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.

40. One Flu Over the Cuckoo

And I'm back with another chapter.

Now last chapter, I feel was probably not my best. I got a few comments last time with some constructive criticism in it that I greatly appreciate, so I can make this series better. I also did not fully capture DragonWarrior20's (formally known as Axle the Hedgehog) character, this chapter officially debuts his character and a new frienemy! To fully understand things, you have to read DragonWarrior20's story Gwen 10: The Omniverse War, a fabulous story in my opinion. And speaking of fabulous stories, don't forget to swing by DJ Rodriguez's profile to read his story Monsters and Magic and its sequel!

As I really have nothing else to say, I shall shut up and get on with the story.

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Onwards!

Jane shivered and pulled up her parka around herself tighter, blocking out the frigid wind with the faux fur that ringed her black jacket. She was tempted to simply change in something that could keep her warm, like a polar bear, and walk right into school without a care, but there were several things stopping her. Not only would she get frightful stares that would make her beyond uncomfortable, but someone was bound to call Animal Control if a bear just suddenly walked through the doors.

But it was more than the fact that she now had to deal with odd stares, thanks to her new found abilities. There was also the small matter of what other students would say upon seeing Ben, Venus, and Robecca acting all sweet around her. Would they ridicule her? Would they be disgusted? Would she suffer a fate similar to Ghoulia's?

She felt a strong hand rest itself on her shoulder, and she turned to see Ben was a kind on his face, his green and black jacket pulled up tight around his frame. Venus, despite being dressed in a pink and white jacket, had her arm wrapped tightly around Robecca's shoulder, the robot girl's inner furnace keeping the both of them nice and warm. Jinafire and Spectra, both dressed in their winter clothes, trailed behind the others, feeling slightly left out; Ben glanced over his shoulder and gestured for them to catch up, that they were welcome regardless.

"You'll be fine," Ben reassured Jane. "And if anyone says otherwise, they'll have us to deal with."

"Amen!" Venus agreed with a toothy smile. Jane smiled and gulped nervously, slowly making her way up the front steps of the snow covered Monster High, still shivering with anxiety as Ben and Venus gently steered her to the doors. They quickly stepped out of the biting cold, Ben making sure the front doors didn't close on Jinafire's tail, and shook off the snow that had accumulated on their walk. The student body that had gathered in the lobby to socialize before classes began generally ignored Ben and the ghouls as they pushed their way through the crowds, though a few did pause in mid conversation to stare at them as they past.

Ben ignored the wide stares as he and the ghouls came back out the other side of the crowd and made their way to their individual lockers, which just so happened to be all in the same hallway by some random chance; Jane's locker happened to be right next to Ben's, though she had hardly ever used it before meeting Ben, opting to keep her things in the complex air duct system of the school and depths of the Catacombs.

"Hard to believe we were stuck saving the world fifty years in the future just a few days ago, huh?" Ben smiled, slipping off his jacket and setting it in a waded ball in his locker.

"Y-yeah." Jane said nervously, taking her own coat and hanging it on the hook inside of her locker.

Ben noticed the nervous tone in her voice and turned to face Jane as he reached for his Biteology textbook. "Jane, I know you're nervous. I know you're scared of what everyone will say or think about all four of us being in a relationship together. I went through a similar problem when a few people found out that I was dating more than one ghoul," Ben told her. "Just remember it was your decision to do this, and that they have no right to tell you how to live your life."

"But what if-" Jane began before Ben cut her off.

"Look, if you're that scared about it, change into something to either distract them or make a quick getaway, okay?" Ben suggested.

"O-okay." Jane agreed.

"Don't worry, luv," Robecca came up to them wrapping an arm around her shoulder and giving her a small hug. "We'll always be there for ya."

"Yeah, and if they say otherwise, we'll just beat 'em up!" Venus said with a smile.

"Only as a last resort." Ben corrected her.

"Right. Only as a last resort,"Venus agreed with a small frown that immediately perked up upon hearing the bell ring, announcing that classes were beginning in five minutes. "Gotta go!" Love ya!" Venus laughed before giving Robecca, Ben, and Jane all a kiss on the cheek and rushing down the hall.

"I swear, she's been hanging around with Whisp for too long," Robecca said with a slight smile. "I better go to, luvs. See you later, Ben! Good luck, Jane!" Robecca yelled as she snapped her goggles over her head and activated her rocket boots, shooting off towards the ceiling before leveling out and flying towards the seconds floor.

"Come on, we have Biteology together first period," Ben took Jane's hand and gave it a small squeeze. The shape-shifter smiled as Spectra joined them and pecked Ben on the cheek, flying off to her own class as Jinafire joined them, sharing the same period.

"Shall we?" she asked as Ben shoved his Biteology textbook deep within the bowels of his backpack and taking his hand when it was free.

"We ain't gonna get to class on time if we stall, now are we?" Ben smiled as the three of them walked down the hallway hand in hand, drawing strange looks from passerby; whispers could be heard coming from conversations paused upon seeing the three of them walk by, and Jane began to feel that familiar feeling within her that was telling her to run and hide away. She quickly clamped down on that feeling and held it tight suppressing it within her until she heard a loud cracking sound. With fearful eyes, she glanced back at her free hand to see the fingers fusing together into a single digit as her bones began to dissolve into nothingness, her arm slowly becoming a long tentacle as suckers sprouted underneath her arm. She quickly focused her fearful mind and slowly, ever so slowly, felt her limp tentacle become straight again, the end of her tentacle splitting into five digits; neither Ben nor Jinafire seemed to notice, and Jane began to wonder if the sounds her painful transformations produced could only be heard by her.

Her thoughts were shaken from her as Ben and Jinafire pulled towards the right, making their way across the hallway and towards the Biteology class; the teacher was no where to be seen as the trio made their way through the door and found a set of seats next to each other in the large classroom. They were not the only ones in the classroom, with Cleo De Nile and Clawdeen talking away up near the top row of desks and Abbey sitting off to one side with a bored expression on her face as other nameless students started to fill in the remaining seats; Toralei, Meowlody, and Purrsephone came strolling through the door a few minutes later, the trio of were-cats casting Ben a poisonous look.

"What are they so mad about?" Jane asked, resisting the urge to hide beneath her desk as the were-cats took their seats behind them.

"I think they're still mad about the Toepick Incident." Ben mused.

"Still?" Jane wondered. "And what happened to the teacher, Mr. Hackington?"

"Holding grudges is not an honorable act and only leads to conflict and strife." Jinafire frowned as the bell rang and the teacher walked through the door, grumbling obscenities under his breath. "As for our missing teacher, I heard it was a case of Dragon Pox."

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Hellhound Flu." Ben hummed.

"Aaaiiieeeeeee." Ghoulia moaned as she stepped through the door and took an empty seat in front of them; the teacher ignored her as he glanced over the attendance list.

"AGH! That is nasty!" Ben shivered.

"Quiet down, you little freaks!" the teacher frowned, jabbing a ruler at them. He wore a white dress shirt underneath an oversized, faded brown jacket and wore a striped tie that clashed horribly with everything he wore. He had a long, bald face and only three wiry hairs on his head with a pair of large, oversized glasses over his small, beady, tired eyes.

"You! Stop talking!" the man yelled, pointing his ruler at Ben.

"But I-" Ben started before he was interrupted.

"Don't make me give you a detention slip, young man." the teacher growled, ending the conversation to turn around and write his name on the board. "My name is-"

"LOSER!" a random voice called out from the crowd, drawing laughs out of everyone and small smiles out of the more restrained.

"It is pronounced 'Zarr'. Lou Zarr." the unfortunately named teacher corrected them. "Now, open you're books!" he demanded. "And since I don't know where you sorry lot left off, we'll do the whole book twice. Just to make sure you little freaks get it!" he added with a malicious smile as the class groaned.

"Oh, he is evil," Ben whispered to Jane. "Too bad I can't go Four Arms on him."

"YOU!" Lou Zarr yelled, whacking his ruler down on the desk in front of Ben. "What was that you just said?"

"Uh, what?" Ben asked as Jane slowly slid beneath her desk to hide.

"I will not repeat myself! Get up here to the front of the class and tell 'em all what you just said!" Lou Zarr demanded, whacking the ruler down on the desk once more and making Jane flinch. Ben sighed and got to his feet, ignoring the triumphant smile on Toralei's face, and walked to the front of the classroom.

"Now tell 'em all what you just said." Lou Zarr frowned, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk on his face.

"I said 'it's too bad I can't go Four Arms on him'," Ben recited. "Can I go sit back down now?"

"Not until you tell me what that means." the teacher hissed.

Ben rolled his eyes and simply turned to the Omnitrix and turned it on, cycling through the aliens before selecting Four Arms and slapping the activation button. He felt himself become heavier, and much fatter than before as his gut bulged outwards and his legs became short and weak. His arms only grew a few more muscles on them before they fell limp to his side, still swelling with fat and useless tissue as the transformation continued. His fingers grew into dull claws as his toes become drab. A pair of black brief with a thick chain belt appeared on his sickly green skin as a heavy, cage-like helmet grew out of nothingness, held down by a large amount of chains, hoses, and locks. The most noticeable change however was his face. No one could see it, but Ben could feel it as it began to grow and shrink and swell and deflate in random spots, bony horns and knobs growing out at random intervals as sharp teeth lined his oddly shaped mouth. The final piece of the transformation was the appearance of the Omnitrix on the neck piece of the helmet.

"Toepick? Not what I had in mind, Omnitrix." the ugly alien wheezed.

Lou Zarr seemed unfazed and unimpressed upon seeing the transformation and merely seemed to get angrier instead. "If you're gonna change your shape in my class, you will have the decency to take that cage off your head!"

"Uh, you really don't want me to do that." Toepick warned the teacher.

"Oh, I insist." Lou Zarr growled; the students gasped and all winced.

"Ooooh, here it comes . . ." Cleo flinched, ducking beneath her desk as the rest of the class followed suit.

"Alright. But you asked for it, dude." Toepick wheezed as a loud hiss bounced off his helmet and the cage doors dropped down and rolled out with a loud clang! A low growl echoed out from within the helmet, followed by unearthly hisses as Mr. Zarr suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs and turned white as a sheet and promptly fainted on the floor as the Omnitrix timed out.

"Hey, dude? You okay?" Ben asked, bending down and poking Mr. Zarr's foot with a finger; the teacher didn't respond.

"Uh, I guess class dismissed?" Ben shrugged. The class cheered and quickly packed up their things before making their way to the door and streaming out into the halls as Ghoulia, Jane, Jinafire, and all three were-cats remained.

"Just be glad you didn't look at us with that thing of yours, Ben." Toralei snarled before leaving, Meowlody and Purrsephone hissing angrily before following their leader.

