A/N: I am pleased to present the latest installment of the All Worlds Alliance Chronicles: Assorted Stories. I would like to express my appreciation for the favorable reception of the preceding chapter.
Number01BlazblueFan - Once again, I'm keeping that to myself for now.
Below are additional characters with single names who have now been given both a last name and a first name in this story:
Tiki - Tiki Mila (Taken from her residence name, Mila Tree)
Toma - Toma Wildchild (Taken from his moniker, Wild Child Hero)
Tooru - Tooru Kobayashi (For obvious reasons)
Tsukuyomi - Tsukuyomi Iwai (Rumored to be her last name)
Tukson - Tukson Ellis (Taken from his EN voice actor, Adam Ellis)
And with that done, let's get this chapter on the go!
Disclaimer: I do not possess any characters featured in this story, unless they are my original characters who seldomly appear.
-EARTH 699-
-New Salem, Oregon-
Monster High
The following day at Monster High, a carriage shaped like a sphinx is being escorted by some burly guys who look a lot like Anubis. Inside, Cleo De Nile is having a conversation with two figures.
The first figure is a young female mummy with an average height and an attractive appearance, she had a slender frame and a tan complexion, she had a widow's blue hair with thick black & gold highlights and is tied in a high ponytail alongside a single long braid, she had purple-colored eyes and an orange gem on her left cheek. She wears a light blue cloth over a bandage-like shirt with one single left sleeve, she wears a wide-sized golden belt around her midsection, she wears a gray & black triple-layered tattered skirt, her calves are wrapped with bandages and she wears pair of a black & gold high-heeled pumps. This is Nefera De Nile, Cleo's older sister.
The second figure is an old male mummy with a tall stature, he had a lanky frame and his entire body is covered with bandages, he wears a white pharoah headgear and he had blue-colored. He wears a black long-sleeved robe, black pants, and a pair of dirty-gold boots, and his arms are wrapped in bandages. This is Ramses De Nile, the father of Cleo and Nefera.
"Needless to say, everyone's got their bandages in a bunch." Cleo concluded, "I mean, who do those normies think they are?" she demanded.
"And what, may I inquire, are you going to do about it, young lady?" Ramses inquired with a rather ominous voice.
Cleo looks nervously, "Well, there's talk of getting them back." she replied.
"Talk?" Nefera uttered out loud in disbelief, "Oh, Cleo." she murmured, "Talk is like the desert sands." she described.
"It is worth nothing, and changes direction with the four winds." Ramses imparted.
"That's so true, Daddy!" Nefera chirped in agreement, "Of course, if I were still in school, I wouldn't let them get away with it." she shared, "But we can't all be me." she boasted.
"Ugh." Cleo groaned in response.
"Cleo." Ramses called out, "You're a de Nile." he reminded, "You have royal blood coursing through your veins." he added, "I was a Pharaoh, as was my father, as was his father before..." he trailed but is interrupted by Nefera.
"What he's trying to say is when are you going to start growing up?" Nefera demanded.
Cleo raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned.
Nefera thought about it, "Uh, like, for instance, when are you gonna dump that loser of a boyfriend?" she responded with disdain.
"Deuce is not a loser!" Cleo argued.
"Daddy says he's a slacker!" Nefera replied, "I say he needs a haircut and he says 'dude', like, every other word!" she complained.
"Girls, please!" Ramses interrupted, "Nefera's correct." he said towards Cleo, "You belong with someone from royal lines, someone who doesn't hold you back." he reminded before flexing his fingers, "Goodbye, you don't want to be late for class." he beckoned and Cleo stood up from her seat, "Cleo." he called out, "When times are tough, monsters need a leader." he imparted, "Can you be that leader?" he asked, "Can you make me proud?" he added.
Cleo remained silent but the expression on her face revealed that she was troubled. Without wasting any time, she swiftly climbed out of the carriage and started to walk away.
Nefera shook her head, "Are you sure she's not adopted, Daddy?" she asked.
Ramses tapped his cane in response, "Nefera!" he chastised which made her flinch.
Over at the school's veranda, Deuce Gorgon is strolling around, casually greeting folks with his signature 'dude'. He passes by a bunch of familiar faces such as Herbert East, Keiichi Maebara, Ken Taiga and Sloman "Slo Mo" Mortavich.
As he's making his way, Deuce came across Frankie Stein, Megumi Aino and Seiji Sagara whom just steps out from the main entrance door. At the same moment, Cleo whom is seemingly lost in thought, walked towards them.
