Halloween Hilarity with the Gal Pals – Part Two
(Story Summary: As Halloween Night fast approaches, Lincoln and Co. do whatever they can to put everything together while Lucy remains in bed rest. Unfortunately, everyone has difficulty in trying to think of something that best captures "the true spirit of Halloween;" as said in Mayor Davis' advertisement. Thankfully, Lincoln's pen pals will be paying him a visit; along with their headmistress and their parents.
Will the assistance of these mystery girls give Lincoln the creative push he desires, will they be able to set everything up in time and most importantly, how will the Gal Pals behave around this group; especially after they discover what their identities are?)
A day or so passed by since Lucy fell ill and Lincoln was appointed as the family's Halloween planner. In that time, he and the Gal Pals have tried their best to think up ideas for the house's Halloween theme; all while looking to the mayor's words of "something that represents the true spirit of the season" in mind. But try as they might, they thought of the usual décor and themes.
Then, just as hope almost seemed lost; they received some much needed backup from some old and new friends. As promised, Ronnie Anne and Carlota arrived at the house with their mothers and grandmother behind them. Upon their arrival; Lori, as one would expect, questioned why Bobby wasn't with them.
"I'm so sorry, dear but Bobby was unable to come with us" murmured Mrs. Santiago, "just like Lincoln, he was given the task of outfitting the Mercado for Halloween night and he is quite good at it." As proof, Frieda reached into her purse and brought out a photo; one that showed the Casagrande Family's bodega. However; right away, everyone could see clear signs of changes in the establishment.
There were skeletons in the dairy case, fake heads placed on the produce shelves, "gag snacks" like gummy worms and gumballs painted to look like eyeballs placed inside the candy shelves and much more. After taking all these sights in, the Gals couldn't help but murmur in soft yet impressed voices. At the same time, however; this all caused Lincoln to look at his work in shame.
While his wall of handmade decorations did look impressive, they seemed rather small compared to what Bobby put together. In any case, the presence of the two Santiago and three Casagrande maids did help provide Lincoln's current group with a few extra hands; which he happily welcomed. A day after they arrived, more people decided to pop in and help him out.
Among them were Officers Higgins, Simmons, Campos and their families. Of course, they revealed to Lincoln a secondary reason why they decided to come. "As you may know, chamaco; Halloween is a time where a lot of troublemakers decide to come out and ruin everyone's fun" Campos murmured, "so, officers like us have to make sure nothing goes amiss."
Upon hearing these words; Albert, Lincoln's grandfather, offered up a light chuckle and asked what harm could a few Halloween pranksters cause. "Trust me, Pop-Pop; she's not joking" Lincoln insisted, "one time, Clyde and I went to Huntington Oaks for Trick R' Treating and we got jumped by these two bruisers; Hank and Hawk...they took our candy and everything!" Though it pained him to do so, Clyde also mentioned how the boys in question also turned them into Human Pretzels; a threat Lori made towards Lincoln on many occasions.
"I remember them" grumbled Cristina, "they were the creeps who harassed us for liking The Princess Bride...and you even took a beating from them to defend me." Carlota, her mother and grandmother couldn't help but gush at the chivalric gesture; while Ronnie Anne described her bestie's actions as "brave...stupid and a bit reckless but brave." "Not only that but those creeps also stole the candy from everyone in town, one Halloween" Lola growled, "but we gave them a huge scare and sent them running back home!"
The moment this was brought up, Luna started drumming a pair of paint brushes against some paint cans rhythmically; all while humming the song "You Got Tricked" to herself. "This reveal caused everyone to burst out into a jolly fit of laughter. "Well, looks like we got the right kinda backup; in case history repeats itself" Officer Simmons chuckled, "still...not everyone might be so easily spooked by such tactics."
As if on cue; Rosa stepped forth and proclaimed that if any such "brutos" were to show up again, she could use a protection method she often used at her house to "ward off evil spirits." Then, she went into her purse and pulled out a Ziploc bag that was filled with what looked like an assortment of leaves and flower pedals. "No disrespect meant, Ma'am" Officer Higgins stated, "but that hoo-hah ain't gonna work on nobody."
As if she expected the policewoman to say such a thing, Rosa smiled slyly and opened up the bag just a little at the left edge. Even though the opening was small; the aroma that seeped out of it was so strong, it practically made everyone grip at their noses in distress. "AY DIOS MIO...That is powerful" Dolores cried in a stuffy voice, "what's in that baggie?!"
With a playfully wicked grin on her face; the Casagrande matriarch described the concoction as her own blend of Anointing Oil, Agrimony, Basil, Coriander and a few food ingredients she collected from her kitchen (such as some beans, clove and cayenne pepper. "Oh...wow; that certainly makes a strong smell, Mrs. C" Phoebe murmured through her stuffy nose, "but I think that might scare away the Trick R Treaters as well as any 'spirits' that may come around here." Upon realizing this, Rosa quickly sealed the baggie shut and placed it back inside her purse; just in case she needed it later.
(Line Break)
Sometime later, everybody was hard at work in either thinking up ideas for decor or tidying up whatever the Louds had already put out on display. At one point, they were graced by the arrival of Lincoln's newest school friends; Ellie, Dolores, Tonya and Omar. Of course, this was the Louds' first time meeting them and they wanted to make a good impression; especially when they learned who their mothers were.
The first one of Lincoln's sisters to greet these four was Lily, who reached her arms up towards Tonya; as if asking her to lift her up. "Well! Hello there, lil' lady" she greeted sweetly while plucking the baby up, "Lincoln and my mama told me about you, said y'all like to pull on people's hair a lot." As if on cue, Lily let out an excited squeal and lightly gripped her tiny hand on Tonya's afro.
While her grip wasn't very strong, Lily did manage to give the preteen's hair a good tug. "AH! Hey, now; none of that" she squealed painfully, "no need to be pullin' on..." Just as she was about to give her a light reprimand, Tonya took one look into Lily's eyes and her heart suddenly melted.
Without pause, she then proceeded to nuzzle and giggle at the littlest Loud playfully. This display equally warmed the hearts of all others who were present there. "So sorry about that, T" Lincoln murmured, "she's done the same thing to Whitney as well...and once to Lori when her hair frizzed up."
When asked why Lily had such a habit, Rita gave the only response she could think of; that poofy hair makes Lily think of a bunny's cottontail. "Little Carlitos does the same thing, sometimes" Frieda giggled, "mostly whenever he's copying someone who's pulling at their hair from stress." After Tonya and Lily had their fun, Lincoln proceeded to introduce her and the others to his sisters.
As expected; when Lana and Lola took a look at Omar, they almost mistook him for a High School kid. "Same thing happened to me, back when we first met" Lincoln chuckled heartily, "but trust me, Omar's actually around the same age as me." Though the twins still had their doubts, Lisa already deduced the reason behind Omar's immense stature.
But she chose to hold her tongue about it, both out of respect for him and the fact that everyone seemed to know the truth already. An hour passed since everyone started working and just like before, nothing seemed to feel right to "best represent the spirit of Halloween." After a while, everyone decided to take a quick break to rest their minds and hands from the stress.
