Chapter 4: Vacation Ruins

"Okay, the bad part actually starts pretty good," said Frankie, "after Siegfried showed up he helped fight and destroy a few more Fangire, while Ian, Jessie and Lance helped fight the Orphnoch that kept popping up."

"How come the two Riders couldn't fight the different Kaijin?" asked Raven. She then looked at Avery, "I'm sure as Kabuto you easily wipe the floor with an Orphnoch and a Fangire."

"Especially how you speed up and go 'ZOOM!' and 'WOOO!' all over!" said Maddie eagerly.

"Clocking Up isn't as simple as that," said Tobias, "but essentially, yes, I believe we could defeat other species of Kaijin if given the chance."

"It's been proven that different Riders can destroy different Kaijin types," said Avery, "Just look what happens whenever Kadoya Tsukasa stirs up trouble in his travels. Or whenever any Rider teams up with another."

"My favorite time was when Gaim teamed up with the other Heisei Riders," said Dexter, "the Toqgers were there as well."

"Remind me to tell you all about the various Super Sentai at some point," said Tobias.

"Right," said Raven in a slightly unsure tone, "but I don't get why this Faiz got creamed by that Fangire."

"We don't know," said Frankie, "and believe me, we're trying to find out."

"What do you think we've been doing in my father's workshop?" asked Robecca, "dusting the gears?"

"We did have to do a lot of cleaning," said Clawdeen, "a lot of the stuff in here hadn't been touched since Hexiciah Steam built them two hundred years ago."

"Ugh, do you have any idea how hard it was to get all that dust and cobwebs out of here?" asked a disgusted Cleo.

"All you did was wave a feather duster around for five minutes before you staggered out like a kangaroo trapped in a sandstorm," said Lagoona.

"I thought you'd be used to dust after being in a tomb for thousands of years," said Cupid to Cleo.

"We Egyptians may have made the desert out home," said Cleo in a boldly prideful tone, "but we prefer to keep our houses clean, even houses for the dead."

"Or you get someone else to clean them for you," muttered Clawdeen as Apple finished healing her hands. The up and coming designer werewolf hastily ripped the bandages off her hands and fingers, flexing them and was delighted to find no pain.

"No need to thank me," sighed Apple as she cracked open her energy drink, "well, you can thank me, but just seeing your smile and enjoy your healed hands is gratitude enough."

"Oh, you deserve way more than a smile," said Clawdeen, "as soon as I get the chance, I'm designing you a new outfit. In fact, I'm inspired to make a whole fashion line based on you ghouls from Ever After

"Oh, that's not necessary," said Apple modestly.

"Are you topsy-turvy, Apple!?" exclaimed Maddie, "she's drawing inspiration from us! Never deny someone's inspiration, least you crush the creative flower before it has the chance to reach for the sun and spread its glory for all to see!"

"Uh…right," said Clawdeen. She then looked at Apple, "We'll talk about that later."

"Of course," said Apple as she took a sip of her energy drink. She then sat up straight, with an eager smile on her face, "alright, who's next!"

"No more delays!" said Cleo as she sat down in front of Apple, "as one member of nobility to another, I insist that I should have been treated first!"

"You take your turn and like it," said Abbey, "is fruit princess alright? She looks ready to run up and down Himalayas."

"I'm just restored, that's all," said Apple as she pulled out a special plastic covering for her soda can and put it on.

"Oh, you're restored, alright," said a worried Avery as he picked up the soda can, "what's in this stuff?"

At that Apple swiped the can out of Avery's hand before he could read the label and put it back in her purse, "sorry, kingdom secret, you understand, don't you? Oh, don't mind me, everyone, I'm fine. Do go on with the story, Frankie."

"Uh…. okay," said Frankie, "anyway, we fought and destroyed more Kaijin that kept coming after us as time went on, all of them demanding Draculaura's necklace. And in all those attacks, we never found out where they were coming from, who was telling them to make our lives miserable or even why they wanted the stupid necklace in the first place."

"We had one close call that was so ghastly," said Clawdeen, "Draculaura wished she had never found the necklace, and she never gives up any of her stuff."

