Freaky Fusion

by Perdita Finn

  As if on cue, the hallway lights flickered. Something was up with the electrical current somewhere in the school.

  “Not my doing,” said Mr. Rotter, somewhat startled. “But helpful for making my point.” He headed toward his classroom, while Frankie ran to the gym to meet up with the Fusions.

  In the gym, Avia had lined everyone up. The Fusions and the new Fusions were all standing at attention like soldiers while Avia, her wings spread and fluttering, addressed them.

  “All right, ghouls, listen up. We’re going to pair each of you with a Fusion mentor to help you master your new combined forms. But before we get started, I’d like you to think about this.” Avia held up a coin.

  “Money? Way ahead of you,” squealed Cleo.

  “She’s about to use it as a metaphor, Your Highness,” said Toralei.

  “Don’t make me come over there, Miss Kitty.”

  “I’d like to see you try!”

  This entire squabble was happening within the fused body of Cleolei. Avia whinnied to get their attention.

  “A coin has two sides,” continued Avia, fluttering back and forth along the ranks. “Like you. And no matter what, you can’t have one side without the other. So you’re going to have to get along.”

  She flipped the coin over to Cleolei. Both of her hands began fighting the other to hold it.

  “I’m keeping this!”

  “It’s mine!”

  Dracubecca felt dizzy. “I don’t know if I can do this. It’s like my brain tells me to do one thing, but something inside makes me do something else.” One of her steam boots fired and she toppled over. “Ow!”

  Neighthan helped her up. “That’s because you’re getting mixed signals. That’s Draculaura’s mind getting confused by Robecca’s instincts. With a little practice, you’ll figure out when to listen to what’s up here,” he said, pointing to his head, “and what’s in here.” Neighthan pointed at his heart.

  What Neighthan said reminded Frankie of something she’d heard in Hexiciah’s class. “The spark,” she whispered to herself.

  “Okay,” announced Avia in full training mode. “Who’s ready to get to work?”

  Dracubecca raised her hand.

  “Good. I like your spirit, kid.”

  Dracubecca looked at her raised hand, alarmed. “I had no idea I was doing that!”

  Avia shook her head. It was going to be a long afternoon.

  Bonita took Clawveenus into the garden and had her sit with her legs crossed, in the lotus position, to begin to calm her mind. “I’ve been fluttering from school to school ever since I was just a little larvette,” Bonita told Clawveenus. “It was always really tough, but I found that meditation would clear my head and make me feel in control. And I think it can help you too.”

  “It’s worth a shot!” agreed Clawveenus, shutting her eyes the way Bonita had instructed her.

  “Now clear your mind,” said the skeleton-moth.

  “And clear.” Clawveenus sighed.

  “Now take a deep, soothing breath.” Clawveenus inhaled and started sneezing and snorting. Her lungs were filled with pollen again.

  A plant behind her began to sprout vines. One of them inched forward, wrapped itself around Bonita, and flung her into the air. Bonita spread her wings and swooped toward the plant like an action hero, beating it back.

  Her eyes shut, Clawveenus had no idea what was happening. “Hey, I think it’s working! I feel totally in control!”

  In the Fusion lounge, Cleolei was lying on one of the couches like she was in a psychiatrist’s office. Neighthan was sitting in a chair beside her taking notes.

  “So you’re saying that you’re going to make Toralei and me get along with each other by… talking? Good luck with that!”

  “No, it’s true,” said Neighthan. “I’ve spent a lot of time in school counselors’ offices just talking through what it’s like to be a Fusion. I promise, talking really helps.”

  “All right, Toralei, let’s talk.”

  “All right, Toralei, let’s talk,” mimicked Toralei.

  “Real mature,” said Cleo.

  “Real mature,” repeated Toralei. She screeched like a cat and Cleolei’s two hands began swatting at each other again.

  “Why don’t you take this seriously?”

  “You’re not the boss of me!”

  Neighthan sighed. “I guess technically they’re talking…” But he didn’t hold out much hope that it was going to make any difference at all.

