"Metamorphosis"a "Monster High" fanfiction story September-November, 2013

I count myself lucky enough to own a Jackson Jekyll doll. I can't imagine being lucky enough to own Monster High.

"... Hello, Ms. Bloodgood. This is Ms. Gorgon... My son Deuce will not be in today, as he isn't feeling very well... Oh no, it's nothing too serious or anything, I just wanted to let you know that he probably won't feel like going to school for a few days... Alright, have a good day!"

Medusa Gorgon put the phone back in its cradle, calling out to her son in the next room. "Alright, yiòs! You've been dismissed from school for the rest of the week!"

"Cool," Deuce whispered weakly. He was laying in his own bed, still in his pajamas. His snakes were sprawled out all over his pillow, looking almost as miserable as he did.

Medusa turned on the television set that was facing him, flashing her son a bright smile. "You'll be feeling better in a few days, yiòs, I promise! For now, you just need to rest and relax."

(Yiòs – the Greek word for 'son' according to Google, and I apologize if it's inaccurate.)

The younger gorgon nodded slightly, then sighed as he pressed his head back into his pillow and closed his eyes. "This must be what a punishment in Hades feels like."

"Sweetie, Hades is much, much worse than a few growing pangs. Believe me, I know."

"If you say so, Mom."

*~M-O-N-S-T-E-RH-I-G-H~*

Medusa smiled as she opened the door later on in the afternoon. Jackson was standing on the front porch, holding a stack of books in his arms.

"Hi, Ms. Gorgon!" The young half-monster said pleasantly. "I brought Deuce's homework."

"Well, that was nice of you," Medusa told him, gesturing for the boy to come in. "Although, something tells me that Deuce won't view that as a gesture of kindness, exactly."

Jackson snickered. "No. He'll probably yell at me about it whenever he's feeling better. How's he doing, by the way?"

The older woman frowned slightly. "Why don't I let him tell you. He's in his room."

The young normie shrugged and entered his friend's room. "Hey, Deuce? I brought-"

He was cut off by a strange noise that came from Deuce; it sounded like a cross between a growl and a pain-filled scream.

Deuce was laying on his bed, wearing nothing but his pants at the moment, scratching and rubbing angrily at his bare chest. His teeth were clenched together, and he was hissing angrily.

Picking up Deuce's sunglasses from the bedside table, Jackson slipped them onto his nose. Deuce was currently not wearing any eye-protection himself, since it was his house and all and he didn't have to, so Jackson decided to use the only thing available as a shield to protect himself from any bad side-effects that may come with having a gorgon for a friend.

Setting the books down on the floor, Jackson stepped closer to the bed, being careful to stay out of reach. "Deuce? What's going on with you?"

Deuce whipped his head around to see who was talking to him. "Jackson? When did you come in? Grrrrrr... my legs hurt, my eyes sting, my jaw feels like it wants to break off from the rest of my face, and everything else itches!"

Jackson frowned, wondering what exactly the problem was. "Do you know what it is?"

"I dunno... Mom said something about 'growing pangs' this morning, but I don't know what she meant." He suddenly arched his back upwards and let out a fierce hiss, his hands scrabbling at the small of his back.

The normie cocked an eyebrow. "'Growing pangs?' That's what my dad called it when Holt and I started waking up in the mornings feeling overly warm and having smoke pouring from our nostrils. We didn't know what he meant until our pyronic abilities kicked in full throttle."

"Yeah, that's right, you are part fire-elemental, aren't you?"

"On my dad's side," Jackson remarked with a smirk. He held up his hand, immediately calling forth a little flame that rested on his palm.

Deuce regarded the flame for a moment. "Sooo... are you saying that I've finally hit puberty, ya think?"

His answer was a shrug. "It's possible. I know that monsters have their own brand of puberty that they go through on their own time. I know it tends to hit them a little later than it hits humans... Being half-human, I've had to go through both versions."

Deuce shuddered. "I can't imagine that was any fun."

"Not in the least."