"You should see what we had to do for her locker," said Cleo, "but that's another story."

"But then the attacks stopped about two weeks ago," said Frankie, "on a Wednesday and nothing happened for two days. For a while we thought the baddies had given up and we could breathe easy again." She then frowned and looked down, "and boy, were we wrong."

"What happened, Frankie?" asked Cupid with anxious anticipation, "please, tell me."

"That day, that horrible day," said Frankie, "it actually started out great, for that was the day that we finally got Hector finished. You should have seen him; everything was perfect from the tires to the roof, from headlight to taillight."

…Monster High Auto Shop…two weeks ago…Friday…

"He's turned over!" said Frankie as she sat behind the wheel of her car after successfully starting her it, the distinct sound of the car's engine rumbling could be heard throughout the garage as Clawdeen and the others stood nearby, "the engine, it's running!"

"Congratulations, Frankie," said Cleo as she and the others modestly clapped, "you've made lemonade out of a lemon."

"It's running! Can't you hear it?!" asked Frankie in a mildly deranged manner as she got out of the car, leaning over the Cadillac's hood, "It's running! The engine, it's running! He's alive! Hector's Alive!"

"Uh…Frankie?" asked Clawdeen nervously as she and the others looked on with worried eyes.

"He's alive! Hector's Alive!" shouted Frankie maniacally as she leaned against the car, her head tilted towards the heavens in rapturous joy, "He's Alive! ALIVE!" She then began laughing in a manner disturbingly similar to a certain mad scientist from who's creative genius lead to her own creation.

But then Frankie calmed down from channeling her grandfather and looked at her friends, whom were all looking at her as if she had truly lost her mind, "uh…sorry, everyone," said Frankie as she tried to laugh off her brief bout of madness.

…Hexiciah Steam's Workshop…Present Day…

"Don't try to laugh madness off!" said Maddie in an indignant tone, "you should embrace it! Make it your own! You'll never know what wonderful things can come from a single spark of insanity."

"Ummm…right," said Frankie, "anyway, I was so happy that Hector was running, I wanted to take him out on the road then and there."

"And Draculaura thought it was a great idea," said Lagoona.

"We all did," said Clawdeen, "It was the start of a three-day weekend and was still early in the day, but Draculaura wanted to go more than everyone else. In fact, she was all but bouncing off the walls."

"Where'd she want to go?" Cupid asked.

"Some out of the way tourist trap halfway to the beach," said Frankie, "which is where everyone else wanted to go."

At that Ghoulia moaned something.

"Yes, it was an unusual place for her to want to go," said Cleo, "but we know better now."

"We all packed up and drove to the beach for the weekend," said Frankie, "Ian, Jessie and Lace drove in their car, while Siegfried said he had to stay behind for a bit and check something out, but would catch up later.

"Everything was alright driving to the beach, especially driving Hector! He handled the highway perfectly, I was so happy!"

"I know, you couldn't stop smiling the whole way," said Robecca.

"Wish we had something to smile about," said Lagoona, "Me, Clawd, Gil and Draculaura drove with Jessie in her motor. The whole time over, Draculaura kept making waves about going to that bloody tourist trap. She almost tried to climb out the window when we passed the exit to where she wanted to go."

"I don't get it," said Cupid in a genuinely confused tone, "I know that Draculaura's a bit obsessive about some things and can act downright crazy sometimes, but what could possibly make her do that? What was at that tourist spot that she was so desperate to see?"

"Some weird castle some eccentric Normie billionaire tried to build back in the 1920's," said Cleo.

"The bloke supposedly lost everything when the Stock Market crashed," said Lagoona, "leaving the place unfinished."

At that Ghoulia moaned something.

"Oh, sorry, he started building it before WWII," said Lagoona, "and the bloke disappeared after the war."

"Why am I suddenly thinking of 'Citizen Kane?'" asked Avery.

"I'm thinking more along the lines of Howard Hughes," said Tobias.