Ben blinked and turned to Ghoulia. "Uh, is he gonna be okay?" Ben asked her.

"Eyyaaaaahhee." Ghoulia shrugged before giving one of her smiles and walking out the door and into the hallway.

"So, what do we do now?" Jane asked, peeking out from under the desk.

"We could hit the pool?" Ben suggested.

"If you do not mind, I will try to re energize myself in the student lounge," said Jinafire. "I did not sleep so well last night."

"If you say so," Ben shrugged with a smile. "See you at lunch. You coming, Jane?"

The shape-shifter nodded and closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on an image in her head. Her violet skin began to blister horribly, feathers patterns printing themselves across her arms and legs as her nose and mouth fused together in a horrific show into a hard, horny beak. Her lavender eyes turned gold in color as they moved a little ways away from their current position, sharpening to a thousand times better than before as her arms cracked and shifted their bones into a different position. The feathers all across her body were popping out in quick, random movements all across her body as her clothes disappeared off of her body, her feet tearing through her shoes as they melted into three talons; her heel ground and groaned as it was forced out the back of her foot, becoming a forth toe as her legs thinned and became scaly and hard. Tail feathers sprouted from the base of her spine as she shrank down to the size of a cat, her arms spread wide as wing feathers suddenly popped out, completing the transformation.

Ben sighed as the falcon fluttered its wings and landed on his shoulder, lightly digging hits talons into his shoulder. "I know you're still skittish, Jane, but you can't stay an animal forever." he sighed, walking out of the classroom with Jinafire behind him. "See you later." he smiled, kissing the dragon the cheek and turning down the opposite hallway towards the pool.

Jinafire gave a small smile before turning on her heel and walking in the opposite direction ben had been heading in, sniffing slightly and coughing a little. Despite sleeping in the company of Ben last night, she had not slept very well at all, tossing and turning for hours on end in a fitless sleep before the morning rose. Her body ached all over, and her head was stuffed up and throbbing as she opened the door of the student lounge and sat down on one of the couches, curling up into a tight ball and wrapped her tail around her head for warmth as she concentrated and slowed her breathing.

She suddenly felt a slight itching at the back of her nose that wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried to ignore it. "ACH-OOO!" she sneezed, as fiery, hot flame shooting out past her lips and scorching the floor; Jinafire sniffed and groaned slightly before settling back down and trying to fall back asleep. "Ugh." she shivered, really wishing the student lounge offered blankets as she fell into slumber.

---

Jinafire woke to a dim ringing sound that boomed in her ears as loud voices pounded her skull, hands sliding all over her body and shaking her in attempts to wake her up. With a sudden shift of her body, she sleepily opened her eyes to stare at a blurry image of Ben shaking her awake with Jane biting her nails nervously.

"Jinafire! Wake up!" Ben's voice echoed in her head.

"Hmmm?" she moaned, yawning and releasing a cloud of smoke from her jaws; Ben coughed and waved his hand in front of his face.

"You missed the past two periods," Jane said quietly. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better," Jinafire reassured her before feeling a familiar sensation in her nose. "ACH-OOO!" she sneezed, releasing another jet of flame that would have burnt Ben to a crisp had he not ducked out of the way in time.

"You sure?" Ben asked skeptically.

"I am positive, Be-" Jinafire started before a loud belch escaped her lips. She moaned and dropped to her knees, holding her stomach as she let out another loud belch, her golden scales turning a sickly color.

"Uh, are you gonna throw up?" Ben asked worriedly. Jinafire never got to answer as her stomach suddenly did a flip and she shoved her way past Ben and Jane and out of the student lounge, racing down the hallways to the nearest Ghoulsroom and kicking in the door with a loud bang! She rushed to the nearest stall and kicked in the door once more and promptly emptied her entire stomach contents into the toilet, a loud retching sound echoing off the bathroom walls as steam rose to the ceiling; she could dimly hear the sound of the door being shoved open again with heavy footsteps on the tile behind her that paused upon seeing her. There was a pause before Jinafire was aware that Ben had gently grabbed her hair and held it behind her head as he rubbed her back soothingly/

"Geez, you really are sick," Ben muttered, upon getting a glimpse of the smoking remains in the toilet. The loud sound of hooves pounding against a tightly carpeted floor caught his attention as the door to the Ghoulsroom banged open and a purple falcon came flying through it with Headmistress Bloodgood atop Nightmare. "Mr. Tennyson, why are you not only out of class, but in a private area only-" the Headmistress began to rant before noticing the loud retching sounds coming from the bathroom stall.

"Oh, I see," Bloodgood sighed, clucking her tongue upon seeing Jinafire; the body pried her head lose and held it down to Ben's head level to speak. "How long has she been like this?"

"She didn't show up in class for the last few periods. We found her asleep in the student lounge before she ran in here and started puking her guts out." Ben replied, recoiling slightly as Jinafire started puking again after a brief moment of peace.

"I see," Bloodgood hummed. "She is clearly too sick to remain here any longer; she will have to go home."

"She's staying with me at my place." Ben told her.

"You mean Ms. Vondergeist's place?" the Headmistress corrected him.

"Same thing," Ben agreed.

"Then that means you will have to take her home and attend to her, I'm afraid," Bloodgood sighed. "And because it is a perfectly good excuse, I will let all your shenanigans slide just this once."

Ben nodded as Jinafire finally stopped puking and gasped for breathing, hacking and coughing loudly. "Eww. We really need to get you home." Ben noted.

"I'll have Mr. Ogrethor led you a bucket in case Ms. Long needs to . . . uh . . ." Bloodgood trailed off unable to find a professional word for it.

"Throw up? Hurl? Barf? Gag? Heave? Regurgitate? Spew? Upchuck? Chunder? Do the technicolor? Yawn? Toss up her cookies? Yell at her shoes? Lose her lunch? Ralph? Vomit? Drive a truck? Blow her lunch? Bark at the ants? Call the dinosaurs? Yodel her groceries? Pray to the Porcelain God? Worship the Porcelian God? Bow down before the Porcelain God?" Ben supplemented many words.

"Er, yes," Bloodgood blinked as her body shivered slightly. "I do not think Mr. Ogrethor would appreciate having to clean up more . . ."

"Vomit? Puke? Barf? Tactical chunder? Pavement Pizza? Street Piz-"

"Your knowledge of multiple words that mean the same thing as stomach fluid both astonishes and frightens me, Mr. Tennyson." Bloodgood interrupted as a large, warty, purple ogre wearing a pair of overalls came into the bathroom and set a bucket down.

"Thanks. We'll return it when we're done." Ben promised.

"Keep it kid. I needed a new bucket anyway." Mr. Ogrethor grumbled upon hearing a loud hissing noise from the stall. The ogre janitor cursed beneath his breath and walked out of the bathroom to grab a plunger, some fire retardant gloves, and a fire extinguisher.

"Mr. Tennyson? If you please help Ms. Long out of the building and get her home safely? I believe I have to order a new toilet. I can't imagine dragon stomach fluid is good for the pipes." she mumbled under her breath as her body returned her head to her shoulders and rode Nightmare back to her office.

"You okay?" Ben asked Jinafire.

"It burns . . ." the young dragon managed to croak, holding her aching throat.

"I can imagine," Ben shivered before putting a hand to her head. "Hmm. Cold." he noted as he turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through the aliens before coming across the one he was looking for an slapping the activation button, the familiar green light engulfing him as it changed him. His arms became more furry as hundreds upon thousands of yellow colored hairs sprouted all across his body, racing down his legs and over his chest, up his neck to cover his face as his pinky finger was sucked back into his hand, deemed useless for whatever alien he was becoming. His ears became large and fleshy, similar to that of a rodent's as they rotated up towards the top of his head, his face bulging outwards slightly as his nose became flat and primitive looking. His canines became longer and sharper as his teeth became slightly crooked, his skeleton cracking and groaning as it was compressed and shrunken down to a height of roughly four feet tall. Two, long, furry, prehensile tails snaked out from the base of his spine, cracking and whipping themselves around as if they had minds of their own as his feet became bigger and perfect for gripping, his big toe moving into a 45 degree angle that allowed them to be used like extra hands. Black, gauntlet-like coverings materialized on his wrists, allowing his fingers free movement as a suit that greatly exposed his furry chest appeared on his body with green rings on the knees and elbows; the Omnitrix reappeared on a green and white belt around the alien's waist, completing the transformation.

"Get back to class, Jane. We'll see you at home," Teleportail told the falcon perching on top of the stall; the bird of prey screeched in distress and flapped her wings.

"Just stay around Venus or Robecca whenever possible, okay?" the Vong Linducher instructed Jane, earning a piercing stare from the falcon before it gave a final screech and flapped its wings, soaring out of the open bathroom door as Mr. Ogrethor marched back in, ignoring the bird that had flown over his head and the sudden appearance of a strange, little alien. The janitor paid them no mind as Teleportail spun his two tails in a wide circle behind them and tore a small hole in the fabric of space and time that he vanished through with Jinafire and the bucket in tow.

"Stupid kids and their freaky watches." Mr. Ogrethor grumbled as he went to fixing the tiolet.

---

They reappeared seconds later in the living room of Spectra's house, the Omnitrix timing out a few seconds after they had landed. "C'mon. Lets get you upstairs for some rest," Ben told Jinafire, helping her up to the second floor despite her weak protests.

"Ben, I can do it myself." Jinafire told him.

"No, no you can not." Ben argued. His point was further proven when her knees suddenly buckled and she nearly fell down the entire flight of stairs to the bottom. "You see? Just let me help you take care of you. All you have to do is get better."

Jinafire looked like she was going to say something when a queasy look crossed her face and she quickly shoved her head into the bucket Mr. Ogrethor had given them, spewing out whatever else could have possibly remained in her stomach; Ben grimaced and held her wobbly frame on the stairs until she was done and continued to walk her up to the room he now apparently shared with her, Jane, and Spectra.

"Can you at least change yourself into your pajamas? Ben asked as he sat her down on the bed. "I know we're pretty far in our relationship, but I don't think we're that far just yet."

"I shall try." Jinafire coughed as she snagged the orange nightgown thrown over the desk chair. Ben turned around and covered his eyes as Jinafire began to strip herself of her day clothes and change into her nightgown, coughing and hacking all the time; thankfully, her lunch managed to keep itself down where it belonged. A quiet sniff and cough signaled that Jinafire was done and Ben turned back around to take her clothes from her and set them on the desk as the dragon buried herself underneath the covers of the bed.

"Get some rest. I'll be back up soon with some soup." Ben told her.

"Won't . . . work . . ." Jinafire coughed lightly. "Need . . . antidote . . ."

"What antidote?" Ben asked as Jinafire began to fall back into slumber. "C'mon, stay with me here!"

