And we're back with another chapter! Brought to you by Creaturemaster!
This week's chapter had been inspired with a idea that dawned on me after receiving a PM from Axle the Hedgehog and all of the new characters in this chapter are all borrowed from his story Gwen 10: Omniverse War, a fabulous story if you ask me.
I would also like to thank Zak Saturday for the wonderful idea with Casta Fierce!
And as thus, I own none of the new characters to debut in this chapter. If you do not like them and feel they further complicate the story, do not worry; they will only appear in this chapter, and maybe a few more farther down the road.
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Onwards!
Ghoulia thanked the cashier and took the bag in her pale fingers, moaning a farewell before shuffling towards the door of the convenience store, wrapping her scarf around her a little tighter and shifting her coat to cover her more as she hugged the plastic bag holding her prizes tighter against her body. She sucked in a deep breath, savoring the warmth the small convenience store offered her before stepping forward and out of the automatic sliding doors and out into the blustery winter weather.
The weather man had been incorrect again, claiming that New Salem was not to get any snow until well near Christmas, like it had last year. Ghoulia found the Normie's inability to read the weather patterns as easily as she could utterly appalling, and wondered whether she ought to phone in to the station and complain about him; she quickly decided against the idea, most likely because no body at the station understood or spoke a single word of Zombie. That, and she didn't want any trouble with the Normie side of New Salem, as the residences found any presence of Monsters on their side of the town unnerving and would often jump to ridiculous conclusions that only created more problems.
The zombie dug her face down deep into her scarf, hugging the bag close to her as the snow and wind picked up, turning the entire world around her a freezing white. Ghoulia once again cursed the weatherman for failing to predict how much snow they were supposed get, and continued on, wondering whether or not she really should phone the station and have a serious talk with the Normie. With a translator in tow, of course.
The world around her now was an empty white, hundreds of biting snowflakes peppering her exposed face and pressing against her glasses, blocking her view. She could hear nothing but the sound of the howling wind in her ears, as if it were some foul, vial, and high destructive parasite burrowing its way into her brain through her ear canals; she shivered and pressed on until she suddenly felt something strike her in the back. With a grumble, she turned around and peered through the howling storm, squinting her eyes to try and pick out the hidden attackers.
"Flesh-Eating Freak!"
Ghoulia gasped with surprise and turned to run as fast as she could as half a dozen New Salem teenagers came running out from behind large snow mounds that had once been parked cars, armed with snowballs. Ghoulia knew that unlike Manny or Deuce, she would stand no chance against the small army of Normie teens; other than her superior intellect, she did not have brute strength or a rather horrific power to protect herself with.
"Get back here and die a second time, you freak!" one of the boys yelled, hurling a snowball at the back of her head; three more snowballs hit her in the back and she stumbled slightly, her supplies nearly falling out of her hands, and yet she still kept coming. She rounded a snow covered corner and quickly scurried across the wet street, but the teens stayed on her tail, scooping up snow into their gloved hands and packing them tightly into large balls to throw at her.
"Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeee!" Ghoulia moaned over her shoulder.
"Try speaking English, freak! Maybe then will listen to you!" someone from the mob yelled before chucking a snowball at her for all he was worth.
Ghoulia never got a good look at the person who threw the snowball, but whoever it was must have been fairly strong as the force was strong enough to knock her bag out of her hands and nearly send her falling onto her face before she managed to recover herself and continue running.
"Why doesn't this stupid freak just burn already!?" a voice cried angrily. "It's the freakin' day time!"
"Because this is real life, you moron, and not that stupid game of yours that you're obsessed with!" a third voice shot back. "The only way to kill a zombie in real life is to smash in her skull!"
"Then why are we using snowballs!?" a fourth voice yelled.
"Well, we didn't exactly come out her to hunt zombies, now did we?" a fifth voice snarled, spitting out the word as if it were the world's most offensive insult. "Now shut the hell up and hit her already! She's getting away!"
Ghoulia's breath caught in her throat as she ran, her scarf slipping lose and flying free into the freezing wind behind her as she turned down an alley, hoping for a short cut to someplace safe, like Monster High, her house or, better yet, Spectra's house where Ben resided. If there was anyone that could easily lay down the smack for the jerks chasing her, it was Ben. She turned down another corner, tearing off her warm coat in the hopes that it would make her lighter and more able to run away faster; gym, after all, had never been her strong suit.
Her decision however, was all for naught as she turned onto a dead end. She quickly scanned, looking for something that could possibly help her in her time of need, but found nothing but several rusty garbage cans and a grimy old dumpster; even if Ghoulia could somehow manage to stack the garbage cans up without attracting the attention of her pursuers, she would never be able to safely make over the other side due to her zombie nature making her slightly clumsy and not very good on her feet when it came to acrobatics.
"There she is!" one of the teenagers yelled as Ghoulia whirled around to receive a snowball to the face that sent her flying towards the back of the alley, landing hard against the dumpster. She blinked her eyes and peered out at the world around her, trying to make things out but found that everything was blurry and distorted. At first, she thought she had just hit her head too hard was suffering a mild concussion when she realized that the familiar presence of her horn-rimmed glasses on her face was no longer there. She desperately searched around for them with her hands when she heard a sickening crack that sounded like broken glass and twisted plastic being crushed under a heavy boot.
"Die, you Flesh-Eating Freak!" a voice roared as she was suddenly pelted with snowballs all over her exposed body, soaking through her clothes and making her shiver as the wind continued to howl, not letting up for a second. Several of the snowballs that hit her cut into her skin, reveal large bruises or bloody marks that could have only been made by rocks or pebbles that had been packed into the freezing projectiles.
