A story that came to me and I just had to do it. :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Ella, Crystal, and Rachel.
A Ghost For An Uncle
"Ugh, why is my publisher being so rude to them?" Crystal asked.
"I don't know," said Rachel. "Let's see if we can diffuse the situation."
The owner of the Grant Mansion and the author were in a meeting with Crystal's publisher, who was arguing with the editor and book printer about the cover picture for Crystal's new book. As the two women tried to stop the fighting and diffuse the situation calmly, Crystal was thinking about her fiancée and daughter and feeling eager to get home, which made both her and Rachel put more effort into getting the other three to stop arguing and calm down.
Clockwork was at Plumber HQ on monitor duty, but he was worried about his fiancée and daughter. Crystal had been having issues about getting her books published lately and Ella had been almost attacked by bullies the other day, but Snare-Oh and Rook had stopped the bullies and scared them off, but now his daughter was reluctant to go do things in town without someone with her. He didn't blame her, but he didn't like seeing her retreat back into her shell. Ella was slow to trust others and while she trusted some of the aliens, she only stuck by her father, her mother, Rachel, Rook, and a few other aliens she considered her uncles. He then wrote something down quickly and put it in one of the holding spaces in his arms. It was a note to buy Crystal some roses and to buy Ella a plush sea turtle, as those were her favorite animals. That resolved, he looked forward to the end of his shift.
Ella was at the Mansion playing a game on the computer, but was mostly doing so just to pass the time. She was looking forward to her mother and father coming home later and it seemed time was going so slow for her. "Time really doesn't fly," she said aloud.
"Not unless you're having fun," said a spooky voice that made her whirl around and scream as she saw a ghost behind her. The green cuffs and chains around him made her eyes widen even more and she fell out of her chair, crawling quickly away.
The ghost hovered closer to her. "Don't be alarmed, Ella," he said.
That was apparently not the best choice of words as the twelve-year-old screamed and jumped up, running out of her room and the ghost followed, mentally smacking himself. Rachel had warned him that Ella frightened easily, but he hadn't thought she'd be scared out of her mind if he greeted her. Turning invisible, he began searching for the young girl, spotting her running up the stairs. "Ella! Wait, sweetheart!" He called out to her, flying after her.
The young girl was too much in a panic to listen and she then ran into the rec room and quickly noted the pile of pillows in one corner of the room. Rachel had bought a whole bunch of pillows so that there would be plenty of pillows for everyone if they all gathered in the large rec room. She even had a whole bunch more pillows in two of the closets too in case they needed more. Ella now dove for the pillows and sank into them, quickly hiding behind the rest of the pillows to be hidden from the ghost that was hunting for her.
Ghostfreak entered the rec room, but didn't see the girl. Curious, he did a quick search of the various hiding places but didn't find her and he kept an eye on the door too. "Hmm, I saw her run in here," he said to himself. "Where could she have gone?"
He tried the closets, but one was full of games, one was full of movies, two full of blankets, two full of pillows, and the last one had cleaning supplies in case drinks were spilled and such. He then spotted the pillows piled up in one corner and stopped a moment, gazing thoughtfully at them. It was a large pile and if someone were to dive into them to possibly hide…,
The alien ghost chuckled to himself. "Clever," he said quietly so that Ella wouldn't hear him. "But perfect for a sneak attack."
Again going invisible, he unleashed his striped tentacles and phased through the pillows where Ella was hiding. The young girl was very still and apparently listening for him. Smirking, he materialized in front of her. "Peek-a-boo!" He said playfully.
Ella jumped and a scream would have escaped her if a hand hadn't covered her mouth as a couple tentacles wrapped around her arms to keep her from getting away. "A rather clever hiding place, Ella, but for an alien like me, it's also perfect to sneak up on the hidden person," he said with a chuckle as one tentacle moved towards her face and gently tickled her ears. She immediately brought her shoulder up to her ear to stop his tickle attack, but he felt her grin underneath his hand. "Oh? Ticklish?" He asked mischievously. "Just how ticklish are you? I must know."
