Chapter 5: Burning Talent Part 2

Monster High

Everyone was up early at Monster High, and those who lived off campus arrived early, all getting in the last bit of practice and preparation for today's talent show. One of the participants, Ari Hauntingly, was currently in her room practicing more with her ghost energy. She was confident that everyone would like what she was going to do, and couldn't wait to preform. She even heard from Lagoona and the others that Danny would be there.

"This is going to be a fangtastic talent show." She said aloud. "I can't wait to…"

The ghost girl stopped mid sentence when she started to hear the faint sound of music echo through the school.

'Is that… music?' She thought. 'Is someone practicing?'

The talent show wasn't for another few hours so she assumed it was another student practicing but the music was oddly familiar to her. Deciding to check the familiar tune, she phased out of her room and into the hall, and to her surprise, many other students seemed to be rushing into the direction of the music as well but something felt off about them. They almost looked like they were in a trance.

Ari followed the music as it got louder and louder, and found herself outside where the talent show was going to take place. There, on stage was a band that seemed familiar, especially the girl with the flaming blue hair who looked like she was getting ready to sing.

Song: "Remember" By Ember McLain

"Yeah!... Ohhhhhhh!"

"It was, it was September! Winds blow, the dead leaves fall!"

"To you, I did surrender! Two weeks, you didn't call!"

"Your life, goes on without me! My life, a losing game!"

"But you should, you should not doubt me! You will remember my name!"

"Oh Ember! You will remember! Ember! One thing remains!

"Oh, Ember! So warm and tender! YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME!"

As Ari listed to the lyrics, she finally realized why the song sounded so familiar. THIS was a song by Ember McLain! Ari had heard this song before in the past, she was told by other ghosts that the song was from a ghost pop star called Ember McLain.

But soon, the realization of horror dawned on her. Ember was a ghost that used her voice and music to hypnotize others into becoming her slave. As she looked over at the other students and teachers, she could see a strange glow in their eyes as they cheered the pop stars name.

This was bad, and as she turned her focus back to Ember, she could see her blue flaming hair raise and burn with intensity. Ari started to panic but then the thought of why she wasn't effected came into her mind, but then she recalled Vlad's lesson that ghosts may have resistance to other spectral abilities. However, Ari could almost feel the music trying to effect her mind. She needed help, and fast.

She quickly moved away from the crowed and floated up. She was trying to see if she could spot Vlad, as he was her best hope given his knowledge. But sadly, she couldn't spot him anywhere, so quickly flew into the school and too his classroom. She knew he might be upset if she flew in unannounced like before, but this was an emergency.

Phasing through the wall, Ari was met by an empty classroom with no sign of her teacher. She wondered if he had yet to show up, and what was she going to do now? She couldn't stop Ember all by herself, she needed help. And it was then, she realized who she could call.

'Danny!' she thought. He can help, and luckily for her, she got his number from the other ghouls.

Amity Park (Fenton Works)

Danny was currently relaxing in his room, getting some rest before heading off too Monster High. He wondered if it would be the proper time to tell them his secret, as he didn't want to lie to them anymore. The ghouls at Monster High have only been nice to him… well except for that Moanica girl, and Ari vouched for them.

Suddenly, his I Coffin began to ring on the dresser. It was still early, he hoped nothing bad happened and they cancelled the show. As he checked it, he noticed the number was unknown, meaning it wasn't any of the Ghoul Squad.

Deciding to go ahead and answer the call. "Uh… hello?"

"Danny!?" Asked familiar voice that Danny recognized as Ari.

"Ari? Is everything alright?" He asked. The tone of her voice sounded like she was panicking.

"Danny, a ghost named Ember McLain is at Monster High, and she's taken control of the other students and teachers!" She explained.

Danny's eye's widened in shock. Another one of his enemies was causing trouble at Monster High! But how did Ember find out? Did Skulker tell her?. He shook his head, it didn't matter how she found out, what matters is he needed to get to Monster High and help his friends.

"Don't worry, Ari!" Danny spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can, just hang on!"

"Please hurry." She said before hanging up.

Danny wasted no time dialing Tucker's number and didn't half to wait long for his best friend to answer. "He Tuck, remember how you wanted to come with me to Monster High? Well it looks like your about to get that wish, meet me at my house as fast as you can."

A few minutes later, Tucker arrived on his electric scooter and was let in by Jazz and the two met Danny down in the Fenton lab, where Danny explained the situation.

"Now way!" Tucker said in surprise. "How did, Ember figure out about the school?"

"I don't know." Danny responded. "But it doesn't matter how she figured out right now. We need to go there, stop Ember, and save Monster High."

"We need a plan first." Tucker said. "Any ideas?"

