Hello all you ghosts and ghouls! Another chapter out in just a couple of days! Man, I am GOOD! Go ahead and applause, I will wait until you are finished.
Done? OKay, then!
Ben's secret has been revealed, and all but his close friends despise and hate his guts to no end. Charmcaster is ecstatic and can't wait to exercise her freedom! How long will the school last without Ben around? Find out!
As always, leave your comments below and PM me your suggestions! And if your idea doesn't make it into the story, feel free to make your own story! This website needs more Ben 10/Monster High anyways.
Enjoy!
Viveka Stein rubbed and held her daughter as she cried into her shoulder. She herself, having been literally made for her husband, had never experienced a heart break, and didn't exactly know how to comfort Frankie; all she could do was hold her and tell her it would be all right while her husband set traps across the lawn and strung barbed hour over the wrought iron fence that surrounded the house. Whatzit, ever loyal, sat at her feet, whimpering and trying to comfort Frankie the best he could. "Sssh, ssssh. It's okay, Frankie." Viveka said, brushing her daughter's hair. Frankie sniffed and looked up at her mom with tears in her eyes. "Why?" she croaked.
Viveka sighed. "I don't know, Frankie. Having been made for your dad, I don't know what it feels like to be betrayed. I don't know what you're going through. All I can do is try my best." Frankie seemed somewhat satisfied with the answer and buried her head into her mom's shoulder. Moments later, Viktor came tromping into the living room, an anger and irritated look on his face and plunked himself down in his arm chair and sighed, rubbing his temples. "I warned you, dear. That boy was nothing but trouble." he said. A glare from his wife, and he let the subject drop. "The traps are set, the wires up, and I have camera all over the place. There's no way that Normie will make it onto the property. Unless your claims are true." he added. Viveka shot another look at her husband, and he quickly excused him from the room, heading down to his lab with Whatzit at his heels.
"Did he ever . . . .?" Frankie sniffed.
Viveka shook her head. "I don't know, dear. But if he felt as bad as you claim him to, I'm pretty sure he might be hurting as much as you are."
True to her word, Viveka was right. Ben felt absolutely horrible and down right cruddy, to put it lightly. He had quickly dashed back over to Spectra's place and gathered his few belongings before leaving; a black and green iCoffin he had bought with some of his wages from the Coffin Bean, some money, his hoodie and his wallet. He now shamefully walked down the lone street into town, a low fog creeping over his feet as he walked. With his head down and his white sweatshirt hoodie pulled over his head, he turned down an alley and walked until he came to the dead end. He sighed and hit his head against the wall, sighing. Not in the mood to transform, he jumped up and grabbed the lip of the wall, pulling himself up and standing up on the edge before steadily walking onto the low rooftop. He looked around and sighed when he saw all the other roofs were much to high to reached. He activated the Omnitirx and selected his alien before hitting the activation. The thrill of his transformations no longer gave him joy. They just seemed somewhat pointless.
His skin hardened into a thick exoskeleton, becoming jointed and plated as it turned green. His bones vanished as skull became pointed and even thicker than before. His teeth became sharp and his eyebrows became pointed as his eyes turned green and quick sighted. His legs bent backwards, a slightly painful process as a sort of webbing formed between the joints. His toes disappeared, three sharp claws taking their place, two in front, one in back. His two middle fingers disappeared, the ones left becoming sharp. He felt muscles packing themselves on top of each other in his legs as his body became divided into two sections, his butt expanding out into a slim thorax. A set of black and green overalls formed over his body as spines formed on the back of his arms and legs, completing the transformation. Without his usual flare, Crashhopper bounded off the building, soaring through sky before landing on the nearest roof top, a good two stories away. He continued his aimless bounding, his mind racing at a hundred miles per hour as he went.
He had finally lost it; he had gotten careless, more so than he had been. His heart ached not only for those he had left at Monster High, but those he had known back in his own universe. He missed Gwen and Kevin, Rook, Grandpa Max, his parents, Ester, even Mr. Baumann. He wondered what they were doing, if they were desperately scouring the universe for him. Was Bellwood in danger? Was there even a Bellwood to return to? Could he even return? He sighed and pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he landed on the ground in what appeared to be a basketball court. What used to be a basketball court. Or was it Casketball? He had no idea if he was in Monster or Normie part of town. The court was long since abandoned, the gate pad locked shut and buried under a large pile of junk. More piles were pushed up into the corners of the court, leaving the center mostly bare. The familiar beeping met Crashhopper's ears, but he didn't care when he was changed back. With another sigh of dismay, he activated the Omnitrix once more, the green light washing over him as he changed.
