Birthday Bash 2022

20th Anniversary!

Prompt 3

Happy Birthday/Wild Card, using the prompt

Reincarnation

xxXxx

The intern was a bit nervous about fixing a small microphone to the silken black shirt of Count Dracula. The vampire could hear the man's heart beat pound as excitedly as a stampede but kept his amusement to himself.

It would help him combat his own nerves. "Thank you," he informed the intern politely once it was secure.

The young man smiled while laughing a bit nervously, taking a few steps back. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, but thank you for asking," Drac responded with a small bow of the head, being careful not to show any other emotion when the man scampered away.

He knew it would have been too much to hope for, that every human would be all right with monsters coming out in the open.

"You look great, Dad," Mavis promised before giving him a hug. "Just remember; this interview could help all monsters."

"I know, my blood orange," he cooed, slipping his arms out of his cape to hold his precious child. "But this is still outside my element."

"Not really," Johnny corrected with a lazy smile. "You've been making speeches in front of monsters for years."

"Exactly," Drac agreed before nervously looking at the curtain. "Monsters."

"You'll be fine, Dad," Mavis assured him with a confident smile. "Just show them who you are when you're with me, and they can't hate you."

He gave her another smile full of love before a different intern with a clipboard came forward.

"Three minutes to showtime, we'll need the two of you in the waiting room. It has a live feed, so you'll be able to see everything."

"Good luck, Dad," his daughter wished him before levitating herself high enough to press a kiss to his cheek. "We'll be fine."

"Of course, Mavie," he agreed, though it still went against his instincts to watch his daughter and her Zing get escorted away from him by a human.

He forced himself to be steady and move a little closer to the curtain. 'Mavis will be different even if trouble breaks out. Martha was never good in a fight. I made sure Mavis wouldn't have that problem.' His heart trembled again at the thought of his dear wife, but the only visible sign he allowed himself to give was a soft sigh that she wasn't there with him. She'd always known how to soothe his fears.

She was the only one he'd admitted any fears to, until recently.

He patiently waited out the introductory music, as well as the welcoming speech by the show's host.

"-and today, have we all got a treat in store! If someone had told me last year that I was going to get the chance to interview one of the most famous monsters on the planet, I would have personally chucked them into a loony bin. But what a year it's been, right folks?!"

More than a few audience members had laughed at the 'loony bin' comment, but there was a thunderous applause from everyone agreeing at how radically the world has changed since monsters had come out of hiding.

"Now, I knew that as soon as I heard that monsters were real, I had to get at least one on my show, and honestly, they've been some of my favorite interviews!" the host continued excitedly. "I know I can't speak for any of my beloved audience, but I've enjoyed seeing all the ways that while they are different from humans, there's a shocking amount of things that we have in common. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to do this interview even if I got a yes, but thanks to Heinrich Josef, the amazing inventor of the Ghost Lens, I get the distinct pleasure of the first public interview with the Undead King himself! Everyone: give it up for the one and only Count Dracula!"

It almost seemed impossible that there were humans cheering to see him. He knew it wasn't the first time, but it still felt surreal as he glided out from his place behind the curtain and into plain sight of a different sort of mob and shining torches.

The middle-aged man strode forward and eagerly held his hand out with an almost child-like grin. "I can't tell you how much of an honor it is that you agreed to this interview."

Dracula smiled and gave him a gentle handshake by his own standards. "I must admit that I wasn't expecting interviews to be a byproduct of coming out of the shadows."

"Well, I'm glad you consented! Please, sit," the man urged while gesturing at a comfortable chair.

Still feeling a bit nervous, Dracula made himself comfortable as the host did the same behind his desk. 'This shouldn't be hard; he did give me practice questions so I won't be too off-guard.'

The host was still beaming like the sun as he ran through his little notecards. "Now to start off; would you mind clarifying whether or not you're actually a count?"

"Yes," Drac answered easily since this was familiar ground. "You see, three hundred years ago I was granted the title by Prince Ilvich after I rescued him from a midnight beheading while he was out hunting with his advisors. That was a common practice back in the day; if someone in power was proving problematic, it was normal for them to fall in a 'hunting accident'. I didn't find out he was a prince until after the fact; all I knew was that he was still growing out of being a child and a bunch of older men were holding him down for the axe."

The host was gaping like a fish.

"I was doing my own hunting that night," Drac clarified. "Despite the stories, I preferred deer blood over human. Deer have a very typical diet and lifestyle, but I have since switched to a blood substitute. I can barely tell the difference."

