"Woah…" Lisa gasped. "The Invisible Man…"
"I take it your mission to Hollowville was a bit…complicated, Mr. Helsing?" An unseen mouth blew out the candle and set the holder down on a table.
"I managed to recruit the Midnight Society, but they lost their headquarters. And I lost the stone. Thanks to Dracula."
"He's already revealed himself? That's quite troublesome." Some footsteps made their way to a chair, and the unseen figure sat down before revealing itself: An eerie light blue glowing ghostly figure, completely covered with clothing, bandages, gloves, a wig, and glasses.
"Double woah…" Tina gasped. "He's a ghost?!"
"One of the very first Realmwalkers." Jack stated. "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Henry. She said that it was only a matter of time before you woke up in your own monster's body."
"We both meddled in things that were not meant for man." Frankenstein stated. "Much like the original Dr. Jekyll. And we both paid the price."
"Ah yes. We are both doomed and cursed souls. But I believe that there's still a chance. We can right the wrongs of the past here and now. It seems that good and evil CAN operate as one."
"I couldn't agree more, Doctor." Palmer Jekyll said, before pointing to a large circular gateway. "I'm curious, what is that contraption's purpose?"
That's when it started to hum and crackle.
"You're about to find out."
That's when the contraption, a portal, shot open. And from it stepped out another green figure, armed with a large green lightning gun and holding a green stone. And Lisa would know that crazy hair anywhere.
"The Bride of Frankenstein…"
"Sister, actually." She only stated. "Hello there, Doctor."
"You're…Maria?" Frankenstein asked.
"You should feel grateful that your creation managed to fix one of his most fatal mistakes." Maria said. "Did you find YOUR Moonstone, Van Helsing?"
"Yes, but Dracula swiped it." He said. "But I managed to get some reinforcements."
"Wait, what?" Randy asked. "Moonstones?"
"Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! I got this! I got this!" I.G.O.R. rushed over to a table. "I always wanted to do this!"
He set down and pressed some buttons on the side of his camera-like head. And then, the eye began projecting a classic black-and-white film-like presentation on a large wall, the countdown starting from 3. Meanwhile, Van Helsing swiped Cory and Lisa's amulets and began working on them.
"In a world of gods and monsters." I.G.O.R. narrated in a dead-accurate movie voiceover tone. "There exist seven ancient stones of infinite ultimate power. These…are the Moonstones."
The film revealed seven stones being created from cosmic singularities.
"Each of the seven stones controls a major portion of all supernatural magic. Blood. Beast. Creation. Curse. Spirit. Deep. And Dead."
There was a red one with a bat symbol. An orange one with a howling wolf. A dark green one with some lightning. A purple one with an Egyptian Eye hieroglyph. A blue one with a classic ghost appearance. A yellowy-green one with algae. And a pink one with a zombie hand bursting from the ground. All stones that fly into various parts of the 3D globe.
"They lie scattered across the world, each in the hands of powerful monsters. But one monster, above all else, seeks to have them all. Count Dracula. With all seven Moonstones, Dracula will be able to bring about the unspeakable evil that is…The Eternal Night."
Lucy gasped at this.
"The…Eternal Night?!" She asked.
"Yes…I'm afraid so." Sasquatch stated. "Humans call it the Night of Evil. We call it the Darkening. According to ancient lore, it is said that when all seven mystical stones are brought together, their combined power will eclipse the sun for all eternity, consuming the world in an eternal darkness. Free from the daylight's power, all of monsterkind shall rise to claim the world from mankind. This is what Dracula seeks to do. He seeks to rule the world not as its king, but as its God."
"So…like, a Planetary Eclipse?" Mirpo asked. "A lunar anomaly?"
"More like Hell on Earth." Lushara added.
"No thanks." Lisa said, pointing to Arthur. "We've already GOT an Eternal Knight. No way do we need another. But seriously, what is this thing?"
"Think of it as the Midnight Hour," Van Helsing explained. "When monsters become really powerful. Now, imagine that hour lasting 24/7. Not good, right? I.G.O.R., run global scan."
The robot projected a hologram of the globe.
"Okay, I've gotten into some satellite readings." He said. "We already have one stone, the Creation Stone. Meanwhile, Drac's got both the Blood and Dead Stone. He has two. We have one. Which means there's four more left."
He zoomed in on North America.
"The Beast Stone, that's in the Canadian Wilderness. That's Wendigo territory for a side note. So you gotta be careful in that area."
"Wendigo?" Cory asked.
"Our people's nemesis." Sasquatch added. "A walking cryptid of death and famine. With dark magic, it can bring beings back from the dead. With that stone, even the Wolf Man could be revived once more."
