cecebeec, who owns Hannah and Shift, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel, Sparkle, and Megan.


Friends Like Us

"Thank you, sir," Hannah said graciously as she purchased a few things from the store in Staybrook. She was in California for a visit with some relatives and had decided to explore the town. While it wasn't a large town, it was rather friendly and seemed to have just the right amount of excitement for her. She then remembered the alien in her backpack and decided to find an alleyway and let him out. Finding a quiet alleyway, she let him out of her backpack and he stretched. "Sorry, Shift," she said softly.

"It's okay, Hannah," he said. "Though it would be nice to walk around and enjoy the sights with you."

"Scum like you doesn't belong on Earth," came a voice and they turned to see what looked to be a knight pointing a weapon at them.

"If they're any scum here, it's you," came another voice as three figures dropped down from above, two landing on the Forever Knight and a third one shielding Hannah and Shift. Shift's eyes widened.

"A Forever Knight," he breathed in horror.

"Who?" Hannah asked.

"Dirt bags that are trying to kill aliens," the figure in front of them said and they saw it was a young woman in a strange suit and she turned to them. "You're not safe here. Where is your home?" She asked.

"We're visiting some relatives," Hannah replied.

Letting out a sigh, the young woman suddenly aimed her right wrist at them and a cloud of smoke came out of her bracelet, hitting the two full force, making them cough. "Hey, what gives?!" Hannah asked before she felt dizzy.

"Sleep gas!" Shift cried out before he fell to his knees and caught Hannah as she fell down.

"Sorry," the young woman said. "But it's for your own good."

Seeing the two fully pass out, she turned to the other two, Snare-Oh and Whampire. "Snare-Oh, guard over these two," she said, trading places with him. "Did you hypnotize him?" She asked Whampire.

"I did, but best to reinforce it," he said, indicating to her bracelet. She unleashed mind-wiping gas on the Knight, making him collapse to the ground and Whampire hypnotized him to further keep him from telling the Forever King what he had seen. Finally, Rachel unleashed sleeping gas and the Knight was out cold.

"Take him to the Knights' castle or near it," she said. "They'll find him."

"This is the first we've heard from them in a while," Whampire said.

"Probably figuring more than one strategy to find us," said Snare-Oh as he gently threw the girl over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "This girl is with a polymorph."

Whampire picked up the slime alien and gently slid him into a nearby jar he saw. "Did she capture him?" He asked, noting the young girl's backpack nearby. "And is her story true about visiting relatives?"

"She doesn't look like an alien hunter," Rachel replied. "Not only that, they acted like friends."

"Surely Magister Tennyson would have told us if there was another polymorph on Earth," Snare-Oh said.

"Maybe he didn't know," Whampire said.

Rachel sighed. "Well, at any rate, we better get back home and bring these two with us," she said. "If the girl poses a threat, we know what to do."

Back at the mansion, the two were put in the spare bedroom and everyone went about their activities. It wasn't too long after that the two newcomers woke up.


Hannah rubbed her head and noticed Shift was waking up beside her. "Shift, are you okay?" She asked.

"Yes," he said.

The young girl looked a bit put out. "Why did that lady knock us out?" She asked.

"I don't know," Shift replied. "She said it was for our own good."

Hannah stood up. "Well, let's go see if we can find her," she said, glancing around. "This looks like someone's house."

The two of them ventured out of the room and glanced around before hearing a gasp behind them and turning to see two children behind them. One child looked human and the other looked like an alien, perhaps. "Hello," Hannah said pleasantly. "Who are you two?"

The children looked at each other before taking a cautious step forward. Shift then realized what species the alien child was. "A young Conductoid," he said. "And a female at that."

"Conductoid?" Hannah asked him.

"An alien that controls electricity," he replied, kneeling down to be at the children's height. "It's alright," he said to them. "We won't hurt you."

The little human girl looked at them. "Are…Are you…new here?" She asked, her voice hesitant but curious.

"Maybe Auntie Rachel knows her," the Conductoid child said.

"Rachel?" Shift asked curiously.

"Our aunt," the first child said.

The alien child cocked her head to the side. "You look like…Uncle Goop," she said.

