Meanwhile, Strickland and Howls were still on the log as it rushed through the roaring waters.
"Strickland! Get out of there!" Howls shouted into the log that Strickland was stuck in. "I've got my Thursday beauty appointment in an hour!"
"Mmph!" Strickland's response was muffled as he remained stuck headfirst in the log.
"Ugh!" Howls rolled her eyes.
She saw a nearby branch, grabbed onto it and tossed Strickland onto the surface, where the log smashed into pieces.
"There, that should help you respond better." Howls said as she leaped onto the land.
Strickland took the time to catch his breath, then he looked up.
"Huh? What's going on?" He said as he threw a fish back into the water.
"Somewhere in the woods, you big dope." Howls said. "Some idiot threw us down the river!"
"Huh." Strickland snorted as he looked around.
"Something tells me that those kids are onto us." Howls said.
"I should've guessed." Strickland growled.
"So what do you propose we do?" asked Howls. "And make it snappy!"
"First off, let's figure out a way back to town." Strickland said as he looked around. "Because staying here and arguing in the woods ain't gonna do much good for us."
"Tell me about it." Howls deadpanned.
The duo looked around the woods, trying to see if there's a pathway nearby that could hopefully lead them back to the city.
Just then, they spotted a foggy swamp nearby.
"There! We'll go in that swamp." said Howls.
"Are you crazy? I'm not gonna risk ruining my perfect feet in that smelly place!" Strickland said.
"Listen pal, you want a way out of here, don't you?" Howls places her hands on her hips. "Well get moving!"
"Whatever..." Strickland mumbled.
Fast forward to a 30 minutes later, the duo were at the other end of the swamp.
"Hoh boy..." Strickland grumbled in annoyance. "So much for it being a convenient shortcut."
"Well it looked like a shortcut to me!" Howls retorted.
"Maybe you need to get your eyes checked, Howls!" Strickland barked. "Because now, we are in the middle of nowhere!"
Then, eyeing Howls' clothes, Strickland added, "Not to mention that should we even make it back home, you're definitely gonna need to have a shower and getting your clothes into the laundry."
Strickland was rubbing his arms as he spoke, reminding himself of a struggle they had not to long ago while trying to cross the swamp.
"Fine! Then you lead the way!" Howls snapped.
"Fine! I will!" Strickland shouted.
As Howls began to follow Strickland deeper into the woods, she grumbled under her breath.
"I swear that if you get me stuck in quic-" Howls was about to continue when Strickland stopped as he raised his hand.
"Shh!" Strickland hushed.
"Now what?" Howls asked, annoyed.
"Listen to that..." Strickland whispered.
It was a creepy moaning sound coming from the far edge of the swamp.
"Do you hear that? That creepy m*** sound?" Strickland whispered. "It's coming from over there. Where there's m***, there's a person and where there's a person, there is civilization. We must be getting close."
Howls listen carefully and then she nodded.
"Then, what are we waiting for?" She whispered urgently. "Let's go!"
The two followed the sound to figure out as to where it was coming from. It was in no time at all that they found themselves near a spooky cave.
The duo paused as they stook at the cave entrance.
"Come inside..." a mysterious voice said from inside the cave. "Come inside..."
Intrigued and awed by the soothing and creepy voice, the duo followed the voice into the mysterious cave.
When the duo entered the cave, they saw the source of the light and the figure that is the source of the mysterious voice.
It was a dark green creature that looked like an Idaho potato with a red eye, and light green tentacles for arms and hands.
"What the?" Strickland raised an eyebrow.
Just then, the monster's tentacles grabbed the two.
"Aaaahhhh!" They screamed as the stump dragged them into the unknown.
What followed was complete darkness, and the duo struggled with all their might, to no avail.
Meanwhile back at the ghoul school, the parents were just leaving for home and so were the students who failed.
"Well folks, thank you for coming to homecoming night and farewell to you leaving students." said Miss. Grimwood.
There were some groans from the failed students as they made their way out of the door.
"Goodbye mummy, goodbye daddy." Tanis waved goodbye to her folks.