"They didn't build the place," said Lagoona, "I forget which bloke it was, but the place remained a curio for tourists for a while, and Draculaura was ready to punch the door out and make a jump for it when the motor was going over 60 mph. She finally calmed down when Clawd promised that we visit the bloody place on the way back."

"We got to the beach in time for lunch, set up a volleyball net and were ready for an afternoon of fun in the sun," said Frankie, "followed by dinner on the beach, sleep at the motel we rented rooms at, then another day at the beach, then head back home on Sunday. It would have been a great day."

"But Draculaura just couldn't sit still," said Cleo, "she was pacing back and forth along the beach like a camel with too much water in its hump."

"I'll take your word for it," said Cupid.

"I thought vampires burned in direct sunlight," said Raven, "so going to the beach on a sunny day would be the last place for her."

At that Ghoulia moaned something.

"Yes, you do get props for inventing that special sunblock for vampires," said Cleo.

"We kept asking her what was wrong," said Frankie, "and Draculaura kept insisting that we had to go to the castle tourist spot. When we asked why, she said she didn't know but that she had to be there. It was as if every fiber of her being was screaming at her to go to this abandoned castle and it was driving her nuts."

"We all debated if we should head back home and take Draculaura to her doctor," said Clawdeen, "or go see what was so special about that crummy castle."

"But then Draculaura did something unforgivable," said Lagoona, "at least in Frankie's eyes."

"She grabbed Hector's keys and drove off with him," said an annoyed Frankie as she crossed her arms, her neck bolts sparking with her angst, "I know she was upset and didn't understand what was happening to her, but did she have to steal my car? Honestly, why'd it have to be MY car?"

"Well, she couldn't very well steal Jessie's car," said Clawdeen, "that heap has a kill switch or something. Seriously, Jessie's the only one who can get that thing started."

"Everyone else's cars have special anti-theft measures," said Cleo. She then looked at Frankie, "we could have installed the same security system on Hector, but you just had to take him out for a road trip then and there."

"I got Hector back," said Frankie stubbornly.

"And we lost Draculaura in the process!" exclaimed Clawdeen. She then looked at Cupid, "anyway, as soon as Draculaura pulled a GTA on Frankie's car, we all drove after her."

"It's not like she could get away," said Cleo, "We knew where we were going."

At that Ghoulia moaned something.

"Yeah, 'Ryan's Folly,'" said Cleo, "a place that will live in Monster infamy."

…Ryan's Folly…two weeks ago…Friday…

"Hector!" exclaimed Frankie as she jumped out of Jessie's SUV and ran across the parking lot to where her car was double parked. "Are you alright?" she asked as she lovingly stroked the Cadillac's hood, "did you get scratched? Did that crazy vampire get you scratched?"

"It's official, Frankie's gone off the deep end for real this time," said Lagoona as she, Gil, Cleo, Deuce, Clawdeen, Clawd, Howleen, Twyla, Jackson, Abbey, Ghoulia, Jessie, Ian and Lance, exited their vehicles and looked at their friend.

"Never mind Frankie!" exclaimed Clawd franticly, "where's Draculaura?"

"There!" shouted Jessie as she saw Draculaura running up a path from the parking lot to a massive, incomplete castle crumbling into ruins atop a nearby hill.

"So this is what Andrew Ryan tried to build before the Second World War," said Jackson as he and the others hurried up the path towards the castle, "he spent millions on it and never finished."

"Whatever happened to that guy?" asked Deuce, "I heard he was some kind of industrial bigwig."

"He supposedly foresaw the dangers of nuclear weapons and went into hiding," said Jackson, "some say he built a massive underwater city in the North Atlantic to preserve humanity in the event of World War 3, but that's just an urban legend."

"It'd better be an urban legend," said Lagoona, "I've got cousins in the North Atlantic, and if some Normies decided to build a city down there, they'd know about it."

By now they had reached the outer walls of the castle and found Draculaura franticly tearing through the incomplete stonework.

"Where is it!?" exclaimed Draculaura as she ripped large pieces out of the wall, "where is it?!"

"Where's what?" asked Frankie as she and the others cautiously walked closer, "Draculaura, what are you looking for?"