"Where are your stupid monster friends now, huh, freak?" a voice spat. "They won't come to rescue you, no matter how much you might cry!"
"Come on, cry for us, freak! I wanna see those tears fall from your freaky eyes! Or are you too stupid to know how to cry?" another voice jeered at her.
"Of course, she's stupid, moron! She's a zombie! They're all stupid!" a sixth voice argued as more snowballs hit her, one of the teens becoming brave and cocky enough to pounce on her and shove her face into the cold snow, her tears lost amongst the freezing snowflakes.
"What's that, freak? I can't here you! Try speaking English!" the boy teased her. "Or are you just that stupid?"
"We've been through this already!" another voice cried with slight annoyance.
"Hey, I just had an awesome idea!" a sixth voice, one that Ghoulia didn't recognize, shouted.
"That's a first." the person on top of Ghoulia grumbled, roughly shoving her face back into the snow when he saw her attempting to grab some air.
"Strip her." the voice said with an eerie edge to it that sent shivers down her spine; the sound of a zipper moving could be heard.
"Dude, you can not be that desperate." the second voice said; Ghoulia had decided to refer to them by numbers, since none of them had dared to say their names in front of her, possibly afraid that she might be to identify them should they get away with this.
"I'm desperate," the sixth voice shot back. "What better way to show these sick monsters than to use this pathetic freak as an example to them all?"
"Dude, did you forget she's a zombie?" the third voice asked with disbelief.
"I'm not an idiot," the sixth voice grumbled. "But if there's one thing zombies are actually good at, it's sucking on things. And come on, you gotta be curious to feel what doing a zombie feels like."
"He has a point," the fifth voice shrugged, followed by the sound of another zipper. "Pussy is pussy, even if it's a zombie."
"You guys are sick," the person on top of Ghoulia said with disgust, before the dreaded sound of a third zipper being moved could be heard. "I'm in."
"Then get off her, dude," the sixth voice ordered. "It was my idea, I should get first crack at her pussy. You can take the freakin' ass if you want."
Ghoulia could not believe what she was hearing. Not only had these sick bastards purposely assault and beat her with snowballs until she was black and blue, but they intended to invade her most private of places and defile her in the most inhumane way possible. She would started crying had she not already been as one of the boys restrained her by the wrists as another began to slide his hands around her breasts and sides while a third began to finger away at her pants and panties. She started begging for them to stop, to let her go and let her live, but the teenagers didn't listen as they continued to defile her; even if they understood a word of Zombie, they would have simply ignored her, too determined to shame her.
It wasn't until the boy man handling her ass managed to pull her panties down and was about to begin the horrific act of taking away her virginity and utterly humiliating her did the universe finally smile down upon her and send her a savior.
In the form of a large, hairy, and incredibly ticked off Vulpimancer.
A loud, lion-like roar suddenly echoed down the alley way, and the teenager's startled screams suddenly filled her ears as the sound of large, padded feet slapping against the ground filled the air. There came another roar as the boy defiling her ass was suddenly tackled to the ground by Wildmutt; while Ghoulia couldn't see anything but blurry shapes, she could easily recognize the wall of orange fur and the green stripe of the Omnitrix.
"It's the alien kid!" the fourth boy screamed with fright as Wildmutt grabbed him in his jaws and shook like like a rag doll before throwing him into a stack of garbage cans. "Run for it!"
"Forget the zombie, man! It ain't worth being turned into a chew toy over!" the fifth teen yelled to his friend, who was currently trying to tear off Ghoulia's shirt.
"No! If I can't take her here, I'll do it somewhere else!" he yelled, grabbing Ghoulia roughly by the waist and heaving her over his shoulders, making a quick getaway down the alley as Wildmutt slammed the fifth teen into the wall and roughly finished off the other two before bounding after the fleeing Normie. The Vulpimancer bellowed and ran at the surrounding walls at an angle bouncing off of the one to his left and then to his right to quickly overcome the teen and land right in front of him, blocking his escape route.
"Nice, doggy! Easy, boy!" the Normie said with a nervous, yet brave tone. "Don't come any closer and I won't hurt ya!"
Wildmutt merely snarled as he stalked closer, his massive muscles rippling under his armor-like fur as the sharp quills on his back flexed up and down, making him look bigger. His huge paws slammed into the snow with every step, leaving enormous paw prints as saliva dripped from his razor sharp jaws. With a sudden move, the Vulpimancer pounced on the teen and slammed him into the ground, sending Ghoulia flying into a snowdrift.
"Down, boy! Sit! Stay! Roll over!' the boy cried desperately as Wildmutt inched his head closer and closer to the boy before opening his jaws and letting out a loud roar that blasted against the boy's face, blowing his hair and cheeks back from the sheer force as a heavy amount of drool dripped onto the boy's face. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in terror before finally passing out from sheer fright. Wildmutt growled with annoyance and got off the boy, sending him flying into a dumpster with one swipe of his massive paw as he lumbered over to the snowdrift Ghoulia was in.
"E-e-e-ehhhhhhh." Ghoulia shivered, her half-naked body covered in snow; she knew she would most likely suffer from a mild case of hypothermia if she managed to get to some place warm or simply just freeze to death if left out in the cold. She knew Wildmutt had no intention of doing this as he quickly dug her out of the snow and grabbed the back of her shirt in his teeth, raising his head above the ground a bit so her feet would drag against the pavement as he took off at a quick gallop.
