by Perdita Finn
“Fangtastic!”
“Fangtastic!” repeated her friend. They’d heard the ghouls using that word and loved it too!
Everyone wanted to look like a monster. They wanted the clothes, the hair…and they even wanted to talk just like monsters. Only they didn’t know that monster style was the style of real monsters!
“Ooh, Mummy Mochas!” enthused a Normie.
“Isn’t that clever?”
Dracula was there—and he was letting his daughter give him a new hairstyle for the first time in, well, centuries. She buzzed up one whole side of his head.
“You’re sure this looks good?” If only he could see himself in the mirror—but vampires couldn’t.
“Absolutely,” said Draculaura. “It makes you look at least ten thousand years younger!”
“I’m not so sure about that…”
“Love the new look,” Mrs. Wolf complimented him. And after that, he decided his haircut might not be so bad after all.
“Well, what do you know? So do I!” he said.
Lagoona was spinning tracks and the Normies were dancing. Everyone was having a good time. But something was bothering Clawdeen. One thing was just not quite right. She gazed around the busy room. She was looking for something. Humans were running in and out of the changing rooms to try on new outfits.
“Check me out! I’m a monster!” someone said happily.
“You look creeperific!”
“I’m so coming here all the time!”
“Did you see they have a fog machine?”
Clawdeen checked her iCoffin. Nothing.
Mrs. Wolf wrapped an arm around her daughter. “I’m very proud of you, Clawdeen.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
But Mrs. Wolf noticed that Clawdeen wasn’t perfectly happy. “What’s wrong?”
“Frankie should be here,” Clawdeen confided in her mother. “Just wondering where she is.”
“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” her mother reassured her.
But Dracula interrupted them. In his arms and draped over his shoulders was a whole pack of werewolf pups—Clawdeen’s little brothers. Mrs. Wolf smiled at her daughter again. It was time to get the little ones home. It had been a big night, a wonderful night.
If only Frankie could have seen Clawdeen’s success.
Chapter 16
POWER FAILURE
Frankie and Twyla reached the entrance to the crystal chamber without seeing a single Zomboy. But Twyla warned Frankie that they were probably all inside.
“Seems pretty quiet,” noted Frankie, looking around.
Still, Twyla was cautious. They entered the vast room as quietly as they could—but it was completely empty. No Zomboyz. No Moanica. They seemed to have packed up and moved out. The room was eerily silent except for a very faint thumping noise. It was the distant sound of the party far, far above them. Frankie spotted her science project. It was completely melted.
Znap made a sympathetic buzz when he saw how upset she was. Frankie rushed over to see what had happened to it.
“Frankie! Be careful!” exclaimed Twyla.
But it was too late. The Zomboyz were everywhere! They’d been hiding. They grabbed Twyla first.
“Znap! Znap!” yelled Znap helplessly as they put him in a glass jar.
Zomboyz lined the balcony above the room, peering down at them and groaning.
Moanica emerged from behind a wall of hanging wires. “So, Frankie, what do you think?”
“I think you ruined my science project!” Frankie replied.
“Oh…” Moanica laughed. “I’m about to ruin much more than that.”
Frankie clutched her project. “I’m taking this whole thing apart before you can do any more damage.”
“I don’t think so.” Moanica smiled confidently. “It’s time for the Night of the Zomboyz. Time for the Normies to be afraid. And they will be, when I shut off all the lights!”
Moanica cheered with her arms over her head, and all the Zomboyz imitated her.
Frankie snorted with disbelief. “There are billions of watts of energy in that power grid. Obviously there was no way my project would be able to store that much electricity.”
“Yeah, I kind of already figured that out, thanks. But that got me thinking. Where under earth would I find something, or someone, that is capable of absorbing that much electricity? Hmmmm…” Moanica cackled wickedly.
She waved her hands, and two Zomboyz crept up behind Frankie with jumper cables. But Frankie didn’t see what was about to happen!
“You let Twyla go because you knew she’d lead me down here. You need me to make your machine work,” Frankie realized.