At that Draculaura looked at her friends with tears of emotional anguish falling from her distraught eyes, "I…I don't know!" she wailed, then collapsed to the ground, sobbing her heart out as Clawd rushed over and held her in his arms.

"Dude, this is pretty fudged up right now," said Deuce to Jackson.

"Ain't that the truth," said Jackson.

"It's going to be alright, Draculaura," said Clawd, "I don't know how, but it's going to be alright."

"I don't even know why I came to this place," sobbed Draculaura, "it's like…like some horrible feeling pulled me here to find something but…but…I don't even know what it is! But I've got to find it! I don't know why, but I feel that something terrible is going to happen if I don't find it!"

"Some sort of psychological disturbance?" said Lance to himself, "a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?"

"Don't get me started on Draculaura's problems," said Cleo.

"I'm serious," said Lance, "I'm no expert on vampire psychology, but perhaps this is an issue with Draculaura that's gone untreated for centuries."

"Well, she is over 1600 years old," said Jessie, "for all we know, this could be a mental disorder, like autism."

"I beg your problem!" snapped Cleo as she walked up to Jessie, a look of utter outrage on her face, "you dare to suggest that one of my best ghoulfriends is autistic without even so much as talking to a doctor?! What gives you the right to make such a determination?!"

"My sister back home is autistic," said Lance, "she has Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD, plus a whopping case of OCD. She takes her medication and goes to therapy and for the most part lives a perfectly average life, but God help her when she does forget to take her meds."

"Let's just get Draculaura out of here and to someone who can help," said Lagoona.

"Oh, no, don't do that," said Irvin as he emerged from behind a nearby tree and walked up to our heroes, "then you'd all be denied the chance to see what is drawing your dear vampire friend, while she will be denied the satisfaction of finding that which has been preying on her poor psyche."

He then approached Draculaura, "you don't want that, Ms. Draculaura? You wouldn't want to be left with a horrible sense of unfulfillment, do you?"

"Excuse me, but who the friggin hell are you?" asked Clawd as he stood up and stood between Draculaura and Irvin.

"That's a very good question, young werewolf," said Irvin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, "Irvin U. Weis, of the Obsidian Council, at your service, or rather, this darling vampire's service to be exact. I already know who you all are."

"Son of a bitch," said Ian irately as Lance ran back towards the cars, "I should have known one of Obsidian's proxies would show up."

"He works for the enemy?!" asked Frankie.

"Of course, it makes sense now!" said Twyla.

"What makes sense?" asked Howleen.

"I've been getting this feeling that someone's been watching us from the shadows," said Twyla, "at first I thought it was the Orphnoch and Fangire, but it wasn't the Kaijin! It was the one controlling them!"

"I admit, working with two different species of Kaijin has proven difficult," said Irvin, "but in my line of business, the ends always justify the means."

"Okay," said Frankie cautiously as she and the others stood around Draculaura, "you know us and we know your name, but what do you want?"

"I want what Draculaura wants," said Irvin, "I want what her instincts are screaming at her to find."

"And just what is it that Draculaura's instincts want her to find?" Lagoona asked.

"An item similar to the necklace she found not too long ago," said Irvin.

"Always with that stupid necklace?!" snapped Clawd, "what is wrong with you people?! You want a necklace? Go buy one!"

"If only it were that simple," said Irvin, "no, these items are special, more special than you can possibly imagine."

"Try us," said Cleo boldly.

"You might as well know," said Irvin, "you're going to die anyway. The necklace, as well as the item hidden in this failed castle, they're part of a set of nine items that form The Star of Rosskarn."

"That thing again?" asked Frankie as Ghoulia pulled out her iCoffin and brought up the app for Google.

"You won't find it in any online search engine," said Irvin, "and I estimate that the number of books in this world that even mention the name Rosskarn can be counted on one hand."

"And Obsidian wants this Star of Rosskarn," said Jessie, "but for what? To conquer more worlds? To plunge countless innocent hearts into darkness? To hasten the arrival of Kralizec?"

