A Monster (Eddsworld)

A Monster

Tom's eyelids snapped open. He saw the night sky above him, its rich deep blue matching the color of his hoodie. He was lying on cold, hard ground. He looked around at the rubble from the destruction he caused and sat up, rubbing his aching head, noticing that a large section of his hair was now missing. He slowly stood up and saw other people in the distance. Edd was lying on the dirt, weak and struggling to get up, most likely having been attacked. Eduardo was a bit further away, exhausted and on his knees, likely from fighting what had attacked Edd. Matt was standing closer, facing away from Tom and watching the whole scene unfold.

Tom sighed at the mess he made and stumbled over to where Matt was standing. Matt noticed that he was there and turned around to greet him.

"Tom! Did you see the monster?"

Tom grimaced, knowing just how ignorant Matt really was. He had always hated that word. Monster. As if he's an untamed animal, or some evil creature that deserves to die. Then again, it was never an unfitting word. And sure, Matt was oblivious-they all were, and Tom intended to keep it that way-but that word still left a bad taste in his mouth and made his stomach turn. Still, Tom kept his cool.

"Nope."

Matt gasped. "It was AWESOME! It was all like, 'RAWR! I'M A MONSTER!'"

Unfortunately, Matt's excited comment became the equivalent of someone shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater. The cops started chasing Matt, stupidly thinking he was the creature that destroyed the city. Tom rolled his 'eyes' and smiled a bit, just grateful that he hadn't been caught yet. But his smile started to fade as he thought about it more. As much as he always tried not to think about it, he couldn't help but remember....

The incident.

It all happened so many years ago.

And yet, it was all too clear to him.

It was back when Tord was still living with them. Tom remembered it well. And sure, the two had been enemies before then, but they were mostly just a mild annoyance to each other. But after the incident, the annoyance turned into pure anger and hatred, at least for Tom.

"Hey, Tom?" Tord asked, standing in the doorframe of his room next to where Tom was in the hallway.

Tom turned around to face Tord. "Yeah?"

"Can we....talk....in my room for a second?"

"Uh, sure?"

Tord stepped back and gestured beside him, watching as Tom slowly walked into the room. "So, what do you need to talk to me about?"

Tord didn't respond and quickly closed the door behind him, locking it after. Seeing this made Tom even more confused. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you'll see..." he said with a smirk. Tom was skeptical. What was he up to?

Tord turned to the wall next to him towards a picture frame, and carefully took the frame off the wall with one hand, revealing a lever which he then pulled with his other hand. The back wall started moving up, revealing a hidden room behind it. Tom took a step back, now both startled and confused. "Tord, what is going on?" he demanded.

Tord stayed in silence as he led Tom in the room. Tom took a look around to see that the room was most likely some kind of secret lab. But what could it be used for?

Tord walked to the very back of the lab to a desk that had some blueprints on it. Tom didn't have the chance to look at the blueprints closely before Tord turned back around, a grin forming on his face.