Hey, Everyone! As usual, I do not own Firebreather or Monster High.

Chapter 36: This is Halloween!

"So as cybernetics continue to advance, it will eventually even be possible to fully replace lost or missing limbs with fully functioning artificial replacements that look normal."

"Well done, DJ", Mr. Rotter said at the conclusion of DJ's scare-itage report. "Duncan, yours is the last scare-itage report. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Mr. Rotter", he replied as he went to the front of the class. He had meticulously, with help from Kenny and DJ, made CGI images of many of his ancestors; made easier by using a photo of Belloc as a template. He plugged his lap-top into the much larger display screen.

Duncan started with his human family; his great-grandparents up to his mother, "a scholar of monsterkind and cultures, with a particular interest in the kaiju", and how she'd offered herself to Belloc to end the war and they fell in love…..which started him on Belloc and his kaiju ancestors, and he scrolled through the pictures as he spoke.

Chaoxor; one of the founding members of the Monster Council of Royals.

Draxus; who saved the world from Diablogarn and the kaijus who followed him.

Tiamat, Marduk, and several others of note.

And finally, Primalus, the first king.

"What I conclude is that the Kaijus were the first guardians of our world, and remain the most powerful. We protect this planet from forces that would threaten it."

He blinked when he realized he'd said 'we', and it seemed that only Clawdeen noticed and realized the implication; he had finally fully accepted who he is…..all of who he is.

"Um, I guess that's it."

"Well done, Duncan", Mr. Rotter said. "Very thorough. In fact, a great deal of what you have told us cannot be found in any books or the interweb?"

"I talked to my Dad", Duncan lied, certain that Mr. Rotter would not easily accept a 'vision-quest' as a reliable source. Then the bell rang.

xxXXxx

Cupid was feeling down. Not only was she leaving, but it seemed her friends were avoiding her. Maybe they were mad at her for leaving? Anyway, she was sad as she and the school station manager finished setting up the computerized random rotation of the recordings of her old shows. School was almost out for the day when she left the station.

She wheeled her steamer-trunk behind her as she headed for Ms. Le Fey's class. She was so depressed as she walked that she didn't see anyone I front of her until she almost bumped into Cleo.

"You didn't really think we would let you leave without saying good-bye did you, Cupid?", Cleo smirked. Cupid looked up and saw Deuce with Cleo, and all along the hallway were her friends and all the many couples she had helped get together or stay together! They all broke into applause, and many had tears in their eyes. As she walked down the hall, all of them thanked her for her help.

"We're so happy", Wydowna Spider said, hugging Scotty Stinger; who smiled. "All thanks to you, Cupid. And I'm glad you love the dress I made you", the spider ghoul added as she saw that Cupid was wearing the spider-silk dress she'd made in gratitude.

"I can't thank you enough" Raythe smiled in gratitude.

"We can't thank you enough", Twyla corrected, her arm wrapped around his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Luv", Robecca said, DJ by her side. "If you could help even a ghoul like me find love, then love truly does conquer all, and in more ways than one." Robecca leaned in and whispered in Cupid's ear. The demi-goddess' eyes went wide.

"I'm so happy for you both!", she said, hugging Robecca and DJ together, to his mild confusion.

Cupid's heart swelled at the outpouring of gratitude and support from everyone. She had tears streaming down her smiling face as she reached the magick classroom. On either side of the doorway stood Clawd & Draculaura and Duncan & Clawdeen.

"Even though the plan with your crossbow and arrows kinda backfired", Clawd began.

"You still helped save me from Valentine and keep me and my sweet puppy together", Draculaura finished, cuddling up to Clawd.

"It wouldn't have worked if you two didn't already truly love each other", Cupid smiled. Then she turned to Duncan and Clawdeen.

"I was in a really dark and painful place when I first came here", Duncan said. "I almost passed by the new love that I—literally—ran into. You helped me find the courage not only to ask Clawdeen out, but also tell her my secrets. Thank you."