“Yup,” confirmed Moanica, a glint in her eye. She signaled the Zomboyz. “Now!”
Moanica pulled a lever. Sparks flew. Energy was pouring from the power-station grid right above them…directly into Frankie! Frankie’s whole body was glowing. More and more electricity poured into her. What had been too much for Frankie’s battery wasn’t too much for her!
Moanica’s plan was working! Now she had a way to steal all the electricity—and plunge the Normie town into terrifying darkness!
Chapter 17
TOTAL BLACKOUT!
The band was finally onstage! At last, they were ready to perform their first concert on the front steps of the school. Bright lights shone in their eyes.
Rayth stepped forward and grabbed the microphone. “Hello, Monster High! We are…Howling Thunder and Frightening Featuring Rayth and Deuce and the Rolling Bones and Woolee!”
Someone in the audience clapped and cheered. It was Gob. He was the only person in the audience. Everyone else was at the opening.
Deuce strummed his bass. “Who wants to hear some heavy-ish metal monster alternative goth rock with subtle undertones of smooth jazz?”
Woolee cleared her throat.
“And there’s, uh, some polka in there too.” Deuce sighed.
Woolee grinned and pinged her tiny triangle.
Rayth turned toward the band. “I said, a-one, a-two, a-one-two-three!” But no one moved. Rayth realized something terrible. “Hey, we never practiced any songs!”
“Yeah,” said Silvi thoughtfully. “I was meaning to bring that up.”
Out in the audience, Gob was eagerly waiting for the concert to begin.
“Uh—um—uh,” stuttered Rayth. He thrummed a chord on his guitar. It wasn’t tuned. It screeched with feedback.
Nobody else knew what to do. Woolee pinged her triangle.
Gob was starting to grumble when the lights suddenly flickered. For a moment, there was darkness, and then they came on again. Everyone was relieved. Zap! Electricity blasted through the instruments…and disappeared. Electricity flickered through the room…and disappeared. It lit up Silvi’s and Venus’s dresses…and disappeared. What was going on? Was this part of the show?
“That’s kind of cool!” exclaimed Silvi. Her guitar was glowing!
“Nice!” Deuce nodded, pleased.
Even Woolee liked the effects. But Rayth felt left out. “Where are my electric special effects?” he grumbled.
A moment later, the lights went out for good. Rayth tried to strum his guitar but there was no noise. There were no lights. There was no electricity.
It was all gone!
The lights were flickering in the salon. Lagoona touched her turntable and was shocked. The electric hair clippers stopped working. The spotlights were on the fritz, sending mini–lightning bolts across the room.
“What’s going on?” people wondered.
In the Normie town, the same thing was happening. First, the lights began to flicker, and then they went off for good. There were no lights on in the houses. There were no streetlights. It was a total blackout!
Frankie was filling up with more and more electricity. Her hair was standing on end. Sparks were flying out of her fingers. Her skin glowed. Her body was rigid. Her eyes were wide and glittering.
In the Fierce Salon, t
he lights went out. Worried voices wondered when they were going to turn back on.
“What’s happening?”
“Looks like a power surge,” someone said authoritatively.
“I can’t see anything!” a Normie yelled, setting off the panic.
Cleo tried to get everyone to calm down. “Um. Nothing to worry about, people! Just a little technical difficulty on our first night. If I could direct your attention to the table in the corner: Please help yourself to some refreshments.”
Just at that moment, a power surge burst through the floor like a broken hydrant and blasted the table toward the ceiling.
“Okay, maybe hold off on the refreshments for the time being,” said Cleo.
The Normies were freaking out.
“Should we leave?”
“It’s getting kind of dangerous!”
“Yikes!”
Strange electrical noises—thrums and zaps and whirs—filled the room. Sparks landed on Cleo and she went electric. Sparks landed on Lagoona and she glowed.
In the secret underground chamber, Moanica was triumphant. She laughed gleefully as more and more electricity poured into Frankie. Frankie wafted back and forth like seaweed caught in a tidal current of pure electrical power.