Deep orange fur sprouted all over his body, as if a bomb filled with hair suddenly exploded inside of him. His lower jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharp and menacing. The wave of fur raced over his face, covering his eyes as they suddenly vanished all together. He could feel his ears disappearing as what felt like gills take their place. In actuality, they were sensitive ears able to pick up the tiniest of sounds. His shoulders and arms swelled as his dull nails became sharp claws. His legs twisted and formed into the hind legs of that of a dog as a thick green color appeared around his neck, the Omnitrix symbol in the middle. Wildmutt growled and began to sniff the ground furiously, following a smell until he came to a large garbage pile. Using his large paws, he dug into the junk and pulled out a stained mattress with his jaws, spitting out the horrible taste from his mouth after he dragged it into the center. He lowered his nose to the ground again and sniffed the ground once more, digging into another garbage pile before pulling out a ratty blanket. Wildmutt dragged it over to the mattress and bedded down as the Omnitrix timed out. Ben yawned and pulled the blanket over himself.
So this is my new life, he thought. Wonder how the ghouls are holding together.
Spectra sighed, and picked at her food with her fork. Skelita and Ghoulia each pushed their trays towards the center of the table, unable to eat as Jane Boolittle (hiding in a vent near a table) pushed her tray out of the vent slot. Hoodude sighed and rested his head on the table. "This bites." he mumbled. "Tell me about it." Spectra said, dropping her fork into the unidentifiable glop on her food tray. The girls, plus Hoodude, had been miserable ever since Ben had left. Hoodude felt like he had lost his best friend, next to Scarah. Ghoulia, while not especially close to Ben, still missed him. She felt like there was a part of her that was missing that only Ben could fill with his antics. Jane felt as if she had lost a friend she could count on, when so few people excepted her. Skelita and Spectra, having both been kissed by him, had a piece of their hearts missing (Skelita didn't exactly know what that was like, as she had no organs to begin with, nor did Spectra). In a word, life at Monster High had become miserable.
Headmistress Bloodgood had set up security stations at all entrances and exits, where students and their bags would be checked to make sure Ben wasn't trying to reenter. Bloodgood was sure Ben wasn't a horrible person, but the way the student body felt about him put a bad image on Normies, and therefore jeopardized her ultimate goal. Unfortunately, the guards at the stations weren't entirely polite, and would sometimes pilfer whatever they wanted from the students backpacks or refuse to let them enter should they not cough up some cash. Spectra herself, being a ghost, had never had any problems with the guards, but Ghoulia had lost her laptop (furiously biting the guard after he stole it), Jane had lost her walking stick, and several members of the student body had lost their books, iCoffins, and even their homework. And whenever they complained to the Headmistress, the guard would always be able to hide the stolen loot. Since the students never had any proof, Bloodgood had stopped believing them a long time ago. One student however, was having the time of her life.
With a sly smile on her face, Charmcaster walked down the row of tables with a tray of . . . something . . . in her hands. She had succeeded in her goal, to eliminate Ben Tennyson and to gain power. She had yet to come across the power she had sensed a few weeks ago, when she had first entered the Monster High universe, but she could sense it. It was close. She could almost taste it. She walked down another row of tables, trying to look as if she were searching for a place to sit and eat her lunch. She could sense the surge of power coming from somewhere close. She soon found it when she came across a girl just a couple inches shorter than her. She had light pink skin, freckles, and pointed ears that framed dark pink hair tied into a segmented ponytail. She wore black, silk pants and a blue and pink top. She wore elaborate earrings in her ears and had bright green eyes.
Charmcaster smiled maliciously; she could feel the power radiating off of the girl in waves, as if that was all she was. The sorceress quickly identified the girl has a genie. She had come across several genies in her past, but those usually turned out to be crafty Celestialsapiens who had been banished into a small bottle to grant wishes to mortals. And every time she came one of them, they always somehow managed to turn things around in their favor and escape her clutches. She gripped her tray tightly at the memory, but quickly pushed it away when she noticed the pink girl was dumping her tray and leaving the Creepateria. Alone.
Charmcaster grinned; now was her chance. She quickly tossed her tray towards the trash bin, a long tentacle from the kitchen catching it before it fell in, and rushed out of the Creepateria and ahead of the girl, pretending she was late for something. She rounded a corner and peeked out; the girl was walking right towards her, and didn't even know she was there. Charmcaster chuckled and stuck out her foot just as the girl reached her, tripping her. Charmcaster quickly jumped on her and pinned her to the ground, the genie screaming with fright. Her screams would attract attention, but Charmcaster didn't care; she would absorb all her power before anyone could do anything. With a face that could only be matched a hungry predator, she raised a hand and let a ball of purple energy form between her fingers as the girl watched with fear in her eyes.