"Need . . . Monster Thistle . . ." Jinafire sniffed. "Catacombs . . ." she managed to say before finally succumbing to exhaustion and drifting off to sleep. Ben sighed and shook his head, pulling up the covers to Jinafire's chin to make sure no body heat escaped, a small detail that critical to the survival of reptiles, dragons included. Ben bent down and set a hand on Jinafire's head, checking her temperature before kissing her forehead and leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

He quietly sneaked down the hallway and crept down the creaky stairs so that he would not disturb his ill lover; he doubted it mattered though, considering she managed to sleep through two entire class periods without even stirring. He was about to make his way to the door and leave the house, curling his fingers around the door handle, when a sudden stab of pain thrust itself into his head. Ben stifled a yelp of pain and fell to the floor on his knees, holding his head tightly in the hopes the pain would subside.

Please . . .

Ben thought he was going crazy, hearing voices in his head. The voice that he tried to ignore, tried to tell himself that it wasn't there, was warm and kind with a sad edge in its voice.

Let me look for what I need . . .

The voice begged with him, pleading the question. Ben resisted and gritted his teeth, trying to force the pain to go away and leave him so that he could get moving back to the catacombs.

Please . . . let me look for what I have lost . . .

Ben cracked an open an eye, the voice having finally caught his attention. Other than the fact that it was asking nicely to search through his mind for what it needed, it seemed genuinely sad and desperate for something that it actually needed. With a sigh, Ben slowly took his hands off his head and relaxed as a calming feeling entered his mind, softly poking and prodding at different thoughts and memories as if afraid they would break like glass. After a few minutes, the calming feeling slowly began to subside, draining out some mental hole in his head.

Thank you . . .

Ben blinked, curious as to what the voice meant by that and, for that matter, who the Sphinx it belonged to. Without any other trace of the mysterious voice in his head, he climbed to his feet and grabbed the handle in his hands a second time, quietly opening the door and slipping out of the house, locking the door behind him with a spare house key Spectra had given him. He was about to activate the Omnitrix and dial in Wildmutt or Arctiguana when two twin clouds of smoke, one a bright magenta and the other an inky black, suddenly exploded in front of him, making him cough and hack as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Sorry about that, Ben," Gigi apologized, snapping her fingers and summoning a fan that she waved back and forth to try and clear the smoke that surrounded them and her sister. "But we could really use your help."

"Hey, Ben," Whisp purred, wasting no time in getting up close and personal with Ben, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tight. "Miss me?"

"Depends," Ben coughed. "Why are you here and not in class?"

"Why are you not in class?" Whisp retaliated with a small smile.

"For your information, I have a sick dragon that needs me to find something called Monster Thistle," Ben explained. "Your turn."

"Fair enough," Gigi shrugged, producing a small letter from the folds of her winter jacket and unfolding it so that it could be read. "We need your help to get to a certain part of the catacoms beneath the school; my past self gave me some directions to the spot."

"Can't you just, I dunno, poof yourselves there?" Ben wondered.

Gigi shook her head. "We tried that, but there's some kind of magic inhibitor that prevents magicial deities like genies from simply poofing in there," Gigi told him. "That's we need your help getting there."

"And," Whisp added with a small smile. There might be some Monster Thistle there too."

Ben took the hint and surrendered. "Fine. I'll help," he said. "On the condition that I get some Monster Thistle out of this so I can cure Jinafire."

"No problem, Ben," Whisp smiled with an odd look in her eye. "But before we begin this epic quest, I'd like to talk about the very serious subject of Schizophrenia-" she started before a second, exact duplicate of her head popped out of her neck.

"No she doesn't!" the second head interrupted.

"Shut up, and let me speak!" Whisp shot back, tightly clenching her fist.

"Oh, as if you ever anything worthwhile to listen to!" the second head rolled her eyes.

"That's it!" Whisp creid, jamming her fist forward and socking her second head in the eye. The head growled and balled up Whisp's other hand and slugged her in the face, the two of them quickly getting into a slap fight and yanking at each others hair with the single hand they controlled; Gigi and Ben simply starred.

"Are you sure you two are related?" Ben asked.

"Hard to believe, I know." Gigi sighed as the body the two heads shared collapsed from lack of oxygen when both hands started strangling the others head. "How do you live with yourself, sis?"

"Confidentially speaking, it ain't easy." Whisp gasped as the second head disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

---

Jane gulped and tried to steady her jittery nerves as Ms. Kindergrubber, a plump old witch who was incredibly near-sighted by had excellent hearing, smell, and wielded a spike rolling pin, excused the class to gather into groups of four and set to work on the day's assignment: making a three course lunch.

Due to her upbringings, Jane was never one to exactly . . . prepare her meals in the civilized sense of the word. Sure, she would gather mangoes that had fallen from the trees of her tropical home and let them dry in the sun before eating them a few days later, but that was pretty much as far as she had gone. And despite her adopted parent's best efforts to teach her the ways of civilization, they had little success. It wasn't that Jane didn't want to learn, it was just the fact that most of the things they taught her didn't make sense; it had taken her nearly a month before she finally let her family dress her in something other than rags that just barely covered her.

"Jane? Jane? Earth to Jane!"

Jane yelped and very nearly turned into a spider before she released it was only Venus trying to get her attention. She smiled sheepishly as she retreated the extra legs and eyes that had formed back into her body; thankfully, no one had noticed.

"Partners?" Venus smiled, gesturing between the two of them and Robecca.

"Absolutely." Jane agreed as the three ghouls quickly scurried over to an empty kitchen. "Aren't we supposed to have a fourth person somewhere?" she noted.

"I don't know, luv," Robecca shrugged. "I think we'll have to make due with what we have."

Venus shrugged and looked over the laminated slip of paper with the recipe on it, quietly mumbling the listed ingredients as Robecca got the desired utensils and pans they needed; Jane stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. "Need help?" Venus asked, noticing Jane's problem.

"I-I don't know what to do . . ." Jane said nervously, rubbing her shoulder self consciously.

Venus smiled and shook her head. "Why don't you start with the salad?" she suggested.

"But, isn't that cannibalism?" Jane gulped nervously, glancing over Venus with a frightened expression.

Venus shook her head again. "No, it's only cannibalism if I eat it. I've excepted the fact that most, if not all plants are meant to be eaten by something else," she told Jane. "But don't start taking bites out of me unless the situation gets really bad, okay?"

Jane nodded as Venus led her over to the counter where a cutting board sat next to a mound of various vegetables and fruits; carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, apples, bananas, and strawberries just to name a few. Venus handed her knife and left her to start on the spaghetti with meat sauce as Robecca worked on the soup and fruit smoothies. Jane gulped and looked back and forth between the knife and the pile of veggies and fruits next to her before grabbing a banana and quickly peeling it and setting it on the cutting board. She raised her arm and brought the sharpened blade down with a dull

thwack! on the cutting board, cleaning cutting the banana in two. Ever so slowly, she raised her arm up and down on the cutting board, slicing the soft banana into neat slice before tossing them in a bowl and picking up an apple and slicing that in half before slicing it into eighths. She worked like this for the next twenty minutes before her arm began to get sore.

With a sigh, she deposited the remains of a cucumber into the barely filled bowl and dared a look at the pile of fruits and veggies yet to be cut; she had barely made a dent and let out a groan.

"Aufmerksamkeit! Twenty five more minutes, class!" Ms. Kindlegrubber chirped before sniffing the air suspiciously and marching over to another kitchen where Heath was currently trying to put out the oven he had accidentally set fire too, only to make things worse.

Jane groaned before she felt a pair of cool hands slide around her waist and hug her tight. "Having some trouble?" Venus asked with a small smile.

Jane sighed and nodded.

"Want me to show you how it's done?" Venus offered.

"Are you sure? I mean . . ." Jane trailed off, gesturing to Venus and the knife.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Venus waved it off before grabbing a carrot and setting it on the cutting board and gently grabbing Jane's wrists in her hands and standing behind her. "Like this." she instructed, slowly cutting the blade into the carrot and slicing downwards before swinging the top of the knife down and cutting off another slice with the end.

"It's that easy?" Jane asked.

"Much easier than what you were doing before," Venus laughed. "You could chop off heads with those swings of yours!"

Jane turned red as Venus continued to instruct her; Robecca smiled as she rested her elbow on top of the blender lid as it macerated some papayas and dragon fruit. She was glad that her two ghoulfriends were getting along so well together, with Venus's wild and adventurous spirit helping the more cautious and fearful Jane out of her shell with every passing day. It wasn't that Robecca wasn't doing her part to help Jane get more accustomed to the life a monster teenager, but also to the fact that she was in a relationship with three people that loved her very much.

None of this could have been more expressed than the day before when Robecca had taken Jane down to the park for her very first ice skating lesson; having grown up in the hot, steamy jungles of Afreaka, Jane had no idea how to skate on a frozen pond, much less how to survive the winter without changing her form. While Robecca had merely worn a scarf, a pair of fingerless gloves, and earmuffs to keep herself warm, Jane was buried in a T-shirt, sweatshirt, winter jacket, earmuffs, gloves, and winter boots to keep herself warm and was on the verge of giving up on all the clothing and just turning into a penguin to survive the frigid climate.

Robecca had given her that reassuring smile when Jane had first put on her ice skates and tentatively stepped out onto the ice after testing to make sure it was safe. And after the first dozen tries of attempting to stand and falling down, Jane finally got the hang of things had managed to skate a few feet without Robecca's help before falling down. The Copper beauty had picked her up and kissed her lovingly on the cheek sliding one hand around her waist and taking the Jane's hand in her own before taking off at a gentle pace, merely skating the circumference of the pond as the snowflakes gently sprinkled around them.

"Well aren't you two all nice and cozy?"

Robecca was shaken from her thoughts as a tall dragon boy walked into their kitchen. He had golden colored scales for skin and had a long reptilian tail curling out behind him with a plume of black fur at the end. His golden eyes seemed to glow under his spiky red and black hair as his forked tongue ran over his sharpened fangs.

"Who are you?" Venus asked as she released her grip on Jane.

"Dragoon Flame, at your service," the boy bowed. "Sorry I'm late. Bloodgood wanted to make sure I had all my schedule changes in order."

"You are a new student?" Jane piped up, trying to quell the nervous feeling that had started to form in her gut.

"Yes I am, my dear lady," Dragoon smiled. " To this class anyway. Quite the little detective, aren't ya?"

"I'm not really a detective," Jane admitted with a nervously smile and red cheeks. "You just smell different than the other students around here."

"Smell?" Dragoon cocked an eyebrow. "Are you implying that I didn't shower this morning?"

"No! No!" Jane protested quickly. "I just have a more sensitive nose than most students here and I realized you didn't quite smell like you'd been here in Home Ick for a while like we have."

