We Are Monsters

by Creaturemaster

Ben somehow arrives in a strange new world where people and actual monsters co-exist (sort of). When he tries to blend himself in with Monster High's skeleton crew, things go horribly wrong! With a darkness lurking just of reach and an absurd amount of ghouls all wanting a piece of him, just how much can Ben take before he'll really "feel like a monster"? Rated T for harems & yuri.

34. Painful Memories

G'day, all! And welcome back to another chapter of my most successful story up to date.

Or course, I can't take all the credit. I've had numerous assistance by several fabulous, fantastic readers that I can not hope to thank enough times. That doesn't mean I can't try though! Thank you to DJ Rodriguez, Menatron the Angel of Ideas, RedShade999, Blitzwing101, Axle the Hedgehog, Darkmagicdragon, Darkness Rissing, Blazorna Ibara, Sallem Cortez 004, whampire, Gravespawn, and Morantis. I couldn't have done it without you.

And I haven't forgotten all you nameless readers and Guests! Thank you for taking the time to read this story and make it the success it is. Seriously, I wouldn't have made it this far without you.

I know this sounds like it might be the last chapter, but I assure you it's not. I have at least a dozen more chapters in me before this story is up and done and I can begin work on the sequel!

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! I love hearing from you people!

Onwards!

---

Ben stiffened and sucked in a deep breath through his nose, every part of his body aching. His arms felt like rods of molten lead, his legs felt like bars of iron, his shoulders felt like they had a pair of over weight oxen on him, and his head felt like someone was currently using it for a drum solo. He felt his closed eyes twitch a little before he allowed them to finally open to stare up at a drab, gray ceiling; that was odd. He was used to seeing the underside of a bunk bed.

Then everything came rushing back to him: Twyla was dead, Zs'Skayr was dead, the war was over, and Zs'Skyar's minions . . . . well, their fate was currently unknown; Ben made a mental note to ask for a full report from his ghouls once he was sure he could make the short walk over to the intercom without someone helping him get up. He had suffered a great deal of damage from the magical constructs of Zs'Skayr's twisted imagination, everything from cracked ribs and many bruises to a broken hand and even a little eternal bleeding; at least, that was what he remembered Jinafire muttering to herself as she patched him up.

The smell of brimstone came to his senses; speak of the devil. Ben sucked in another deep breath and managed to shift him up a little into something that resembled a sitting position. It wasn't just his injuries that prevented from moving around too much. It was also the addition of several ghouls sleeping haphazardly around the room, a few of them having claimed the bed, giving him some distance so as not to accidentally injure him further. The young dragon was curled up by Ben's left side, her tail wrapped around her head for warmth as smoke puffed out from her mouth every time she moved her chest; Ben's hand had mysteriously found its way onto her back during his sleep. Nefera lay horizontally across the foot of the bed, snoring softly as her arms hung limply over the side. Nestled next to him, her pale hand warmed protectively around his bandaged ribs was Spectra, oblivious to his sudden awakening. Frankie slept next to Nefera, resting her head on her arms as she slept peacefully.

Scattered about the room were the rest of the ghouls from Ben's harem; Venus was slumped down next to the bed, her head lolled to the side on her own shoulder; Jane lay guard at the door, dozing with the stature of a sleeping leopard and ready to attack anyone who wasn't welcome into her sanctum; Whisp was literally sleeping on a swirling, black cloud of shadows over his head, softly murmuring to herself in her sleep; Robecca was devoid of any movement, her systems shut down for the night as her copper body lay limp in the desk chair; Skelita was wrapped up in a blanket lying on the floor with Bonita curled up next to her, her wings wrapped around her for warmth as she unconsciously tried to nibble on a corner of Skelita's blanket in her sleep; Avea had even dragged in half of her bed into the room for a nap, claiming a corner of the room and covering herself in blankets and resting on a mattress of pillows.

Ben sucked in another deep breath and tried to move himself out of bed with disturbing the ghouls. It proved to be impossible when Spectra suddenly snapped her eyes open and gave a shrill whistle; every ghoul in the room immediately snapped up into a fighting position, drawing out their weapons (which they had apparently slept with) and looking for any kind of danger. They quickly put their weapons away when they found it was just Ben trying to pull a fast one on them.

"Thought you could escape us, hmm?" Jinafire smiled taking Ben's hand and gently pulling him out of bed. "I suppose it was foolish to believe our leader would take things lying down after such a marvelous victory."

Ben smiled as the ghouls put their weapons away, a few of them bedding back down to rest; Ben couldn't blame them, especially after they fought not only for their own lives, but for his as well. "If you wouldn't mind leading me down to the med bay? I want to have a quick check up with Ghoulia before I attend to . . . . whatever it is a no longer needed Rebellion leader needs to do."

Jinafire nodded. "While you show great wisdom for someone of your intelligence, you forget we have an even greater adversary than Zs'Skayr to worry about."

Ben would have felt a little insulted if realization hadn't suddenly hit him. "Right. Maltruant," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his good hand. "Well, I beat 'im once, I can do it again."

"Your optimism never ceases to amaze me," Skurd yawned from Ben's wrist.

"Is there anything about me that does cease to amaze you?" Ben asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Not at the moment, dear boy," Skurd rubbed his little eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've been meaning to sample the Conductoid DNA for a while." And with that, the little Slimebiote hunkered down on the Omnitrix watch face and went into some kind of feed mode where his little antennae were flattened against his head, his body was pressed against the Omnitrix, and his eyes seemed to become beady and more sharp than before. Ben ignored the little goo bag and allowed himself to be led down the hall by Jinafire, Spectra, and Frankie trailing behind him; the others were too tired to follow for the time being and merely stayed where they were to rest. Avea had attempted to follow, but Ben had been firm in telling her to stay put and rest up.

They were mostly quiet on their long walk through the empty halls of the base, the only sound being the occasional buzzing of the lights as they flickered on and off; Ben suspected Dr. Viktor was attempting to improve the power core again, a sort of Plan B to Project X-18; Ben would have to read the briefing later. After a while of walking, Frankie and Spectra broke off from Ben and Jinafire, as if given some unseen signal, and turned towards the Mess Hall to grab the some of the bubbling mush that passed for breakfast around here; Ben made a mental note to try and improve the food in the Mess Hall while he was changing things.

The silence that followed Frankie and Spectra's departure was long and rather awkward on Ben's part as he leaned on Jinafire, depending on her to help him walk down to the med bay. She didn't seem to mind though, a small smile even coming to her lips as she curled her tail protectively around Ben's waist, as if afraid he would suddenly fall over. And deep down, Jinafire was actually worried that Ben might suddenly keel over. She knew Ben was vulnerable and was not immortal like some ghouls had come to see him as at point or another upon meeting him. She knew he could be broken and beaten just like the rest of them. But she hadn't seen hurt this bad before; she had heard a short tale of when Ben had just been expelled from Monster High upon having his secret revealed, when he and Charmcaster had been fighting over Gigi. She had heard how he had fallen, barely breathing and only saved by Dr. Viktor's steady (and reluctant) hand.

She hoped she would never have to see him like that again.

For a long time after their short talk in the gym, she had been wanting to feel it again. That sudden rush of energy she got when she had thanked Ben with a sweet kiss had felt like she had just injected herself with over a hundred gallons of coffee. It made her cold-blood body warm up like she had been when she was just a small hatchling, cast into the fire pit to keep warm on cold nights when blankets just didn't seem to work for her; the flames of course, hadn't warmed her in the slightest, and she always felt good and tingly after the fire had died down, full of energy. That was exactly what it felt like to kiss Ben; and she had gotten the second chance to experience it again after the war had finally ended. But she wanted to feel more, experience more.

Plus, her culture sort of dictated what was to already become of her. If she could only somehow figure out a subtle way of explaining it to Ben without having him freak out in the process. Then again, freaking out seemed to be his comfort zone. Sorta.

"Something wrong?" Ben asked.

Of course he thinks there is something wrong, Jinafire realized. She couldn't believe she had assumed he would go around, cluelessly ignoring her as she attempted to subtlety plot something with him knowing. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten that after several years of wielding the Omnitrix, of having hundreds of villains try all manner of trickery and traps, that she would assume he would be blissfully unaware that something was bothering her.

"Something of that manner," Jinafire admitted as they finally came to the med bay doors. Ben gave a confused and concerned look, but allowed it to pass as the the doors to the med bay rolled back in their frames, allowing him and Jinaifre access into the sanctuary of the injured and weak, as well as the slightly . . . troubled.

"You gonna make a move?" Genie asked bored; he and Rivet were playing a game of chess on one of the hospital beds, the board nestled smack dab in the middle of the mattress with the two players on either side of it. Rivet nodded eagerly with a toothy grin.

