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.

41. Mostly Ghostly Van Hellscream

Hey there! I'm back once more with another chapter for y'all to enjoy!

Ooh, I'm so full of energy and ideas I can barely stand it! WA-HOO!

But I guess thanks and introductions are in order. I would like to deadicate this next arc to a reader who as been a major help in writing this story, specifically this arc. Without them, I never would have gotten around to it or come with all the clawsome ideas! This arc's for you, Zak Saturday!

And for those you wondering what said arc is, I'm proud to announce that is none other than the Haunted arc! With a Ben 10 twist for good measure! For those readers who are nearly bored out of their skulls waiting for Ben to return to his dimension, be patient! The wait's almost over!

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

ONWARDS!

"Is she stable?" was the first thing Robecca asked as she and Venus dragged Ben through the doors of Spectra's house.

"Well, I don't see any horses around here, so I'm gonna say yes!" Genie grinned. "Ms. Long is perfectly fine, if not a bit worn out." Jinafire was curled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her as she dozed off in front of the static of the TV, her sickly colored scales now back to their golden hue.

"Good, because I'm not about to chase her all over town." Venus sighed as she and Robecca sat Ben down in an arm chair before taking seats on either side of Jinafire on the couch; just because the dragon was out of it, didn't mean she wasn't capable of causing mischief. The fact that there were scorch marks all over the floors and walls and a smell that could only come from a freshly used fire extinguisher was clear evidence enough. "I am not about to have another run-in with Van Hellscream." Venus grumbled as she stole the remote under Jinafire's fingers and switched the channel to show a nature documentary on wild dragons; like a fly to honey, a violet stained eagle flew in through an open window before alighting on the ground and morphing back into Jane.

"Who is this Van Hellscream?" Jane asked, her eyes flickering back and forth between her ghoulfriends and the TV.

"The worst Normie to ever exist, that's who," Whisp grumbled as she floated down the stairs with a towel around her chest and another around her hair. "Don't ask." she mumbled to the ghouls when they gave her an odd look; only Jane noticed the genie's stare dart towards Jinafire before sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Why is he so bad?" Jane wondered.

"You don't know?" Whisp wondered. "Oh, that's right. You on the other side of an ocean."

"To put it lightly." Venus rolled her eyes.

"Long story short, Van Hellscream is an expert on monsters. He's so smart, that he can take on a horde of giants without breaking a sweat!" Whisp explained.

"How?" Jane asked fearfully.

"He knows every type of monster's weakness," Whisp said with equal fear. "Any kind of monster that's ever encountered Van Hellscream and made it out alive was never the same."

"How many is that?" Jane asked, hiding behind the couch.

"Not many," Whisp shook her head. "At first he seems so kind and thoughtful, working towards bringing Monsters and Normies together and ending this senseless hatred towards one another. And then, he tears them apart from the inside, turning monster against monster until we either take ourselves out or he strikes while we never see it coming. In short, he's one bad dude."

"Yeah, even I'm scared of him!" Genie exclaimed, summoning a security blanket and teddy bear as he sucked his thumb like scared child.

"He's the one that sent that robot to try and kill Casta," Robecca added in as Jane suddenly changed into a cat and took cover under the couch, shivering with the hairs on her back raised up. Venus sighed and reached underneath the couch, pulling the frightened feline into her lap and began to calmly stroke its fur down and scratch it behind the ears. The cat purred as it settled down before it suddenly shifted back into Jane in Venus's lap; the shape-shifter refused to move under Venus's request.

"Well, at least we know the authorities took care of him, right?" Venus sighed as she stroked Jane's head. Despite the words sounding confident in her mouth, Venus knew they would hardly ever be true. When it came to the law, the police were only there to protect one side of the New Salem community and severely punish the other half whenever the chance arouse. Hardly any of the Normies ever thought it was unfair that they only had to pay small fines or limited amount of jail time while the Monsters could be locked away for their entire lives or put to death, and it really was a wonder the monster half of the community hadn't done something about it.

"Lets hope so." Ben suddenly yawned shifting his position to be more comfortable than what the ghouls had put him in.

"You're seriously awake? Already?" Whisp asked Ben, not the least bit concerned that she only had a towel to cover herself when Ben was awake.

"When you wear the most powerful weapon that's ever been created on your wrist, you to develop a habit of somehow managing to get a full night's rest off of only a few hours or even less than that," Ben stretched. "Doesn't mean I'm not exhausted though."

"What do you think he got for attempted murder?" Robecca wondered.

"Probably either six months in prison or a really steep fine, based off of what I heard." Ben mused as he looked to Jinafire and nodded his head, glad that she was both alright and not currently crazy for the time being. It was at that very moment that there came a heavy knocking on the door that sounded like it could only come from a very distressed monster, considering hardly any Normies ever ventured to the monster side of New Salem. Ben got up from the arm chair and lurched over to the front door, not quite fully awake as he curled his fingers around the handle and pulled the door open only for a black and pink blur to rush through the door way and take cover behind Ben, shivering as the snow raged outside.

"Bonita? Hey, calm down!" Ben told the frightened hybrid as she latched onto Ben with an iron grip and sobbed into his shoulder. The watch wearing hero was slightly taken aback by this, but nonetheless wrapped Bonita in a protective hug as he rubbed her back, careful not to damage her fragile wings.

"Bonita, what's wrong?" Ben asked after he managed to calm the frightened ghoul down and walk her over to the rest of the confused ghouls in front of the TV. The shaken up hybrid sat herself down on Ben's lap when he took a seat and refused to move as she wrapped Ben's arms securely around her, as if they were the things in the world that could keep her safe from harm.

"I-I-I-" Bonita trembled, trying to calm her jittery nerves. She failed miserably and instead ended up Ben tightly again before she suddenly took Ben's lips in her own, digging her delicate fingers into Ben's hair as she moved her lips. Ben was shocked for a few seconds, but conceded and returned the kiss, snaking his arms up around Bonita's back and under her wings, a spot that she found very favorable. The hybrid shivered slightly and slithered her arms around Ben's frame, snaking them under his shirt and feeling his well developed muscles. It wasn't until Bonita felt a sudden pinch on her ass did she break away from Ben, giving him a startled look.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist." she heard Venus smirk; Bonita's face turned red.

"Calmed down?" Ben asked Bonita, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The skeletal girl nodded and leaned into Ben's frame, snuggling into him and grinding her ass against him, an act that her face turn an even darker shade despite fully instigating the move. "I-I saw . . . someone . . ." she trailed off, her eyes full of fear and fright. Despite being in the embrace of the one person would she could feel completely and totally safe with, she still was deeply scared. More than usual, that is.

"Who?" Whisp asked, unwrapping the towel from around her head and letting her her turquoise locks fall freely.

"V-Van Hellscream." Bonita replied.

It was like a bolt of lightning had suddenly struck Ben. With a sudden surge of strength he threw Bonita off of his lap and charged right out the doors, nearly tearing them off of their hinges as he barreled down the street, murder in his eyes; Bonita landed on Whisp, both ghouls tumbling to the floor. Thankfully, the genie's towel had managed to stay on.