"Absorin Extracius!" Charmcaster cried as she thrust her hand down and into the girl's body. The genie convulsed and screamed at the top of her lungs as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Passing students watched with horror, too horrified to do anything. Even Manny had turned tail and run the other way. Spectra gasped as she heard the screams and disappeared through the floor, a single thought on her mind as she raced through the ground.
I need to find Ben, she thought.
Wildmutt growled and sniffed the ground, walking around the alley. It had been a couple of days ever since he had made his camp at the abandoned basketball court, and he had been using his Vulpimancer form quite a lot to get by. And if he couldn't find anything edible, he just turned into Upchuck and ate. He had a limited amount of cash on him, and was saving it for an emergency, and thus saving it by eating things most others couldn't. A Normie couple passed by the alley and screamed in fright at the sight of Wildmutt, running away before the alien could do anything. At least he never had any problems with the police; after several reports of odd creatures roaming the streets at night, the cops had stopped listening, just assuming they lost monsters on the wrong side of town.
Having not found anything to eat, Wildmutt back out into the street in broad daylight. The streets were thankfully deserted and empty as he padded down the sidewalk and turned down another alley after a few blocks. He easily cleared the chain link fence to the basketball court, the wall of piled up garbage obscuring anyone's view of the place. The Omnitrix timed out just as he made it to the center of the court, Ben sitting down on the mattress and losing his eyes. It was no use. Being this close to the school was killing him. "Maybe I should go elsewhere," he sighed. "I hear Hex-ico is lovely this time of year. Or maybe Scar-is? Maybe I'll just move to the woods for now." he contemplated. Without another thought, he packed up the few belongings he had and scaled over the chain link fence. Making sure no one was looking, he activated the Omnitrix and slapped the activation button, letting the green light wash over him.
His skin began to crawl as it hardened smoothed into something similar to an exoskeleton, yet not at the same time. It turned black as it raced over his body, blue blotches with lighter centers appearing all over him. His fingers became sharper as they turned into claws, and he could feel his toes melt into toe as a third claw sprouted from his heel with a loud grinding sound. His teeth fused together into two plates that felt like they could bite through almost anything as his eyes widened and became larger, turning a bright green with three dots. Muscles piled themselves up on his chest and arms, but the most important and noticeable change however, was the itching sensation he got on his back and head. With a sudden, sickly sound, four large wings ripped out of his back, bigger than his entire body. Two large antennae burst out of his head. The wings and antennae flapped around for a few seconds before gently and silently wrapping around their owner like a cloak. The final piece of the transformation was a suddenly chilled feeling in his core, a feeling that ran through his veins and arteries that felt as cold as ice. The transformation was complete, and Big Chill took to the skies with a flap of his wings.
He soared upwards and looked around in the bright daylight to see the town looked very normal and human like. He turned towards the West and saw that the land slowly trickled into perpetual darkness, where the sun only occasionally shone through. Forests of leafless, gnarled trees dotted the landscape where the rows of monster buildings stood neatly, Monster High at the meeting place of the two landscapes. With a deep breath, the Necrofriggian pumped its wings and flew towards the West side, giving the school a wide berth as he flew. He soared over the vast Egyptian estate that he had learned to belong to Cleo and over the Stein's house, giving that place a wide berth as well. He passed a large, evil looking castle with rows of pink roses on the lawn, a certain part of the castle seeming out of place due to the pink glow found there. Big Chill grinned at the thought of Draculaura's sweet smile, but quickly pushed it away after the image of her hiding behind Clawd entered his head. He flew over the Wolf's house and passed Spectra's place while also swooping past what he assumed to be Lagoona's house, hinted at by the large, salt water pool out back that had its own personal coral reef in it.
He eventually made it to the woods, to a place where only a few houses stood, like a house that seemed to be made entirely out of gingerbread and candy, along with one that seemed to be surrounded by a cemetery. Big Chill deliberately chose to stay in the woods near the cemetery, mostly because he figured that was where Ghoulia lived. He knew he had to follow the rules, but he felt much better being near one of his friends, even if he was staying a couple hundred yards in the dark forest behind it. Another reason he chose to stay near the cemetery, was the fact that Robecca resided in the gingerbread house. Having no idea where her father was, she was taken in by the Home Ick teacher, Ms. Kindlegrubber, and thus lived there as a permanent resident.
