A/N: With the lack of stories based on it, and how popular it deserves to be, I thought I would write what I think Chip Whistler's return should be like.
WARNING: This story may get a little (or a lot, depending on who's reading) dark, as in, slightly beyond what would be shown in the proper show.
I hope you enjoy!
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...
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Below.
Beneath.
Lowest of the low.
Deep.
Dreadful.
Weak...?
These words perfectly describe the rightfully deserved fate of Chip Whistler, the most ruthless member of society in all of Big City. He believed the city belonged to him, just because of his status, just because of his personality, just because of his undying hate for a certain family. One that he felt made his life a living nightmare since they first moved and made a sustainable living there...
A family that makes him slightly weak when he remembers that they exist.
The Greens.
Oh, how he loathed that family, especially their son, Cricket, especially since he was the one of them who foiled his plans to mercilessly transform their living space into a supermarket to serve only his customers with fat-enough wallets. Money is all he wanted. More than anything. Well, second to revenge.
All of these thoughts, rolling back, forth, and in between his mind, as he laid in the dirt of an unknown area...wait...he knew this place well. Oh... he remembered the last thing he heard in Big City, before he was sent here...the place where he felt that he was rotting away...into nothing.
"And THAT, is how you launch a chicken into space."
Cricket.
Space.
Chicken?
Space?
Launch...
Cricket, space, launch, chicken, he, Cricket, Cricket, Cricket... Gosh, he HATED that name so much. Hearing it play in his mind subconsciously just made him wish that the murky, damp dirt would take him already. Anything would be better, he thought, than having to ever hear or witness that pathetic waste of space again. He mustered some strength from laying there for weeks on end, never eating, never going to the bathroom, only BARELY sleeping with one eye open...and his one tooth missing, as per usual. All he did was think, think, think, on how he would get revenge. They were the reason he was lying his face in the dirt. They were the reason his business ultimately failed. They were the reason his teeth never stayed inside his mouth for long.
He wanted the Greens gone. For good, this time. How exactly, he wasn't sure, but the one he wanted most gone was...his name even HURTS to say.
...
...
The Green family house was pretty lively that evening. It was Alice's idea to host a big party to celebrate the anniversary of the last defeat of Chip Whistler. Everyone they knew was there, and even some people nobody knew, much to Bill's worry. The whole city had banded together by the urging of Cricket to save their streets from the ideas of a greedy businessman, so they all, of course, didn't mind stopping by the uniquely patched up house down the street. Cricket and Tilly invited all their friends: Remy, Benny, Weezie, Kiki, Gregly, Andromeda, and, at Cricket's definitely subtle urging, Gabriella. Vasquez was guarding the party by the front door, but still managed to enjoy the sweets and treats from the party. Gloria worked as an honorary snack vendor, even though everything was free, she still wanted to "pretend" she was working like she did at her coffee shop to keep herself happy before...someone destroyed it.
"Wow, your brother is really something!" Andromeda said to Tilly as she picked up a slice of her cake. "I can't believe he beat up a whole businessman! Like, he's part of the government, right?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Tilly nodded her head, "Chip Whistler is a pretty mysterious and ruthless fellow." She sipped her drink, then spitting it out, making her start toward walk to the punch bowl. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get something that's actually juice." Andromeda continued to eat her cake. Over on the couch ahead of her, Remy, Benny, Weezie, Cricket, and Gabriella sat on it together. Gabriella had her arm locked around Cricket's, all listening as Cricket told the story of how his first real battle went.
"...and then, I climbed up over his head," Cricket started, "...and spun him around, lifted him up, and jumpkicked him out of town with my giant clothesline as a slingshot!" He said, jumping up and getting into a battle-like pose. Gabriella giggled, then saying, "Wow, Cricket. I had no idea you were brave enough to stand up to a grown man so mean like that!" Cricket blushed, before Remy cheered, "Yeah! The way you told it, it sounded pretty cool! Like...action-movie cool..." Weezie clicked his tongue and pointed his finger forward, saying, "That's our Cricket, he makes the ticket!" Benny also cheered, "Way to go, Cwicket!"