Ghoulia didn't know where the Vulpimancer was going, but she could already feeling herself fading. Not so much in the sense of dying, but more along the lines of pure exhaustion and shock as the pain delivered to her by her many attackers quickly. Add in the fact that she was now stripped to almost nothing more than her undergarments in a sub-zero blizzard, and she just about ready to succumb to the inky blackness at the end of her vision, let it consume her and cradle her and tell her everything was going to be alright if she just let the blackness take her.
And she did.
Ghoulia felt a slight tickling on her nose, as if a tiny bug were tap dancing away for an even smaller audience to enjoy; she sniffed and wrinkled her nose in an attempt to make the feeling go away, relaxing back into slumber when the tiny bug on her nose took a break from dancing and decided to sign autographs.
Before she had felt so cold, completely chilled to the bone like a piece of steak that had been left in the freezer for too long, and was certain she might not have survived for more than an hour out in the cold in the state her attempted rapers had left her in. Now, she was slowly starting to feel warm again, completely surrounded by the wonderful feeling that managed to worm its way into every part of her and make her feel good. She was also exhausted, and the warmth that slowly made its way through her body only made her sleepier.
The only thing that could ever possibly interrupt such a wonderful moment (other than the tiny bug's encore performance) was the heavy movement that slowly pushed her up and down in a repetitive motion; for the moment it was annoying, but it eventually became lulling in a way, as if she were back in her baby years and being rocked to sleep. The moment was then ruined when a deep, scuffling sound met her ears and she slowly blinked open her eyes, her vision still blurred as of earlier. She sighed with disappointment before she suddenly found her glasses dangling in front of her face, pinched between two, large, claws that held them as delicately as possible. Ghoulia took her horn-rimmed glasses, confused as to how they were suddenly back in one piece, and put them back in their place, her surroundings becoming clear as glass.
Ghoulia was in a home of some kind with a smooth wooden floors that she could tell had previously been dusty and undisturbed for years, and faded walls with cobwebs hung heavily in the corners. In front of her was a large, marble fireplace with bright, crackling flames to keep her nice and toasty while the blizzard raged outside. She looked down at herself and found her frail body wrapped up warmly in a large blanket that let only her head be visible. If she moved the blanket aside, she found herself wearing a pale, abstract nightgown that was a bit big for her and allowed her to see her undergarments underneath; she hoped to Ra that after her horrible experience that it had been a ghoul that had dressed her. The biggest surprise however, was the thing she was lying against that had been her pillow, a horse-sized, furry Vulpimancer with a familiar green collar around its thick neck.
A bright flash suddenly consumed the large alien carnivore as the Omnitrix timed out and brought Ben back to the world; he was still dressed in his night clothes, of which included his sweatpants and pretty much nothing else. The sight made Ghoulia's skin turned red.
"Hey, glad you're awake," Ben smiled. "You had me worried there for a second."
"Eeeeeeeyyaaahh?" Ghoulia moaned, rubbing her sleep eyes.
"Yeah, I saw everything." Ben frowned. "I went back to get your stuff, but the bastards were already gone when I got back." he swore.
"Aaaaaiiieeeee?"
"No! That was Spectra," Ben quickly explained, his own face turning red. "Since your clothes were soaked, she lent you an extra night gown to wear while yours dried. She would have lent you some of her clothes, but she didn't think they would fit you."
"Eyaah." Ghoulia gave one of her unusual smiles.
"No problem. It's what I do." Ben smiled, sitting back against the sofa and enjoying the warmth the fireplace offered them. Ghoulia blushed at the sight and curled the blanket tighter around her, inching over to Ben's side and leaning back against the couch with him, letting the warmth of the fireplace caress her and tell her that it would never abandon her and keep her warm.
Now that she thought about it, Ben was similar to a fireplace. Not only was he muscled and well built like one, but he constantly had a warm, friendly smile that never judged anyone around him, no matter their appearance. From his earliest days at Monster High, he didn't care that his fellow classmates had fur, scales, fins, feathers, or even vines, they were all equal in his eyes. He was even nice to her when a few other monsters looked down upon zombies, seeing them as inferior. Ben never saw it that way, and often came to her for advice or help with his school work, much like her other friends did. But they were monsters and he was a Normie, albeit with a magic watch on his wrist but a Normie none the less; it just seemed so much more special that way when he actually acknowledged her higher intelligence and didn't just assume that she as dumb as a brick. Like the fire's warm flames, he never judged those to came to him or help or advice and was never one to abandon them for anything or one.
Unconsciously, Ghoulia found herself leaning into Ben's frame, resting her head on his shoulder as they watched the fire dance before them. She knew that Ben didn't see her as a romantic interest, as he fully respected her relationship with Slow Mo, and saw her more like a good friend to be around; after all, she had been one of the few monsters to figure out his secret, and the two had become fast friends. Rather, she thought of Ben more like an older brother of some sort, someone who would never leave her and always be there for her when she needed it most. And she knew Ben saw her as something of a young sister as well, if she was technically older by approximately five months.
In fact, that was the entire reason she had risked the cold in the first place. Ben's birthday was coming up soon, and he had become so busy with rescuing Frankie and defeating Zs'Skayr that he had completely forgotten about it. In fact, she been the only one to even remember the occasion, though this was mostly due to the fact that Ben never told any of them his birthday and that she was actually able to pinpoint the exact date of the occasion by examining one of his hairs that had fallen off of his head. She had been meaning to tell the others, but things had quickly gotten out of hand and the event was soon forgotten.
But all of that could wait for later. For now, all she wanted to do was enjoy the early morning time with Ben and put all her troubles away for the time being as she snuggled into Ben's side and just decided to rest.