Big Chill aimed low and came to rest in the arms of a large tree that overlooked the cemetery. With a heavy sigh, he leaned back and rested the Omnitrix changed him back. He closed his eyes and let sleep (or what he hoped was sleep) come to him. His dreamless slumber was soon short lived.
"BEN!"
With a yelp, Ben tumbled out of the tree, hitting several branches before landing hard on the ground with a low groan of pain. He rubbed his sore skull as he sat up to look at Spectra, who was hovering just a few feet over his head with a mixture of worry and fear in her eyes. "Ben, you have to come back to Monster High!" she yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Come on!" she cried, pulling him towards the road, but Ben was digging his heels into the dirt, resisting as much as possible. "Spectra, stop it!" he yelled, and the young ghost let go. Spectra looked at him with concern. Ben sighed. "I can't go back, Spectra. I know you and the ghouls miss me, but I'm not going to disobey Bloodgood's orders. I don't want you to get in trouble just because of me." he told her. Spectra frowned. "Ben, listen to me. I don't care what Bloodgod says. They can lock me up in detention for the next 3,000 years for all I care! Some crazy, white haired, girl wearing a pink trench coat just attacked Gigi!" she yelled with fury. Ben's eyes widened at the description. "Hold up. This girl, did she have a crazy-cuckoo look in her eyes and was she blasting around pink magic stuff?"
Spectra nodded her head, and Ben's frown deepened. "Fine. But if we get arrested, it's not my fault." he said, walking towards the road as Spectra clapped her hands happily and followed him. Once in the middle of the road, Ben activated the Omnitrix, cycling through his aliens before coming to the one he wanted. "It's Hero Time!" he exclaimed, slapping the activation button and letting the green light engulf him as the Omnitrix did its work and began to change his DNA. Alien blood flowed through his veins as muscles piled themselves on him, everywhere to his arms and chest to his neck and legs, every part of him was getting bigger and stronger with each passing millisecond. His skin hardened into plate like armor that turned brown as large scales traveled up his legs and chest. His legs became thick and pillar like as his feet began to match those of an elephant. A thick tail sprouted from the base of his spine as he was forced to hunch over slightly. His neck became a little longer retaliative to his 20 foot frame and his lower jutted out his fingers swelled with power. A pair of black briefs and a green sash appeared on him, completing the transformation as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on the sash.
"Humungousaur? You couldn't have waited until we were there, Omnitrix?" he complained as he glanced himself over.
"The Omnitrix has a mind of its own?" Spectra asked, digging for her iCoffin.
"Not the time, Spectra." Humungousaur growled as he took off at a brisk jog, Spectra following closely behind him.
"Crikey! Come on, mates! We have to do somethin'!" Lagoona yelled as she ran towards Charmcaster and a helpless Gigi. Without even looking back, Charmcaster flung out her other head and sent a ball of mana at Lagoona, hitting her in the chest and sending her through a wall, where she stayed down. Clawd, Deuce, and Gil all rushed at Charmcaster, ready to dog pile on her when she opened her mouth, and another ray of pink colored energy shot out and hit all three boys, freezing them on the spot; no matter how much they tried, they were frozen in place, unable to move or even twitch. They could only move their eyes and watch as Gigi's life force was slowly drained away from her and absorbed in Charmcaster, making her far more powerful than she had felt in her life. She felt like she could do anything, go anywhere she wanted to, destroy anyone she desired. A sick thought crossed her mind about traveling back to her own dimension and finally eliminating Gwen. After finally obliterating Ben Tennyson first of curse, and taking his Omnitrix for herself. With the new power she was engulfing and thew unlimited power of the Omnitrix at her fingertips, she would be able to rule every dimension in every universe imaginable!
"Ahhhhyaahhh!" Ghoulia moaned as she quickly shuffled over to Lagoona and pulled her up with Skelita's help. The sea monster rubbed her head and watched, unable to help. She could already feel tears forming in her eyes as her insides began to boil with anger. She was almost ready to burst out into anger stricken tears when the ground began to shake and rumble in a steady rhythm as if a thousand cattle had suddenly decided to take a jog. Spectra appeared in front of them cringing at the sight of Charmcaster, but returning to a full smile on her face. "What is happening?" Skelita asked as she fell to the floor with the rest of the ghouls. Jane tumbled out of a nearby vent, fearing the tunnels and tubes would collapse in on her if she stayed. Spectra merely smiled and turned to look at the main door. Screams from outside could be heard as the guards dispersed with fear, when the front door was suddenly blown off its hinges and crushed into splinters as Humungousaur charged into the school without pause.