It was probably a good idea to get that out there from the start. He knew the news station had gone out of their way to root out anyone in the staff or audience that would want to trigger him to avoid an incident on camera, but he wanted to at least quell that paranoia.

"So you have had human blood before?" the host asked a bit more nervously.

Drac nodded and answered casually. "A few times in self-defense, but I avoid it when possible since human blood's not to my liking at all. Vampires can eat other things, but the rumor mill made sure that everyone knew about the blood."

"Oh? What other things do you eat?" the host asked while relaxing a bit.

"Oh, many things. I do prefer my substitute, but I'm also fond of monster ball soup, scream cheese, mice bites, worm pancakes-"

His ears picked up someone from the audience retching.

"My daughter's fond of those things as well, but thanks to traveling with Johnny, she's developed a taste for… slurpees, she called them?" he tried to remember while trying not to sound like an idiot.

"Oh yes, those are good," the host agreed a bit hurriedly before moving on to the next question in his little stack of notes. "Now, obviously you're still alive, but was there any grain of truth to the book bearing your name?"

"Oh, that book," Dracula groaned before rising to his feet and facing the audience. "Here are the few grains of truth that managed to slip in. I can become a wolf-" he demonstrated by changing into a large black one.

The crowd was immediately in uproar, though he was delighted to hear that some of it was raging approval.

"I can also become a bat," Dracula continued, half jumping into the air to switch to wings, though he quickly had to change back to his own form since the microphone had nothing to grab onto while he was a bat.

He took a second to fix it back into place, now that he had seen how the intern did it. "The mist is also true." He showed them by dissolving into purple mist and racing halfway across the stage before taking his own form again.

The audience was nearly crazed now, so he used his mist trick to rush back to his seat and reform on it. He patiently waited a few minutes for everyone to calm down before speaking again. His nerves were on edge since one crazed mob more or less resembled any other. "I also can walk on walls and the ceiling, but maybe I should save that for later since everyone is getting overstimulated. Abraham van Helsing was a real person, but the book did not mention that he was merely the last generation of his family to try to vanquish me." He tallied them off on his long fingers while rolling his eyes at their memory. "His dad, his granddad, his great-great granny. I defeated them all, but they absolutely would not let go of the hate. And I'm still upset at the cost it took to make them stop," he admitted as the old guilt returned with a vengeance.

"Oh?" the host asked, a bit worried at the sudden mood change. "What was the cost?"

"The bravest human I'll ever meet. Even when I was at my worst at hating humans, all one of my friends had to do was say 'Lucy' to take the wind out of my sails."

"Lucy? Lucy Westenra?" the host guessed with a gasp, making the vampire nod miserably.

"Her real name was Louise, but she preferred Lucy. You know," he realized as he suddenly looked out at the captivated audience. "I don't think there's a better time to fully explain the truth about her. I was more than a little upset when Johnny told me how movies portrayed her, and she deserves to be recognized for the hero she is."

The host immediately put down his notecards and propped his chin on both fists, much like a child that was eager for a bedtime story.

Dracula took in a long cleansing breath before starting. "The year was 1897. I was traveling with my friends; Frank, Wayne, Griffon, Murray, and a new monster we had picked up."

"Were they all vampires?" the host asked curiously.

"Oh no!" Drac laughed. "Everyone knows Frankenstein, Wayne is a werewolf, Griffon's an Invisible Man, and Murray's a mummy. The new monster we had picked up was a German baron that had been human, but thanks to a werecat that had attacked and deliberately infected him, he became a werecat as well. His name is Humbert, but we all called him Baron since it didn't suit him at all."

Drac shook his head sadly. "Contrary to popular belief, 'were' monsters only look like humans during the full moon, so there was no chance of him hiding his new condition. He was run out of his own baronetcy and declared dead. It's a good thing we found him, because he was very distraught at losing literally everything and everyone he held dear. We helped the best we could, but Griffon was the only one of us that used to be human, and he had nothing to lose after his change, so none of us could relate to his loss in a way he needed."

The vampire leaned back in his chair while crossing one leg as he thought about that fateful day. "He was particularly upset about not finding a wife before it happened. I have no trouble believing there were applicants, but he had his heart set on a sincere companion, and he's very stubborn. We tried consoling him by telling him about soul recognition, but it did little to alleviate his depression."

"Soul recognition?" the host asked in confusion, making the count laugh slightly.