"So long daddy." Sibella waved goodbye to her father. "Have a fang-tastic time hosting the Monster Road Race."
"Bye bye dada, bye bye mama!" Elsa waved goodbye.
"So long Papa Wolfman!" Winnie howled. "I'll be listening for your howling!"
"Bye daddy! See ya! Don't wanna be ya!" Phanty giggled.
After all the monsters left the school, Miss Grimwood turned towards the remaining students.
"Well, I hope you ghouls are proud of yourselves for passing this semester." said Miss. Grimwood. "Remember, our end-of-semester monster ball is in two days."
"It sounds so fang-tastic." Sibella said. "It's a great way for us to have fun before we have to go home for semester break."
"Indeed." Phanty agreed.
"Well we'd better get upstairs and get some sleep." Sibella told her fellow ghouls. "We have to get ready."
The ghouls went upstairs and started getting ready for bed.
As that was happening, over at the military academy, the boys were all in bed.
Everyone was sound asleep, but something kept haunting Flim Flam's brain that just wouldn't shut up.
"Man, I really hope that's the last we see of Strickland." Flim thought. "Though I really could've sworn we've seen those girls before."
He got out of his bed and snuck over to Logan's bed.
"Logan...Logan..." He whispered. "Logan...wake up."
Logan groaned but opened one eye.
"What?" He whispered.
"Can't sleep, got a lot on my mind." Flim said.
"Can't it wait till morning? I'm trying to enjoy my siesta before that horn wakes me up at the crack of dawn?" Logan mumbled.
"Nope. It can't." Flim said.
"Fine! What is it?" Logan whispered. "And make it fast!"
"I really could've sworn we've seen those girls before." Flim said.
"Just get over it and go back to sleep, Flim." Logan grunted. "We've gotta wake up to a noisy horn at the crack of dawn and I've gotta enjoy my sleep while it lasts."
Then, before Flim could say anything, Logan turned over and returned to sleep.
"Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me." He thought. "All that training has made me crazy."
Flim Flam tucked himself into bed and went back to sleep.
There were some cricket sounds from outside, which Flim hoped could help keep those thoughts at bay.
Meanwhile back in the swamp, Strickland and Howls had been dragged to the dead end of the cave by the one eyed stump monster. There, the monster dropped the two in front of some sort of pedestal with a crystal ball on top of it.
Both of them were shocked by the horrific look on the monster's face as it glared at them.
"Aaahhh!" They screamed.
"What is this? What's going on?!" Howls demanded. "Is this one of those hidden camera reality prank shows? Cause this ain't funny!"
"Yeah!" Strickland added. "What do you think you're doing?"
"This is no trick, Lou Strickland." said the monster in the crystal ball. "I all but truly real."
"How do you know my name, you creep? Who are you?!" Strickland shouted.
"I am Revolta, the most sinister demon witch in all the land and I have an opportunity you cannot refuse." said the she-monster.
"What kind of opportunity?" asked Howls.
"And what do you mean 'cannot refuse'?" Strickland added.
"It's quite simple." Revolta said. "As you can see, I'm trapped in this crystal ball and need to get out. Set me free and you'll have anything you want."
"Wait. How do I know you're not a fake monster?" Strickland raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"I see everything that happens in the mortal world." Revolta hollered. "I know of your attempt to blackmail that no-good, sorry excuse of a witch Miss Grimwood, and suffice to say, I was a mild bit impressed."
"That's American news for ya." Howls said. "So what do you want us for?"
"I have a proposal..." Revolta began before smiling evilly and added, "...that will certainly guarantee great fortune for us all!"
Strickland arched his eyebrows. "What's the proposal?"
"It's quite simple really..." Revolta said. "I need to get out of this crystal ball and you two want to exploit Grimwood, so here's what we're going to do..."
Author's Note:
Looks like Revolta has come into the picture. It looks like she's found a couple of stooges in Lou Strickland and Heather Jasper Howls (both figuratively and literally) and how will the Calloway Cadets play in this evil scheme. This is where the plot thickens.
Also, check out the new Boondocks series I made.