"Yo, Cleo!" Deuce greeted his girlfriend, "What's goin' on?" he asked with a smile.
Cleo was just about to greet back to Deuce but she spun around and caught Nefera giving her the stink eye from the carriage window which made her nervous.
Cleo took a deep breath and swallowed her pride, "Not now!" she dismissed with a huff before striding past Deuce and Frankie, who both looked utterly confused by her sudden attitude change.
"What's gotten into her?" Megumi wondered out loud.
Seiji, arms now folded, gave a knowing nod, "I think what happened yesterday is still on her mind." he replied.
Elsewhere, in one of the school's hallways, Ghoulia Yelps is sitting cozily on the floor, completely engrossed in a book. She's surrounded by a mountain of books, all sorts of cool gadgets and a boom box blasting some tunes. It's her little corner of the school where she can chill and read in peace when out of nowhere, Cleo appears.
"Ghoulia, are you wasting your brain on homework again?" Cleo questioned in disbelief.
"Ugh." Ghoulia groaned in response.
"It's time you used it for something important." Cleo beckoned, "Helping me!" she revealed.
"Huh?" Ghoulia moaned in confusion.
"Show me how to send a mass text on my iCoffin." Cleo requested.
Ghoulia rolled her eyes, "Uh..." she groaned in disbelief.
"Yes, again." Cleo replied in confirmation.
With a sigh, Ghoulia couldn't help but roll her eyes in frustration, she grabbed Cleo's phone and began sending out a bunch of texts to several of their classmates which includes Clawd Wolf, Heath Burns, Howleen Wolf, Manny Taur, Rochelle Goyle, Toralei Stripes and Venus McFlytrap.
"Whoa!" Howleen exclaimed in awe upon receiving a text message, "It is on!" she cheered with a grin.
As Heath was heading down the hallway, he saw Abbey Bominable and Lagoona Blue chatting by their lockers. Just as he was about to join them, he caught sight of a book teetering dangerously on the edge of Abbey's locker, ready to drop on her head. Heath, being the hero he thought he was, sucked in a deep breath and confidently pointed his finger upwards.
"Heath to the rescue!" Heath exclaimed.
With a burst of speed, Heath rushed over to save the day, but things didn't quite go as planned. He ended up smacking into Manny, who was passing by, and bounced around like a pinball, knocking into Gillington "Gil" Webber and Slo Mo. Heath's momentum came to a sudden stop when his face met the cold steel of Abbey's freshly closed locker door. The book he was trying to save fell on him instead and thanks to his fiery hair, it turned into a little bonfire on impact.
Lagoona looked at him with a mix of worry and surprise while Abbey couldn't believe what she had just seen. They both took a step back and continued walking down the hall, shaking their heads. Meanwhile, Heath lay on the floor, holding his head and groaning. The book had missed its original target, but Heath's rescue attempt had left him looking like the one in need of saving.
"Ever think that Heath may be one yak burger short of barbecue?" Abbey questioned.
Lagoona chuckled in response, "I betcha I know what's eatin' 'im." she replied.
"Please do tell." Abbey beckoned.
"When you saved his flame earlier, I think it embarrassed him in front of his mates." Lagoona explained.
Abbey raised an eyebrow, "Because I am girl?" she assumed, "This makes no sense!" she exclaimed, "In my village, girls do everything boys do, only do not smell so bad." she shared.
"Well, you know how boys are." Lagoona mused, "Sometimes their egos can be as fragile as a kookaburra egg." she described.
"I cannot wait until I am here long enough to understand these boys." Abbey expressed in anticipation.
"I'm pretty sure you could spend your whole life here and not understand boys any better." Lagoona replied while looking around to see Cesaro Oohori and Yuuki Asaba in the midst of an intense thumb wrestling match while Nobuhiko Mitsuo couldn't help himself and let out a huge burp, followed by a goofy wide smile on his face.
Abbey and Lagoona then headed over to where Deuce, Frankie, Megumi and Seiji were hanging out in one of the hallway corners with Frankie sitting on a rock bench.
"Guys, I'm seriously concerned." Frankie spoke up with a troubled look on her face, "My speech yesterday went completely haywire and now I'm scared some of the kids might pull a fast one." she expressed in concern.
"What makes you think that?" Lagoona inquired.
"I just have this gut feeling." Frankie sighed while looking down, "They're all acting so weird and hush-hush." she elaborated.
