New Chapter, everyone! As always, I do not own Firebreather or Monster High, credit goes to the creators. Mostly fluff this time, but…on with the chapter!
Chapter 13
Clawdeen woke in the morning with a yawn ending in a smile, sighing dreamily. She liked riding on Duncan's bike, but when he flew with her in his arms…..her heart literally soared! After spending the rest of the evening dancing together, he sheepishly admitted to being in such a hurry to get to the dance that he flew rather than ride his bike. He was surprised by her response; that she trusted him to fly her home safely. He picked her up bridal style as he grew and extended his wings. She melted into his arms, feeling completely safe as he flew hundreds of feet above the ground.
The delicious smell of bacon brought her back to the present, and her mouth watered as she threw on her robe and went downstairs for breakfast. Her dad was reading the paper at the table, sipping his coffee. Clawd and Howleen were talking as they drank their blood-orange juice, and Mom could be heard in the kitchen.
"Well good morning, sister dear!", Howleen smirked, noticing her. "Did the love-bat sleep well?"
"Don't start with me, sis", Clawdeen growled with a smirk. "I haven't had my mocha yet."
Right on cue, Harriet appeared with a steaming mug in her hand. "Here you are, dear. Breakfast will be ready in a few."
"You're a lifesaver, Mom", Clawdeen said gratefully.
"Yeah, Mom", Clawd laughed in mock relief. "We'd all be dead a dozen times over if Clawdeen didn't get her chocolate coffee!"
"Ha-ha-ha. Sssooo funny, bro", Clawdeen deadpanned, as she drank her mocha.
Just then, Harriet came in with plates of pain-cakes, bacon and eggs for her family, and joined them for breakfast.
"Clawd", Harriet said, "After you finish eating; jump in the shower, get dressed, and come help me in the kitchen."
"Aw, Mom! Why? What about these two?", he said, pointing to his sisters.
"You take less time to get ready than your sisters do", she said simply. "However, ghouls, there will be no complaints that your brother gets the shower first, understood?"
Both ghouls groaned, but agreed.
"Good. Clawd, when you're ready, I want you to start with prepping the ingredients for my s-creamy mac & cheese while I shower and get ready, ok? We're making a lot for the cook-out."
The mention of the cook-out got all the werewolves drooling, despite the fact they were currently eating breakfast.
xxXXxx
Mid-morning at the Rosenblatt house, as the family enjoyed their coffee. The door-bell rang like a gong, surprising the gargoyle who rang it. The normie kid he had spoken to before answered the door. "Hey! Glad you found the place!"
"Yeah", the gargoyle said. "Me and a couple guys got our used fryer oil for ya. Where do ya want it?"
"The garage. Gimme a sec, I'll open it", he said before he closed the door. The garage door opened a moment later. It was bigger inside than he expected; holding a hybrid SUV, a Jeep, a motorcycle, plus what looked like a workshop and small lab in the back. There were also several 50 gallon drums lined up against a wall, not unlike the two the scarnies had with them.
"If it'd be easier for you", Kenny said, "you can just swap-out two of our empties for your full ones?"
"Sure kid", he said, motioning his guys to get a move on. "You got a really weird doorbell."
"Yeah", the kid snickered. "Mom picked it. Our family is kinda weird, but we're proud of it."
One of the scarnies moving the drums was a goth-looking clown.
"Hey there", Kenny said in friendly greeting. "I didn't see you at the scarnival?"
"Just joined up last nite", he said with a really creepy smile. "You'll see me next time we're in town."
xxXXxx
(Later that afternoon)
"Victor! Viveka!", Margaret exclaimed when she opened the door. She hugged her old friends. "It's been years! Please come in!"
"Wonderful to see you again, Margaret!", Viveka said, sparking with excitement, giving old her friend a mild shock. "Sorry!"
"Don't worry about it, Viv", she smirked.
"We brought our super-charged, super-sized blender to make drinks", Victor smirked.
"You can plug it in on the bar near the grill, out on the veranda, Victor", Margaret said. "Just ask Duncan or Kenny for help. We've got a wonderful outdoor kitchen out there."