"Is that, Ben?" Jane asked, almost frightened at the sight of the infuriated Vaxasaurian. Spectra slightly nodded as Humungousaur's 20 foot frame collided with Charmcaster's frail body, knocking her off of Gigi and into a row of lockers. The ghouls quickly dragged an unconscious Gigi out of harms way as the rest of the student body ran away. With a loud roar, Humungousaur grabbed Charmcaster with a large hand and tore her free from the lockers, only to throw her into another row. "Keep your creepy hands off of my friends!" he yelled as he charged and rammed a shoulder into her, smashing through the wall and into the next classroom; Charmcaster only has time to put up a simple shield to protect her from the alien's wrath before Humungousaur slammed his fists down the dome, cracking it slightly. He raised his fists up again, prepared to slam down a second time and destroy the dome.
Charmcaster however, was ready, and just as he swung down, she deactivated the dome and rolled out of the way. Humungousaur missed and stumbled forward, carried by the momentum. Charmcaster, still on the ground, swiped his legs out his legs from underneath him with a swift kick that felt like she had just kicked a wall made of titanium. The giant still fell, and Charmcaster was pleased, despite the sharp pain in her leg. She quickly got up to her feet and jumped onto Humungousaur's back. With a roar, Humungousaur began to wildly run around, smacking at his back as he tried to get Charmcaster off of him. Charmcaster quickly steered him towards a wall and jumped off as he crashed into it and back out into the hallway. He turned around, only to be hit in the face by another blast of mana that sent him skidding back. With a low groan, he rushed forward again, grabbing a broken locker door and using it as a shield as Charmcaster through more bolts of energy at him before he slammed the locker door down on her head. She growled and knocked the locker door out of his hands.
"Mercuta verihitis!" yelled Charmcaster, holding up her hands a jet of crackling purple mana burst forth from her heads and socked Humungousaur right in the jaw. He flew back into a wall and fell to the ground with a defeated groan, unconscious. Charmcaster grinned maliciously and walked up to him with a confident gate and reached for the green sash around him when a low rumbling caught her attention. She turned, expecting some other large creature to come storming at her, but saw none. There was a loud cracking sound and she glanced up too late to see a large piece of ceiling come crashing down her, squishing her and sending her into blackness. Silence followed.
"Is it over?" Hoodude asked from within a garbage can. Skelita, Jane, Spectra, Ghoulia, and a now semi-conscious Gigi peered out from behind a wall to look upon, which was almost impossible thanks to a large cloud of dust and plaster that hung over the battle scene. The ghouls and Hoodude crept through the dust and rubble with caution, almost expecting something to jump out and attack them. Hoodude yelped as he suddenly tripped over something, and Jane hissed in pain as she held her ankle, now twisted. Hoodude grinned sheepishly and sat up to look at what he had tripped over; it was a large, burly arm covering rough plates. They traced the arm with their eyes all the way up to Humungousaur, who was out like a light. The gang rushed over and helped turn him over as Jane quickly read his vitals, putting her ear to his large chest to her his heart. She breathed with a sigh of relief when she heard a deep thumping, but began to sweat with worry when she noticed it was slowly down and that Humungousaur was steadily breathing slower and slower.
"He's dying." she managed to say before falling to her knees and holding herself. Somehow, she thought. This is my fault, I just know it. Toralei was right. I should have just stayed back in the jungle. Ghoulia did a double checkas Lagoona desperately tried to calm Jane down. Spectra and Skelita turned to Gigi as Hoodude tried preforming CPR on Humungousaur, something quite difficult to do when the victim is more than three times bigger than you. "We need a wish," Spectra said desperately. "Please?" she asked, knowing it was asking a lot. Gigi, being a genie, could grant wishes. But after several hundred wishes from other students, she had become rather exhausted, and had thus put a ban on wishing, stating it would only be used for an emergency. Plus, Spectra was asking Gigi to go against the rules, something Gigi never had done before. Gigi glanced between the two pleading ghouls, and Humungousaur's unconscious form, biting her lip nervously.
Oh, Arabian sands! What do I do? Should I save him? she thought, her mind racing at a hundred miles an hour.
Of course, you should save him!
Gigi blinked. Where was that voice coming from?
Wisp? Is that you? she thought.
Duh. Just because I;m stuck in a lamp, doesn't mean I don't keep tabs on what happens outside. I've been watching you ever since through your eyes, and I must say it's gotten quite interesting. Now, save him already! Do you really want his death on your conscience?
Why do you care so much anyways? Gigi asked. She had made up her mind, but the last question was what bugged her the most.
Because he's actually kind of cute. Wisp admitted. Happy?
