Prologue: A Very Big Day
It was a very, very big day at Monster High that cold, winter day.
The fearleading squad had been rehearsing for the entire last week for the big event. Ever since its founding, Monster High was revered as a safe haven for monsters to be themselves. Most importantly it was a place of acceptance and tolerance to anyone who wished to enter its hallowed halls. And the fearleading squad was going to make extra sure of that on that day.
"Come on, ghouls! We want to get it right for showtime, and I'm not getting a very 'welcome to Monster High' vibe here!" Cleo de Nile said, after rehearsing the routine for what must have been the hundredth time that morning.
"Could I at least put my jacket on before ve start? I'm freezing here," Draculaura said, shivering in her fearleading uniform.
"Yeah. Even I don't have enough voltage to stay warm," Frankie Stein said, her stitches nearly loosening from all her shivering.
"Nuh-uh-uh. There are no jackets worn in this routine. Any extra apparel would only throw off my carefully calculated choreography," Cleo said.
"I don't know what's up with you ghouls. I'm feelin' pretty good here," Clawdeen Wolf said, as she fixed her hair.
"Of course you're fine! You have a fur coat you can never take off!" Draculaura said.
"An' I never stop lookin' good in it," Clawdeen replied, showing off her brown fur, which seemed to grade into the color of her fearleading uniform.
"Ooh! Clawdeen, are you doing something different with your fur?" Frankie asked.
"I started using a new conditioner. I didn't think it was possible, but it made my coat even glossier. Shame I had to use the whole bottle in one go," Clawdeen said, turning around to expose her back, making her fur shine in the morning sun.
"As much as I hate myself for saying this, now is not the time to give hair care tips. We have a whole production to get right, the preparations for which are not even finished, and we have showtime any minute now!" Cleo said. She turned to her good friend, Ghoulia Yelps. "Ghoulia? How are things at the front of the school?"
"Ehhh-Yuhhhh!" Ghoulia moaned back, as she flipped through the pages of her clipboard.
"We would have the banner up already if certain someones could reach it," Clawdeen's older brother, Clawd, said, holding up one side of a large banner across the entrance.
"Alright. So we're both too short to reach the top. Big deal," Heath Burns said, trying to reach the top of the entryway with the banner in his hand.
"You were supposed to…get a ladder…" Gill Webber strained, holding Heath on his shoulders.
"All the ladders were already taken. The only thing left was a milk crate for Clawd to stand on. It's not my fault he's tall as a mountain to begin with. Now, hold still. I'm gonna try standing on your shoulders," Heath said.
"You're what!?" Gill said.
"Unclench, man. It's just a few more inches."
Clawd rolled his eyes as he watched Gill shake under the shifting weight of Heath. However, his friends were saved by the timely arrival of another friend.
"On your toes, bro," Deuce Gorgon said.
Gill did as he was instructed, and felt something slipped beneath his heels. With Deuce's hands on his back he was able to stand on Deuce's textbook and allow Heath to rise up high enough to reach the spot where he needed to hang the banner.
"I got it!" Heath triumphantly shouted, his flames flaring up brightly.
Too brightly, as the corner of the banner started to singe. Heath yelped and pulled back sharply from the banner and started to fall over. Deuce was there to catch Gill, as Heath went plummeting into the snowbank next to the steps.
"Thanks, Deuce," Gill said.
"Yeah…Nice save," Heath groaned as he popped out of the snowbank.
A pile of snow was blown on top of him, leaving only his head exposed.
"You are tough enough to handle a little snow, are you, flame boy?" Abbey Bominable asked, as she used her power to push away another bank of snow.
"I can melt an iceberg with the fire you give me, baby," Heath said, the snow around him melting away.
"Good. Then you can help to clear snow avay. Ve try to make entry look as good as ve can," Abbey said.
"Work!?" Heath's flames extinguished. "I mean, uh, yeah. I bet you and me could kindle up some great work together."
Abbey sighed and shook her head.
"One of these days, you vill have to make commitment beyond simple flirtation," Abbey said, as she led Heath to the work area.
"What do you mean?" Heath asked.
His question was never answered as he and Abbey passed by the other students who were doing whatever they could to make the entryway as presentable as they could. Among them, Mistress Bloodgood was riding atop her beloved steed, Night Mare, who was fitted with a yoke that had a snow plow attached to it.