"Where's he going?" Bonita asked fearfully.

"My guess is either to beat the living tar out of Van Hellscream or the chief of police." Venus replied.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" Jane wondered.

"Do we have to?" Whisp whined.

"I'm afraid we do, luv," Robecca sighed. "It's time to save Van Hellscream! Wow, never thought I'd be saying that." she added as the ghouls dashed out of the house; Whisp snapped her fingers, her regular attire materializing on her person as she chased after the ghouls.

---

Frederick 'Brick' Jones was a man of habit.

Every morning he always drove to his job as the Chief of Police at 8:00 in the morning with a cup of coffee to wake him up in the morning. He lived only a few blocks away from his job and always arrived at 8:15 to walk through the door, greet the secretary at the front desk, and then walk to his office where he would start his daily job at filling out paper work with the radio always tuned to the same smooth jazz channel. Occasionally, his quiet sanctuary would be interrupted by the static of his police radio and a panicked officer's voice on the other end.

Every day at exactly 12:30, he would break for lunch and always walk to the deli/cafe just a block away from the police station and always buy the same thing, a hoagie sandwich with layers of baloney, turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, and mayonnaise before walking back to the station to enjoy his meal. Occasionally, he would buy either another cup of coffee or a soft drink on his way back to the station before he then left exactly at 3:00 to go out on patrol. If it ever was a quiet day and without interruption, he would often be home by 7:00 with dinner waiting for him, hot and ready.

Sometimes, his timely schedule would be interrupted with a fracture in the keeping of the law, but Brick never found this as annoying as most would. What he found most annoying was when his day would be ruined by a report of a monster attack. The sheer thought of those disgusting, horrific, and vile beasts that he was forced to share a town with made him want to throw up his precious lunch and commit suicide, but he kept a cool and clear head in his job. In all of his years of being Chief of Police, there had only been a single time when his team failed to keep the monsters in line, which led to the current arrangement of the town being divided in two and forcing the New Salem police to keep the peace between both sides.

But what ground Brick's nerves more than the very thought of being forced to share a town with monsters, was being forced to share a town with him. He absolutely disgusted him to no end, how he always to be so pompous and cocky in his "job". So what if he supposedly saved his universe a few times? The very thought that he betrayed his own species for those hideous monsters simply because they seemed 'innocent' made him want to throw up his lunch and commit suicide.

What disgusted him even more was that he dared to throw away his humanity and purposely change into one of the monsters he despised so much. How someone would willingly change into something he never should have been to defend people who didn't deserve to be protected made him feel absolutely sick to his stomach. It made him want to puke up his lunch and . . . well, you get the idea.

A low tremor rattled the police station, but Brick didn't pay it any mind; there was construction being down just a street away, and such tremors were customary to hear. He ignored the low rumble and went back to his paper work, turning up the smooth jazz on his radio to block out his noise; his police radio stood upright next to the small radio, silent for the moment as Brick moved the pen back and forth across the paper, going over the latest crimes. On the back of his office door was a dart board with pictures of assorted monsters taped on each target; at the very center was none other than his photo, a dart in each eye and a third in his throat.

A second tremor shook the police station and Brick shifted slightly in his chair, taking the stack of papers in his hands and pushing it off to one side of his desk. With a grunt, he reached down for one of his desk drawers and pulled it open, taking an old newspaper out and setting it on the desk. He glanced over the turned page, a crossword puzzle that he had meant to finish a week ago, but never got around to finishing. There was one last word to fill in, and most people would have simply thrown the newspaper away and gotten a new crossword puzzle, but Brick made it a point to finish every crossword he ever came across, a habit formed out of boredom.

"Hmmm. 'The opposite of Heaven'," Brick read over the description of the last of the last word. Four empty spaces starred back at him, waiting to have their blank faces filled in as the Chief of Police twirled the pen around in his fingers; a third tremor rattled the base as Brick touched the tip of the pen to the first empty space, drawing two parallel lines down and a third line to connect them, forming the letter 'H'.

The building shook a fourth time, Brick's police radio falling over on its side as he continued to fill out the crossword puzzle, ignoring the radio entirely as he drew one line down and scratched out three lines that attached themselves to the first line and stretched out to the right, forming the letter 'E'; a fifth tremor shook the building and the radio fell over as the light blinked overhead and started to sway back and forth.

A sixth tremor shook the base, and it sounded like a dozen eighteen wheelers roared right past the station as Brick scrawled a straight line down and and then drew a second line to the right from the bottom, forming the letter 'L' and repeating the same motions in the last box as a seventh tremor shook the station, the entire building shaking as dust rained down from the ceiling. By the time Brick was finished with his puzzle and look at it proudly, the entire front wall of his office suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust, plaster, brick, and wood; the light overhead exploded, showering the room in sparks and plunging it into darkness as Brick was thrown out of his desk and to the floor. Cursing under his breath, Brick reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight, flicking it on and looking around the remains of his office.

His desk lay in splinters and pieces in the back of the room as the smashed remains of his door lay destroyed and discarded on the floor with his comfy office chair leaning against the wall, the rolling wheels smashed as the stuffing poured out from where the comfy seat was torn. Both of his radios lay smashed into bits, their small wires sparking horribly. Brick moved the tiny beam in the darkness of his office, coughing when the dust from the sudden explosion drifted into his lungs; he almost didn't see what had caused the destruction of his office.

Standing in the massive hole in the wall, his plated sides heaving in and out as his large fingers curled into even bigger fists was massive creature. His long tail swished through the rubble of the police station and his elephant-like feet snapped rafters and crushed bricks when he lumbered over them, approaching the Chief of Police. His nostrils flared as he narrowed his beady eyes, his teeth grinding against each other as his solid green eyes seemed to shine in the small beam of the flashlight. But what made Brick's heart stop was the ever familiar symbol on a green sash across the beast's chest, a sharp, black and green hourglass figure that seemed to glow brighter with the monster's anger.

With a low growl, Humungousaur reached down and curled his thick fingers around Brick's waist, easily lifting him off the floor and bringing him to eye level, his hot breath flaring in the Chief of Police's face. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat your sorry ass into a bloody pulp." the Vaxasaurian rumbled, his beady eyes narrowing into green slits.

"Because I'm an authoritative figure in the community?" Brick guessed, trying to sound brave.

"Wrong answer." Humungousaur snarled before pitching Brick straight into the ground right through the tough tile of the room. The Vaxasaurian raised one of his massive feet up, as if to hammer the ignorant human at his feet down into the depths of the earth. "Try again." Humungousaur growled. "Why is Van Hellscream not currently locked away in a cell for attempted murder?" he put emphasis on the words as if to highlight the man's stupidity.

"Because he's a human being and not a monster," Brick groaned. "And if you swear never to use that freakin' watch of yours again, I just might let you off with a month of jail time for this vandalism."

