Still here? Great! 'Cause here is where it starts to get interesting.
Disclaimer: All FOP Characters belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. Tabby and Monster belong to Me.
Chapter 2
A loud 'thud' shook the house, originating from the kitchen. Then, silence.
"What was that?" Tabby whispered to her wide-eyed godfather as they stared toward the swinging door. Cosmo merely shook his head slowly, too frightened to speak.
The silence in the kitchen was broken by what sounded like long claws ticking on the tile floor. It continued at a steady pace, before coming to a hesitant stop. A slight scratching began then, followed by a loud ceramic 'crash', which Tabby guessed was the popcorn bowl shattering. The ticking sound resumed, at a much more escalated pace, as though the dropped bowl had startled the . . . well, whatever was in there.
"What . . ."
"That," Cosmo whispered, floating closer to Tabby. "Is your REAL monster."
"Well, I wish it was gone!" she whispered back harshly. Cosmo held his wand up, and it glowed encouragingly for a second before dimming and bending over with a soft 'Pbbbbt' sound.
"You can't wish it away," Cosmo whispered, almost next to her ear. "Because—"
"Because I've got to get rid of it myself," she finished in an annoyed tone. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Me and my big fat mouth."
The two stared at the doorway to the kitchen for what seemed like hours as the ticking continued, but at a more leisurely pace. It sounded like the thing might have been slowly examining its new surroundings, and every so often it stopped and scratched at the cabinets.
"Go see what it is," Tabby whispered to her godfather, who merely gawked at her.
"ME?" he whispered harshly. "YOU go look! It's YOUR monster!"
"It's YOUR fault the thing's in there!" she hissed back, jabbing an accusatory finger at him. "YOU go!"
"MY fault? YOU wished for it!"
"Yeah, and if YOU hadn't gotten your stupid wand because that stupid movie scared you, my stupid wish wouldn't have been granted!"
"Well who let me WATCH that stupid movie in the first place?" he countered, arms crossed angrily. She scowled.
"You . . . I . . . it . . ." she stammered, face turning red. "UGH! SHUT UP!"
Cosmo slapped a hand over her mouth as the ticking came to a sudden stop. They stared wide-eyed at the door, hoping beyond all reason that it wouldn't start to swing in their direction.
After a few agonizing minutes, the ticking resumed, and they both let out the breath they didn't realize they were holding in a rush.
"Maybe we should go see together?" Cosmo suggested as he released his goddaughter's mouth. She nodded.
"Good idea."
As slowly and quietly as possible, Tabby tiptoed toward the swinging door. The soft ticking continued unhindered behind it, comforting her as much as she could be comforted in a situation like this. If she could hear it, she could keep track of it.
The door loomed before her, almost as intimidating at the mysterious creature behind it. The fact that the thing hadn't crashed through it yet was either dumb luck, or it was waiting for her to get closer to pounce. She was really hoping for dumb luck.
Cosmo clung tightly to her sleeve as they neared the door, and on more than one occasion had pulled her back to suggest they either run like mad or call the National Guard. She continually reminded him that, because of the wording she used when she wished, SHE was the only one who could stop . . . whatever it was.
Finally, after crossing an endless 10 feet of living room, they arrived at the kitchen doorway. Carefully, Tabby leaned close, listening intently. The silence had returned. She frowned and leaned close to Cosmo's ear, praying that her breath wouldn't tickle him enough to make him laugh.
"I wish I had a mirror," she whispered as quietly as she could. Cosmo nodded and held up his wand. A flash of light, and Tabby had a hand-held mirror clutched tightly in her right fist. Holding her breath, she slowly pushed the door open enough to slip the mirror inside and angled it to see the interior of the kitchen.
The crash they had heard before had indeed been the popcorn bowl, and ceramic shards littered the floor. Deep scratches lined the cabinets below the sink, which explained both the scratching sounds and how it got the bowl out in the first place. She angled the mirror more and saw the fridge, the stove, and the dishwasher, but nothing—
Suddenly, a large dark shape leapt onto the island, and Tabby caught herself before she cried out in surprise. Cosmo squeezed closer to her, wanting to see the creature his magic had created.
