Returning to Septarsis for the first time since his vacation, a monster by the name of Chet submits his incantation and eye scan before strolling down the throat of the mechanical sea serpent and into the town of Septarsis. Who exactly is Chet? Why, if one were to go back to the old days, picture it, Star and Marco, fighting Ludo in the same old lame game of cat and mouse for the wand. Is it the two-headed demon guy? No. Is it the frill-necked lizard one? Closer, but no. Lets go even more obscure. How about the little pointy nosed orange reptilian fella in the back of the group? Yeah, that's right, the orange guy. Chet stands at approximately 3.5 ft tall, has orange skin, a wavy mane of red hair, and a bunch of snaggly teeth protruding from his snout in all different directions. Yeah, that guy. His name is Chet.
Chet used to be a one of Ludo's minions. When Chet joined Ludo's cause, he was but a mere 17 years old, making him one of Ludo's youngest minions, in a group of guys all ranging between the ages of 25 and 45. Chet was the guy with the green shirt and the grey shorts. He never said much, and even though he fit right in with the others, Chet was just a kid. It didn't take Chet too many times of getting his butt kicked by Star and Marco to realize "hey, yeah know what, this is a waste of time. I'm a young, handsome guy, smart, got my whole life ahead of me. Why am I wasting my time with this dead end job working for this guy that doesn't appreciate me (or anyone else for that matter)?" With that, and with the arrival of Toffee, Chet walked out and quit right on the spot.
After Chet left Ludo's army, he went back with his mom and dad. He begged them to let him back, and they did, in on the condition that he went to college. Chet accepted, and with this, he aimed for higher in life. Chet didn't want to be just another scrubby monster. He wanted to prove to everyone that he could be his own guy, be successful, and after a trimester of mostly B's and C's, which he might as well have been A+s in his parents' eyes, Chet now returns home to Septarsis.
Now, for those who are confused, Chet is not a Septarian. But you may be asking yourself, if Chet is not Septarian, how did he get in Septarsis? Well, in order to get into Septarsis, at least without getting torn to pieces by much bigger, stronger people, is to, firstly, be at the very least reptilian. Chet could check that one off of his list, and secondly, be able to encant in the ancient dead language of the Septarian to the gateway to Septarsis.
With these rules, as well as the additional need to have the old "snake eyes" (pupils that can become crepuscular, or narrow slits). This allows non-Septarian reptiles into Septarsis. For a while, Seth was on the fence about allowing non-Septarians into Septarsis, until he realized that Septarsis could become a haven for fellow reptiles from the Mewnans that cared not if they killed Septarian or regular lizard. With this, Seth agreed to allow other reptiles have sanctuary from Mewnans, so long as they could pass the serpent's gaze test.
Chet: Ah, home sweet home. Just gotta get back to mom and pop, finish this mountain of homework and I'm a free man. Dang, this thing is heavy!
Chet has a bunch of homework that was given to him over his break to do, which of course defeats the purpose of getting an actual break, but of course Chet didn't do it during his actual break. 40 pages worth of the stuff and Chet has the next 48 hours to get it done. However, little does Chet know that his problems will become much worse. He heads to the market where a large, surly man in a silly hat takes his order.
Chet: One eyeball soup, please.
He orders his eyeball soup and notices out of the corner of his sunglasses that two very familiar figures to him are being carried off to the prison cell.
Chet: Man, I'm so tired, I must be seeing things.
Chet gets his eyeball soup and heads straight for his mom and dad's house, which, like many others in Septarsis, are relatively classy abodes.
Chet: Hey mom! Hey pop!
Chet's mom: Remember honey, we're having roasted entrails tonight, so don't go filling up before dinner.
Chet: Sounds great, I won't I got a lot of homework.
Chet's dad: Well, get cracking on that. Those student loans won't pay themselves back.
Chet's parents are relatively average looking creatures, both similar looking to him, but his dad a bit on the fat side with his red hair greying and his hairline receding, and mother with a more brownish shade of hair and somewhere between the height of Ludo and Chet. Chet himself could only be described as the "ugly cute" mishmashed traits of both of his parents combined (although you could likely say that about most children). Chet walks up the long narrow stairway and heads into his bedroom.
Chet has a relatively clean bedroom for a teenager, with the only clutter being a pile of clothes in the corner near his closet and an old pizza box he forgot to throw away from last week. Chet has several metal posters hung over his single bed, the most prominent one of a cheesy hair metal band promoting their 80s single "2 Tuff 4 Love". The band on the poster doesn't look tough at all. They all look like Chet himself could beat them up, and he can't even beat up a couple of teenagers.
He chucks his big, overfilled rucksack of a backpack onto his bed, and various books, binders, pens and instruments fall out of it. He then dives, head back, into the bed to stare up at the ceiling. He looks over, not wanting to do all that stuff at all but knows he has to. As he pries open the algebra (yeah, algebra, in monster college. They're not exactly on the same page as, lets say, earth humans in regards to their education), he tries to concentrate, but he just can't stop thinking about those two familiar strangers that got hauled away from by the Septarian guards.