Humungousaur bellowed and thrust a fist downwards, wrapping his fingers around Brick's head and yanking him out of the crater in his office and squeezing his hand; the pressure wasn't enough to pop the little human's head into a bloody pulp, the Vaxasaurian made sure of that, but it was more than enough to cut off his oxygen supply and make him suffer.

"Do you realize what you've done!?" Humungousaur bellowed, not even waiting for a response. "You've unleashed a monster on New Salem, that's what! And it's not the kind of monster you despise for no reason, this is a true monster! He will destroy ever monster in New Salem and then the world! You just doomed entire species that have been on this earth longer than you ever hope to be, and for what!? Just so you can feel safe?" the Vaxasaurian roared, clenching his fist tighter as Bricker started to struggle. "News flash, you bitch: the monsters don't want war. Do you think they'd want to get locked in another war with you after centuries of hiding? Don't you think they would have started something already if they wanted too!?"

Brick didn't answer as Humungousaur gave his fist one last squeeze and through him into the far wall before bending down and picking up a heavy wooden beam in his hands. "Lemme ask you somethin', bitch, and be honest," he growled, raising the beam over his head. "Does this hurt!?" he growled, swinging the beam down with every ounce of force he had and whacking Brick over the head; his body jolted from the strike as Humungousaur didn't twice more before grabbing hold of Brick's body and tossing in the air, swinging the beam and hitting him like baseball back into the trashed remains of the police station.

"That'll start to make up for what you've done to billions of people, bitch!" Humungousaur bellowed into the darkness. "The ambulance is on its way; try to stay alive while I do your fucking job!"

---

If Robecca had to guess what kind of place a villain like Van Hellscream might live in when he wasn't being a terror to monster kind all over the world, she would have suspected he lived in some sort of massive mansion with tall, twisting spires and sharp, iron wrought gates that you wonder whether it really was a human that lived in the house and not some sort of vampire or werewolf.

Based on her guess, Robecca was pretty darn close. It was a well known fact to all monsters the location of Van Hellscream's mansion, so that it was all the easier avoid. If a monster had to pass the mansion, they would go out of their way to walk across the street and proceed from there without walking in front of the mansion itself. Said mansion was just like Robecca predicted, with tall towers that seemed to pierce the dark clouds overhead and with tall, iron fences that were determined to keep the house safe from outsiders. A pair of stone lions guarded the entrance, two stone vampire heads between their jaws as the heads screamed in silent horror, their bodies pinned beneath the lion's paws. Robecca gulped and pushed through the wrought iron gate with Venus, Jane, and Whisp behind her, their footsteps softened by the white snow as they approached the house. The area was quiet, with nothing more than the chilling wind whistling through the bare branches of the trees to let the ghouls know they hadn't lost their hearing; a lone crow cawed from one of the trees as they made their way to the front floor, which was surprisingly intact.

This made Robecca pause; wouldn't it have made more sense if the door or, at least, part of the wall were destroyed, exposing the house's insides to the outside world? After all, reckless destruction was more Ben's style when he was in a rage. Venus urged her forward and thought was quickly forgotten as Robecca reached with a shaky hand to grab the brass knocker in her fingers; she hesitated slightly upon seeing the brass skull grinning maliciously at her, daring her to grab the knocker between its teeth. Robecca summoned her courage and grabbed the knocker in her fingers before banging it against the door, a loud noise echoing throughout the mansion.

As if at the hands of some invisible force, the door creaked open on its own, the room beyond it cold and dark. Robecca hesitated at the open door, picturing it to be like the mouth of some massive beast beckoning for her to take the bait and step between its jaws so that it could eat her; the other ghousl dared peeks past her shoulder before Whisp had finally had enough and slipped past the ghouls and into the house, waiting for a few seconds before gesturing for the other three to follow her. They did so tentatively, tiptoeing into the house as quiet as possible and freezing at the slightest of creaks; Jane morphed herself into a small mouse and took refuge on Venus's shoulder, shivering.

They crept down a long hallway with pictures and other objects hanging from the walls. Upon closer inspection, the pictures turned out to be photographs of none other than Van Hellscream standing over his many kills of the monster species; one photo showed him shirtless and standing over the corpse of a giant with nothing more than an ax in his hands; another showed him holding a trio of vampiresses with nooses around their necks, thin lines of blood dripping from their mouths where their fangs had scrapped the skin; a third showed Van Hellscream as a proud fisherman, standing next to the dead bodies of a Kraken, and a family of sea monsters, their throats slit and their skin dry and crusty; Jane promptly put her paws over her eyes as Venus attempted to keep down her lunch.

The knots in their stomachs only worsened when they realized the strange objects hanging from the walls were actually mounted trophies or various monsters, everything from werewolves and gargoyles to griffins and unicorns, all of the stuffed victims starring at the four ghouls with panic and horror forever forced into their listless eyes; this time Venus did throw up her lunch and Whisp followed suit, a foul stench filling the hallway as the combined smell of rotten flesh and exotic foods filled the air.

"Done?" Robecca asked.

"No monster should ever see this . . ." Venus gasped.

"So what, we let Heath go to town in here once we're done?" Whisp guessed, wiping her mouth.

"Don't tempt me . . ." Venus said with a small smile as they left their small mess behind and made their way down the hall, following a soft glow that came from the end of the hallway that beckoned them closer and closer. Whisp had somehow ended up at the front of the group with Venus behind her and Jane on her shoulder, Robecca taking up the rear and constantly looking over her shoulder, swearing her auditory sensors had picked up something that contradicted their isolation.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" Whisp suddenly asked.

"Oh, good. I'm not imagining it." Robecca breathed with relief.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better." Whisp sighed as they came to a stop at slightly ajar door; a bright, flickering light from behind the door beckoned them closer, appealing to their sense of curiosity and sense of wonder. Whisp gulped and pressed herself against the door, her back just barely scraping the back of it as she peered her head through the door. The other ghouls craned their necks, desperate to try and see what was the cause of the soft glow that had caught their attention. Suddenly, something grabbed Whisp by the head and yanked her into the room, screaming at the top of her lungs as the sounds of a brief struggle came from the other side. The other three ghouls scrambled over each other in desperate attempts to get away and find help when another arm reached from beyond the door and grabbed hold of Venus's leg, yanking her to the ground as she screamed and clawed at the wooden floor with her nails.

"Venus!" Jane cried as a feeling welled up in her. It was a hot, angry feeling that roughly shoved aside all set of logic and reason, threw out every last shred of humanity and instead replaced it with the red hot, fiery fury of an animal fighting to protect its mate. A deep, guttural growl rose in the back of Jane's throat as she snarled and pounced upon the arm; light purple fur sprouted all over her body, covering every inch of her as her clothes started to vanish into thing air. Darker patterns etched themselves over the fur, becoming long stripes of varying lengths and thickness as a long, striped tail sprouted from the base of her spine. Muscles piled themselves over her back and legs, her toe nails ripping through her shoes as they became wicked claws. Her arms shifted into front legs, her fingers shortening into pads as razor sharp claws grew from her fingernails. Her skull ground and crushed as teeth ripped themselves through her gums, barely even fitting into her mouth until her head caught up with the rest of her. Her shoulders became massively muscled as her lavender eyes turned a solid gold with a deadly, black slit for an iris, whiskers sprouting all over the front of her face, completing the transformation.