With that, he phased out from behind the pillows and back into the rec room, something that made Ella blink in confusion before she felt tentacles wrap around her ankles and gently tug until her feet were sticking out from the pillows and her socks were removed before she let out a squeal as tentacles wiggled over her feet while the two wrapped around her ankles continued to gently pull her out from under the pillows and she tried to grab hold of something, but there was only pillows and she quickly decided to throw them at her captor, but each pillow she threw was either caught by another tentacle, went through him when he turned intangible, or were batted away by his hands as the young girl was soon pulled out from the pile of pillows left and her captor used more of his tentacles to tickle her knees and her stomach.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed out.
Noting that her laughter became much louder when he tickled her stomach, Ghostfreak realized that his niece's stomach must be her tickle spot. "Well, if your stomach is your weak spot, how loud will you laugh if I tickle your belly button?" He asked her as he allowed her a breather, but kept a hold on her ankles.
Ella took some deep breaths before looking at the ghostly figure who held her and suddenly noticed one of his tentacles moving toward her stomach, moving her shirt up just enough to expose her belly button and she quickly pulled her shirt back down, an action that made him chuckle as two more tentacles gently wrapped around her wrists and pulled them away from her stomach. "I'm afraid that won't work, Ella," he said with a chuckle. "You see, I love tickling children and I never let them go before I give them the best tickle torture ever. And you, little one, are in desperate need of one."
She was grinning, but still had a small bit of fear in her. "But…don't ghosts haunt people? Or…try to hurt them?" She asked.
He smiled. "While I have ghostly powers, sweetheart, I'm not a ghost," he said. "I'm an Ectonurite, which is an alien with ghost-like powers."
She blinked. "So…an alien ghost?" She asked.
Ghostfreak gave that some thought. "Yes, I suppose in simpler terms, that's what I am," he said before again lifting up her shirt to expose her belly button to him. "Now then, where was I? Oh, yes. I was about to tickle your belly button, wasn't I?"
Ella began giggling from his playful words and giggling more as his tentacle inched closer to her belly button, the anticipation making her give off more nervous giggles. The alien waited a moment and then made his move, wiggling his tentacle into the twelve-year-old's belly button like no tomorrow.
The young girl let out a squeal before squirming like crazy. "Well, well, look at that," Ghostfreak said with a chuckle. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!"
She laughed her hardest at that before feeling the tentacle pull away from her belly button to be replaced by the alien's face as he then blew huge raspberries into her ticklish stomach and Ella squealed again, squirming hard but unable to get away because Ghostfreak's tentacles were still tickling her feet too, but just when she was about to completely lose her breath, the alien noticed that her struggles had gotten weaker and he stopped, his tentacles still holding her ankles in a gentle, secure grip as he watched her catch her breath before he let her go and moved away, coming back over after a bit with a glass of water in his hand and he helped her sit up, cradling her upper body in one arm and holding the glass of water up to her mouth. "Ella," he said softly to get her attention. She opened her eyes and opened her mouth as the ghostly alien gently tipped the water into her mouth and she drank it all before taking a few deep breaths. She then looked up at him.
"If you're not going to haunt me or hurt me, why did you chase me?" She asked curiously. "Who are you, anyway?"
"My name is Ghostfreak," he said. "And I'd never harm one of my nieces."
Ella looked at him with some confusion. "I'm…your niece?" She asked.
He nodded. "Your mother and father are dear friends of mine," he said. "I was actually one of the first aliens your mother met when she first came here."
"I…I think I remember her telling me that," the twelve-year-old said as she tried to stand and Ghostfreak assisted her, but her knees were still a bit wobbly, so the alien scooped her up into his arms. She looked surprised. "How are you so strong if you're a ghost?" She asked.