Hannah and Shift looked at each other, wondering who the children were talking about when Hannah felt a hand come down gently on her shoulder. "So the mystery girl and alien have awoken," said a voice and they turned to see the same mummy alien they had seen in the alleyway. He was taller up close and he looked at them with bright green eyes.

"You know them, Uncle Snare-Oh?" The human child asked.

"Yes, Megan," he replied. "Your father, myself, and your aunt stopped a Forever Knight from capturing them."

"Thank you for that, by the way," Shift said to him. "I've heard about the Knights. I didn't know there was anyone fighting them."

"We are," Snare-Oh replied before noticing Hannah was circling him, her eyes alight with awe and wonder.

"Are you an alien?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes. A Thep Khufan," he answered her.

"Cool."

Her reaction surprised Snare-Oh. Very few even dared to come near him upon meeting him, but yet this girl wasn't even the slightest bit afraid. "You're rather brave, girl," he commented.

She looked at him. "What? You want me to run down the hall screaming 'Mummy! Mummy!'? People will think I'm a lunatic," she said.

The children giggled. "I like her," the small alien child said, going up to Hannah. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hannah," she replied. "And this is Shift, my best friend."

"So our observation was right," Snare-Oh said. "You are another person who doesn't believe aliens are bad."

"Well, Shift isn't a bad alien," she said. "Plus, I like aliens."

"Really?" Came another voice and they turned to find the vampire behind them. "That's a first."

"Daddy!" Megan exclaimed, running up to him. Smiling, he scooped her up in his arms, giving her an affectionate kiss on the forehead.

Shift smiled. "There's another sign that not all aliens are bad," he said.

"That's so sweet," Hannah said honestly, smiling at the father and daughter.

"What's the meeting about?" Came a third voice and they saw the young woman standing there, smiling.

"Auntie Rachel, these are Hannah and Shift," the alien child said. "They're really nice."

"So I saw, Sparkle," she said with a smile. "I also saw how she didn't flinch when your uncle Share-Oh and uncle Whampire appeared."

"She's rather brave," Whampire said.

Hannah's eyes then lit up. "Do you…live with aliens too?" She asked.

Rachel would have denied it, but seeing as the girl had already met her brothers and nieces, she couldn't deny it. "Yes, I do," she said. "And I keep those like the Forever Knights away from them. There are many who seek to hurt the aliens and don't think them peaceful."

"Is that what that…Forever Knight, was it?"

"Yes," Snare-Oh said.

"Is that what that Forever Knight was going to do? Capture Shift and hurt him?"

"Worse than that," Whampire said. "They would either put him through painful tests or kill him."

"They've nearly killed me more than once trying to find out where the aliens are," Rachel said.

Hannah gasped. "That's horrible!" She said. "I'm glad you guys showed up when you did then. Thank you."

Seeing that they had two new allies, Rachel took Hannah and Shift on a tour of the Mansion where they met the other aliens and their mates and the children who lived there. Shift did silly antics to make the children laugh, which made the adults laugh too. Rachel even showed Hannah where they were. "I'm trusting you to keep this place a secret," she said.

"My lips are sealed," Hannah said with a smile.

"Good," Rachel said, liking Hannah. The girl was bubbly and everyone instantly liked her, which worked in her favor.

"Well, looks like we need to make it official," Frankenstrike said, coming up to Rachel.

"Make what official?" Shift asked.

Rachel grinned. "Well, whenever we gain new allies, they must go through an…initiation," she said. "A painless, but necessary, one."

"What kind of initiation?" Hannah asked.

Rachel's grin grew wider. "Galactic Monsters, get them!" She commanded.

Snare-Oh, Frankenstrike, Whampire, Ghostfreak, and Blitzwolfer all pounced on the newcomers and began tickling them. Hannah shrieked with surprise before laughing and Shift was a mess of laughter as he was tickled to pieces too.

"We're next!" Big Chill said, indicating to him and his brother.

Rachel laughed in amusement as the Galactic Monsters let their new friends have a breather. "A tickle initiation," Shift said between breaths.

Hannah glanced at the aliens gathering around with mischievous looks and gulped, though still smiling. "And something tells me it's just begun," she said.

They were soon under the ticklish mercies of the other aliens and laughed heartily, not really minding that they were being tickled to pieces.

It felt nice to have other friends who were just like them.


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GoldGuardian2418