"Hurry along, Night Mare. We only have so much time to shovel this snow away," Mistress Bloodgood said.
Night Mare nickered indignantly, as if to ask who 'we' was.
As Night Mare plowed along, some of the overflow from her plow nearly buried Monster High's resident fall guy, Hoodude Voodoo. He had to back away quickly to keep from being buried by the snow, because he knew that if anything ever happened to himself, it would be everyone else who paid for it. Looking at the extra snow that he had been given to deal with, he picked up his shovel and carefully scooped it up.
"Easy… Easy…" Hoodude said to himself.
"Trying to stay out of trouble?"
A smooth, silky voice purred behind Hoodude. Turning around, he saw the familiar sight of Toralei Stripe, who was flanked as always by her cronies, Meowlody and Purrsephone.
"Purrr-sonally, I think the whole school would feel safer if you occupied yourself with a less dangerous job than shoveling snow. Maybe you'd be better off posing for the ice sculptures?" Toralei suggested.
Meowlody and Purrsephone both mewed nastily.
There was a burst of exhaust as Robecca Steam rocketed in and shoveled away all of the snow around Hoodude in one swift movement.
"And maybe you'd be better off doing your own job and putting the tinsel on the shrubberies, instead of antagonizing innocent bystanders. Now, dearie, be a good little lapkitty and get back to work. We all have to pull together for today," Robecca said.
"I don't see why I should have to bend over backwards for this. I really couldn't give a hangnail either way. It just all seems like a lot of pomp and circumstance to make some monster feel more special than they actually are. Because, of course, we know that some monsters are more special than others," Toralei said, posing like a model for an invisible crowd. She narrowed her eyes at Hoodude, "And that others are less."
Hoodude hung his head as Robecca stepped forth.
"And you're going to find out just how low you are on the ladder of special monsters when I tell Mistress Bloodgood that you've been tangling yourself up like a kitten with the tinsel, instead of decorating with it," she said.
"Fine. Have it your way. I'll just do it for the sake of getting this all over with," Toralei said, turning to take her leave.
Meowlody and Purrsephone both stayed a moment to offer a provocative glance to Robecca and Hoodude, before following after their leader.
"Good riddance to bad kitties," Robecca said. "You mustn't let what they say get to you, Hoodude. You're worth more than the three of them combined."
"Yeah. I know. But, I'd like to hear someone else say it once in a while," Hoodude answered. He fidgeted with the shovel he held, and bit his stitched lips. "Are you ready for today?"
"As ready as I can be. I just hope everyone else is prepared for this," Robecca answered, making sure nobody else heard her.
The fear squad just finished their routine rehearsal once more, and again they were–
"Flawless!" Cleo said, "Oh, as if I had any doubt. You ghouls would never let me down on this most important of days!"
There was muffled applause from nearby, as Lagoona Blue clapped her mittened hands from atop her ladder as she was decorating the trees with colorful ornaments.
"Congrats again on this whole turnout. I'm still surprised you were able to get so many students involved," Lagoona said in her Australian twang.
"It's easy when you make them all remember what makes Monster High so great," Frankie said.
"And that's even easier vhen you're still so new," Draculaura added, gently nudging Frankie's side.
"Speaking of 'new,'" Clawdeen began, "What do we know so far?"
"Not much. I've tried to learn as much as I could from the Ghostly Gossip, but even Spectra doesn't seem to know much. The best she could come up with was that he's not from around here," Draculaura said, checking her iCoffin.
"Like a monster from another state? Ooh! I heard the Michigan dogman's been really active lately! Maybe it's his son!" Clawdeen said.
"My sources tell me that they're not even from this planet. We may have the first extraterrestrial students at Monster High. And I'll be there to greet them," Cleo said.
"And just who are your sources?" Lagoona asked as she descended her ladder.
"My servant staff, of course. You can get a lot of good gossip by hanging around the rabble."
"I heard that it's Kindergrubber's great-great-great-great grandson from Europe. I hope so. European boys are so hot!" Draculaura said.
"Hotter than my brother?" Clawdeen asked.
"Vell, he has his charms. But, who can resist a sexy French accent? Do you think Clawd vould speak vith one if I asked him to?"
"Much as I love hearin' you try to French up my brother, I think we have other things to worry about," Clawdeen said.