"Very." Gigi said with a slight grin. Spectra and Skelita looked at her with an odd look, but quickly relaxed when Gigi told them she would do it. All they had to say were the magic words.
"I wish that we were all at the best doctor's office in all of New Salem." Skelita commanded. Gigi smiled and closed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest and summoning her power. With a quick nod of her head, the hallway exploded with a bright light, and all of them simply vanished from existence for a split second.
Another flash of light later, and they arrived at the most advanced doctor's office in all of New Salem: Dr. Viktor Stein's lab. The lab itself was a standard mad scientist's laboratory with test tubes filled with suspicious looking potion's and serums, lab tables lined with numerous experiments and plans, and the exceptionally large conductors overhead that crackled with electricity. Lagoona frowned, helping Jane up from the floor. "Um, mate? This is the worst possible place to bring Ben!" she exclaimed. Was a sudden crashing sound from their left and everyone turned to see Humungousaur propped up against one of the walls, with Hoodude down by his leg. What made the noise however, was the table that Hoodude had tried to put him on top of, which was now crushed underneath the Vaxasaurian's massive bulk. "And that's probably the worst possible thing we could do." Lagoona sighed as the sound of a door opening came from somewhere, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps rushing down a set of metal staircases.
"What in the name of Igor's dentures is going on down here!?" Viktor roared. The girls all winced and Ghoulia covered her eyes at the sound of his voice echoing through the stairwell. "Oh, Sphinx. What do we do?" Jane whimpered as the doors to the lab banged open and Viktor's massive form stomped inside. "What are you ghouls doing here!?" he asked with an irritated look. He glanced over to where Hoodude was and nearly fell over when he saw Humungousaur's massive form. "I see." he noted. "And just who is this creature of yours? And how on earth did you get inside my lab?" he asked, folding his arm across his chest and waiting for an answer. Spectra nervously tapped her fingers together. "Well, uh, we wished for Gigi to take us to the best doctor's office in New Salem, and we ended up here." she answered nervously. Viktor nodded, listening. "And that creature is Ben Tennyson," said Skelita. "The uh, boy who asked Frankie to the dance." she added with a worried smile. Viktor frowned and glanced between the ghouls and Humungousaur.
"I don't believe you." he said.
"Wait! We can prove it! Hoodude exclaimed. Before anyone could stop him, he crawled up onto the Vaxasaurian's knee and hit the Omnitrix symbol on his sash with a fist. A flash of green light filled the room, and Humungousaur's form disappeared to be replaced by Ben's much smaller one. Everyone gasped at the sight; Ben's shirt and sweatshirt were burnt to ash down the front and his chest was bruised and incredibly red. "Remarkable." Viktor noted as he walked over to Ben, picked him up in his hands and set him down on one of the many examining tables in the room. The large monster pulled out a couple medical instruments from some drawers and examined Ben, his eyes occasionally drifting between his body and the watch that resided on his wrist. "Hmm. Yes." he murmured to himself, listening to Ben's heart beat with a stethoscope. "It seems that he has suffered damage to his rib cage and respiratory organs." he concluded. "I will have to operate on him. If you would excuse us." he said, showing the small group the door. Spectra managed to escape Dr. Stein's grasp and remained near Ben, refusing to move. "Young lady, you are being a pain in fanny! Leave me to my work!" he ordered. Spectra refused to move and quickly flew out of Mr. Stein's reach. After a few fruitless minutes of trying to reach her, some of which ended in mild injuries, the large cadaver sighed and pinched his brow. "If will not leave for the operation, will you please just stay out of the way then?" he asked with mild annoyance. Spectra nodded and swooped down to rest near Ben's hair stroking his brown and holding his hand.
Mr. stein quickly busied himself by washing hands and putting on a large set of gloves while gathering his tools. After a few moments, he tore the rest of Ben's shirt off and injected him with some anesthetics, to make he didn't wake up during the operation. "Are you sure you want to stay?" Mr. Stein asked Spectra. "There is no turning back." Spectra nodded; she wasn't in the slightest squeamish, and had even talked to other ghosts who had met far worse endings than she had, some with their heads cut off or their guts spilled out around them. Spectra pushed the thought out of her head and continued to brush Ben's hair as Viktor Stein set to work.
