them if I carved their gang insignia on myself."
Simultaneously, all the HSS girls gazes landed on Chip's side. He noticed this and slowly pulled up his sweater to reveal the scar. He could still remember how he bit down on a towel to keep himself from biting his own tongue, as he carved the letters on with a small blade. He shuddered at the memory but continued. "So the leader, Duncan, taught me how to fight and always watched out for me. He was really cool dude, not someone you would expect to be in a gang. I fought the Mensen with them for a long time but I needed to quit when I was gonna leave town to come here. He was completely okay with it but asked me to come to one more fight. The Mensen leader was supposed to be there."
"...So did you go?" Rhonda asked, teacup abandoned in favor of leaning forward.
"...Yeah. Really bad idea. When we were fighting, more of them started to show up. We were outnumbered and had no chance of winning, but something happened. Duncan brought this new guy with us and he injected all of us with this poison from his tail. We all went berserk. The next time I woke up, I was on the floor and my mouth and hands were covered in dry blood. There were dead monsters around me, and I was freaking out. Duncan had chased off the other guy and took me home. That was the last time I saw him."
"Wow, I never would have guessed." Nadya said as she leaned on her arm. "But that does explain where you leaned how to fight."
"I still want to know why you broke my tape."Rhonda demanded as she downed the contents of her cup.
Chip rubbed at his neck. "Well, this is only the second time that it's happened but...when that monster injected us with the poison, I think it still stayed in my system. I get these episodes where I lash out at everybody when I'm reminded of the whole thing. The video most likely triggered it and I probably broke it when I lost control. I'm sorry."
"...It's fine. You explained yourself." Rhonda said as she got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."
Chip nodded a bit in thanks. "I have a question for you guys. Why were you trying to figure out if I was in a gang?"
"Well, honestly, it was mainly out of curiosity." Nadya stated, which the other monstresses nodded to in agreement. "But we also wanted to make sure you weren't some messed up freak who was pretending or something. Just to be safe and make sure we didn't make a mistake in trusting you...But it looks like we made a good choice."
"Well I can assure you he's not." Javier said as he stood up. He slung an arm around Chip's shoulders. "He's a good monster, despite his background."
"Thanks Jav." Chip thanked, slinging an arm around the bug. "We should probably get back to the house and get some sleep. I'm tired."
"Yeah, it's really late. I'll walk you out." Sonia stated as she placed her cup down and started walking towards the hallway. The two monsters said their goodbyes before following her out. At the door, Javier pulled Sonia into another hug. "Hehe, buenas noches Javier "
"Buenas noches Sonia." Javier whispered before she gave one final shy smile and closed the door. Javier turned back to find Chip snickering softly to himself. Javier glared at the horned monster and purposely bumped into him on the way to ROR house. "Shut up."
Randy yawned loudly as he opened the door to his dorm room and stepped inside. As he closed the door, he got the eerie feeling of not being alone. This was quickly confirmed when he heard a very familiar voice right next to him. The light flicked on to reveal a grinning Danny. "Hello newbie."
"D-Danny, hi." Randy gulped as he backed a few paces away from the other. "W-What are you doing here?"
"I just came to drop off your partner."
"Partner?"
"Yeah, another newbie that joined tonight. He's gonna be teaming up with you and staying here. Hey kid, get in here!"
The window frame shook as a reptile slightly bigger than Randy wormed his way through the window. There was a slight thud as he landed on the floor but quickly got to his feet. He had a similar appearance to a frilled-neck lizad, with dark green skin and black stripes. He had on a light green t shirt, red and white stripes facemask tied around his neck, an azure bandana wrapped around his head, and his long tail ended in a mace. He offered a small smile to Randy, revealing several sharp teeth. "Hi."
"Hello." Randy replied stiffly before he turned back to Danny. "Um, why do I need a partner?"
"Well I figured you'd need a little backup in case things got bad. You're pretty good at sneaking around but you're gonna need some muscle to back you up. The kid's not very strong but he's got a wicked bite." Danny stated as he made his way towards the window. "I'll send someone to come and get ya for the next meet up. You two play nice...or not. I don't really care."
With one final swish of his tail, Danny disappeared out the window. Randy gave a small sigh of defeat before turning to the other reptile. He briefly went over what Chip told him about being invisible. "So you can use the other bed I guess. I'm going to bed."
"Uh, okay." The lizard said as he sat down on the mattress. "Since we're gonna be partners and all, could I at least, y'know, get your name?"