"Aw, thanks, guys." Cricket blushed, not only because his girlfriend was so close to him, but because he never recieved so much praise before. He never thought he'd live to see the day that he'd become a full-time hero of his own home city. "Besides, I stand up to my dad all the time when he makes me do stuff I don't wanna. Of course I know how to do it to the likes of Chip." Everyone around the couch laughed at that. Shortly after, Gloria came walking over to Cricket, holding a chocolate donut.
"Hey...Cricket..." Gloria started to say, "Everyone's really going on about you saving the city from mean-old Chip. How do you feel?" Cricket thought for a minute. Someone besides his parents and sister wanted to know what HE felt? He didn't think much of it right now, and slightly smiled. "Uh...AWESOME?! I never had so many people say my name before! It's like I'm famous or...something. I can get used to it, let me tell you." Gloria slightly chuckled at seeing Cricket, someone who pestered him to no end before a certain point in time, being happy. She honestly thought it was cute how he would exaggerate his story of him beating Chip, even though they were mostly all there to see it face-to-face. She loved the way he was deep down. This made her miss the coffee shop even more. "Heh," She sighed, "That sounds good. Well, I gotta head back to the vending table. Remy's mom says she wanted, like, 3 specially-microwaved donuts, and they aren't gonna get themselves. Later!"
Gloria walked away. "Bye, Gloria!" Cricket waved as she winked back at him.
Alice came walking into the room with the kids on the couch. "Hey, Cricket! Cricket?" She yelled. "What is it, Gramma?" He asked. Alice came up and grabbed his arm. "Hey, there you are, I need you for the big speech you have to make." Cricket was jerked from Gabriella, to which he slightly gave a thumbs up as if to tell her it's okay. "Aaah! Hey, Gramma! Not so hard! Uh, I'll be back later, guys!" They all stayed on the couch to talk. Alice dragged Cricket into the next room, handed Cricket a sheet of paper with some words somewhat lazily scribbled onto it, then whispered, "Oh, hush up boy. Here, you read this." She then knocked over a glass vase as to attract attention.
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Shortly after, Bill screamed, "Ma! What the heck did you do that for?! That was your favorite vase!" Alice walked up to him, saying, "Yes, and I sacrificed it to show you all that Cricket here has something to say. Go ahead, Cricket." The rest of the guests clapped as they awaited what he was going to read. Cricket cleared his throat, grasped the paper with both hands, and took a deep breath.
"Good...evening? Uh...evening, everyone. My name is Cr-cr-Ticket Freed, eh...I mean, Cricket Green." He heard some quiet snickering in the crowd, but kept going. "I...I'm here to say a big thank you to each and every one of you. To the people I love, to the people I know...to the people I don't know...thank you for helping me stand up to stop our city from becoming filled with grocery stores that don't even care if we have enough money, let alone trying to destroy our houses or whatever. I couldn't have done it without you. I know you all think of me of some hero, but really, we're all heroes in some right. Think about it! Without Gloria's help, I would never had made off with that coffee mix that was going to be stolen! And...my Gramma. She's got a real big sword, which helped a lot. And...Remy...my best friend, after Tilly, of course, sticking by me." At this point, Cricket went off-script, and started to mentally list everyone who had contributed to his life in some way.
"And, Gabriella. Being the best girlfriend a boy my age could have!" He blushed, making Gabriella do the same, shyly putting her hands behind her. "I just want to say...thank you everyone." Everyone in the room clapped and cheered, one after the other. Bill, Nancy, and Tilly walked up to pick up Cricket and launch him into the air, chanting, "Go, Cricket! Go, Cricket!" Some of the other guests chanted the same, while Vasquez just nodded firmly. Officer Keys nearly shed a tear, "I always knew that boy was something special. To think I nearly arrested his mother!" Nancy hugged Cricket tightly, "Oh...I'm so proud of you, son! Standin' up for what's right like that...to a greedy businessman as big as Chip!" "So am I, Nance, so am I." Bill said, playfully shoving Cricket on his shoulder. Him saving the city like he did truly was a big deal, and would go down in history.