"How far did they get before I got there?" Ben asked after a few moments of silence.
"Ayaaaaah. Eh eh Eeeyyyyaaiiiahhh." Ghoulia explained, her pleasant expression quickly turning to one of sorrow and fear.
"That bad, huh?" Ben frowned. Ghoulia nodded, fighting back the tears she feel starting to well up in her eyes. She felt Ben slip his hand around her shoulder and hug her tight, rubbing her shoulder as she fought against the horrific memories and tried to find her happy place. Before long, she was calm again and had dozed off against Ben. The watch wearer smiled ad snagged another blanket from the couch, wrapping it around himself and pulling Ghoulia closer to him as she rested her head against his chest.
"Sleep well." he smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair, a soothing motion that calmed the jittery zombie and gave her sweet dreams. He then thought back to an event that had happened but days ago, when he and his friends were still trapped in time, stuck bouncing around until Maltruant's meddling had been dealt with.
They had been floating in the dark void, having just come back from saving Elissabat had been introduced to a Time Patrol consisting of a very serious man by the name of Future Trunks, a girl named Supreme Kai of Time, two anthropomorphic hedgehogs named Zonic and Silver, and none other than Chrono Spanner himself. The group's leader, other than Hexiciah Steam and Professor Paradox was an actual Osmosian named Drake Flame from another dimension where the species actually existed that claimed to not only be immortal, but to be omnipotent in every way imaginable.
Upon meeting with the Hexiciah, Drake promptly had decided to bring up and insult Robecca's sexuality and relationships with Ben, Venus, and Jane; Hexiciah hadn't taken too kindly to the conversation and had crushed Drake's hand. Drake then proceeded to suddenly vomit up his lunch for some odd reason, although Ben guessed he might have been reading someone's mind from the disturbed look he kept on flashing Venus's way as she flirted with her ghouls.
Ben could not help but feel slightly irked at Drake's judgment, as great a guy as he was, upon hearing his short conversation with Hexiciah; it was not his right to tell anyone how to live their life or what rules they had to abide by. If it was his opinion to dislike his ghoul's current relationship with each other, so be it; but that didn't mean he had to say it out loud for everyone to hear.
Ben sighed and shook the thoughts away from his head and turned to gaze down lovingly at Ghoulia napping in his lap, the blanket rising up and down in a steady rhythm that could only mean she was finally at peace.
"How's she doing?" Spectra asked as she descended through the ceiling above Ben and nestled into him on his other side, resting her head on his other shoulder.
"Fine," Ben told her. "She's just tired from running. Do you have any idea why she was out there in the first place?"
"Not a clue." Spectra shook her head. "But it was very heroic of you to save her." she added, kissing Ben on the cheek.
"It's what I do," Ben smiled before he suddenly remembered something. "Say, how would you like to come to a Casta Fierce concert with me?" he asked with a small smile.
"But all the tickets are sold out!" Spectra argued loudly, quieting down when Ghoulia stirred and fell back into slumber.
"I have my ways." said Ben with a knowing smile.
"And how exactly did you get tickets?" Clawdeen asked Ben.
"I didn't," Ben smiled. "I got us in for free."
"Aaayyyaaaaaahhh?" Ghoulia moaned.
"Of course not! I'd never use the Omnitrix for something like that," Ben frowned. "Casta needed a body guard and she hired me to protect her during the concert. I get paid and get to bring you ghouls along too."
"I can not believe you are doing this for money." Jinafire frowned.
"Relax. Almost all of the money I make tonight will be donated to the music program. The rest of it will be put towards a little surprise I have for you ghouls." Ben explained, wincing slightly as the purple falcon on his shoulder dug its talons further into his shoulder. "Jane, can you please not do that?"
The bird of prey gave Ben a sympathetic glance and released its death grip on Ben's shoulder slightly. "I know you feel a little nervous around big crowds and all, but I really need your help with this one. Plus, it's about time you learned what monster teenagers do for fun." he said with a smile.
"But you're not a monster." Spectra pointed out.
"I might as well be. I may be a Normie, but the Normie half of New Salem can go fuck themselves for all I care," Ben spat angrily; he was still sore about what had happened to Ghoulia hours prior to their current place and time, walking down a hall in the large, indoor stadium Casta had wisely booked for her concert. After much convincing on Ben's part along with a short stealth mission that resulted in a short tussle between Toepick and Mr. Stein, Frankie was allowed to accompany Ben to the concert on the grounds that she both return in one peace and before curfew. Not a minute later.
"That doesn't me I won't protect them, but if they aren't going to drop the stupid feud between you and them, then why am I risking my neck over them?" Ben frowned.
"Ben, you can't mean that," said Frankie. "I mean, you can't just-"
"I'm not." Ben said. "I'll still protect them if needed, but if they treat you like monsters, then they treat me like monsters," he confirmed with an edge in his voice. "We're here."
The group, consisting of Ghoulia, Spectra, Frankie, Jane, Jinafire, and Clawdeen, stopped in front of a door with a large star fused onto the door with the name 'Casta Fierce' printed beneath it. Two gargoyles guards stood on either side of the door, eying the group suspiciously.
"Who're you?" the first of the gargoyles grumbled.
"Ben Tennyson. In other words, your boss." Ben told him.