"I know what you mean." Megumi chimed in agreement, "I've noticed some intense eye contacts and hand signals between them." she shared.
"Alongside Ghoulia who sent out a bunch of texts earlier." Seiji pointed out.
"Yeah, probably on Cleo's orders." Deuce guessed.
With a determined expression, Frankie pushed herself off the chair, "C'mon, let's go find out what they're up to." she suggested.
Everyone nodded in agreement and they all set off to see what was happening.
Meanwhile, over at the back of the school, Cleo is having a conversation with a bunch of students all huddled around her which includes Clawd, Heath, Howleen, Manny, Rochelle, Toralei, Venus and surprisingly, Jackson Jekyll.
"...and you're all just going to sit here, sniveling and afraid, after they disrespected you like that?" Cleo demanded and everyone shouted in disagreement.
"They think they are so much better than we are!" Rochelle complained.
"Exactly!" Cleo exclaimed in agreement, "That's why we've got to get them back." she beckoned, "And it's got to be something so epic, so legendary, so de Nile, that they'll put us in the monster history books!" she declared and everyone cheered in agreement.
"We gotta fight fire with fire!" Heath exclaimed in excitement.
"Hey!" Toralei interrupted, "I know a sublimely shrouded entrance to New Salem through the catacombs." she shared.
"Sweet!" Clawd cheered, "They'll never see us coming." he uttered in glee.
"Man, they really barked up the wrong tree messin' with us!" Manny growled.
"Yeah, let's show those normies what happens when you mess with Monster High!" Jackson shouted out loud which definitely caught everyone's attention and earned him a few odd & disapproving glances.
Manny then stood in front of Jackson, "Aren't you forgetting that you're half normie!?" the minotaur reminded.
"Believe me, I can't go a day without somebody reminding me." Jackson acknowledged, "But this is my school, too." he insisted, "And if we're getting 'em back, I want in." he declared.
Manny crossed his arms, "Nice try, Jackson." he dismissed, "Can't trust a normie to pay back the normies!" he reasoned, "Holt can come, but not you!" he pointed out.
"You wanna bring Holt instead of me?" Jackson questioned in disbelief, "But that guy is totally unreliable!" he pointed out, "And kinda obnoxious." he added.
"You heard me." Manny huffed in response, "It's Holt or bolt." he beckoned.
"Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt! Holt!" everyone chanted in response.
Howleen then handed Jackson some headphones, "Here." she beckoned, "Just do it." she urged.
Jackson sighed in defeat, "Okay." he conceded and upon putting on the headphones, his entire body is engulfed with a wave of flames and he instantly transforms into Holt Hyde, "All right, all right, all right!" he cheered, "Yeah!" he hollered out loud in glee.
"Enough talk." Cleo interrupted, "Talk is cheap, not unlike Toralei's earrings!" she described.
"Hey!" Toralei yelped in annoyance.
"To the catacombs!" Cleo commanded.
And with that, everyone started heading to where they needed to go but little did they know, Abbey, Deuce, Frankie, Lagoona, Megumi and Seiji had ducked behind the fountain. They managed to catch every single word of the chat that was going on with the group.
"Whoa." Lagoona uttered in awe, "Cleo is really taking this, like, crazy personal." she described.
"No kidding." Megumi replied in agreement.
"I know for sure that Cleo doesn't even believe any of that junk." Deuce declared, "That's her dad and Nefera talking." he revealed.
"Well, she's got everybody else believing it." Seiji pointed out.
Frankie stood up, "We better follow them, make sure they don't do anything crazy." she beckoned.
After the rest all stood up from their hiding place, everyone started to follow in the footsteps of Cleo's group.
Suddenly, Seiji had a memory pop into his head, "You know..." he trailed, "I think I heard Chapatsu and his friends went down to the catacombs earlier." he recalled.
"Why would they do that?" Megumi asked.
Seiji frowned in response, "I'm not really sure." he replied, "But I hope they're not planning on doing what Cleo's bunch is up to." he expressed and his voice was filled with a sense of dread.
As Frankie's group moved away from the area but little did they know that they were being observed from the third-floor window by Hoodude Voodoo, Kieran Valentine, Polly Geist, and Vicky Schmidt.
Hoodude swallowed hard while looking a bit anxious, "I've got a bad feeling about this." he expressed.
Kieran nodded in understanding, "Don't worry, your gut isn't off the mark." he reassured, "Halloween always brings a mix of thrills and chills." he replied while trying to ease the tension.