"Y'all, this is gettin' us nowhere" Ellie grumbled, "I've thought about every kind of creepy thing I know about Halloween...but nothin' feels right, ya know what I mean?" Without hesitation, the Guys and Gals all responded with equal dismay; all while rubbing their foreheads to ease their collective mental stresses. "Oh, niños, it's okay" murmured Ronnie Anne's Aunt Frieda, "I still like your decoration creations; they're very well made."
With that statement; she began to take snapshots of all the different bats, pumpkins, black cats and other iconic Halloween symbols they've cut out together. While everyone warmly accepted this bit of praise from her and thanked Frieda for it, it did little to ease their self-doubt. It was then that all eyes fell upon Lincoln, who was in the midst of cutting out a string of bat-shaped paper dolls.
"Your friends' teacher did say they were coming; right, chamaco" questioned Dolores, "because to me, it feels like they've stood us all up." Lincoln suddenly felt conflicted by these words; on the one hand, part of him was slightly starting to agree with her. But on the other hand, Miss Grimwood assured him that they would make their trip into town; if she gained the permission of her students' families.
Of course, this was days ago and there he hadn't heard anything more from the headmistress since. "Don't lose hope, dude" Lincoln assured himself mentally, "remember, this school is halfway across the country; which means it could take them a while to fly or drive here." With these thoughts in mind, he felt even more certain that his pen pals might arrive in town soon and told everyone not to lose hope.
(Line Break)
"How are you so certain they'll be able to help us, lil' dude" questioned Omar while he set up a zombie dummy, "what else can ya tell us about these...pen pals of yours?" Upon hearing their friend's inquiry; everyone, young and old, began asking Lincoln the same question. "At the moment, all we know about them and their school is what you told us before" Carlotta stated, "they attend a finishing school for girls, they're low-tech and that they have...a weird love for Halloween...no offense."
Just as Lincoln was about to make a reply; his grandfather/Pop-Pop, Albert suddenly interjected. He went on to say that somehow, something about the headmistress' name seemed familiar to him. "What makes you say that, Al" Myrtle prodded playfully, "were you and this woman an item years back?"
In an instant, Albert began to exhibit an array of nervous mannerisms; something that (in the Gals and Loud Sisters) seemed all too familiar to them. "Sweetie...I promise you, it was nothing like that" Albert stated, "we don't even know if she's the same woman Lincoln's mentioned!" Just before things were about to get hectic, the Gals quickly brought the conversation back on track and asked Lincoln about his pen pals again.
"Well, truth is...I can't really tell you much" he confessed, "we may have written to each other but we've never sent pictures to one another; snail mail and all." As if on cue; the moment this was said, Leni immediately questioned why anyone would put snails in the mail. "No, sweetie; he's talking about sending letters by mail" Rita explained, "which is...a bit slower than sending text messages or e-mails to each other."
After hearing this explanation, Leni let out a soft "oooh" in understanding; while Lori said sending letters by mail was "so 1980's." "Moving on...I never actually got to see what they look like because of these circumstances" Lincoln stated, "but through their letters, I discovered things that left me rather...confused." Upon hearing the word confused, it made a few of the adults feel quite suspicious; believing that there was something about these girls Lincoln didn't like.
When they a;; asked him what it was their letters said, the Loud Boy confessed that he didn't quite know how to explain. "Well...to start with, they have a rather interesting pet" he murmured hesitantly, "a little guy named Matches." This statement left everyone feeling even more confused than before, truthfully. "What kind of name is 'Matches' for a pet" Tonya asked, "is the lil' guy a dog, a cat...or somethin' else?"
Just as he did before, Lincoln said he didn't quite know how to respond due to not having any visual aids. "Well; have you saved any of your friends' letters, at least" questioned Maria, "maybe there's something in them that could shed some light on things." Lincoln beamed brightly at this suggestion, thanked Mrs. Santiago for bringing it up and hurried up to his room.
When he returned, he had a handful of letters clutched in his right hand. After handing out a few of them to the others, Lincoln asked if they noticed any of the things he found "interesting" in them. "All I can say is...these gals seem really odd" Liam murmured, "I mean, what kinda feller would want to live anywhere near a bog?"
Almost immediately, the only two people who responded to this were Lana (which was rather obvious) and Lucy; whose voice sounded slightly hoarse. "You think that's strange, listen to this" Carol stated, "says here that they once almost got brainwashed by somebody named...I'm not kidding here, Revolta." As expected, everyone looked over at the teen with varied "are you kidding us" stares.
"I couldn't make this up if I tried, everybody" Carol murmured while waving her letter, "it's all here in black and white." As they browsed through the rest of the letters, their contents seemed to get even stranger overtime. One letter spoke about a teenaged boy and two dogs working there, the former acting as the school's coach; while another went into detail about some of the girls' classes.
When reading this particular note, some of the classes sounded relatively normal; like Gym or Potions Class (which Lisa speculated to be another term for Chemistry.) But then, when Becky read about a student named "Winnie" having a "shedding issue;" she didn't know whether to call shenanigans or to vomit first. "Oh c'mon, dearie; that doesn't sound too bad" Gertie giggled, "you didn't act this way when your Grampy started sheddin' his hair."
The moment this was brought up, Becky's face shifted from a look of disgust to one of defeat. "Touché, Grandma...touché" she murmured softly, "but from the way Winnie describes her shedding, it sounds as though it's happened all over her body!" Following this; Ronnie Anne, after reading the note she had, mentioned that Matches (the school's pet) "accidentally burned the mailman's pants off" while he was trying to deliver Lincoln's last letter to the school.
"Sounds like Miss Grimwood might have a dragon at her school" Haiku murmured with a soft smile, "if that's true...I would love to know where she found him." As expected, this assumption caused not only Lisa to laugh mockingly but the officers as well. "Chica, I mean no disrespect in saying this" murmured Officer Campos, "but the idea of a dragon being real is utter nonsense."
While half of him agreed with her; Albert told the officer that if this Miss Grimwood was the same one he knew, she was known for having quite a few oddities at her school. "One time, she offered me some sweets she made herself" Albert murmured, "I believe it was something called...Fungus Fudge." This bit of info sounded so gross, it actually made the Loud Family's pets feel like gagging.
Upon recovering, Luan questioned if the woman wasn't simply making a joke with him; like she often did with the family. "No, I'm quite serious here; she gave me Fungus Fudge" Albert stated, "it was actually...kind of good, except for a slight aftertaste." After taking a moment to wipe that thought out of their heads, everyone went back to studying the Grimwood Girls' letters to Lincoln.
"Hmmm...Fascinating" Lisa murmured, "it seems that a girl named Elsa is quite the scientific prodigy at their institution." With this in mind, she began to think about all the possible debates and discussions she could have with this "Elsa." "I'm more interested in this Sibella girl" Carol stated, "sounds like she's a lady of class."