Chet (Mind): Those two guys. I swear I recognize them. Never saw a bird man in Septarsis before. Shocked they had an intruder. Was that the boss' old man? I swear it looked just like him. And Croccy... what's Croccy doing here? Is he visiting his cousin? Why in the world did he bring Brudo Avarius with him? What are they doing here? Does he need help? No... I shouldn't. I really shouldn't get involved. I got a test. Must focus... must study. 5(- 3x - 2) - (x - 3) = -4(4x + 5) + 13. Right, gotta remember, PEMDAS... Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally... Who the heck is Aunt Sally? I sure don't have an Aunt named Sally. My aunt's name is Bernice... GAH! Stop it. Focus... I can't do this. I can't stop thinking about Croccy and Ludo's old man. I'm gonna go see 'em. I must be outta my mind.
Chet runs down the stairs.
Chet: Mom, dad, I'll be back.
Chet's dad: You just got here.
Door Slams
Chet's dad: Okay.
Chet's mom: He's so weird.
Chet's dad: He definitely gets it from your side.
Chet ventures over to the prison area. The guard watching over the prisoners will be going on his 4 o clock lunch break soon, and with that, there will be a brief period of time where both Brudo and Croccy will be unattended. The guard leaves and Chet takes his chance. He peeks through the hole and can see the top of the bald head of Brudo Avarius poking straight at his eyes. Chet sticks one of his long, pointy claw nails into the lock, feeling around the tumblers until he hears several clicks. He has to be quick, the lock unbolts and Chet is successful. Going in, he switches on the lights and Brudo and Croccy cringe as they're blinded by the blaring change of brightness.
Brudo: Who's there? Seth? I'm gonna kick your rear end when I find you!
Chet: Oh yeah, you're Ludo's old man alright.
Croccy: Who is that? I recognize that voice. Chet? Chet! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in such a long time. Boy am I glad to see you.
Chet: Yeah. It's been a while I know. So, how's Prince Poopypants? Still trying to pry a magical stick outta some teenager's hands?
Croccy: Ludo's given up on that stuff, but he's the reason we're here.
Brudo: You! You're another one of my son's idiot friends right.
Chet: First off, old man, I'm not an idiot. I got outta dodge when I realized what a dead end job working for your boy was. I'm going to college now. Second_
Brudo: Yeah yeah, save the semantics for later. Get us outta here before one of those guards finds us.
Chet: You didn't say please.
Brudo: Fine! Please get us outta here, before I strangle you!
Chet: Now I know where he gets his manners from.
Chet jumps up to the key chain on the wall and grabs the keys off of the hook. Quickly, he undoes the shackles, but they can hear a guard coming, whistling and swinging around a little nightstick as he goes to fill in for the other guard.
Chet: I got an idea.
They turn off the lights. Brudo screams.
Brudo: Hey, guard, guard! Come in here!
The guard rushes in, the lights are off and he turns them back on to see that Brudo and Croccy are gone. From behind the door, Brudo slams the Septarian guard right in the head with a two-by-four, knocking him out cold. Croccy takes the guard's keys from off the key chain on his pants and closes the door on him. Croccy locks the unconscious Septarian guard behind the door. The trio sneak along the hallways, so far, so good. They climb into a nearby dumpster where they proceed to whisper and plan.
Brudo: We can't just make a run for it. There's lizards everywhere.
Chet: Look, I know a way that you guys can get outta Septarsis, if you're not unwilling to get a bit dirty.
Brudo: I ain't going anywhere without my son.
Croccy: But Lord Brudo, sir, Ludo's with Seth. We'll never get close enough to get him away from him.
Chet: Wait a minute, Ludo's here, in Septarsis?
Brudo: Why else in the world would I be here? I thought you said you went to college.
Chet: If Ludo's here, and he's been here, that means he's not dead yet, and if he's not dead yet, that means that Seth wants him alive for some reason.
Brudo: Seth said he wanted to be a "better dad" to Ludo, whatever that means.
Chet: Better dad, huh? Well, he's not you, so he's already succeeding.
Brudo: Are you gonna help us or what?
Chet: I'm already helping you, Lord Ungrateful. Lemme remind you, I'm putting a lot on the line for you guys.
Croccy: Guys, stop arguing, or someone's gonna find us.
Chet: Dude, you two aren't getting ANYWHERE near Ludo. We are severely outnumbered. If you want my advice, we get outta here, I take you to the exit, and I go back to what I was doing.
Croccy: What did you mean you know a way out, but it involves getting dirty?
Chet: There's a garbage chute that leads right into the ocean. You go out the chute, and you're outta Septarsis, easy as that. There's a constantly flowing air current to keep from trash build ups, so there's no way it can be used as an entrance, but it does make for a viable escape from here. Luckily, it's trash day. The only problem with that is once we get out, we have to avoid the disposal crew. Croccy, how long can you hold your breath?