"Prove it." the second gargoyle mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the group. Ben rolled his eyes and turned to the Omnitrix on his wrist, cycling through his roster and randomly selecting an alien before slapping the activation button and letting the green light consume him. The first change was incredibly major. Ben could feel himself being literally cut into strips through some unseen force, as if being cut by a giant pair of invisible scissors. He could feel his bones and organs disappear altogether, and for a brief moment Ben wondered if he was going to die within seconds. Except he didn't. He could feel each strip of body vibrate with health, as if each were alive in its own way. Like magic, they twisted themselves make together into a crude, muscled figure with exaggerated fingers and toes made of thin strips. He could feel his face harden and become flat, turning pointed and green and black in color. The face plate sat itself on top of the bandaged shoulders as a green and black headdress appeared on his head, a wide collar appearing on his neck as two tendrils sprouted from his back. Black and green braces appeared on his arms and ankles, a green belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared around his thin waist, finishing the transformation.
"There. How's that?" Snare-oh asked as Jane fluttered back down onto his shoulder, preening her feathers with her hooked beak.
"Fine." the gargoyle grumbled, rapping a large knuckle on the door. The Thep Khufan and the ghouls pushed past the gargoyles and into the room, closing the door behind them. There was a vanity located opposite of the door, a rack of clothes lining one wall and a changing bind on the end wall; Casta was no where to be found.
"Hello? Anyone home?" the Thep Khufan ventured.
"Oh, thank ghoul it's just you!" Casta's voice came from behind the blind; the witch herself stepped out a few moments later dressed in her standard performance outfit and holding a hairdryer in her hands like a weapon. "And I see you brought your friends too." she added with a smile before noticing the falcon on his shoulders. "I didn't know you had a bird."
"I don't," Snare-oh shrugged with a mouth-less smile, moving his shoulder and sending Jane off of his shoulder and down to the floor with a flap of her wings. In a sudden whirl of purple feathers and locks, the small bird of prey had become Jane Boolittle. Casta seemed to jump back slightly upon seeing the transformation before relaxing slightly.
"I never took you to be afraid of animals, Casta," Clawdeen smiled.
"When you have the problems I have, you tend to develop a slight fear of animals." the pop star admitted.
"Eeeeeyaiiaahhh." Ghoulia moaned.
"Zoophobia? I think my aunt has that." Spectra wondered as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted Snare-oh back into Ben.
"Hey, Casta? Have you been receiving any more death threats?" Ben asked.
"Thankfully no," Casta sighed with relief. "But I still don't think I'll be safe until the creep's caught."
"And I fully intend to catch him," Ben said with determination. "All you just gotta do is stay calm and try to mess up your singing."
"If you say so." Casta breathed, setting the hairdryer down on the vanity. "I just hope this won't be my last performance."
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Jinafire reassured her.
Ben watched Casta walked out on stage to a thunderous applause from the audience; her band, The Spells, floated out from the wings after her, quickly setting up their instruments and starting the first few chords of "Witch Hour", Casta's top song.
"Are you ready Spells?" Casta called to the whisps of vapor.
"We're ready Casta!" the Spells chanted.
"Are you ready Spells?" Casta grinned.
"You're the lyrical master!" the Spells chanted once more.
"Here! We! GO!" Casta howled into the microphone, singing the powerful lyrics of her most beloved song. Ben had to admit, the song was incredibly catchy, and he soon found himself tapping along as she watched Casta from backstage, his eyes only leaving their position on Casta to glance around, waiting for something to happen.
"Alien Wizard is in position, I repeat, Alien Wizard is in position." Ben whispered into the Omnitrix.
"I am not playing along with your silly games, Ben." Clawdeen grumbled.
"It's Alien Wizard, Big Bad." Ben hissed.
"And I'm not gonna answer to the code name you gave me." Clawdeen added.
"I dunno, I think it's kinda fun," Frankie laughed. "I always wanted to be called Zap Master at some time in my unlife."
"There is nothing to report, Alien Wizard." Jinafire responded, the words feeling strange in her mouth.
"See? Gold Fire and Zap Master like it!" Ben argued with Clawdeen.
"Uh, Ben? Er, Alien Wizard? Are monster teenagers normally this loud?" Jane asked.
"Yes, yes they are, One Girl Zoo," Ben answered her. "Anything to report Death Breath and Phantom Girl?"
"Aaaaaiiiieeeeyyaahh." Ghoulia responded.
"Same here. Nothing odd." Spectra reported. "And do I really have to be called Phantom Girl?"
"It was the best I could come up with, alright?" Ben shot back.
"Enough with the nicknames! Anyone listening in can easily figure out who we're takin' to!" Clawdeen yelled with annoyance.
"Whatever," Ben rolled his eyes as he watched Casta rock out on stage. Thankfully, the witch had not slipped up on her lyrics, and audience had still remained their monstrous selves. A sudden movement caught Ben's eyes and he shifted his eyes upwards to see a dark figure running away on the catwalks overhead, stopping just above Casta and jumping over the side.
"This Alien Wizard to Monster Brigade! We got a live one!" Ben yelled frantically into the Omnitrix as the figure dropped down on stage in front of Casta, drawing gasps of fright and surprise as the music abruptly stopped. The figure was tall and well muscled under neath his black trench coat, pants and leather boots. A large fedora sat on his head, just barely hiding a white, skull mask that hid his identity.
"I warned you all of the consequences!" the man boomed with rage. "I gave you but a small chance you escape with your pathetic lives, but did your leader ever listen? NO!"
"What is he talking about?" Ben wondered, turning on the Omnitrix and cycling through the aliens.
"And now, she will suffer the consequences!" the man roared, whirling around and roughly grabbing Casta by the shoulder and pulling out a knife from the folds of his trench coat. The Spells quickly made a move to try and protect their band leader, by the man quickly reached into his coat and pulled something out and throwing at the floor, a thick green vapor engulfing him and the Spells, leaving the whisps coughing and hacking as tears streamed from their eyes.