"My own Martha renamed it 'Zing' later. When a monster meets the one they're supposed to be with, there is an intense connection that both feel, and it's obvious to anyone that's looking at them because a purple light flashes through the eyes of both sides. The exact moment it happens, there's no room for doubt about who you should spend the rest of your life with. Lucy was how I found out that it didn't matter if one of them was human. We had just boarded a train under flowered shawls to look like old women to the uninterested eye because as monsters, we could never stay in one place too long if we didn't want to be killed. This lovely young lady must have been on the train for a while, because she had no trouble catching herself on the back of Baron's seat. She tripped on a fold in the carpet while heading back to her seat that had a few things still on it. She was halfway through a recited apology when Baron turned on instinct to accept it, and it was as plain as day."

Drac shook his head sadly. "I will admit that I was a bit upset that the new monster found his mate before any of us did, but thankfully Lucy didn't raise an alarm when she realized what he was, and us as well. It was actually charming to watch her attempt to sneak glances at him behind her, and I'd have rather paid attention to that over Mina," he growled with remembered irritation. "The book was correct that Mina and Lucy had been best friends since childhood, and I need no further proof that Lucy had the patience of a saint than listening to Mina prattling on about everything that was going on around her."

He held up a thumb and finger with barely any space between them. "I was this close to hypnotizing her into thinking she was mute before Lucy was able to shake off her confusion about Baron enough to pretend to sleep on Mina's shoulder for four hours straight to make her be silent."

"You sure she wasn't actually asleep?" the host asked.

"Very certain. I can hear heartbeats, and they slow down when the owner is asleep. Hers was racing like a stallion ever since she laid eyes on Baron, and she was able to say 'Mina' sleepily enough to keep her friend from prattling on anyway." He smiled a bit foolishly at the memory. "I was on the other side of the aisle from her, so I could see what she wrote in her diary after they had some dinner and she sang Mina to sleep. She knew what we were, but instead of flying off the handle, she used both her intellect and instinct to discern that we meant no harm to anyone on the train- sweet darkness, I miss her!" he exclaimed in frustration while holding one hand to the side of his head and praying he wasn't going to start crying on international television.

"Do you have any idea how good it felt?! To be given a fair chance, and not just villainized for being a monster?! I was over four hundred years old at that time, and Lucy was the first human I've even heard of that could be so calm and accepting at first contact! Even Johnny lost his mind when he realized he was the only one in my hotel wearing a costume! If all humans had just that one trait of hers, we could have been out in the open all along and never had to worry if we would see our families again if we took our eyes off each other for even a minute!"

Martha would still be here with him, if the world could handle that one small mercy.

No one had anything to say. There had been little whispers in the audience, but now the place was completely still, and all attention was on him.

Drac didn't want to let himself believe in too much, but he could almost feel that at least a few hearts were softening from his obvious pain. He took in a few steadying breaths before continuing. "The little else I was able to glean from her writing is that the reason she was on the train was at least partially to get away from someone named 'Arthur' who was a lord's son and wanted to marry her. Don't bother asking anything about him, that's literally all I know of the man. She was intensely interested in talking to 'her cat', even if she kept scolding herself for calling Baron that and ran through a few possibilities that wouldn't work without drawing attention. She settled for passing him a note through me and the others, telling him her full name, place of future employment and when she would be starting 'if he needed a friend'."

Drac smiled happily at the memory. "It's too bad I didn't know beforehand I was going to be talking about her, or-"

He was cut off when the screen behind the host lowered, surprising the man as well as the vampire.

Once it was down, the portrait of a beautiful young lady was on full display thanks to a projector. Half-turned in her train seat to look behind her; dressed every inch a proper lady of the time, and a dazzling smile of happiness on her red lips as her cheeks flushed pink with excitement.

"Thank you, Mavis," Dracula concluded lovingly without much trouble. "This is one of the portraits Baron's painted of the exact moment he mouthed to her, 'I'll come for you'. I don't even want to think about how many portraits of her he's done by now."

The host swore in appreciation under his breath, forgetting that he was on international television as he stared at the woman in the portrait. "She could light up a city with a smile like that!"

"I always thought so," Drac agreed sadly. "But Baron never got the chance to come for her. Van Helsing saw to that."

The host quickly turned back to him with a new fire in his eyes. "What did he do?!"