The owner of the arm yowled in pain as a Bengal tiger sank its teeth through his arm, digging her claws into his skin and drawing deep, crimson lines across the pale skin. Venus kicked her leg free as Jane was dragged into the room, the sounds of a second struggle echoing off the walls as Robecca and Venus fled as fast as they could, enraged roars and angry yells bouncing off the walls.

And then they stopped.

Robecca and Venus didn't dare look back, they just kept on running as fast as their legs could carry them down the hall of gruesome trophies that seemed to follow their every move and then taking a turn down another hallway before racing up a flight of stairs and to the second floor, racing through the hallways, only to encounter more and more trophies from Van Hellscream's grim hobby. Robecca suddenly activated her rocket boots upon seeing the trashed and deactivated remains of an android mounted on a stand at the end of the hall and scooped Venus up in her arms, bouncing all over the walls like a crazed pinball of doom before suddenly going flying over the railing that overlooked the grand living room and crash landing into a stuff minotaur over the large mantle.

"Somebody get the number on that truck . . ." Robecca groaned, rubbing her sore skull.

"I don't know about any truck, but I do know that I've struck gold." a feminine voice purred.

"Wait, I recognize that voice . . ." Venus said fearfully.

"Yes, 'tis I, Lilith Van Hellscream!" the voice announced dramatically, a girl stepping into Venus's view. Wore a leopard prints jacket over a white T-shirt and tight, khaki pants that showed off her curves with knee-high black boots that were undoubtedly made out of dragon skin. A black choker was strapped around her neck and a monocle was positioned in front of her left eye with her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail. A dark brown belt was strapped around her waist with a red sash that had about a dozen bullets stuffed into the pocket. To make matters worse, she was brandishing a very sharp sword that was undoubtedly borrowed from her uncle's collection.

"Well, what do we have here? A couple monster gals in famous uncle's mansion?" Lilith purred, shining the gleaming weapon as she stood over Robecca and Venus. "You be a nice addition to my collection."

"I thought you done with that stuff!" Venus protested. "Or, at the very least, not want to kill us!"

"True," Lilith admitted. "I have to come terms that not

all monsters are bad, but I've made it a point to either match or outdo my uncle's collection of many monster trophies," Lilth gestured grandly to the many gruesome and stuffed trophies of sea monsters, werewolves, basilisks, and dragons. "At least one of every monster. And I don't have a robot or plant monster in my collection yet."

"You are sick!" Robecca exclaimed.

"Oh, don't you worry," Lilith said in an eerily calm voice. "You'll get to live a while longer. You two are simply the bait for more . . . deserving prey."

"What are you . . ." Robecca wondered before realization crossed her face. "You can't mean . . ."

"The same," Lilith grinned maliciously. "Imagine, having a monster in my collection that my uncle doesn't. And if he's good enough, I might keep him as a pet . . ." Lilith trailed off with a sick and seductive smile on her face.

"I don't think so, you sick freak!" a deep growl reverberated through the living room. Lilith turned around just in time to be tackled to the ground by Blitzwolfer, the both of them sliding across the polished wooden floor and crashing into a glass case display of petrified gorgon head with the eyeballs removed for safety.

"Ah, like fly drawn to honey." Lilith grinned as Blitzwolfer pinned her shoulders to the floor and her legs with his taloned feet.

"What are you talking about?" Blitzwolfer snarled.

"Careful, Ben!" Venus warned him.

"What's she gonna do, make me roll over and play dead?" the Loboan growled.

"Oh, we'll have plenty of time for that later," Lilith purred. Before Blitzwolfer could ask what that meant, the girl retched one of her arms free and struck him in three precise places on his neck and chest. The Loboan immediately seized up and slumped to the ground, unmoving as Lilith crawled out from underneath him and stood up, dusting herself off.

"What . . . did you . . . do to me?" Blitzwolfer groaned.

"Minotaur Death Grip," Lilith replied, taking her sword back in hand. "While most affective on those maze lumbering idiots, it works on all manner of monster."

"Yeah, but I ain't no monster!" Blitzwolfer bellowed, managing to roll over onto his back and slap the Omnitrix. A green light washed over his shaggy form, injecting him with a new set of DNA. His skeleton ground and crunched until he was only a third of his original height, his skull cracking as three fin-like growths split out from the bone, two pairs of fleshy growths appearing on either side of his face as his eyes turned wide and fully green. His arms only became slightly more muscled than before, widening into long claws as two metallic knobs appeared on his arms. A green and black jumpsuit with black patches on his ankles and under arms appeared on his body as a black belt with three knobs materializing on it. His skin turned a pale white as his toes were reduced to three, cat-like toes as the Omnitrix appeared on his forehead.

"Time ta split!" Ditto cried happily, quickly dividing himself into a dozen clones. Lilith blinked, stunned for a second, before she recomposed herself and gave chase after the little horde of Splixsons as they all ran in one small mass towards the stairs that led to the second floor, yelping and screaming with fright as Lilith swung her sword in wide arcs above their heads.

"Dude! What's with the crazed swordswoman!?" one of the clones asked.

"Don't ask me! He was here first!" the clone cried, jerking a thumb at a third clone.

"Uh, guys? We got bigger problems!" a fourth clone roared, ducking just in time to avoid a swipe of Lilith's sword. The other eleven clones erupted into another fit of panicked screams and hollers as they all made their way to the top of the stairs and each one grabbed hold of the carpet at the top as Lilith made her way up the final set.

"See you next fall!" the clones all cracked at once as they yanked the carpet out from under the monster hunter's feet and sent her tumbling down the stairs, screaming.

"Alright! Woo-hoo!" the twelve little Splixsons cheered, high fiving and chest bumping each other only to be interrupted by a sound that could only be described as a severely irritated dog. The clones all turned to see Lilith dragging herself back up the stairs, sword clutched tightly in her hand an extremely pissed off look on her face.

"Uh, that wasn't too smart, guys." one of the clones turned to the others.

"It was his idea!" all the clone blamed another clone at the same time jerking their thumbs at the poor Splixson.

"Woah! Run for it!" the clone screamed, scampering down the hall with the others in pursuit as Lilith sneered at them and gave chase, sword raised above her head like a maniac. The Splixsons all quickly ran down a hallway with many doors lining the sides and quickly split up, each Splixson taking one of the doors and diving into the room beyond before slamming the door shut. Lilith came to a halt in the hall of doors, lowering her blade for a second to try and decide which door to go through.

A door suddenly opened up behind her and she turned to see a pair of Dittos came scurrying out and enter through a door across the hall. The monster hunter grinned and crept up on the door, setting a hand on the knob and tightening her grip on the handle of her weapon before jerking the door open, expecting to find two little Splixsons cowering at her feet.

Instead, she found nothing but a pair of her uncle's old hunting boots.

