Wow, I am horrible at keeping promises. I promised myself I wouldn't post this until New Years, and yet here it is. I guess I couldn't resist entertaining you guys for the holidays! Think of it as a second Christmas gift from me to all you wonderful people.
As always, there are people to thank for my success, so I might as well start now.
As usual, Sallem Cortez 004 is keeping me afloat with their many ideas, tweaks, and suggestions, and I honestly don't know what I would have done without them. Honestly, this story would have sunk a long time ago had Sallem not PMed me one day and given me the low down. Give them a round of applause!
Secondly, I must thank DJ Rodriguez for always guiding me through the darkest of times like a bright lantern. Without him by my side, constantly PMing me new and tweaked ideas for this story, it too would have ended and been taken down a long time ago. Praise him!
Anyways, I really hope some of you took my request from last chapter! I'd love to see some fanart or something for this story, as I am a horrible artist (I can draw the most realistic animals you can imagine, and yet I can't draw a semi-simple cartoon character. Funny, huh?).
As always, review and comment below and send me your requests, suggestions, and ideas by PM! Now, on with the continuing saga of We're All Monsters.
Four Arms grunted as he shifted the weight of Robecca's upper torso on his shoulder. While not necessarily heavy, having one of Robecca's fingers in one place for too long would make even his tough skin start to get sore. To his left walked Jinafire, providing a light source with her torch as they and the gang walked along through the nearly frozen, apocalyptic wasteland. To the Tetramand's right, Spectra floated along, her eyes drifting back and forth between Four Arms and the bleak landscape.
The group had been walking for hours after the sun went down. At least, they thought the sun went down. It was nearly impossible to tell whether it was day time or not, with the heavy layer of clouds that rolled overhead, blocking out any chance of sunlight even peeking through. Without words, the group continued on through the cold as Gil quickened his pace to walk beside Four Arms hulking form. Before Gil could say anything, Four Arms gently took Frankie's sleeping form from the monsters hands and gently slung her over his shoulder in silence, not even bothering to glance at Gil as they walked.
Four Arms's mind was a hurricane. Robecca was dead, and Frankie was barely clinging to life after just be reanimated. Somehow through all this, the Tetramand managed to keep his cool, though he didn't know how much longer it would last. Sometimes, the life he now lived was simply awesome, getting granted super powers thanks to an alien device that made him world famous. Unfortunately, it also came with a downside; he carried two of those reasons on his back right now. The first one death; he easily remembered when the Forever Knights had slain Pierce in cold blood. That could have been prevented had he been there, or not even found the Omnitrix. The second reason was injury. The memory of when he was 10 came back to him, when Grandpa Max had been severely injured by Rojo when he was too scared to hit a girl.
Frankie's life nearly ended permanently because him. No matter what he did, it was no use; those closest to him always suffered the most, even if they had powers of their own. Four Arms sighed and stopped walking, finally taking a chance to glance at his surroundings. He noticed that they had been walking through a shallow canyon of sorts, cold rocks forming inescapable walls on either side of them. He turned his head and saw a cave in one of the rock walls, deep enough to shelter all of them from the freezing temperatures. "We'll stop there for the night," he grunted, pointing with a free finger towards the cave. The others, Spectra, Jinafire, Gil, Heath, Hoodude, Nefera, Draculaura, Jane, Venus, and Abbey, silently followed him into the cave, the cold cavern lighting up with a green flash of light as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted Ben back to his human form.
As gently as he could, he dropped Frankie to the ground and set Robecca's halves down next to her as everyone else tossed their torches into a pile to create a campfire, Heath blasting the pile with his fingers to keep it going as they all sat around it. Ben fiddled with the Omnitrix for a second before pressing the activation button and letting the green light wash over him. His skin turned a dark green, patches of it turning bright green as it became soft and stretchable. The feeling of bones vanished all together to instead be replaced by some sort of woody structure that acted as a skeleton. His legs began to twitch violently until they each split in two, becoming long tendrils that would let him skitter and stalk amongst the ground. Two fleshy mounds appeared on either side of Ben's head, pulsing and swelling until they became Venus Flytrap-like flaps with pointed teeth at the ends. His arms became long and rubbery, long fingers forming on each end with fleshy thorns appearing on his elbows, knees, shoulders, and chest. His head retained a similar shape as his eyes molded together into one. A row of spikes formed on his head as a green belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared on his waist, completing the transformation.
"Hope you like salad," the Floruana sighed as he reached for the tubers on his back and yanked off a couple dozen in his hands; it didn't hurt like he thought, and it didn't continue hurting as he pulled off a few more before the Omnitrix timed out. The others looked at him oddly, glancing at their food before shrugging and biting into it, Venus being one of the more cautious ones. Heath and Jinafire roasted their own bulbs over the fire while Nefera quietly picked at hers. Indeed, the atmosphere in the cave was devoid of any cheerfulness, and it seemed it would stay that way for a while.