One by one, each of Lincoln's family and friends began to discover new and interesting things about these girls. This made them even more anxious for their impending arrival. "Hang on, everybody" Cici interjected, "I can't explain it...but something in these letters tells me that these girls might not be who or what we think they are."
To drive her point home further, she suggested that they could be a group of rather weird people; for all they knew. But in spite of the truth in her words, it did little to deter any of them. "Have you looked at our collective posses, brah" Luna chuckled, "every one of us is weird in our own ways...and that's what makes us ROCKIN'!"
Cici suddenly chuckled lightly at the teen rocker's words and realized she raised a good point. "Still, we should keep on our toes...just in case" murmured Officer Simmons, "this holiday tends to bring out all sorts of crazies." Just as she said this phrase, a small orb of light appeared in the center of the street.
Within seconds; this orb slowly began to grow in size and then, it started to change its shape. Soon, it began to take on the form of a large hole in the ground; which then proceeded to levitate up slightly and face it's opening towards the crowd. The whole time this was going on; everyone didn't know whether to be scared, fascinated or amazed.
Then, just when people thought things couldn't get any stranger; on the other side of this hole, everyone could see the silhouette of a person (possibly.) Then, once it got close enough; the figure's hand suddenly reached through and was beckoning for someone to approach them. "Whoever he, she...it is; it seems like they need some help" Stella stated, "we should lend a hand."
Just as she was about to approach the strange hole, Stella's mother quickly rushed over and pushed her back slightly. "Honey, are you nuts" she cried in alarm, "we don't know what this is or why it suddenly appeared here...it's not a good idea to approach it!" Before anyone could sound off in either agreement or protest, the figure's hand started moving oddly; as if gesturing to something.
Upon taking careful observation, everyone saw that the figure was gesturing for Lincoln to approach it. "I dunno...maybe Stella's mom is right" the young Loud boy murmured, "maybe we shouldn't mess with...whatever this is." Suddenly, a warm aura enveloped around Lincoln's body; alarming everyone.
Then, just as the Gal Pals were about to go and save him; he quickly ordered them to hold back. "It's okay, guys; the figure in that...hole thing is Miss Grimwood" Lincoln announced, "I can't explain it...but somehow, she's asking me to tell you to help her out of that hole." At first; everyone, naturally thought Lincoln was going crazy.
But after further insistence from him and a promise that they'd be okay, they relented and approached the strange hole again. "Let me help her out" Lynn requested, "you guys might need some muscle to pull this person outta...wherever this thing leads to." Realizing that she made a valid point, everyone gestured for Lynn to proceed.
Firmly yet gently, the former Loud Family jock took hold of the stranger's wrist and gave a good pull. Of course, once she did so; she suddenly fell backward unceremoniously onto the pavement. At the same time, however; Lynn did manage to help the stranger out of the hole.
"Thank you for the assistance, dear" she said in a refined tone of voice, "passing through portals can be rather difficult, if you haven't used them very often." While the stranger took a moment to dust herself off, everyone stood silent while also taking in her outlandish appearance. She was a short, flat nosed, middle-aged female with dark hair.
She wore a pink dress and a red cloak held on with skull buttons, a red head band and a pair of matching red shoes. Despite being middle aged, she looked like a relatively lovely and kind woman. Once she was all clean, the woman then approached the hole and leaned her head in slightly.
"Come on through, my little ones" she called out, "it's perfectly safe here." Before anyone could ask whom the woman was speaking to; the hole expanded much wider and several more shadowed figures appeared on the other side, one of which seemed to resemble a small lizard. Then, all of a sudden; several beings/creatures came flying through the hole.
The first was the small lizard; which, after getting a good look at it, resembled more of a dragon than anything. Next came a purple bat; then, a wolf, a tiny mummy, a fish/amphibian-like creature, a sort of small alien life form, a giant lizard, a tall teenaged girl who seemed to have bolts in her neck and several other strange things. Once everyone made their way through, the woman began to look over each of them; making certain there were no signs of injuries or missing appendages (that weren't already missing earlier.)
Overtime, she saw that everyone was in one piece and sighed with relief. Meanwhile; Lincoln, his family, the Gals and everyone else beside them stood still as statues. They couldn't decide which was stranger, the fact that they came through what the woman called a "portal" or that their "costumes" looked shockingly lifelike.
Soon, everything became so quiet that it was almost scary; not even the pets dared to speak up. Then, Lincoln and his grandfather approached the strange woman; just as she began to do the same. Once both sides were close enough, Albert and the woman suddenly locked eyes with one another; which made everyone feel rather even more uneasy.
Finally, after what felt like ages of silence and waiting; both seniors suddenly erupted into a mad fit of jolly laughter and embraced each other. "Albert, it's so good to see you again" the woman said with glee, "how have you been all these years?" Without pause, the old man said told her that he'd been keeping busy; thanks to his loved ones.
"Hey, everybody; come on over here" Albert called out to the Louds, "I want ya to meet my old friend." While still feeling nervous about the girls in their "costumes," the Loud Family cautiously made their way over towards Pop-Pop and smiled at his "friend." "Rita, Lynn, kids; this is Agatha Grimwood" Albert said with a chuckle, "back during my war days, my team and I were investigating some odd happenings going on at an old house in the Midwest."
From here, he explained how his commanding officer thought these "odd happenings" were signs of possible experiments the enemy was conducting. "When we got to the building, imagine my surprise when we saw that there were some scientific shenanigans goin' on" Albert murmured, "just...not the kind we thought." He spoke about students zapping themselves with electricity, weird potion creations and he even mentioned how the little lizard presumably attacked one of his fellow troopers.
"What...your pal was ambushed by that little thing" Ronnie Anne chuckled, "he looks like an oversized pet shop lizard." Understandably so, the wee creature felt bothered by her words and started growling angrily. Then, they saw it glow a bright orange-red color; which did not look like a good sign.
Before anyone had the chance to speak up again; smoke seeped out of the little lizard's nostrils and then, he unleashed a strong blast of fire from its mouth at Ronnie Anne. At the near last second, she let out a startled yelp and leapt into her cousin's arms; just missing the flames. "Sweet Yellow Rose of Texas...did y'all just see that" cried Ellie, "that lil' critter really is a dragon!"
After letting this reveal sink in, everyone's eyes slowly eased over in the direction of the Grimwood Girls (or possibly, Ghouls.) Then, all of a sudden; the bat began to slowly change shape. Within seconds, it transformed itself into a beautiful young lady. She had odd yet lovely lavender skin, long two-tone purple hair, luscious red lips, aqua-colored eyelids (possibly some form of rare eye shadow) and matching green eyes. Her outfit consisted of a dark purple dress with a knee-high slit, red flats and a red belt wrapped around her slender waist.
Needless to say, the sight of her made quite a few heads turn both among the males and females. "Can it be...am I seeing things" Haiku whispered in awe, "if this is a trick, it's a very good one." With this thought in mind, she wanted to approach them and get a closer look.