Vicky was the one to voice their uncertainty, "So, what's the plan?" she asked.
"Let's not jump to conclusions." Polly beckoned, "We'll wait and see how things unfold." she advised, "But once things start getting out of hand, we'll step in." she assured, "And with the AWA backing us up, we're going to make this Halloween way less scary than the ones before." she promised.
-BREAK-
As the afternoon turned to evening, Cleo and her group found themselves making their way through the eerie, cobweb-covered corridors of what felt like an endless dungeon beneath their school, and it was like navigating through a dark & twisting maze that seemed to have no end in sight.
"Mazes." Manny muttered in dread, "I hate mazes." he admitted when he heard some noise from behind, "Mooo!" he shrieked, "What was that?" he asked and pointed his flashlight at the source of the noise.
And it happens to be Heath.
"Holy smokes, this is gonna be horrifyingly awesome!" Heath cheered, "I brought this rotten gargoyle egg to chuck at their school." he shared while presenting a large purple-colored egg, "Sometimes, I am so rad, it boggles the mind." he claimed about himself while Manny rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Clawd called out, "Careful with that, bro!" he advised, "Those things pack a serious stench!" he reminded.
"Dude, give me a little credit." Heath urged, "I'm not gonna..." he trailed but is interrupted by Holt.
"Come on, let's get a move on." Holt beckoned.
Holt then rushed by Clawd and Heath while bumping into the latter by mistake which caused the egg to shoot up into the air, and everyone around them started to freak out.
Heath lunged for the egg, "I got it!" he exclaimed, "I got it, I got it, I got it!" he shouted over and over again but it was short-lived as he stumbled and fell the ground, "I..." he trailed with the egg smacking against him, cracking open immediately and oozing its insides all over him, "Wait!" he squeaked out in a tiny voice, "I lost it." he said out loud in defeat.
As the egg's putrid smell filled the air, everyone around him recoiled in disgust, covering their noses to keep from gagging. The stench was unbearable but the one person who remained unfazed was Holt, who seemed completely immune to the revolting odor.
"Come on, I wanna get those normies back while we're still in high school." Holt urged impatiently.
"Easy, Holt, we'll get there soon enough." Clawd assured while helping up Heath.
Holt enthusiastically stomped his feet into the dirt, "Man, I can't wait!" he exclaimed with a hint of frustration, "I'm going up ahead." he said, "You slowpokes catch up!" he beckoned while running off ahead of everyone.
"Jackson's right about that guy." Howleen spoke up, "Super unreliable." she said.
"And kinda obnoxious." Clawd added.
"It's this way." Toralei beckoned, "It will take us right next to the normie high school." she beckoned.
As they rounded the corner, they stumbled upon Chapatsu Doi, Lester Unlikely, and Scott Howl, all of whom were casually holding an assortment of explosives in their arms. The sudden appearance of the trio was so jarring that everyone let out a collective scream, as if they had just walked into a scene from a tense, action-packed movie where the villains make a dramatic entrance.
"Take it easy, everyone." Lester urged with a blank look, "It's just us." he reassured.
"But what's going on?" Cleo asked in confusion, "Why are you here?" she added.
Venus chimed in with a concerned tone, "And why do you have bombs?" she inquired.
"We just got back from New Salem High." Lester replied, "Someone from Monster High apparently had some nasty plans, so we had to grab these." he shared.
Rochelle's eyes widened in shock, "What do you mean by that?" she stuttered in question.
"We got a tip-off that some bombs were planted under New Salem High." Lester revealed, "So, we went and cleared the place out." he stated while glancing at Toralei with his gaze a mixed of suspicion and seriousness.
Toralei jumped at the look, "What?!" she exclaimed, "You think I did this?!" she squawked.
"No." Lester replied, "But I'm keeping an eye on you, just in case." he said.
"You know, as much as I'd love to get back at those guys from New Salem High." Chapatsu admitted with a hint of frustration, "But planting bombs is just too extreme and not cool." he said rather firmly, "I'm not saying you can't go ahead with your revenge, but for goodness' sake, just don't let it lead to anyone getting hurt or killed!" he advised.
Scott nodded in agreement, "The situation between humans and monsters is tense enough already." he reminded, "If we cause some kind of tragedy, it'll just make everything a whole lot worse." he pointed out.
Cleo looked a bit nervous, "Okay, I get it." she murmured in acknowledgement, "We'll keep that in mind." she added.
"Alright then, have a good day." Lester expressed.