"I'd say one or all of the above," said Irvin, "or none of the above. It's really none of your business."

"You said you were going to tell us," said Cleo.

"I lied," said Irvin, "but I didn't lie about the fact that you're all as good as dead. Well, I did sort of lie about that part. Since Draculaura is pretty much the only one who can sense the pieces of The Star of Rosskarn, I'll need to take her with me, after she's found the piece hidden in the castle, of course."

"Over our dead and undead bodies!" shouted Clawd.

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Irvin as a dozen people walked into the area on either side of Frankie and the others; one side was had six gray-clad Orphnoch, the other six outlandishly dressed Fangire.

"Leave this to us, Mr. Weis," said one of the Fangire, "we'll have these pubescent mutants out of the way in no time, no need to get the dullards involved.

"Oh really!?" exclaimed one of the Orphnoch, "as if you eyesore idiots could get the job done!"

"Our kind have been at this for centuries!" exclaimed one of the Fangire, "we are perfectly capable of eliminating these pubescent pests!" at that its comrades nodded and voiced their agreements.

"So are we!" said one of the Orphnoch, at which its comrades nodded in agreement. "So far you bastards have failed miserably! You couldn't even get one stupid little vampire to cough up a necklace!" At that the other Orphnochs shouted their agreements.

"Right back at you, you gray geeks!" shouted another of the Fangire. With that the stain glass patterns appeared on it and the other Fangire, followed by them transforming into their true, Kaijin forms. Two of them had features of Sea Lions, two had features of Burmese Pythons, while the last two had features of Coyotes.

"Bring it!" shouted one of the Orphnoch as the gray patterns appeared on it and the others, followed by the creatures assuming their own true, Kaijin forms. Two had features of centipedes, two had features of ferrets, while the last two had features of tiger sharks.

"Oh, goody," said Cleo as the two groups of Kaijin squared off against each other, "you're going to fight."

"Damn right we're going to fight!" shouted one of the Coyote Fangires, "these gray gooks have disrespected the noble race of Fangire for the last time!"

"YEAH!" shouted the other Fangire.

"And these life sucking freaks have gone too far too!" shouted one of the Ferret Orphnochs, "it's time someone taught them a little respect!"

"YEAH!" shouted the other Orphnoch.

"Oh for the love of the darkness," said an annoyed Irvin, "Xander!"

With that a man wearing black warlock robes appeared from nowhere and raised a hand glowing with dark magic.

Almost instantly, the twelve Kaijin gasped in agony as rings of dark magic appeared around them, causing them to stumble and nearby fall over.

"Must I remind you fools just who is in charge of this little alliance of ours?" asked Irvin irately, "must I remind you all of the pledge of loyalty you and your fellows took when we began this little endeavor? Now stop acting like uncivilized street gangs brawling over territory and get serious! You're supposed to be professionals!"

At that the Shadow Acolyte, Xander, lowered his hand and the dark magic tormenting the twelve Kaijin ceased.

"You're right, Mr. Weis," said one of the Burmese Python Fangire as it and the other creatures recovered. It then glared at the Orphnochs, "we are professionals."

"We can settle our differences later," said one of the Centipede Orphnoch as it and its fellow Orphnochs glared at the Fangire, "but for now, we have some teenagers to torment."

"Over my dead body!" shouted Lance as he ran back into the area, the Faiz Belt already around his waist and the Faiz Phone in his hand.

"One Rider against twelve Kaijin!" said Irvin boldly as the six Orphnoch and six Fangire stood together a dozen paces in front of Lance, "I almost feel sorry for you. Well…almost."

"Then allow me to even the odds a bit!" said Siegfried as he walked into the area with Kivat perched on his shoulder.

"Ganging up on a bunch of kids, said Siegfried, "have you Obsidian fiends no shame!? Have you no decency!?"

"Those words aren't even in their vocabulary," said Kivat.

"You'd be surprised what was in my vocabulary," said an irate Irvin, "so, two Riders to counter two species of Kaijin. Alabaster is certainly on the ball this time. But it matters not. You're still outnumbered and outclassed."