Everyone then lay down for a night's rest, having nothing else to do in the frozen wasteland that lay in the future. Ben gently pulled Frankie's body over to the fire so she wouldn't freeze during the night as Venus, Jane, Draculaura, Jinafire, Heath, Gil, and Nefera lay down by the fire for warmth; Abbey opted to sleep farthest away from the flame as Hoodude lay back against a rock to snooze. Ben lay down a little ways from Frankie's body, Spectra deciding to sleep with him and curling up next to him to sleep.
"Ben? Is everything okay?" Spectra asked quietly. "I mean, I know we got blasted into the future and all, and Robecca's dead and all, but . . . ." she let the sentence hang as Ben continued to stare up at the ceiling. After a few moments, Ben sighed and answered.
"I just don't anymore, Spectra. I don't if I can do this anymore," he sighed. "I don't think I can stand to see anyone else I love get hurt. It just seems that no matter what I do, the people closest to me get hurt. Look what happened to Robecca and Frankie." he added as he sat up and unzipped his white sweatshirt. He then quietly lay it down on Frankie's body before lying back down. "Sooner or later, I won't be able to do anything to save them. They'll be gone forever."
Spectra bit her lip and glanced at her boyfriend. Indeed, his life had been one heck of a roller coaster ride ever since he found the Omnitrix and put it on. It seemed that those that hated him, couldn't help but bring innocent people into the ongoing battle, just to see Ben get hurt. And no matter how many times it happened, no matter what Ben did, it always seemed to happen again. It seemed the hero was doomed to live a life of forever horror and despair as long as the alien device remained stuck on his wrist, which also happened to be forever.
"Ben, I honestly don't know what to say," Spectra sighed. "Just know that we'll all always be there for you."
"Like that makes me feel any better."
Spectra rolled her eyes. "Just try and get some sleep, okay? We've got a long journey of going somewhere tomorrow." she said with a small smile, pecking Ben on the cheek before rolling over and sinking into sleep.
It would be many long hours before Ben could even close his eyes.
Ben yawned and cracked open his eyes to stare up at the rocky ceiling of the cave. Nothing seemed to have changed during the night. At least, until Ben tried to get up. As soon as he tried to move, he felt weight on almost every part of his body, and he desperately craned his neck to see what it was. The sight that met his eyes was a seemingly odd, yet touching image.
Quietly dozing all around him were the ghouls; Spectra using Ben's left arm as a pillow as Nefera rested her head on his right shoulder with an arm curled protectively across his chest. Venus was quietly sleeping with her head against Ben's chest, her fingers intertwined with his as they wrapped around Nefera's body. Jinafire was curled up at Ben's feet, her tail wrapped around her head to keep warm as the fire had died during the night. Jane was down by Ben's legs, her head resting on his ankle as she stirred in her sleep and rolled over. What surprised Ben the most however, was that Draculaura was just opposite of Venus, lying on his chest and tightly clutching his strong hand in her delicate fingers. Ben stiffened at the sight, his quick breath waking up the vampire. Her lavender eyes fluttered open and she yawned, looking at her surroundings before realizing where she was and what she was doing.
Her eyes traced over Ben and she quickly yanked her fingers away from his with a small, embarrassed squeak. The sound caused most of the other ghouls to stir in their sleep and eventually wake up, rising from their slumber and not noticing Draculaura as she scampered a short distance away from Ben.
"Morning, ghouls. Sleep well?" he asked with a small smile as most of the ghouls cheeks turned red.
"Yes. Who knew you made such a good a bed?" Nefera joked when she had managed to flush the red away from her face as Ben and the ghouls all laughed, their laughter echoing around the cave and waking the others. Abbey yawned and stretched, cursing in Russian under her breath about not being a morning person; at least she had managed to stay away from Ben. The boys stayed asleep a little while longer before they finally gave in and woke up, their morning breathing smelling absolutely horrible. Ben ignored the smell and crept over to Frankie, rolling her over onto her back and pressing an ear to her chest, thanking the heavens when he heard a steady thump.
As Jinafire gathered the remains of the fire from last night to make more torches for the next leg of their journey, Ben accessed the Omnitrix and cycled through his aliens, Skurd still soundly snoring on his wrist as Ben quietly slapped the activation button. The green light engulfed, working its magic as the Omnitrix began to change his DNA. His skin suddenly exploded into patterns of the prime colors, red, blue, and yellow, racing and dancing over his body until it looked like a paint truck had exploded on him. He looked down at his feet to find them completely vanishing into box-shaped toes, rings of cubes and squares racing up his legs with the sound of a thousand clattering LEGO bricks. The rings ran up his body, becoming wider as they reached his chest and arms, his fingers melting together to form three digits on each hand. The blocks raced up his back and neck to envelope his face, making his face cubular and boxy as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.
