Monster Rescue: Go Get Lagoona!

by Misty von Spooks

  “Normies?” Lagoona was instantly alert. “With the tropical cyclone coming? But I posted so many warning signs this morning!”

  Mum smiled affectionately. “You and your Dawn Patrol,” she said. “But Normies have a mind of their own, dearie. You know that.”

  “But—” Lagoona began.

  “I’ve got to fix some brekkie for the little ones,” Mum continued. “Don’t worry about Draculaura. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from her soon.”

  Lagoona was still troubled, even after Mum left the room. Why would a couple of Normies ignore my signs and go so far out in these conditions? she wondered. It doesn’t make sense.

  She flipped the switch on the router back and forth, but it never lit up. That told Lagoona that the problem wasn’t with her computer. From the look of things, the whole Monster Web was down in this section of the ocean.

  Lagoona sat there, deep in thought. Then she abruptly stood up and swam toward the grotto’s hidden entrance.

  I’ll go find Dad, she decided. Maybe he can help me fix the connection. And if those Normies come back… I want to see them for myself!

  CHAPTER 5

  Ghoul, we’ve gotta go!” Clawdeen shrieked as the shark approached.

  Draculaura was already on it. She thrust the Skullette toward Clawdeen; the instant Clawdeen touched it, Draculaura uttered, “Monster High. Exsto monstrum!”

  Whoosh!

  The ghouls, sopping wet and a little dizzy, found themselves sprawled on the floor of the Creepeteria. They were covered in big chunks of seaweed from the ocean. Dracula took one look at them and hurried away to get some towels while Frankie and Cleo rushed to their sides.

  “You’re soaked!” Frankie cried, making sure to keep a safe distance from the pool of seawater that was spreading across the Creepeteria floor. “And kind of gross. What happened out there? A seaweed storm?”

  “Seaweed wraps are all the rage, you know,” said Cleo as she happily helped her ghoulfriends to their feet.

  “Oh my ghoul, you will not even believe what happened,” Draculaura began. “The Monster Mapalogue dropped us in shark-infested waters!”

  Frankie and Cleo gasped in unison. Then Cleo gave a quizzical look. “Um, what are ‘sharks’?” she asked.

  “Predatory sea creatures with literally hundreds of sharp, pointy teeth!” answered Frankie.

  “More like thousands,” Clawdeen corrected her. “The shark was coming straight at us too!”

  Draculaura shivered. “Like it had just spotted its next meal.”

  Cleo gave Drac a big hug and didn’t even flinch when Draculaura dripped seawater all over her teal-and-gold tunic. “Not on my watch,” she promised. “I will not permit some slimy, smelly shark to menace my best ghoulfriends.”

  Draculaura flashed her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Cleo,” she replied. “I hate to admit it, but maybe Dad was right about the life vests… and how dangerous it is out there… and everything else too.”

  “I heard that!” Dracula said as he entered the room with a stack of thick, fluffy towels. “And you’re welcome.”

  “I’m so glad that Drac and Clawdeen were brave enough for the recon mission,” Frankie said. “If I’d been plunged into salt water like that . . .”

  Frankie’s voice trailed off.

  “What?” Cleo whispered, her eyes wide.

  “Short-circuit central,” Frankie said. She pointed at the bolts on either side of her neck. “As you know, water and electricity definitely do not mix. Plus, salt water is corrosive. It could eat through my bolts in no time—which would be a huge disaster.”

  Clawdeen let out a low whistle. “Does that mean… you can’t help us rescue Lagoona?”

  Draculaura held her breath. Clawdeen had said what they were all thinking, but Draculaura wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.

  “I don’t know . . .” Frankie replied thoughtfully. “I can tell you this, though—I won’t go on the mission if there’s even a chance I could put you ghouls in danger. Hopefully it’s just a piece of the puzzle we haven’t solved yet.”

  “There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle,” Cleo grumbled. “Corrosive water—ghoul-eating sharks—and a demented Mapalogue that throws us right into the middle of them. Can we get a do-over?”