"Oh, okay then." Dragoon shrugged as he glanced at the recipe sheet lying on the counter. "What're we making anyways?"

"Three course meal, luv," Robecca replied. "We're almost done, but if you work on the soup while I finish up the smoothies?"

"I'm on it!" Dragoon announced, sliding over to the stove and sniffing the soup curiously. "Hey, this thing isn't boiling." he noticed.

"It isn't?" Robecca sounded surprised. "I was sure it was working when I left it . . ."

"No problem. I got this covered," Dragoon reassured them as he sucked in a deep breath and blasted a jet of flame out of his mouth and at the bottom of the pot, the soup quickly warming up under the steady flame. Robecca and Venus clapped politely as Dragoon bowed and then took to stirring the soup, adding in the needed ingredients as he came to them. Jane sighed and turned back to her veggies, grabbing a banana and cutting it like Venus had shown her. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to welcome Dragoon to Monster High; she knew how being the new kid felt. But she already felt like her ghoulfriends had suddenly abandoned her and left her for someone else. And things escalated, they could leave her and Ben altogether in favor of Dragoon! Her bottom lip started to quiver at the thought as she desperately tried to clamp down on the feelings of turmoil that were turning around and around inside her.

But they would not go and they would not leave her alone as they insisted upon turning and rolling more around inside of her. She could feel something starting to shift and change inside of her, like earlier in the day; this time however, she could not suppress it, only merely channel it as her body suddenly began to change. She could only hope that it wasn't something horribly huge. Her skin began to prickle and itch as a short layer of fur sprouted all over her body and her nose and lips melted together as her face stretched out and out and out into a long, tubular jaw. Her ears small and more rounded as they rotated towards the top of her head, her purple and pink locks shrinking down to the short fuzz that covered her whole body, Her bones ground and shifted as her spine arched forwards, forcing her down onto her four legs. Her nails suddenly shot out into long, razor sharp claws that curved downwards slightly until Jane was able to support her growing weight on her knuckles. Her hind feet became round paws as short claws tore through her shoes and a long, feather duster tail suddenly appeared at the base of her spine. Her fur turned an indigo in color as a black and white stripe appeared around her chest and curved up and past her shoulder, completing the transformation.

"Um, am I crazy or did your friend just turn into an anteater?" Dragoon wondered, having noticed Jane's transformation.

"Oh, no, not again . . ." Robecca mumbled under her breath.

"Again? What do you mean 'again'?" Dragoon asked, utterly confused.

"She's a shape-shifter," Venus explained. "And she doesn't quite have full control over her powers yet."

"Just like Ben." Robecca cracked with a small smile before turning to Jane. "C'mon Jane, focus and try to change back, alright?"

"Wait! Before she does that," Venus interrupted, pausing long enough to scoop up the large anteater in her arms and set it down on the counter next to the pile of veggies and fruit. "Finish with these. I think you might have more practice with those blades than this one." she joked, pointing towards Jane's long claws and the discarded knife. Robecca rolled her eyes as Jane gleefully set to work, slicing her claws through the pile with ease.

"You ghouls are weird," Dragoon shook his head as he watched Jane. "But I think like it"

"Thanks, luv. That was a nice fire trick before." Robecca smiled.

"Nah, you're too kind," said Dragoon. "But in all seriousness, who is this Ben friend of yours? He sounds like an interesting guy."

---

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND WHEN YOU SAID I WAS HELPING YOU GET THROUGH THE CATACOMBS!" Walkatrout screamed as she scampered down a musty hallway with a flock of wild gargoyles chasing him, snapping their stone jaws and raking their iron tipped claws at the air; Gigi and Whisp soared after them, Gigi wielding a golf club and Whisp exerting a jackhammer that she used with deadly accuracy.

"Well it's not our fault you turned into Walkatrout!" Whisp cried as she drove the trembling tip of her weapon into the back of one of the gargoyles and reduced it to a pile of rubble.

"AHHHHH!" the Ickthyperambuloid yelped as he skidded around a corner and started running anew, managing to shake off one of the gargoyles as it smashed face first into a wall.

"Change into something else!" Gigi hollered as she swung her golf club and managed to decapitate one of the gargoyles. "FORE!"

Walkatrout didn't need to be told twice as he quickly dived into a hole just big enough of his slippery body to slip through as a gargoyle dove for the same hole and just missed him by an inch. Breathing heavily, the Ickthyperambuloid slapped a fin onto the Omnitrix disk and was briefly changed back into his human form inside the tight crawlspace just big enough for him to stand up in, the empty space lighting up with a green light as his body changed. Hard, metal plating raced up his back and front, melting together into a single shield. His shoulders became rounded and massive as flexible black tubing covered the skin between his elbow and shoulder. His arm then began to swell, metal plating taking the place of his skin as his fingers turned into sharp, gray claws. A piston formed on each of his elbows as the metallic plating covered his head and changed it into something that resembled a Greek Corinthian helmet. Two small, pointed ears formed on his head his feet turned into hard, metallic claws. The Omnitrix appeared on his broad chest as a short tail popped out from his spine, completing the transformation.

"How do ya like me now!?" Armodrillo roared, his claws fusing together into sharpened points and the pistons on the ends of his arms starting to pump up and down at a rapid pace. The gargoyles came right at the Talpaedan, hissing loudly before Armodrillo jammed his jackhammer hands into their stony hinds and easily reduced them to a pile of stone shards.

"I can't even think of a good enough joke for this," Armodrillo grumbled as Gigi and Whisp caught up. "How much farther do we have to go?"

"According to the letter, we only have a little more ways to go," Gigi informed. "Going thataway."

"Yeah. Because when someone says it's only a little farther, they're actually telling the truth." Armodrillo grumbled. "Lets just get this done and over with so I can cure Jinafire; I'm not sure how much longer that bucket will hold."

"Aw, don't worry, Ben," Whisp purred curling her hands around Armodrillo's shoulder and resting her head against the hard metal shell. "We'll be there before you know it!"

"Why does that not make me feel any better?" Armodrillo wondered as they moved down the tunnel and hung a right; a loud dripping sound echoed throughout the catacombs as they moved, mold hanging off the walls as the sparse torches lit their way. Bats would occasionally break the silence, flying in loud flocks that beat their leathery wings in the dark space as heavy cobwebs filled to the brim with spiders hung from the ceiling.

Eventually, they came to another room filled to the brim with hot, bubbling lava that sparked and hissed in the pit below it. A low ridge of stone surrounded the bubbling pool, just big enough for some dainty person to edge along to the other side.

"There is no way I am tunneling under that." Armodrillo stated as the Omnitrix timed out. "But maybe we can fly?" he suggested, turning to the Omnitrix again and slapping the activation button as a green light washed over him and changed his form. Ben felt his skin began to scrunch up and harden as his bones slowly started to dissolve into nothingness. Four fleshy stalks suddenly burst from both sides of Ben's head, and he was now aware that he could see from 6 different perspectives until a hardened shell covered his original human eyes, and soon enough they lost all function together.A slight itching from the middle of his back produced large, insect like wings that were a dull yellow in color. A second pair of legs suddenly burst out from Ben's gut like some old alien horror film. His spine, what was left of it anyway, went out from his back and swelled at the end, forming a large, and very sharp stinger with poison sacks just above the point. His fingers melted into two sharp claws and a thumb, and his jaw jutted out as a few of teeth disappeared. The final touch was a rotting scent that, while Ben couldn't smell, he figured others would not be so welcome to it.

"I think my nose just died!" Whisp gagged, snapping her fingers and summoning a pair of gas masks for herself and Gigi to wear.

"Oh, come on! It can't be that bad!" Stinkfly protested, though neither of the genie's seemed convinced. The Lepidopterran grumbled and rapidly beat his wins in a buzzing sound that lifted him off the ground and into the air. With an acrobatic skill, Stinkfly dove and weaved his way through the stalactites that hung overhead, trying to ignore the hot, bubbling pit of molten death beneath him as Gigi and Whisp took to the air with him; they were less acrobatic than the Lepidopterran and merely flew to the other side and touched down as Stinkfly buzzed through to the other side and into another room.

This room was open and expansive, a massive circle that reached nearly fifty feet into the air. The chamber was surprisingly empty of almost anything other than a large pedestal that rose almost a dozen feet above the dusty ground, a shaft of light cast down upon the top. Stinkfly wasted no time in flying to the top, ignorant of the many bones that littered the floor beneath him.

"Uh, Ben? Maybe you should be a bit more careful?" Gigi suggested, her eyes tracing nervously over a skull that picked clean of all flesh.

"What's to be scared of?" Stinkfly wondered as he landed at the top of the winding staircase that led to the top of the pedestal as the Omnitrix, reverting the Lepidopterran back into Ben. "And what's this thing? And why does it look so familiar?" Ben marveled as he picked up the smooth object in his hands; it was made up of a shiny metal of sorts and shaped like a gourd of sorts. No wait, it was more like a lamp . . .

A low growl shook him from his thoughts as he quickly set the lamp back down on the pedestal and turned to see a pair of large, glowing, red eyes staring at him from the darkness. The eyes moved closer, moving out into the shaft of light to reveal a pointed snout with razor sharp teeth lining the jaw. The head was attached to a reptilian head with a pair of large horns. The head was connected to a long neck that ran all the way to a muscled body with four, sturdy limbs attached to it and a long tail tapering to a point at the end of the spine. What caught Ben's attention however, were the two massive bat-like wings that were jammed onto the creature's back, making it seem even bigger than before. That, and the smoke drifting ominously from its large nostrils.

"DRAGON!" Ben yelped as he threw himself off the pedestal just before a wave of fire poured lose from the dragon's jaws and swept over the spot where he had been moments before. "I thought I burred you!" Ben shouted angrily; the dragon seemed to give a wicked grin before thrusting its head downwards, jaws open and ready to swallow Ben whole. Ben quickly jumped out of the way and rolled to the side, activating and slapping the Omnitrix without looking at which alien he had dialed in as a green light washed over him and began to change his DNA. The changes began as his skin turned icy blue, thick scales forming on his molding skin. His back swelled and hardened into a thick, hard, black shell. Four, large, blue dorsal fins sprouted from his back with a sickening sound as his face bulged outwards, black stripes forming around his eyes as pointed teeth began to line his jaws. His wrists swelled as four claws formed, chest plating appearing on his belly. The room temperature seemed to get lower as a icy vapor escaped from his nostrils, the Omnitrix appearing on his chest, completing the transformation.

