Modern Monsters

Best Friends Never

It was another ordinary day in the Land of Monsters.  Corbea, Cordon, Nobi and Roswell were all sitting in their living room.  Surprisingly, none of them were fighting with each other; a rare occurrence.  Roswell was sitting on the couch watching his cat show while Cordon, not feeling up to fighting him at the moment, gave in and watched it too.  Corbea and Nobi were sitting at the table, attempting to play a game of cards, though it wasn't getting very far due to Nobi's lack of hands.

Unfortunately, this peace was short lived.  The ringing of a doorbell caught the attention of everyone in the room.  Corbea was the first to react, setting his cards down on the table and getting up out of his seat.  "I'll get it!"

As Corbea walked over to the front door and opened it, he was surprised to see nobody there.  However, as he looked down, he spotted something on their doorstep...  ...a package.  Corbea's eyes widened.  "...Déjà vu."

"What?  What is it?"  Cordon ran over to the door, trying to look past Corbea and get a view of whatever it was.

"It's...  Another package with no label."  Corbea reached down and lifted the box, carrying it inside and shutting the door behind him.  He brought the box over to the table and set it down, staring blankly at it.

"...Another BOX??  Gimme it, gimme it, gimme it!  It's only fair!"  Cordon ran over to the table, tugging on Corbea's leg as he whined.  "Roswell destroyed the last one and it was for ME!  This one might be too!!"

Nobi, who was still at the table, floated above the box.  "Golly, what a silly coincidence!  Does this mean you guys are gonna fight over it again?  Ooh-  I'll have to go get more popcorn!"

"...You know what?  I'm just gonna open it." Corbea took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself in case the contents of the box ended up being something horrible.  As he peeled up the tape and looked inside, he saw what appeared to be a metal cube.  The cube had a note taped to it, written on a small piece of lined paper.  Corbea felt relieved at first that the box didn't immediately pose a threat, but he wasn't sure what to think of what was inside.  "Huh...?  What's this?"

Cordon hopped up onto the table and leaned over the box to get a better view of the contents.  "I dunno, but I kinda want it.  Can I have it?  I think I should have it."

"Cordon."  Corbea put his hands on his hips in a disappointed manner.  "First of all, no.  Not until we know what it is.  Second, what did I tell you about standing on the table?"

Cordon paused, blinking a few times as he tried to recall his brother's previous lectures.  "...To not do it?"

"Exactly.  Now get down, please."  Corbea rolled his eyes, unamused.

"Ugh...  Fine."  Cordon reluctantly got down and sat in a chair next to Corbea, crossing his arms and pouting.

Returning his attention to the box, Corbea took the metal cube out of the package and set it down on the table.  He carefully removed the note attached to it and read it aloud.  "Dear neighbors...  You are sure to cause problems for me in the future, so I built this jumbled mess of random parts I found in hopes that it will get rid of you.  Naturally, seeing as I made it with scrap metal, I have no idea what it does, but it will surely do something, and ideally that something will permanently dispose of you four.  Have fun dealing with that.  Sincerely, your friendly neighborhood nemesis, Doc."

Cordon leaned over the table to look at the note, squinting a bit as he tried to read it.  "Bro, you missed something at the bottom!  It says, uh...  PS...  It will go off when you say the activation word...  ...'Cookie'?"

Not even a split second after Cordon finished that sentence, some kind of laser projectile suddenly shot out of the cube, right in Corbea's direction.  He gasped and quickly ducked, causing the projectile to fly right past him.  Everyone ducked for cover as the laser ricocheted off the walls, showing no signs of stopping.  ...Well, everyone except for Roswell, who was too immersed in his cat show to even notice what was happening.  The laser eventually went flying toward the couch.  Roswell finally turned his head to see what the ruckus was, but he was much too late.  He let out a frightened meow as the laser hit him head on, causing him to fall to the floor, unresponsive.