"So move!" Geni cried, exasperated. Rivet grinned and grabbed hold of his black queen in one of his little fists before moving it across the board and whacking it against Genie's white king, sending the chess piece flying across the room; Genie starred at the bored in disbelief. "Whoa. That's a good move," he admitted with flabbergast before doing an impression of Rodney Dangerfield. "I can't believe it, I'm losing to an animal!"

"Why is he in here?" Ben asked Ghoulia with a small smile as she bustled about, tending to the few patients that sat on the beds.

"Ahhhhiiieeehhh," Ghoulia explained, pointing with a pale finger at Gigi, who was asleep on the bed behind Genie.

"Headache, huh?" Ben mused. "I know the feeling."

"Eeeeeeehhhhh?" Ghoulia asked with a cocked eyebrow, pointing towards an empty bed. Ben shook his head as Jinafire led him over to the mattress, easing him down before climbing on as well, crossing her legs over each other as she took the chance to meditate. She heard the rustle of clothing being removed as she attempted to block out the noise of the med bay; Genie's defeated cries of exasperation, Rivet's mad cackles of victory as he danced on the chess board, Ghoulia's constant moaning, and the sharp sound of Ben sucking in a breath every time the zombie touched him. It got to the point where the young dragon could no longer focus and finally snapped her eyes open with defeat.

She probably should have kept them shut a little longer.

Jinafire had opened her eyes at the exact moment Ben was peeling off his shirt so Ghoulia could get a closer examination of his injuries, revealing three, massive and jagged scars along his back, directly across his spine and stretching from armpit to armpit. She couldn't but stare at the scabbed marks, not quite believing such monstrosities had managed to hook themselves into him; she closed her mouth, not quite realizing it had dropped open upon seeing the wounds. "W-where did you get those?" she asked him an awed voice, reaching out with a circumspect hand, her fingers brushing gently over the cruel marks; Ben flinched slightly, but relaxed.

"Remember the first time Maltruant broke into the base?" Ben managed to say as Ghoulia set the cold end of her stethoscope to his chest to check his heart beat.

"Those were from him?" Jinafire guessed, bile starting to rise in the back of her throat.

Ben shook his head sadly. "No. Remember when Twyla went berserk?"

Jinafire did indeed remember. The memories still haunted her to the very second, seeing the person she had come to respect after lying in the shadows for so long, suddenly turn on them with murder in her eyes, a savage desire to kill, destroy, maim, and devour anything that stood in her way of her ultimate goal: to annihilate everything. Thank Sphinx Skurd had managed to activate the Omnitrix in time for Ben to save both him and Twyla from death; but the thought still scared her.

"Jinafire? You sure you're okay?" Ben asked. The young dragon then realized she had been starring, both at the scars that covered her lover's back and into space, and quickly snapped back into reality.

"I am fine, Ben." she reassured him as Ghoulia finished her check up and signaled Ben was fine and should not engage in any strenuous activities unless absolutely necessary; Jinafire kindly handed him his shirt and helped him off the bed and out of the med bay, the door sliding shut as Genie lost yet another game to Rivet for what seemed the hundredth time in a row. They walked a short distance down the hall in the direction of the Mess Hall when Ben suddenly grabbed Jinafire by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall, a serious look in his eyes.

"Jinafire, answer me," he said in a tone that said he would take anymore jokes. "What the Sphinx is wrong?" he asked; Jinafire managed to swallow the ball of fire that had instinctively built up in the back of her throat before looking at Ben's face. It said that he didn't want to hurt her, but he wasn't going to be goaded into thinking everything was all hunky-dory anymore. It was a look that told her that he was willing, demanding, that she tell her what was wrong so that he could fix it.

"If you don't answer, I'll go Mindmesser on you." Ben warned her.

Jinafire bit her lip with a fang before finally relenting. "As you wish," she sighed. "But may we not go somewhere private? This is a matter I would like to discuss in secret."

Ben starred at her with those narrowed eyes for a few seconds before finally nodding his head and turning to the Omnitrix and triggered it, cycling through his roster of aliens.

"Would not walking simply suffice?" Jinafire asked curiously.

Ben smiled. "Where's the fun in that?" he asked before selecting a suitable transformation and slapping the activation button, holding still with that cocky grin on his face as the watch worked its magic on him, changing his body into the selected icon of the Omnitrix. He felt himself taller and much more muscled as gray colored fur sprouted all over his body. His face bulged forward into a pointed muzzle, lined with sharp canine teeth as a black nose formed on the end. Organs sloshed around inside him and bones crunched and ground together as he felt said muzzle split into four ways and his fingers become longer and tipped with razor sharp claws that could easily slice through most objects. His toes melted into two, large talons as a third sprouted from his heel and a long, furry tail grew from the base of his spine. A mane of fur rose from the back of his neck as spikes rose from his elbows and shoulders. A green and black suit appeared on his body with green wrists bans and a collar around his neck with the Omnitrix and Skurd on it.

With a low growl, Blitzwolfer snatched Jinafire up in his claws and threw her onto his back before barreling down on the hallway on all fours, his razor sharp talons clicking loudly on the floor as the air rushed through his fur. Jinafire dug her claws into the thick mane on Blitzwolfer's neck, hanging on for dear life as the Loboan ran down the hallways, leaping and pouncing off of walls to make sharp corners that the slippery floor did not allow. They moved at a moderate pace down the hall, the drab walls and doors nothing more than a blur to Jinafire's eye that was occasionally interrupted by the startled soldier coming out of a room only to have a large Loboan with a young dragon riding on its back gallop on by. Some startled and jumped back, others merely shrugged it off and, in Clawdeen's case as she came strolling out of the Mess Hall, some cursed at them.

Eventually, they stopped in front of another janitor's closet and ducked inside, Blitzwolfer slamming the door shut behind them as Jinafire jumped off and the Omnitrix timed out, reverting the large canine alien back into Ben, who immediately grunt under the sudden agony of his ribs; Jinafire rushed over and helped him straighten back up, Ben giving her an appreciative grin before lightly pushing her onto a crate of cleaning supplies and leaning against the door, blocking her one way in and out.

"Okay, spill." he said, casting his sharp green eyes at her and folding his arms over his injured chest as he waited for an answer.

Jinafire sighed and subconsciously picked at the scales that lined her long, reptilian tail for several quite moments before she eventually spoke. "As I am sure you are aware, Ben, I am of Chinese lineage. We dragons are very old, our lifespans stretching far beyond that of an average human's. By the time we reach what could be considered our adolescent years we are already multiple centuries old. During that time, we try to find our other half, our soul-mate, regardless of who or what it could be; another dragon, a normie, or even another species entirely, so long as they are the individual that completes us, we will find them and become whole."

"Where are you going with this?" Ben asked, slightly awed.

The Chinese dragon fell silent for a few seconds before she began to speak again, as if what she was telling him pained her in some manner. "Occasionally . . . a dragon is born that never had a soul-mate to begin with. They grow to become very bitter and dark creatures that learn to spite and hate everything that they don't have or never could have. Often, their hate will be so much that they will die terrible, tragic, and lonely deaths . . ."

"That's horrible . . ."

Jinafire nodded, summoning a deep breath before she spoke again, having subconsciously turned back to picking at her scales out of anxiety. "I was one of those dragons, Ben . . . for the longest time, I feared that I would never find my other half, that I would be doomed to a lonely existence for the rest of my days . . ." she swallowed nervously as she turned to look at him with those burning, golden orbs of hers. "Until I met you."

Ben was completely overwhelmed. He knew that he was special to Jinafire as her lover, but he had never realized how much he meant to her.

"What does this mean?" the brunette wondered, taking her hand in his and giving it a small squeeze.

The dragon smiled appreciatively and returned the gesture. Her tail snaked out around Ben's waist and pulled him closer to her so that she was pressed against his frame. She rested her head and their conjoined hands upon his chest over the area where his heart would have been, taking in the steady beating of his heart that soothed her restless nerves.

"In my culture, it means that we are technically husband and wife." she told him as calmly as possible, even if the concept excited her so. Jinafire turned to look up at him and regarded his stunned features with worry. "I . . . understand if this is a bit overwhelming for you, but-"

Ben silenced her with a finger to her lips, a small smile creeping over his own. "I don't mind one bit."

"Thank you." Jinafire allowed herself to smile as well and nestled deeper into her boyfriend's embrace, inhaling his sweet scent.

"I just have one question."

"And what is that, my husband?"

"How am I gonna explain to my mom that I'm already married?" Ben joked, snickered as Jinafire grinned and blew a heart-shaped ring of smoke at his face.

