CHAPTER 26
Dance and Sing Like an Egyptian
Ghoulia was concentrating as hard as she could. She swarmed satellites around the comet. She blasted the music. All around her were students—none of whom, except for Abbey, knew that she wasn’t playing a video game. She was trying to save Boo York.
“Ahh, I can’t watch!” cried Manny. The tension was so high. He pulled his shirt over his eyes. He didn’t want to see what happened next.
On the rooftop of the museum, everyone panicked. Monsters were crying and screaming. Mummies were running this way and that, bumping into skeletons. The ghouls didn’t know what to do. Only Catty was listening—to the music she could hear coming from the satellites, thanks to Ghoulia.
It was a beautiful melody, and Catty couldn’t resist it. She began singing along. Hearing her voice, Pharaoh took her hand in his and began to harmonize with her. Guests stopped and stared at them. Draculaura and Clawdeen joined them. Then Deuce and Cleo lifted up their voices. The mummies began to sing, the dignitaries, and even Ramses and Madame Ptolemy. There was something about the song. No one could resist it. More and more people joined in all over Boo York. The chorus of their voices became louder and louder, mingling with the instrumentation from the satellites.
What no one knew was that the music had awakened the being inside of the comet. She was at the controls at last!
The comet pulsed and flared. It was right overhead. It was seconds from crashing right into the museum. Just before it hit, there was a giant flash, and the great comet exploded into a million dots of light, illuminating the entire city.
Back at Monster High, no one was sure what exactly had happened. For a few moments, no one said anything and then everyone began to cheer.
“High score!”
“Ghoulia beat the game!”
“You won!”
Exhausted, Ghoulia leaned back in her chair. Somehow she had kept the comet from slamming into the city. But why had it exploded? She didn’t really know.
Little shimmering dots of light swirled among the buildings of Boo York. As the light from the comet faded away, a tiny orb hovered above the museum. What was it?
“I hear something!” said Elle. Something inside of the orb seemed to be playing the notes of the satellites. Elle played them back. A panel appeared and opened underneath the orb. A tiny star creature appeared in a beam of light.
“Ooh!” gasped the crowd.
“Aah!” exclaimed the ghouls.
“It’s true! The comet came from the beings above,” Madame Ptolemy cried.
“I believe this belongs to you.” Catty stepped forward and handed the star being the crystal.
The beautiful star being bowed with appreciation. “Thank you. My name is Astranova. That song you heard was a distress signal—you all saved me!”
Catty, who knew what it was like to lose your voice and find it again, ran over to Astranova to give her a warm hug of welcome. “It’s funny,” she said, “but in a way, you were the one that saved us, Astranova. We were all searching for something this weekend, and if your comet hadn’t brought us all here, or given us your song, we wouldn’t have found what we were looking for.”
Elle agreed. “I found the voice that was hidden deep inside of me.”
“I found my voice singing loud on a Bloodway stage,” said Luna.
Mouscedes beamed. “I found some amazing new ghoulfriends.”
“And we found what we’ve always known,” Cleo announced, hugging Deuce. “We’re Cleo and Deuce.”
“And nothing changes that,” said Deuce.
Catty had never been happier. “Thank you, Astranova, for helping everybody find their music. I know I found mine!” She gazed at Pharaoh.
Everyone crowded around Astranova, eager to get to know her.
“Your voice is so beautiful!” said Luna.
“I like your sphere ship thing,” Draculaura giggled.
“Welcome! Welcome!” said everyone.
Wide-eyed, Astranova looked around the rooftop. “Are you having a party?”
“Well, it’s midnight,” said Cleo. “I’m in Boo York with my Deuce and my ghoulfriends. You better believe we’re having a party!”
Elle started spinning discs, Catty started singing, Pharaoh was rapping, and Astranova was pulsing with light in time to the music. The whole crowd began to dance.
“I love parties!” exclaimed Astranova. She began to sing in her lovely, ethereal voice. “We all are shooting stars. I am the light in the dark!”
The music was magic, really magic, and everyone began rising, weightless, into the air. Luna fluttered around the party happily, playing with star particles. Astranova caught one and blew it into the crowd like a kiss.
Cleo and Deuce leaned close, touching foreheads.
“Look up into the night. I’m falling out of the sky, falling out of the sky,” sang Astranova.
Madame Ptolemy came up behind Pharaoh and Catty, embracing them both. She finally realized how important her son’s happiness was to her.
Elle was spinning music on her turntables.
“Be who you are! We are shooting stars! Be who you are!”
Ramses was skulking in the shadows, disappointed, until Madame Ptolemy grabbed him and pulled him onto the dance floor.
Pharaoh was rapping. “It’s time that we rise up. It’s time that we get down.”
Catty joined in. “Hear the sound of the whole crowd. Make the declaration out loud.
“It’s a celebration of who we are.”
Under the stars, the couples danced and twirled and sang. Their voices in perfect harmony, they sang a song of celebration and joy. They were lighting up the night!
“We’re shooting stars,” sang Astranova. “We’re shooting stars.”
The music poured out of the computer speakers in the lab at Monster High, and everyone started singing and cheering there too. Fireworks lit up the sky above Boo York, and the heavens themselves seemed to be celebrating as beautiful colored lights glowed and pulsed across the horizon.
“Be who you are! You are a star!”
Cleo and Deuce were back together. Catty and Pharaoh had found their voices. All the ghouls and monsters and mummies were dancing together. Astranova too joined the dancing. At last, with a beautiful flourish, she hit a piercingly high note and everyone cheered. She was going to be a great addition to the chorus at Monster High!