"Witches Tear Gas," the man chuckled darkly. "A rather unpleasant mixture of gas and toxins that is very dangerous to your species if I'm correct.
Ben frowned and slapped down the Omnitrix, not caring which alien he got as a bright green flash of light washed over him. Thick, shaggy fur started to sprout all over his body as he gradually grew taller. His jaw jutted out into an ape like fashion. His lower teeth grew larger, curving up over his lip. Muscles piled on top of each other as his arms and legs swelled. Small bumps on his wrists formed, growing harder and more metallic like. His fingers grew thicker and less delicate looking, better designed for smashing things together and ripping things apart. His feet changed drastically as his big toe moved away from his others until it was at a 45 degree angle. The final change was when a metallic three horned prong suddenly appeared right above his eyes, giving him an angered look, even when he wasn't. The Omnitrix appeared on a thick, green belt around his waist, completing the transformation.
"What about this species, eh?" Shocksquatch yelled, running out from the wings and blasting the man with a jagged stripe of electricity. The man yelled in surprise as he was struck, lighting up like a Christmas tree before falling to one knee, his grip on Casta never faltering.
"Now let 'er go, or the results will be quite shocking." the Gimlinopithecus demanded.
"Your puns are just as bad as your looks," the man grumbled. "But I really can't stay around. Gotta fly!" Before Shocksquatch could shoot back a retort, a jet pack unfolded from the man's back and quickly activated, flying the man all the way up into the catwalks on the ceiling. "You'll never catch me! Never!" the man yelled down below.
"We'll see about that, eh!" the Gimlinopithecus yelled, jamming a finger up as he slapped the Omnitrix on his belt. The green light washed over his large frame, briefly changing him back into his human form before injecting a new set of alien DNA into his bloodstream. His skin hardened into a thick exoskeleton, becoming jointed and plated as it turned green. His bones vanished as skull became pointed and even thicker than before. His teeth became sharp and his eyebrows became pointed as his eyes turned green and quick sighted. His legs bent backwards, a slightly painful process as a sort of webbing formed between the joints. His toes disappeared, three sharp claws taking their place, two in front, one in back. His two middle fingers disappeared, the ones left becoming sharp. He felt muscles packing themselves on top of each other in his legs as his body became divided into two sections, his butt expanding out into a slim thorax. A set of black and green overalls formed over his body as spines formed on the back of his arms and legs, completing the transformation.
"WOO-HOO!" Crashhopper cried with glee as he bent his legs and shot off into the air, the wind whistling past his face before he landed on the catwalk and bounded after the mysterious man with Casta in his cluthces.
"One Girl Zoo! I need eyes in the sky! I repeat, eyes in the sky!" Crashhopper cried into the Omnitrix.
"Copy that. Me and Jane are on our way!" Spectra answered. Moments later, a purple eagle wheeled into the air, screeching loudly as it flapped its purple wings and raced after the mysterious man, Spectra appearing seconds later and giving chase as well.
"Go for the face, Jane! The face!" Spectra yelled the eagle shrieked and folded in its wings, dropping like a bomb towards the man's face and raked its talons across his face, red blood splattering onto the catwalk as the man stumbled. Jane flew back around and attacked the man again, hanging on with her talons and beating her wings as the man tried to shake her lose, furious nipping or pecking his fingers whenever he came close to pulling her lose.
Spectra and Crashhopper chased after the man as he raced nearly blind down the maze of catwalks, nearly falling over the railings a few times as Casta screamed and struggled against his grip, constantly pleading for him to let her go as Jane relentlessly attacked him.
"Death Breath! Shed some light on the situation!" Crashhopper yelled as they rounded a corner on the catwalks and continued their chase after the man. A low moan came over the Omnitrix and the spotlights hanging on either side of the catwalk suddenly spun around on their axises and aimed themselves at the man. One of them was lucky enough to hit the man in the face, another spout of blood pouring onto the catwalk from the man's broken nose as he continued to run. The spotlights suddenly clicked on, illuminating the dark space above the stadium and shining on the man with Casta as he run, revealing the dark man to the audience below and bringing up loud screams and shouts of surprise; hopefully someone was smart enough to call the police.
"At the end of your rope, hmm?" Crashhopper grinned cockily as Spectra and Ben corner the mysterious man on a dead end.
"Not even." the man said with an edge in his voice as he tightly gripped the railing and tried to ignore the eagle on his head as it took to pecking his head. "Give up now, or her life's forfeited." he said with a steely voice that boomed out over the entire stadium; sudden gasps and screams from below as the man grabbed Casta by the wrist and hung her out over the railing.
"Weren't you trying to kill her in the first place?" Crashhopper asked, confused.
"Good point," the man shrugged as he suddenly released his grip on Casta and let her plummet to her death. "Oops.
"NO!" Crash wailed as horrific memories came back to him. With an enraged look in his eye, Crashhopper suddenly tackled the man, slugging him in the face twice and jamming his jackhammer foot into his family jewels before jumping over the edge of the railing and falling after Casta as Spectr and Jane took to attacking the man.