"How will you explain that you have multiple spouses?" she countered mischievously, curling one of her claws under his chin in a playful manner. The dragon slithered her long, forked tongue out and tantalizingly licked his neck, tracing slow and erotic circles into his flesh that drew out a long, low moan from Ben as a response. She worked her hands around his shoulders and felt up and down his chest, pleasantly surprised at how firm they were in contrast to what his appearance and eating habits otherwise told her. Ben's hands slipped around her fluid figure and she felt her face turn a hot, molten bronze in color while his strong hands worked their way up their spine, unconsciously working away at her stiff and tightened muscles.

Jinafire moaned and peppered his neck and jawline as a reward for the wonderful feeling that began to flow through her like igneous copper. His fingers found their way to her flowing, jade locks and threaded and weaved themselves through her hair in soothing, raking motions that eventually rounded themselves along the edge of her jaw to softly cup her cheek. It was at that moment that the Chinese dragon finally reached his lips and deeply kissed Ben with intense passion; her body was warming to nearly uncomfortable levels at the euphoria she felt, but she ignored it entirely in favor of savoring the moment.

She felt his hands travel down her spine when she began to attack his mouth with tongue, whipping him into a frenzy with fiery succession. She was so deeply entranced in the moment that she almost didn't notice Ben's hands upon her ass-cheeks until she felt a firm, tantalizing squeeze and was left absolutely breathless at the orgasmic feeling that ebbed through her in response to feeling his fingers caress the rough scales that lined the underside of her tail. Jinafire quickly slapped away the brunette's hands with a lightning fast motion of her tail and gave him a naughty look through rust-tinted cheeks.

"Too far?" Ben guessed with a red face.

"Not far enough," she grinned seductively. "In my culture we would already be in bed by now."

Ben felt like he was trying to swallow a rock when he starred at his ghoulfriend with a beet red face. "Umm . . ."

Jinafire giggled and pecked him sweetly on the cheek. "Bié dānxīn. Do not worry, Ben. It is only fair to indulge in my husband's culture as well. We can save procreation after we are wed, if you like."

"I think my mom'd appreciate that more than suddenly finding out she has grand-kids." Ben returned the favor with a soft kiss that quickly intensified into passionate love making.

The Chinese dragon had never felt so wonderful in years than when she felt her boyfriend's hands caressing her scales. His hands worked their way up and down her spine, sending shivers of pleasure throughout their body that only exacerbated tenfold when she took their still consolidated hands and placed them upon her breast; her fingers slowly worked their way free of Ben's grip as he longingly kissed her until his hand lay free and bare upon her chest. As if by instinct, he gave her breast an experimental squeeze and drew out a long, welcoming moan from the back of Jinafire's throat.

She felt strangely at peace with this sense of euphoria coursing through her veins. All those years being the only ghoul in her household spent alone with no one else to confide into had forced her to suppress any sign of weakness in order to be noticed; her father was often distracted by her seven brothers in their constant arguments with one another. Years of sorrowful solitude and loneliness were finally released from being caged up within her for centuries on end. The dragon found herself hugging Ben even tighter, burying her face into the crook of his neck as a few, stray tears trickled down her beautiful features.

Ben immediately stopped the moment he felt the salty tears patter softly upon his neck, slightly dampening his shirt. "Is something wrong?" he asked with concern, taking her hand once more as if to tell her that he was there and ready to listen. "Aren't you enjoying yourself?"

Jinafire shook her head. "I was enjoying it immensely," she reassured him, sniffing as she dried her eyes with the back of her hand. "It is . . . I have never really had someone pay so much attention to me. Beforehand, the most enjoyment I would get out of life was whenever I managed to make a fool out of brothers, one way or another. My dreams of becoming a fashion designer helped as well, but . . ."

"I take your parents never really had a lot of time for you?" the brunette guessed.

Jinafire nodded. "I knew my father loved me very much. I could see it in his eyes whenever he was training me. He was just unable to spend enough time with me before my brothers managed to distract him in some manner or other."

"What about your mom?"

The dragon fell silent, her features twisting and screwing up oddly as if she were trying to reach for something that was far too out of reach for her liking. "I . . . I never knew her. My mother passed away just before I was born, according to my father."

Ben didn't say anything and instead gave her hand a comforting squeeze as a few more tears peppered themselves along his shoulder. His thumb rubbed calm, soothing circles into the back of her head, pressing and tracing the edges of her dazzling scales in an effort to console the Chinese dragon in her time of need. Eventually, Jinafire's tears dried and a sense of relief had washed over her.

"Do you wish to resume?" she asked.

The brunette shook his head. "I think that's enough for now. Why don't we just . . . sit here for a bit?" he suggested.

Jinafire smiled. "I'd like that." she sighed appreciatively. Without a word, the two of them sank to the floor of the supply closet and made themselves comfortable as Ben leaned back against the wall and allowed his ghoulfriend to take her place in his lap. The two of them sat there for what might have been an hour or so, and in all honesty it was probably the single most relaxing moment Jinafire had experienced in her entire life; for once, there was not the constantly arguing of her brothers to block out or the near constant insanity that ravaged Monster High even before Ben had come into her life. Even now, when everything that they had known and held dear was taken away from them, she had never been so calm. It was nice to get away from all the commotion and she honestly couldn't think of another person that she'd like to spend that time with than the man she loved.

At least, it was nice enough until they were interrupted.

"Awwwww, you guys are so cute together!" Sirena squealed excitedly when she unexpectedly phased through the floor directly at their feet.

Ben jolted, nearly throwing Jinafire off of him at the sudden surprise. "Geez, Sirena, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" he gasped.

The hybrid smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Ben, but General Bloodgood wanted to speak with you about yesterday's invasion. She wants a full report of what happened and wants everyone that was involved in the direct attack on Zs'Castle Zs'Skayr to be in the war room in the next five minutes."

"Fine," Ben grumbled as he climbed to his feet, his hand instantly finding Jinafire's once more. "But no more surprises, got it?"

"I doubt the lad could take anymore!" Skurd joked, laughing to himself.

The brunette raised his arm to glare irritably at the Slimebiote. "And just how come you decided to be quiet for once?"

"Like the gentleman I am, I thought it would be rude of me to intrude upon such an intimate moment between you and the lovely lady. Your welcome." he huffed indignantly with his arms folded over what accounted for his chest.

Jinafire smiled appreciatively. "Xièxiè, Skurd-san."

"Anytime."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother."

---

Five minutes later, Ben, Bloodgood, Robecca, Frankie, Nefera, Jane, Jinafire, both Grant sisters, Genie, Venus, Draculaura, Spectra, Abbey, Heath, Hoodude, Ghoulia, Lagoona, and Gil were all seated around a long, rectangular shaped table that stretched the near length of the room. Maps decorated the walls of the room, pin pushers stuck on important locations with strings indicating travel routes.

"Before we begin, there is an urgent matter to discuss," Bloodgood frowned, turning to glare at Gil, who slumped down in his seat and tried to look invisible as everyone trained their eyes on him.

"Mind tellin' why you ratted us out to Zs'Skayr, Gil?" Ben asked with an annoyed tone.

Gil gulped and peeked out between his webbed fingers at the many faces pointed his way. Most of them were severely annoyed or angered, furious that one of their own had sold them out to their arch nemesis for whatever petty reason he decided on. But what made Gil even more guilty was that Lagoona was looking at him with a hurt face, her head shaking slowly back and forth as the shame of his unforgivable act ate away at him like a pack of starving wolves.

"Why does it matter anyway?" he sighed. "You'll just win anyways. Like you always do."

"What the dickens are you talking about, you traitorous scum?" Skurd wondered.

"Yeah, yous betta tell us what we want, see! Otherwise, you'll sleepin' wit da fishes, see?" Genie yelled angrily, assuming the form of a Boston mobber. "But in yer case, you'll be sleepin' wit da sushi chef!" he added, jabbing his oversized gun into Gil's chest; Gigi groaned and smacked her head down on the table, her face turning a dark red at the sight of her Dad's antics.

"I'm talking about Ben and Lagoona!" Gil surrendered, an irked tone to his voice. "When she was in heat, who did she go after? Ben! Who did she tear through the base to fuck!? Ben! Whose dick did she suck!? BEN!" Gil screamed, his helmet filling with bubbles as he angrily lunged across the table to try and strangle Ben; it took the combined strength of Heath, Hoodude, and Abbey to keep him from further injuring Ben.

"Ben, is this true?" Bloodgood sighed wearily, rubbing her temples once Gil had been restrained with a roll of duct tape Genie had been kind enough to pull out of his trench coat, still no giving up on the mobster disguise as they continued the interrogation.

"Unfortunately," Ben murmured, pinching his brow as he leaned back in his chair, wincing slightly as his scars touched the back of the piece of furniture. "It was something of a one-night stand, more of a foreclosure for Lagoona." he admitted as the mentioned sea monster flushed a dark shade of purple.