"Hey, Ugly!" Arctiguana cried out, catching the dragon's attention. "FREEZE!" he yelled, opening his jaws wide and blasting out an icy vapor that struck the dragon square in the chest, freezing ice crystals quickly crawling over the dark scales and encasing the dragon's body in a mound of jagged ice. The massive reptile seemed to merely scoff at the Polar Manzardil's attempt to restrain him and opened its own jaws, blasting out a jet of flame at the ice that trapped its body and melted it.

"Probably should of seen that coming." Arctiguana chuckled nervously before making a mad dash away as the dragon roared and gave chase after him. "Some help would be nice!" he called out to the Grant sisters as he just narrowly avoided a swipe of the dragon's claws.

"You heard the man! MOVE IT!" Whisp cried, summoning a whistle and blowing on it.

Gigi wasted no time in listening to her military sergeant of a sister and snapped her fingers, a rocket launcher materializing in her hands and resting on her shoulder. The weapon was slightly heavy, but not so much that she couldn't lift it as she trained the barrel of the weapon on the rampaging dragon and aimed for its head. Gigi quickly pulled the trigger and promptly fell down to the ground as the rocket launcher fired off a small missile, hitting the dragon in the shoulder and knocking it off balance for a few precious moments.

But it was all the time Arctiguana needed as he quickly skidded to a stop and slapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, the green light briefly changing him back into his human form before injecting a new set of alien DNA into his bloodstream. His skin went from being soft and warm to hot and hard as concrete. Rocky bumps formed on his wrists and shins. His shoulders became broad and massive, so large that he had no neck at all; his face face was stuck right in the middle. His mouth became wider and almost forever stuck in a toothy grin. His fingers swelled in size, and Ben could feel a slight tingling sensation at the tips. He felt a strange feeling as his guts all move upward into his chest as a swirling, hot magma center filled their space. His toes melted into one smooth, rounded foot. A pair of black shorts with green stripes appeared on him as the Omnitrix suddenly appeared on his forehead, completing the transformation.

"Hey, Ugly!" Gravattack grinned as the dragon charged at him and let lose with another jet of flame that harmlessly washed over the Galilean's rocky body. "That's a nice cheese melter ya got there." he grinned maliciously before a pair of wavering, green disks materialized at his fingertips. Gravattack concentrated as the dragon, shifting his hands slightly as the massive reptile began to float off the floor, helplessly flapping its wings and digging its claws into the stone floor of the ground as Gravattack increased his hold on the gravity of the room; bones that had laid still in the cavern for years without being disturbed were pulled into the gravitational field as Gravattack raised his hands above his head, creating an orbit. Rocks and stones lifted off the floor, joining the bones and helpless dragon into a tornado of gravitational energy as Gigi and Whisp and even the lamp were pulled off their feet and into the air; Gigi quickly snapped her fingers and summoned a grappling gun into her hands, firing off the device and hooking the clawed end deep into the rock as she hung on tight with Whisp digging her nails into her leg.

"How long are you gonna keep this up!?" Whisp wailed as the dragon roared inf ear, desperately trying to get back down to the ground as bones, rocks, unfortunate bats, and the lamp whizzed around in a tight tornado over the Galilean's head.

"Until I time out." Gravattack simply replied before a familiar beeping sound was heard and the green light washed over the large alien, returning Ben to the world; everything immediately dropped to the ground with dull thwacks and peppering noises before the dragon landed with a loud boom! on its side.

"Who's the tough guy now?" Ben grinned, glaring at the dragon; the massive reptile whimpered like a puppy and scrambled to its feet, scampering off down a large tunnel and back into the catacombs.

"Now that that's all said and done," Ben grunted, bending down and picking up the lamp in his hands. "I wonder what this thing is. And why does it look so familiar."

"Rub it, Ben," Whisp grinned with a knowing smile. "Rub it and watch what happens."

Ben looked at her suspiciously, but did as he was instructed, rubbing the lamp with the side of his hand as if he were trying to wipe a very stubborn stain off of the stainless metal. At first nothing happened before the lamp suddenly bucked and jolted, as if struck by lightning, flying out of Ben's hands and hopping around on the ground as if it were on fire. A thick, blue fog poured out of the pointed end of the lamp, filling the cavern with the heavy cloud as a loud roar took up to filling the rest of the space. Ben yelped and fell on his butt as a large being suddenly oozed out of the lamp, screaming at the top of its lungs as massive almost limitless power coursed through its body.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-OI!" the being cried. He was a light blue in color and had a black beard and goatee with a pair of pointed ears and a golden earring in the left one. He wore an open black vest and a white turban on his head as he held his aching neck. "Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!" he announced, bending down to glance down at Ben, Gigi, and Whisp.

"What the- oh, no, it's this guy again." Ben mumbled as the Grant sisters helped him to his feet.

"That's right, ladies and gentleman!" the djinni announced. "He's big! He's blue! And he's back! He's the ever impressive," the genie did an impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger before suddenly compacting down into a tiny box. "The long contain," he continued, popping out of the body and summoning a ventriloquist dummy on his knee. "The often immigrated," the puppet mouthed before the genie tossed it over his shoulder and suddenly split into a dozen clones. "But never duplicated . . . duplicated . . . duplicated . . . duplicated, Genie of the LAMP!" he roared as all the clones took to clapping and applauding with all their might.

"Thank you, thank you! Right here, straight from the lamp! Right here for your very much wish-fulfillment, thank you!" the genie bowed down, doing a pretty darn good impression of Ed Sullivan

"Out of everyone I've met, it had to be this guy." Ben grumbled.

"What's so wrong about my Dad?" Gigi wondered. "And how do you know him."

"You mean other than the fact that he's a little crazy?" Ben wondered. "And as for your second question, lets just say its a pretty long story."

"A story!? Ooh, I love a good story!" Genie cried happily, snapping his fingers and summoning a large book. "I've got a 1,001 Arabian tales right here!" he cracked before making the book disappear before assuming the form of a small child. "Can I tell the story please? Huh? Huh? Can I? Can I?" he begged.

"Fine! Just . . . stop! Just stop!" Ben sighed, slumping down to the ground and pinching his brow. "Oh, my aching head."

"Head problems, you say? I can fix that!" Genie announced, changing into a doctor and summoning an examination table underneath Ben's weary form. "Two knocks on the noggin oughta do it!' he laughed, taking out a small hammer and whacking Ben several times on the head.

"Dad, you're getting off topic again . . ." Gigi sighed.

"What the- hey, my little girl's back in town!" Genie cried happily, scooping up Gigi in his big, blue arms and hugging her tightly. "I haven't seen ya since Khufu built the pyramids! And who's your friend?" the djinni asked, noticing Whisp standing on the edge of the shadows uncomfortably.

"My sister and your other daughter," Gigi smiled. "Created by a concerned Finder when they found out I was lonely."

"Good, because if my memory serves right, I only had one birth certificate that I still can't find." Genie mumbled in thought.

"You lost it sometime during the Trojan War." Ben remembered.

"How do you?" Genie asked curiously, interrupting Ben when he was about to speak. "Wait! Lemme guess! Or better yet, read your memories!" he laughed, swooping over to Ben and resting his fingertips on Ben's head. The watch wearer suddenly jolted as if he had been electrocuted as he felt Genie worm his way into his head, picking through his memories with care and a small sense of insanity that Ben was thankful hadn't grown too much yet; he knew what that was like. Before long, he felt Genie retreat from his mind and back out into the world, leaving Ben mentally exhasuted.

"Wow, you've through a lot!" Genie noted. "More than Luke Skywalker ever has!"

"Who?" Whisp wondered.

"Just ignore it." Gigi whispered. "Eventually, you get use to it."

"Eventually?"

"Wow, this is a lot to take in!" Geni announced. "But before I go into full out panic mode, I'd like to discuss the very serious threat of Schizophrenia-"

"No he doesn't!" a second head that matched Genie's suddenly popped out of his shoulder.

"Shut up, and let me speak!" Genie roared, clenching a fist and waving it in his second head's face.

"Oh, no, not this again." Ben muttered.

"Whattya mean? This is raw comedy we got here!" Genie's second head argued with Ben.

"No, it would appear that my new daughter used that trick but a few pages ago." Genie clarified for his second head.

"Again with the mysterious fourth wall breaking and leaving everyone confused?" the second murmured.

"You, be gone!" Genie frowned, snapping his fingers and making his second head disappear in a cloud of smoke. "Great Aphrodite, I need new material!"

"Speaking of new material, I don't see any Monster Thistle around here." Ben frowned, gazing around the bare cavern with disdain; other than the bones that had been scattered about and the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling, there was not much else to decorate the bare room.

"Monster Thistle you say!?" Genie cried. "I happen to have some with me!" he said, summoning a top hat into his fingers and reaching inside up to his elbow and pulling out a white rabbit. "No, that's not it." he mumbled, reaching back into the hat and pulling out a lit torch. A few minutes passed as Genie pulled seemingly random items out his hat, an oversized carrot, spinning wheel, the Lost Arc, a lion, a pumpkin, and even an active chainsaw, before he finally pulled out the desired plant; it was a delicate looking thing with bright pink thorns on its stem that branched out into three small buds.

"There ya go! Oh, and Gigi?" Genie suddenly said in a parental tone. "While you may no longer be in the wish business, it seems you owe Mr. Tennyson a few wishes!"

"How many?" Gigi asked, deciding to take her Dad's word for it; after all, if he had search Ben's memories, it had to be true as Ben wasn't a lair by nature unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Three wishes to be exact!" Genie announced. "And ixnay on the wishing for more wishes," he scolded Ben before turning into a slot machine and yanking down his arm. "That's it: three! Uno, dos,tres!" three line clones slid out of the machine wearing sombreros. "No substitutions, exchanges, or refunds." he cracked, assuming the form of a black and white Groucho Marx.

"I originally started out with three," Ben shrugged. "But the future turned out to be more demanding than I thought."

"Future?" Gigi asked, utterly confused.

"A story for another time," Genie told her. "But right now, we have to whisk our young hero outside where he shall fight for his love! Again!"

"How do you know that?" Whisp asked.

Genie smiled before whipping out a large stack of papers from his vest. "Easy, kid! I finally got around to reading the script for this sucker of a story!" he joked, flipping through the pages. "And according to this, my two daughters will join Young Tennysons harem soon!"

"Wait, what do you-" Gigi started.

"Tut-tut! Off we must go!" Genie cried, the script disappearing into a cloud smoke before he snapped his fingers, whisking away Ben, Gigi, Whisp, and himself to parts only he knew about.

---

"Jinafire! Get back here!" Robecca cried as she flew after the dragon.

"You will have to catch me!" Jinafire cried happily, giggling like a child before skipping away.