  While the Fusions were trying to help the Fusions, Sparky was sneaking around Monster High collecting materials for his experiment. He made sure no one was coming down the hallway and slipped into the science classroom. A few minutes later, he emerged with a stack of beakers in his hands and one carefully balanced on his head, chortling to himself.

  Next, he slunk into the Creepateria. While Manny, Gil, and Deuce chatted at one of the tables, Sparky reached up from below and grabbed each of their iCoffins.

  Ghoulia was still locked in Hexiciah’s workshop, unable to get out. She kept checking her watch, but the time was moving so slowly.

  In the gym, Avia had set up an obstacle course of tires, ropes, and hurdles for Dracubecca. “I’ve learned that surviving as a Fusion means that you have to take charge,” she explained. “And from what I’ve seen, your problem is that neither of you is taking charge of your body. You’re both too polite.”

  “Right. I’ll let Robecca take the lead.”

  “No, it should really be Draculaura.”

  “That’s so sweet. But I really do insist that—”

  “All right, all right,” interrupted Avia. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. I don’t care who it is, but somebody has to be the leader. Now, let’s give it a try.”

  Avia flew up into the air to watch Dracubecca navigate the obstacle course. She clicked a stopwatch. “Go!”

  Dracubecca’s steam boots rocketed her into the course. Crash! Bash! Smash! The obstacle course was in pieces. Avia clicked the stopwatch. Dracubecca poked her head up through the wreckage. Avia was not amused.

  Meanwhile, Sparky had snuck into the boys’ restroom with a ladder and was carefully unscrewing lightbulbs. The bathroom went black.

  “Hello? Hello?” called Heath from one of the stalls.

  At the school pool, Sirena was trying to help Lagoonafire, but she was having a hard time focusing. “So, like, the ghost side of my family never really got along with the mermaid side. But there was always one activity that could bring both families together…” Her voice trailed off and she stared vacantly at the water.

  Lagoonafire waited. And waited. And waited. “Swimming?” she finally asked.

  Sirena brightened. “Sure! I love swimming!” She rose into the air and executed four perfect backward somersaults before slipping into the water without a splash.

  Lagoonafire was impressed. “Crikey! I’ve never seen anybody pull off a quadruple reverse somersault without splashing! That was gorgeous!”

  “Like I said.” Sirena smiled. “We did a lot of swimming in my family.”

  “All right, Jinafire, you ready, mate?”

  “Are you sure this is wise?”

  “Trust me. A good swim is just what we need to let off a little steam.”

  When both parts of Lagoonafire were in agreement, she dove deep into the water. The pool began to bubble and hiss and steam. In an instant, all of the water had evaporated. Lagoonafire was sitting at the bottom of an empty pool. “Too much steam.” She sighed.

  Could a dragon girl and a mermaid ever learn to live together as one? It was probably as likely as a werecat and a mummy princess getting along!

  Yet, somehow, Cleo and Toralei were learning how to talk to each other. Cleolei’s head turned this way and that, her mouth kept moving, and the words poured out—but they were less and less irritated. Neighthan couldn’t believe that they were having an actual discussion.

  Avia had set up the obstacle course again, and this tim
e Dracubecca was carefully making her way through it. As the Fusion crossed the finish line, Avia clicked her stopwatch and nodded with approval. Not bad, not bad at all.

  In the garden, Clawveenus and Bonita were doing gentle yoga postures. Around them, flowers blossomed—but not a single one turned into a plant monster.

  Even Lagoonafire was learning to control her powers. The pool had been refilled and Sirena watched delightedly as Lagoonafire dove gracefully in and out of the water. Each time she emerged, she sent a controlled blaze of flame through a hoop suspended from the ceiling. Lagoonafire sailed into the air, dove through the burning hoop, and landed on the ground. “Ta-da!” she announced. Sirena beamed with pride and went to hug her but became distracted by a shiny whistle. Sirena grabbed it, blew it, and startled a sleepy gargoyle lifeguard.

  Back in the Fusion lounge, everyone was celebrating. The Fusions had learned how to control themselves! Clawveenus was drawing in her sketchbook and Cleolei was happily recounting their time-travel adventures to the Fusions.