Casta screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell, her eyes wide with fear as she fell towards the stadium facing the ceiling. The crowd foolishly parted beneath her as Crashhopper fell after her, slapping the Omnitrix on his chest and becoming consumed in a flash of bright light. His wrists bloated to the size of basketballs, his fingers reduced to black claws as the blubber from his hands traveled up the length of his arms, expanding and growing and swelling to massive proportions on his shoulders. His belly suddenly exploded outwards, and it would have been funny had they not been plummet towards some very hard ground. His legs became short and stubby, his toes becoming bony and sharp, reduced to claws like his fingers had been. Hard plating began to pile itself up on his shoulders and his expanding hips, his entire back becoming covered in the durable armor that could withstand almost anything. His head became round like a beach ball before muscles and skin melted his face into his chest, his neck disappearing altogether. Black stripes and coloring formed over his pure white body, the armor turning yellowing as it formed on the back of his hands and shoulders. The final transformations were the sudden flexibility of his spine and the addition of the Omnitrix on his chest, a little ways below his wide mouth.
"Lets have a ball!" the Arburian Pelarota quipped as he fell faster and quickly came upon Casta, scooping her up in his large hands and pulling her into his chest before curling up on himself, falling faster and faster until they suddenly crashed into the floor, creating a small crater when they landed. Cannonbolt remained curled up for a few seconds before relaxing and unfolding himself, his arms wrapped protectively around Casta as she breathed heavily and shook slightly.
"You okay?" Cannonbolt asked.
"I have never been so scared in my life." Casta shivered.
"Hold that thought," Cannonbolt rumbled as he gently pushed the pop star off of him and climbed to his feet. "Phantom Girl and One Girl Zoo? How are things up there?" he called into the Omnitrix, glancing skyward.
"The guy can touch me! The guy can touch me!" Spectra screamed, followed by a panther's loud roar.
"How!?" the Arburian Pelarota cried with disbelief.
"He's got some kind of special gloves on him! Hey! Nobody touches those but Ben!" she yelled, a loud smack coming over the Omnitrix followed by a pained howl.
"Right. Zap Master, light 'em up!" Cannonbolt ordered.
"Gotcha covered!" Frankie's came over the Omnitrix. A few seconds passed before a snake of electricity shot across the metal catwalk and towards the struggle above. Seconds before they were electrocuted, Spectra and Jane dived over the side, the shape-shifter quickly morphing back into her eagle form and banking back around as the man lit up like a Christmas tree for the second time in a night, howling in agony. His body fell limp over the railing and plummeted over the side as smoke curled off his body; nobody made any move to rescue him until a golden colored blur shot through the crowd and caught the man before he hit the floor.
"Nice catch, Jinafire." Cannonbolt grumbled.
"I know you do not like the man, but was it really necessary to let him fall and risk injury?" Jinafire asked as she laid the man on the ground and put a firm foot on his chest, restraining him.
"I was getting to it!" Cannonbolt defended himself, despite Jinafire giving him a look.
"Now let us see who is behind the mask." said Jinafire as she bent down and curled her claws around the edges of the mask and pulled it off, revealing the person underneath. Or rather, not the person underneath.
"A robot? It's a freakin' robot!?" Cannonbolt grumbled as the Omnitrix timed out and returned him to his normal form.
"In all honesty, I did not see this coming." Jinafire mused she examined the robot with a curious eye.
"So, a it was a robot sent to kill me?" Casta asked.
"Well, whoever built it sent it to kill you in their place," Ben frowned. "Annoying, but definitely smart." he admitted with annoynace.
"Maybe not. Let me have a sniff." said Clawdeen as she pushed her way through the crowd and bent down to the robot, giving it a quick sniff of her nose. "Uh-huh. Just as I thought." she growled, giving the robot a quick kick.
"Thank goodness it's not like Robecca." Jane sighed with relief as she returned to her normal form.
"What is it?" Spectra asked.
"Van Hellscream. I'd recognize that smell anywhere." Clawdeen growled.
And I don't suppose there's anyway to track him?" Spectra sighed.
"Not necessarily." Ben smiled as he turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through his roster before coming across the desired alien and slapping the activation button, a familiar green light washing over him. The first noticeable change was his size. He quickly shrank down from his good six foot frame to something a little under five inches. His skin turned a gray color and became moist. He felt his feet each lose two toes and become webbed. He lost a single finger on each hand as his eyes bulged out of his head. The most dramatic change Ben felt as he was changed was when he felt his part split into two parts, one that seemed slightly smaller than the other half. He suddenly understood everything about the world and its inner workings. The Omnitrix appeared on the back of his jumpsuit, completing the transformation.
"Now, let us see if this drone has an access panel of some kind," Grey Matter mused as he hopped over to the dead robot and set one side of his head to the metal skin , rapping a small knuckle on it before giving the side of a robot a swift kick, popping open a small hatch on the robot's chest. The Galvan quickly hopped inside and began rummaging around, casting out stray wires and bolts that he deemed useless and quickly accessing the robots control panel and hacking through it's horribly primitive homing device. Grey Matter then hopped back out before the Omnitrix timed out and returned the tiny alien back into Ben, a small homing device in his hand.
"Lets pay Mr. Hellscream a visit." Ben said with a sinister tone.
"No, Ben. Let the police handle this," Spectra advised him.
"Why?"
"If you want to get on the police's good side, let them do their job occasionally," Frankie's voice came over the Omnitrix. "I'm not saying you let them handle everything, but let them take care of this one. For me?" she added with a sweet tone.
Ben sighed. "Fine. Make the call." he surrendered. "But if they don't do their job, I am going after Van Hellscream myself."
"I'll threaten them with Feedback and Gravattack." Frankie promised before signing out for the moment.
"Thanks for the save back there," Casta breathed with relief. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"It's nothing." Ben told her with a smile.