At that Ghoulia moaned something as she held up her phone triumphantly.

"I told you that you couldn't find Rosskarn online, you brainless zombie!" shouted Irvin.

"She didn't search for Rosskarn," said Cleo, "she got a text message from our friends whom are coming to help!"

"Who's coming to help?" Frankie asked.

As if in answer, one of the Monster High school busses drove into the area at high speed, smashing into the twelve Kaijin and knocking the creatures down.

The bus door opened up and from it emerged Toralei, followed by Meowlody and Purrsephony, "sorry we're late, everyone," said the tiger-striped werecat, "I had to borrow the keys from Mr. Hack."

"Toralei!?" asked a confused Clawdeen.

"And us!" said Rochelle as she, Robecca, Heath, Venus, Robecca, Manny, Iris, Romulus, Braham and Gory, all piled out of the bus.

"You guys!" shouted Frankie joyfully.

"You didn't honestly expect to take on a bunch of evil monsters and leave us out of it, right?" asked Romulus as he cracked his knuckles.

"Well, isn't this a fine turn of events," said Irvin as the six Orphnoch and six Fangire picked themselves up. He then glared at the dozen Kaijin, "and you call yourselves professionals!"

"It's not our fault, Mr. Weis!" whined one of the Sea Lion Fangire.

"I don't want to hear it!" snapped Irvin, "just bring me Draculaura and kill the other brats!"

"Not today, Jackass!" shouted Lance as he began dialing.

5 5 5

STANDING BY

"Henshin!" shouted Lance as he raised the klaxon-emitting phone, then lowered and clicked it into place on his belt.

COMPLETE

Red energy streamed out from the belt and with a flash, Lance transformed into Faiz.

"Kivat Ikuze!" shouted the golden metal bat as he was caught by Siegfried's left hand, then bit his right, "Gabut!"

A line of stain glass patters flowed up to Siegfried's face as the ghostly chains appeared, materializing into his belt.

"Henshin!" said Siegfried as he clicked Kivat into place into the belt. With a shimmer of energy and shatter of glass, Siegfried transformed into Kiva.

"Get them!" shouted Irvin, at which the twelve Kaijin rushed forward. Joining Kiva against the Fangire was Gory, Braham, Romulus, Heath and Abbey, while joining Faiz against the Orphnochs were Robecca, Rochelle, Venus, Manny, Toralei and the werecat twins.

"Okay, now would be a good time to get Draculaura the fudge out of here!" said Jessie as she, Ian, Frankie, Clawdeen, Howleen, Twyla, Clawd, Lagoona, Gil, Cleo, Deuce and Ghoulia, clustered around Draculaura.

"We can't leave our friends to fight those things alone!" shouted Frankie as she watched Faiz, Kiva and the others battle the Kaijin.

"They're fighting so we can escape," said Jessie, "I'd expect you all to do the same thing if it were my turn to be Faiz.

"Besides, a lot of us aren't exactly in top form today, Frankie," said Lagoona.

"Speak for yourself!" exclaimed Cleo, "my arm's still broken! All you have is a black eye that you gave yourself!"

"I didn't give myself anything!" snapped Lagoona as she stubbornly crossed her arms, "I won it!"

"You can take these broken hands that I won off of me," said Clawdeen in a sarcastic manner.

"Well, we can't just stand around here with our hands in our pockets," said Deuce, "I'm going in!" with that he rushed ahead and joined the fray against the six Fangire, lowering his shades and catching one of the Coyote Fangire with a blast of his petrifying gaze. The green beams hit the creature yet only turned it a few shades of gray, yet also slowed it down enough for Braham and Romulus to grab the creature's arm, their supernatural strength restraining the life-sucking abomination. Gory then ran in and, with her own vampire strength, delivered a graceful kick to the creature's head with enough force to shatter it into countless shards of glass, from which rose the pulsating soul of the Fangire.

"Thanks, Deuce!" said Romulus, "I owe you one!"

"As if we needed his help," said Braham smugly, only to be sucker punched by one of the Burmese Python Fangire.