There was a loud whistle, and the fear squad looked to see Ghoulia waving them over.
"Ehhh-Hehhh!" Ghoulia excitably moaned
"It's time!' Cleo said. "Get ready, ghouls! It's showtime!"
Ghoulia sounded the call to the others, who all quickly finished what they were doing. Lagoona hung up the last ornament on the trees. Clawd almost fell off of his milk crate just as he was finished straightening his side of the banner, which unfurled to read a great, bold welcome.
"Everyone hurry! It's time!" Mistress Bloodgood said.
Every one of the students hastily finished up their chores. Toralei simply rolled her eyes and idly threw the last of the tinsel on the shrubberies, before she joined the others at the entrance.
They all looked down the path that led to the entrance, and saw what they had all been preparing for. Far off in the distance, a lone figure was walking toward them. Too far away to tell who, or even what it was. But, everyone knew that it was going to be someone truly special.
"Cor. Smells like fresh meat approachin', eh, Rotter?" Mr. Hack said, rubbing his thumb over his cleaver.
"That won't be necessary," Mr. Rotter said, taking the cleaver and chucking it over his shoulder, where it lodged into a zombie's chest. "The first day at school will tear apart the spirit of any newcomer…"
Nearby, Ms. Kindergrubber finished casting her spells on the flowers in their planters, making them sparkle like jewels. Once she was done, she looked down the path to the entryway. The figure was closer now. She rubbed her hands together and smiled as pleasantly as she could.
"Who is it? I can't see a bloody thing back here," Scarah Screams said as she tried to peer out through the entrance from the front steps.
"It looks like a boy. But, it's hard to tell what he is," Iris Clops said, squinting her one enormous eye.
The figure walked closer to the school, and the entire courtyard grew more excited.
"Hold on there! Is that a guitar Ah see on his back?" asked Operetta. "Heaven knows ya can't have too many musicians in one place."
"I just hope he isn't some zombie or anything with slime. I couldn't be seen with a boy like that," Toralei said, as she touched up her makeup.
"Is he big enough to play graveball? We can always use an extra guy for the team," Manny Taur said.
"Forget it, Manny! He's playing casketball with the Heathster," Heath said.
"He'll do what he wants when he gets here," Deuce said. "No doubt, though. He looks pretty big."
The figure was upon the gates of the school's entrance.
Ghoulia stood at the ready and moaned to Cleo.
"That's the signal. Ready ghouls!" Cleo said.
"Ready!" the rest of the fear squad answered.
Festive lights were lit around the entrance, and the figure stopped to look at them. Confetti and glitter showered the walkway, and the decorated plants all shimmered with their decorations. Mistress Bloodgood rode up on Night Mare's back, sitting tall and proud atop her steed.
"On behalf of all Monster High, I welcome you!" she warmly greeted.
Night Mare reared back and whinnied in response, before trotting out of the way for the fear squad to execute their routine. At his table, Holt Hyde started the music for the routine, and the ghouls strutted their stuff.
Everything was better than perfect. The music. The decorations. And the choreography of the fear squad was beyond anything that anyone had seen before. And the cheer was everything that they wanted it to be.
Welcome, friends, to Monster High,
Where werewolves prowl,
And spirits fly,
Monster High, it is the best,
A better place than all the rest,
A place where you can be yourself,
So take your weirdness off the shelf,
You sure got our spirits zoomin',
If you're monster,
Or a–
The cheer ended abruptly, the music ended, and the entire courtyard went silent when they all saw who had arrived.
The sky seemed somehow greyer, taking all the shine out of the ornaments and tinsel that was hung about. A stray bolt from Frankie, and the lights on the entryway all shorted out, seeming to create a gloomy shadow around the newcomer.
He was big. That much was for certain. The only monster present who was taller than him was Clawd. And he had at least as much muscle as Manny. On his back, he carried a guitar case. In his hand, he had a small duffel bag.
Though they were only clothes, they seemed somehow intimidating on him. He was covered mostly by a large overcoat that reached down to his knees, which was covered in patches of bloodshot eyes, flaming skulls, unusual runes and symbols, and what looked like the names of dozens of different bands. His jeans were shredded almost beyond wearability, and his boots were capped with steel toes. Strangest of all was the chain he wore around his waist, which was wrapped three times around his middle like a sash. And even stranger than that was that he was a human. A normie. Not a complete oddity at Monster High, but definitely different from any other they had seen.