...
As Chip dusted himself off from being stuck in the mud for days and days, he thought about how he would go through with his plan to defeat...no...KILL, the Green family, especially...Cricket. But...this time, he was all alone on this endeavor. His employees? Gone. His businesses? All kaput. He had absolutely nothing left to his name. This was the Greens' doing. Chip never once thought about how maybe HE was wrong for trying to endanger someone's home. Maybe HE was wrong for thinking a bigger business was better if it meant putting an end to a lineage of a country family he didn't even realize the importance, or even history of, but despised so much.
Ever since that incident in the city marketplace with the fake foods Cricket put up, though it was a harmless prank, it was that day that planted the seed of his ever-growing thornbush of vengeance. That was the day he lost his tooth. That was the day he lost his restraint of wanting to hurt a child.
At the end of the day, Cricket was, just that, a child. A child who loved to prank people, especially so after finding Gabriella, who would team up with his shenanigans. Being that meant, if they were a humane adult, they wouldn't discipline them yourself, not even do as much as TOUCH them, unless they were asking to be cursed with being labeled as an abuser. Chip didn't care one bit. He wanted him dead. His existence kept him restless, which he didn't want to be anymore.
Then, it hit him.
He would find a way to get Cricket by himself, to which he would kidnap him, then torture him for the same amount of excruciating hours he was left to die out in the Big City graveyard. He wanted him to experience the same pain he went through. He didn't want to kill him straight there, no, he wanted him to FEEL what he felt.
But...wait?
Everyone "loved" Cricket so much, they would know he was missing... Chip thought. He had no energy to speak, his mouth slightly pushed in from the impact, instead letting his thoughts spin freely...quietly... He thought about building a replacement robot Cricket, to which he instantly cursed himself for thinking such, because, the Greens being smart, would know right away that it wouldn't be Cricket. He didn't even know a lick of robotics to boot. Besides, the police would of course not rest until he would be found. He had no definite plans for dealing with the rest of the loathed family. What mattered was the boy. Chip figured that he would just have to take him directly, cause a ruckus, and then...what? He would most likely be stopped yet again, in the same position as before, but, possibly worse. Charged for kidnapping? Arrested, taken by the police ruthlessly, then finding himself being thrown into a prison cell to rot away and be at the futile mercy of the inmates inside who do unspeakable things to those who are said to harm children.
None of that mattered.
Chip picked up a hoodie he had found in a pile of some trash, then slowly put it on, covering his head. The smell from the hoodie withering away in the dirt of the graveyard didn't bother him much. He let out a hoarse cough, some dirt and small bits of gravel trickling out of his near-swollen mouth, then said something to himself.
"Greens...Greens...they don't know that their trouble is just beginning..." A small grin formed on Chip's face. If anyone saw him, they would think he was insane, to which they would be correct. He was going to return to Big City despite being banned and shunned by everyone in society.
Operation: Charred Greens begins.
...
A few weeks later, the Greens were on their way to the marketplace to sell more of their fresh fruits and vegetables. Tilly and Alice were holding and setting down various crates of apples, asparagus, and cabbage. Bill and Cricket were putting up the sign. Cricket felt great. He was the hometown hero, and became what he always wanted to be - famous. He couldn't go anywhere now without somebody complimenting him. It got a little annoying, but Cricket, being...well, Cricket, wanted to relish as much fame as he could.
"Alright, family. The shop's all set up. Let's see if we can't sell all our harvest, shall we?" Bill said as he carried a crate of rotten cabbage. "I'm going to go see if I can discard all this cabbage that...didn't make it." Tilly saluted, then dramatically said, "RIP cabbages. You've fought long and hard to grow..."