"I'm going too!" shouted Howleen as she rushed towards the fray against the Orphnoch.

"Howleen!" shouted Clawdeen and Clawd as they watched their little sister grab one of the Tiger Shark Orphnochs, only for the creature to shrug her off and kick her with enough force to knock the young werewolf down.

"Hang on, Howleen!" shouted Clawd, "I'm coming!" he then ran in and tackled the Tiger Shark Orphnoch to the ground, then got up, grabbed the creature, lifted it over his head and threw it towards Rochelle and Robecca. Rochelle delivered a stone-hard punch to the creature, followed by Robecca inflicting a steam-powered kick.

Venus then ensnared the creature with several summoned vines, trapping it in place.

"RAMMING SPEED!" bellowed Manny as he charged at the ensnared Orphnoch, hitting it with enough force to rip it free of the vines and send it flying several yards away. It landed hard on the ground, burst into blue flames and collapsed into dust.

"I think we're winning!" shouted Heath as he and Abbey alternately blasted a Sea Lion Fangire with fire and ice.

"Not just yet!" said Toralei as she dodged one of the Ferret Orphnochs, then got behind and delivered a double claw slash that inflicted a considerable amount of damage, followed by a quadruple claw slash from Meowlody and Purrsephony.

Faiz then took off the data chip from the phone, as well as the camera-like knuckle duster, inserting the chip into the weapon and placing it onto his right fist.

READY

Faiz then pressed the Enter button on his phone.

EXCEDE CHARGE

A pulse of red energy flowed out from the phone and up to Faiz's fist, concentrating into the knuckle duster. He then rushed at the Ferret Orphnoch and delivered a devastating punch to the creature's face, knocking it to the ground. A red circle with a diagonal line through it appeared as the creature burst into blue flames and crumbled into dust.

At the same time, Kiva inserted the finisher whistle into Kivat's mouth as the golden bat detached from the belt and flew around Kiva's right calf.

"Wake Up!" shouted Kivat as the flute-like melody sounded and the armor and chains burst off of Kiva's calf, revealing the red form and bat-like wings.

"Here's one for you, man!" shouted Romulus as he, Graham and Gory grabbed one of the Burmese Python Fangire and tossed it into the air.

Kiva then leapt into the air as the sky darkened and a lunar illusion appeared. He then delivered a flying kick that shattered the Burmese Python Fangire, the creature's pulsating soul rising up and out of sight.

"Oh, you miserable pieces of repugnance!" shouted Irvin as the remaining Fangire and Orphnoch backed away from the two Riders and their Monster allies, "what am I paying you people!?"

"Obviously not enough," said Frankie.

At that Irvin looked mad enough to join the fray, but he took several calming breaths, "it matters not. This is but a slight delay in the plan. In the end, Obsidian will get what it wants!"

At that the black-robbed dark magic user produced a cloud of black smoke that left our heroes coughing and unable to see. When the wind blew the smoke away, not only was Irvin and the Shadow Acolyte gone, the remaining Kaijin had vanished as well.

"Oh, come on!" complained Toralei, "it's over already? I was just getting warmed up!"

"Be glad it's over so soon," said Siegfried after he and Lance powered down, "I doubt we could have fought much longer."

"We might have taken out another two of each Kaijin," said Lance, "but it was only a matter of time before that Obsidian Proxy, Irvin Weis, before he called in reinforcements."

"He was able to get twelve Orphnoch and Fangire in one place and work together," said Ian, "not an easy feat."

"He's got plenty more Kaijin where they came from," said Jessie.

"Well, I'm glad it's over for now," said Frankie. She then looked at Siegfried, "but how did you know to come here?"

"That would be Spectra's doing," said Iris as she ran up to and hugged Manny, "I don't know how she did it, but she managed to figure out that the enemy would be waiting here for us."

"She texted us and we came to help," said Rochelle, "she told us exactly where and when we were needed."

"But how did she know?" asked Jackson, "I know she's a great journalist, but still, how'd she figure out what the enemy was planning."

"We asked her how she knew," said Venus, "and you know what she told us?"