With a growl of frustration, Lilith slammed the door and turned to another, yanking it open and expecting to find the Splixsons inside; the door only opened up to a grand bathroom. Lilith frowned and slammed the door shut just as another door opened up farther down the hall with a trio of Dittos scampering out and up the hall to another door, slamming it behind them. Lilith frowned and ran to the same door, just as the previous door she had been at creaked open and a single Ditto came running out and into the door across the hall.

Lilith watched as several more doors opened up around her with even more Dittos running out and between them, somehow managing to reappear in other rooms and doors and utterly driving her insane. With a scream of frustration, she yanked one of the doors open and ran inside, slamming it shut behind her before pulling it back open and finding herself farther down the hall as more Splixsons ran between the doors.

"Ain't we stinkers?" a clone quipped with a mischievous grin on his face before diving through another door and reappearing in the door directly next to it. Lilith watched the utterly maddening scene for a few more seconds before charging across the hall and into the room beyond, reappearing in the door she had previously had been in. Fortunately for her, there happened to be about half a dozen Ditto clones located directly behind the door. With a sadistic grin on her face, she slammed the door behind them, diving to the ground in the hopes of tackling one of the Splixsons; all the clones quickly jumped out of the way and pushed the door open, appearing in another door on the clear far end of the hallway and running back out, slamming the door shut behind them and scurrying away from the insanity inducing hall of doors; Lilith reappeared in the door farthest down the hallway, barreling after the Dittos like an escaped mental patient.

"Was that smart?" one Ditto asked a clone.

"Probably not," the clone shrugged. "But man, was it fun!"

"Got that right!" the previous clone grinned, high fiving his identical brother as a familiar beeping sound met all twelve Ditto's's ears.

"Uh-oh." all the Splixsons whimpered as a green flash of light consumed them all, molding them all back together into a single figure.

"Finally!" Lilith cried, skidding to a stop down the hall. Ben frowned and slammed a hand down on the Omnitrix, fully expecting the watch to turn him into Rath, Diamondhead, Bloxx, or even Walkatrout. He expected to feel that rush he always got when his body was growing or shrinking, expanding or thinning, gaining limbs or losing them, receiving new powers and abilities that made him all but invincible.

Only this time, there was no changing of his shape into something grand and new. He was still ordinary Ben, trapped and cornered in a hallway by a crazy teenage girl brandishing a sharpened sword and an insane look in her eye that made him fear for his body; if Blitzwolfer's ears had heard correctly, this girl wanted to do things with him that every boy wanted to do but never had the courage or stupidity enough to it with a girl of any degree or species.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Lilith snarled, lowering her sword slightly. "Imagine my surprise when I read that Vondergeist girl's blog and found out that all the heroic monsters all over town just happened to all be the same kid with a fancy watch on his wrist."

"Is there a point to this, or are you trying to bore me to death?" Ben cracked nervously.

"Silence!" Lilith snapped. "Anyways, my uncle became rather obsessed with finding these heroic monsters, never even bothering to check and see if any other monster had any information about them. It wasn't until he paid the bail for your witch friend that he found out who those monsters were. He never told the reason for his new obsession, but I had my own little secret. I knew who you were before he did, and I knew what you could do; I like what I see." she purred, lowering her blade all the way and pressing her body against Ben as he flinched.

"Uh, I'm flattered and everything, but I already have a ghoulfriend," Ben laughed nervously.

"I know," Lilith said seductively. "A shame you have to settle for monster women when you could have a real girl." She had now dropped her sword to the floor and had wrapped her arms around Ben, pulling him close as she pulled out her monocle.

"Okaaaay, getting really uncomfortable here!" Ben whimpered nervously.

"Allow me to make you comfortable." Lilith purred, taking Ben's face in her hands and putting her lips to his. Ben tried to twist his face away and break free, but Lilith was stronger than she looked and held him firmly in place, forcing her tongue between his lips and sliding her hands under his shirt, tracing them over his rock hard muscles; it made her nearly collapse from pleasure she pressed her body against his, firmly grabbing one of his hands and shoving it up under her shirt and to her breast while she took the other hand and planted it firmly on her ass; she forced Ben to continue by threatening to painfully bite his tongue while they kissed, a warning that worked rather well in her favor.

"Ooh, such strong hands." Lilith moaned, parting the kiss for a moment as Ben massaged her breast. She then unbuttoned her leopard print jacket and let it drop to the floor as she lifted her shirt up, exposing a rather frilly, purple bra that surprised Ben; everything about this girl so far had made him believe she was a cold-blooded killer. To see something that girly on her was a shock to him. So shocking, that he didn't even resist when Lilith kissed him again, forcing Ben's hand between her cleavage as she let her tight khaki pants fall to the ground so that he could get a firmer grip on her ass.

The ghouls are gonna kill me when they see this, Ben thought as Lilith moaned and pleasured herself, beginning to grind her nether region against Ben's.

"Ben! Ben, where are-" Venus stopped shouting and starred at Lilith and Ben, the former completely oblivious to Venus and Robecca as the later gave them a pleading look as he continued to work Lilith against his will.

"Oh, Sphinx she didn't!" Venus shouted angrily, grabbing a dragon's samurai sword off the wall. "Prepare to die, whore!" Venus swore as loudly as possible as Robecca's eyes widened upon seeing her friend and lover in such a state.

"Uh, don't you think that's a bit much?" Robecca ventured.

Venus glanced between Robecca and the sword, then between the sword and Lilith, before glancing at the sword again and tossing it over her shoulder. She then grabbed an ogre's club off the wall and quickly grew a network of thorny vines across its surface. "Thanks. Wasn't thinking clearly."

"That wasn't what I had in mind." Robecca sighed.

"Whatever. Once I'm done, the doctor won't know which end to sew her disgusting lips back on!" Venus exclaimed, just as something small and sharp shot through the air and plunged itself into her neck. The plant monster pulled the small object out to find it with a small dart of some kind, the very tip a tad darker than the rest of it, as if it had been dipped in something.

"Huh." Venus shrugged before she suddenly slumped to the floor unconscious with the thorny club falling out of her fingers.

"Venus!" Robecca cried, stooping down to get a good look at her ghoul and try and wake her up. A sudden wave of water struck, pushing her a few feet away from Venus and soaking her to the core. "Hey, what's the big idea, you wanker!?" she growled at Van Hellscream as he held a suspicious bucket.

"Restraining you filthy creatures, that's what," Van Hellscream grinned maliciously as Robecca attempted to charge and strangle him by the throat; instead, she found she couldn't move an artificial muscle, the water having seeped deep within in her and rusty her gears and joints to the point where she could barely move without setting off some horrifying screeching; and even then, her movements were limited.

"Lilith, you know I don't approve of your methods of restraining such a foul creature," Van Hellscream gestured to his niece and Ben with a stern look.

"Finally, someone with some sense," Ben muttered. "And who are you calling foul?"

"Uncle, I can't help how I feel about him! Even if he can turn into a horrific monster, he's still adorable!" Lilth protested, planting a kiss on Ben's cheek.