"Van Helsing came into our train car like he already knew we were in there. He intentionally lit a match in front of Frank, which blew our cover thanks to his phobia, and we all ran out of the car. We started running over the tops of the cars to avoid his strange gun, but I could see we were running out of train to escape over. Monsters can take a lot of punishment compared to humans, and I knew van Helsing wanted me more than any of them, so I pushed them off the train so we could meet up again later."

"What does any of this have to do with Lucy?" the host demanded impatiently.

"Patience," Dracula told him sternly before continuing the tale, even if it made that horrible night return in full force. "Just as I had made it to the caboose, I felt a stinging in my leg from a dart. I've speculated more than once about what was in it, because it was enough to numb my leg and bring me down. Van Helsing had me right where he wanted me, and I had nowhere to run."

He reached over to grab the corner of the desk and squeeze it gently for just something solid to hold onto. "Just as he was pulling the trigger, Lucy stabbed him in the back with her hat pin. That… brave, stubborn, foolish girl had actually pursued us on the chase just in case we needed help!"

The host blinked before looking up at the portrait again. "Wasn't that the time period when women were wearing corsets?"

"And high heeled boots," Drac added while shaking his head, still amazed at her determination. "Baron's read her diary since; she had never been one to let such things limit her when someone needs her help." He closed his eyes in agony. "Her last words were 'leave them alone!' I don't know if she saw which of us van Helsing was threatening. I don't know if it would have meant anything to her at all. But… van Helsing began thrashing about from the pain, the train was still running strong and… I still hate myself for not being able to grab her before his thrashing knocked both of them off the train. Humans are so much more fragile than my kind."

The host was gaping in horror. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't figure out the right thing to say as he kept sneaking glances at the portrait being shown over his head.

There was some low murmuring from the audience, an interesting contrast of how many were sad that such a life had ended so young, versus blaming him for not being able to catch her.

Never mind how much of that he had done without help in the century and more since her death. "You can imagine how heartbroken Baron was, when I was forced to explain what happened when I was able to fly to them, since I had trouble walking for a good day after the dart got me. We did what we could to collect her remains and give them the best burial possible with our bare hands, with Baron only keeping her diary to remember her by. He's still grieving her to this day, but he made up his mind that he doesn't want her to be disappointed in him when or if he eventually dies. He's made a Refuge in the Black Forest for all turned monsters so that they have somewhere to grieve their old lives and have support while they relearn how to handle their bodies and provide for themselves. I have little doubt that Lucy would be proud of him for not sinking into despair."

He felt even guiltier that however brief, he had still gotten Martha longer than Baron had gotten Lucy. "The year after her death, I met and Zinged with my wife. The only reason my daughter's middle name is Lucy instead of her first is because of how much Martha preferred 'Mavis' and wanted our daughter to be her own person. Baron never allowed me to forget that everything I have, I owe to a human. Even after my wife was killed by a mob and my hatred for humans grew, Baron always visited Mavis enough to make sure she knew that if there was one like Lucy, there were bound to be more. This portrait is one of Baron's birthday presents to my daughter, to make sure she never forgets, and that I don't either."

Drac couldn't resist the urge to hold one fist to his heart in salute as he smiled up at his rescuer. "Baron put it best; quick to apologize, slow to pass judgment. Swift to befriend, and even swifter to defend. A true friend and protector, no matter who you are."

The host was shaking his head in numb disbelief. "… No wonder you wanted to correct the movies. Now I want to watch a movie with that Lucy!" Then he blinked and held one hand to his ear in concentration. "Interesting. Count Dracula, this wasn't a planned part of the interview, but the station is getting an abnormal amount of calls from Japan, and they're insisting I let at least one of them through."

Drac nodded, though a bit dubiously. "I'm afraid my Japanese is archaic at this point."

"I'm sure the team made sure translation wouldn't be a problem," the host assured him before giving a signal with his index finger. "Hel-"

"Am I on?! Can Dracula hear me?!" a panicked young woman asked with only a trace of an accent.

"I can hear you," Drac confirmed, wondering why she sounded so desperate.

"Dracula, I think your Lucy's been reincarnated as my classmate, Haru Yoshioka! I was getting chills long before the portrait, but that's her, I swear!"

He was so startled that he immediately rose to his feet, never minding the roar of shocked outcry from the audience. Even as he opened his mouth to demand answers, the young woman kept talking.