Jackson decided to spend the rest of the evening with his friend, hoping his presence could maybe be of some help to the gorgon. He settled down on the floor beside Deuce's bed, fiddling around with his homework and the like. Deuce altered between paying attention to him and watching some horror movie on his TV set.

Jackson glanced up at the screen. "Don't you think 'Saw IV' is a little too... childish?"

"I don't have anything better to watch, dude." Deuce lay sprawled out on his bed sluggishly, occasionally grimacing and rubbing or scratching at a particular place on his skin. "I guess it's kinda like school work, since it's, like, educational and stuff, right?"

Jackson shrugged. "Yeah, sure. We'll go with that."

Both fell silent for a few minutes, watching with utter fascination at the gory scene before them, actually smiling with approval when the blood began to splatter across the screen.

Their tranquility was short-lived, however, as Deuce's growing pangs soon took their final, brutal toll on him.

Sitting up suddenly, Deuce let out a sharp cry as his skin almost appeared to explode outward, spikes and points suddenly shooting out and flattening. Jackson gaped at his friend's new scales that covered his entire body.

Then, with a decidedly inhuman yell, Deuce suddenly reached down and pulled off his pants, completely shredding them in the process and not caring, standing completely nude for a moment.

"What the – ?" Jackson began, wondering why his friend was stripping in front of him, but he promptly got his answer.

Deuce's legs both began to elongate, and they wrapped around one another, forming one long scale-covered leg, which then became some sort of tail, very closely resembling the body of a snake.

More snakes began springing out from Deuce's scalp, quickly covering most of his head. His green, scaly lips pulled back in a growl, revealing large fangs that dripped poison.

Pain-filled screams ripped out of Deuce's mouth as the fangs broke through his gums. He clenched his hands into fists to relieve the pain, but that only made it worse – claws grew out of his fingertips, digging into his scaly flesh.

Deuce fell to the floor, writhing, growling, and hissing in pain. His entire body was changing and rebelling against him, and he had no idea what to do with it.

Jackson stood back and watched, understanding his friend's pain but not yet making a move to help. He knew that all monsters have to work through the sudden pubescent alterations in their body all by themselves, and even their own parents didn't ever offer any help.

Also, he was secretly afraid that if he made any movement Deuce would strike out like a cobra and kill him.

"Jackson?" Deuce's voice broke him out from his thoughts. He had calmed down and things had been pretty quiet for a few minutes.

"Hmm?"

A silly grin crossed the gorgon's face, soft-looking fangs that dripped venom appearing from between his scaly, green lips. "I can see your heat signature, dude, and man you're colorful! You're like, all yellow an' stuff..."

Jackson cocked his head, making a mental list that included all of Deuce's new snake-like features. He watched, almost warily, as his friend stood up... or as close to standing as a guy with a snake body could get.

It seemed to be a balancing act almost, as Deuce teetered atop his new tail.

"Ah..." Deuce muttered, staring down at himself and studying his new body, making mental notes of every detail he noticed. "Going to school might be a bit of a drag."

"Luckily, I got you out of school for the rest of the week."

Both boys looked up to see the Medusa standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her scaly chest. She looked her son up and down in interest, then nodded with approval and slithered off. "You can thank me later. It the meantime, just let me know if you're hungry, and I'll see what I can catch in the basement."

The boys stared at one another, both feeling just a little bit nauseous at the idea that the monstrous mother had placed into their heads.

"Actually," Deuce admitted, unsure whether he should laugh or shudder. "A nice mouse would hit the spot right about now. Or maybe a frog."

Jackson shrugged, turning back to his homework now that the excitement was over. "Whatever shakes your rattle, I guess."

Deuce's eyes bulged, and he began to twist his body around, desperately searching for the end of his tail. "I have a rattle?!"

He let out a shriek as he lost his balance and hit the floor hard.

Jackson watched with some amusement as his friend twisted around the floor, tying himself in knots, searching for a rattle that he didn't have.

And so it often went when young monsters reached puberty, and the little nymphettes went through an incredible metamorphosis, reaching the adult stage not unlike the creatures of the insect world.

The End (of Deuce's easy childhood).