This story came to me one day while I was at work and I was like, sure, why not?
I only own Rachel, Sergeant Williams, Hope, Alice, Chloe, Grace, Stacy, and Anna in this story. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action and Scary Godmother belongs to Jill Thompson and Mainframe Entertainment.
One Monster You Don't Have To Be Afraid Of
A sharp scream startled Rachel, who had been in the living room reading a book that evening. Jumping up, she ran upstairs and into Hope's room. The little girl jumped out of bed and ran to her. Alice then came out of her room screaming and hugged her aunt in fear. Chloe also came out of her room, a look of fright on her face. "Girls, what happened?" she asked.
"Monster," Hope cried out. "A scary monster!"
"He was huge and had claws!" said Alice.
"And a mouth full of sharp teeth," said Chloe, hugging her aunt.
Rachel went still. "What color was this monster?" she asked.
"It was too dark," said Chloe. "But he had several eyes."
"Oh, no," Rachel whispered to herself. It couldn't be her friend. Why would he come and frighten her nieces? The agency that gave him a list of the kids to scare had to know that some kids were abused and a visit from a scary monster could leave emotional scars.
Deciding to pay a visit in the morning, Rachel got the girls to calm down and let them stay in her room for the night.
The next morning, she headed over to the Fright Side, using a key Scary Godmother had given her that unlocked a portal to that side and went through, finding Scary in the living room with Skully and both were cuddling happily. Rachel then had an idea and snuck up behind Skully and suddenly, but gently, grabbed his shoulders, letting out a short laugh.
Skully let out a startled yell and literally fell to pieces, making Rachel laugh. "That's for scaring me when I was in the pantry the other day," she said to him as she began to help him up, reconnecting his arm to his shoulder. "I've heard of falling to pieces, but you put a whole new look on that phrase by literally falling to pieces."
Skully gave her a playful look. "I've heard going crazy with laughter, but you put a whole new meaning on that phrase by literally going crazy with laughter," he said as he tackled her and began tickling her. Rachel laughed as the skeleton tickled her stomach, her sides, and her underarms for a bit until he let her up. She smiled and hugged him and Scary Godmother.
"What brings you here, Rachel?" asked Scary.
"I'm looking for Bug-A-Boo," she said. "Do you know where he is?"
"It's a short day today, so he should be home in a few minutes," said Scary Godmother. "Why?"
Rachel looked down for a minute. "Did he tell you guys of the kids that were on his scare list last night?" she asked.
"Now that you mention it, he did," said Skully. "He actually had one little girl in tears and he asked the agency to take her off the list."
Rachel's head shot up. "Was that little girl's name Hope? Or Alice? Or Chloe?" she asked.
"Sorry, he didn't say, but he wasn't happy he left her in tears."
That made sense as Bug-A-Boo did enjoy a scare, but he also made sure he didn't go too far with it. "The name Chloe sounds familiar," said Scary. "Isn't that your niece we met?"
Rachel nodded. "Hope and Alice are two more of my nieces," she said. "The reason I wanted to talk to Bug-A-Boo is because the girls described a monster that scared them last night and their description was really close to Bug-A-Boo's description."
Skully and Scary looked at each other worriedly. "Are they alright?" asked Skully.
"Yes."
"So, why do you want to talk to him?"
"Because my nieces have suffered abuse in the past, both physically and emotionally and them getting scared has reopened a mental scar for them."
Scary looked sympathetic. "That's awful," she said.
Just then, Bug-A-Boo came in. "Hi, everyone," he said with a smile, but then saw Rachel standing there and her expression was neutral. "Uh, what's up?"
"Bug-A-Boo, can I talk to you for a minute?" the owner of the Grant Mansion asked.
"Sure," he said and they headed outside to the small gazebo to talk. "What's bugging ya?"
"Bug-A-Boo, were you at the Mansion last night?" she asked.
"I did pop by because I was going past it, but I didn't see you," he said. "Why?"
"Did you scare Hope, Alice, and Chloe last night?"
"Hope, Alice, and Chloe?" he asked and quickly checked his list that he had. "Nope. Last night, I had a list of boys to scare. Why do you ask?"
Rachel took a deep breath. "The girls' description of the monster was very close to your description," she said.
"How close?" he asked.
"Huge, with claws, and a mouthful of sharp teeth," she said.
"Did they see what color he was?" He got a head shake at that one. "Wait a minute? You said Hope was one of the girls, right?" Rachel nodded. "I remember a fellow scarer had a girl named Hope on his list and now that I think about it, I saw a girl named Alice on there too. That must have been who they saw last night."
"What does your associate look like?" asked Rachel.
"Just as the girls described, only his color is dark brown."
Rachel let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Bug-A-Boo, I'm so sorry," she said. "You're my friend and I accused you of scaring my nieces based on just a few facts."
"It's okay, Rach," he said. "But I'm glad you told me about it. If you want, I can ask the agency to take your address out of their system so that none of the others go scare the kids there."
"Would you, please?" she asked. "That would put my mind at ease."
"No problem," said the friendly monster who now accepted a hug from the young woman.
"I'm still really sorry, Bug-A-Boo," she said. "I shouldn't have blamed you."
"It's okay," he said and then began tickling her to make her feel better and she squirmed and giggled as he tickled her for a bit before giving her a break. She smiled at him and then had an idea. "Hey, do you have to scare any kids tonight?" she asked, an idea forming in her head.
Hope, Alice, and Chloe were playing the game called Clue when Rachel came inside. "Hey, kiddos," she said.