"Aw, come on, girlie!" Alice yelled, a bit cringed from Tilly's statement. "It's a vegetable! You think they care about their lives? No!"
"Ma, let Tilly have her moment." Bill sighed. Alice just continued to stock the fruit in the basket in a huff. "Thank you, papa. The foods have feelings, too, you know." Tilly nodded. Cricket, instead of watching the shop like usual, wanted to goof around. Maybe he could play critterball, or prank someone again? He wasn't sure yet, but while he was walking away, he bumped into somebody, who stumbled backward onto his behind. "Oh, sorry, random person!" Cricket waved before walking away. The man was wearing a hoodie that was slightly covered in sweat, and small patches of dirt. He sat there, still, and looked at Cricket with a glare and let out a soft growl. He decided to follow the boy...then he can catch him and get his revenge. Chiropractor service isn't cheap after all.
Cricket went over to a vendor who was selling Splishees, and pulled out a few dollars. The man tried to watch from afar, but was shocked by someone behind him. "Excuse me, sir? What are you looking for?" The man in rags jumped out of fear, and ran away. He decided to hide behind something else: another food stand.
He isn't supposed to be back here, and he knows it. He's risking getting his head handed to him again. He's risking getting locked away again. Why is he going through so much trouble to get even?
"...you are hereby BANNED from Big City..."
A memory flashed in his mind as he scurried in between some crates backed by a brick wall. Oh, if only he could break his disguise and snatch that boy where he stood...
Not a bad idea. Heh, heh, heh...
"WAAAAAH!" Cricket shrieked as he was being picked up by the hooded man, who took off running. Crates of fruit and vegetables scrambled all over the concrete as the man made his getaway. Cricket was scrambling to get free, but to no avail. He could see the man was opening a sewer grate, and they jumped in. They trudged through the murky, pungent waters as the man made it to his underground hideout. He tossed Cricket on the ground like he would a backpack, then stood before him so he couldn't get away.
"Gah..." Cricket grunted, trying to get past the man, but he kept knocking him senseless. "What do you want?! Who are you?! Why did you take me down here?!"
"That information comes at a terrible price..." The man smiled, with a noticeable hole in his teeth, making Cricket realize who he was talking to.
"Wait...that voice..."
"Are you willing to PAY it?" The man undid his hood, revealing his face. His hair matted and messy, his eyes burning red and locking themselves on Cricket, and his teeth unkempt and with a gaping hole.
"CHIP?!" Cricket screamed, but then sighed, "Well, who would've guessed. I had a feeling you'd return...and now, what? You decided to kidnap me, and try to break me down so I can, what, bow down to you? Ha! Well, you're going to have to do better than that. Just you wait until my family finds you, and-" Chip rushed forward and grabbed Cricket by the collar, holding him close to his face.
"I don't want to hear about your family, GREEN..." Chip sneered. His eyes were almost red it looked like he was possessed by his feelings of revenge. "You guys...you...why would I want to hear about an excuse of a group of folks like you guys. Since day one..." Chip dropped Cricket. "...your family has given me trouble. I was just a normal salesman. I was just trying to sell my vegetables...and expand my brand...but you...OH HO HO HO HO, you...had to ruin that for me."
"That may be," Cricket said, still on the ground before looking up at Chip, "...it was a prank, and I'm sorry about that. However, you tried to kill my family! You actually thought you could turn my friends and neighbors against me...trying to "expand your brand"...over MY FAMILY's house?" Cricket started to feel rage building up inside him, kind of like his "itch" feeling he had gotten once a year, which made him act like a wild animal. "You tried to kidnap me so you can possibly kill me, too.