  “So there we are, stranded, all one in the year 1814 thanks to Touchy McPoke-at-Stuff.” Cleolei pointed to herself. “And guess what she goes and does next?”

  “Don’t tell me she wandered off on her own!” exclaimed Avia.

  “I wandered off on my own!” admitted Cleolei.

  Everyone laughed.

  “It’s like that old saying,” suggested Dracubecca. “Fusions make the best teachers.”

  Avia looked confused. “That’s not an old saying.”

  “Oh, well, it should be.” Dracubecca smiled. She fired up her steam boots, twirled in the air, and landed gracefully—although the steam did extinguish a couple of the torches. “Oops!”

  “No worries, love,” said Lagoonafire reassuringly. She blew a controlled flame across the room and relit them.

  All the Fusions clapped.

  “Yeah, yeah, show-off.” Clawveenus laughed. She set down her sketchbook and closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing seemed to be happening. But vines on the walls sprouted the most beautiful flowers.

  “Oooh!”

  “Awww!”

  “Very impressive!”

  “Nice touch!”

  Clawveenus was proud of herself. “Who’s got two green thumbs and a room full of freaky Fusion friends?” She pointed at herself. “This ghoul right here!”

  Neighthan drifted across the room to a passageway that overlooked a massive underground cavern. Frankie was there, leaning against a rock. Beneath them ran a glowing river of lava, lit up by beams of the setting sun shining through cracks in the rock. It was romantic—in a creepy kind of way.

  “The lava is really quite lovely this time of day,” Neighthan remarked.

  Frankie smiled, her thoughts far away. “Yeah.”

  “If you’re still worried about your friends, you shouldn’t be. They’re going to be great tonight.”

  “Thanks to you,” said Frankie. “No, I was thinking about something else. Something you said made me think about my grandfather. And how much I really don’t know about him. Or myself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Frankie turned to Neighthan, pointing at her head. “I know I have this, but do I have this?” She touched her heart. “Professor Steam said you needed more than just spare parts to create a life. You need something inside—he called it a spark. So what did Victor Frankenstein discover that gave life to me? If I was built in some laboratory, am I even really alive at all? What if I’m just… parts?”

  “That’s some heavy stuff,” acknowledged Neighthan. “You sure you don’t want to go back to small talk about the slime?”

  “I’m sorry,” said Frankie with an apologetic smile. “This whole scaritage project has put a lot of questions between my bolts. I just wish I could talk to my grandfather.”

  Neighthan rested his hand over hers. Sometimes a touch said more than words. Frankie looked up into his eyes. Sparks jolted from her neck bolts, electrifying Neighthan and knocking him backward. Startled bats swooped across the cavern.

  “Neighthan, I’m so sorry!”

  Steam rose from Neighthan’s hand, but he was grinning. “You know how you know you’re alive? You can feel it. Did you feel that?”

  Frankie nodded.

  “Me too!” said Neighthan, rubbing his hand. “But hey, now we know you’re really alive. Maybe that was the spark your professor was talking about.”

  If Frankie had looked a little more carefully, she would have seen, across the cavern, the time-clock door to Hexiciah’s workshop. Ghoulia was still stuck there waiting for the hour when it would open. She’d used the spare time to curl her hair, using stray bottles and dowels to give her ghostly white locks a lift.

  Tick, tick, tick. Finally it was time for the door to open! Ghoulia pulled out her bottle rollers, gave her hair a toss, and dashed out the door. If she were lucky, she’d make it just in time for the bite-centennial celebration.

  Monsters were pouring into the auditorium for the big night. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Searchlights lit up the big bite-centennial banner. It was almost showtime!

  Headmistress Bloodgood galloped through the auditorium on Nightmare. “Happy bite-centennial, Monster High. Take your seats! Take your seats!”

  The audience was filled with eager students, teachers, and parents holding cameras. Backstage, the actors were putting last-minute touches to their makeup. Frankie peeked through the curtain at the crowd.

  “It’s a full house, ghouls,” Mr. Where said anxiously. “You’re sure we’re not going to have a repeat of this afternoon’s rehearsal?”