They echoed her greeting. "Aunty, can we stay with you tonight again?" she asked.
"NRG, Gravattack, and Lodestar called and said they wouldn't be back from their mission for a bit and Anna, Grace, and Stacy are at the schools talking with the teachers about the charges," said Chloe.
Rachel shook her head, remembering the charges that were placed on the kids because someone who had no respect for the teachers had put very rude words on the chalkboards and wrote down Chloe's name, along with Hope's name and Alice's name. It had been a long ordeal and was still going on. Thankfully, Sergeant Williams had called some friends in the city where the teachers had taken the case to and his friends had stepped in to oversee it, but it was a good few hours away. "Hopefully, that gets straightened out soon," she said. "But yes, you three can stay with me tonight."
That evening, Rachel was reading a book in bed and Chloe was also reading a book too. Hope and Alice were awake and cuddling their stuffed animals, which were a stuffed black and white cat and a stuffed, multi-colored elephant respectively. Rachel then saw it was time for her plan and put up her book. "Okay, girls, time for bed," she said.
Chloe put her book away too and settled down beside her aunt who settled down too. "Are you going to turn off the light?" she asked.
"In a little bit," said Rachel.
The three children settled down and Rachel glanced down at the floor and saw a familiar purple arm come out for a moment and she reached down and gently touched the hand, which gave her a thumbs-up before the monster under the bed came out and slowly stood up. Rachel sat up. "Hi," she said.
Chloe, Hope, and Alice looked to see who their aunt was saying 'hi' to and screamed when they saw the many-eyed monster standing right there. Hope and Alice dove under the covers and Chloe hid behind Rachel, shivering.
Bug-A-Boo looked saddened and Rachel gently touched his arm in encouragement. "Go ahead," she said.
The friendly monster glanced at Chloe, who looked back at him fearfully. "Hi," he said, seeing her shrink more behind her aunt in fear. "Hey, I'm not going to bite. I'm a friendly monster."
That made Hope and Alice peek out from their hiding spots. "A friendly monster?" asked Hope.
"But monsters are mean and scary," said Alice.
Rachel smiled. "Girls, your fathers are monsters, in a way," she said gently.
"But they're aliens," said Chloe. "And we don't think they're monsters."
"But what did you think of them when you first saw them and your uncles?"
The girls saw their aunt had a good point. "Is he an alien too?" asked Alice.
Rachel shook her head. "No, this one's really a monster, but he's also a good friend of mine," she said. "Girls, this is Bug-A-Boo."
Bug-A-Boo gave a gentle smile at the girls. "Your aunt told me a lot about you three," he said. "Can you tell me your names?"
Chloe slipped out from behind her aunt first. "I'm Chloe," she said.
"Ah, the girl Scary and Skully met the other day," he said. "They told me all about it."
Chloe perked up at that as she remembered the other two Fright Siders. She then turned to Alice and Hope. "It's okay," she said to them. "Besides, I doubt Aunt Rachel would have let him in if she didn't trust him."
"That's right," said Rachel.
Hope crawled over. "I'm Hope," she said, which earned her a smile from the friendly monster.
Rachel looked at them. "You know, Bug-A-Boo loves hugs," she said to them and they looked a bit surprised, but went and hugged him and he returned the hugs. Seeing how gentle he was being with her cousins, Alice came closer and also hugged Bug-A-Boo.
"I'm Alice," she said and then looked at him. "Why did you scare us last night?"
Bug-A-Boo smiled gently, showing that he wasn't offended. "That was actually an associate of mine who looks similar to me," he said. "But don't worry, I asked them to not scare you kids anymore."
That made the girls happy and Rachel also smiled. "You know, Bug-A-Boo is another kind of monster," she said.
"What kind?" asked Hope.
Rachel grinned. "A tickle monster."
Chloe jumped back, but Hope and Alice were trapped in Bug-A-Boo's arms and he tickled them, making them squeal with giggles. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo," the lovable monster chuckled as he tickled their stomachs and sides before looking at Rachel. "Can you hold them while I tickle their feet?"
She smiled and accepted them from him. "They go crazy when their feet are tickled," she said, holding her nieces close when they tried to escape, but then started laughing as their feet were tickled by gentle claws for a few minutes.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" They both laughed hard before Bug-A-Boo let them rest and grabbed Chloe, tickling her underarms as she squirmed to get away but was laughing as his gentle claws then tickled her sides and her stomach. Her laughter was just as loud as her cousins before he let her up. All three kids were smiling.
"That's more like it," said Bug-A-Boo. "As much as I like scaring kids, I like seeing them smile too."
"As do I," said Rachel and saw Hope and Alice were now sound asleep and Chloe was too. "They're not afraid now."
Bug-A-Boo looked at her. "Would it be okay if I stopped by now and then?" he asked. "Like a friendly visit?"
"Sure," she said. "Do you want to stay over?"
"Love to, but I've got a busy schedule tomorrow," he said. "Another time?"
"Okay," she said and gave him a hug that he returned. "Take care, old friend."
"You too and take care of these kids too. It's good that they have an aunt who cares the world about them," he said.
"I will," she said and saw him head out. Tucking her nieces in bed, she stayed up a bit longer and continued reading, smiling at the three girls who were now dreaming peacefully, thanks to a friendly, many-eyed monster who proved that they didn't have to be afraid of him.
If you want to know how Chloe met Scary and Skully, check out "A Scary Good Time" by newbienovelistRD. It's a cute story. :)
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