Viveka motioned to Frankie. "Margaret, this is our daughter; Frankie. Frankie, Margaret is one of our oldest friends."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Rosenblatt", the beautiful ghoul smiled politely.
"So you're the lovely Frankie I've heard so much about", Margaret smiled warmly, shaking her hand, only to have it pop off her wrist in Margaret's hand. Frankie blushed as she re-attached it. "And please, call me Margaret." Margaret then smiled slyly.
"Kenny is out back, Frankie", she smirked, while Viveka smiled knowingly. "There's a changing room just off the sunroom, if you want to change into a swimsuit."
"Um…thanks, Margaret", Frankie blushed furiously before walking away to find Kenny.
"You're the first to arrive", Margaret told the Steins, just as the doorbell gonged again. "Please! Make yourselves comfortable. We'll catch up in a bit."
Margaret opened the door to see a regal mummy wearing royal headwear, an expensive suit, and a golden Horus headed cane. He stood in front of two beautiful mummy ghouls and a squad of Anubis guards.
"Ah, Mrs. Rosenblatt", he said smoothly. "May I present my daughters: Nefera and Cleo."
"Pharaoh Ramses De Nile", Mararet bowed her head politely. "You honor my home with your presence, and that of your lovely daughters. Please come in." He bowed in response as they entered. Margaret guided them to the veranda. Ramses motioned some of his guards forward; three carried large baskets of fresh fruits and berries, and two carried small barrels with spout-valves. The lid of one barrel seemed to be stained a reddish color. He directed all of them to the bar, while nodding in greeting to the Steins.
"Two of the finest wines from my personal cellar; one red and one white", he announced. "I am certain you and all the other parents will enjoy them as much as I do."
"You are too kind, your majesty", she smiled.
"Please", he said softly, so only she could hear, "no need to stand on titles on such a… casual occasion, Queen Margaret." She froze and her eyes widened in surprise. She motioned toward the house with her head, and led the way.
"How did you….?", she began to ask anxiously. He held up a hand in a re-assuring gesture.
"Calm yourself, dear lady", he said calmly. "As a fellow royal, I have known King Belloc for many years. It was not difficult to deduce the truth. Fear not, I understand your desire for anonymity. Your secrets are safe with me. In fact, you may count on assistance from me and my family should you or the Prince or your adopted son require it. Consider it a royal favor."
"Thank you, Ramses", she said, calmer but still a bit suspicious. "I appreciate that."
Meanwhile, Cleo greeted Duncan and Kenny, and asked Victor for a fruit smoothy. She almost did a spit-take when her sister came out of the changing room in a very revealing 2-piece bathing suit, colored to match her gold and Nile-blue hair and wrappings placed strategically on her arms, legs and mid-rift. Nerfera then reclined on a pool-side lounger to sun-bathe. Duncan came out, wearing black board-shorts and a green muscle-shirt, and Nefera perked right up. She lifted her designer sunglasses and smiled seductively as she sat up.
"Hey, Duncan", she said coyly. "Nice to see you again. You're looking very handsome today."
"Hi, Nefera", he replied guardedly, but politely. "I'm glad your family could come today. Excuse me, I gotta get back to prepping the grill."
"What are you up to, Nefera?", Cleo asked after Duncan left. "This is not like you!"
"What?", she said, feigning innocence. "He's handsome! I could eat him up with a spoon! I could really see myself falling hard for him."
"A bit late for that, sis", Cleo said to herself.
"And", Nefera continued, now with an edge, "he's no slacker like Deuce!"
"Hey!", Cleo scoffed. "My Deuce is not a slacker!"
"Indeed he'sssssss not, young lady!"
They both turned to see Medusa slither out of the house with her son Deuse in tow. She was wearing dark sunglasses to protect everyone from her power, just as Deuce was, as always. Unlike Deuse, instead of legs, her lower body was like the body of a large snake.
"Deuce!", Cleo squealed, as she hugged and kissed her boyfriend in greeting. "How are you, Ms. Gorgon?"
"I am well, Cleo", she replied with a fanged smile, then frowned. "But I sssssee that your sssissster issss ssstill a little ray of ssssunshine. I brought my sssspecial baklava for thisss occasion."