"Help me." Ben pleaded to Van Hellscream through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'll help you," Van Hellscream frowned as he bent down to heave Venus over his shoulder and Robecca over the other as she gave him the mother of all glares, her lips too rusted to move and form any of the very nasty words that were buzzing around in her head. "By taking that abomination off of your wrist."

"Excuse me?" Ben growled only to hear a loud metal clap. He looked down at his hands to see them tightly secured within a pair of handcuffs, making any access to the Omnitrix unavailable. "Great." he frowned as he was led away by a still half-naked Lilith.

"I would have allowed you go further you know," Lilith purred, leaning into his frame.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." Ben grumbled sarcastically as he and the Hellscreams trudged down stairs.

---

Sirena smiled as she pumped her tail faster and faster, shooting through the water like a guided missile before she suddenly broke the barrier between sea and space and leaped out from the pool and high into the air, tucking her body into a ball and flipping once, twice, before landing on top of the diving board with ease, much to the cheer of the crowd.

"Unbelievable! Sirena Von Boo just pulled off a double somersault in reverse!" the announcer's voice was music to her ears as she appealed to the crowd that had gathered to watch the swim team. She smiled and waved at Avea and Neighthan as they cheered her on, Bonita's absence leaving the hybrid a little confused. She ignored the small feeling however as she placidly moved her tail up and down to keep her place, glancing down and smiling when she saw the fearleading squad shout their approval.

"M-O-N-S-T-E-R! Monsters, monsters, yes we are!" Frankie, Clawdeen, Draculaura, and Cleo cheered; the four judges gave Sirena full points as the fearleading squad continued to cheer and entertain the crowd.

"Once again, thanks to Monster High's aquatic superstar Sirena Von Boo, it looks like the Plankton Prep diving team is all but sunk!" the announcer continued as the coach grumbled under his breath and threw his clipboard to the ground; his three best students, nothing more little octopuses and cuttlefish all hung their heads, one of them holding up a little white flag in surrender.

"Cheers, mate!" Lagoona smiled at Sirena as she climbed the diving ladder that nearly all the way up to the ceiling; the diving team meets would normally have been held outside, but due to the freezing temperatures, and the fact that the Monster High Yeti hockey team was using the pool as an ice rink, the meet had been moved in doors where it was far warmer. With a deep breath, she walked to the end of the diving board and glanced down at the water down below, feeling every bit as confident as Ben normally felt on a regular day.

The thought made her hesitate for a moment, bad memories drifting back to her. She remembered reading the letter from her future self that probably no longer existed and thanked Poseidon that she had listened to herself; but that didn't mean things were okay. Ben had strictly avoided talking or interacting with her for a week straight, all but forcing her to hang out with Gil. She supposed Ben had probably done that out of courtesy to help cement her relationship with Gil, but it hurt a little that he wasn't there to cheer her on or participate in the meet; it turned Ripjaws was an excellent diver.

With a final deep breath, Lagoona glanced back at the waiting crowd and saw Gil give her a reassuring wave before blowing a kiss to her. The gesture made her cheeks flush pink as she turned on the diving board and bent her knees before throwing herself backwards and curling herself into a tight ball that plunged all the way down to the pool with a loud splash!

Rochelle sighed glumly as she watched Lagoona plunge into the water, oblivious to the loud cheers of approval coming from her fellow classmates. She was so focused on watching Lagoona swim and splash about with grace, she hardly noticed Twyla suddenly shift out of Manny Taur's shadow next to her.

"Hey, Rochelle. Rock, paper, scissors?" the Boogey girl pressed lightly. "One, two three!" she counted down, throwing a paper as Rochelle unconsciously curled her hand into a fist. "Paper beats rock." Twyla gave one of her rare smiles before noticing the gargoyle's gloomy expression on her stony face. "Oh, I totally thought that would crack you up." Twyla said apologetically.

"Ooh! Pardon! Sorry, Twyla." Rochelle apologized, finally noticing her Boogey friend. "I was just wondering what it is like to do that." she gestured vaguely towards the pool as Lagoona crested out of the water like a dolphin before shooting back up onto the side of the pool with a slight bow.

"Oh. I guess gargoyles can't swim, huh?" Twyla said quietly.

"No, I'd sink right to the bottom." Rochelle sighed. "But I bet it is amazing."

"And up next, Cali Marie, diving for the first time for Plankton Prep." the announcer said politely as a trembling little octopus peeked nervously over the side of the diving board, scared out of his wits. The little octopod quickly steeled his nevres and hopped over the side, screaming as he fell into the water below with a painful splash; Rochelle and Twyla winced as all but one of the judges gave the poor little cephalopod a poor score.

"Okay, story, I need a story." Spectra muttered to herself as she flew over to Abbey and Hoodude, who both shook their heads. "Just one story!" she practically begged Catrine DeMew; the were-cat sadly shook her head before returning her attention to the meet as Spectra desperately flew down towards the Fear Squad.

"Ghouls, who's got a story?" Spectra asked the fearleaders. "I've got the need for for leads! Give me the gossip, gossip, gossip!" she practically begged Frankie, Ghoulia, and Cleo.

"Whoa."

Spectra paused and zoomed over to Clawdeen, excitement in her eyes. "Ooh! Got a scoop!?" she asked the werewolf.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, Spectra. What's the matter?" Clawdeen asked her ghostly friend.

"I'm trying to come up with something new to post to the Ghostly Gossip and I've got nothing!" Spectra sighed with exasperation.

"Well, what about Ben?" Frankie wondered. "I'm sure something cool and excited has already happened to him."

"That's just the thing," Spectra sighed. "Ben and his adventures always makes for a good headline, but I'm already starting to lose a few readers! If I don't get something new, my blog will go

poof!"

"Aiiieeeeeeyyyahahaahhhh?" Ghoulia moaned.

"Ghoulia's right," Cleo agreed. "Isn't that a bit far fetched?"

"No, no it's not!" Spectra protested. "It's been nearly two weeks since my last blog update and my readers are getting very impatient."

Don't worry, ghoul friend," Clawdeen reassured her as Spectra massaged her aching temples with pencil and notebook in hand. "I've got your back. After this meet is over, I'll help you find a good story. No, a great story! I promise," the werewolf told Spectra. "We'll only use Ben as a last resort, okay?"

"That is so sweet, Clawdeen. How come you're always there for me?" Spectra smiled with relief.

"That's what ghoul friends do." Clawdeen grinned.

Spectra gasped. "I'm gonna go check with the ghosts. Maybe they've heard something." she thought out loud, glancing towards the bleachers as she left Clawdeen and the fearleading squad to swoop up in front of Operetta and Scarah. "You've got to have a story for the Ghostly Gossip, right, Operetta?" she asked the two ghouls.

"Ooh, let me see," the phantom thought. "Okay, Manny and Iris broke up then they got back together. And then they-"

"Old news." Spectra interrupted. "I need something fresh!"