The Zomboyz were holding on tight to Twyla. “Frankie!” called Twyla, trying to break free.
“She can’t hear you!” Moanica cackled.
The glow coming from Frankie was blinding. How much more could she take? Slowly, Frankie lifted into the air, filled with power.
Twyla broke free from the Zomboyz, but she couldn’t get to her friend. The electricity was like a shield blasting her backward.
The dial registering the amount of electricity in the room was climbing higher and higher. How much more could Frankie take?
House by house, street by street, town by town, country by country—all the lights were disappearing. All the electricity was disappearing…right into Frankie! The grid was down!
Bolts were busting loose. The dial on the register spun round and round. Frankie had broken it. She drifted toward the ground and dropped to her knees. Again, Twyla raced to her friend, but she could not touch her.
Moanica was victorious; she had done it. She had brought darkness to the world! Now it was time to release the Zomboyz!
Chapter 18
SCARED OF THE DARK
The whole world was dark—and it was quiet too. No electricity hummed through the power lines. The appliances weren’t buzzing, the fans weren’t whirring, no music was playing. In the salon, the only light came from the soft glow of the electrified dresses.
No one knew what to do. Everyone was still and waiting.
Until a Zomboy crashed through a trapdoor in the floor with a loud groan! More and more trapdoors were flung open. More and more red-eyed Zomboyz emerged from beneath the power station.
“Zomboyz?” cried Clawdeen.
The Normies began screaming.
Another Zomboy leaped onto the floor from below. An arm reached up. Another Zomboy was trying to haul himself upward, but he couldn’t get the hang of it.
Moanica rose up on a giant platform, mighty and cackling! She towered above everyone.
The Normies backed away nervously.
Clawdeen shook her head. This was terrible. The salon opening was ruined!
“Moanica!” exclaimed Lagoona. What was going on?
Moanica grinned wickedly. “Boo! Are you scared?” she whispered dramatically. “Well, you should be! Monsters and zombies are real!”
The humans were in a panic.
“Zombies!”
“Help!”
“I didn’t get my hair done yet!”
Moanica laughed at their fears. A thud interrupted her. It was one of the Zomboyz hauling himself up through the floor. But he was still stuck. He groaned and smiled.
“Will somebody please help him?” Moanica demanded as quietly as she could. She cleared her throat. She tried to make herself scary again. “And tonight under the cover of perpetual darkness, my Zomboyz and I are going out into your world. And we’re going to do terrible, scarrible things!”
The Normies screamed and cried.
“That’s right!” Moanica exclaimed. “We’re gonna tie your shoelaces together! We’re gonna put salt in your sugar bowls!” She struggled to think of the very scariest pranks she could. “We’re gonna do a lot of things!” she finished. She raised her arms frighteningly.
“Ooooooohhhh!” groaned the Zomboyz, trying to be scary. They lunged toward the humans.
Screaming, the humans raced toward the door. They pushed one another out of the way. They couldn’t get out of the salon fast enough.
“Ha-ha!” squealed Moanica gleefully. “That’s right, run! Because this is the Night of the Zomboyz!”
“Moanica! What have you done?” Draculaura was so upset.
“I can’t believe you would ruin this,” cried Ari.
“Get back here right now!” Cleo told the humans. But no one listened to her.
Big tears welled up in Clawdeen’s eyes. Her dream was ruined.
But Moanica had one more surprise to reveal. She stomped her foot—and the entire floor gave way! All the ghouls tumbled down, down, down underground! Now there was no way they could stop the Night of the Zomboyz.
The Zomboyz poured out of the old power station and began staggering toward town. They were ready for mischief! One started chewing on a mailbox. Another rang someone’s doorbell over and over again, chuckling the whole time. Doors were locked. Curtains were pulled. Zomboyz hurled rolls of toilet paper over the power lines. They hid in Dumpsters and scared humans when they went to throw away the trash.