"Is it just me, or is this completely random?" Venus huffed as she ran across the school grounds, trying to keep with Jinafire. For reasons unknown to them, Jinafire had suddenly appeared back on the school grounds after Jane claimed she had gone home terribly ill with Ben. And to make matters worse, the dragon was wearing her night gown out in broad daylight, exposing her underwear underneath and leaving little to the imagination should anyone look at her. Thankfully, Jane, Venus, and Robecca had managed to catch her during Study Howl, rushing outside to try and catch her before things got worse.

And Dragoon was there to see it all.

"I take it this sort of thing doesn't happen on a regular basis with you?" he asked, keeping even with the three ghouls as they chased after Jinafire into the trees that bordered the school.

"This kind of thing? No," Jane panted. "But ever since we met Ben, strange things don't seem so strange anymore!"

"He does bring out the strangeness in things, doesn't he?" Dragoon noted as they chased a merry Jinafire around the schoolyard again.

"You say that as if you know Ben." Venus noticed suspiciously.

"That's because I do," Dragoon shrugged. "I know a lot about him actually. And I know a lot about you three, too."

"Like what?" Venus asked as Robecca made a dive to tackle Jinafire to the ground, only to miss and crash land into a bush.

"Like the fact that all three of you are bisexual," Dragoon huffed. "You're dating each other and Ben at the same time. Man, she runs fast!" he made the last remark at Jinafire. "What exactly were her symptoms before she left school?" he asked Jane.

"Well, she was suddenly really tired," Jane remembered. "And she severe nausea and a fever as well."

"Oh, great," Dragoon said sarcastically. "She's got Dragon Flu."

"Dare I ask what that is?" Robecca asked, picking leaves out from between her metal plating as they continued their chase.

"It's pretty similar to a standard stomach flu, with the exception of a few side effects that include limited mental instability," Dragoon explained. "Among other things that you really don't want to know about."

"So we should catch her quickly?" Jane guessed.

"Like yesterday, toots." Dragoon agreed.

"You do realize I have a boyfriend, right?"

"I am very aware of that fact," Dragoon told her. "I'm also aware of the fact that your friend is absolutely hot and that I'm gonna ask her out when she's not crazy!" Before any of the ghouls could warn him against the idea, the dragon rushed forward and tackled Jinafire to the ground, pinning her shoulders firmly with his hands and restraining her legs with his knee just as a vaporous cloud suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Dude, get off my ghoul!" Ben yelled angrily, shoving Dragoon off Jinafire and taking his place, Monster Thistle in hand. He quickly folded the plant into a small ball before prying open Jinafire's mouth and stuffing the flower inside before forcing her lips shut. Jinafire recoiled at the taste before relaxing slightly and swallowing, her movements becoming less jittery and unfocused.

"Gigi, can you take her back home and make sure she stays in bed?" Ben asked the genie, passing Jinafire over to her. Gigi nodded and grabbed one of Jinafire's hands as Whisp took the other; Genie did the honors and snapped his fingers, the four of them vanishing in a cloud of smoke. "And as for you, thanks for catching her." Ben said to Dragoon. "But don't get any ideas, got it?"

"I already have one," Dragoon frowned. "You. Me. Right here, right now. Last man standing, gets her."

"Dude, I already won her hand! Legally!" Ben frowned. "I traveled all the way to Fanghai to fight her seven brothers just so we could date!"

"And that means I will have to fight you." Dragoon hissed.

"Dude, do you even know who you're talking to?" Ben gave a confident smirk as he turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through his listings before selecting an alien and slapping the activation button, the familiar green light washing over his frame and changing him. His arms and legs were pulled back into his body, shortening but not disappearing altogether. His fourth and fifth finger fused together as a short layer of tan fur covered his sifting body, rust colored spots appearing here and there along his arms. The brown mop of hair on his head was sucked back into his scalp as his ears became long and pointed before rotating to the top of his head as if they were liquid steel. His front teeth ground and cracked as they shoved their wave out of his mouth and over his bottom lip, giving him a rodent-like look as a green and black jumpsuit and a belt with the Omnitrix materialized on his body. The most noticeable change however, was when a massive, furry, blonde colored mustache appeared on his upper lip, finishing the transformation.

"En guard!" Molestache grinned, morphing his luxurious mustache into a pair of gigantic fists that obeyed his every command. Dragoon seemed to blank before lunging right at the little alien, ready to tackle him to the ground only for Molestache to quickly sidestep to the right and avoid the attack. Dragoon stumbled beyond Molestache, earning a quick blow to the back of the head.

"Ha, ha! I say, put your dukes up and have at me, good chap!" Molestache laughed kindheartedly.

Dragoon hissed and whirled around, lashing out with a leg to smash into Molestache's face. The little alien merely grabbed his leg with one of his hairy fists and swung Dragoon around in a tight circle before throwing him into a tree.

"You'll have to do better that, my good man!" Molestache quipped, charging at a dazed Dragoon and slugging him twice with his gigantic fists before giving him a swift uppercut to the jaw that sent him flying into the air just as the Omnitrix timed out; Dragoon landed a couple yards away with a painful sound that he quickly shook off and climbed to his feet.

"Lucky shot." he hissed.

"Not luck! Skill!" Ben smiled before turning to the Omnitrix a second time and slapping the activation button without looking at which alien he had selected. The green light quickly engulfed him, changing his form and distorting his body into something new that the world had never seen. The Omnitrix beeped and suddenly consumed Ben in a flash of green light, injecting him with a set of alien DNA and forcing his body to change into something new. His skin turned a dark gray in color as his skeleton groaned and cracked he slowly grew a couple feet taller than his original form, his ears becoming long and floppy, drooping down on either side of his head before they stiffened and stuck back like rabbit ears as his eyes became diamond-shaped and turned an emerald green in color. His arms grew until his knuckles just barely touched the ground, small spikes popping out at the elbows and his pinky finger sucking back into his hand, a process that was rather normal for Ben's aliens. A grinding noise came to his attention and he cocked his hand far enough to see a skeletal tail grow out from the base of his spine, fresh muscle wrapping around the bare bone before smooth skin raced over the muscle. His toes popped back into his foot one by one as the bone quickly slithered to the surface like jelly before hardening into a solid hoof. His organs sloshed around inside his body, expanding slightly to fill the empty space inside of him as his brain filled all the available space inside his skull. The final piece of the transformation were the addition of black and green arm and leg braces, chest plate, shoulder pads, belt and a helmet that protected his skull, the Omnitrix appearing on the belt around his chest.

But Brains didn't stop there; he focused his brilliant mind and felt his body start to ooze and change all on its own. Brains's form began to shrink down, his skeleton grinding and cracking loudly as he shrunk down to a height shorter than Frankie's waist. His delicate fingers fused together into sharp points before his hands and wrists suddenly swelled with massive amounts of muscle until they were the size of basketballs. His tail slurped back up into his spine like a piece of spaghetti as his hooves cracked and split apart into three talons. His skin went from a dull gray to a pale white as swirling black designs appeared on his head. Brains's pointed ears became more rounded and drooped down the side his head as the face mash vanished into thin air. The arm and leg guards disappeared as well as a pair of black shorts and a green belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared around his waist, completing the transformation.

"Brawn! Brawn! Brawn!" the other half of the Twins species cried gleefully. "WA-HOO!"

"Aw, man. Not this guy!" Dragoon grumbled under his breath just before Brawn dashed forward and slammed a rounded fist into his face, knocking him clear off his feet and into the wall of the school.

"Is that all you got? Huh, huh? C'mon, give something good!" Brawn grinned cockily, bouncing off his spring-loaded feet and into the air to land on Dragoon's gut and knock every last bit of air out of him. "Ya ain't got nothing! I am the supreme champion! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Brawn cried triumphantly.

"You'd . . . think that . . . wouldn't you?" Dragoon gasped, shoving Brawn off of him and climbing to his feet, a seriously annoyed look on his face. "But I have a few tricks up my sleeve; you aren't the only one who can transform, you know." A loud cracking sound filled the air as Dragoon's bones shifted and ground, lengthening and thickening as his changed. His arms began to swell as his veins bulged and pulsed, new blood forced through them as his hands trembled and shook violently, large claws growing from his fingernails and thick scales running up from his arm to the rest of his body. The scales began to cloak him as his frame began to expand, becoming bigger and bigger in size and stature as his head grew larger. His face suddenly expanded outwards into a sharp snout as his teeth ground and grew into razor sharp fangs. His tongue became long and forked as his ears suddenly morphed into a small pair of horns. A loud cracking sound filled the air as a large pair of horns grew from Dragoon's skull, a row of sharp spikes growing up from the vertebrae on his back. A skeletal tail suddenly whipped out from the base of his spine, quickly being wrapped in firm muscle and tissue before hard, red scales covered the muscle, a spade-like growth forming on the very tip of the tail as he was forced onto his four, changing legs. The most noticeable change however, was the suddenly appearance of two pairs of large, bat-like wings that slipped out from his back with a sickening sound and into the ground daylight, adding to Dragoon's new form and completing the transformation.

"WOW. Did not see that coming." Brawn stated as he looked upwards at the massive dragon that towered over him.

"You never really were one to anticipate things, Ben," Dragoon growled. "And that, is why I will win and take Jinafire for my own."

"Over my dead body!" Brawn cried.

"Famous last words." Dragoon grinned a toothy smile before opening his jaws and blasting out a jet of fire that scorched the ground in front of Brawn, forcing the little alien to back flip out of harms way.

"Ben!" Robecca cried, gunning her rocket boots.

"No one interferes!" Dragoon bellowed, smacking his tail against the ground. A large tremor shook the earth beneath them, forcing the ghouls down to their knees as Dragoon roared and chased after Brawn, snapping his jaws repeatedly; the Omnitrix timed out seconds later, Ben now screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Time out!" Ben cried before Dragoon raised a clawed hand and slammed it down on him, pinning him to the ground.

"I don't think so." Dragoon hissed, lowering his head to be even with Ben's. "So sad that I never got to know you better. I was actually starting to like you."

"You don't have to do this, Dragoon!" Venus yelled. "Because if you do, I will kick your sorry ass all the way from here back to Fanghai!"

"I really have no choice," Dragoon shrugged. "It's common dragon tradition."

"There are other ghouls, ya know!" Ben cried out from under Dragoon's claws.

"Yes, but none as beautiful or as kind as fair Jinafire." Dragoon sighed happily before returning his attention to Ben. "Any last words?" he asked, parting his jaws as an ominous glow formed in the back of his throat.

Ben opened his mouth to say something before a computerized voice interrupted him. "Randomizer Mode activated. Have a nice day." the Omnitrix chirped.

"Oh, that's not good." Ben moaned.