I won't let that happen, Whistler!" Chip twitched his eye and gnashed his teeth, then dived at Cricket, but he jumped out of the way, but not before he was kicked in the face by Chip's left leg. He tumbled, giving Chip the upperhand to grab him again. He didn't hold for long, as Cricket bit him, letting Chip's guard down, then headbutting him into the water. He grabbed Chip's backpack, which was filled with heavy dumbells, chains, and miscellaneous weapons, and opened it, reached in, and grabbed a small 25-pound weight and threw it onto Chip, it landing on his head, knocking him back into the water. Cricket slipped and fell backward after throwing it, but kept fighting. The weight hurt like heck, nearly puncturing his teeth again, and giving him a nasty bump. This made Chip even more angrier as he trudged through the water, trying to grab Cricket as he climbed out of the sewer using a ladder.
"Well, the shop seems to be doing mighty fine!" Bill said with one hand behind his back, eyeing the Green family stand that was almost empty. "Hmm...I wonder where Cricket went." Tilly asked. Her question was shortly answered, as she saw him running back there in a panic.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Cricket screamed. He could take on Chip just fine, so he was faking as to get attention. "Cricket! There you are...but why are you covered in sewer water?" Bill scratched his head as he asked his out-of-breath son. "Haaah...haaah...it's Chip...he...he's back..."
"What?" Bill asked. Tilly then said, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that he said that Chip Whistler is back in Big City." Shortly after, a bruised-up, bleeding Chip Whistler came running after Cricket with an ear-piercing scream, attempting to use every fiber of his lungs.
" ! ! !"
"Uh-oh. Looks like tooth boy's back for more." Alice snarked. Bill couldn't believe his eyes, and then instinctively grabbed a shovel that was by his tools. Tilly simply said, "Oh, look. Cricket was right!" The rest of the patrons were sent in a frenzy at the sight of Chip. "It's Chip Whistler!" One person said. Another said, "He's not supposed to be back here!" "What is this guy doing here? Didn't Cricket kick his butt?" Another person said.
Chip stood before the family he sought for so long to attack, then letting out a laugh of great dread. "I now have you all where I want you... Bill, your sleazy grandmother...Cricket's kid sister...you all have made a fool out of me for the last time!"
"You did that yourself, tooth boy!" Alice sneered, "It's not our fault you tried to destroy our house for your cockamaney shoppin' mall! That's OUR HOUSE!"
"We should've called the police to put you away for good while we had the chance...now I can, since you kidnapped me!" Cricket muttered, making everyone gasp.
"You did WHAT to my SON?!" Bill yelled, rushing forward to Chip, who now felt like he wanted to shrink and slither away back into his sewer hideout. "Wait a minute! I can explain! No! Your lousy son! He's the real bad guy! He pranked me with that apple! Re-remember? It's the r-reason why my teeth can't stay in my mouth!"
"You can't keep using that excuse, Whistler..." Bill mumbled. "You oughta know to own up to your mistakes. You're a grown man...and yet, you're trying to hurt a child...MY child. And, what's worse? You came back to Big City. Think of how much trouble you're going to be in once Officer Keys finds-" He was interrupted by Chip, who had gone insane and started to yell.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT YOUR EVER-LIVING MOUTH, BILLIAM! I DON'T GIVE TWO CRAB APPLES ABOUT GETTING CAUGHT! IF IT MEANS I DON'T GET TO SEE YOU WASTES OF SPACE EVER AGAIN, THEN FINE! LOCK ME UP! THROW AWAY THE KEY! PUT ME ON THE DEATH ROW! SO...FREAKING...WHAT?! I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE! YOUR SON WILL PAY FOR SMASHING MY TOOTH! MY GOOD TOOTH! THE ONE THAT...GAAAAH! CAN'T EVEN STAY IN RIGHT! YOU GREENS RUINED MY LIFE! WHY DO YOU THINK MY OWN FATHER IS ASHAMED OF ME?!" Tears started to run down the wailing Chip's eyes as he let out all his wild, brash, rabid thoughts one by one. "IT'S BECAUSE...HAD YOU NOT DESTROYED MY TEETH, AND HAD YOU ACTUALLY AGREED TO GETTING YOUR HOUSE TORN DOWN...I WOULD'VE BEEN BIG IN HIS EYES! SEEN AS A SUCCESS! I WOULD RULE BIG CITY! ALL YOU NITWITS WOULD HAVE TO DO WHAT I SAY! I'D MAKE THE MAYOR QUIVER IN HIS DRAWERS WITH HOW AWESOME MY BRASH ORDERS WOULD BE! BUT...of course not." Chip calmed down, then fell on his knees. The crowd looked on in fright, wondering what he was going to do next. Thoughts of his own father handing him the contract to apologize to the Green family raced in his mind.