But before Haiku could move one step, Lincoln was already starting to approach the group of strange girls. At the same time, one of them (namely the mummy girl) began to shyly walk towards him as well. When the two got close enough, Lincoln took a knee so that he would be at the "girl's" eye-level.
The two stared into each other's eyes for what felt like ages and then, the mummy girl murmured two simple words to Lincoln; "Big...Brother?" After hearing these words, Lincoln's eyes swelled up with tears and he offered up a sweet bucktoothed grin at her. "Yeah, Tanis...it's me" he whispered, "it's so nice to finally meet you."
The wee mummy girl called Tanis smiled warmly at Lincoln and, before he could react, leapt into his arms for a loving hug. After holding her for about a minute, Lincoln released Tanis and complimented her "costume." "Costume...I'm not wearing a costume" she said matter-of-factly, "these are my real bandages."
That did it...after hearing that reveal, witnessing the purple bat transform into a girl and seeing Miss Grimwood come into their neighborhood through a portal of some kind; it was official, these were not ordinary girls. Yet in spite of all this, the adults still remained skeptical (whereas Lynn Sr. was borderline terrified.) "Get a grip, Lynn...it's probably just your imagination" he thought to himself, "these girls just couldn't be...real m-m-monsters!"
Just before he could sink deeper into his fearful thoughts, Lynn suddenly felt a tug at his pant leg. He looked down and saw a rather...adorable looking preteen girl with pale-green skin, clean but unkempt black hair and stitches around her neck, knees and shoulders. She was wearing a t-shirt that was tattered and torn, a knee-length, threadbare plaid skirt, wore one sock that appeared about knee-high and sported a pair of worn out shoes.
Everyone, including Lynn, stared silently at this young lady; who remained standing before him with her hand held out. "Nice to finally meet our pen pal's dad" the girl greeted kindly, "my name's Zanya Talon, I'm another one of Miss Grimwood's students." Once more, Lynn remained frozen stiff; appearing too afraid to do or say anything.
Then, with a little nudge from Rita; he realized he was being rude to her and decided to accept her greeting. "The p-p-pleasure is all ours, young lady" Lynn said while taking Zanya's hand in his, "welcome to our little tow..." At that moment, just as he started shaking the young lady's hand; it suddenly popped off at the wrist.
At first, everyone's immediate thought was to scream in horror...until some people (like Luan or Ronnie Anne) suggested that it could simply be a fake prop hand. "Yeah, Carl used the same thing on me once" Carlota stated, "nice try, chica...but you can't full us." As the crowd laughed softly at the supposed joke, Zanya rolled her eyes softly while her fellow Grimwood peers murmured in annoyance amongst themselves.
"Looks like a demonstration is in order" the wolf girl said huskily, "you know what to do, Z." The young lady in question gave a nod, scrunched up her face slightly and soon; her hand started to wriggle out of Lynn Sr.'s grip. Once free, it jumped onto the sidewalk and proceeded to dance around like a wind-up doll.
As everyone watched this unfold before their eyes, their collective faces suddenly went pale (save for Haiku's.) "Guys...I don't think she's wearing a costume" Rocky said nervously, "I think she's...SHE'S A REAL ZOMBIE!" No sooner had he made this declaration, everyone screamed loudly in terror and proceeded to scatter about in fear.
As expected, this ruckus attracted the attention of one Bud Grouse; who poked his head out of his house and shouted "KEEP THAT RACKET DOWN, LOUD!" Naturally, this caused the Loud Kids and Gal Pals to feel rather worried; thinking they wouldn't be unable to do their Halloween planning without disturbing the town's resident curmudgeon. But then, Miss Grimwood walked over to the house and smiled at Mr. Grouse warmly; which confused everyone.
"Good afternoon, Sir" she said with a light smile, "so sorry about the noise, allow me to help you relax again." Upon saying this, she reached into a pouch that rested at the side of her right hip and pulled out what looked like...a clump of yellow powder. This caused both Mr. Grouse and the gathered crowd to stare at Miss Grimwood oddly.
"What'cha doin' with all that sawdust in your pockets, Missy" questioned the old man, "you plannin' to agitate my allergies or something?" Miss Grimwood said nothing in reply; instead, she simply blew the dust into Mr. Grouse's face. For a moment or so, he hacked and coughed loudly; all while shouting angry rants at the headmistress.
Then, almost ten seconds later; these rantings slowly died down until they were nothing more than slurred whispers. After that, Mr. Grouse gave a prodigious yawn; which signaled Miss Grimwood to take him by his hand and lead him back inside his home. A brief moment later; she exited the building, dusted off her hands and returned over to her girls.
"That will do quite nicely" she said with satisfaction in her voice, "the Sleep Dust should help him to rest soundly for the next few hours, which will give us all the time we need to prepare for the celebration." This announcement caused the Grimwood Girls to hoot, holler, shriek and cackle loudly with joy.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd stood silently in both awe and confusion; wondering if this was all real...or a really convincing magic act. In time, Lincoln gained enough of his senses to approach Miss Grimwood and ask her how she put his neighbor asleep so quickly. "Oh, dear boy; it's no big fuss" she said humbly, "I may be a retired witch but I still know quite a few spells, concoctions and remedies to help assist me."
That did it, seeing Zanya's hand come off so suddenly helped spark his anxieties just a little; as did seeing the purple bat turn into a..."human" girl. But after hearing Miss Grimwood say the "W" word, Lynn had reached his limit and began to scream in terror. "MONSTERS...THEY'RE ALL REAL MONSTERS" he shouted, "I GOTTA GO HIDE!"
With that thought in mind, the Loud Family patriarch ducked for cover inside of Charles' doghouse. Meanwhile; the rest of the crowd stared slack-jawed in surprise, after hearing his exclamation. In that moment, they didn't know whether to run or ask the police to apprehend them.
Well...not everyone felt this way, actually; upon seeing that her suspicions were true, Haiku found herself on the verge of bursting with joy (which seemed rather contradictory of her Goth persona.) "I can't believe it" she murmured in a soft yet gleeful tone, "so...that girl with the purple hair is a real vampire, which means...the rest of her friends are real too!" Eager to learn more about these girls, Haiku began to approach them; only to be stopped by her parents.
"Stand back, sweetheart; it's for your own safety" Mrs. Matthews insisted, "I know you have a fascination with these creatures...but I will not have that supposed vampire girl drink your blood!" Not long after this, several other adults began to say the same thing. Among these protective adults was Rosa Casagrande, who threatened to open up her Ziploc baggie of herbal mixtures and use it on the girls.
The whole time this was going on, the vampire girl in question simply sighed with mild annoyance with her hands upon her hips. "Oh, dear...classic human paranoia" she murmured, "it's just as bothersome as my daddy told me." Upon hearing the girl mention her daddy, Haiku called for her attention and asked if her father was whom she suspected; the legendary Count Vladislaus Dracula?