Gigi bit her lip as the sounds of machinery cutting into something soft and somewhat squishy resonated throughout the stairwell that also acted as a sort of waiting room. Except it didn't have any magazines to read. Wisp had reappeared in her mind to see how things were going, and Gigi introduced her to the rest of the ghouls and Hoodude in the hopes of keeping their minds off the situation, but it did little to help. "On the bright side, I don't see any reason Headmistress Bloodgood can keep Ben out of school now. You know, if he lives and stuff." Hoodude piped up. Ghoulia smacked him upside the head. "Don't say that, mate! Of course Ben's gonna pull through!" she argued. She sounded confident, but was hiding her own fear. Skelita was nervously playing with her bones, picking off her fingers and replacing them in different arrangements before returning them to their original positions and starting all over again. Jane was huddled on the floor, head on her knees and quietly sobbing when the doors to the labs burst open and Mr. Stein walked out, drying his hands with a spare rag.
"He will pull through," he began. "But he will need a lot of rest. I would recommend you take him else where, as me and my family are not entirely comfortable with him staying here." Viktor added as he clambered up the stairs. "I shall keep this meeting a secret, but know this: if you ever bring that scoundrel onto my property ever again, it shall be the last he does." And with that, Viktor clambered up the rest of the stairs and out of sight. Once the sound of a door closing could be heard, the ghouls dashed through the doors and into the lab. Ben was still lying on the examination table with a bandage around his head and his bare chest laced with stitches and gauze. He had a black eye that they hadn't noticed before as well as a cut lip, but he seemed to breathing fine once more. Spectra hovered near his head, resting her own near his. She looked up when her friends came into the room and turned to look at Gigi, who slowly nodded.
"I wish we were all at my house." Spectra whispered. With another flash of bright light, the deed was done and the ghouls were gone.
"Hey! What about me?" Hoodude exclaimed. The voodoo doll pouted and made his way towards the exit, trying not to touch anything. It was however, short lived when he tripped out a wire and fell on his face, a table crashing to the floor behind him and the contents sitting on clattering to the floor. A dull thumb could be heard over head moments later.
"HOODUDE!" Viktor Stein roared.
For the next couple of days, Ben lay on the couch that sat in Spectra's abandoned living room. It was rather boring, watching over someone who didn't stir or wake, but Spectra didn't care. Gigi had asked her to send along her thanks, and walked out of the estate with a worried Skelita and Jane. Lagoona and Ghoulia left about an hour later, not wanting to make their boyfriends suspicious.
Given all that time doing almost nothing, Spectra did a lot of thinking. She touched her lavender lips, remembering that last moment before Ben had left Monster High, banished out of fear. Did she really love him that much? Or was she just this concerned because he was a good friend and helped her get tons of views on her dying blog? He was the best thing that had ever happened to her, a close second to finding and being enrolled into Monster High. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Oh, Voltage. I'm getting to be as scatter brained as Hoodude! she thought. She sucked in a deep breath and sat down on a chair near the couch, not daring to take her eyes off of Ben's still form. His chest rose and fell steadily, and every now and then his fingers would twitch ever so slightly. Every time that happened,
she would get all excited, hoping that he would wake up and kiss her again, only to be disappointed when he didn't.
Back to the thought that raged in her mind like an ocean storm. Did she love him? And even if she did, would he love her? Was that kiss, that oh, so sweet kiss, just a pity? A pity kiss given out to a friend that he barely cared about? And even if it was true, and he did love her, how could they ever be together? She was see-through, able to faze through solid matter and only move it when she really concentrated. He was a solid being, and a Normie no less. Any type of affection they would try to give each other would be hopeless. And yet, he had been able to give her that sweet kiss. She touched her lips again, remembering that moment, when nothing her and him existed, and all the trivial matters of the universe were gone.
A low moan caught her attention and she turned to look at the couch. Ben's hand was slowly moving to his head, to rub and cradle it like a new born baby. Spectra beat him to it and gently touched his head, quickly drawing it back when he hissed in pain. "Spectra?" he rasped. Spectra vanished from his line of sight, and he thought he had been imagining things. He was proven wrong when Spectra reappeared with a glass of water in her hand. Ben slowly reached for it, wrapping his fingers around the cool glass and brought it to his lips, savoring the cold liquid as it washed down his parched throat. It felt good.
"Thanks." he said in a much clearer voice. He slowly sat up on the couch and looked around at his surroundings. "Where am I? And where's Charmcaster?" he asked with slight annoyance in his voice. Spectra put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're at my place. And don't worry about Charmcaster. She's being held by the New Salem police." she told him, hovering down to his eye level with a small smile. "Gigi's safe, by the way. She wanted to thank you personally, but she had to get going." Ben nodded, happy to know that she was safe and mostly unharmed. "What about me? Am I going to be okay?" he asked, looking down at his bandaged chest. Spectra filled him in on what he had missed, and laughed lightly when she told him they had gone to Mr. Stein's lab. "I just know he put a time bomb inside of me." Ben joked. Spectra smiled and took his hand, drawing his gaze to hers.