"You didn't just describe Haru, you described Hiromi as well! Haru's done the 'pretending to be asleep' thing on class trips to keep her best friend from driving the rest of us crazy, and Haru absolutely is a sweet, quiet girl that likes monsters and thinks she can turn into a ten-foot tall Amazon if someone needs her help! I have no trouble at all believing she did what you described, and I can guarantee she didn't care if van Helsing was threatening 'her cat' or literally anyone else!"

Dracula was shocked, but… he didn't want to let himself hope if it was just a coincidence. "I don't suppose you sent the station a photo of your Haru?"

"Even better; I forced them to look up a YouTube video of Haru in action at a festival last year! Haru's still grounded from what she did on that Ferris Wheel!"

He quickly turned to the host. "Make them play that!" he demanded, making the man nod eagerly and give another hand signal.

The room turned a few shades darker as the portrait of Lucy became replaced with the raw footage that even Drac could recognize as being from a cell phone.

It was her.

To a chorus of screaming voices, a brown-haired, brown-eyed, and distinctly teenage version of his dear rescuer was running down one of the many supports holding the seats suspended in the air. She was wearing a white turtleneck dress that came to her knees which gave her freedom of movement as well as matching tall boots, and long behind the seat she departed from, someone could just be seen struggling against blue fabric, as if the girl had tossed aside a long coat before leaving her companion; Hiromi, perhaps? Whoever was pointing the camera at Haru had zeroed in on her face until her stubborn determination was all anyone could see.

Dracula was grateful he was finally getting a chance to see how she must have looked when running after van Helsing. Nothing could have stopped that kind of resolve! Not even someone shouting from a megaphone far below could break her concentration!

At least the Ferris Wheel wasn't moving anymore, but why would she do something so dangerous?!

Haru was heading toward the one holding the camera, but at the exact center of the spokes, she jumped and grabbed one that would lead her three seats above the one holding the camera, who began switching the prospective almost frantically between the foolhardy teenager and her target.

A desperately crying child that had obviously slipped out of his seat and was clinging onto the railing with both arms that were already turning weak. It was even worse that his head was clearly bleeding from the fall.

"Come on, Lucy," Dracula growled as his fists clenched, even though it was clear that she had lived past this incident. 'Please not this cost. Show everyone what you can do.'

That didn't stop his heart from racing as the distance between teenager and child rapidly decreased until Haru did a desperate lunge and grabbed the kid around his chest just as his grip was turning dangerously loose. Her other arm was around the railing to keep them steady when she dragged him to her chest and held him tight. There were dirty marks on her white dress and boots from who knew what was on the railing, as well as a cut on the arm and leg from the sharp edges, but she was clearly too busy to give a care.

"That's my Lucy," Dracula sighed with relief as the audience behind him began cheering wildly with relief at the same time the other riders of the Ferris Wheel roared their approval.

Haru pressed a kiss against the crying kid's head before looking around sternly, clearly planning out her next move and paying careful attention to the steep up climb she had taken to reach her target. She took in a deep breath and said something in Japanese to the little boy, who nodded and tightened his grip around her neck instead of scaffolding. She responded by carefully taking the neckline of his sweater between her teeth, which made her almost look like a mother cat holding a kitten.

"Oh yeah. I could see her being a werecat's soulmate," the host muttered, also seeing the similarity as Haru stood up and kept one arm wrapped firmly around the boy when she could but did have to use both arms at certain points while climbing over the center of the Ferris Wheel again and carefully making her way to the safest seat. Thankfully, she was moving slower and more carefully than before.

There was a couple on a date on the seat she approached, but they eagerly scooted over to make room for Haru, who kept the boy on her lap and hugging him tightly to make sure he wouldn't slip again.

It was only once she and her charge were safe that the full gravity of her actions seemed to hit her. The owner of the camera had zoomed in on her face again, so it was clear that she was terrified and panting from the experience as the woman of the couple hugged her and talked excitedly but sometimes with anger, as if scolding her but finding it hard not to see joy in her recklessness.

Haru seemed to center herself and pressed another kiss to the crying little boy in her arms, fully at peace with her decision as the Ferris Wheel began to turn again.

Then the video was over, and the live audience was still clapping and cheering like mad.

Dracula couldn't restrain his tears as a wild smile overtook his very being. "She's back. She's back! How's that for a movie about her?!" he couldn't resist crowing with delight at the host, who only nodded before shaking his head with a bewildered grin.

"She puts all of us to shame! No wonder Baron's still mourning her!"