"With all due respect, my Gothic friend; that would be absurd" Lisa said with a blunt lisp, "even if this young lady is a vampire...Dracula is a fictional character from literature." To prove her point, she rushed into the house and came back with Lucy's copy of Dracula by Bram Stoker. Then, in the blink of an eye; the book disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and suddenly reappeared in the purple girl's hands.
"Ah, yes; I'm quite familiar with this tale" she said while flipping through the pages, "a good interpretation...but I believe Mister Stoker failed to capture my daddy's true excellence." There was a light chuckle of laughter from the crowd, when they heard this. From the way she spoke, the girl made it seem as though her "father" actually met Bram Stoker.
"You know...there is an easy way to prove what she's saying is true" Haiku stated, "anyone have a mirror on hand?" As if expecting this question, both Lola and Leni offered up their compact mirrors to her but she only requested one. After taking Leni's mirror in hand, she approached the strange girl and held it up to her.
With their collective curiosities swelling up, everyone cautiously walked over to the girls and saw...nothing. Even though the mirror was being held right up to the girl's face, no one could see her reflection. "Uh-oh, I think my mirror might be broken" Leni said dejectedly, "'cause I can't see her pretty face on it."
Without missing a beat, Haiku proclaimed that the teen's mirror was perfectly fine. "The reason you can't see her reflection...is because she doesn't have one" she stated, "which means that this girl really is a vampire." Once again, the crowd broke into a panic; half of which started to grip their hands slightly over both sides of their necks.
"Hurry back in your homes, everyone" Mrs. Pingrey urged, "hurry before the girl gets the urge to drink our blood!" Once more, the girl in question groaned softly in exasperation; feeling even more bothered by the humans' paranoia. Then, with a snap of her fingers; everyone was suddenly frozen in place by an odd purple aura.
"There we are...now, no more screaming" she said firmly, "not until you let all of us talk first." For a moment or so, no one dared to speak; until the wee mummy named Tanis pleaded for everyone to hear them out. Upon seeing the sincere look in her blue eyes, the crowd's fear waned slightly and they agreed to the girl's terms.
With that done, the purple girl gave another snap of her fingers and everyone was immediately released from her power. "Thank you for the assistance, Sibella" Miss Grimwood said gratefully, "now...I believe the time has come for proper introductions." To start things off, she introduced herself as the headmistress of Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls.
"My school's aim is to help teach young ghouls and monsters how to reach their full potential" she explained, "as well as to properly integrate themselves into human society." As everyone listened to Miss Grimwood's words, they wondered what she meant by "helping ghouls reach their full potential." "So...your school just teaches students basic educational stuff" questioned Jordan hesitantly, "you...don't train them to attack humans or to take over the world?"
Upon hearing the latter suggestion, the ghouls broke out into fits of laughter over how preposterous it all sounded. "Look...contrary to what you humans see in movies, we monsters and ghouls aren't evil" Zanya stated, "all we want is to live our lives...or in some cases, afterlives free from persecution and abuse." While everyone agreed that the "young lady's" words seemed sincere, they still questioned the purple girl (whom Grimwood called Sibella) intended on sucking out anyone's blood.
"Must we keep bringing up that tired old stereotype" she said with an eye-roll, "human blood is just so...fatty, especially in this modern age and one can never tell where it's been or what a human's exposed it to." This statement seemed to appease the likes of Lisa, who concurred that humans often do let their blood become toxic; sometimes on purpose. "So...wait, you really don't drink blood" inquired Ronnie Anne, "then, what do you do whenever you're...y'know, hungry?"
With a light smile on her face, Sibella summoned forth a small lunchbox; one that contained a thermos, a pair of oranges (which appeared almost rotten) and a brownie. Though they feared the answer, everyone asked her what she had inside the thermos. "Oh, it's just a liter of tomato juice; squeezed from our school's own garden" Sibella answered, "it's as rich and tasty as blood...but without the harmful elements like fatty cholesterol."
Wishing to be friendly; she opened up the thermos, poured a little juice into the lid and offered it up to anyone who wished to sample it. "I'll give it a try, ma'am" Liam exclaimed, "wonder if it'll taste as good as our own tomaters." With that, he took the lid in hand and downed the contents in one swig; much to everyone's surprise.
Then, seconds later; he started to smack his lips softly with an odd look on his face. "This juice has...a mighty interestin' flavor to it, Miss Sibella" he said warily, "and a little bit of an aftertaste too." These words gave everyone an odd sense of déjà vu, thinking that Albert Loud had the same exact feelings towards Miss Grimwood's fudge.
Soon after that, Miss Grimwood began to introduce each of her students to everyone; starting with Sibella. "As your young friend guessed; she is, indeed the daughter of Count Dracula" she stated, "rather...she is one of his children." Before anyone had the chance to ask, Sibella quickly revealed that her father had three brides/wives.
"My mother, Vanna, is his second bride" she added, "my sister, Mavis is the daughter of his third bride...but she is no longer with us." At first, the Loud Kids stared at Sibella oddly, wondering if they heard her correctly on her sister's name. "I feel like I've heard that name Mavis before" Lola muttered, "probably from a movie or something."
But then, they suddenly remembered what Sibella said about her third "mother" and their expressions suddenly went grim. "Oh...wow, that's heavy" Lori murmured uneasily, "we're literally sorry that happened to your mom, Sibella...er, one of your moms, that is." The young vampire smiled slightly at the eldest Loud sibling and thanked her for her kindness.
She then went on to explain that it was because of that loss that she was sent to Grimwood's finishing school. "Daddy said it was both for my protection and so that I could become strong enough to protect myself" Sibella stated, "thanks to Miss Grimwood's teachings, it seems to have worked." To demonstrate her prowess, she decided to show off a little of her shape-shifting powers; starting with her bat form.
The moment she did this; she caught the attention of Fangs, who was watching the scene from up on Lucy's bedroom window. When he spotted the new purple female bat, his animal instincts kicked in and he immediately tried to woo her. "Hey, cool bat" Zanya said gleefully, "is it somebody's pet and if so, whose is it?"
With a light grin on his face; Lincoln revealed that Fangs belonged to his younger sister, Lucy. "She would absolutely love to meet you guys" he stated, "but...she's sick right now and is probably fast asleep." This news left Miss Grimwood feeling quite displeased and, with the Loud Parents' approval, decided to try and help her.
Then, in a flash; she summoned up her travel bag with some magic and began searching for something. "It's in here somewhere, I know I packed it with me" she muttered, "it should be riiight...AH, here it is!" With that affirmation, Miss Grimwood drew out her hand to reveal a small chemistry set.
"I always carry this with me whenever I travel" she stated, "one never knows when they might need a quick potion for certain occasions." For the next moment or so; everyone watched in awe and confusion, as Miss Grimwood started mixing all manner of juices and ingredients together. Then, just as quickly as she started; her concoction was finished.
"There we are, one Cure All healing draught" Miss Grimwood said with pride while handing the bottle to Mrs. Loud, "just mix this in with some tea, have her drink it and in two days time; she will be right as rain." While she felt rather hesitant in believing the headmistress, at first; Rita was no less grateful and happily expressed her thanks.