"I've got one." Jazz spoke up. "From everything we know about Ember, she'll be much stronger since she'll be empowered by the chanting from those under her control, so a direct assault with just us three wouldn't be the best option. I think we should take several Fentonphones to protect us from Ember's music, and Tucker can use his PDA to send a disruption frequency through the Fentonphones to free a few of the monsters to help us out."

Both Danny and Tucker were surprised at how fast, she came up with a plan. 'Leave it to Jazz to be on point.' Danny thought.

"But how are we going to get there quickly?" Tucker asked.

"The Fenton Jet." Danny replied. "It's fast enough to get us there in a few minutes. I'll meet both of you in the ops center, once I get the Fentonphones and some other gear."

With their plan set, Jazz and Tucker rushed up the Fenton Ops Center, while Danny searched the lab for the equipment they needed. After a minute, Danny arrived in the ops center and opened the fridge to press the emergency switch. Lucky for him, his dad finally cleared out that old ham so the smell didn't get him.

With a press of a button, the metal contraption on top of the Fenton home detached itself, turning into the Fenton Blimp, but quickly changed into the Fenton jet and shot off like a rocket towards Monster High.

Monster High

Ember was currently kicking it back in the headmaster's office. She had sent her new monster minions to search for anyone remaining in the school just in case there were any not effected by her music. Meanwhile, Ari had tying her best to avoid the students, which was hard do to the sheer number of them. It had been a almost 10 minutes since she called Danny for help, and was preying he showed up soon.

As if on cue, a message came through on her I Coffin from Danny, telling her to meet him in the forest near the back of the school. Wasting no time, Ari made her way there. Meanwhile, outside of the rear entrance school, Danny, Jazz and Tucker were waiting behind the tree line.

"You think, she's going to show up? What if she got captured?" Tucker asked.

"I hope not?" Danny replied.

If Ari was captured, they'd have an even harder time succeeding. As the group continued to wait for her to show, a familiar blue mist escaped from Danny's mouth.

"Guys…" Danny whispered, getting the attention of the others. "We got company."

They all readied themselves, Danny charged his energy into his hand, while Jazz and Tucker readied their blasters. Ari phased through the ground and came up behind the trio, but before she could call out to them, they turned around and took aim at her.

"Wait! It's me!" She shouted, holding her hands in the air.

The three lowered their weapons, relieved that they didn't fire. Danny also was wondering why is ghost sense went off now for Ari, but not before when they first met?. He decided to ignore it, assuming it was because he was distracted, which could interfere with his Ghost Sense.

"Ari! I'm glad your ok." Danny said.

"I'm glad you're here, Danny… but who are they?" Ari pointed at Jazz and Tucker. "Are they… Normies?"

"Normies?" Jazz raised a brow

Tucker seemingly didn't care, as he quickly popped a breath mint and made sure his cloths were fixed before approaching the newly arrived ghost girl.

"Hello." Tucker said with a smooth and confident voice. "What's say when we save your school, me and you hang out, maybe see a movie?"

Danny and Jazz face-palmed hard. The first girl they met and Tucker already tried to flirt with her.

Meanwhile, Ari blushed and was a bit confused. 'Was he trying to hit on her?' She wasn't a stranger to guys trying to given who she was as a rock star, both as Ari and Tash. But there's a time and place.

"Come on, Romeo." Jazz said, grabbing Tucker by the ear and pulling him away.

"Sorry about that, Ari. That was my best friend, Tucker, he's not normally like that." Danny shook his head. "And that's my sister, Jazz."

"It's alright, Danny." She replied. "But, do you have a plan to save the others?"

"You bet." He replied.

Danny went ahead and filled Ari in on the details of the plan, to which she listened to carefully. He also handed her a several pairs of Fentonphones.

"We also should split up." Danny suggested. "Jazz and I, will head into the main building. Tucker, you and Ari head into the side building."

"Don't worry dude, we got this." Tucker said seriously.

At first, Ari was a bit skeptical on her going with Tucker given he might have spent the entire time trying to flirt with her, but he seemed to get serious.

"Alright, Jazz, let's go." Danny said.

He and his sister headed their own way around to the front of the building, while Tucker and Ari headed for one of the side buildings.

When Tucker and Ari reached the nearby building, they found it surrounded by a large number of mind controlled students, though none were the monsters they were looking for.

"It's going to be hard for you to sneak past all of them." Ari stated.

"Not a problem, I've think I've got a plan." Tucker replied.

After a brief rundown of his plan to Ari, Tucker step out of the tree line and moved into clear view of the monsters.

"Hey!" He called out, getting their attention. "Are you sure you guys are real monsters? We Normies have more realistic costumes at the 99c store!"

For a brief moment, Tucker didn't know if his words would have the effect he wanted but that thought was quickly shattered as he found himself running at top speed through the forest with an angry group of monsters behind him.