It was about the size of a large German Sheppard, but covered in slick black hair. Each of its four long legs ended in three toes, each equipped with a very long, very sharp looking claw. There was a large knob at the end of its tail, covered with spikes, and it absently banged it against the marble island top, sending little pieces of stone tumbling to the ground each time it connected. As they watched, it sniffed the counter's surface, and licked at the piece of pizza Tabby had tried and dropped earlier with a tongue that was long and forked, like a lizard's.
Its head was the worst part of all. It was massive and rectangular, and judging by the way it moved, the skull must have been very thick. Two large bat-like ears hung from each side, coursing with veins and covered with a thin layer of pale hair. A dog barked outside, and the ears perked up instantly, moving independently until they zeroed in on the source of the sound. It curled its lips back to growl, and revealed a tangled snarl of row upon row of sharp teeth. Its huge nostrils flared, all three of them, and it snorted as if to assert its dominance over the counter.
The sight of the thing made Tabby's stomach turn, and goosebumps appeared on her arms. Cosmo was shaking violently, eyes wide, his hands pressed tightly over his mouth. They sat transfixed, watching as it picked up the pizza with its lizard tongue and swallowed it whole. It must have liked the taste, because it threw its head back and uttered a howl so low-pitched it vibrated the windows. Cosmo's hands moved from his mouth to his ears, clamping down tightly in order to try and keep the sound from driving him insane.
Tabby slowly released the breath she had been holding, and carefully began to pull the mirror back. It was almost completely out when it clattered slightly against the doorframe, mostly due to how badly she was trembling. She froze, and heard a light 'thump' as the thing in the kitchen jumped to the floor. The ticks she had heard earlier began again, and her heart thudded madly within her chest when she realized that they were coming toward the door.
In a moment of sheer panic, Tabby pushed the door open again and tossed the mirror inside. It shattered against the fridge, and the creature whirled on it fiercely, snarling in the back of its throat. Cosmo's paralysis suddenly broke, and he grabbed his goddaughter and dragged her away from the door, pulling her behind the couch and pushing her head down.
"What are we going to do?" he asked shakily. "That thing is . . is . . ."
"A monster," Tabby panted, shaking her head. "A REAL monster. Holy cow, this is bad."
"Sh-should we call Wanda? She might know—"
"It wouldn't do any good," Tabby said, dropping her head into her hands. "I'M the only one who can get rid of the thing. It was MY big mouth that put US in this position, and I don't want to put Wanda in danger, too." Cosmo nodded.
"Besides," he said quietly. "She'd never let us live this down. We'd never be allowed to stay home alone again." Tabby seemed to consider this, then nodded.
"Good point."
A familiar faint squeak instantly caught their attention, and they ducked lower, quickly crawling to the end of the couch to peek around. A long black snout slowly poked through the opened door, and the three nostrils flared as it smelled the new room.
Tabby thought she may wet herself. Cosmo made a small noise in the back of his throat, his face pale.
The beast slowly pushed its way through the door, its large ears erect and twisting in quick jerks. It continued smelling the air, and its tongue flicked sporadically. Light gleamed off it's slick coat, and it was at this point that Tabby noticed it had no eyes. She wondered if that was much of a disadvantage, considering how acute it's hearing and sense of smell seemed to be.
As it moved steadily through the living room, Tabby tugged slightly on her godfather's pant leg. They were both on their hands and knees, him beneath her, and she began to slowly crawl backwards. He quickly scooted back to catch up with her, and they carefully rounded the edge of the couch as the creature arrived and sniffed at their original hiding spot.
They managed two full rotations around the couch like that, fairy and girl crawling backwards as the toothy beast followed their trail. Just when it seemed as though they were doomed to play a deadly game of ring-around-the-rosy for the rest of the night, the couch creaked slightly. Tabitha and Cosmo stopped instantly, staring into each other's wide eyes.
They were behind the back of the couch, and the creature had just leapt onto the cushions. It meant to cut off the path of whatever prey it had been following.
Moving quickly, before her building panic could paralyze her, Tabby kicked her sneakers off and untied the laces. As her godfather watched in confusion, she knotted the shoes together and hurled them over her head, into the far corner. The creature heard them land and leapt on them in a heartbeat, tearing into them immediately. Tabby quickly grabbed Cosmo and, tucking him under her arm like a football, made a mad dash to the stairs.