"...Randy, Randy Boggs. And you?"
"Zak Vanderscales." The reptile replied, shaking Randy's hand. "How did you end up in the Mob?"
"*sigh* Danny offered to help me get back at some monsters, and in return I joined." Randy explained as he sat down on his bed. "I barely joined 2 weeks ago. What about you?
"Eh, its kinda a long story."
"...I've got time."
"Well...it just happened last month. I don't know if you heard about it, but there was this robbery in the city."
"Oh yeah, near the apartment complex, right?"
"Yeah, well...um, I live in that complex. I wasn't home when it happened, but my little sister was..." Zak trailed off, eyes welling up a bit. "She...she was killed that night."
Randy sat there a bit wide eyed, he hadn't expected to hear that. "I-I'm so sorry."
"*sniff* Y-Yeah...her name was Cassie. They didn't even take anything, just stabbed her right in the hallway. They could have taken the TV for all I care, as long as she was still here. At the funeral, the Mob leader, Blake, told me that he knew who killed her. He said he would help me get revenge. *sniff* I wasn't sure at first but I made up my mind when I saw how broken my Mom and Dad were. I need to do this for my sister."
"Wow, I see why you joined." Randy said somewhat awkwardly, avoiding the reptile's gaze. His reasons for joining seemed pretty pathetic. "I hope you get whoever was responsible."
"Me too, but I'll have you to help me out. Right?"
"Uh, right. I guess."
"Cool, I'm gonna go to sleep now. Good night."
"...Good night."
The next morning was rather slow, with it being a Friday. Javier kept a wary eye on the doorway that connected the living room and the kitchen. Chip said that he had thought of a way to apologize to Reggie and the others for his behavior, but that he needed time for 'mental preparation'. He didn't know what that meant but he was willing to help. Johnny and Reggie were seated at the table while Chet was helping him cook. The crab leaned over and whispered, "Did Chip come back last night?"
"Si." Javier said with a small nod watching as Johnny took a sip from his mug. Reggie was uncharacteristically quiet for a Friday. He was staring down at the floor, clearly worried. He rubbed at the rim of the bandages around his wrist, wincing when he pressed down too hard. 'Where was Chip?'
Suddenly Chip barged into the kitchen with a determined look on his face, clutching a bottle of mouthwash. He held it out in front of him before saying, "I'm sorry for how I acted last night. Especially to you Reggie. So this is how I'm gonna make it up to you."
He then proceeded to uncap the bottle and start drinking its contents. Javier couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him as he watched the whole scene, the other three just looked on in shock. After he finished downing all of its contents, he tossed the empty bottle in a nearby trash can. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he coughed and wheezed. Once he got some control of his voice, he let out a strangled, "Forgive me?"
It was silent for a long time, and Chip was starting to think he had done that for nothing, when Johnny let out a laugh. Soon the other three began to laugh along with him, and Chip offered a weak laugh himself. Reggie was the first to speak. "Dude, that was awesome. Apology totally accepted."
"I'll say. After a show like that, who wouldn't forgive you." Johnny joked as he set his mug down. "That was impressive."
Chet offered Chip a glass a water, that he quickly accepted and began to drink from. "Good to see you safe Chip."
"And Jav told us about what happened to your Dad, so you don't have to apologize for what you did last night. You weren't thinking clearly." Reggie stated as he got up and placed a hand on Chip's shoulder. "That was still pretty cool."
"Thanks guys, but I still feel bad about what I did." Chip said as he glanced at Reggie's wrist. "I hurt you."
"What, this? This is gonna help me with the ladies. Do you know how much girls like bad boys? I need to thank you dude." Reggie stated with a huge grin. "And, I'm sorry for hitting you in the face."
"Hehe, it's fine. I'm just glad you guys aren't mad." Chip said, relief very evident on his face. "And speaking of ladies, Johnny, isn't your date with Belicia tomorrow?"
So the HSS girls have finally gotten some answers and it looks like Randy has got a bit of a problem. I would like to thank Kingdom Infinity for submitting their awesome OC, Zak Vanderscales. I hope I wrote him good and feel free to correct me.
Also, I've gotten some questions as to if Chip is going to have a love interest or not. I never really pictured him with anybody but I'm open to the idea. I'm going to set up a poll on my profile so you can vote yes or no. Then we'll see where it goes from there. Thanks you guys!
Don't forget to R&R!