"Remember, I'm an alien ghost, Ella," he said gently, his voice full of amusement. "I'm not really a ghost."
She then perked up. "Like Uncle Whampire isn't a real vampire? He's an alien vampire?" She asked.
"Right," Ghostfreak said, floating out of the room and floating down the stairs as Ella held onto him and he set her down on her feet at the bottom of the stairs. "By the way, Snare-Oh told me you ran into some bullies the other day."
"Yeah," she said. "The ones I used to deal with a lot before Aunt Rachel decided to have me and my cousins homeschooled."
She noted her uncle looked upset. "I don't like how those bullies are still bothering you children," he said.
She shrugged. "It's alright," she said.
"No, it's not, Ella," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Those bullies should be leaving you alone."
"And they will be," said Rachel as she and Crystal walked in. "Crystal and I spoke with the police and those bullies got a very stern talking to."
Ella hugged her mother and aunt, who smiled and returned the hug before Crystal saw Ghostfreak. "Hello, Ghostfreak," she said.
"Hello, Crystal," he said, giving her a brotherly hug. "Did everything get straightened out?"
"Yes," she said. "But it was a long process."
She then smiled. "But I see you finally met my daughter," she said.
"Yes," the alien ghost said. "Although I had to convince her that I was harmless and one of her uncles."
Ella giggled. "He wouldn't quit tickling me," she said, a huge smile on her face.
"Ghostfreak, did you tickle our poor niece to pieces?" Rachel asked in an amused voice.
"Hmm, let me check," he said and went to Ella, his hands grasping her arms. "Hmm, everything seems in place."
He then poked her sides and stomach gently, which made the twelve-year-old giggle again. "Nope, looks like she's in one piece," he said teasingly.
Giggling again, Ella hugged him, much to his surprise, but he instantly returned the hug. "Also, you and Clockwork have a very clever daughter, Crystal. She hid behind the pillows in a corner of the rec room and I didn't even see her until I checked behind them," he said.
Both other women chuckled at that. "But she learned quick that no child escapes your ticklish grasp, huh?" Rachel said with an amused smile.
"Yeah," said the young girl. "But he's also good at comforting too."
Ghostfreak ruffled her hair gently in affection and just then, a knock came at the door and Rachel opened it to see Clockwork there with his hands behind his back. "Hey, bro. How was work?" She asked.
"Long," he said. "But I have the next two days and next week off for vacation."
Everyone smiled at that and then the time alien saw his fiancée and daughter and smiled, going up to them and handing Crystal a dozen red roses in a bouquet and she gasped in surprise. "What's this for?" She asked in amazement.
"Just showing my lovely lady how much I love her," Clockwork said smoothly, making Rachel and Ghostfreak politely hold back their chuckles and Ella tried to keep her giggles down as she watched her parents share a brief, loving kiss before the robot-like alien turned to her. "I have a surprise for you too, Ella. Close your eyes and hold out your hands."
Curious, Ella did as she was told, barely resisting the urge to peek as something soft was put in her hands. "Alright, my little timepiece, you can look," she heard her father say.
The nickname that her father had given her made her smile and she opened her eyes and her face lit up as seeing her father had gotten her a medium-sized plush sea turtle that had a rainbow-colored shell. "I love it, Daddy! Thank you!" She said, hugging him and he lovingly returned the hug.
"I thought that would cheer you up," he said with a smile before feeling Crystal gently touch his arm and he turned to see her snuggle into his side, smiling up at him.
"Ella and I can always count on you to cheer us up, my time man," she said, making Clockwork barely hold back a shudder at her nickname for him.
"Always, my timekeeper," he said, making her blush a little.
Ella giggled and looked over at her uncle, going over and hugging him. "And I can always count on Uncle Ghostfreak to cheer me up too," she said.
Ghostfreak gently pinched the right side of her face in affection. "You've got that right, little one," he said with a smile.
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GoldGuardian2418