With a grunt, Bloxx focused his mind and grew a sort of open pouch on his back, big enough for two ghouls to sit in. He then reached with both of his arms and gently picked up Frankie in one and Robecca's pieces in the other before depositing both of them into the pouch, Frankie's head resting against the brim for support. The Segmentasapien then lumbered off without another word, the guys and ghouls following close behind him in silence.
They left the cave and traveled for hours across the somewhat barren and bleak landscape, coming equally bleak and barren scenes they passed by; the wreckage of burnt down house, a group of lone, unmarked graves only noticeable by the vague body shaped piles in the snow, a scared and shivering family of skeletons taking shelter under a cliff face; Bloxx tried to approach them and try and give them some food from Wildvine's back, but the family remained wary of the travelers and backed up against the cliff side, holding each other tightly and quaking in fear, their bones making loud clattering sounds when they rattled against each other. Bloxx decided to move on and leave them alone.
After another mile or so of walking, Bloxx glanced back at the group, noticing that most of them still looked as if they could go for a few more hours or so. Draculaura however, was lagging behind the group, dragging her feet in the snow and sweating furiously. This did not surprise Ben, as Gym was not Draculaura's best subject. With a sigh, Bloxx backtracked until he was walking next to the vampire, and offered her his hand. Draculaura took it and let Bloxx lift her up onto his shoulders, resting her head on her arms as they sat on Bloxx's own head. They continued to walk on in near total silence, the only sound being the cold wind, before Bloxx finally spoke up.
"So, uh, about this morning . . . . anything on your mind?" he asked, breaking the silence. It was a few minutes before Draculaura answered.
"I miss Clawd," she admitted sadly.
"What's so wrong with that? I miss Skelita, Lagoona, Ghoulia, everyone we left behind in the past." Bloxx grunted. "That doesn't quite explain this morning."
Draculaura sighed. "You just remind me of him. A lot. I guess I missed him so much, I cuddled up to you in my sleep, dreaming I was back with him." she said, tears appearing in her eyes as she thought about her boyfriend. Bloxx looked skyward at her, feeling his heart break watching her cry; if she wasn't already with Clawd, he would taken the cute vampire in a heartbeat. But he respected her and Clawd's relationship, as he wasn't a cheater by nature. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a dull sound off in the distance. Glancing off into the horizon, the Segmentasapien could just make out a fiery explosion coming from the top of a large cliff overlooking the landscape.
"Anyone else see that?" he asked, turning to his comrades. They quickly all confirmed that they saw it too, and the decision was quickly made to go find out what it was. Anything that big meant there had to be people somewhere. And where there were people, there was generally a doctor of some degree. They started off at a quicker pace, eager to get to the location before the sunset.
"How's Frankie holdin' up?" Bloxx asked Draculaura. There was a pause as Draculaura checked on her friends before reporting in.
"She's fine. Still tired though, and possible dehydrated," she answered. "And I can't imagine her bones mending without proper medical help would be fun either."
Bloxx grumbled and quickened his pace, the others having to literally run when he began to elongate his arms and use them as legs to walk forward. Now that he was using his arms instead of his tiny legs, Bloxx was covering much more distance, the others keeping pace with him from below with ease.
It was around four in the afternoon when the attack came. After a quick switch of the Omnitrix, Diamondhead was now trudging across the frozen landscape, carrying Frankie over one shoulder, Draculaura on the other, and Robecca's pieces in the others. The tension between Diamondhead and the others was strained a little bit, ever since Heath had asked why the Petrosapien insisted on carrying Robecca's halves with him when it clearly slowed them down; Diamondhead's answer was a weight made of diamond that was chained around Heath's ankle, making walking a little more than difficult.
Heath then decided to remain silent after Abbey had whacked him upside the head.
It was then that Diamondhead heard a sound. He turned around to listen, only to met with silence.
"You hear anything?" he asked Draculaura, who shook her head. The Petrosapien shrugged and marched onwards until he heard it again. It sounded something like someone playing a xylophone inside of a giant bell, and he soon found out what it was when the group rounded a corner.
In front of them were a pack of creatures of varying species. However, it was nearly impossible to tell which individual creature used to be, as it was twisted beyond near recognition. As one the pack of mutants all stopped their scrounging around in the sow to glance at Diamondhead and his friends, eying each and every one of them hungrily as they edged forward.