"Yes, thank you for the gesture" Lynn Sr. murmured while slowly coming out of the doghouse, "but my question is...why, why would you help us?" With great pride in her voice and a smile on her face; Miss Grimwood proclaimed the gesture was the least she could do, after all the help his son gave her girls. "Hold up there a minute, Ma'am" Tonya called out, "Linc and your girls were just pen pals...what did he do to help 'em?"
With this question, Lincoln decided to let the cat out of the bag and explain what went down between both him and the Grimwood Ghouls. As expected; Lincoln revealed how he, much to the Gal Pals mild disdain, had shared his struggles in dealing with his sisters in each letter he sent to the Ghouls. "At the same time; with each of those letters they would send me, the Ghouls shared some of their struggles as well" he stated, "most of which involved being harassed by some guys from a military school that stood next door to them."
After this, Lincoln revealed that Tanis was among those who were being harassed; one such example involved some neighborhood kids who often teased her and even tried to pull her bandages off. In another letter, she said that these same kids went as far as to call her a "hideous freak;" which was something that really rubbed Lincoln the wrong way. "Lincoln's advise really helped me out, whenever I struggled" Tanis stated, "overtime, I started to...you know, think of him as my big brother because of it."
After letting all this information sink in; everyone felt that the story was not only touching, they also applauded Lincoln for sharing his "Big Brother" nature with a complete stranger. "It's no big deal" he said bashfully, "I just...I just can't stand it when people pick on people who are different or smaller than they are for no reason." Upon hearing this statement, several of the elder Loud Sisters winced slightly; thinking it was slightly directed at them somehow.
Sensing that the atmosphere was becoming a little tense, Miss Grimwood asked another of her students to introduce themselves; specifically, the little wolf girl named Winnie. "At first, I thought that Linc was just pulling my tail" she stated, "I thought that no family could be that crazy...until I remembered the kind of pack I've been living with." As they listened to her words, the Loud Sisters and their parents soon found themselves shrinking down in shame (metaphorically speaking.)
Then, Lily suddenly made a beeline crawl towards Winnie; much to the shock of her parents. Rita tried to call her back over her way but it was too late; once she got close enough, Lily giggled and started reaching up towards Winnie's poofy hair. "AH! Puppy" she cried loudly with joy, "pet puppy...pet puppy." Of course, even though Lily thought she was "petting" Winnie; in actuality, she was pulling at her hair.
"AH! Hey, watch it" the young werewolf cried, "that's not a wig I'm wearing, you..." Before she could finish her tirade, Winnie took one look into Lily's eyes and suddenly felt her heart melt. "Ah, who cares about that" she chuckled heartily, "you can pet me all you want, lil' lady...just be gentle."
Soon after saying that, Winnie scooped Lily up in her arms and started laughing merrily; which didn't go unnoticed by the others. "EEE! This is just so cute" Leni giggled, "I've totally gotta get a pic of this...but I'll bet she doesn't have a reflection either." Upon hearing these words (thanks to her sensitive hearing,) Winnie smiled at the teen and told her to go ahead and take a picture.
"That no reflection thing only happens with vampires" she assured, "us werewolves, on the other hand always show up in mirrors and pictures." Pleased by this news, Leni took out her phone and snatched a picture of Winnie and her baby sister together; just as the she was about to crawl up to the werewolf teen's head. "This is great, I can't wait to post this" Leni said with glee, "I mean...if that's okay."
Miss Grimwood smiled at her kindly and said it was not only perfectly, this gesture would be an excellent small step towards better Interspecies Relations. "Yeah...about that, what exactly does that all mean" questioned Rusty, "are you saying there are more...people like these girls out there in the world?" Without a moment's pause, Miss Grimwood responded with a strong nod; which caused Lynn Sr. to almost faint.
"To elaborate, all the creatures you all consider to be 'myths' and 'legends' are all quite real" she stated, "half of which are students that attend my school." It was here that she introduced everyone to the school's pet dragon, Matches. "I KNEW IT" Haiku cried with delight, "I knew that the little guy was a real dragon...where did you find him?"
While they were just as eager to learn about this story, the adults proclaimed they were getting off-track and asked to meet the other girls. With this in mind, Miss Grimwood called the ghost girl over to her side. "This young lady here is Phantasma" she stated, "she is the Phantom's daughter and our school's top musician."
Upon hearing her father be addressed as "the Phantom," everyone immediately thought of the Phantom of the Opera. "HEE-HEE-HEE! No, sillies; he's not my father...but I can understand the confusion" Phantasma giggled, "no, my father was more involved with radio than the opera." From here; she explained how her father, Edgar Raven, once made a living writing and narrating his horror stories on the radio during the "Roaring '20s."
"I worked alongside him with the music" Phantasma explained, "I was particularly skilled playing the pipe organ." With this statement; Haiku mentally wished that her friend, Robert was there with them. If he was, Phantasma could show off some of her supposed skills on his keyboard.
But then, Luna immediately rushed into the house and brought out her own; much to Phantasma's delight. "Go ahead, Ghost Gal" the teen rocker urged, "show us your stuff!" While still floating in the air, Phantasma pressed one of the buttons to create a sort of musical beat for her to perform with.
Then, with a jolly cackle; she began to play a tune that was so hauntingly exhilarating (no pun intended) that it even made Haiku tap her toes a little. When she had finished performing, the whole crowd cheered wildly with delight at Phantasma. "That...was...ROCKIN'" Luna decreed, "would you...consider joining me and my band, if we should ever need a keyboard player?"
With a great laugh in her throat, Phantasma happily accepted the offer and proceeded to seal the deal by shaking Luna's hand; only for it to phase right through. "Whoops...Hee-hee, sorry" she giggled, "I always forget that it's not easy for us ghosts to touch things." Moving along, Miss Grimwood introduced them to the giant lizard girl they saw earlier; who seemed to appear slightly taller than Vanzilla.
She had pale green (almost white) scales, pointed teeth sticking out from underneath her top lip, black spines running down along her back and atop her tail and large, black eyes; which some of the Gal Pals dubbed "anime eyes." Her only pieces of clothing were a dark-pink bow atop her head and a light pink skirt around her waist. From the moment they saw her, it was clear who this "girl's" father might've been...but everyone wanted to wait and be certain.
After taking in a shy gulp, the young monster approached everyone and gave them a slight bow; which they recognized as a familiar Japanese custom. "Minasan, kon'nichiwa" she said in greeting, "Watashinonamaeha sukidesu." Upon hearing this statement, everyone stood in complete silence; mostly due the fact that they didn't realize a creature like this could speak Japanese so fluently.
At the same time, no one had the slightest clue as to what she said; save for one person, Lisa. "My Japanese is a tad rusty, bear in mind" she informed matter-of-factly, "but...if I can guess; she is saying...'Good afternoon, everyone...my name is...Suki.'" After hearing this rough translation, the girl in question started nodding frantically; all while murmuring "hai, hai" adorably.