  Draculaura shook her head. “I don’t think it works like that,” she said. “I don’t know exactly how the Monster Mapalogue decides where to send us, but I have a feeling it takes us right where we need to go—whether we know it or not.”

  “True,” Frankie agreed. “I mean, we thought we were in the middle of an empty desert when we set off to rescue you, Cleo—but it turned out we were really close to your tomb.”

  “We just didn’t know it at the time,” added Clawdeen.

  “So that gets us back to what we were talking about earlier,” Draculaura said. “All the things we don’t know about how to rescue Lagoona. Like how to get Frankie there safely.”

  “And avoid being eaten by a giant shark,” said Clawdeen.

  “And maybe not get dunked in the middle of some faraway ocean?” Cleo said hopefully. “I mean, as much as I’d love a free organic seaweed wrap, the ocean doesn’t sound like my thing.”

  “Ghouls, we can do this,” Draculaura said with a rush of confidence. She flung her arms out wide. “I mean, look at this! We have all of Monster High available to us! We can learn anything here!”

  “Which means we can do anything out there,” Frankie said, pointing at the window.

  “I still haven’t heard back from Lagoona,” Draculaura said as she reached for her phone. “I’m going to send her a message to check in.”

  Drac’s pale fingers flew across the screen as she tapped each letter.

  Hey, ghoul! It’s Drac. I took a quick trip to your area—did you see me? Not sure exactly where I was—we were surrounded by water and there were giant sharks (eek!). Any ideas? The other ghouls and I will be back as soon as we figure out how to reach you. xo Drac

  Draculaura hit SEND and was about to ask her ghoulfriends a question when her phone beeped. “Lagoona wrote back!” she shrieked. The ghouls crowded around excitedly—but the message Draculaura had received was not what they expected.

  MESSAGE UNDELIVERABLE

  Your message was not received by the intended monster.

  “Oh. Guess I was wrong,” Draculaura said, frowning at the screen.

  “Did you get that message when you reached out to Lagoona earlier?” asked Cleo.

  “No, I didn’t,” replied Draculaura. “Which means . . .”

  “Her connection to the Monster Web has gone out,” Frankie finished for her. “I bet that happens all the time where she lives. All that salt water… high winds and waves . . .”

  “Poor ghoul,” Cleo said. “I would’ve been lost without the Monster Web while I was stuck in my tomb for a whole millennia!”

  “We don’t have even a minute to lose,” announced Draculaura. “Come on, ghouls! Let’s go get Lagoona!”

  “Next stop—the library!” Frankie cheered.

  “So, we’ve got three problems,” Draculaura began as the ghouls climbed the spiral staircase to the second floor. “Number one: We don’t know very much about the Great Barrier Reef.”

  “True,” Cleo replied.

  “Number two: We have a big—and I mean big—shark problem,” Draculaura continued.

  “Very true,” Clawdeen said as she made a face.

  “And number three: We have a ghoulfriend who really shouldn’t touch the water,” Draculaura finished, glancing at Frankie.

  “Too true, I’m afraid,” Frankie said with a sigh.

  “Anything else?” asked Drac.

  “I—” Cleo began.

  Everyone turned to look at her.

  Cleo paused, smiled brightly, and shrugged. “I don’t think so,” she said.

  But as Cleo looked away, Draculaura noticed there was something a little, well, off about her eyes. Was she annoyed?
Or maybe worried? Draculaura couldn’t quite figure it out. This must be so overwhelming, Draculaura thought. Just hours ago, Cleo was trapped in her tomb. And now she was out in the monster world, about to set off on her first rescue mission. Total culture shock!

  “How about we start with researching the Great Barrier Reef?” Frankie’s voice jolted Draculaura out of her thoughts.

  “Definitely,” Draculaura replied. “We just need to find the right book!”

  Monster High’s library was enormous, filled with thousands of books about monster history, monster lore, and more. The ghouls split up, drifting throughout the library as they searched for books that would help them. After Draculaura found a book called The Wundas of Down Unda: The Great Barrier Reef and Beyond, she noticed Cleo all alone in the corner—and that gave her an idea.

  Draculaura crossed the room to Clawdeen. “Psst! Clawdeen!” she whispered.