Then they attacked,
Diamondhead only had enough time to throw Frankie, Draculaura, and Robecca's pieces out of the way before one of the creatures slammed into him and pinned him to the ground. The Petrosapien grimaced and turned his head away from the gaping jaws of the beast as it tried to bite him. After a long look at the creature, one could guess it most likely could have been a cow at one point. It was now the size of a rhino and had massive horns on either side of its head. Spikes jutted out from its back, its tail now decorated with spikes like a mace. Underneath its evil eyes, its jaws were now fanged teeth of incredible sharpness as acidic saliva dripped from them.
"Dude, when was the last time you brush your teeth!?" Diamondhead coughed, finally pushing the mutant cow off of him after some time. The beast quickly charged forward at him after a brief moment, snorting and roaring as it lowered its head and rammed the Petrosapien in the gut, shoving him across the ground and into a large rock.
"How about some help, Skurd?" Diamondhead moaned, too stunned to insult the Slimebiote that resided on his belt at the moment.
"If you insist," Skurd sighed, stretching himself over the alien and over his arms, selecting a random DNA sample from the Omnitrix and changing them into Floruana arms that grew long, vine-like whips.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" Diamondhead grumped.
"Whip it, dear boy! Whip it!" Skurd demanded. "Play rodeo with it!"
Diamondhead was about to shoot something back when the mutant bull came charging again. Furious, Diamondhead whipped his new limbs forward, each vine hooking around a horn on the beast as the Petrosapien leaped over its head and landed on the large hump on the beast's back. The crystaline alien yanked back on the reins and steered it to the right, ramming the beast into a platoon of mutants as the rest of the monsters dove into the battle.
Venus copied Skurd's plan, growing a long vine from her palm and yanking it free, whipping it on the ground in front of what seemed to be a mutant human. Except the creature now had vertical twisted jaws, spikes on his head and back, and now a large, twisted, set of arms sprouting from its back behind its original ones. The beast swiped at Venus with a large set of claws as she cracked her whip again, smacking it on the head and hitting it again on the neck, leaving a nasty bruise as the creature roared and lunged forward.
Jinafire leaped forward into the battle with an empty mind, fighting on pure instinct as she jerked her head back to avoid a swipe of Diamondhead's bull's horns as the Petrosapien rode past, whooping with excitement as he held on tight. The young dragon then ran forward and attacked another twisted human by giving a swift kick to the jaw and smacking it hard across the face with her tail. She then gave another round house kick and thrust her fingers forward and struck the beast in the collar bone, neck, and small area between the pectoral muscle and abs. The mutant suddenly cinched up and fell to the ground, unconscious. Jinafire then bowed respectively and jumped as high as she could into the air, just as Diamondhead came riding past on a second round, the young dragon landing on the cattle's back and riding it like a surf board as Diamondhead tried to control his ride.
Abbey, furious as the memories of her easy defeats came back to her, ran into the fray tackling an incredibly large creature that looked like a bear to the ground. The mutant bear now had two large hands, saber-like teeth hanging from its mouths as it bellowed and swiped a paw at her, raking the air with its gigantic claws. Abbey growled and socked the bear in one of its muzzles, causing it to stand on its hind legs and try to crush the yeti under its bulk as it came back down. Abbey jerked to the side to avoid the attack and vaulted over the bear's heads, using them as a spring board as she landed on the board back of the beast and held on tight as the bear reared up and tried to shake her. Abbey dug her nails into the tough hide of the bear, avoiding its long, reptilian-like tail as it swiped past her as she climbed up to the bear's neck. Using whatever strength she had left, Abbey wrapped her arms around the bear's neck and squeezed as tight as she could, cutting off the bear's oxygen supply and sending it into blackness as it fell to the ground. Abbey then celebrated, giving the bear a swift kick before rolling to the side to dodge Diamondhead's bull.
Not to be outdone, Gil and Heath dove into the battle, ganging up against a mutant Lepidopterran. Gil quickly used his pressurized water cannons to soak the alien insect's wings and ground it as Heath surrounded it with a ring of fire by slamming his fists into the ground. Heath grinned as he through a ball of hot coals at the mutant's face, hoping Abbey was watching. Deep down, he knew he would literally do anything for her, but he just kept on stumbling over his words whenever he was around her, always making himself look like a fool. Fortunately, Abbey still seemed to like that Heath, but he wished he could show her his true self. Then he would know whether her feelings were true or not. But now was not the time to think about relationships. Rolling to the side to dodge a barrage of slime from the Lepidopterran's eyeballs, Heath threw another ball of hot coals, aiming for the eyes and succeeding in cauterizing two of them. Gil to the opportunity to freeze the water in his tanks and blast out some into a hardened spike of ice, thrusting it forward and shush-kebabing the mutant insect on it, ending the battle as the flames died away.