He was never really sorry.
He will never be sorry.
"It all went to heck..." Chip simply muttered, before slowly getting up to stare at the Greens. He looked around the crowd, then quickly pulled out his pocketknife and turned the blade forward, making the crowd gasp. "That's why, I'm going to end you all where you stand!" He then rushed into the Greens, each of them getting ready for battle. Cricket leapt aside and pulled out Bill's flip phone to call for backup. Alice wielded her sword, and Tilly ran back in the direction of her home to bring back the farm animals. Bill decked out of the way of Chip's arm that was holding the knife and punched him in his back. He then started to whack Chip over and over with his shovel, to which Chip tucked away the first few times. A few minutes later, Tilly came back riding on their cow, with Phoenix the dog rushing near, behind them were a swarm of chickens, each of them giving Chip his in the worst way. Chip tried to reach in his phone to call for backup himself, but was cut halfway through, as he couldn't feel it in his pockets. He looked up to see Kiki, Benny, and Weezie, with Benny holding the phone, about to break it in half, it emitting a small electric shock. "Whoops!" Benny snickered as he snapped it. Thankfully for Chip, he had an S.O.S button and bumped it. Shortly after, Remy and Vasquez came charging in as some of the people in the crowd ran left and right, using what they could to attack Chip. "Ho-ho! It's Vasquez!" Cricket cheered as he looked over to see him punching and knee jabbing Chip's goons, who just showed up. "Chip is so dead now."
Andromeda and Gabriella came with a pair of buckets and bowling balls and rolled and threw them at some of the Wholesome Foods goons, making them fall into the Splishee stand, getting juice all over them. They gave each other a high-five. The goons laid in a pile, as Chip tripped and weaved after getting beaten. He was almost down. Almost...
Through his weakened vision, he could make out Cricket coming up to him about to hit him after jumping off of Bill's back. He leapt up into the air, and yelled.
"This is for all the people of Big City who you terrorized. Be gone, WHISTLER!"
Cricket dove his feet into Chip's face, delivering a large, powerful kick that sent him flying, which Vasquez assisted by uppercutting, and he was about to land on the ground, but landed in the seat of a police car, driven by none other than Officer Keys.
"Oh, hey!" Keys said, jovially, "Chip Whistler's not supposed to be here! Well, only one thing left to do." He got out of the car and walked over and shut his door. Chip Whistler slumped in the seat as he had met his fate. It was perhaps inevitable that he would've been caught and nearly killed by the Greens. Just as he tried to kill them, he got WORSE. His plans for revenge. His plans for getting even with them. Him killing Cricket Green. It all went to heck. Chip knew he would be doomed to fail at some point, but he continued on...
He played himself.
He tricked himself.
Chip actually thought he could win. Good always manages to win over the bad...even if not instantly. He knew that. He was the bad...and Cricket...
No.
No.
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no NO!
It can't end like this for him, he thought. He tried to escape the unlocked police car door, to try to sneak around and grab Cricket and ship him off somewhere else where he could do the deed away from prying eyes...but he lacked the energy. The entire city not only exiled him, but beat him senseless. He has, after all, been a menace to society. To them, Chip Whistler is a joke. He means nothing to them. He is not even just another person on the street. He's nobody...and it hurts.
With that, Chip fell asleep, awaiting Officer Key's arrival at the Big City police station so he could be put away...
Cricket Green had won. He would always win, and it hurt for him to have to live every second in a world where he's bested by the child he loathed.