"Like I should believe you." Gil snapped angrily, resisting the urge to struggle against his friends.

"Look," Ben growled, standing up out of his chair and slamming his hands down on the table to get Gil's attention. "Lagoona felt absolutely horrible for what happened and was constantly avoiding me for the following days. She wouldn't stay in the same room as me unless we did this sort of thing!"

"So, it was a fluke?" Venus cocked an eyebrow.

"Exactly," Ben said firmly. "Me and Lagoona are in no way, shape, or form in a relationship." Ben confirmed, his blood boiling a little more when he saw that Gil clearly didn't believe him. "Gil, I swear upon my Omnitrix that Lagoona is still wild about you. The only reason she ever showed any kind of weakness was because you were a freakin' guppy! If you truly care about Lagoona, you give a Sphinx about what your parents think! So long as you're happy, that's all that matters." he finished, sitting back down in his chair, slightly winded.

"When did you become so wise?" Draculaura asked, curious.

"Lets just say that my parents weren't too happy about finding out about my hero job," Ben smiled. "I swear, I was going to be grounded for a month before they finally came to their senses before something dawned on him. "And now I'll probably be grounded for a year for disappearing for so long and having multiple girlfriends." he added with sigh.

"Not if we have anything to saw about it." Nefera frowned, running her swords across each other and making a metallic slicing down that sent shivers down Ben's spine.

"Ahem!" Bloodgood coughed. "If we may get back on topic . . ."

"Right," Ben grinned sheepishly. "Uh, Gigi if you want to go first and give us a full report on what happened to Kuphulu?" he asked.

Gigi nodded her head and began to tell them about what had happened, her Dad changing himself into the form of a projector and screen to illustrate the events, all while another Genie clone interrupted every now and then with boxes of popcorn; Ben kindly took one and sat back in his chair as Gigi continued, trying to ignore the fact that Skurd was stealing bits of his popcorn when he thought he wasn't looking.

---

"Dance, cowboy, dance!" Genie cackled madly, pulling the triggers on his pair of pistols and aiming them at Kuphulu as he laughed with a crazed zest. The Thep Khufan was not amused, and merely shifted his bandages to avoid the upcoming projectiles, twisting and curving the strips of organic, paper-like material in a way that made it look like kind of weird dance.

While their father was distracting Kuphulu, the Grant sisters decided to deal with the mutated hybrids that attacked upon their master's command. "The ugly one's mine!" Whisp yelled to her sister, snapping her fingers and suddenly becoming engulfed in a flash of black smoke. When the vaporous cloud cleared, Whisp was no longer there, much to Gigi's great surprise; they were supposed to do barely any magic without the other, and Whisp had somehow disappeared. Gigi shook her head and summoned a golf club into her hands as one of the big brained mutants rushed at her, its twisted jaws snapping back and forth angrily as it tried to crush her with one of its massive fists. The genie quickly rolled out of the way as the fist came down on the spot she had been and she raised her blunt weapon above her head, prepared to club the mutant's head clean off; the killing blow never came when she swung downward, and she looked to see another of the Tetramand's arms easily holding the golf club in place.

Gigi grinned sheepishly before the mutant hauled her up by the golf club and twirled her around its head, throwing her into the nearby wall without a care. Gigi groaned and tentatively touched the sore bruise on her skull, wincing at the touch as the mutant turned to attack her again, its massive mind sure that she would not survive a crushing blow from both of its fists as its teeth sank into her skull. Before the turned Tetramand could even attack its dazed victim, it was suddenly crushed to a bloody pulp of wet flesh and broken bones as a gray colored whale suddenly fell out of nowhere.

"What the- Whisp? Is that you?" Gigi asked in disbelief; the massive marine mammal was engulfed in a cloud of black smoke, vanishing before Gigi's eyes to be replaced by her sister.

"Aw, what gave it away?" she asked with mock disappointment.

"But . . . h-how . . . you . . . I-" Gigi stammered, unable to comprehend how her sister had taken down something that had beaten her so easily.

"G, they can predict our every move," Whisp rolled her eyes. "Hitting them over the head with something blunt and heavy is pretty predictable. You have to get random like Dad." the younger Grant sister explained, pointing Gigi at their dad. She watched as Genie and Kuphulu circled off, their father now in the form of an incredible overweight and swollen sumo wrestler. With a yell, Genie charged at the Thep Khufan, his mounds of fat and blubber jiggling like jello as he bared down on Kuphulu like a freight train. There then came a sickening crunch as Genie landed belly first on top of his opponent, shattering his headdress to bits before climbing off.

"Anyone know how to get these stains out?" Genie joked to the pieces of Kuphulu's face mask embedded in his belly fat. The Thep Khufan groaned and climbed to his feet, oblivious to the damage dealt to him as he growled and stretched his fingers out to an impossible length, quickly wrapping up the distracted djinni in his grip. "Now you shall feel my wrath!" he claimed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Genie suddenly hummed with disappointment, disappearing in a flash of blue smoke and reappearing at Kuphulu's side with a small book in hand. "My schedule is filled up at the moment. Perhaps we can reschedule next Tuesday at four?" he asked.

"What is this nonsense!?" Kuphulu grumbled as he tried to shove the book of out his face as Genie continued to ramble on.

"Ya know, Bandage Face, we really should have some tea together!" he suddenly cried out, snapping his fingers and summoning a small table, two chairs, and a tea set. The Genie disappeared in a flash of blue smoke to be replaced by something that resembled the Mad Hatter. If the Mad Hatter was a girl that is and actually seemed to be in her teen years.

"One lump or two?" Genie asked, taking off the small aht that sat on her head and shoving her arm up to the elbow into it; a small dormouse came scurrying up her arm, squeaking happily as Kuhulu, drummed his fingers on the table in annoyance. "If I answer, will it make you go away faster?" he grumbled.

"Faster than a jabberwock with its tail feathers on fire!" Genie giggled, his arm still dug deep in his hat..

"Two then!" Kuphulu said exasperated. Genie smiled wickedly and quickly pulled out a mallet from within the depths of his hat, whacking the Thep Khufan over the noggin twice before disappearing in a flash of blue smoke to then assume the form of a wrestling referee.

"One! Two!" he counted off for the dazed Thep Khufan. "Threefourfivesixseveneightnineten! Yer out! We have a new champion, folks!" Genie exclaimed, grabbing the hand of a Genie clone dressed as a luchador and raising it towards the heavens as clapping and cheering came from nowhere.

"How's that for random?" Whisp smiled as Gigi starred.

Gigi blinked. "Remind me not to get locked inside of a lamp for ten thousand years ever again." she muttered before ducking to the ground with a yelp as a mutated hybrid sailed just a few inches above her head, apparently trying to tackle her and failing at the last second. Gigi took the opportunity to snap her fingers, summoning a large rocket launcher into existence. She shifted the weapon onto her shoulder and pulled the trigger, fully expecting missiles or rockets to come shooting out to blast the mutant to bits. Instead, three pink blobs came firing out of the barrel, slamming into the mutant's body with squishy sounds. Gigi was about to let loose a string of curses when she realized that the pink blobs were actually causing the Tetramand mutant severe pain' she also realized that the blobs had thin tentacles attached to them. That, and that the blobs were actually jellyfish.

"A jellyfish launcher, huh? Interesting." Whisp smiled as Gigi gave her a confused look, ignoring the mutant's howls of agony as the jellyfish's tentacles repeatedly stung its gigantic brain.

"And it goes great with peanut butterfish, too!" Genie cracked as he effortlessly jumped over Kuphulu's bandages, wearing a tutu. "DUCK!"

Whisp instinctively vanished in a flash of black smoke, changing into, appropriately enough, a gray feathered duck and flew out of harm's way as the final mutant came crashing down from the ceiling on the spot she had been moments ago, cracks radiating out from the spot where it landed as it lunged at Gigi. She quickly ducked under one swipe of its massive claws and jumped over the other massive arm, landing on the mutant's broad shoulders. The djinni then snapped her fingers and was engulfed in a puff of magenta stained smoke, assuming the form of a big league baseball player, complete with black and pink Monster High team uniform and baseball cap.

"Batta-batta-swing-batta!" she cried happily, dancing around the mutant's back and shoulders to avoid its attempts to swat her off before she took her baseball bat, raised it above her head, and swung it. The blunt instrument collided with the mutant's large head and severed it rather messily from its thick neck, the head bouncing off a wall and rolling onto the floor in a bloody mess; the body collapsed to the ground seconds later, an odd smile on Gigi's lips. "Home run!" she taunted.

"ARGH! I do not care if I am destroyed or not, I will take you down with me!" Kuphulu snarled, reaching into the folds of his robes.