"Ooohh! Yummy!"
Margaret answered the door again, to find the Headmistress, Robecca, and the exchange students.
"Hello, Margaret."
"Hi, Grace", she replied. "How are you ghouls doing? Please come in! Everyone is gathering out back."
"G'day, Mrs. Rosenblatt", Lagoona piped up as she entered. "I'm Lagoona Blue. We stopped at a fish market I know and trust, and we brought some fresh shrimp for the barbie."
"That's wonderful, Lagoona! Thank you!"
"And you can count on Abby to be havink plenty of ice", the yeti ghoul said, frosting her hand as she held it up.
"Thank you, Abby", Margaret smiled. "I'm sure Dr. Stein would love the help at the bar."
"So Frankie and her family are already here?", Robecca asked.
"Yup!", she laughed. All the ghouls looked happy to hear that, as they headed for the back yard, a few going to the changing room when made aware it was there.
"How are things going so far, Aunt Margaret?", Jinafire asked.
"Pretty good for the most part, Jin", she replied. "Although, Ramses makes me a bit uneasy. Nothing I can't handle."
The doorbell gonged again. Margaret excused herself to answer the door, while Viveka watched Frankie with Kenny with a smile and a few tears of joy on her face.
"Look at her, Victor", she said, as she saw them laughing, holding hands, and a chaste kiss. "After all of her heartbreaks last year, it's wonderful to see our daughter so happy."
"Indeed, Dear", Victor replied, also watching Frankie and her boyfriend. "I like this boy."
Margaret opened the door to Claire, her parents, and friend Chad; each carrying a 12-pack of soda: DraCola, Mountain Doom, Root Beer, and Ginger Ale. They shared greetings, and Margaret was about to close the door and guide them to the back when she heard a voice call out from the driveway…
"Hi! Wait for us!", Draculaura called, pulling up with Jinx and Operetta. They hopped out of the convertible, each carrying a large dish.
"Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Rosenblatt!", Draculaura said, in her usual bubbly manner. "I'm Draculaura! This is Operetta and Jinx! Their parents couldn't come, but my Dad will join us after sunset!"
"Nice to meet you all", Margaret said, then laughed, "If food keeps coming in like this, we are going to have a huge buffet." The ghouls all smiled.
"Garden salad!", the petite vampire quipped, holding a huge salad bowl.
"The best potato salad you will ever taste", Jinx smiled, holding another bowl, not quite as large.
"And what's a barbeque without Southern barbeque baked beans, Sugah?", Operetta said in her charming Southern drawl with a wink; holding a large baking dish.
The next to arrive were the hybrids, accompanied by Bonita's father(the Mothman) and the Hex Girls' witch mothers. They brought a couple of fusion dishes to add to the menu.
Next, Spectra and Vandalla arrived aboard the ghost-pirate ghoul's ethereal ship, while Jackson and his parents rang the doorbell.
One by one, individuals and families, more guests arrived, until almost all those able to attend arrived. The socializing was in full swing for all; the parents and Headmistress, and the teens. Some had changed into swimwear and were taking full advantage of the warm afternoon and/or the pool.
Duncan had just escaped another flirting attempt by Nefera, when he saw Chad talking to Jinafire; who was taking a turn at the grill cooking. Duncan smiled as he approached to take over.
"So it's cool if I join the kung fu lesson here on Thursday?", Chad asked hopefully.
"Of Course, Chad", she said. "The knowledge and wisdom of the ancients is meant to be shared."
He smiled, then left when Claire called him over to meet the Hex Girls.
"Jin, you do realize that Chad is crushing on you, right?", Duncan smirked as he took the grill-tongs and spatula from her.
"What? Impossible. I am a dragon", she scoffed, with a slight smile. "Why would a normie have a crush me?"
"Ahem", he smirked, jerking a thumb toward Kenny & Frankie and Claire & Jackson. "And don't forget my mom."
"Touche", Jin said.
"Besides, Jin, you are a beautiful ghoul who is also smart, wise, and you have a good heart", Duncan said. Jin blushed, but was still skeptical.
