paradise dazzleshine, who owns Faith, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! :) Enjoy! :)

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

A/N: Hey, everyone! For those of you that love guestsurprise's stories of the Lauhinians, you should check out the story called "Seph's Fall" by ThePhan-with-a-PH. :) They were inspired by guestsurprise's works to create the story. Be sure to check it out when you guys get a chance. It's really good. :)

Some Faith In A New Friend

"They do something to the poor souls who dare enter."

"The Grant Mansion should have been torn down years ago, but it's too haunted that only fools dare to go up there."

"Even criminals avoid it completely. Some have barely escaped with their lives."

"Something's wrong with that Jocklin girl. Always has been."

"The Grant Mansion is very dangerous. It's not normal."

Faith could repeat everything from memory and the funny thing was, it had only been a week since she had moved to Staybrook, California. It had been a nice change for her and the town was charming in a laid-back, easy-going way like no one was in a real big hurry, which she came to embrace.

The only thing was...people talked a lot about the Grant Mansion.

Apparently, Michael Grant had been a very wealthy investor who passed away and left his house to the mayor, who rarely used it due to his busy schedule, but everyone felt the mansion, which sat on the outskirts of town on a high hill, was an eyesore to be taken down.

However, just when it was about to be foreclosed upon, since the mayor had decided to let the house go, a mysterious person came in and bought the mansion. No one had seen him before, but when they learned the mansion was to stay instead of being torn down, many were upset, though some thought the Grant Mansion should stay as it had been part of the town for many years, one of the last original homes to still be standing after a horrible fire over a century ago had nearly wiped out the small town. To those that remembered the fire, the mansion was a reminder of how strong the town was and had become to overcome such a tragedy.

The twenty-one-year-old woman brushed back her hair, the tan highlights standing out a little against the brown hair and bringing out her dark ocean blue eyes. Her tall height of six foot three made people stare at her, but she didn't mind.

Now, she was walking through town, the stories of the Grant Mansion on her mind before she decided to see once and for all if the stories had even one seed of truth in them. Besides, she liked to explore, so that was a bonus.

She soon made it to the outskirts of town, coming to a tall, black wrought iron gate. She found the gate unlocked and entered, closing it behind her as she looked up the hill where the mansion was. "Looks like a Halloween movie prop," she chuckled to herself as she noticed that the house looked rather old on the outside. Walking up the hill and up the steps of the mansion, she took a deep breath and turned the handle of the door, finding it unlocked. Shrugging at this, she entered, shutting the door behind her and gasping as her eyes took in what she saw.

Where the outside of the house looked very old, inside looked rather new, yet had that charming feel of a house that had stood the test of time. The décor was homey and fascinating as she spotted Oriental vases and a few other things. She even saw a living room to the right that looked very modern with a flat-screen television, a piano, and other newer-looking furniture. "Whoever lives here must be a millionaire," she said to herself before deciding to explore more, her curiosity getting the best of her. "Unless this is a museum. In that case, I better not touch anything."

She continued down the hallway, gazing at the pictures on the walls and the other décor. Fascinated, she entered a room that looked like a queen's chamber. "Wow," she said softly.

AmpFibian watched the girl and turned to Ghostfreak, Ultimate Echo Echo, and Snare-Oh, who were with him. "She's curious, but not looking to cause trouble," he said softly.

"Regardless, she's still trespassing," Snare-Oh said tensely.

"You heard her. She thinks this is a museum," Ultimate Echo Echo said.

"Still, we do either need to chase her away or capture her," Ghostfreak said. "Perhaps a scare will do?"

A gasp was heard and they turned to see the girl had come out of the room while they had been talking and she was looking at them with wide eyes. Snare-Oh immediately got into character and growled. "Intruder," he said, his tendrils waving around him.

Faith swallowed hard at seeing that. "Wow, that's a really good special effect," she said.

"That's the same mistake they all make," Ultimate Echo Echo said, coming forward, his sound discs surrounding the girl. "Who are you and what are you doing in our home?"

"Your home?" She asked in shock before it hit her. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't realize the Grant Mansion was occupied. I thought it was just an abandoned house that some people didn't want torn down."

AmpFibian narrowed his eyes before he nodded. "She's telling the truth," he said.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "You...You're a mind reader?" She asked.

Ghostfreak chuckled evily. "Yes, he is," he said. "Now...you have two options. You can either run...or you can surrender and we'll show you what we do to intruders."

Getting scared now, the brown-haired girl shook her head. "Um, bye!" She said and started to run.

"After her!" She heard one of them say and she began running even faster, trying to stay ahead of them, but when she ducked into a room, she ran into the ghost, who snarled at her and swooped at her, but she quickly backed up and kept running, nearly bumping into a tall crystal being who reached out for her, but she ducked underneath his arms and kept running.

AmpFibian could sense the girl's fear. "Her fear is growing a bit worrisome," he said. "She's either going to have a panic attack or pass out if this keeps up."

"Allow me," Snare-Oh said, leaping over them and he soon landed in front of the girl that was running from them. She collided with him with a shriek of surprise before they went tumbling to the floor, getting tangled up.