  Dracubecca hovered on her steam boots. “You can count on us!” The Fusions waved at her, confident that she could do it.

  The stage lights flickered and buzzed. Mr. Where looked more concerned than ever. “No, no, no. This play cannot be ruined by technical difficulties! I’d never be able to show my face again.” Of course, no one had ever actually seen Mr. Where’s face.

  He stomped off to investigate what was going wrong electrically.

  Ghoulia emerged from the catacombs and rushed toward the school. Panting and out of breath, she burst through the stage door.

  “There you are!” said Clawveenus. “Hey, your hair looks claw-some.”

  Ghoulia smiled and touched one of her new curls, but then she gave a serious series of groans.

  “You figured out how to separate us!” exclaimed Lagoonafire. “That’s great! The show’s about to start.”

  “Oooooooooo!” moaned Ghoulia. It wasn’t that easy.

  “Part of the time teleporter lens was stolen?” Cleolei translated. “How?”

  “Maybe we can, I don’t know, buy another time lens?” suggested Dracubecca, but when everybody glared at her, she realized what a ridiculous idea that was. “No, you’re right. That’s crazy. No time lens store is going to be open at this hour.”

  Ghoulia was increasingly frustrated.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” said Frankie. “Who would steal the time lens? What’s going on?”

  The stage lights buzzed and dimmed again. It was almost as if something was interfering with the electrical current.

  Hidden in his laboratory, Sparky was hard at work. Power nodes were firing, coils were glowing, and the light meters were zapping at full capacity. Sparky was wearing giant black goggles while he dashed around throwing switches and twisting dials. Beakers bubbled and steamed. Everything was centered on the giant mound covered by the white sheet.

  “This is it! This is going to happen! I’m finally going to have a family!” Sparky cackled.

  He threw the master switch, and the laboratory exploded with electricity. The figure under the sheet jolted and began shaking violently. An enormous arm flopped out. It started to twitch.

  “It’s alive! It’s alive!” screamed Sparky. “I really hope it’s alive. It’s so embarrassing when it’s not alive.”

  Slowly, the giant Creature slid its legs off the tabl
e. It threw off the sheet. It stood up on its own two feet. It was alive—and it was enormous!

  “Rrrrrrrrrrr!” it roared.

  Sparky was thrilled beyond belief. “Excellent! Now just a few more programming commands and Genealogi-bot 4.0 will be finished! And then the two of us will be… doing whatever it is families do—in no time!”

  Sparky rushed over to the tangle of computers and phones connected to the Recharge Chamber. He typed furiously and then moved to another keyboard. “Yes, yes, executing the family algorithm, applying the genealogy coefficient…” His hands darted from device to device. He picked up an iCoffin—and once again set off the camera. Flash!

  Temporarily blinded, Sparky clutched one of the keyboards to steady himself. Without even realizing it, he was typing a string of random letters. An accidental code began entering into the computer program. Sparky bashed his hand onto the laptop in anger. Red warning lights flashed on the screen.

  “All right,” said Sparky, breathing heavily. “Now I just have to upload… Success…” He clicked a button. “Manners.” He clicked another button. He took off his goggles and turned toward his creation.

  “You are my family,” he told the Creature.

  It responded in a programmed, mechanical voice that was a lot like Sparky’s. “Fa-mi-ly.”

  “Yes!” Sparky jumped up and down. “It works! I created life! I knew I was just missing something before, but I’ve found the missing ingredient!” Tears welled up in his eyes. “I want to remember this moment forever. Wait! I know!”

  Sparky grabbed one of the iCoffins, dragging along wires and computers. He focused on his Creature. “Say… artificially intelligent family member constructed in a lab!”

  He clicked the camera. Flash!

  The Creature blinked rapidly and its body began emitting an eerie red light. A warning code flashed on one of the computer screens. “Rahhh!” it screamed. “Bad! Blinded by science!”

  Its flailing arms threw Sparky across the lab. He crashed into the Recharge Chamber. Smash! Bash! Crash! The Creature staggered toward the door. It pulled the door off its hinges. It was stomping down the tower stairs—toward the high school.