"WAIT!" Genie suddenly cried, all movement ceasing as he quickly reached into his vest and pulled out a stack of stapled papers marked 'SCRIPT' on the front. "Lets see now, Kuphulu says, 'I do not care if I am destroyed or not, I will take you down with me!', and Genie then goes up to the third floor to save Ben," he read over the script. "Kinda seems predictable, but I'm game he shrugged.

It was then that he realized something. "Oh, Sphinx! I'm late!" he cried frantically, before changing into a copy of the White Rabbit. "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!" he cried, scurrying up the stairs as fast as his little, furry feet could carry him. The room was quiet for a few seconds, with just the Grant sisters and Kuphulu standing amongst the remains of three bloody bodies, before Kuphulu pulled something out from the fold of his robes and bandages. It looked to be a skull of some kind, definitely Normie in appearance, with the exception of what looked like a double set of eyes and an extra slit in the nasal passages. That, and the very sharp teeth that curved over the bottom jaw. It was more than just a mutant's skull though; Gigi could see wires behind the sockets and intricate circuitry poking out from between the teeth and ear holes.

"Is that a-" Whisp started.

"Bomb? Why yes, yes it is," Kuphulu moaned, his bandages curved upwards in what the Grant sisters could only assume was a malicious smile. "It blow everything in this room to the smallest of particles. Particles so small that even an Ectonurite or genie could reform from them." The sadistic smile became broader upon seeing the paling of the Grant sister's faces. "Yes, don't think we haven't forgotten the interesting information we collected when you were in our custody, Ms. Grant." she hissed at Gigi.

"G, what's he talking about?" Whisp asked, dread creeping through her veins.

"Trust me when I say you don't want to know." Gigi shuddered, horrific images coming back to her.

"G . . ." Whisp said in a stern tone.

Gigi sighed and surrendered. "In a addition to them taking my sight, they . . . took me apart . . . atom by atom. Some fancy machine or other. I couldn't exactly tell." she recalled with great disdain and horror. She then focused her mind back on reality and turned to see Whisp literally vibrating with anger, her dark figure visibly shaking at a high rate as she glared at Kuphulu with murder in her eyes. Gigi watched as her midnight blue and pink attire suddenly morphed into an inky blackness stained with blood red designs as her shadowy eyes turned a dark red, her finger nails elongating into needle-like claws and her teeth sharpening into fangs.

With an animal-like hiss, a sooty, black cloud of ash and smoke enveloped her, the sickening sound of bones and tissue popping and slapping against each other; Gigi considered this odd and rather frightening, considering that when genies transformed it was completely smooth and painless. If the process was making this much noise, especially at a level of such concern, Gigi could only think it was trouble. And from the slightly concerned look on Kuphulu's face, he was worried too.

The smoke finally cleared, and Whisp was nowhere insight. In her place was something so bizarre, so savage, and so terrifying, Gigi could only assume it wasn't of this world. And from the now terrified look on Kuphulu's face, she could confirm it. Whisp was now an animal the size of a rhino, standing on four, powerful and clawed legs. She resembled mostly a large cat, with large teeth curved a little over the bottom lip. Her fur was a deep midnight in color, a pair of massive wings jammed onto her shoulders and making her size all the more impressive. Flaps that resembled a cobra's sat on either side of the creature's head where the ears might be, vibrating with a pinkish glow as her tail flickered out behind her, a trio of three tentacles stuck on the end that snapped open and closed with every passing second.

"Uh, Whisp? What are you?" Gigi asked worriedly.

"I looked through his mind, G," Whisp's voice was deep and echoing, as if it should have belonged to a much more powerful individual. "According to his memories, this is the most terrifying thing he has ever faced, his greatest fear."

"That still doesn't explain what you are." Gigi sighed.

A low growl escaped from Whisp's lips as she forward, her claws clicking loudly against the stone floor as she crept towards Kuphulu. "His memories claim that this is his natural predator, a Sandryte, capable of easily killing his kind. Which is exactly what I intend to do." she snarled.

"No! Have mercy!" Kuphulu begged, forgetting all about the bomb that fell to the floor from his shaking hands. Whisp's answer was to unleash a loud a roar in Kuphulu's face, making him scream and very probably wet his robes as the Sandryte raised a paw and smacked him upside the head, sending him flying across the room and into the far wall. Whisp opened her fanged jaws, and a jet of red hot flame came shooting out, blasting Kuphulu in the face, the flames licking and eating away at his bandages. He groaned and blinked, trying to put out the flames that dotted his person when another loud roar came to his attention. He blinked and looked through the cloud smoke that started to curl off of his body. The Thep Khufan looked up a moment too late to see the Sandryte come charging at him, bending her back legs and pouncing onto him as he screamed.

---

"And I kinda forget what happened after that," Gigi said with a sheepish smile. "I . . . kinda closed my eyes."

Everyone in the war room turned to stare at Whisp, expressions of approval, fear, disgust, and slight indifference plastered on their faces. "He was a bit stale," Whisp admitted before letting out a loud belch. "Excuse me."

"If I wasn't so terrified right now, I would be clapping." Heath laughed nervously.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about arresting him." Ben sighed, pinching his brow with his fingers. "Spectra, care to erase the horrifying image of Whisp eating Bandage Face alive?" he asked.

"Aw, but we were just getting to the good part!" Genie whined, spilling his popcorn everywhere and flipping off his 3D glasses; the war room ignored him.

---

EEEYAH!" Spectra roared as she pushed herself off the floor with her feet and raised her Katana blades over her head, slicing them across one another in a scissor move and slicing the Polymorph hybrid before her into four pieces, stabbing both blades into what she could only assume were the pieces of the head. Invisible beads of sweat dripped down her face as she turned to see Abbey attempt to slug one of the hybrids in the gut, only to have the gelatinous goo expand away from her fist and then close around it; the hybrid seemed to smile with its eyes at the thought of catch its prey before it caught sight of the malicious smile on Abbey's face. The mutated Polymorph glanced down at Abbey's fist again to see ice crystals radiating outwards from her hand, creeping and over his body and freezing its own gooey body. The Polymorph tried to pull away, but by then it was too late; it was nothing more than a lifeless ice sculpture that Abbey smashed to pieces seconds later.

A disgusting noise that sounded like hot tar bubbling in the searing sun caught Spectra's attention, and she looked down to see the red colored blobs at her feet shift and slither away from her, morphing together in a messy squelching sound back into its original form; only it looked much more annoyed than before. Spectra gulped nervously as the mouth parts clicked angrily before parting and shooting a jet of pressurized water at Spectra, effectively dousing her and shoving her back a couple dozen of feet. The phantom girl would never admit it, but that shot actually hurt.

As Spectra climbed off the floor, gathered her swords, and charged at the hybrid again, Heath was busy himself; busy wasn't exactly the best word for it though. It was little more than the carnage that he caused on a daily basis, mostly because the interbred Polymorphs were so careless. One such sapient goo bag took to the air and started to dive bomb him, raking its jointed legs over him and starting to seriously annoy him. His bright red and orange hair suddenly ignited into red hot flames, and he focused his anger into making the fire bigger and hotter until he looked nearly identical to a Pyronite. With his body covered in hot coals that licked away at his fire-proof Letterman jacket, Heath reached up and grabbed onto one of the Polymorph's jointed legs as it flew past, one of the only parts of the mutant that was solid, and yanked it down. The leg nearly popped lose from the gelatinous body before Heath managed to pull the entire creature down to the floor where he opened his mouth and breathed a jet of hot flames into the creature's face like he had seen Jinafire do so many times; the Polymorph gave a static screech as it's body began to heat up and actually start to evaporate, vanishing into a thick vapor until all that was left was its anti-gravity device and its limp legs.

Draculaura had started out rather horribly, mostly putting her Fearleading skills to avoid getting hit by the hybrids and Dr. Viktor, who had joined the fight after Abbey had slugged him in thew jaw and shouted some rather insulting things about his mother. Breathing heavily, the vampire dropped to the floor to dodge a rather sloppy punch before popping back up and swinging her nunchaku into the creature's head, only to have her weapon yanked out of her hands. She watched with horror as a loud hissing sound filled the air, and her nunchaku began to dissolve inside of the Polymorph's head. The hybrid gave a screech bellow as it struck her in her rib cage, knocking her to the floor.

"Don't worry! I'll save you!" Hoodude cried, throwing himself at the Polymorph and attempting to tackle it to the ground; instead he passed through the creature's gut as if it were nothing and came out the other side, slamming face first into a wall. "Did that hurt? I don't know if it did." Hoodude mumbled, pulling his head out of the stone wall and shaking pebbles out of his yarn-like hair. It was then that both the voodoo doll and vampire noticed that the Polymorph stumbling about, slimy hands clutching its head in pain; an idea crossed Draculaura's mind.