"How do you steer this damn thing!?" Diamondhead yelled as he rode past them on his bull, Jinafire hanging on tight as the animal jerked and bucked, focused on riding itself of its unwanted passengers.
Twyla rubbed her temples; the past 50 years had been hectic ever since that fateful night, that night when one of her best friends had disappeared from existence. Ever since then, she and what remained of the Rebellion had been running. Always running from Zs'Skayr's forces, the Ectonurite determined to squash every last chance at a revolution of any kind. The war had been tough on the Booegy monster, having lost multiple friends over the years. And the latest attack on their base had been completely unexpected, catching them off guard and nearly annihilating them. Had she not released . . . . The Thing . . . . they would have been obliterated.
She shook the thought from her head as she walked down the steel hallway of their base towards the surveillance room. Iris had requested she come there as soon as possible, and if the Cyclops noticed something so important she had to call her, the leader, down to the surveillance room, it must have been important.
Cursing as her metal leg was bothering her again, Twyla inputted the password that let her into the room, stepping through as the door slid quietly shut behind her, locking quickly and acknowledging her presence as Iris came into view. The room the Cyclops resided in had two areas, the main room and then a small living quarters about the size of a large closet off to the left of the only door to the room. Hundreds of screens covered nearly every inch of the wall, changing views from inside to outside the base as Iris walked up to Twyla and saluted.
The war had drastically changed the Cyclops for better or worse. Having lost her boyfriend in a raid on Zs'Skayr's castle, she had become reclusive and shy, residing into the safety of the shadows and safety of her surveillance room whenever possible; Twyla remembered when she herself had been like, afraid to step out into the light. The green skinned girl hung nearly limp from two sets of spider-like legs that were attached around her head to the Opticoid sunglass that covered her single eye, allowing her to easily rise up and crouch down, run up walls and across the ceiling to deal maximum damage. The monster's skin was a pale shade of green, having not stepped outside in years as she wore a larger version of her old school outfit; Iris was one of the few members of the Rebellion who insisted on doing so, keeping the memories of their time at Monster High alive in the darkness of the Rebellion.
"You had something to show me?" Twyal asked. Iris nodded and silently gestured for her leader to follow her. The ghoul had not spoken in years ever since the death of her boyfriend, locking herself away in the surveillance room to keep her eye on everything that happened in the base. After a short walk, Iris stopped at a particularly large monitor that upset the neat rows of screens slightly, due to its size. Twyla glanced at the screen and nearly choked on her own spit at what she saw.
A group of mutants engaged in battle with a group of monsters; a yeti, a freshwater monster, a fire elemental, a plant monster, a dragon, a vampire, a mummy, a ghost, a voodoo doll, and a violet skinned girl. A mint colored girl and two lumps of bronze metal lay off to the side, guarded by the vampire and violet skinned girl as the dragon and a large silicone life form ran about on the back of a mutant bull. As if that wasn't strange enough, Twyla noticed that the alien's arms and hands were made of fleshy, plant-like material.
Her breath caught in her throat as she ordered Iris to zoom in on the image, her heart skipping a beat when she knew her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. On the creature's green belt was a small slimy, green blob sitting on a round disk. The disk had a sharp, green hourglass-like figure on a black background; the symbol of the Rebellion.
"Ben." Iris rasped, having spoken for the first time in years.
"Let me rephrase my question," Diamondhead grunted. "How do you stop this damn thing!?" he screamed as the bull went for another round around the area. Spectra joined in on the mad chase moments ago, her her experssion slightly pained as she held her arm close to her body, swooping and diving around the mutant cow in an attempt to distract.
"Perhaps if you provided an anchorage of some kind," Jinafire suggested.
"Great," the Petrosapien grumbled. "Break off my back shards until you've got enough to make an anchor or something."
"But surely that will hurt you, no?" Jinafire wondered.
"Briefly. It'll grow back. Now hurry before we're all cow patties!" he yelled, jerking back on the reins and taking the bull for another spin. Jinafire did as instructed and broke off the left shard with a quick jab of her hand, noticing the slight flinch Diamondhead gave when she did it. She sucked in a deep breath and watched as the shard regrew on his back. She quickly repeated the attack with the right shard, moving to the newly regrown left shard while its twin regrew. She contoniued this until she had a sizable collection in and was handed a spare vine from Diamondhead. She quickly used what little weaving skills she had to tie the shards together into a vague anchor shape, swinging it over her head and throwing the collection of diamonds. The anchor hooked around a rock as the mutant bull ran pass, the strong vine pulling taunt and yanking the bull and its passengers back. With the bull restrained, Diamondhead quickly hogtied it and threw it on its back, leaving it to be untied or picked off by whatever scavengers roamed the future wilderness.