"I agree." Dragoon frowned as a green light encased Ben as his arms swelled as his veins popped out, alien blood coursing through them as muscles piled themselves on top of each other. His legs became muscled as he stretched upward, growing taller and taller until he was a good six feet taller than Ghoulia. Fur began to sprout all over his body, turning white on his chest, gut, hands, and feet, turning orange everywhere else. A few black stripes stretched across his broad back and shoulder, a handful of whiskers sprouting on his face. His eyebrows turned black and became longer as they grew up and off his head. His jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharper. His hands became larger and muscled as a single, black claw grew out of his wrist. The final piece of the transformation was the appearance of a green and black luchador outfit and belt with the Omnitrix on it.

"RAGH! Lemme tell ya somethin', Dragoon Flame, regular Normie that can somehow change into a gigantic, firebreathing, Chinese Dragon, despite having wings that normal Chinese Dragons don't!" Rath yelled.

"I'm Japanese," Dragoon frowned. "And call it an evolutionary measure, if you will."

"Rath doesn't understand what you just said, so Rath will respond with something that he also doesn't understand but hopes is painful as well as violent!" the Appoplexian roared, forcing Dragoon's claws apart and giving him enough space to pull himself free. Rath quickly turned to a tall oak tree and rapidly scaled its branches, climbing to the top. "Lewodan Anvil Drop! Rath cried, jumping out of the tree and dropping towards Dragoon's waiting skull with a large elbow jutted out for massive effect. The dragon didn't even flinch as Rath struck him and comically bounced off and down to the ground, painfully clutching his throbbing arm.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO RATH'S ELBOW!?" Rath bellowed.

"Dragon scales," Dragoon mused calmly. "Best armor in the world. Course, you probably won't live long to try it again, you moron."

"Lemme tell ya somethin' Dragoon Blaze! Rath is the one that deals out the insults, even if Rath insults himself!" the Appoplexian roared before he was suddenly consumed in a bright flash of light and briefly changed back into his human form before the Omnitrix injected him with a second set of alien DNA. His skin began to crawl as it hardened smoothed into something similar to an exoskeleton, yet not at the same time. It turned black as it raced over his body, blue blotches with lighter centers appearing all over him. His fingers became sharper as they turned into claws, and he could feel his toes melt into toe as a third claw sprouted from his heel with a loud grinding sound. His teeth fused together into two plates that felt like they could bite through almost anything as his eyes widened and became larger, turning a bright green with three dots. Muscles piled themselves up on his chest and arms, but the most important and noticeable change however, was the itching sensation he got on his back and head. With a sudden, sickly sound, four large wings ripped out of his back, bigger than his entire body. Two large antennae burst out of his head. The wings and antennae flapped around for a few seconds before gently and silently wrapping around their owner like a cloak. The final piece of the transformation was a suddenly chilled feeling in his core, a feeling that ran through his veins and arteries that felt as cold as ice.

"Time for you to chill out!" Big Chill breathed as he unfolded his winds and sucked in a deep breath before blasting out an icy vapor at Dragoon's head, the ice crystals already forming on his scales. But the ice didn't seem able to get kind of hold on the dragon's head, the ice simply falling to the ground in a pile at the massive reptile's feet. Dragoon was not amused and lunged forward, jaws wide open, and snapped them shut around the Necrofriggian. The dragon's jaws quickly forced open by Big Chill as he struggled to keep Dragoon's mouth shut, his limited strength slowly diminishing with every passing second.

"C'mon, give me something useful!" Big Chill begged as he heard a familiar beeping sound and was suddenly engulfed in a flash of bright green light. 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. Jane 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.

"Yeah! Four Arms!" Venus cheered as the Tetramand quickly forced Dragoon's jaws open far enough to jump and land back on the ground. The dragon bellowed and followed Four Arms with his head as the Tetramand ran beneath him and between his legs, wrapping his thick fingers around Dragoon's tail and pulling with all his might. The Tetramand grunted as he finally managed to yank the dragon off its feet and swing him around before throwing him with all his might into the wall that surrounded the school.

"Is that all you've got?" Four Arms panted. "Oh, for the love of Swampfire, I'm tired."

"I take it you are surrendering?" Dragoon assumed, climbing to his feet and stalking towards the Tetramand.

"No," Four Arms grunted, straightening to face his powerful foe. "You wanna know why I always win? Because I don't give up!" he yelled, charging forward and raising all four fists. Dragoon simply turned around and lashed out with his tail, harshly hitting Four Arms and sending him flying.

"SERIOUSLY!?" Four Arms wailed as he soared across the courtyard and crash landed into the swamp water fountain on the other side, utterly obliterating it with a loud crash! Seconds later, students were pressed up against the windows to watch the battle as Dragoon lumbered closer to Four Arms, lciking his chops as he flexed his wings.

"I'm thinking once I have Jinafire I'll take her out to a nice Italian place downtown," Dragoon said casually. "What do you think? Too forward?" he asked Ben, as if he actually cared about his opinion.

"I don't know," Four Arms groaned, climbing to his feet and shaking off stone dust from his broad shoulders. "I know a nice place that serves knuckle sandwiches!"

"Puns. How amusing." Dragoon rolled his eyes. "But you are no match for my power and skill. Why don't you just surrender with your dignity in tact?" he suggested as an ever familiar beeping met his ears and a bright, green light washed over the Tetramand, changing his DNA. His skin turned a chrome white in color and became cold and hard to the touch, much like a sheet of metal as his arms expanded and bulked up. The first part on either of his arms, just below the elbow, became see through like glass as a toxic green started glow within the cylinders, bubbles bouncing around inside his shoulders became massive and rounded. His neck thickened as his head shrank slightly and reshaped itself into a cone shape as green ridges formed around the see-through tank on top that also held a toxic looking liquid inside. His chest bulked out as artificial muscles piled themselves on top of each other, racing down his legs as his toes melted together into a single, chrome white foot. A round, glass window suddenly appeared on his chest, looking very much like the Omnitrix itself with the bright, greenish glow as the actual Omnitrix appeared on a green and white belt, completing the transformation.

"Lets test it then, shall we?" Atomix gave a cocky smile, giving a come-at-me-bro gesture with his hand.

"You never listen to anyone do you?" Dragoon growled, as he opened his jaws again and blasted out another jet of flame that merely washed over Atomix's chrome body, only leaving dark scorch marks. The large alien narrowed his beady eyes and drove a glowing fist forward, hitting Dragoon in the jaw with little effect as he went for a roundhouse kick to Dragoon's chest with no effect whatsoever.

"Difficult, is it not?" Dragoon seemed amused as he reared up onto his hind legs an drew back a fist, slugging Atomix in the face and sending him flying across the courtyard, watching him fall back into the cobbled stone and tear it up, leaving a deep trail and crater in his wake before he came to a stop with a groan. "It seems anything you can do, I can do better." Dragoon noted.

"My, aren't we cocky?" Atomix coughed, climbing to his feet before quickly turning to his three ghoulfriends. "Duck and cover, my loves!" he cried as his hands glowed an ominous green as he slowly spun his hands in a slow circle; Dragoon watched with only slight interest.

"HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA HAA-MEE-NA-HA!" Atomix roared, stopping the slow movement as his entire body glowed an ominous green. "NUCLEAR WINNER!" Atomix bellowed as the entire area was suddenly consumed in a bright green light as Atomix practically exploded; a fiery, radioactive, green mushroom cloud soared into the atmosphere, consuming everything within range. The blast shook the earth and blew all the trees back to the near breaking point of their trunks before dying down, leaving a loud ringing in anyone who hadn't covered their ears.

"Is that the best you can do?" Dragoon shrugged, giving his body a shake, a light dusting of ash sprinkling down to the ground.

"Oh, man! That was my best shot, and Dragoon is still standing!" Atomix whimpered as Dragoon grabbed his head in his claws and squeezed as tightly as possible, throwing him clear back across the courtyard and into a tall oak, completely decimating it into splinters and leaves.

"Please, for the love of Sphinx, give me something, anything to defeat this fellow!" Atomix begged the Omnitrix as the familiar green light washed over him and began to change his DNA. His skin turned a smooth, almost liquid black in color, a white sheen materializing on the border of his body as his frame only grew slightly taller than his original form. His toes all fused together into a single digit as a grinding sound filled the air, three horns growing up from between his deep, green eyes. His jaw jutted outwards as any other minor detail simply seemed to vanish, including his actual mouth. Tiny little, star-like dots suddenly blinked to life on his body, giving him the image of a starry sky. But what Ben felt most of all was the power that came to him. Unlimited, unquestionable, unmatched power poured into him from very available part of the universe into him. He felt like he could anything from merely destroying a planet with a flick of a finger to recreating the entire universe if he wanted to. Ben suddenly felt the addition of two more personalities enter his mind, one that was throbbing and pulse while the other seemed to be calm and placid; the final addition of the transformation, was the addition of the Omnitrix on his chest.

"Is that . . ." Robecca trailed off in awe.

"Alien X!" the Celestialsapein roared, his voice deep and echoing and seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Dragoon actually looked for a bit before rushing forward, jaws opened wide and an ominous glow formed in the back of his throat. Alien X seemed completely unfazed as he drew back a mighty fist, his eyes narrowing with determination and a mouthless, cocky grin on his face.

And then, at the worst of times, the Omnitrix timed out and changed the omnipotent alien back into Ben.

"What the- ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Ben swore as loudly as possible just before diving backwards to avoid a fiery blast of flame aimed right at him. He grunted and rolled across the ground for a few yards, rolling to a stop without moving.

"DRAGOON!" a loud voice roared. The dragon growled and craned its head behind him to see a swirling blue portal open up in the air above him and a tall, human-like figure come flying out, hovering a few feet above the ground. He was a little taller than Ben and had short, spiky, black hair with bangs and a pair of cold, amber eyes. He was in peak, physical condition and was very possibly the most handsome man anyone had ever laid eyes on, even if they themselves were man; he was that handsome. He wore a black tank top with a green Omnitrix logo on it, a pair of brown, leather pants with black, leather boots, and had a wristwatch strapped to his right wrist that greatly resembled the Omnitrix. Dragoon snarled and hissed as the boy floated down to the ground, a very angry look on his face.

"Drake." Dragoon spat, narrowing his reptilian eyes at the Alpha Osmosian.

"What have I told you about chasing after woman that are already taken?" Drake scolded almost playfully.

"You do not know the love I feel for Jinafire!" Dragoon roared. "If you cared about anything, if you cared about me, you would have done something to save my mother when you had the chance!"

"We've been over this, Dragoon," Drake sighed, pinching his brow. "I couldn't have saved her if I wanted to."

"Use your freakin' "omnipotent and all-powerful" abilities to resurrect her then!" Dragoon half pleaded and half demanded. "Bring her back, and I will stop this!"

"I would if I could, Dragoon, but it interferes with the laws of the space/time continuum," Drake sighed sadly. "My hands are tied."