"No, what?" asked Clawdeen.

"'I'll tell you later,'" said Venus, "that's what she said."

"We'll ask her again when we see her," said Frankie, "in the meantime, thanks for coming, all of you."

"We're just lucky that Toralei knows how to drive a school bus," said Manny.

"I'm just lucky that Mr. Hack is an idiot," said Toralei.

At that everyone heard Clawd grunt in pain, followed by something small running past them towards the castle.

"Draculaura!" shouted Frankie as she, Abbey and Venus ran after their friend.

"She shoved me!" said Clawd as he lay on the ground, an astonished look on his face, "Draculaura, she shoved me!"

…Hexiciah Steam's Workshop…Present Day…

"She actually shoved Clawd?" a shocked and appalled Cupid asked, "whatever was tugging at her heartstrings must have been a real dozy."

"You don't know the half of it," said Cleo as Apple finished healing her broken arm. Apple sighed with exhaustion, then took another sip of her energy drink.

"Go easy on that stuff, you weren't exactly at 100% when we got here," said Raven.

"Neither were you," said Apple, "I won't say a word to Dr. Anderson back home if you won't."

"I think I've had too much of an influence on you," said Raven.

"Just as a bit of me has rubbed off on you," said Apple. She then looked at Lagoona, "now, about that black eye of yours."

"Fire away, mate," said Lagoona as Apple began healing the bruising around her eye.

"Well, I hope you're ready for it, Cupid," said Frankie, "cause here's the worst part."

…Ryan's Folly…two weeks ago…Friday…

Frankie, Venus and Abbey chased Draculaura through the half completed castle, into the desolated courtyard and up the stairs of one of the unfinished towers. The three ghouls were running so hard to keep up with Draculaura that when the vampire stopped abruptly, Frankie and the others kept running up the stairs, nearly falling over each other as they turned around to go back down.

They found Draculaura digging through the stonework and pulling out a small wooden box from a hidden hollow in the wall.

"Is that it?" asked Venus asked as they looked at the box, "is that what's gotten your roots in a tangle?"

Draculaura took a bracing breath as she opened the box, but then gave a shriek of rage as she threw it against the wall. The box shattered into splinters, and nothing more.

"It was empty?" asked Frankie, "after all that…just for an empty box?"

But then Draculaura stood up straight and looked away, as if sensing something. She then dashed down the stairs.

"Here we go again!" said Frankie as she, Abbey and Venus ran after Draculaura.

"Let me put the deep chill on her!" said Abbey, "a little ice on her feet and no more running away."

"No, you might hurt her!" said Venus, "and make the stairs slippery for us!"

They ran outside the tower and nearly tripped over each other as they stopped suddenly at the sight of Draculaura standing in the middle of the courtyard. Yet what really stopped the three ghouls was the sight of a familiar male vampire standing a few paces in front of Draculaura, a sparkling ring on his finger that had Draculaura's complete attention.

"Valentine!" exclaimed Frankie.

"Ah, Ms. Stein," said Valentine in a pleasant tone, "how lovely to see you again, and Ms. Bominable, though I don't know your flora friend."

"I don't know who you are, pal," said Venus irately, "but get away from Draculaura!"

"I would," said Valentine as he took the ring off his finger and held it out to Dracularua, "but I have the feeling that she wants to be with me now."

At that Draculaura ran forward and grabbed the ring from Valentine's hands. She held in her hands, a look of triumphant adoration on her face.

"As they say," remarked Valentine smugly as he placed his arms around the blissfully unaware Draculaura, "the proof is in the pudding!"

"You son of rabid yak!" shouted Abbey as she, Frankie and Venus rushed in, only for a smirking Valentine burst into countless black bats that swarmed the area, disorienting the three ghouls as they fought to keep the vermin away from their faces.

But then the bats abruptly vanished, and with them Draculaura. In their place was a red Valentine's Day card with a black broken heart on the front.

…Hexiciah Steam's Laborotory…Present Day…

"You were right, Frankie," said a disgusted Cupid, "I hated that part."

…The End Is Just The Beginning…