Without thinking, she climbed to her feet and thrust her hand into the Polymorph's face, shuddering and wincing at the same time as her hand slipped through the slimy goo with ease, the digestive juices starting to eat away at her hand as she grabbed hold of her nunchaku and pulled it out, hissing like an angry snake when she saw her throbbing red hand. Draculaura pushed the feeling away and instead focused on remembering all the moves Ben had taught her. Or had it been Whampire. She suddenly felt a head ache coming on, but shook her head to clear it.

"Hoodude, hold still!" she ordered. "And, sorry in advance." she added as her nunchaku became a wild pinwheel of pain. She whacked the weapon into Hoodude's head before slamming it into his gut and striking him in the chest with her small fists; the Polymorph reacted to every blow as if Draculaura were attacking it instead of Hoodude. Exactly what Draculaura was hoping. She ducked down to the ground and kicked her legs out, swiping Hoodude's own legs out from underneath him and sending him to the floor where she then proceeded to smack him on the head with her nunchaku; the Polymorph was forced to copy Hoodude's every move, screeching horribly as it started to die. Draculaura gave a small smile as she caught sight of the green goo bag's misery, deciding to end its torment and finally kill it. With a sudden jump, she moved away from Hoodude and slammed her nunchaku into the mutant's anti-gravity device, smashing it to pieces; the creature died moments later, though Draculaura doubted that it was because its little toy was gone.

"You okay, Hoodude?" she asked, breathing heavily.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he chuckled, pulling himself off the floor. "Can't feel pain, remember? Those were some nice moves by the way." he added. Draculaura smiled and rewarded him with a small kiss on the cheek before dragging him over to another unfortunate hybrid that was about to receive a very painful death.

Abbey was having the time of her life. She had never had so much fun in her entire life. She normally only got to show off her incredible strength and love of fighting whenever Manny was on the rampage, but now she could let loose without any fear of getting a detention slip. With a loud yell, she drove her fist into Dr. Viktor's face, knocking him back a few feet, dazed. Abbey took the moment of weakness to let an icy vapor pour past her lips and towards a pair of unsuspecting interbred Polymorph's, freezing them on the spot. She then quickly ducked to the ground as Dr. Viktor charged her, stumbling over her body and into the pair of ice sculptures, shattering them into crystals.

"Enjoying yourself, hot stuff?" she heard Heath's voice. Abbey glanced up to see Heath entirely coated in flames standing over her with a smug smile.

"Only if Hothead is." she allowed a small smile. "Care to help Abbey take down Freaky Corpse Man?"

"Is this a date then?" Heath smirked.

Abbey rolled her eyes. "Hothead wishes." she laughed before she and Heath pounced onto the unsuspecting Transylian. With a combination of fire and ice, the dynamic duo tackled Dr. Viktor, Heath defending Abbey when her guard was down with his hot breath, and Abbey protecting Heath shields of ice when he was unsuspecting.

Spectra was at her near wits end the twisted Polymorph before her. She was positive it was taunting her, teasing her as she put nearly all her strength into every blow and swipe of her blades she tried to kill the mutant before her. It was near impossible though; any attempt to slice it in half was useless, as the blade would either go right through the gelatinous body, or the Polymorph would simply reform its body with little problem. She looked around to see Draculaura and Hoodude taking out most of the others with little difficulty as Heath and Abbey tackled Dr. Viktor with little difficulty. It frustrated the specter that she was of little use at all right now, and she wondered why Ben had even fallen in love with her as she ducked a sloppy punch; she was little more than vapor, only able to actually touch someone or something if she really concentrated. It was a pitiful existence, but Ben made it all the better in every way imaginable. Especially when she found she actually had little difficulty holding onto him and not having her frail hands go right through his body.

She suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline course her as she tightened her grip on one of her blades and suddenly threw it at the cocky hybrid, the weapon stabbing right through its anti-gravity device and impaling it against the far wall. The twisted Polymorph drooped slightly before Spectra suddenly tackled it to the ground, concentrating hard enough so that her punches were solid as she struck the goo bag repeatedly, over and over again in a determined attempt to kill it. If she had to describe it, she would have to say it would like punching a cake filled with jelly. And she wasn't sure whether she should be scared of herself or not when she started laughing like woman when pieces of goo started to coat her face after every punch to the Polymorph's person. Eventually, its flexible nervous system failed it, and the hybrid shut down, dissolving into a red puddle that looked a little too much like blood.

"Well, what do we have here?" Spectra glanced up, her chest heaving in and out, to see one of the Polymorph's arms up around the ceiling, pulling none other than Genie down to the floor. The djinni didn't seem to mind however, and as soon as he was slammed into the floor he assumed the shape of a WWI soldier wielding a machine gun from behind a wall of sand bags. "Eat hot lead, ya freaks o' nature!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger; bullets came whizzing out the machine gun, blasting into the hybrids body as he moved the gun around the room, bullets entering every Polymorph's body; the bullets exploded like small bombs seconds later, spattering multi-colored ooze everywhere. "This is for Jim! And this is for Joe! And this is for that guy whose name I never got to know in time!" Genie cried with tears streaming from his eyes as he took out what hybrids he could.

"What are you doing?" Spectra cocked an eyebrow.

"Hold that thought!" Genie announced, holding up a finger for silence as he whipped out what looked like a script of something. "Lets see, Spectra asks 'what are you doing?', Genie poofs out to the front lines to help the Rebellion troops," he read. "Wow, I've had so much fun traveling!" he laughed before vanishing in a puff of smoke; Spectra just starred at the spot where had been, at a complete loss for words. She was breathing heavily now and glanced up just in time to see Draculaura finish off the last Polymorph hybrid and turned to see Abbey and Heath deliver a double knuckle sandwich to Dr. Viktor, sending the mighty Transylian to the ground where Abbey promptly froze him into an ice sculpture.

---

"So, Viktor's still frozen back at Zs'Castle Zs'Skayr?" Ben cocked an eyebrow.

"In manner of speaking," Abbey admitted. "Some of him there, some of him there, little bit of him everywhere."

"So he's in pieces?" Bloodgood sighed.

"Hothead tripped, Freaky Corpse Man in pieces." Abbey shrugged.

"It was all worth it though," heath grinned. "Especially when she kissed me!"

"Abbey do no such thing!" Abbey argued, her face flushing a shade of pink.

"Did too!"

"Abbey did not!"

Do too!

Did not!"

DID TOO!"

"DID! NOT!" Abbey roared, slamming her fist into the war room table and smashing it in two. The room fell silent as Abbey smiled sheepishly, all eyes on her.

"Uh . . . ." Ben broke the silence.

"Honestly, you two are worse than the charming members of Tech Support." Skurd grumbled, folding his arms over his chest and huffing.

"Okay, so we can avoid any more outbursts and damage to the base," he said, casting a slight look at Abbey, who turned an even darker shade of red. "Abbey, did you kiss Heath?"

"I do no such thing." Abbey said firmly.

"Alright, that settles it. Abbey and Heath were not in any make out session whatsoever," he announced. "And I would suggest Heath keep his mouth shut until this meet is over and to start running as soon as it is over. I'm sure Abbey would simply love to beat him senseless." he added casually.

"Done!" Genie laughed, appearing by Heath's side and drawing a zipper over his lips, silencing him; Heath's screams of panic were muffled upon seeing Abbey's vengeful look.

"Lets get this done and over with," Ben sighed, wincing as he exhaled; his injuries still hurt like hell. "Venus, if you don't mind?"

---

Venus cracked her whip again, lashing Crüjo across the face as he threw the giant squid off of him and into a pile of bones where the tentacles dropped limply to the floor, unmoving. She cracked her whip a second time, ducking to the ground to a swipe of Crüjo's jaws before popping up behind him and jumping onto his back, lashing the thick vine through his jaws and yanking back like it was the reins of a horse. The Loboan snarled and struggled against the thorny vine in his mouth as he tried buck Venus off of him, getting more and more angry when she held fast, digging her knees into his sides to hang on as she whooped with joy at the bouncy ride.

Lagoona took advantage of the distracted Loboan and aimed her trident before throwing it as hard as she could, impaling him in his other hand. Crüjo in agony as he threw Venus off of him with a sudden jerk, sending her flying into a pile of bones as grabbed the end of the trident and tore it out of his arm, ignoring the feel of warm blood on his fur. He focused his sights on Lagoona and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground and swiping his claws across her arms several times before going for a killing bite to the head; Lagoona managed to hold back the snapping jaws just in time, a mere six inches away from teeth.