He stood there, his blonde hair seeming to ignite like Heath's as he stared blankly at the students and faculty that had come to greet him. After so much silence, he finally sighed and forced a smile.
"Well, don't stop having fun on my account," he said. When he got no answer, he shrugged. "Are you gonna let me in? Or are we all waiting to get frostbite?"
There was still no answer, so the boy simply shook his head and walked toward the doors. All of the other monsters cleared out of his way as he approached them. All but Holt, who stubbornly stayed by his DJ station. He tried to say something, but it was too late when the new kid bumped into his table, making his needle drop back onto the record. It landed outside the grooves of his records, creating a loud, unpleasant scratching sound.
"Sorry about that, DJ," the new kid said.
Holt didn't answer, and instead covered his ears and fell to the ground as the scratching warped its way into his mind.
"You okay?" the newcomer asked, removing the needle from the disc. No answer. And the new kid turned to address the crowd. "Somebody check on this guy. I don't think he's okay."
There was still no reply from the crowd, who stared dead-eyed at him.
The new kid sighed through his forced smile and approached the steps. Hoodude rubbed his hands together and tried not to make eye contact, as Robecca tried to comfort him. Ms. Kindergrubber stepped forward to take the first initiative.
"Welcome to Monster High," she greeted as cheerfully as she could.
The new kid didn't make any indication that he had heard her and started his way up the steps.
Nobody present appreciated the rude dismissal. But, it was only Clawdeen who made it apparent.
"Hold on a second! You can't just ignore someone who's welcomin' you to school!" she said.
"Mm-hm," the new kid said, as he ascended the first step without looking at Clawdeen.
"Don't 'mm-hm' me! You better turn around an'–" Clawdeen said.
She reached out to grab him by his coat, but grabbed his chain instead. The second her fingers touched the links, the new kid whipped around and grabbed her by the wrist.
Clawdeen was known for her nerves of steel, but even she was surprised by the speed of his movement. What surprised her even more was how intensely he was glaring at her. As if she had just kicked his puppy across the schoolyard. It was then that she realized that her wrist was in no pain, and she pulled it loose from his grip. She took a step back and bared her teeth at him, silently daring him to try that again.
Toralei smirked as she watched the scene from the top of the railing. Even if the enemy of her enemy was not her friend, it was good to see someone else who could take the fear squad down a peg.
Then, without another word, the new kid walked up the rest of the steps and disappeared through the doors.
"Wow…" Gill exhaled.
"Was it something we said?" Frankie wondered.
Nobody could say for sure what had gone so wrong with the welcoming of a new student. The only thing they knew for certain was that they had one monster of a human roaming their halls.
There was a quiet groaning behind Holt's DJ table, and his alter ego, Jackson Jekyll, stood up and rubbed his head. The first thing he noticed was the stupefied crowd.
"What'd I miss?" he asked.
A/N: And that's the end of the prologue. Hey there, everybody. Nice to be back. This whole business we got here was inspired by my niece's newfound fanhood of Monster High. She's also at that age where she's starting to notice boys (how fast they grow), and wanted to create her own fan character. Since she has no prior writing experience, she commissioned me, her dear old uncle, to make a story with a character that she created. Although she did write the cheer that the ghouls perform. Cheerleading is another thing that she's getting into.
She hasn't said it, but I'm guessing that my niece took inspiration from both me and her dad for this new character. He's big and muscular like I am, but his clothing style and his playing guitar is taken from her dad. There are a few other certain details about the character that are completely original, like the chain for instance, and will come up in the story a little bit later.
In this first chapter, we've met a bunch of the players in this story. The ghouls. The boys. A few background characters. Some of the teachers. I don't know how prominent Mr. Hack or Mr. Rotter will be, but I hope there's room for them somewhere, because they are both hilariously evil. Mr. Rotter in particular reminds me of a teacher I had once upon a time. We also have a few future connections building here. So far, the new guy has attracted attention from Hoodude, Robecca, Toralei, Ms. Kindergrubber, and especially Clawdeen, who he seems to have an immediate enmity towards.
How are things going to fare for this unwelcome guest at Monster High? Stick around for the rest of the story and see.