Faith gasped as she felt something wrapped around her and heard a groan as she saw the mummy that had been chasing her earlier was now tangled up with her and she began shivering in fear since she realized she couldn't get free.

The alien mummy felt her trembles and looked up, realizing she was scared and it brought up a memory of when he first met Rachel and how scared she had been of him. Sitting up as best he could, he leaned over the young woman, who cringed at that and went to squirm, but hands gently rested on her side, stopping her from moving. "Don't move," the ghostly alien said to her. "If you do, you'll tangle yourself and Snare-Oh up even more."

"Let's get them both untangled," the jellyfish creature said before Faith felt them trying to get her free. The robot sat by her, gently grasping her arms and pulling her up a bit more so that she was half-laying in his lap. She looked up at him before feeling hands gently squeeze her shoulders. She swallowed hard, but concentrated on watching the other three get her free. No sooner was the last tendril around her removed, she bolted.

"Hey, wait up!" A voice called out, but she didn't stop, seeing the robot suddenly appear in front of her and he caught her as she tripped, both falling to the floor where he quickly restrained her, using his own legs to hold her legs down while his arms wrapped around her waist while her back rested against his chest. She whimpered as the other three came closer, but to her surprise, their faces seemed to have gentle looks on them.

"I think we might have really scared her," the ghost said.

"She is quite frightened," the jellyfish said.

"Let's make it up to her then," the mummy said.

Faith blinked. Make it up to her? These three were sounding regretful, like they hadn't meant to terrify her. "Um...what do you mean 'make it up to me?'" She asked curiously.

Chuckling sounded in her ear, making her turn to look at the robot behind her. "Exactly what that sounds like," he said. "Before we do, can you tell us if you're ticklish or not?"

The girl blinked before cocking an eyebrow, wondering what on Earth made him want to ask a question like that. "Um, why do you want to know?" She asked curiously.

Her four captives laughed and she noted that the laughter sounded amused. "Oh, she's funny," the ghost said, chuckling.

"You know, if we're going to do this, we ought to bring her to the To'Kustars' quarters," the mummy said.

Faith looked confused. "Um...what's that?" She asked.

"Not what, but who," the robot behind her corrected gently. "And you're about to find out."

She gasped as the mummy picked her up. "Wait!" She cried out.

"Hold on," he said to her before diving headfirst into a hole in the wall. She screamed and held onto him out of fear as they fell down before landing on something that cushioned their fall not unlike a bed. Loud footsteps sounded out.

"An intruder?" A deep voice asked.

"No, someone we have to make amends with," said the ghost that landed beside Faith.

She looked up and let out the loudest scream she had ever let out at seeing the two giant aliens and she squirmed to get free of the mummy. "Whoa!" He said in surprise before chuckling as he quickly pinned her down. "Easy there."

"She's fiesty," the robot said with a chuckle.

"Not to mention cute too," the jellyfish said. "If I wasn't already taken, I'd ask her if I could court her."

Faith blushed at hearing that, making them chuckle. "Aww, you made her blush, AmpFibian," one of the giants said.

The other giant noticed that Faith was looking a bit overwhelmed. "Hmm. Perhaps we should calm her down first," he said. "She seems a bit overwhelmed."

"Then let's use our special remedy," the ghost said, chuckling.

The young adult looked up at them, seeing them grin at her. "Um...what remedy?" She asked a bit fearfully.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt," the robot said gently, brushing a hand over her head comfortingly. This surprised her and she looked at him before squeaking as she felt fingers wiggle into her stomach and something removed her sandals she was wearing before something wiggled into her feet, making her laugh harder.

"Well, well, look at that," one of the giants said. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!"

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Stohohohohohohohohohop!" She laughed out.

"Hmm, I don't think we've hit her number one tickle spot yet," the other giant said.

"You're right," the mummy said. "She's laughing, but not that 'you found my tickle spot' laugh."

Ghostfreak grew curious and used his tentacles to gently restrain Faith's toes before his claws gently tickled right underneath them. She jumped with a shriek. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!" She laughed out.

"Ah-ha!" The ghost said with a chuckle. "Found it."

"I'll help you," the robot said eagerly.

AmpFibian, who was tickling the girl's sides, smiled as he picked up another thought from her. "There's one more," he said. "Snare-Oh, restrain her arms."

The mummy did so, being gentle, which Faith noticed. "Her first ribs," the jellyfish alien said.

The Thep Khufan wasted no time in poking said spot and the young woman squealed again before a snort escaped her as she laughed. "Aww, listen to that," the bigger giant said in amusement.

"Sounds like you guys found her ultimate tickle spots," the shorter giant said.

"Bet she wouldn't be able to stand us getting her tickle spots and you guys using your specialty," Snare-Oh said, using a tendril to gently lift up Faith's shirt to the bottom of her ribcage. She was confused by this until she gasped as the shorter giant leaned in, pressed his mouth to her stomach and began humming.

"EEEEEEEEE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She squealed out before snorting again as not only did both giants hum against her stomach, the mummy and jellyfish kept tickling her upper ribs while the ghost continued tickling under her toes. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!"