"Oh, I heard Mr. Hack bites his toenails." said Johnny Spirit, phasing through the bleachers between Operetta and Scarah as he slicked back his greased hair; he wore an open leather jacket with a black and white horizontal stripe shirt underneath and a pair of faded black jeans.

"Ew! Johnny Spirit, I said fresh, not gross!" Spectra scolded the bad boy.

While Spectra was desperately searching for a story, any kind of story that might save her blog, Toralei was not having a good time. While everyone else sat back and watched the swim team win another easy victory against Plankton Prep, she was watching the fearleading squad with disdain. It seemed so unfair that they got to appeal to the crowd and be showered with cheers and applause while she was forced to watch from the sidelines, but most people never saw it that way.

"Hey, Toralei, got any news for my blog?"

Toralei narrowed her eyes as Spectra drifted over to her, her expression much like that of an excited kid waiting to find out what they got for their birthday. "Here's some news," Toralei meowed with annoyance. "You cheat on one essay in Creative Frightening class and you get suspended from Fear Squad for an entire month!" she whined as Clawdeen did a triple back flip for the crowd.

"Actually, Spectra, I do have some gossip." the were-cat grinned mischievously, Spectra's gloomy face turning into one of utter delight. Toralei beckoned her closer and she leaned in, listening with excitement as Toralei whispered her the story of the century to her.

"I have my story!" Spectra exclaimed happily before zooming off to get down to work.

"Alright, ghouls, a perfect pyramid ought to knock 'em dead!"

Toralei grinned and turned to look down at the Fear Squad, casting Clawdeen a friendly wave; the werewolf returned the gesture with a confused and dreaded look in her eye. Whenever Toralei was actually being nice to someone, it was never good for anyone except Toralei. The were-cat grinned as a loud beeping noise made its way through the crowd, signaling that her plan was about to come into action.

"Spectra's got a new blog, everybody!" she heard Heath exclaim happily.

"Hurray!" Hoodude cheered, waving his two foam fingers in the air.

"New post on the Ghostly Gossip," Twyla smiled, taking out her iCoffin and powering it on to read the latest update as Rochelle did the same.

"Take care, loyal readers. This reporter just got a hot tip that the werewolves of Monster High have fallen victim to an outbreak of . . . were-fleas!?" Rochelle exclaimed, not quite believing what she had just read. "Ew!" she glanced up from her iCoffin to see the packed seats around werewolves like Howleen and Clawd suddenly clear out as if a bomb had been dropped.

"Oh, dear, were-fleas! Better steer clear of the werewolves!" Toralei faked innocence.

"Clawdeen, you have were-fleas!?" Cleo coiled in disgust as she and Frankie positioned themselves just so on Clawdeen's open hands with Draculaura balancing precariously on their shoulders.

"Excuse me?" Clawdeen snarled.

"Cleo! Stop shaking!" Frankie begged as they startled to wobble.

"What's going on down there!?" Draculaura wondered as they stumbled closer and closer to the edge of the pool.

"I do not have were-fleas!" Clawdeen snapped. "That's not even a thing!"

"Stop! Stop! You're gonna make us-" Frankie started, but it was too late. With a tremendous splash! all four ghouls tumbled backwards into the pool, sinking down for a few feet before resurfacing, gasping for breath; Toralei smiled maliciously, her plan having fully worked. To make matters worse for the wet ghouls, they were suddenly given a massive electric shock from Frankie as she climbed out of the pool, making every hair on Clawdeen's body stand on end.

"Sorry." Frankie apologized, bending down to help Draculaura out of the water; the vampire kindly declined the offer and pulled herself out.

"I think I need to talk to Spectra." Clawdeen frowned as she pulled herself out onto the edge of the pool and giving herself a good shake to get the water out of her fur. "Ah! Don't even think about it!" she scolded a little piranha as it jumped out of the pool and tried to take nibble out of her boots; the piranha surrendered and fell back into the pool, grumbling under its breath.

---

"I have to commend you for you efforts, dear boy," Van Hellscream said as he, Ben, and Lilith strolled down his hall of many trophies. "If only you used that device of yours for good instead of evil."

"And saving lives is evil?" Ben frowned as Lilith leaned into his frame, her breasts nearly flopping out of her bra as they moved; Ben cringed and tried to keep his vision straight ahead and at van Hellscream's back, where Robecca was glaring at Lilith and Venus was currently drooling in her sleep.

"When they are monster lives, yes," Van Hellscream sighed as they walked through the door at the end of the hall and into a study of some kind. A bookshelf that reached the ceiling lined one wall, its shelves stacked with varying books of different monster species with basilisk skulls acting as book keepers. A roaring fire sat in the middle of the wall adjacent to the bookshelf, casting a bright glow in the dim study with a large, comfy arm chair sat right in front of it. On top of the mantle were stuffed gargoyles and imps with a grand picture of Van Hellscream fighting off a Kraken with only a harpoon and a tiny dingy above the fireplace. The monster hunter moved past his chair and up to the mantle, shifting the weight on his shoulders to grab the base of one of the stuffed gargoyles and turn it a sharp ninety degrees to the left; a low rumbling sound met Ben's ears as the wall next to the fireplace shook and shifted before opening up to reveal a secret passage to parts unknown.

"Not like I didn't see that one coming." Ben grumbled.

"Aww, aren't you the smart one! Brains and brawn! I think I found my soul mate!" Lilith cooed, kissing on Ben on the cheek as she rubbed her bare hips against his; Ben shivered and walked after Van Hellscream as they descended down the hidden staircase to a secret room in the bowels of the house. Torches held in Cyclops skulls sat in small alcoves in the wall, lighting the way and giving the hallway a creepy air; Ben nearly jumped when he heard the hidden door slam shut behind him.

Lilith still seemed to sense his anxiety and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don't you worry, hot stuff," she purred. "Once we're done down here, you'll back to normal and never have to see these vile, disgusting creatures again." she gestured to Robecca and Venus.

"But I do want to see them again!" Ben protested.

"Oh, you will, dear boy," Van Hellscream chuckled darkly. "These two will make a nice addition to my collection."

"I found them first, uncle! I have dibs!" Lilith argued.

"Of course," Van Hellscream nodded. "It's you haven't been able to keep up in your hunts."

"It's not like I can just waltz into Monster High and shoot up the place, uncle," Lilith frowned. "Even the New Salem police draw a line at that."

"Unfortunately." Van Hellscream agreed as they entered a wide, circular room with smooth, stone walls. Three rows of shelves lined one side of the circular room while a row of chains hammered into the wall sat on the opposite side; it was here that Ben saw Jane hanging by her wrists from the wall, unconscious with a needle attached to an IV jammed into her arm. But what caught Ben's attention the most was the large device built in the middle of the room. It was taller, the pointed spire just barely touching the ceiling of the room with three large disks that got wider as they went down the machine encircled the middle rod. Three large orbs that crackled with energy were jammed onto the top spire with the wide base being open and operational. What scared Ben the most however was that a hatch was open in the machine, wires attached to suckers fastened onto a small jar. Inside the jar was Whisp, silently screaming and banging on the walls of her glass prison as she trembled and shook with agony.