"Oh man..." Tucker breathed repeatedly. "I probably should thank, Sam for whipping me into running shape, but I know she wouldn't let me live it down."

Reaching his destination, Tucker step out of view behind a large tree and was pulled up into the tree by Ari. The two watched as the group of monsters continued to run ahead.

"Perfect, now we can get in the building without any hassle." Ari said.

The two headed back and entered the building. As they snuck through the school in search of the Ghoul Squad, Ember's music could be heard playing throughout the schools announcement system.

Tucker was taking the time to observed the school, inspecting the classrooms and overall look, and he was surprised overall.

"Huh… this school looks pretty cool. I honestly was expecting more cobwebs, creaky floors and other spooky evil stuff." He said.

"Do Normies really think all monsters prefer dark and old buildings?" Ari asked, raising a brow.

"I blame the movies. I'm actually happy that isn't the case here, I'd rather not half to deal with creepy monster stuff, especially another evil mummy." He replied.

Ari was about to comment on the "evil mummy" thing but the two were suddenly wrapped up in bandages, causing both to trip and fall. When they looked up, they saw Cleo standing in front of them, he eyes were all red.

"Hello! Mummy!" Tucker said in a flirtatious tone with a smile.

Ari rolled her eyes at how Tucker was just commenting on how he didn't want to see another evil mummy but was apparently fine when it's a pretty one. Not wanting to wait around, Ari phased through the bandages and into the ground, leaving both Tucker and Cleo confused on were she went.

"Uh… Ari?" Tucker called out.

Suddenly, Ari phased up out of the floor behind Cleo, and placed a pair of Fentonphones in her ears. Cleo began to stumble a bit as her eyes returned to their original color, her normal sight and senses returned to her.

"W… what happened?" She mumbled. "Why do I feel dizzy?"

She slowly became aware of her surroundings, including the boy on the floor wrapped up in her bandages.

"You…" She said silently.

However, Tucker was close enough to here her. "Me?" He replied with a raised brow.

"Cleo!" Ari called out from behind.

"Ari!? What's going on!? And who is that!?" Cleo pointed at Tucker. "Is he…"

"Cleo, calm down." Ari placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "That's Tucker, he's a friend of Danny's and yes, he's a Normie."

Cleo was confused. She had felt as though she had woken up from a deep sleep and couldn't remember a thing other than when she woke up this morning… or at least she hoped it was the same day. And now she was standing in another part of the school with Ari and a boy… a boy she recognized but thought it impossible.

The three were suddenly alerted by approaching footsteps echoing in the distance.

"I'll explain everything, Cleo, but first we need to move." Ari gestured her to follow.

The two rushed off. "Uh, ladies…" Tucker called.

"Oh! Sorry Tucker!" Ari apologized.

After helping get Tucker free, the trio quickly move through the halls. Ari explained the situation to Cleo, who was obviously shocked to hear they had all been put under a spell by a ghost. Ari also explained that they were looking for the other members of the Ghoul Squad to help fight against Ember and that's why they had these things in their ears, which Cleo thought looked dreadful but seeing as they were keeping her safe from the music, she didn't complain.

From time to time, Cleo snuck quick glances at Tucker. 'Is it really him?' she thought to herself. 'It can't be…'

As the three rushed around the corner, they each came to a screeching halt. A bit down the hall was none other than, Clawdeen, who just like Cleo, had bright red eyes. The wolf teen transformed into her wolf form and growled at the them.

"Don't worry girls, I got this." Tucker said with confidence stepping forward.

Ari groaned. "Tucker, she's under a spell and is about to try and tare us limb from limb. You can't seriously be thinking about trying to flirt with her?"

"Flirt?" He questioned. "While I like the idea of a wolf girl is hot, I've already been attacked by a she wolf who can transform into a werewolf, and I'd rather not have to go through that again."

Ari raised a brow, wondering what kind of adventures Danny and his friends have been on.

"When I said, I got this, I meant that I'll distract her while you guys get the Fentonphones into her ears." He said.

Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out his PDA. 'Technology hasn't fail me yet.' He thought.

"Hey she wolf!, fetch!" Tucker threw his PDA with all his might.

He had hoped, Clawdeen would focus on it, giving Cleo a chance to wrap her up. However, he was surprised to see Clawdeen leap quickly and snatch the PDA out of the air, crushing it in between her teeth.

"Aw man! I still had payments on that one!" Tucker huffed.

Clawdeen quickly darted at him. Tucker quickly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding her. But Clawdeen continued to run ahead towards Cleo and Ari.

"I've got her!." Cleo said, extending her arms forward.

She attempted to restrain Clawdeen with her bandages but the wolf girl was just to fast and agile to catch.

"She's to quick!" Cleo shouted.

As Clawdeen reached them, she jumped at Cleo.

"Look out!" Ari shouted.