"C'mon," Diamondhead grunted, slinging Frankie over a shoulder and picking up Robecca's halves in his hands. "We're getting out of here while the going's good." he said, just as a loud rumbling filled the air.
"Oh, what now?" the Petrosapien cursed, just the Omnitrix timed out. Ben collasped under the combined weight of Frankie and Robecca, mentally cursing to himself as he struggled to his feet, his friends forming a protective ring around him and the fallen as he raised his hand over the Omnitrix, ready to change form at the ready.
A group of half a dozen vehicles climbed up the low hills into the small valley they were in, looking like something out of time that actually seemed to fit in with the bleak landscape. They had tank-like treads for wheels and tinted windshields that hid the drivers; the glass shields were also no doubt bullet proof. Each vehicle had a large box-like compartment stuck to its back as a large exhaust pipe poked up from the top, billowing out clouds of thick, black smoke. The vehicles traveled in a tight formation, five of the vehicles surrounding one in the center. On all the sides of the strange trucks but the middle one were a black circle with a sharp, green, hourglass-like symbol at its center; the middle vehicle carried a red cross.
The vehicles rolled to a stop about a dozen feet from Ben and his friends, almost as if they were hesitating about coming closer. After a while, a door to the passenger seats of one of the vehicles popped open, and a tall woman with pale, gray skin jumped out, slamming the door behind her and holding up her hands to show she wasn't carrying any weapons as she walked closer. As she edged forward, Ben noticed her features; her long wavy blue and gray hair, her wide, twilight colored eyes, her small gray lips; He had seen the face from somewhere, but he couldn't pin where. The woman wore a tight black, leather suit that showed off her curves, long black boots sitting on her feet and a eye patch lying across her left eye. A hand gun was clipped to her belt, several grenades strapped across her chest as she walked forward with a slight limp.
"Ben," she finally spoke in a soft, slightly depressed sounding voice. "It's been so long." she said sweetly, smiling.
Ben cocked and eyebrow and pushed past Hoodude and Jane to speak. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked.
The woman shrugged as she stepped into the long shadow of the strange vehicles behind her, the sun setting below the horizon. "Maybe." she simply said before suddenly vanishing into thin air within the recesses of the shadow. Ben blinked and looked around, yelping and jumping back when the strange woman appeared directly behind him in the center of their group. "Does this help you?" she asked sweetly. Ben narrowed his eyes and stuck out his tongue in a comical attempt to remember who this woman was. That was when it hit him like a herd of Pyroxivores.
"Twyla?" he asked bewildered.
The daughter of the Boogey Man smiled. "In the living shadow," she frowned. "We'll talk later. Zs'Skayr's spies are all around, and you're a wrench in his plans that could destroy his whole scheme. We need to get you and the others to safety." she instructed, reaching down and easily hefting the combined weight of Frankie and Robecca's halves with her arms. Ben blinked; there was no way Twyla could have done that fifty years ago. Without a word or argument, Ben followed Twyla back to the ring of vehicles, he and the entire team climbing into the back of the truck with the red cross on the side before the whole procession started up again.
Ben lay down on a bench within the back of the truck, watching one of the unnamed nurses there checking over Frankie's vitals while another did a quick check up on all of them, putting Spectra's arm in a cast before leaving them be. Ben hadn't realized how tired he was all of a sudden; it seemed like days, maybe even weeks or months since he last slept when he only new it was yesterday. He let exhaustion over come him, sending him into a dreamless slumber as the others decided to do the same, enjoying the long truck ride to wherever Twyla's base of operations was.
Ben woke up to sharp pain across his face. When he opened his eyes, he found Abbey standing over him, preparing to slap him a second or even third time. Ben quickly caught her hand before she could slap him and sat up with a yawn, the yeti waving a hand in front of her face.
"Breath is worse than yak's," she grumbled under her breath. Ways of any, glorious leader wants to see you."
"Twyla? If you say so . . ." Ben grunted, heaving himself off of the bed he had sleeping in. The room was incredibly bland looking, with dark, gray walls and a total of four bunk beds in the room, each one covered with drab brown sheets; Ben was lying on the bottom bunk of the one closest to the door. Not bothering to wonder how he had even gotten there, Ben climbed off his bunk and followed Abbey out of the room and into the hall, where an armed harpy and sea monster, one guard positioning themselves in front of Abbey and Ben and the other walking behind them as they walked down featureless hallways that twisted and turned without a pattern of any kind. After a few minutes of walking, passing suspicious looking doors and open rooms, they paused outside of a large set of doors. The harpy typed in a pass code of some kind into the key pad and watched as the door slid open to the right in silence. The party of four entered the room, and the door closed behind them.