They banged together trash can lids and made frightening noises. They jumped up and down on parked cars and set off their alarms. They rolled garbage cans down the street. They laughed and groaned. Everyone was staying inside, terrified, while the Zomboyz rampaged.
Moanica surveyed the chaos happily. She’d wanted the Normies to be scared of monsters—and now they would be.
Chapter 19
JUICED
The ghouls rubbed their heads as they staggered to their feet. Where were they? They looked around at the glowing crystal chamber.
Dusting herself off, Cleo tried to be positive. “Well, if you don’t count the whole zombies-stealing-the-electricity and falling-through-the-floor things, I’d say tonight went pretty well.”
“Ghouls!” Twyla exclaimed, relieved. She ran over to them. “It’s Frankie!’
“Frankie!” they all exclaimed.
At first they didn’t even realize what they were looking at was Frankie. She pulsed and glowed like some star in a distant galaxy. She didn’t seem to see anyone; it was as if she were in a trance.
“It was Moanica,” Twyla explained tearfully. “She used Frankie for her plan.”
“So. Much. Electricity,” moaned Frankie.
“She’s in shock!” said Cleo.
“We have to get all of that electricity out of her,” Draculaura realized. But how?
“Znap! Znap! Znap!” Znap was buzzing inside a glass dome. Moanica had trapped him too. He wanted to get out.
Clawdeen had an idea. “Frankie. Whatever you did before to make Znap…can you do it again?”
Frankie’s fingers moved ever so slightly, but no one was sure that she could hear them.
“Znap, can you wake her?” asked Ari, releasing the tiny creature.
“ZNAP!” he answered. He bounced toward Frankie. He nudged her arm. He nuzzled up close to her shoulder. He turned around and blasted her with a little jolt from his tail. He put his paws on her, and a tiny bit of electricity transferred to him. But it was enough. Sparks shot out of them both. Frankie’s eyes fluttered. She stood up.
“Znap! ZNAP! Znap, znap, znap, ZNAP!” said Znap excitedly.
Frankie’s eyes opened, and she looked down at her glowing hands. Sparks were flying out of them. She struggled to stand up. She began to shake her
hands. She began to wave her arms. They grew brighter and brighter! The light was blinding!
“Hit the deck!” shouted Clawdeen, who realized what was about to happen.
The ghouls ducked.
Pulsating balls of energy were flying out of Frankie’s fingertips. Hundreds of energy balls. They were ricocheting off the glowing walls of the crystal chamber. The room was filled with light and color! It was like being at the very center of a fireworks finale. Znap loved it!
One of them hit Twyla, and her whole look went electric! Her skirt flared, her hair was crimped, and her shoes were absolutely voltageous.
Hundreds of balls were ping-ponging around the room. When one hit the floor, it would transform…into a znap!
Znaps with spiky hair were everywhere, happily buzzing together! They poured through the open ceiling up into the salon.
Frankie was transformed too. All the electricity had left her body—but her dress was electrified. It looked voltageous!
Everyone wanted to hug her at once.
“Hurray!”
“She’s back!”
Frankie sighed. “I’m so glad that’s over!”
“You’re okay.” Cleo was relieved.
“Thanks to Znap.” Frankie laughed. “And you ghouls!” Frankie wrapped her arms around Twyla and gave her a hug.
Twyla was a little embarrassed by all the attention.
“You were right, Twyla,” Frankie admitted. “I can’t do everything on my own.”
“Znap! Znap! Znap!” buzzed Znap.
Frankie picked up Znap. “You’re right, Znap. With Moanica and the Zomboyz out scaring all the Normies, there’s no way they’ll ever trust us. Unless we do something.”
“Moanica has hundreds of Zomboyz out scaring those Normies.” Clawdeen sighed. “It’d take an army to stop them.”
Znap started jumping up and down, buzzing wildly. “ZNAP!!!!”
He had an idea. And it just might work.
Chapter 20
CHARGE!
The Normie neighborhood was covered in toilet paper and shaving cream. The Zomboyz were digging up flower beds and throwing around garbage. Everyone’s yard was a disgusting mess.