She tackled Cleo into an open classroom door, avoiding Clawdeen's sharp claws. The two ghouls were now trapped as Clawdeen was blocking the exit to the classroom, and while Ari could phase through walls, Cleo couldn't, and she didn't want to leave her.

Tucker was trying to think of a solution, and then an idea popped into his head. He checked his backpack and found what he needed, but first he needed a way to get Clawdeen's attention away from Ari and Cleo. It was at that moment, he remembered what Danny said about her that might do the trick.

"Hey, Clawdeen!" Tucker shouted

The growling wolf girl glance over at him, causing Tucker to gulp.

"Your fashion sense is lame!" He shouted.

If looks could kill, Tucker would have been erased from history. It seemed that despite being under a spell, Clawdeen's inner fashionista was still present, and did not take kindly to the insult. Her eyes were as sharp as daggers, and she dashed at him with killer intent.

'Please let this work!' Tucker repeated in his head.

With his hand in his backpack, Tucker waited for just the right moment. Right when Clawdeen was only a few feet away, Tucker pulled out a spray can and sprayed it's contents in her face.

The girl stop cold as her sense of smell was overloaded, and the smell was so intense she reverted back into her humanoid form. Tucker took this chance to put a pair of Fentonphones in her ears.

"What in the world is that smell!" Clawdeen howled in agony. "It smells like a mummy moca and… spoiled meat!"

Ari and Cleo walked up behind her, both pinching their noses as they caught the odd smell.

"Really? Because I smell strawberries and… rotten eggs." Ari said in disgust.

"I smell tacos and… you don't want to know." Cleo felt as though she was going to throw up. "What was in that spray can?"

"I call it, Foley, by Tucker Foley." Tucker stated proudly. "It's a unique spay, I designed to smell different to everyone… but I've yet to fix the bad smell side effect."

"Can someone tell me what's going on!" Clawdeen asked. "And who's that?" She pointed at Tucker.

"I'll explain on the way but we need to find…" Before Ari could finish what she was saying, an explosion echoed.

The group rushed to one of the nearby windows to see smoke coming from the main building.

"What was that!?" Cleo asked.

"I don't know, but we need to find out!" Clawdeen stated.

The all took off, thoughts racing on the current events. Tucker himself really hoped Danny and Jazz were ok. 'Don't worry Danny and Jazz, we're coming.'

End of Chapter.

Author Note: Ok, first things first, I apologize for not posting a new chapter in a long while. The reason for this is several things, the main one being work and family related stuff, I've been working throughout each day for the past couple of weeks and have hand virtually no time to write and any free time I had was spent doing stuff for my family. Things have slowed down so I've finally managed to finish this chapter, although it was suppose to be done some time ago but sadly, nearly the entire thing got deleted so I had to rewrite nearly the whole thing. With that said, I will try and post new chapters faster now that I have the time. As for story stuff, I'd like to give credit to germanjustiniano9 for his idea about Cleo recognizing Tucker (King Dullaman) back in the first story. I decided to make that a small side plot in this story. I also wanted to explain that I planned on making a Halloween chapter but since I was caught up in work, it will be put up after Halloween but to give a small example, there is one more part to this event (Burning Talent), the next two chapters will be integrating Danny into Monster High (He'll be finally attending the school), and the Halloween chapter with be next (Might be a 2 to 3 part chapter). Finally, thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. I always enjoy reading your feedback. Till next time.

Reviews:

qazse: She'd definitely deny it lol. Tucker would definitely side with Danny as they have more interactions that show their friendship.

simm36: Don't worry, I plan on more interactions between Danny and Clawdeen In the future. True, Vlad just can't let the past go.

The Brod Road: Yeah, Vlad's got issues, and when Danny starts attending Monster High, it's going to get hectic. I had to add Tucker trying to flirt which might cause problems later. And I don't think Ember would care to much if she found out she was used but it'd likely annoy her.

William Escobar 608: Well, Vlad is acting so that's why he's getting other to like him, and no, Vlad isn't concerned with Danny at the moment so he won't try anything against him. You really don't like Sam huh? I don't like her character but she's going half to return. Ari and Ember with have their battle in the next chapter.

Guest 1, Guest 2 and Yin7: Glad you like the story so far. I'll try and post new chapters faster when able.

Guest 3: This story will be a lengthy one so it might take me a bit to finish it. I might add Draculaura into the mix like did with Clawdeen but I'm unsure if I'll be able to make an entirely separate story for Danny and Draculaura exclusively at this time though.

guilhermefinamori: The potential fight between Danny and Vlad will be a big one, and yes it would be funny if Danny didn't recognize Vlad in a suit. Clawdeen x Danny was my second pick (which is why she's a love interest) but I ended up going with Lagoona x Danny. I'm unsure if I'll be able to make a separate story for Danny and Clawdeen exclusively at this time though. The idea is interesting.