Croccy: Oh, about twenty minutes swimming, but 8 hours if I just lay there.
Chet: Excellent, and you, your bird highness?
Brudo: Huh? I don't know.
Chet: Ugh, that worries me. You two think you'll be okay? It's a pretty long swim, and you don't wanna poke your heads up too quick before reaching the edge of the water.
Croccy: I'll be fine. Can't say for sure about Lord Brudo.
Chet: Alright guys. When we get outta here, we bank a hard right, right around the corner down the narrow hall with the red walls. Keep running til you hit a wall, the chutes are right there, two big chutes, right into the ocean, then you're home free.
Before the three could react though, the dumpster door opens and 3 guys sitting inside can be seen. It's the original guard.
Guard: Hey! You three, what are you doing here? What are those two doing outta their cells. GUARDS! HELP! PRISONERS ARE ESCAPING!
Brudo jumps and grabs the lid of the dumpster, pulling it down on the Septarian's neck, choking him, and then throwing it up while he's distracted and catching his breath. The three make a run for it. Down the long hallway, they're chased by several Septarian guards. Down the corridor they run, turning right and following the long red wall to the two large, three foot by three foot wide black doors leading to trash chutes. There is trash piled up against the doors which the three desperately fling to the side as they open the latches. The guards are gaining, so Brudo and Croccy each climb in. Chet looks down into the chute. Noticing they're gone.
Guard: You, orange one! You aided those prisoners in escaping! You're coming with us to Seth. They grab him but he bites the arm of the one, forcing him to let him go while he jabs the other guard in the eye.
Chet: See ya, losers!
Chet follows Brudo down the chute all the way down into the ocean. At the end, they get dumped into the water on top of a bunch of trash that's being removed. The three wade through trash, holding their breaths as long as they can. The shoreline can be seen, but it's far, and the three are deep under water. Septarians can be seen swimming and looking cautiously into the water after hearing three yells coming from inside the chutes. They look with flashlights all through the dark water.
Septarians have very keen eyesight, but even they can't see the bodies under water with all the trash, even while resuming to wade through it. Croccy is the fastest swimmer of the three, naturally, and he's so far ahead that he's practically at the shoreline already. Almost there, Chet notices Brudo starting to panic and gasp for air. Quickly, he goes over to lug the bird to the surface, Croccy turns back after noticing him struggle, and aides them back to the shoreline. The trio make it, but Brudo is not breathing.
Croccy: Oh man, oh man. He's dead.
Chet: No, no no. This is bad, think. Think.
Croccy: Do something!
Chet: Sigh, those CPR lessons are about to pay off.
Chet takes a breath, as deep as he could, pinching onto the nostrils of Lord Brudo's beak as he forcefully exhales air into his chest. He has to do this several times, cringing each time he has to smell Brudo's rancid mouth. On the fourth exhale, Brudo chokes up some water, rolling over onto the beach.
Chet: Yes! Oh, thank goodness.
Brudo: You! You saved my life, you little orange guy! Oh I'm so happy I could_
Brudo kisses his face several times with the lizard revolting at him.
Brudo: How could I ever repay you, Chet?
Chet: You can start by never kissing me again!
Brudo: Done... sorry. I thought I was a dead man for a second.
Chet: Well, there's no going back home now.
Croccy: Lets get back to the car. Hopefully its still there.
Chet: You guys have a car?
Brudo: Yeah, I came here in an old fixer upper classic I got from my son's old house on a dumpster asteroid.
Chet: What in the world?
Brudo: It's a long story. I'll tell ya later. Come with us. You're not welcome there anymore... but we'll keep ya safe.
Croccy: What about Ludo?
Brudo: Chet says he's safe. Seth says he wants to be his dad. If that's the case, he's as safe as safe could be here for the time being.
Chet: This is your car?
Brudo hops in the front seat.
Brudo: Hop in.
Croccy: No way. This guy drives like an animal!
Brudo: Well, do you wanna go home or not?
Chet: I can drive.
Brudo: You?
Chet: Yeah, I got my driver's permit last month, see?
Chet pulls out his wallet, showing a really bad mugshot ID card.
Chet: I regret settling on this picture more than anything I did today.
Brudo: So you can drive, huh? Eh, what the heck. You saved my life, you earned it. Hop in, kid.
Chet: Where to?
Brudo: You remember where old Castle Avarius is, right? Take us there.
Chet: But isn't it in ruins?
Brudo: We rebuilt it. It looks better than before. Just take us there, and don't worry about having to go find somewhere to live. You can stay at our castle any time you want, little guy.
Chet: Gee, thanks, Lord Brudo.
Chet drives off. Croccy is relieved that someone other than Brudo is driving. Never has Brudo been so glad to leave somewhere in his life. Chet is worried though. What is Seth gonna do about his parents? Chet knows he would be safe with The Avarius Family at the castle, but he is worried about his family. And admittedly, he is also worried about Ludo. What does Seth mean he wants to be Ludo's dad?