"Suki is quite nervous around humans, due to how they behaved towards her father over the years" Miss Grimwood explained, "thus, she only speaks her native Japanese whenever she is shy around new people." After hearing this explanation, Lincoln decided to make a bold move and approached Suki. Then, he held up his hand to her and offered two simple words in greeting; "hello, friend."
With the simple mentioning of the word "friend," Suki's demeanor brightened up instantly and she suddenly enveloped Lincoln into a friendly (albeit strong) embrace. Naturally, this caused the Louds and the Gal Pals to feel worried; especially when they saw the look of discomfort on Lincoln's face. But then, he turned over towards them and said that everything was okay.
"I'm kind of used to this, actually" he chuckled in a strained voice, "especially whenever Carol or Dana hug me." As if on cue, the two aforementioned teens pouted softly and murmured "yeah...well, we should be the only ones who get to hug you like that." Once she let go of him, Suki cleared her throat and greeted everyone else in perfect English.
"It's very nice to meet you all" she stated, "sorry for being so nervous, Father always taught me to be careful around humans." In response to this, the crowd offered her light murmurs of understanding; telling her that even their kind gets nervous around new people. "She is not the only one who has that problem" Miss Grimwood announced, "Gila...could you step forward, please."
With a soft whimper, another of the headmistress' students approached the crowd. She had brownish-green scales, bulbous eyes with tiny black irises at the center, a "dress" made up of leaves and moss and sported a small pink flower atop her head. Just like with Suki, Lincoln approached the little lady and was prepared to offer his hand to her in friendship.
But rather than accept it, she hissed softly at him and hid herself behind Miss Grimwood; all while whimpering "don't eat me" repeatedly. "What the...eat you, nobody here's going to eat you, lil' miss" Officer Higgins assured, "well...except for the cat, maybe." As if on cue; Cliff, the Loud Family's pet cat, caught sight of Gila and started sniffing the air.
The moment he caught the scent of fish on her, his face split into a hungry fang-toothed grin and he was readying himself to pounce. But then, Rita stepped in and started lightly spraying the cat with a squirt bottle; causing him to back away into the house. "See, Miss Grimwood; I knew I shouldn't have come" Gila whimpered, "everybody here's just gonna try and eat me!"
Once again, everyone was taken off guard by the wee creature's comment and asked her o explain herself. "Miss Gila and her father, Gill-Man (or as you know him best, The Creature from the Black Lagoon) are a species of fish creature" Miss Grimwood explained, "as such, she fears that one of (if not all of you) will attempt to eat her." In response to this statement, several members of the crowd suddenly started to either gag or groan in disgust.
"You literally won't find a lot of us craving any fish, little missy" Lori assured, "now...my cat and father on the other hand...that's another matter." Mildly offended by this, Lynn Sr. said he only experimented with his cod recipe once. But when he saw that not many within his family enjoyed it, he chose to only cook it on request.
"Regardless, Miss Gila; none of us plan to hurt you" Lisa assured, "all that I ask is for a small bit of your scales...purely for scientific study." At first, everyone expected the young monster girl to be upset by the request. But not only did Gila go along with it, she also plucked one of these scales from atop her head; much to the crowd's disgust.
While this exchange was going on, the little alien couldn't help but scoff at it. "What do you plan on studying that for, human" she said dryly, "do you wish to bring truth to the theory that your species evolved from aquatic life?" While this insult mildly offended everyone, there was something about it that sounded...familiar in the alien girl's vocabulary.
To Lincoln, it all sounded like something Lisa would say to others (inadvertently or not.) Meanwhile, Zach found himself on the verge of having a meltdown...but in a good way. Standing before him was an honest to goodness alien life form.
She was small, almost about his height; she wore a blue suit with that seemed to resemble a dress, had a pair of green gloves over her hands, a matching green collar that was shaped like a triangle and a pair of dark-purple boots. She looked relatively humanoid in appearance (save for her purplish-pink skin tone) and her eyes were a beautifully odd shade of green. In time, Miss Grimwood introduced this girl to everyone as Milly.
"On Mars, I am known as M-149" the little alien girl stated, "we seldom use your types of namesakes amongst one another there...but while on this planet, the name Milly seems more 'appropriate.'" As expected, this was met with a smidgen of disbelief from everyone; many proclaiming that aliens were nothing but a myth. "AWOOOO! Humans said the same thing about critters like me and Sibella" said the wolf girl, "but as you can see, we're just as real as you guys!"
While she applauded her enthusiasm, Miss Grimwood urged this girl to keep her howling at a low volume; so as not to disturb Lincoln's sister. "This is Winnie, daughter of the Wolf Man" she stated, "she is one of our strongest, wildest and most athletic of my girls." The moment this was announced; the Loud Family, without missing a beat, murmured "sounds like a certain someone we know" in unison.
At the same time, Lynn approached the young werewolf and they exchanged a quick high-five. "So, you like to play sports too" she asked, "what's your best skill set?" Winnie chuckled lightly at this and proclaimed she was good at just about any sport out there.
"I play Volleyball, love running on the track and I also dabble in a bit of wrestling" she chuckled, "I especially love scrapping against my cousins." Lynn found herself smiling even brighter, the more she listened; thinking she and this werewolf girl could become fast friends. The next student to be introduced was the tall girl with the wild hairdo.
For the most part, she appeared human; despite how shabby her dark-green dress and light-green shirt looked. She had a blue sash or scarf wrapped around her waist and wore a pair of very chunky brown sandals on her feet. Her most notable traits were her hairstyle, stitches and neck bolts.
"Um...Forgive me if I sound rude for saying this" murmured Stella, "but are you any...'relation' to the famous...Frankenstein Monster?" Much to everyone's surprise; not only did the girl not take offense to the question, she also proclaimed the Monster to be her "Dada." "I'm afraid Elsa's tale is a complex and...somewhat tragic one" Miss Grimwood murmured, "to condense it; poor Elsa suffered a grave injury, long ago at the hands of an abusive family figure."
As proof her words rung true, she gestured at the stitches on Elsa's forehead; which Lisa surmised to be where the trauma delivered strongest. "Using the science of his creator, Elsa's 'father' managed to save her life" Miss Grimwood said with pride, "unfortunately, she has no memory of her old family and now sees the Monster as her only father." After letting all this process, everyone did everything they could not to cry.
"Moving along; along with Winnie, Elsa is one of our strongest students" Zanya stated, "but she prefers to hit the books instead of the field." This bit of news sparked a small glimmer of intrigue within Lisa, who hoped that Elsa could be a possible kindred spirit in science. The next girl to be introduced was Zanya, whom Miss Grimwood confessed had a story as equally tragic as Elsa's.
"See, my Daddy's a detective who works with the CIA's 'Paranormal Investigation Unit' (whatever that is) and he became enemies with some very bad people over the years" she murmured, "one group of them vowed to hurt him in the worst way possible...by attacking me." From here, she went into detail about the day of her death...and apparent rebirth. "One day, I was outside playing and this weird van speeds past my house" she began, "then...it rode onto the sidewalk and started zooming straight for me."