She took them two at a time, collapsing at the top with her chest on fire. On her hands and knees, she gasped and panted, hoping she hadn't just given herself a heart attack. Cosmo half carried, half dragged her around the corner and leaned her against the wall.
"This is bad," Cosmo whined softly. "This is REALLY bad."
"We should have watched 'The Little Lost Bunny'," Tabby muttered, mostly to herself. Cosmo frowned.
"You think this is my fault," he said, sounding hurt. "You think it's my fault because this all started when I got scared." She looked at him deadpan, an eyebrow raised.
"What's your point?"
His lower lip trembled as his eyes watered. She sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, what difference does it make?" she asked, throwing her hands up. "Pointing fingers isn't going to change anything. Let's face it, we're BOTH to blame for that thing, and arguing about it isn't going to make it go away. Let's just see if we can figure out how to get rid of it before Wanda gets home."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching as the beast finished off Tabby's sneakers and resumed its exploration of the living room.
"I'm sorry I got scared," Cosmo whispered. "I should have just left my wand up here." Tabby turned and offered him a small smile.
"Hey, I'm the one who made the stupid wish without thinking," she said quietly. "But you know what really stinks?"
"What?"
"The fact that we've just proven Wanda's point about us not being mature enough to stay home by ourselves," she said sourly. "Because, judging by the situation we've gotten ourselves into, we're not."
Cosmo glumly nodded when the thing downstairs suddenly stopped and raised its ears. Tabby and Cosmo automatically shrank down—even though it really didn't make much difference, the thing didn't have any eyes, after all—and held their breath. They watched fearfully as it moved toward the stairs, smelling each place Tabby had stepped in her mad climb.
"It's at the bottom of the stairs!" Tabby whispered frantically. Cosmo paled, his eyes wide.
"If it comes up here, we won't have anyplace to run!" he said a little too loudly. Tabby slapped her hand over his mouth and leaned sideways to check the progress of the creature. It was stopped on the bottom step, it's large ears turning to hone in on the sound it had heard. Tabby thought quickly, heart pounding furiously in her chest.
"I wish there was a distraction in the kitchen!" she hissed into her godfather's ear, and his wand glowed immediately. A loud crash shook the house, and the creature growled as it ran back toward the kitchen, where they heard it snarl and thrash in anger.
"Was that the fridge?" Tabby asked as they hurried into her room. Cosmo offered her a sheepish nod. She rolled her eyes. "Great."
"Hey, you asked for a distraction, I gave you a distraction!" he said, hands on his hips. "You got any better ideas?"
"I'm thinking!" she cried, pacing the room. "This is getting us nowhere. We've gotta find its weak spot."
"Does that thing even HAVE a weak spot?" Cosmo asked worriedly. Tabby shrugged as she crossed her arms.
"EVERYTHING has a weak spot, right?" He shrugged. "Okay, then what are its strong points?"
"Strong points? You mean like all those sharp, pointed teeth?" he asked, shaking in fear. "Yeah, it's got a lot of those!"
"Right, okay, it has lots of sharp teeth. What else?" Cosmo thought.
"OH! BIG ears, it's got really big ears!" he cried, stretching his own as an example. Tabby nodded.
"Right, big ears, so excellent hearing. It's also got a pretty darn good sense of smell, too, which is how it gets along so well without eyes. I wonder if . . ."
"What?"
"I wonder if its strengths are actually its weaknesses?" Cosmo furrowed his brow.
"Huh?"
"Well, think of it this way," she said patiently, giving him a chance to figure it out. "If you have really sensitive teeth, you have to be careful eating really cold food like ice cream, right? Otherwise your teeth will hurt. So, if the thing downstairs has really sensitive hearing and smell, then . . ."
"Then . . . we're going to feed it ice cream?" he asked with an embarrassed grin. He knew he was supposed to have figured it out, but he honestly didn't understand where she was going with this.
"No, Cosmo," she said gently. "Not exactly. C'mon. I think I have an idea. It's time to face our monster."
End of Chapter 2