"Please what, my dear?" The ghost said, chuckling.

Faith squealed as she felt the vibrations of the humming against her stomach again, vibrations that she felt all over before they seemed to focus on her two major tickle spots. "PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" She laughed out. "IHIHIHIHIHIHIT'S TOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO MUHUHUHUHUCH! EEEEEEEEE! PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE! IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI'LL DOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO ANYTHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHING!"

She let out another short through her laughter and they chuckled before she felt the tickle torture slow down. "Stay put and let us meet you and we'll let you up," the taller giant said, his voice gentle.

Giggling at the light tickles, she nodded and felt them stop tickling her moments later. She lay still for a bit before feeling hands gently massage her shoulders and she looked up to see them smiling at her. "Why don't we start with names?" The shorter giant said. "What's your name?"

She blinked. "Faith," she said after a moment.

"That's a lovely name," the ghost said before gesturing to himself and the others. "I'm Ghostfreak and these are my associates AmpFibian, Snare-Oh, Ultimate Echo Echo, Way Big, and his brother Ultimate Way Big."

Faith looked at them before looking worried. "Um...you guys aren't in costumes, are you?" She asked. "But...you don't seem evil either."

"No," Snare-Oh said gently. "Not costumes. See?

He unraveled himself and she gasped in surprise. "Whoa," she said in awe.

Ultimate Echo Echo chuckled. "We're not evil either," he said. "We're aliens."

She looked at him. "You mean...like UFO creatures?" She asked before realizing that sounded offensive and she covered her mouth in shock as she gasped. "Oh, sorry. That was really rude of me," she said apologetically.

They chuckled. "No worries, we've been given worse descriptions," Way Big said, gently rubbing the girl's head.

"You have?" She asked in shock.

"Oh, yes," came a new voice and they all looked to see a young woman of about twenty-five years standing behind them all and she was looking at the aliens. "You okay, honey? I hope my brothers didn't scare you too bad."

Faith blinked. "Your...brothers?" She asked in surprise.

The young woman smiled. "Yes," she said before coming closer. "My name is Rachel Jocklin and I'm the owner of this house, the Grant Mansion." She sat down beside the mummy. "And these aliens are ones that I either befriended or they saved me from enemies. Once they came to live here with me, well...we all just became a very close family."

"She even took some of us in after we had unintentionally scared her," Ultimate Way Big said.

"But our Rachel looks past what she sees and she saw that just as she was misunderstanding about us, we were misunderstood about her and humans," Ghostfreak said.

Faith had to smile, especially when she saw Snare-Oh and Ghostfreak start tickling Rachel, who squealed with laughter before they let her up and she looked at Faith. "Want to meet the others?" She asked. "I promise none of them will hurt you."

The twenty-one-year-old looked thoughtful before taking a deep breath. "Are they gentle like these guys?" She asked.

The owner of the Grant Mansion nodded and Faith nodded in return. "Then...yes," she said after a moment.

The other aliens, though some startled her a little at first, were quite welcoming, she found out. They greeted her nicely, surprising her with their good manners, even blushing at some of their good-natured teasing. "See? They're really harmless to those that don't mean this family harm," Rachel said.

"I can see that," Faith said, smiling.

Rook came up to her. "But, Miss Faith, can we trust you to keep our secret?" He asked. "Not many know the real truth about the Mansion and for good reason."

She nodded. "I understand and I promise, I won't say a word to anyone about this place on one condition."

"Oh?" Snare-Oh asked with a chuckle. "Negotiating, are we?"

She smiled. "Yes," she said.

The aliens laughed again. "She's got spunk," Bullfrag said.

"And guts too," Big Chill said, also smiling.

Rachel chuckled. "What's your condition, Faith?" She asked.

"That I can come visit you guys," she said.

They nodded. "Any friend of ours is more than welcome to visit at any time," Ghostfreak said with a smile.

"Let's seal the deal," Ultimate Echo Echo said. "And there's only one way to do that."

"With a handshake?" Faith asked with a smile.

"Something even better," he replied. "Your laughter."

"She's ticklish?" XLR8 asked before grinning.

The twenty-one-year-old looked at them. "Oh, no," she said before trying to escape, but they caught her and she was soon in a pile of giggles and laughter as they all took turns tickling her to pieces.

Rachel chuckled. "This is not only sealing the deal, but also the Grant Mansion initiation, Faith," she said. "This means you're accepted as a friend of the family. It's also a way to show you that you can trust the guys."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Faith laughed out. "OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAY! OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAY!"

Chuckling, the aliens let her up and she smiled as they helped her up to her feet again. "But seriously, I promise to keep your secret," she said.

"We know you will, Faith," Snare-Oh said.

Rook smiled before looking at his wife-to-be. "There's a full moon tonight. How does a barbeque sound?" He asked.

"Wonderful," she said before looking at Faith. "And Faith, we'd like you to join us for dinner."

The young woman smiled. "I'd love to, thank you," she said.

She had initially thought she'd be alone in Staybrook when she first moved there, but now, she had some new friends and something told her that moving to here was indeed the right decision after all.

Please leave a review, but no flames! :)

GoldGuardian2418