All Ben could do was stare, and get lost into those endless, periwinkle orbs of hers. He truly did love her, for her fiery spirit and demanding voice. She was relaxed like him at points, but also had that seriousness in his voice that he had come to love when he first met Julie. Spectra however, didn't remind him in the slightest of Julie anymore. She was her own unique person, er, ghost, not just some cheap knock off of another person he knew he wouldn't love again. Ben mentally sighed. But how could he love three ghouls at the same time? He had never expected to kiss Skelita, or Spectra. He originally only had eyes for Frankie, but that relationship was hanging by a thread. He didn't see Spectra as a backup ghoul to go out with if his relationship with Frankie failed; he saw her as another ghoul he fell in love with, and she would never play second banana to anyone.
Before any of them knew what was happening, their lips met once more, somehow defying the fact that they would pass right through each other.
"Spectra Vondergesit, please report to the Headmistress's Office. Thank you." Headmistress Bloodgood's voice rang out over the loud speaker. Spectra had been expecting this; she had defied Bloodgood and her rules, not caring if she had gone anywhere near Ben or brought him back to the school against Bloodgood's reluctant wishes. She nervously bit her lip and checked inside her book bag, where an almost invisible Nanomech sat on her phone, trying to look like one of the buttons. Seeing that he was still there and not squished to a gooey pulp, she floated straight through the Headmistress's door, sending a startled Nightmare to hide behind Bloodgood's Office Chair. Bloodgood's body was currently signing papers, with her head sitting on the edge of the desk, patiently waiting for Spectra to sit. Once she had, she cleared her throat (again, how does a head do that?) and began to speak.
"It has come to my . . . attention . . . that you and Mr. Tennyson have broken one of my rules, one that I strictly enforced after the dance." the Headmistress began, before Spectra cut her off.
"I don't care! Gigi was in danger from that crazy sorceress, and Ben was the only who could stop her! Albeit, with some minor damages." she added in a lot softer tone. "Go ahead and expel me! I don't care! Ben did the right thing!"
Bloodgood gave Spectra an odd look, and Spectra was sure she was in real trouble now. She could see it now: hundreds of police cars swamping the school grounds, herself in handcuffs and Ben unable to rescue her due to his own restraints. She was shaking out of that nightmare by Bloodgood repeatedly calling her name.
"I'm not going to expel you." she said simply, and Spectra swore she nearly lived from relief. "And I will allow Ben to resume his studies here at Monster High." Spectra was sure she just lived.
"Does that mean I can come out now? It smells like egg salad in here!" a tiny, metallic voice yelled. Spectra opened her book bag and let the tiny, glowing ball fly out, much to Bloodgood's confusion. The office was suddenly filled with a bright green light as the Omnitrix reversed the transformation and changed Nanomech back into Ben. Nightmare whinnied in surprise and Bloodgood gasped. "I swear, I will never get used to that." she said quietly to her body, which nodded it's headless neck in agreement.
Ben was looking much better now. He was now wearing his usual black and green T-shirt under his white hoodie and had a pair of green headphones around his neck. He whipped out a a pair of black sunglasses and put them on, snapping his fingers with a goofy smile at Spectra, who blushed. Ben's arm however, was still in a cast, but it seemed to be getting better by the day. "Thanks, Bloodgood. I'll try not to destroy the school while I'm here." he joked.
"Speaking of damages . . . ." Bloodgood trailed off with a sly grin.
"Aw, man!" Ben sighed.
And here is where it ends! Not the story of course, just the chapter. I'm not that cruel.
So it looks like Ben's back in Monster High, and it only took him 11 pages to do it (more like 2 ½ weeks in real time)! Just how will the student body act with him back in school! Will they ever forgive him? What will Ben have to do to regain their trust? And just what is Zs'Skayer up to and how will it affect Ben and Monster High? So many questions, so little time.
And yes, I know to a few of you that Bloodgood might have been a bit cruel, and I guess that's a bit of my fault. As some of you know, I sometimes skip words when writing, and that kind of made things look bad for her. So, no flames for her! Those strictly belong to Heath Burns and Heatblast!
Anyways, I have gotten many reviews from loyal readers telling me what type of pet Ben should have, and I have to agree that it should posses some sort of transformation ability, without the use of a Nemetrix or the likes. Continue to send in your ideas, and please keep them monster oriented and not from another universe. That just makes things confusing.
Hasta Luego, and Happy Dia de Muertos!