"N, it's not," Casta said firmly. "I want to do something in return for the person who saved my life. Anything you want, it's yours." she promised.
Ben turned the thought over his head. While he wasn't normally one to accept gifts from thankful people he had saved, this one seemed determined to thank him properly. And since she was offering, who was he to stop her? "Well . . . I have always wanted my own theme song . . ."
"Do you not already have one?" Jinafire asked.
"Yeah, but I'd love to hear Casta sing it." Ben shrugged before turning to the witch. "if that's okay with you?"
"If you got a copy of it, I'd be more than happy to sing." Casta smiled before a few thoughts occurred to her. "it won't turn the audience into animals, will it?"
"I highly doubt it." Ben reassured her.
"Is it well written?"
"Very. I've heard it." Spectra answered for Ben. "In fact, its his ring tone!"
"Really?" casta gave Ben an odd look.
"It's the only thing that reminds me of home." Ben explained with a slightly sad tone. Casta nodded and quickly agreed with a smile on her lips.
Half an hour later, Casta walked back on stage with Ben, Spectra, and Clawdeen in tow to the roar from the crowd. While the Spells were currently out of commission thanks to the robot, Ben the ghouls were substituting for them in their moment of absence; it turned out Spectra had learned to play the drums with nothing to do for almost four centuries without anything to do, and Clawdeen had been teaching herself in her spare time to play the guitar in case her fashion dream never worked out. And if it did, the ability to play the guitar for an audience of thousands was an added bonus. While Ghoulia and Frankie handled the special effects and lights, Jinafire and Jane controlled the sound to keep things in order as Casta waved to her audience.
"Now then, this song goes out to the ghouls and guy who saved my life during that escapade a little while ago! Give it up for Ben Tennyson, Clawdeen Wolf, and Spectra Vondergeist people as we sing you a brand new song in their honor!" Casta yelled through the mic to the excited cheers of the audience as Ben played a few loud chords on his electric guitar to start the song with a googy grin on his face. "Hit it, ghouls!" Casta yelled.
Spectra obliged and slammed her drumsticks into the drums, heavily beating away at them as Clawdeen joined in with Ben's guitar solo and Casta began to sing.
"It started when an alien device did what it did! It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid!"
"Now he's got super powers, he's no ordinary kid! He's Ben 10! Ben 10!"
Casta wailed into the microphone, a bright smile on her face as the audience cheered.
"So if you see him, you might be in for a big surprise! He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes!" Casta went on as Ben got an idea and turned on the Omnitrix, quickly cycling through his listings before randomly selecting an alien as Spectra and Clawdeen gave him a confused look. Ben slapped the activation button and relaxed as the green light washed over him, changing him into something the world had never seen. His skinny figure suddenly swelled as hundreds of muscles piled on top of each other, sending his growing form upwards until he was more than twice as tall as his previous self. His fingers pulsed as thick veins appeared on his arms, sending alien blood through them. A second pair of eyes appeared above his own and every hair on his head disappeared. A short beard appeared on his chin that ran up to his disappearing earlobes as his jaw jutted out. Suddenly, a second pair of smaller arms burst out from under his own, still just fresh muscle and bone. Clawdeen felt like she was going to be sick until rough, red, skin covered them. Ben's toes melded into two large claws as a row of small spikes appeared on his head and shoulders. A black undershirt with a green stripe down the middle as a pair of black pants appeared as two pairs of black fingerless gloves came out of nowhere on his large hands, finishing the transformation.
"He's slimy, freaky, fast, and strong, he's every shape and size! He's Ben 10! Ben 10! Casta gave a bright smile as Four Arms went back to wailing on the guitar, much to the audience's howl of approval.
"Armed with powers, he's on the case! Fighting off evil from Earth or space!"
"He'll never stop 'til he makes them pay! 'Cause he's the baddest kid to ever save the day! BEN 10!"
At that point, a large TV screen descended from the ceiling and flickered on, showing footage of Ben putting the smack down on villains during all of his adventures; XLR8 giving chase after the Werecat Gang; Humungousaur doing battle with Charmcaster; Gravattack dealing with Crüjo and Kuphulu; Feedback defending himself from the New Salem police; Swampfire fighting the Kraken; Brawn fighting the Kraken a second time; AmpFibian fighting the Kraken for a third time; all this played as Casta chanted into the microphone.
"1! 2! 3! Ben 10!"
"4! 5! 6! Ben 10!"
"7! 8! 9! Ben 10! Ben 10!"
Casta ended the song as a huge, pyrotechnic explosion fired off behind her, lighting up the stage and stadium as the audience cheered and clapped louder than ever.
"So how do you like being famous!?" Casta asked Four Arms over the roar of the crowd.
"I'm already famous!" the Tetramand replied with a big smile on his face. "Thank you, New Salem! GOOD NIGHT!" he roared over the cheer of the crowd, raising all four hands above his head and forming the 'hang loose' sign with all four of his hands, only making the audience cheer louder.
"Whatta ham." Clawdeen smiled, shaking her head as she bowed.
And there we go!
For those of you who have a hard time imaging the song actually playing out, it's the same one from Ben 10: Race Against Time which, in my opinion, is the best version of the theme song there is yet. If only I could find it on Spotify.
And yes, before you ask or complain, Ben would want to hear his own theme song. Who wouldn't want to hear their own theme song if they had one, am I right?
Anyways, I would like to make a few things clear. Casta and Ghoulia are in no way or form part of the harem; Casta is just a friend and Ghoulia is more like Ben's adoptive little sister in a way. We all clear on that? Good.
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
HASATA LUEGO AND GOOD NIGHT!