"And I had a hard time admittin' my feelings, even to myself", Clawdeen smiled. "You and the rest of my ghouls knocked some sense into me. And now, I've never been happier."

"You both deserve to be happy", Cupid told them. The door to the classroom opened, Headmistress Bloodgood was inside with Ms. Le Fey and her class.

"Your friends arranged for this send-off for you with my permission, Cupid", Grace smiled warmly. "Good luck and much success where you are going. May you help as many there as you did here, and more."

"Thank you, Ms. Bloodgood", she said, hugging the Headmistress. Then she hugged Ms. Le Fey. "And thank you for all your help."

"Not at all, dear", the elder witch smiled. "The class and I have already performed the spell. The mirror portal is ready when you are."

Cupid turned back to all her friends with a smile and bittersweet tears in her eyes.

"Thank you all! I'll miss you! Good-Bye, Everyone!"

She turned to the glowing mirror. Took a deep breath. And stepped through.

Cupid found herself in the middle of a sunny courtyard, with many teens milling around her.

"Hello there!", a cheery voice said. Cupid turned to see two very beautiful girls; a blue-eyed blonde in red and white, and black & purple tressed and dressed girl with a creamy-white complexion and magenta eyes.

"Welcome to Ever After High!", the blonde smiled. "I'm Apple White, and this is Raven Queen."

"Hey", Raven smiled.

"Thank you", Cupid smiled. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm Chariclo Arganthone Cupid."

xxXXxx

"What was that all about, Robecca?", DJ asked, still confused by Cupid's outburst after Robecca whispered to her.

Robecca smiled at her boyfriend and took his hand, walking away with him as the farewell to Cupid broke up.

"DJ, how can you love a machine like me?", she asked him seriously.

"You're not just a machine, Robecca", he said, looking lovingly into her eyes. "You're warm and alive, and you feel so good in my arms. You love me for who I am, so how can I feel any less for you?"

"But don't you have….needs?"

"Let me worry about that", he said, blushing slightly. "Just know that I will never cheat on you."

"What about the future?", she asked him.

"I want to spend it with you", he said. "If you'll have me."

"Even with no hope of having a family?"

"Yes", he said honestly. "Besides, there are other ways if we want to have children one day. I love you, Robecca, with all my heart."

Robecca's heart swelled. He loved her for who she was, just as she loved him.

"I love you, too, DJ", she smiled, handing him the letter from her father. Still a bit confused, he took it and began to read. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

"Did you….? Can we….?", he stammered, to see her nodding with a look that seemed equal parts coy and naughty.

"No pressure, Luv", she said, embracing him. "We'll just let it happen when it happens, ok?"

"Sure", he smiled, and kissed her deeply. "See you tonight at the party?"

"Of course! I can't wait to see all the new looks Clawdeen, Jinafire, and Skelita came up with for all of us for the party!"

xxXXxx

The Monster High Halloween Party is one of the few events in which the two sides of town mingle; although the hardcore 'hater' normies tended to stay home, which worked out well for the trick-or-treaters. The normies wore costumes, masks, and make-up; the monsters wearing their newest fashions. The three fierce fashionistas out-did themselves for all their friends; the guys and ghouls looking their best.

Margaret was dressed as a witch, mingling with the monster and normie parents in attendance. Among them were Chad's parents, who had taken a liking to Jinafire when they met her. They had even invited her to join them for Thanksgiving! Jin was flattered that Chad had dressed in a tai-chi uniform and made himself up as a male version of her, complete with a phony dragon tail.

DJ and Kenny followed his lead, dressing up as male counterparts to their ghoulfriends.

"Fangtastic!", Frankie giggled when she saw Kenny; with his impeccable make-up job and costume trimmed with lightning bolts and stitch-patterns. "You've never looked better, Kenny!"

"Same to you, Sweetie", he grinned, checking out her dress: black & white, low-cut and trimmed with lightning bolts and the skirt split from the floor almost to her left hip.

"Oh wow, Robecca", DJ said when he saw her. She turned with a smile. She wore a leather-corsetted satin and lace dress; thigh-length in front trailing down to almost floor-length in back and a small top-hat on her head decorated with her goggles.