As the members of the Levi Squad left, Cleo couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh.
"So, what's the plan now?" Howleen asked in concern.
Cleo took a moment to think, "We're still going to stick to our original idea." she replied while trying to sound confident, "But we'll definitely keep what they said in mind." she added in the need to balance their quest for justice with the potential consequences.
During this interval, Abbey, Deuce, Frankie, Lagoona, Megumi and Seiji are proceeding through the shadowy passageways with the intention of cathing up with Cleo's group and if possible, prevent them from undertaking any actions that may be subject to lifelong regret.
And, yes, they crosspathed with the Levi Squad some time ago.
"Come on, this way!" Frankie beckoned.
Their group then walked past the spoiled rotten egg from earlier, "Ugh." Lagoona groaned in response, "What is that smell?" she asked.
"I don't know and I don't wanna know." Megumi replied.
"It's really great that Chapatsu and the rest of them had a good reason to come down here to the catacombs." Seiji said with smile before his expression grew serious, "But, I gotta say, I'm super worried that someone's trying to blow up New Salem High out of spite." he admitted.
"Who do you think would do something like that?" Megumi asked.
Seiji shrugged his shoulders in response, "Your guess is as good as mine." he replied, "Let's just let Chapatsu and the others handle that situation." he beckoned, "For now, let's keep our focus on what's going on with Cleo's group." he suggested.
"Got it." Deuce replied in agreement.
-BREAK-
A short while later, Cleo and her group finally emerge from the manhole into the courtyard of New Salem High School.
"We made it!" Clawd announced, "We're outside the normie high school!" he pointed out before noticing something, "Fang on a second!" he interrupted.
Everybody glances up in the direction Clawd is pointing and they're all taken aback. There's this massive spray-painted skull logo from Monster High sprawling across the side of a nearby building. It's like someone went all out with their street art skills and made a huge statement.
"Somebody beat us to it!" Clawd exclaimed.
"Hot dang!" Heath breathed out in awe, "They sure did a Heath of a job!" he complimented, "That's better than we were gonna do!" he added.
All of a sudden, they could hear the wail of sirens growing closer. Before they knew it, they were completely surrounded by a bunch of police cars, and there was a specific figure leading them all.
The figure is a middle-aged man with a tall stature, he had an average build and a fair complexion, he had a short brown & white hair and mustache, and he has blue-colored eyes. He wears a blue police uniform over a white shirt, he wears blue pants with a black holster belt wrapped around his waist, and he wears a pair of black leather shoes. This is Sheriff Audu Paden.
"All right, monsters, freeze!" Sheriff shouted over a megaphone, "Stay right where you are." he demanded.
"They think we did this?" Cleo assumed in disbelief.
"What do we do?" Toralei asked.
"I got an idea." Clawd replied with a confident smile which then morphs into panic, "Run!" he shouted out loud.
Upon hearing Clawd's frantic idea, everyone started yelling and took off in all sorts of directions, which really didn't make the cops happy at all.
"Hey!" the Sheriff shouted, "Come back here!" he demanded.
At the same time, Abbey and Frankie were peeking out of a tiny, grimy sewer window, watching the whole scene unfold.
"Oh, no!" Frankie gasped in panic, "I knew something like this was going to happen." she admitted in disbelief, "Me and my stupid speech." she chastised herself, "We better see if we can help them." she beckoned.
"Guys, I think I've spotted a simple exit that leads to the street!" Seiji announced with a touch of excitement in his voice.
"Alright, let's roll then!" Frankie responded and is eager to get moving.
A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, I appreciate your support and I hope you found it enjoyable.
These are the characters that debuted in this chapter:
Nefera De Nile, Ramses De Nile and Sheriff are from Monster High
The next chapter will continue the rest of the storyline, so please look forward for it.
Until then paalam!
Kurumu Kurono, Mizore Shirayuki and Moka Akashiya were chilling by the fountain in the school courtyard when Draculaura came up to them.
"You guys seen Clawdeen anywhere?" Draculaura inquired with a slightly hopeful look.
Kurumu, Mizore and Moka all just shrugged in response and are not really sure where their friend had wandered off to.
Then the scene switched to a car parked somewhere in town, and Clawdeen Wolf and Duncan Rosenblatt were really going at it, kissing like nobody's business.
They eventually paused with their breaths mingling as they just stared into each other's eyes for a moment.
"Want some more wine?" Duncan suggested with smile.
"Oh, go on then." Clawdeen accepted.