"Whew! When was the last time you brushed yer teeth, mate?" she gagged before a long tentacle wrapped itself around Crüjo's waist and yanked him off of Lagoona, throwing him against the ceiling before slamming him into the floor. Lagoona glanced up to see a Velociraptor with indigo feathers come darting out of the maze of bones and pounce onto the Loboan's shoulder, digging its teeth into the flesh as its razor sharp claws raked the dark fur for a foothold, leaving deep, bloody marks as both predators thrashed about, neither one willing to give into the other. Crüjo then reached up and grabbed hold of the dinosaur's tail, yanking it off of him with a pained grunt and smashed its head into the floor before throwing it into a pile of bones; there was no sign of any kind of movement.

A loud battle cry met the Loboan's sensitive ears, and he turned just in time to punch to the muzzle that knocked several fangs loose and sent him flying into a pile of bones.

"Bad dog." Venus snarled. She was suddenly yanked to the side as Crüjo came barreling at her, instead crashing into a stack of bones that crunched easily under his talons.

"Thanks for the save." Venus breathed.

"No prob." Gil said nervously, trying to forget the ominous message Water Hazard had left with him before leaving; would anyone even miss him if he purposely died right here and now? He quickly decided against the idea and ducked to the ground as a femur flew over his head, dragging Venus down with him.

"Time to give this dog a bath," he frowned.

"Thank goodness I don't have a werewolf nose anymore." Venus joked.

"Please," Gil begged her as he fired off a jet of pressurized water at Crüjo's face, blasting him back. "I don't want any reminders of the Freaky Fusion. Do you have any idea how freaked out my parents were when I told them what happened?"

"I'm gonna guess pretty messed up."

"You have no idea." Gil whimpered at the memories, stabbing his free hand into the jet of water and pulling out a thin stream that defied gravity and the laws of physics to become a long, and rather deadly water whip. Gil lashed out with his weapon, cracking it over Crüjo's face and dazing him as he clutched his sore nose and whimpered. Lagoona suddenly attacked from behind, yelling as she pressed the staff of her trident against Crüjo's throat and pulled back, suffocating him and making him stumble around blindly. Venus and Gil attacked with their respective whips, lashing them around the Loboan's throat and restraining his movement with all their might; it took literally everything they had as they dug their heels into the floor to hold Crüjo in one spot against his might, and even then they were struggling.

"Can't . . . hold on . . . much . . . longer!" Gil grunted, trying to keep the Loboan from tearing his arm out of his socket; on the bright side, if he were to die now, then he wouldn't have to face the wrath of his friends.

"Neither . . . can . . . I!" Venus struggled, her feet sliding inch by inch in Crüjo's direction as Lagoona continued to choke him, punching him repeatedly in the side of his face in the hopes of getting him to collapse and surrender.

And then it was all over.

Crüjo relaxed his arms, allowing just enough leverage to give one mighty pull and hauled both Venus and Gil off the ground, throwing them around his head before throwing them into a mound of bones, yanking their whips out of their hands before moving onto Lagoona and sinking his claws into her skin and tearing her lose, slamming her down to the floor and retching her trident from her grasp, brekaing it in half with one quick movement of his jaws.

"Nice doggy?" Lagoona laughed nervously; Crüjo was not amused and thrust his hand down, grabbing Lagoona by the throat and squeezing his grip tighter and tighter, taking primal pleasure in seeing his prey so helpless and feeble in his grasp. He could kill her whenever he wanted or keep her alive and torture her in numerous ways and then kill her, and she would not be able to do a thing about it. Her life was literally in his hand, and he had never felt so good as a low snarl escaped his lips and Lagoona's face turned a light shade of violet.

"HHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Crüjo howled at the loud sound and turned a second too late to see one very big, one very huge, one very powerful, and one massively pissed off elephant charging right at him, crushing bones underneath its feet into dust before ramming its face into his bulk. But the elephant didn't stop there, it just kept on going and going until it met hard wall. And even then it didn't stop. It just kept pushing and pushing until it had broken through the wall and out into the open air, still charging forward until both it, Lagoona, and Crüjo were all out in the open air, the very cold and hard ground almost a hundred feet beneath them.

And then they fell.

"LAGOONA!" Gil roared, shoving bones out of his way and rushing to the elephant-sized hole in the wall, landing on his hands and knees and peering out over the side. He could see nothing but white below him, nothing but pure white snow; he feared the worst.

"Don't just stand there like a wanker, mate! Pull me up!"

Gil blinked his eyes and looked down to see Lagoona dangling by her fingers on a single brick that wedged out just enough for one to cling onto dear life for. Gil could see the strained look on her face and saw Jane holding on tight to Lagoona's boot, her eyes jammed tight as she quietly whispered incoherent things to herself, as if to reassure her that she was not going to die. Gil breathed a sigh of relief and reached down to haul his girl and Jane up, relieved that it was not the last he would see her.

---

"That's it?" Ben asked.

"To be fair, we were already kicking his ass, mate." Lagoona told him.

"So, Furball's probably kicked the bucket, right?" Robecca asked.

"It would seem so, dear girl," Skurd hummed. "It seems we shall not have to worry about our All Hallows Eve themed villains anymore."

"Or their Grim Reaper reject of a leader." Ben added.

"True, Benjamin," another voice suddenly said. "But it does not mean you are out of the woods yet."

Only Bloodgood reacted to the sudden voice, jumping out of her chair, pulling out her gun and leveling it at the stranger's face. He seemed to be in his late thirties, possibly fifties even, tough Ben knew it would be impossible to tell. He wore a white lab coat with gold trimming and black pants with brown boots. A pair of green tinted goggles was around his neck and he leaned on a cane. His right hand was missing, replaced by a large, metal gauntlet with a clock on its top.

"Ben, who is this?" Bloodgood asked without turning her gaze or weapon away from the man that everyone else seemed to know so well.

"Paradox," Ben sighed relief. "Just like clockwork."

Paradox gave a warm smile. "Time puns aside, Benjamin, your time here is not yet over."

"Aaaaaaaagh!" Ben whined, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. "Let me guess, this is about Maltruant?"

"Unfortunately," the professor hummed. "Our Chronosapien friend has gathered all the materials he needs to accomplish his goal."

"And what would that be?" Bloodgood asked suspiciously, lowering her weapon.

"To recreate the universe in his image," Paradox replied grimly. "You see, Maltruant sees the current universe as . . . imperfect. He believes that everything that surrounds him is flawed in every way imaginable, and thus seeks to mold the universe as he sees fit by going back to the Beginning of Time and changing history."

"He can do that?" Bloodgood asked, flabbergasted.

"Maltruant is a Chronosapien, Ms. Bloodgood," Paradox replied with a small smile. "The species can manipulate time however they see fit; speed up, slow down, travel forward, backwards, it does not matter. If it is possible to do within the River of Time, then they can do it. And they are normally a peaceful species though."

"Unlike Maltruant." Ben grumbled.

"And just how do you know my name!?" Bloodgood spat, her eye twitching; whether it was with fear, annoyance, or possibly both, was up to debate.

"I, Grace Bloodgood, am a Time Walker," Professor Paradox replied with a smile. "Similar to a Chronosapien, I can travel through time without any ill-health effects. I also seem to suffer from never aging, much like Ms. Draculaura here." he added, pointing towards the pink vampire. "A pleasure to see you again, by the way. This new outfit you set up for me is simply marvelous."

"Huh?" Draculaura wondered.

"Time Walker, remember?" Paradox smiled.

"So you're saying you could have gone back in time and prevent this . . . this . . . whole mess from happening!?" Bloodgood screeched like a harpy.

"Grace, please settle down. There are certain limits to what I can and can not do." he replied, barely even acknowledging Bloodgood's raged look.

"So what are you here for anyways?"

"Dost mine ears deceive me?" Genie asked, putting a hand to his ear. "Is that you, Paradox?"

"It is indeed, Genie," Paradox smiled as Genie appeared before him in a flash of smoke and grabbed in a hug. "It has been quite a while, has it not?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Gigi asked.

"Dear girl, when you have all of eternity to live and explore all of reality, you meet many, many, many people," Paradox replied. "It does make it a pain for Christmas shopping though."

Genie laughed, falling to the floor and thumping his fist on the floor as tears leaked from his eyes. "Oh, that one was a riot!"

Yes, but we must unfortunately return to the matter at hand," Paradox said sadly. "Ben, the reason I came to you here and now is because Maltruant is about to set off to the Beginning of Time in only one hour."

"That doesn't leave us much time." Ben frowned.

"Indeed," Paradox nodded grimly. "You and those that arrived from the past must go after Maltruant and make sure his plan to rewrite all of existence does not succeed."

"And just how are we supposed to do that without some fancy gizmo?" Skurd asked with annoyance.