  “What’s up?” Clawdeen whispered back as she glanced up from her book.

  “I’m a little worried about Cleo,” Draculaura replied. “She seems—I don’t know. Like maybe she feels out of place.”

  “That’s not good,” Clawdeen said right away. “She’s one of us now! Monster High should feel like home.”

  “That’s what I think,” Draculaura said. “But it is a big change for her.”

  “Totally,” Clawdeen agreed. “What should we do?”

  “I was just thinking, maybe she’d feel more at home if we tried really, really hard to be the best ghoulfriends ever,” Draculaura said.

  “You got it,” Clawdeen replied.

  Just then, Frankie’s voice rang through the library. “Ghouls! I found an atlas!” she called.

  Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Cleo hurried over to her. Frankie lugged the heavy book off the shelf and dropped it on a long wooden table. A cloud of dust rose into the air, sparkling as it caught the light. Draculaura’s nose tickled, but little Webby, Drac’s pet spider, sneezed so hard he flew halfway across the room.

  “Sorry, Webby,” Clawdeen called over her shoulder.

  Draculaura leaned over the enormous book and began to turn its yellowed pages. “This is scary-cool,” she said. “It looks like there are maps of the entire world here.”

  “Maybe even a map of where Monster High is located!” Frankie said.

  “Check this out!” Draculaura exclaimed. “This map is of the… ocean?”

  The ghouls leaned over the page to get a closer look. Brilliant swirls of crystal-clear water hid—almost hid—an intricate design that looked like a craggy, crooked structure.

  “What is that?” asked Cleo.

  “If I’m not mistaken, that’s the Great Barrier Reef,” Frankie told her.

  “It’s totally underwater?” Cleo said, sounding surprised. “I mean—all of it?”

  “Well, not exactly,” Frankie replied. “There are lots of small islands in the Great Barrier Reef. But the reef itself is made of coral, so it’s all under-water. Listen to this,” she said before reading aloud. “The coral structures of the Great Barrier Reef provide an ecosystem for thousands of types of sea creatures. There are more than a hundred islands in the system.”

  “And, apparently, sea monsters,” Draculaura said, thinking of Lagoona.

  “It makes sense, doesn’t it?” asked Clawdeen. “Those coral structures could provide a ton of hiding places for a monster who wanted to avoid Normies.”

  “But couldn’t Lagoona be on one of the islands too?” Cleo asked hopefully. “More than a hundred islands—that’s a lot! I bet a monster could definitely hide out there!”

  “Maybe,” Draculaura said. “But the Monster Mapalogue sent us straight into the sea. That’s probably a sign.”

  Cleo’s face fell. “Oh. Right,” she said. “I forgot about that.”

  “So it sounds like we’d better be ready for a watery trip,” Frankie said with a worried frown.

  “Hey,” Draculaura said. “The most important thing is for you to stay safe. I don’t want you getting dunked in the deep if it’s going to make you short out.”

  “I don’t want that, either,” Frankie said. “But I’m not ready to give up. Not yet!”

  “Of course not,” Clawdeen said firmly. “Who said anything about giving up? In fact . . .”

  As Clawdeen’s voice trailed off, her eyes lit up. “Clawesome!” she exclaimed.

  “What?” Frankie, Draculaura, and Cleo said—all at the same time.

  But Clawdeen just smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see,” she said. Then she reached out and grabbed Cleo’s hand. “Come on. I’m going to need your help.”

  Then, without another word, Clawdeen and Cleo ran out of the library.

  Draculaura and Frankie exchanged a look of surprise. “What was that about?” Frankie finally asked.

  “I have no idea—but I can’t wait to find out what Clawdeen’s big idea is,” said Draculaura.

  “Me too,” Frankie agreed. “And I’ve had a big idea of my own.”

  “Tell me everything!” Draculaura exclaimed.

  “We don’t need to worry about the water just for my sake,” Frankie began. “We need to worry about it for all of us. I don’t think the life vests are enough.”

  “Go on,” Draculaura encouraged her.