"What makes you so sure?", she asked.
"First of all, he can't stop smiling when he's around you", Duncan started. "Second, Kenny told me he asks about you whenever they talk. And third, Chad is even clumsier than Kenny….. yet he wants to join our training no matter how much of a fool his clumsiness will make him look. All of that tells me that he wants to spend as much time with you as possible."
"He's right, Jin", Cupid said, coming out of nowhere. "That boy is totally smitten with you."
Jinafire turned to truly look at Chad as he chatted with Claire and the Hex Girls. He was cute for a normie, and his sweet demeanor and helpful nature showed a good heart, and her heart fluttered slightly; causing her to blush. Could it be possible? Most female dragons her age had already found their 'other-half'; usually another dragon or physically/genetically compatible monster of another species. Yet none had shown any interest in her beyond admiring her beauty; no true attraction or connection. And yet, this cute normie boy seems to have feelings for her? Wait! What? Cute?! She blushed and smiled. Maybe this was worth investigating. She walked toward Chad and the others.
"Another potential connection made", Cupid smiled. Then the doorbell gonged again.
Margaret opened the door to see the Wolf famly, and smiled.
"Mr. and Mrs. Wolf! I'm so glad you could make it!", she said. "And wonderful to see you again, Clawdeen!"
"Pleased to meet you", Harriet smiled. "And please, call me Harriet."
"Clawson", Mr. Wolf introduced himself, extending his hand, which Margaret shook, then Harriet's.
"And you can call me Margaret."
"Margaret", Clawdeen began, motioning to her siblings, who were each carrying large casserole dishes, "this is my brother and sister: Clawd and Howleen."
"Nice to meet the mom of my new teammate", Clawd smirked, "and the mom of the boyfriend of my snarky twin sister."
"Ugh! Clawd!", Clawdeen face-palmed. Margaret giggled a softly.
"Duncan is cooking at the grill, Clawdeen", She smirked, then to the family as a whole, "Everyone is out back. If anyone wants to swim or sunbathe, there's a changing room just off the sun-room." The ghouls went to change, but Clawd was already wearing board-shorts and a t-shirt, and picked up his pace once he heard Draculaura's high-pitched laugh.
As the party progressed, everyone was enjoying the gathering and the food. Even the De Niles, who were more used to expensive, high-end delicacies for every meal, were enjoying this buffet of more common foods cooked fresh and with love. Vegetarian Draculaura stuck to the salads and sides and even enticed Clawd, her carnivore boyfriend, to sample them between bites of his cheeseburger and chicken. He found them to be delicious enough to add to his plate. Dr. Victor Stein had decided to fill the role of bar-tender, assisted by his wife, Dr. Viveka Stein, with Abby re-filling the ice buckets as needed.
Margaret noticed one of the ghouls who had arrived with the Headmistress was not eating at all; just serenely sipping ice-water as she levitated in a lounged position, sun-bathing beside Venus and her mother. The ghoul's body appeared to be made of living, dark purple crystal while her 'clothes' and head-dress were composed of white and silvery crystal shards. Her hands had only three fingers and a thumb each and she had stars in her purple eyes. Margaret had extensive knowledge of the monster world, but this ghoul was completely unfamiliar to her.
"Are you sure you're not hungry, dear?", Margaret asked her.
"Oh!", she yelped in surprise, as she 'stood' and turned to Margaret. "Yes, ma'am, I am fine. The people of my world do not 'eat' in the way you do."
"Your 'world'?"
"Indeed. I am not of this Earth. My name is Astranova. I was an explorer from the planet Psion", she said, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"Please, call me Margaret. An explorer? That sounds exciting! How did you end up here?"
"My mission was to find un-inhabited planets that could support my people for colonization when we….", her voice trailed momentarily and took on a sad tone. "When we learned our planet was dying."
"I'm so sorry, dear", Margaret said compassionately. "If you'd rather not talk about it…?"
"No, it's alright", Astranova said. "I had sent back a great deal of data on several potentially suitable planets, when a collision with a small asteroid damaged my life-support and navigation systems; putting me in stasis and setting my ship on a long slow orbit around your sun.