"I have provided you with something that will make traveling along the Time Stream a little easier," Paradox replied. "It is outside and not in very good condition, I will admit. But I'm sure Ben of all people might be able to fix it, hmmm?" he said, casting Ben a look. Ben nodded and moved to leave the war room, Spectra, Venus, Jinafire, Nefera, Robecca, Frankie, Draculaura, Abbey, Jane, Heath, Hoodude, and Gil following behind him; Gil however, stopped at Paradox.

"Um, Professor? Is it possible to uh, go back and . . ."

"Make sure you don't betray the Rebellion to Zs'Skayr and kill Neighthan in the process?" Paradox guessed.

"Yes, I- wait, what? Neighthan's dead!?"

"I'm afraid so," Paradox told him. "But it is not important for the moment. Besides, Mr. Rot shall be alive and well back in the past!"

Gil gulped and ran away to catch up with the group; for his sake, he hoped Paradox was right.

"There's no way we're all gonna fit in that!" Heath exclaimed.

"Noted, Heath, noted." Jinafire sighed.

The group now stood outside in the freezing cold, snow peppering their skin as a storm swirled overhead. Before them was a pair of futuristic looking vehicles that sat on two wheels, one positioned right in front of the other. Each vehicle was slim and smooth to the touch, with a windshield that rolled forward to allow the driver to climb; one of the vehicles was green and white, while the other was orange and white.

"Ah, yeah! The Time Cycles are back!" Ben said happily.

"What do you mean 'back'?" Frankie asked.

"They were destroyed the last time we fought Maltruant at the beginning of time," Ben admitted, walking over to the vehicles.

"First time? You mean you've done this thing more than once?" Spectra wondered.

Ben shrugged. "When you wear the most powerful weapon in the entire universe on your wrist, a lot of crazy stuff happens to you," he admitted. "Heath's right though. We aren't all going to fit in there." he mused.

"Must you always state the obvious?" Skurd sighed.

Ben ignored him and instead turned to the Omnitrix, cycling through his roster before selecting Upgrade. With a grim smile, he slapped the activation button and felt the changes begin as the green light enveloped him, forcing his body to change and transform. His bones ground and crunched as he was shrunk down to a height of only two and a half feet tall as his skin turned a smooth, blood red in color. A thin, spaded tail snaked out from the base of his spine as his fingers grew longer and his nails grew sharper. His eyes widened apart slightly as his nose suddenly jutted out at a comical, almost ridiculous, length. His ears became larger and slightly bat-like before becoming spiked as his toes melted together into three digits, his heel grinding against his foot before becoming a small spike. He became slightly obese as spikes formed on his chin and the corners of his eyes as a green and black aviators outfit materialized on his body, complete with a white ascot and a pair of goggles strapped to his head. The Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on his belt, completing the transformation.

"Jury Rigg!? How does this help anybody!?" the little gremlin griped.

"I thought you, out of all the mutliverse's inhabitants would know what to do." Skurd rolled his beady little eyes from Jury Rigg's belt.

"Oh. Right." he realized. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled before pouncing onto the pair of Time Cycles and tearing his little claws into the metal. The guys and ghouls watched, slightly disturbed as Jury Rigg ripped through the metal hide of the vehicles with ease, ripping out wires and tubes and pulling off metal paneling and breaking glass, all the while cackling like a mad man. Then he started to put it all back together. He was nothing but a crimson colored blur hovering over the Time Cycle parts as he took wires and reconnected them into new fashions, punched screws and bolts back into metal paneling in unfamiliar patterns, inserting transformers and couplings into their designated spots until both vehicles were now one. Standing before the guys and ghouls was a contemporary vehicle that bared a slight resemblance to the Proto-TRUK; Jury Rigg refused to let the others know about this, and bopped Skurd on the head when he felt the Slimebiote was about to say something. The wondrous new vehicle hovered a couple feet above the ground, devoid of any kind of wheels. It was built more to haul and carry things than for speed, but Jury Rigg had little doubt it could go much faster than it looked (mostly because didn't know the meaning of the word).

"All aboard!" Jury Rigg announced, hopping up onto the hood of the vehicle and gesturing for everyone to climb into the back.

"I call shot-gun!" Spectra cried. "I wanna get this all on film! It'll be huge!" she was practically bursting at the seams as she dug around in her pocket to snap a picture of the new vechile and Jury Rigg posing on the hood. "What's this thing called anyway?"

"The Scrap Heap!" Jury Rigg cried proudly as the Omnitrix beeped and timed out, reverting the little gremlin back into Ben. Now that they knew the crazed little imp was not going to be their pilot, the crew quickly climbed into the back of the newly dubbed Scrap Heap, sitting down in the two rows of seats and buckling up for the ride of their lives as Spectra phased through the front of the vehicle and climbed into the front seat; Ben hopped off the hood and climbed into the driver's seat, suddenly feeling like some kind of trucker or other.

"Time Trucker," he muttered to himself. "Has a nice ring to it." he chuckled.

"What was that?" Skurd wondered with suspicion.

"Nothing, Snot Rocket." Ben replied as he pushed the ignition and felt the thrusters of the Scrap Heap kick in, blasting the snow outwards underneath them and giving them a little more height. Ben was about to step on the gas when the doors to the base burst open and Clawdeen came out with a stack of papers in her hand and Professor Paradox on her heels.

"Ben! Get down here, you jerk!" the werewolf howled, waving the papers in her hand. Ben did as he was told as eased up on the gas a little, lower the Scrap Heap down so that he was only a little higher than Clawdeen.

"What, need to get in one last insult before I go save the universe again?" Ben guessed.

Clawdeen shook her head. "No, you just forgot these. I'm pretty sure Twyla and several ghouls would not be pleased with you if you left them single." she replied, thrusting the letters into his hand. Ben blinked and glanced over the top letter, recognizing Avea's rather hurried writing. He nodded and stuffed the letters into his pocket.

"You must hurry, Benjamin," Paradox told him, walking up to the window. "I can only tell you that Maltruant has started off on his journey. Since he lacks a Time Beast, he'll be doing the traveling himself. And considering it takes a rather large amount of energy to time travel, he'll be jumping from time period to time period until he gets to where he wants to go. You must try to stop him before he gets to the Beginning of Time." the professor instructed Ben. "The multiverse is in yours hand now, Ben. Do not fail it."

"I won't." Ben promised, turning to roll up the window and stomp down on the gas to give chase after Maltruant. As the window rolled up, Clawdeen forced her hand onto it, keeping it from rolling up all the way. "Is this the part where you insult me know?" Ben asked, a slight smile on his face.

Clawdeen shook her head again. "No. This is the part where I say I'm sorry," she replied. "Go get 'em Hot Shot. We're countin' on you." she smiled, the previous statement feeling like bile in her throat. But despite it feeling rather uncomfortable, it felt incredible soothing, like someone had just taken the weight of the world off her shoulders.

Ben blinked, but nodded anyways. "I'll see you around, Furball." he smiled.

"See you later, bastard." Clawdeen grinned.

"There's the insult I was looking for!" Ben grinned before rolling up the window and tapping the gas a little. The Scrap Heap rose high into the air until Paradox and Clawdeen looked like ants from below. There then came a loud whine as Ben stomped down on the gas pedal and released all brakes of any kind; the thrusters roared to life before shooting the Scrap Heap forward and through the air, pressure building up and up until the front of the vehicle caught fire. And then suddenly, in a loud row and suspicious hum, a swirling portal appeared just in front of the Scrap heap as it entered it, swallowing the time machine and staying in the air for what seemed eternity before finally closing with a bang.

"Well, if that is all, I shall take my leave." Professor Paradox said after a few moments of silence. "I shall see you another time, Ms. Wolf." he bid Clawdeen farewell before a smaller time portal opened up behind him. The Time Walker stepped through it with a back handed wave and vanished after a few seconds, the portal closing quickly behind him and leaving Clawdeen to stare at the spot where Ben and the others had been moments ago.

"Be careful." she whispered.

And there we go!

What, you thought I was going to leave you hanging on the awesome battle scenes that were going on as Ben fought Zs'Skayr? I may be evil, but I'm not that evil. And yes, next chapter shall be the official end of the Time Travel Trouble (as I am now calling it). Don't miss it!

Now before you say anything, the Crimsphinx's appearance in the story (or Sandryte, however you want to call it) was not a contest winner submitted to me. I was basically stuck for a while on how to defeat Kuphulu in a rather horrific way and decided to bring him face to face with his natural predator. I do not own the Crimsphinx at all; like several Omnitrix aliens, this predator was made by a Deviantart artist by the name of TheWalrusclown. Check the picture out if you have a hard time visualizing what the Crimsphinx looks like.

If not enough people submit their OC predators into the contest, I shall be picking several predators off of Deviantart to fill the gaps. So keep sending them in! The end of the contest draws near!

And, that's pretty much all I can think to say about right now. So comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Hasta Luego!