"Yeah. Sometimes death is better." I.G.O.R. added, zooming in on Egypt. "Meanwhile, the Curse Stone is right where you'd expect it to be. In the deserts of Egypt, within the tomb of the First King. Most likely being guarded by Imhotep the Golden King. He'll be delivering it to Dracula tonight as his general."
"So the Golden King I encountered before…" Gabe stated. "That was just an imposter, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Mummies are real soul-suckers." Van Helsing added.
"And the Deep Stone, that's right in the Amazon rivers and swamps." I.G.O.R. zoomed in on South America. "The Gillman with it is mostly neutral, but I'm getting paranormal readings. Drac must already be sending his ghosts after it."
"The Creature From The Black Lagoon?" Kruu asked. "Well, it DOES have an attraction to females…"
"I shortened it to the C.F.T.B.L." Helsing said. "A bit more fun that way."
"And SPEAKING of paranormal," I.G.O.R. said. "The Spirit Stone's GOTTA be in the Shadow Realm, cause I'm not picking it up ANYWHERE."
"I hid it aboard one of the Ghost Trains." The Invisible Man said. "The Phantom Express. It'll be leaving from Paris' Spectral Station to New York's in about half an hour."
"Dracula must be in control of every monster we've ever faced so far." R.L. Stine added. "He may send them to get the stones first. We'll have to race him.
"Hold on, what about-AH!"
Lucy yelled in pain as she clutched her neck.
"Dammit, I almost forgot!" Van Helsing cursed. "Dracula managed to bite her. I.G.O.R., do you know where to find the ingredients for a cure?"
"Oh yeah! In fact they should be right here in this realm!" He began scanning a holographic map of the entire realm, which seemed to span all of Earth. "Ah! Here we are! Monster's Bane! Dragon Fire, Unicorn Magic, A Kaiju Scale, A Troll Horn, A Witch Potion, some Fairy Dust, and a Goblin's Tooth."
"We'll have to split up." Abe stated. "We'll need teams to find both the stones and the ingredients. And we have to hurry, Drac could be after them right now, and Lucy could be getting even worse."
"Relax, this place is well hidden!" I.G.O.R. stated. "We've got cloaking magic AND alien stealth tech in this place!"
"We can't afford to take any chances." Van Helsing said. "Big, you and Sas lead the group finding the Beast Stone. Jack, you're leading the one going for the Spirit Stone. I'll take the one going after the Curse Stone."
"I know the Amazon waters better than anyone." Kruu says. "The Deep family will lead the group heading for the Deep Stone."
"Alright then. The rest of you can hang back with Maria to guard the Creation Stone and monitor Lucy. Maybe her closest friends and family can find the ingredients." Abe said, handing them something. "Here's some maps so you don't get lost. Try not to lose them, this is your first time here."
"I will fight the dragon!" Wargon chuckled. "It will be an honor to bring back its head!"
Randy only shot him a look.
"*sigh* And its fire. Somehow."
"I'll go after the Kaiju scale." Randy said. "I'm willing to go the distance to save my sister. Plus, I always wanted to see a giant monster OTHER than a mantis."
"Don't worry Lisa, I'll go find the unicorns and save you the trouble." Dina added. "I'm sure they'd understand the urgency."
"Trolls have war camps, right?" Grievor asked. "I'll sneak my way in. They won't even know I'm there."
"I'll handle the witch." Lynne adds. "Hopefully she's not hostile. If she is, that's why Clarissa and Vanessa are going with me. Environ will find the fairies, and Ellie will go for the goblins."
"Uh…are the fairies gonna freak when they see me?" Environ asked.
"They are ancient beings." Abe said. "There is nothing new they have seen."
"So, Dracula did a number on you, didn't he?" Maria asked, examining some of Frankenstein's wounds.
"Yeah. Nearly burned me, too."
"Here. This should help."
Using the Creation Stone, Maria had green lightning heal the injuries.
"I incorporated that skill into our weapons. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually." Maria stated. "Meanwhile Lucy, you'll have to stay in the panic room. You'll be properly restrained."
"Like…as if I'm insane?" She asked.
"At least they'll hold you IF you transform." Maria then turned to the others. "If you don't want that to happen, you'd best start going NOW. And hurry."
"That means us, too." Abe said. "I.G.O.R., prime separate portal locations: Canada, Egypt, Amazon Rainforest, and Shadow Realm."
"Roger that." He says. "Sorry, cure guys, but you'll have to make it on foot. Don't worry, you can just use mage portals."
The gateway split into four separate ones, each powering up. Van Helsing only began reloading, and handed the Waldhorn twins their newly upgraded amulets.
"Alright teams," He said, cocking his weapon and donning his Monster Armor. "Time for some more hunting. Good luck. And remember: Time is money."