"Wow yourself, DJ", she smiled. He was wearing a white dress-shirt and grey pants, boots, vest, bowler-hat with goggles, a mock-up of Prof. Steam's bronze arm and hand, and a copy of one of his clock-work canes.

Holt and Claire were working the DJ table, the dancing and mingling was in full swing, as were the party-games. Lee and his friends Miguel and Jamal, had just dropped a gizmo into the cauldron of apples and stepped back to a safe distance. Lee had his smartphone in his hand. He would tap it whenever random monsters or normies went to bob for apples; whenever he did, water would explode out and splash them and nearby people. The boys laughed every time until Lagoona found the gizmo and removed it.

"Reow. That was sneaky, underhanded, and hilarious", a feminine voice said behind them. They turned to see three werecats. "I gotta admit, I admire it. The name's Toralei. This is Moewlody and Purrsephone."

"I'm Lee", the Asian boy dressed as the Monkey King said as he kissed her hand, then turned to his friends. "These are my homies: Jamal(dressed as a soldier) and Miguel(dressed as Zorro). You might say, we're the prankster prince and his jokers of New Salem High."

"Really?", Toralei purred, wrapping her arm around Lee's as the twins did the same with his friends. "We should talk, monkee-boy."

"You really outdid yourself, Clawdeen", Duncan said as he danced with her. She was gore-geous in her tight black off-the-shoulder mini-dress trimmed with black lace and silver crescent moons & stars. He was wearing his usual sandals and black cargo pants. With those he was wearing a green dress-shirt; sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a new sleeveless long black-leather coat styled like biker jacket and trimmed with studs and spikes. Clawdeen had made the shirt and coat especially for him.

"Thanks, Handsome", she smiled. "You look clawsome."

"Not half as good as you", he grinned, and gave a deep, passionate kiss. As they embraced, he extended his wings and flapped until they were hovering over the dance-floor, so they were dancing in mid-air.

Abby really liked the new dress Jinafire had made her for the party; ice-blue and silver short dress with white faux fur trim. The party was lively, but the young yeti found her thoughts constantly returning to her absent boyfriend. Although Heath had been video-chatting with her regularly, along with calls and texts, she missed him terribly. Their relationship was…..strange to say the least—literally like fire and ice—but they loved each other dearly. Smiling, she took out her iCoffin to call him, but found that she had no signal; the Hall of Halloween was too deep in the catacombs. She headed for the exit to go outside and call Heath. What she didn't notice was the large cloaked figure who followed her. She decided to go all the way outside the school to get the clearest signal. She began to dial Heath….

"Greetings and bienvenue, Abby Bominable", an overly cordial voice said from behind her. She turned to see a large adult male yeti.

"Who are you?", Abby asked suspiciously. "And how do you know Abby?"

"Please, my dear", he said smoothly. "You are the only other yeti in this entire region, so I would know you on sight. As for who I am; my name is Argost. I have…..history with your family."

Abby's eyes widened. Her grandfather had told her stories of the criminal yeti Argost when she was small! She took a defensive stance, and he grinned.

"I see you recognise me", he smirked. "Good. That will make this all the sweeter."

"What you want?", she demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"To kill you with my bare hands", he said, sending a blast of ice at her legs, freezing her in place. "And add your powers to my own. The revenge on your grandfather, however, is a nice bonus."

Abby struggled, and the ice trapping her legs began to crack. She sent an icy blast of her own at him as he charged at her, but he blocked it with his forearms. She broke free just before he reached, enabling her to throw a punch at him; which he caught in his hand, much to her surprise! Female yetis are normally much stronger than their male counterparts, despite males being physically larger. But here was Argost easily matching and overwhelming her strength!

With his other fist, he punched her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. He then slammed her to the ground by her own fist, which he still had a grip on. Then he back-handed her, sending her flying into a nearby wall.

"Don't worry; I'll make it quick, my dear", he smirked as he lifted his semi-concious victim by her throat. "Just one quick snap and it will all be over."

