Becoming A Chomby

     "Come inside, Nubsy! You'll catch the Sneezles!" hollered Bobby from deep inside the house. Even though he was adopted after Nubsy was born, Bobdrooooo was already nearly twice his age (and half as intelligent).

     "Good," he mumbled back, "maybe then I'll be useful and get our owner a new avatar." But Bobby hadn't heard him. He got up on his cloven hooves and went inside for dinner, throwing back one last hopeful glance at the evening sky before nosing the door shut.

      The next day, Nubsy came home from his Endurance training at the Swashbuckling Academy to find that his owner was missing. He searched everywhere, but she was nowhere to be found. Usually, she got back before he did.

     "Bobby?!" he called out from the garden.

     "Yeah?" Bobby's voice came from the kitchen, muffed by the sounds of food in his mouth. He didn't spend his days training or reading like Nubsy did. Instead, he sat at home and ate.

     "Where's..." he trailed off watching, in disgust, as Bobby downed an entire omelette in one bite and washed it down with an entire can of Banana Achyfi.

     "Yuck, that stuff is nasty!"

     "Why did you drink it then?"

     "Don't you know how rare those things are?"

     "Still trying to impress that Gourmet Club, eh? You won't be able to rank high enough to be recognized by them. They're high class foodies."

     "Oh yeah? Then why do you read so many books? I know it's not for fun; it's to impress those book people. There's not enough books in all of Neopia for you to be smart enough for them," laughed Bobby.

     "Take that back."

     "Yeah right, I-" He stopped short when there was a sudden rapid knocking at the door.

     "That must be our owner." Nubsy pranced over to the door and opened it. He rubbed his muzzle against her as she came in.

     "Mummy's boy," coughed Bobby.

     "I heard that!" snapped Nubsy.

     "Boys, what's all this? Sorry I'm late; I was out at our shop adjusting the prices. Oh, Nubsy baby, guess what came in the mail from the auction house today?!"

     Nubsy nosed the small package carefully and slowly removed the twine that bound it, pausing before he removed the brown paper packaging to look up at his owner.

     "I'm not telling you what's in it. You'll just have to see for yourself." She grinned.

     He tore the paper to reveal a small glass vial, crafted to resemble a Chomby. Yellow liquid sloshed around inside as his owner lifted it at a reverent pace. He and his brother gazed at it with marvel. They knew only special vials were shaped like that, special and expensive ones. They weren't a rich family. His owner never talked to the about funds but he knew there was a reason she would come home with mysterious jellies - never revealing from where she got them - instead of taking them out to that exclusive underwater restaurant.

     "Is that... for me?" questioned Nubsy.

     "Yes, it is. Are you sure you want to do this?"

     "I've been ready since the day I was born. I feel like I was meant to be a Chomby all my life."

     "Well, that's kinda why I made you. Why would I want to own a Gnorbu?" she mumbled under her breath, too softly for her 'pets to hear.

     "What was that, Mum?"

     "Oh nothing, nothing. Just that I've always thought Chombies were such gentle, lovely creatures."

     "That's not what it sounded like you said, Mum," said Bobby, with one eyebrow raised.

     "Oh of course it's what I said... and how are you raising an eyebrow? You don't even have eyebrows... do you?" she questioned and squinted, looking for these eyebrows that he supposedly had. Shaking her head, she said, "But don't worry, I love Blumaroos too, dear."

     "Didn't you sell some Blumaroo steak to that man th-mmffgmmm." She placed her hand over Nubsy's mouth before he could say much more.

     "I thought you were an Ultimate Genius," she whispered in his ear before saying aloud, "Heh heh, no of course I didn't, Nubsy! You know I wouldn't condone the use of your brother's species for food." Sweat was beading on her forehead as the conversation got out of hand. She needed to redirect the focus to her Gnorbu, the protagonist of this short story, and fast. "Alright, let's... let's use this potion. Carefully drink the liquid inside, now."

     "Will it hurt?" Nubsy asked.

     "It... shouldn't, I don't think." This day was getting uncomfortable. Maybe she should have sent them to the Neolodge for a few weeks and just had the mail forwarded to them.

     "Alright, here goes nothing." He tipped the bottle back and chugged the sweet smelling liquid like Bobby would a rare Achyfi. Something had happened! His feet began to widen, then his legs. His belly bloated and his tail stretched out. His nose retracted until it became two flat slits, barely visible above his mouth. He teeth fell out and new, more powerful ones grew quickly in their place. All of his hair fell out and his skin began to thicken like leather before large, green spikes sprouted from his back and tail. The ground seemed to move away from him until he noticed his neck was growing longer. Then, a loud ping could be heard from his owner's pocket. She checked her phone. "It's a text. It say's I'm now eligible to use Kauvara as an avatar. Huh..." She looked around the house for a while, checking in the cabinets and under the beds before she came back. "How did they..." She shook her head but was unable to shake the rising feeling that she was being watched.

     "How do you feel, man?" asked Bobby.

     "I feel..." He stopped, noticing his voice had changed as well. "I feel amazing!"

     "Dude, you sound so... Chomby-ish!" hollered Bobby.

     "Wise words from my wise brother."

     "Well, I'm no King Hagan."

     "More like Skarl," chortled Nubsy. Suddenly, he felt like showing off his new body.

      He ran into his room, scooped up Bofruit, and jumped onto his bed. The springs squeaked and he realized, as the legs trembled with the force of his impact, that he must have gained weight with the transformation. Cuddling his trembling petpet, he grabbed his notebook to write. "Hey, it's me, Bofruit. It's me! I've changed!" he soothed his confused Hasee. He handed a doughnutfruit to Bofruit, and the frightened creature stopped trembling with the prospect of food. "You're too easy to please." Putting on his Chummy and the Fungusballs hat and taking a pencil from the nightstand, he wrote:

     Dear Notebook,

      The world seems brighter. I feel like I've become the 'pet I was meant to be. This is the skin I was meant to have, the smile I was meant to wear, the pride I was meant to give my owner.

      Nubsy struggled to think of the right words to describe his emotions in that moment. He gazed out of the bedroom window, watching the sky turn from Blumaroo blue to deep eventide once again. Suddenly, he knew. That was his next step. He tore out the page of his notebook and balled it up. As he threw it across the bedroom, his plushie Hasee scampered after it, pausing briefly to scratch at his petpetpet bites.

     Dear Notebook,

      Today I became a Chomby. Tomorrow I become the eventide. I know this is what I'm meant to be. My destiny lies in the horizon and I can taste it as I gaze out the window at the rich hues. Or maybe that's just the aftertaste from the Transformation potion. I'm not really sure. I'm also not sure where I will get the Neopoints for this since I've been splurging on Battledome equipment to help The Awakened but I'll get it eventually. Somehow. Yeah...

      Nubsy sat in his bed, calling Bofruit to his side and exhaled. He was becoming who he was meant to be. And it only took his owner 1,317 days.

The End