Apparently", she laughed, "my ship became a prophetic, promise-binding comet of legend, until another collision in space sent my ship on a collision course with your city of Boo York." Margaret gasped. The Boo York incident! "But Ghoulia and a robot friend in Boo York, Elle Eedee; managed to send a signal that woke me, and I prevented the crash and landed safely. But doing so drained all remaining power, stranding me here. Headmistress Bloodgood took me in and offered to educate me about my new world. I adapted some of my ship's tech to help me feel more at home."
"And your family? Your homeworld?"
"Gone for all I know", she said sadly, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I can only hope that they were able to find a new home among the planets I found before my ship was damaged. I miss them all. I would give almost anything to see them again….even my creepy Uncle Obsidious. He was against my mission."
"Why was he against it? Wasn't it the only hope for your people?", Margaret asked.
"Uncle Obsidious was the leader of our military", Astranova said. "He thought it would increase the chances of survival if we simply conquered an inhabited world. He reasoned that we would already know it could sustain life, and possibly even have infrastructure and cities that we could easily adapt. He even said that any surviving natives could serve our people as labor. My parents and most of the ruling council thankfully disagreed, saying it would be wrong to take what was not ours. In the end, my uncle relented, and gave me this necklace for good luck in my mission". She held a black crystal pendant up.
"It's beautiful, Astranova", Margaret said. "And I hope you come to love your new home here on Earth."
"Thank you, Mrs….uhm, Margaret."
Meanwhile, Clawdeen snuck up behind Duncan at the grill, waiting for the right moment to safely surprise him.
"Hi, Clawdeen", he laughed without turning around.
"How did you know…?" she stammered, as he turned to hug her.
"I saw your shadow and smelled your perfume", he smirked, giving her a kiss. "Which is driving me nuts, by the way!" The boyfriend and ghoulfriend continued to interact affectionately, to the smiles of most who observed them. Nefera on the other hand, fumed!
"Oh my Ra! What is she…?", she snarled softly.
"Oh! Didn't anyone tell you, dear sister?", Cleo smirked slyly. "Those two have had chemistry since they first met on the first day of school. They officially became a couple at the dance last night."
'We'll just see about that', Nefera thought to herself. 'He's the first prince I've met who was worthy of me, and I will not be denied! Puppy-love is no match for my beauty and skills. Stealing him from that furball will be as easy as cursing a tomb-robber.'
The sun set, and the evening began to cool and everyone who was wearing swimsuits changed back into normal clothes. A large bat approached from the air, landed near the adults, and morphed into Dracula.
"Daddy!", Draclaura squealed, hugging her dad as he wrapped her in his cape returning the hug.
"I told you I vould make it, my dear", he smiled at his daughter.
"Dad, this is Margaret, Duncan's mom and our wonderful host."
"Always a pleasure to meet so fine a lady and so noble a human as yourself, Margaret", Dracula said as he kissed her hand.
"The pleasure is mine, Lord Dracula", she smiled, then smirked. "I'm sure you already know most of your fellow guests. Would you like a 'Bloody' Mary?"
"That joke never gets old!", the vampire laughed. "Of course! But please tell me that you have…?"
"Not to worry, old friend", Victor said from the bar. "I brought a few pints of O+ that the clinic had to spare."
"I knew I could alvays count on you, Victor! Vun spicy Bloody Mary, if you please?"
Margret noticed Medusa appeared to a bit agitated as she spoke to someone on her iCoffin, and she hung up with a hiss.
"Something wrong, Medusa?", she asked.
"Hopefully nothing to worry too much about", the gorgon replied. "That wassss my sssissster, Ssstheno, back in the Greek Islandssss. There wasss a break-in at the monsssster musssseum. Sssseveral artifactsss believed to be the weaponssss of legendary monssster ssslayersss were ssstolen. If they are genuine, they would be a sssserious threat to the monsssster community."
Margaret didn't like the sound of that. She knew enough about both the human and monster communities to know that there were still monster hunters around. One of the most famous, Van Hellscream, lived in this very town, in fact!