"HEY, FROSTY!"

Argost looked up in surprise, but was tackled from the air before he even saw his assailant. They tumbled several times before the yeti found himself picked up a hurled against a nearby tree! He looked up to see a red-orange dragon-boy squaring off with him, wings retracting into his back.

"Clawdeen, get Abby out of here!", he said. "I got this!"

Argost saw a werewolf ghoul ran over to Abby and help her up. "Are you sure you don't need my help?", she asked.

"I'll be fine! Get her out of here and get help!"

"You got it, Hot-Stuff", she said, letting Abby lean on her as they went back down to the party to get help. "Easy, Abby. Lucky for you, Duncan and I saw that guy following you."

"You're going to regret interfering, firebreather!", Argost growled.

"Yeah-yeah, blah-blah-blah", Duncan scoffed. "Heard it all before way too many times. And I'm still here."

"Not for long", Argost sneered. "Take this!"

The yeti sent a huge blast of cold at Duncan, trapping him in a block of ice. Argost grinned at his handiwork…..until the block began to quake and crack….and finally exploded!

"Impossible! No dragon should have been able to escape from an ice tomb like that so quickly!", Argost sputtered.

"That's because I'm not a dragon, ice-for-brains!", Duncan snarled, as Clawdeen and many other party-goers began to arrive. "I am Prince Duncan Rosenblatt! Son of Belloc, King of the Kaiju!"

For the first time in his long life, Argost felt the icy talons of fear clutch his heart. Belloc was King for a reason; he was the most powerful monster in the world! His fire was said to exceed that of hell itself! If this boy was his son….!

Argost launched another intense sustained blast of cold; which Duncan countered with a powerful stream of fire, causing a veritable explosion of steam. Argost switched to firing sharp icicles at the Kaiju Prince, which he easily dodged as he charged toward the yeti.

Argost erected an ice barrier, which Duncan easily smashed through with his left fist; which followed through to punch Argost in the gut. Duncan then delivered a devastating uppercut, sending Argost flying into the same wall he had slammed Abby into.

Argost staggered to his feet as Duncan approached. He had only one chance left, if the boy was foolish enough to come too close….

"Nobody messes with my friends", Duncan said, seizing Argost by the throat and holding him against the wall. Argost was broken and bloody. One more punch would knock him out for the authorities. But before Duncan could finish him, Argost grinned and slammed the claws of his right hand into Duncan's chest and projected the most intense cold he could through them and into the wound.

"Aaaaaaauuuuuuggh!", Duncan screamed as he was encased in ice yet again.

Before he could celebrate, Argost was slammed to the ground by a snarling Clawdeen; who rained slashing claws and devastating punches on the yeti. She didn't stop until he was a barely breathing bloody mess. She heard ice cracking and turned just in time to see Duncan shatter his ice coffin. He took a few unsteady steps forward.

"You ok, Hot-stuff?", Clawdeen asked.

"Sure, Sweetie", he said, his breath frosting from his mouth, just before his eyes rolled back in his head and he began to collapse, "no probleeeeemmmm….."

"Duncan!", Clawdeen and Margaret both screamed. Clawdeen reached him first, and gasped when she touched him. "H-he's c-cold! He's never cold!"

"He's still breathing!", Margaret breathed.

"Let's get him to the clinic!", Frankie's dad said urgently.

"I'm staying with him!", Clawdeen cried.

"Dr. Pytell?", Margaret spoke urgently into her smartphone. "It's an emergency! Grab all of Duncan's medical records and meet me at the Monster Medical Clinic in New Salem!"

xxXXxx

Author's notes: BUM-bum-BUUUUUMMMMM! What did that last attack do to Duncan? How bad is he hurt? Will he be ok? Wait and see!

A tearfully fond farewell for C.A. Cupid, but we will see her again! And how about that howling good Halloween Party, huh? Lee and his friends are my OC's and a treat for kival737101, who is a big fan of Toralei! Enjoy, buddy!

xxXXxx