"Then I guess I have no choice but to kill him," Dragoon growled, flicking a tail towards Ben. "May his death be on your soul."

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Drake frowned, dashing forward at a pace the ghouls could hardly believe was real. The Alpha Osmosian moved fast, faster than XLR8 or Fasttrack could have ever hoped to run if they wanted. Drake reappeared directly beneath Dragoon, suddenly growing to be the same height as the large dragon and delivering a swift uppercut to the dragon's head; the blow actually seemed to hurt Dragoon as his head snapped back and he bellowed in shock before Drake grabbed him by the neck and heaved him over his shoulder, throwing him to the ground.

Drake concentrated his mind as a second pair of Tetramand arms suddenly split out from under his original pair, an Appoplexian claw forming on the end of each finger as Arburian Pelarota armor formed on his back, arms, and legs; a Vaxasaurian tail sprouted out from the base of Drake's spine before it was engulfed in a flash of bright light, turning a dull green in color as dark blue armor formed on the top side, a spiked mace forming at the tip of the tail and a pair of Vladat wings sprouted out from his back, adding to his size.

"How did he do that?" Jane wondered.

"Like it ladies?" Drake smiled. "Gotta love having ever known power in existence at your fingertips." he grinned before returning his attention to Dragoon and grabbing him with both pairs of his arms, his Appoplexian claws easily slicing through the dragon's skin and exposing large, open wounds that dripped with blood onto the ground; a loud hissing sound filled the air as the precious liquid ate away at the ground. Dragoon roared in agony, snapping his jaws and clamping them down on Drake's upper left arm, biting down as forcefully as possible. Drake didn't seem the slightest bit affected and drew back a large fist, thrusting it forward and slugging Dragoon in the face, sending him flying across the courtyard. Drake rushed forward, slightly weighed down by his Arburian Pelarota armor and heavy, Evoloved Vaxasaurian tail, and quickly flapped his Vladat wings, taking to the air and gaining enough altitude before he suddenly curled up into a tight ball, his Arburian Pelarota armor encasing him in a tight ball as he fell straight down a Dragoon, parting the shell long enough to lash out with his Evolved Vaxasaurian tail and smashing the mace-like tip into Dragoon's face, knocking a few teeth lose.

"How do ya like me now?" Drake grinned as Ben finally started to come to.

"What the- Drake? What are you doing here, come to criticize some more?" Ben frowned from the ground, still to tired to stand up.

"For your information, I am beyond that now," Drake reassured him. "When you're immortal, you have a lot of time to think things over. Now that I've had time to think about it, being bisexual is not so bad." he shrugged before turning to the ghouls, specifically Robecca. "Hope you got the flowers I sent." he apologized.

"What-" Robecca started before a small cloud of smoke appeared at her feet and a bouquet of bright, red roses appeared. Robecca smiled and took the flowers in hand, giving them a deep sniff and enjoying their sweet scent.

"Dude, you better not be doing what I think you're doing . . ." Ben warned the Alpha Osmosian.

"Not even close," Drake reassured him as the various alien body parts were sucked back into his body, returning him to his normal form. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must get going."

"What!?" Ben protested. "Why not just finish the job!?" he groaned.

"Because that's your job," Drake explained as a swirling, blue portal appeared behind him. "Paradox gave me orders to merely give you enough time to catch your breath."

"Of course." Ben frowned.

"Oh, and Ben?" Drake added as an afterthought as he stepped towards the portal. "When you turn on the Omnitrix, select The Worst and slap the Omnitrix as hard as you can." he instructed before giving a parting smile and taking his leave through the portal.

"It seems my foe did not have the guts to finish what he started," Dragoon coughed, climbing to his feet. "Unlike me. You will die where you stand, Ben, and Jinafire will be mine. Nothing personal, by the way." he added as an afterthought.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'll give you a sporting chance," Dragoon said casually, looking over his claws. "Turn into any alien, any alien you wish, and I will make your death nice and swift." he offered.

Ben rolled his eyes a second time, turning to the Omnitrix on his wrist and cycling through his roster, pondering whether or not he should follow Drake's advice. Sure, he didn't like the Alpha Osmosian much, especially after he insulted his ghoul in the space between the time lines, but if there was one thing Drake was known for, it was never being wrong; at least, during the limited time he and Ben had been together. Ben shrugged and selected the Atrocian icon before raising his hand and clenching his fingers tightly into a fist before slamming it down on the activation button as hard as he could, the ever familiar green light washing over him and changing his DNA. A short layer of gray colored fur sprouted all over his body, leaving only his hands and feet bare as his ears rotated to the top of his head, becoming long and rodent-like in appearance. A loud cracking sound filled the air as Ben's bones ground and shifted, a long, rat-like tail sprouting out from the base of his spine as sparse hairs sprouted out at random points on the new appendage. His toes melted into three claws, his heel pushing out behind his new feet to form a fourth toe; Ben's face bulged outwards slightly into a rodent-like snout, a few stray hairs forming a small goatee of some kind his arms swelled and his chest bulked up with muscle. A thick mane of razor sharp quills grew from the back of his thick neck as a pair of black pants, black tank top with a green stripe down the front, green cuffs, and black, fingerless gloves materialized on his body. The final piece of the transformation was the addition of a green belt with the Omnitrix on it around Ben's waist.

"What the- not the time for a new guy, Omnitrix!" the alien roared with frustration. Dragoon merely chuckled and stalked like c at towards the rat-like alien, chuckling all the way. "I'm sure Argit would find this absolutely hilarious. You know, other than the fact that I'm gonna kill you."

"Will you stop saying that!" the Espigilagisapien yelled before screaming as Dragoon pounced on him and pinned him to the ground with a large claw, edging his head down to speak with the alien. "Don't feel bad, Ben. Once you're gone, I'll make sure all your ghouls are nice and happy. And who knows? I might take a few for myself." he chuckled, opening his jaws wide to reveal a familiar glow at the back of his throat. The Espigilagisapien closed his eyes, waiting for the worst to be over as unfulfilled wishes came to his mind; to finally return home, to feel Gwen, Kevin, Rook, Grandpa Max, and his parent's tight embrace, to be with his ghouls for the rest of his life and grow old with them, to finally see Vilgax for good, among other things. He knew that none of these things would ever come true now that he would die at the hands of an ill-tempered dragon with an unrequited love for Jinafire.

"Ben! Ben, what the Sphinx are you doing!?"

Dragoon whipped his head towards the sound as the Espigilagisapien did the same. Rushing out of the main doors of Monster High was a woman only a few inches taller than Ben, a very stern look on her face; Dragoon found himself unable to train his eyes off of her. Her luscious white locks that were as pure as new fallen snow ended in a venomous, purple tip as she glared at him with a pair of violet eyes that could only be compared to diamonds. Her lips were as black as midnight and her white hair framed her heart-shaped face. Her seemingly delicate arms were wrapped in a dark magenta coat with purple ends and heart designs on her hips, her long legs covered by black leggings and boots as black as a raven's feathers.

"Who are you?" Dragoon wondered, completely stunned as his jaw dropped wide open upon seeing Charmcaster's gorgeous figure.

That was all the Espigilagisapien needed. From some sort of instinct or other buried deep within his DNA, he knew exactly what to do. Without warning, he hissed and arched his head forward, aiming the mane of spikes directly at Dragoon's open mouth and firing off a round of a dozen quills into the gaping maw, all but one of the quills bouncing harmlessly off the sharp teeth. The last quill hit is mark true and sank deep within the vulnerable insides of the dragon's mouth, the venom on the very tip of the quill slowly ebbing into Dragoon's bloodstream.

"I think I'm in love . . ." Dragoon sighed happily as he slumped to the ground, his consciousness fading as his eyes blinked shut as his breathing slowed slightly and his firm grip on Ben went limp. In a sudden fluid motion of dark red scales, twisted horns, leathery wings, and black hair, the massive dragon was gone to be replaced by Dragoon's humanoid form, his golden scales now a dull yellow in color.

"Did you . . ." Jane wondered fearfully.

"Nah, just put him to sleep," the alien reassured as he climbed to his feet with a pained hiss. "I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow." he added as he bent down and reached inside Dragoon's mouth, yanking the quill out with ease before looking it over and tossing it carelessly over his shoulder.

"What will you call your new form?" Robecca asked the alien, climbing to her feet and strolling over to him with a smile on his face.

"I was thinking something like . . . PorcuPain." the Espigilagisapien tried out. "What say you?"

"Sounds perfect." Venus grinned.

"Good, because I want to get out of this form as soon as possible. I have the sudden urge to sell everything I see or get into some shifty kind of business." PorcuPain grunted as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted him back into Ben, the glowing green watch face dying down to a dim green as it went into Recharge Mode.

"Will someone kindly explain what the Sphinx is going on!?" Charmcaster snapped. "And who is this!?" she added, gesturing down to Dragoon as he mumbled in his sleep and curled up into a fetal position.

"It's a long story," Ben yawned. "In related news, I am going to pass out from exhaustion." he announced before suddenly collapsing to the ground and fading away from the world with a loud snore next to Dragoon.

"Do I even want to know?" Charmcaster asked the ghouls.

"Probably not." Venus shrugged as she bent down and grabbed hold of one of Ben's hands; Robecca bent down to the grab the other and together, the two of them muscled Ben onto their shoulders and began to walk off the school grounds towards Spectra's house where they would very possibly have to deal with three genies and an overexcited dragon.

"If it makes things easier, he said that he loved you." Jane said quietly to Charmcaster. Before the sorceress could ask what she meant by that, the nervous shape-shifter morphed into a small falcon and took to the skies, flying after her three loves and leaving Charmcaster and Dragoon in the middle of the courtyard.

"That does not make things easier." Charmcaster sighed, turning on her heel and walking back into the school, snapping her fingers with a pink glow; the obliterated courtyard was suddenly engulfed in a bright flash of pink light and all the damage was immediately undone; all the trees were like brand new, their branches restored and their trunks strong once more, the stone fountain was back in one piece, spewing out rank swamp water. And in the middle of it all, Dragoon slept, oblivious to the outside world.

And there we go!

By the way, I had no idea there were so many words for 'puke' and the 'act of vomiting'. Just goes to show you what society does in its spare time. Shameful, really, but absolutely hilarious otherwise.

For those of you waiting for Alien X to debut, I hope you're happy! And hey, Genie had an appearance too! How long will it be before Hades is back in the picture (knowing me, not very long)? Anyways, thank you to all who both voted on the most recent of polls and contributed to the Nemetrix predator contest. The contest is over, but I will be excepting last minute entries until the next chapter. And since I am done with the last poll, a knew one will soon be to discuss a small idea from a reader for a later chapter. Check out the new poll and all the info on my profile later in the week!

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!