"Listen", she said, "I have a few connections who could look into this if I ask. I'll let you know if I find out anything, ok?"
"Thank you, Margaret", Medusa said with true gratitude. "I've never been ssso grateful to a normie sssince Perssseuss took pity on me and ssspared my life. Fortunately for hisss dessstiny, he had to behead my other sssissster, Eurayle, in ssself-defenssse. She wasss a nassty bitch though, turned people and monssstersss to ssstone jussst for the fun of it. And she treated Ssstheno and I like crap."
"Wow", Margaret said. "I guess family is complicated no matter the era."
The evening carried on, and eventually, Margaret found herself in a conversation with the parents of Clawdeen, Draculaura, Deuce, Bonita, the Hex Girls, Jackson, and Claire; about cross-species dating and what comes along with that. Most of what she learned was positive; occasional problems, but many rewards….especially if the couple truly loves each other. Combined with her own experience with Belloc, and hearing about how happy Clawd and Draculaura were together—despite the history of hatred between their species—she was truly hopeful for Duncan and Clawdeen, as well as Kenny and Frankie. Conversely, she also reassured Clawson and Harriet that Duncan would never deliberately hurt or use anyone, let alone someone he loves.
The party broke up around 9:30, as the Headmistress reminded everyone that it was a school-night. As Margaret settled into a cup of tea before bed, she reflected on the success of the party. She was now familiar with most of her childrens' friends and their parents, her hopes concerning Duncan and Kenny's romantic relationships were confirmed and bolstered, and her fellow parents seemed to like her. Yup, it was a good day.
xxXXxx
Deep space. An enormous ship travelling inexorably on course. It appears to be two convex, hexagonal discs stacked atop each other, connected by a core-pillar. The entire ship was more than five miles across, with multiple launch-bays and virtually covered in weapons.
Inside, the crew of crystalline/metallic robotic soldiers tirelessly perform their appointed tasks. One whose armor was more golden than the standard silver drones had just finished reporting to a superior of vastly different design; obviously designed more for thinking and strategy. He was of much lighter build, dressed in red robes with a high collar. The top of his oval-shaped, almost pointed head was transparent, showing his electronic brain, as the synapses inside lit up as he processed his thoughts. He walked to a diamond-shaped doorway, and two crystal panels slid aside to give him entry into a dark, high-ceiling'ed room with light over a tall pedestal. The pedestal rotated, revealing a figure sitting in a command chair…a figure, with the exception of his crystalline flesh being smoky black in color rather than deep purple, resembling a nearly ten-foot tall older male version of Astranova.
"By your command", the robot said in a very proper, almost shwarmy voice while he bowed to the seated figure.
"Speak", the Psion said in a deep commanding voice.
"Our sensors are still receiving the tracking signal, and we remain on-course, as you commanded. But we are now picking up unfamiliar signals from the same direction. Possibly from the same planet the tracker has been on for the past three hectons."
"The nature of these 'strange signals'?"
"They appear to be video and audio signals of a possible entertainment nature; implying a sizable native population of at least a moderate level of technology."
The Psion smiled malevolently.
"And the nature of the natives?"
"Mostly bipedal, Carbon-based life-forms; a vast majority being of the same rather unremarkable species who refer to themselves as 'humans'. The rest of the population seems to be made up of a variety of different and far more interesting and powerful species, collectively known as 'monsters'."
"A ruling class, then?"
"It appears not. Each side mostly segregates from the other and co-exist, with some strife between the two on occasion. There are implications of larger wars between the two in the past, which have mostly been left in the past. Each side also appears to have their own system of government, although the populations seem to overlap to an extent."
"Remain on-course and continue to monitor these signals, Veron. Learn as much as possible and report your findings to me regularly."
"By your command, Obsidous Blackstar."
xxXXxx
Author's notes: What the….?! All that fluff this chapter and then….POW! Those of you familiar with the classic (1978) Battlestar Galactica will realize that my inspiration for Obsidious and his mechanized army is of course the Cylons. At intervals, I will reveal more on his intentions and motivations. Needless to say, Obsidious Blackstar and his underling Veron are my OC's.
xxXXxx