The room in all honestly, was most likely a throne room of some kind, at least that was how Ben saw it. A large window that was no doubt reinforced covered the back wall, looking down on the freezing landscape below. A large throne or chair sat in front of it, about four more chairs on either side of the throne arching in a half circle, making a total of nine seats in all. Twyla sat on the biggest of the chairs, dead center as the party approached her, the other seats empty.
"Take Ms. Bominable to the Mess Hall; I am sure she wishes to catch up with her friends while Tennyson and I talk," Twyla ordered the two guards. The guards saluted and led Abbey out of the room, Ben waving good bye as she left him and Twyla alone. There was an uncomfortable silence as the door slid shut, Ben nervously glancing around the room as Twyla looked at him with a calculating look.
Deep inside, Twyla was a nervous wreck; the entire base saw her as a tough, cold leader that did what had to be done to win the war against Zs'Skayr. What those under her didn't know was that she was reaching the breaking point, having numerous nervous breakdowns in privacy when no one was watching. The pressure of leading the entire base against Zs'Skayr was nerve wracking and mind numbing, but it was nothing compared to keep The Thing under control. Now was her chance to right herself, get herself back on track, and even beat Zs'Skayr at his own game. And it all involved Ben. She opened her mouth to speak, her voice cracking slightly as she found she could say nothing. Instead, she jumped down from her throne and tackled Ben to the floor, hugging him tightly and sobbing uncontrollably.
Needless to say, Ben was surprised by how the seemingly tough and leader-like Twyla had acted, unsure of what to do except hold still as the Boogey monster hung onto him tightly. She was still shorter than him by maybe a couple inches or so, still retaining her teenage eyes and hair style over the years. Slowly, Ben reached up with a hand and rested it on Twyla's head, fully expecting her to pin him to the ground with his Omnitrix behind his back faster than he could blink when she flinched slightly. Instead, she relaxed into the gesture, letting him run his fingers through her hair and rub her back, which she found oddly soothing. After a few minutes passed, Twyla crawled off of Ben, recomposing herself as her cheeks turned pink. Ben stood up and walked over to her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I'm pretty sure being responsible for hundreds of lives can be nerve wracking," he smiled. Twyla nodded and hugged him.
"Thanks," she said in the slightly depressing voice that Ben had come to love. "Now, on to business." Ben nodded and leaned back, folding his arms over his chest and waiting for Twyla to explain.
"As you probably know, Zs'Skayr's in control; we keep calling him Ghostfreak to tick him off by the way," she added with a small smile as Ben smirked. "We're all that remains of the Rebellion, just a few hundred monsters against Zs'Skayr's forces. He's got everything from Corrodium aliens to Corrodium Normies and animals, but that's unimportant right now," she said, sucking in a deep breath, knowing what she was about to say could be the equivalent of jumping into a piranha tank covered in T-bone steaks and BBQ sauce. "Ben, he's got Gigi."
Ben's expression darkened as he urged Twyla to go on, remaining silent as she explained. "She was captured and returned back to her lamp a couple days ago, during a raid by Viktor's army in which they left several explosive devices; that one you saw earlier this morning was just discovered and taking out of harm's way before it could wipe us out," she said. "She's being held for questioning by Zs'Skayr, wanting to know if she knows anything about where Whisp might be."
"Why does he want Whisp so bad? He's already got Gigi." Ben asked.
"Because she's practically powerless without Whisp. Years ago, Gigi and Whisp used their magic to make it so that neither of them could function without the other; they can still grant small wishes, but nothing large scale that Zs'Skayr would want. He needs to find Whisp if he wants to push his plan forward. And to make matters worse, we have no idea where Whisp could be. She's simply vanished after you left." Twyla sighed with defeat, rubbing her aching temples as Ben processed this. Whisp was gone, Gigi was captured, and either was practically powerless without the other? So much for trying to fix this whole mess.
"And that's not all," Twyla admitted sadly. "My Dad's passed away. As being next in line to be the Boogey Man so to speak, it's my duty ti spread nightmare's across the earth. But I've been neglecting that what with the whole Rebellion thing," Twyla explained.
"So why not get someone else to lead?" Ben asked.
"Because it would make me look weak, and the Rebellion doesn't need a weak leader. Plus, no one else wants to do it, so I'm kind of stuck. Anyways, the power's been building up inside of me, and its getting harder and harder to contain; I nearly killed one of my lieutenants last time I lost control. Sooner or later, I'm not gonna be able to contain it much longer, and when that happens I won't be able to stop The Thing that's lurking inside of me."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Ben asked, cocking an eyebrow as Skurd squirmed awkwardly on his wrist.