  “Scu-boo gear!” Frankie exclaimed. “A combination mask and breathing apparatus so we can explore the ocean floor if we need to.”

  “That’s fangtastic!” replied Draculaura. “Any chance you can make it shark-repellent too?” she added with a hopeful grin. “You know, like bug repellent but for sharks?”

  “I can try.” Frankie laughed. “But I don’t think we can make bug spray for sharks. Either way, I’d better get to the lab.”

  “I’ll come too,” Draculaura offered. She tucked The Wundas of Down Unda: The Great Barrier Reef and Beyond under her arm.

  The Mad Science lab at Monster High was Frankie’s favorite place in the whole school. Tucked in the deepest underground basement, it was surprisingly high-tech—just the way Frankie liked it. The steel countertops, chrome cabinets, and ultra-bright lights reminded her of the power station where she’d grown up. Best of all, though, the Mad Science lab was fully stocked with everything an inventor could possibly need—from chemical compounds and rare earth elements to beakers and Bunsen burners.

  The ghouls were quiet as Frankie assembled everything she needed to start work on the scu-boo gear: tubes and valves, heavy-duty sheets of plastic, and some unusual iridescent tanks that caught Draculaura’s eye. “What are those?” she asked.

  Frankie didn’t look up as she started adjusting the valves on the tanks. “It’s a new oxygen containment system,” she explained. “It doesn’t even have a name yet. But if my theory is correct . . .”

  “What?” asked Draculaura.

  Frankie flashed her a quick grin. “I don’t want to jinx it,” she replied. “Let’s just wait and see if it works!”

  For a while, the only sound in the lab was Frankie as she made the deep-sea scu-boo gear. At last, she broke the silence by asking Draculaura, “What are you learning about sea creatures?”

  “Tons of cool stuff!” Drac replied. “I mean, the Great Barrier Reef is literally packed with sea creatures of all kinds… and that’s what attracts predators like the shark I saw. So it probably was looking for its next meal!”

  Draculaura shuddered at the thought.

  “But the good news is that sharks generally don’t want to eat monsters—or even Normies,” she continued. “They prefer smaller fish or crustaceans, something they can chomp in one bite. And they usually attack only when they’re feeling confused or threatened.”

  “Interesting,” Frankie replied. “So we should be okay, unless the shark gets scared of us?”

  “I think the best advice is to steer clear of them,” Draculaura told her. “But that might be easier said than done. We can’t exactly control where sharks swim, you know?”

  “True!” Frankie laughed. “You know
what else we can’t control? The weather.”

  “It was like a paradise when Clawdeen and I were there,” Draculaura told Frankie. “Clear blue skies… clear blue seas… and a brilliant, glittering sun.”

  “So we will definitely need to be ready for the heat,” Frankie mused. “Do any of those books have a section on weather patterns in the Great Barrier Reef? We could read up so we know what kind of weather to expect.”

  Draculaura flipped to the index. “This one does,” she replied. “But honestly, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way,” Frankie said. “But if it doesn’t—we’ll be ready!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Meanwhile, Clawdeen and Cleo were hard at work in Monster High’s art studio. The large, airy room was monstrously bright, which made it the perfect place for all sorts of artistic endeavors, from painting to pottery. Clawdeen had always loved to paint, and her scaritage included lots of artists. In fact, her own mother was Monster High’s art teacher. But painting wasn’t the reason why Clawdeen had brought Cleo to the art studio.

  Cleo watched in confusion as Clawdeen unfurled several bolts of fabric, shaking her head in disappointment before tossing each one back in a pile.

  “Ghoul, what could you be looking for?” Cleo finally asked. “The royal seamstress never worked this hard, and I have very particular taste. All those fabrics look fangtastic to me.”

  Clawdeen glanced up for a moment. “Oh, they are,” she assured Cleo. “For, you know, outfits. It’s just—I have something different in mind.”

  “Tell me more!” Cleo said excitedly. “Starting new trends happens to be a talent of mine. Maybe I can help!”

  “I want to design a special suit for Frankie,” Clawdeen explained. “Something completely waterproof—so she can help find Lagoona without worrying about going all sparky.”