There were gasps aplenty from everyone, many of whom also cursed silently under their breath at the assailants; hoping they got what they deserved at one point. "I don't exactly know much about what happened, after I got hit" Zanya confessed, "except that my daddy told me he made sure to try and put in a few good shots at the bad guys with his gun." The Gal Pals couldn't help but chuckle a little at this bit of information, hoping that Zanya's dad got at least one of those creeps.
"Next thing I knew, Daddy brought back in the house and he placed me on a lab table" she confessed, "then, he helped reattach my limbs and my Mom put some kind of...weird green stuff inside my body." From this part of Zanya's story, Lisa had suspicions that Mrs. Talon might've been a scientist of some kind. However, Lisa couldn't figure out what manner of scientific skill could've helped her bring someone back from the dead (or to quote Lincoln and Cristina's favorite book/film, "mostly dead.")
"If I may ask, young lady" Lisa inquired politely, "how was your mother able to achieve the means that helped turn you into...the living dead?" Regretfully, Zanya confessed that she didn't quite understand all the science behind her "zombification" as she called it. All that mattered to her was that her parents managed to save her life, in the end.
"So, you're like...a legit zombie" Phoebe asked hesitantly, "does that mean you...enjoy eating flesh?" It took everything Zanya had to keep herself from vomiting, after hearing such a suggestion. "EWW! Heck no, I'd never eat that" she groaned, "I do get very strong cravings...but not for flesh!"
It was here that she revealed that the cravings were the side effect from the "green stuff" that helped keep her alive. It not only helped bring her back to life, it also gave her a strong metabolism; which means she would get rather hungry very often. "So...you could quite literally starve to death, if you don't eat" Lori asked, "in that case, what exactly do you like to eat?" As if expecting this sort of question, she placed her backpack on the ground and began rummaging through it.
Seconds later, she brought out a lunchbox full of carrot sticks, pomegranate slices, a packet of peanut butter crackers, a full-size dark chocolate bar and several rods of string cheese. "These are some of my favorite snacks" Zanya stated, "but what I really love is some nice tasty cheese, any kind of cheese." The moment this thought came into mind, her stomach suddenly let out a soft growl; which meant that another craving was about to kick in.
Without delay, she tore open one of the string cheese rods and devoured it in seconds. Of course, the manner she did this was something similar to a lion tearing apart its prey. When she, eventually noticed everyone staring at her; Zanya realized what she was doing and giggled shyly.
"S-S-Sorry everyone" she murmured, "this sort of thing happens, whenever my cravings start to kick in." No sooner had she said this, both Lynn Sr. and Rosa suddenly felt their eyes tear up. "I never thought I would be given this opportunity again" Rosa thought giddily, "this will give the chance to try out a new quesadilla recipe I've been wanting to try!"
At the same time, Lynn Sr. was raring to whip up his famous Lynn-sagna; even if it was just for one person. Finally; the last of these girls to be introduced was Tanis, daughter of the famous Mummy. When asked which one she was related to, she responded with "um...I think my Daddy's from Imhotep's family...but Daddy doesn't like to talk about him that much."
The whole time she spoke, Carol and her crew felt she was the most adorable thing on the planet. "I don't see why everybody's so scared of you mummies" Lana stated while approaching her, "I think you're pretty cool." Hearing all of this made Tanis feel rather happy while she suckled on her thumb.
"Tell us, Miss Tanis" Lola interjected, "how do you feel about tea parties or playing dress up?" With a joyful giggle, Tanis proclaimed that she always wanted to have a tea party. However, at the same time; she admitted that the only ones who would do that with her were Miss Grimwood or her father.
"Well, while you're in town; we could have some tea together" Lola offered, "I mean...once we're done with the decorating business first." Tanis smiled warmly at her, turned towards Miss Grimwood and asked if she could join her. "Of course, dear" the headmistress replied, "but why not explore the town a little first."
This bit of news greatly pleased Lincoln and the Gal Pals, who all offered up to be their guides for the tour. "That's an excellent idea, Lincoln" Rita stated, "but you should bring Carol's group along with you." At first, the Ghouls felt like refusing their company; proclaiming that they would be okay on their own.
But then, Miss Grimwood sided with the idea; stressing that they would require humans around to stand in their defense...should things become unsavory. "Okay, Miss Grimwood; we'll go along with them" Winnie said in acceptance, "besides, this'll be a good chance for us to learn how our pal and these ladies got together." With that settled, Carol and her crew took the front and led everyone down the neighborhood; leaving everyone else back at Lincoln's home.
"Now, then; Lincoln says you are in need of some proper ambience for your Halloween celebration" Miss Grimwood stated, "tell me what can I do to help?"
(First AN: And so it begins; Lincoln and the Gals will give the Ghouls of Grimwood a look at the town, while Miss G and the other adults set things up at home. What sort of tricks does the headmistress have to help spruce things up, will the Ghouls enjoy the tour and most importantly, will the Gal Pals find their company welcoming; now that they know what they truly are?
All these questions and more will be answered in Part Three of Halloween Hilarity)
(Second AN: A lot of the background info about some of the Ghouls *specifically the names and histories of Gila, Milly, Suki and Zanya* is the creation of Thefoxmage. Meanwhile; the character name of Mavis Dracula is from the Hotel Transylvania franchise. Said franchise is the creation of Sony Animation and Genndy Tartakovsky, while the backstory for Elsa is my own idea.
Everything else belongs to their respective owners; so...please, don't sue)
(Third AN: Speaking of Hotel Transylvania, Sibella's quote is a light reference to what the film's version of her father feels about drinking blood. Many films and TV shows have their vampire characters drink things other than blood. So, I hope you won't find Sibella drinking tomato juice to be unrealistic...so to speak)
(Fourth AN: The name of Sibella's mother, Vanna is based upon the character of the same name from Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf; which is...sort of set within the same universe as Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School. Whereas Dracula's third wife, despite not being mentioned by name here, is Martha Dracula; a character from the first Hotel Transylvania film)
(Fifth AN: According to the Ghoul School Wiki, Phantasma's father is known simply as "The Phantom;" which would lead people to think of The Phantom of the Opera, Erik. But seeing as though he didn't quite look or sound like him, I made it so that he was a "phantom" of sorts...but only through radio serials from the old days. As for Phantasma being there while her father worked, she helped the music crew provide ambience for the stories they told on the air.
I hope all this will make sense to you, dear readers)
(Sixth AN: The "Mostly Dead" comment used to describe Zanya's current physical state is a reference to The Princess Bride, Lincoln and Cristina's favorite book/film; as mentioned in Reconnections)
(Final AN: The military school that Lincoln mentions is known as Calloway Military School, which is a military boarding school for boys that stands next door to Grimwood's. The school's students and their headmaster, Colonel Calloway, served as minor antagonists/academic rivals for Grimwood's students in Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School. However, they will not serve as the antagonist for this multi-part oneshot and will only have a slight connection with the true antagonist)