"I need a host, someone else to share the burden so to speak," Twyla sighed. "I'm not ordering you to do it, but I'm asking you to help me, help the Rebllion, help the world and save it all from me. Please Ben, I'm begging you. It's all I have left." she pleaded quietly, tears forming in he eyes as unpleasant memories came back to her, seeing Dad's lifeless body, earth shattering explosions, the cries of her troops screaming in agony as they were slaughtered, the constant howling of the wind outside. She could feel it inside her, stirring, feeding off of her fear and worry, growing stronger and stronger with each passing day. Twyla then felt Ben's fingers intertwine with hers and give her a reassuring squeeze.
"Do what you have to do." Ben said quietly.
Twyla slowly nodded and pulled Ben down to her level. "Hold still and . . . . this may get a bit awkward." she said quietly. Before Ben could ask what that meant, Twyla thrust her face forward and connected her lips with his in a sweet kiss. Ben was surprised but relaxed into it, letting Twyla do what she had to do as he felt something enter his body, slithering down his throat and entering his bloodstream, filling him up with something. He felt himself become colder, more angry and aggressive than before, and possibly even evil. It felt like a vile snake was creeping down his throat, injecting acid into his body with every move it made. And yet, it felt kinda good. Just as it started, it ended and Twyla broke the kiss, slowly backing away with a deep blush on her face.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. Ben didn't answer right away as he was suddenly overcome with nausea and the sudden feeling that his muscles were on fire. He doubled over and held his stomach as his eyes twitched violently, his body shaking as Skurd began to quickly slide himself over every possible and available inch of Ben, sliding back to the Omnitirx and tampering with it for a few seconds. The sudden attack on his body stopped as the Omnitrix glowed a suspicious green in color and blinked.
"Varjoain DNA unlocked. Activate Transformation Function?" the Omnitrix asked, rapidly blinking green as Ben stared at it.
"Um, no." Ben said, and the green light died. Twyla breathed a sigh if relief as Ben smiled at her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Twyla's blush only deepened at the touch; normally she would have escaped into the shadows to find a nice, dusty corner to think about things in, but she found comfort and safety in Ben's touch. "So, uh, was the kiss the only way to do it?" he asked.
Twyla shyly shook her head no. "It's just . . . . I never actually got to tell you before you disappeared . . . ." she said quietly. Before she could say more, Ben pressed his lips to her, catching Twyla off guard. However, it was nice kind of "off guard moment" that Twyla liked as she leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Ben's neck as he laced his own strong arms around her thin waist, pulling her in tight. To Twyla, the kiss was a way to get rid of all her fears and tribulations, relinquishing all strife over to her new love. Ben was enjoying the kiss as well, Twyla being far different than his other ghoulfriends; her lips tasted of wisdom, forgotten joy, sweetness even if it was possible to taste those. She was shy and timid, unsure of what to be doing during the kiss, yet seeming to know exactly what she was doing.
Ben felt a slight sensation at the end of lips. After a few seconds of confusion, he realized it was the very tip of Twyla's tongue, tentatively asking for permission to enter, as if afraid Ben would bite her tongue and rip it out of her mouth if she showed even the slightest bit of control or confidence. Ben mentally smiled and opened his mouth, letting Twyla's small and shy tongue creep over his lips and teeth, exploring until her tongue met his own. Immediately, both of their organs fought a short battle, deepening their soul kiss for a few more seconds before the lovers parted ways to gasp for air. Twyla's face was as red as a tomato as she rested her head on Ben's strong chest, Ben smiling down on her and giving a final kiss to her forehead. At last, Twyla could rest in peace.
And there it is! Ah, feels good. What exactly is Ben's new form? Will ben be able to rescue Gigi? Where are the others that were left behind? Whatever the answers, I hope all you Twyla fans are HAPPY! Don't make me sue! XD
I can't make any promises, but I'll see if I can't crank out another chapter before New years, just so I can actually try and keep my promise. That aside, I have two requests.
One, some fan art for this story. If you have a Deviantart and are a decent artist, please consider making some art for this story, especially for the cover. Seriously, I got this image from a flip-flop commercial and it's kind of embarrassing.
Two, if any of you have ideas on how to start the Ever After High sequel, please let me know. I'm trying to write a rough draft before I release the actual story so I can get the Ever After High feel down pat.
As usual, comment, review, PM, suggest, and request to me! And as I have nothing else to say, I shall be bidding you farewell.
Happy Holidays!