Without another thought, Dracula pulled out the phone Johnny forced him to keep and started trying to make it obey him for once. "Come on, come on; Baron needs to know now!"

The host was still grinning like an idiot when he spoke again. "I normally don't allow guests to use phones on the set, but I fully support it this time!"

"Good, I would have ignored you if you tried to stop me," Drac responded in a tone that he hoped wasn't too rude as he held the phone to his ear and tried to repress the urge to tap his foot impatiently as the annoying ringing began its toll.

Within seconds, the line picked up.

"I already tracked down her number, address, and everything else," Baron informed him with deadly seriousness. "I was about to call her when you rang me. I'll talk to you later."

Dracula grinned happily while pocketing the phone again. "That's the first time I've ever been hung up on. Somehow, I didn't find it offensive."

"He already knew about Haru?" the host asked hopefully. "Is he watching the show?"

"He must have been," Dracula agreed happily while taking back his seat. "He's calling her as we speak."

The audience renewed their attempts to deafen everyone in the vicinity with their approval.

The host let out an explosive, relieved sigh once things calmed down a little. "What a turn this interview took! I bet a trip to Japan's in your near future."

"About a few minutes after this interview's over, yes," Dracula agreed with a wide smile, almost giddy at the chance to finally talk to his rescuer and introduce his daughter to her. "I imagine it will turn into a race between Baron and I."

The host tapped a pencil between his fingers with a worried expression. "If you don't mind me saying so, the sooner Haru meets even one of you, the better. As wonderful as having someone like her around must be, I'd feel better if she had someone around to rein in her enthusiasm a little."

"I completely agree," Dracula wasted no time assuring him with a darker look. "Burying her once was more than enough, and she appears to be even braver than her time as Lucy. I hope Haru's family doesn't mind monsters too much, is that one girl still on the air?" he asked curiously while looking up at the ceiling.

The host held one hand to his ear again while listening intently. "No, she's gone. But since Haru's still grounded from doing this last year, I'm sure her parents will be thrilled with any extra help keeping her safe from herself."

"Good point," Dracula said while relaxing. "The last thing I'd want is for her to get into a fight with her family over us. Baron says that Lucy's mother was… less than accepting to everything outside the lines of proper behavior," he reworded vaguely since he didn't want anyone to take too much offense at Baron's brasher language concerning the woman depicted in Lucy's diary.

The host winced. "That might have been another reason Lucy was on the train. Well, let's hope Haru hit the jackpot-"

Without warning, Drac's phone began ringing. He pulled it out curiously, his blue eyes narrowing in confusion. "Why is Baron already calling me back?" he muttered to himself, not caring that everyone heard him while accepting the video call. "What's…"

No one in the crowd missed it. The vampire's eyes widened as far as they could go as he became deathly still. A purple light flashed through his orbs, amplified by the number of lights focusing on him.

The host gaped breathlessly, realizing in an instant what was happening.

"… M-Martha?" Drac choked in disbelief as he stared at the phone he was desperately gripping with both hands.

The screen was split between a wildly smirking Baron, and with his own wife sharing the other half with his dear rescuer! He had noticed certain similarities before between Martha and Lucy over a century before, but they were definitely more prominent now that they were side by side, both grinning happily at the sight of him.

The response was easily caught on his microphone.

"It's Naoko this time. I'm very relieved you already love my little Haru, and I'll accept all help when it comes to keeping her safe from herself. Please don't forget to bring Mavis and Johnny when you come see us," his Zing begged him while trying not to cry from happiness.

"Yes, please bring them! You could have just said this is why you were crushing on Count Dracula so hard, Mom," Haru attempted to scold, but her smile was too big to make it stick as an actual reprimand.

Meanwhile, Drac had turned deaf to everything, including the audience that was roaring both their disbelief as well as their approval at the newest revelation.

Haru didn't mind him Zinging with her mother.

Whatever the situation was with her father, he was obviously not in the picture right now.

Baron managed to grin even more wickedly than before. "I'm sure I overheard you say something about a race? Ready, set, go!" he recited quickly before standing up from his chair.

Cradling the phone gently with one hand, Drac began unhooking the microphone as he also stood up. "I'll give you a longer interview with them to make up for leaving now," he quickly promised, setting the microphone on the desk before turning into mist and rushing off stage.

The host gaped after him, only panicking for a second on how to fill the rest of the time before turning a nervous smile back to the camera and hysterical crowd. "Well, that's one blended family no one's going to have to worry about! We'll be right back after these messages!"