"Hard to believe that monsters as powerful as genies can easily be trapped by jars and lamps," Van Hellscream mused as he cuffed Venus and Robecca to the wall next to Jane. "What's even better about them is that they make a wonderful power source."

"You're a monster!" Ben yelled, tearing his grip away from Lilith

"Been called worse," Van Hellscream shrugged. "But if it's monsters you are worried about, worry no more." he grinned evilly.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ben snapped.

"This device," Van Hellscream began, gesturing to the large machine in the center of the hidden basement. "Is in short a DNA Annihilator. With it, I can eradicate any species of my choosing from a certain location. And I intend to finally rid this town of monsters." he growled, clenching his fist.

"You can't do that! They're people too!" Ben protested.

"No, no they are not, dear boy. I thought you of all people would know that." Van Hellscream shook his head.

"Yes they are!" Ben argued. "They think! They feel! They love! So what if they have fangs or claws or wings? They're just like you!"

"Except they kill," Van Hellscream said darkly. "For thousands of years, humans have had to live in fear of monsters, constantly hiding in the shadows and locking their doors for fear of being taken by a werewolf or vampire. They had to make sure their livestock and children were nice and safe, for fear that a dragon or a troll might snatch them away. In short, monsters are nothing but trouble."

"So lets say I let you use your machine," Ben growled. "How are you going to collect the DNA of every monster in New Salem? Even you are bound to miss some."

"Simple, really," Van Hellscream smiled, walking over to Jane and taking her unconscious face in his hand. "You friend here is one of a kind, dear boy. Shape-shifters are the origins of all monsters, harboring the building blocks of every monster imaginable. Have one at your fingertips, and you can do anything." he grinned.

"And what about me? The Omnitrix doesn't come off." Ben frowned at Van Hellscream.

"I'm sure it's nothing a little surgery couldn't fix." Van Hellscream waved it off. "Now Lilith, if you would be so kind as to at least cover your womanhood and take care of guest?" the monster hunter asked his niece as he walked over to the control panel and input a few more commands. Lilith grinned and shoved Ben over towards the wall, unlocking the handcuffs and quickly slipping off his sweatshirt before pinning him against the wall and shackling him to it. "Don't worry, hot stuff. It's almost over." Lilith smiled as she slipped Ben's sweatshirt over her delicate frame, the sweatshirt just barely reaching her thighs.

Ben gritted his teeth and struggled against his shackles as Lilith strolled away a few feet, shaking her ass for Ben to watch as she purposely bent over so he could get a good view of her violet panties, and grabbed a wrench in her hands. Ben stopped struggling, curious as to what the monster hunter was up to as she snuck up behind her uncle, the wrench behind her back.

"Now, shall we dispense with that vile device on your wrist, Tennyson?" Van Hellscream turned around as the machine began to hum to life, a loud whine filling the air. With a battel cry, Lilith swung her wrench, aiming for Van Hellscream's head; the monster hunter easily caught with his hand and retched the weapon out of her grip.

"You'll have to do better than that child," Van Hellscream frowned as he shoved his niece to the ground.

"I have," Lilith smiled maliciously. "Hot stuff?"

"I have a name you know!" Ben protested. "And what am I supposed to do!?" he yelled as he suddenly heard a

click! He glanced above his head to see that his wrists were free of the cuffs, a tad red around the wrists. "Oh. I get it." he grinned as he quickly turned on the Omnitrix and slapped the activation button, a 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.

"Oh, this guy again! So soon?" PorcuPain wondered as he glanced over himself. "Eh, no matter." he shrugged before curling up into a spiked ball and launching him self at Van Hellscream. The monster hunter easily sidestepped the attack as the Espigilagisapien bounced off the machine and came hurling back at him, uncurling himself and raising his claws as he tackled Van Hellscream to the ground.

"Get off of me, you horrific creature!" Van Hellscream snarled.

"Look who's talkin', bub!" PorcuPain shot back as his claws tore through the monster hunter's jacket.

While the two rolled around on the floor in a struggle, Lilith took the opportunity to run over to the prison wall and unlock the shackles that held Venus, Robecca, and Jane in place as she yanked the needle out of the shape-shifter's arm and broke a can of oil over Robecca's metal frame.

"Sorry! No time to be precise!" she apologized as Robecca began to move again.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hurt you right here and now." were Robecca's first words as she slowly began to move her stiff body parts.

"Because I'm helping you escape!" Lilith replied as she rushed over to the humming machine and plunged her arm into the control panel, curling her fingers around the jar holding Whisp and promptly getting the shock of her life. "AAAGGH!"

"Didn't see that coming, did you, luv?" Robecca smirked.

"Karma, if you ask me." PorcuPain piped up before Van Hellscream through him off of him and to the floor.

"So. Betrayed by my own flesh and blood," Van Hellscream snarled, climbing to his feet to glare at his niece.

"So it would seem, uncle." Lilith frowned, not the least bit intimidating when she hardly had any clothes on to cover her person. "The monsters may offend at times, but they are really no different than us."

"That's what they want you to think!" Van Hellscream bellowed, charging at Lilith and knocking to the ground before swinging around to slug Robecca in the face and making her stumble back.

"Hey! Hands off, bub!" PorcuPain growled, jumping to his feet and pouncing on Van Hellscream's back as he attacked his niece, striking her repeatedly with his fists as she tried to fend him off with every last bit of monster training she had absorbed after living alongside her uncle for so long; this did not mean she was very skilled at it though. PorcuPain screeched and dug his claws into Van Hellscream's back, tearing through his coat and into his skin and tissue, daring to suddenly bite the back of his neck with his teeth.

"AGH! You little-" Van Hellscream cried as he grabbed the Espigilagisapien by his rat-like tail and hauled him off of his back and throwing him into Robecca; Venus and Jane still remained oblivious to the world, though the plant monster was starting to stir.

"You will pay dearly for this treachery, Lilith." Van Hellscream snarled, drawing back a fist and punching his niece in the throat before boxing her ears and slugging her in the face, a loud crack! echoing throughout the chamber as Lilith's nose was broken.

"That's far enough, bub!" PorcuPain snarled, arching his head forward as he crouched on all fours and launched a small volley of spikes at Van Hellscream. Every one of the spikes hit its mark, dotting Van Hellscream's torn coat and exposed skin as he continued to punish Lilith, his movements becoming slower and slower with each passing second before he collapsed and fell into unconsciousness.

"Wasn't that a bit much, luv?" Robecca asked as PoruPain breathed heavily to catch his breath.

"I thought I could calm him down enough to at least listen to reason," PorcuPain explained as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back to the world. "I might have overdone though."

"Uh, Ben? We've got bigger problems!" Robecca pointed at the towering machine as the three orbs on its top began to crackle and spark with electricity, the ray nearly ready to fire; Ben could now hear Whisp screaming in pure agony from within the jar.

"Don't worry! Feedback's got this!" Ben exclaimed, turning on the Omnitrix and selecting the Conductoid icon before slapping the activation button and relaxing as the green light washed over him. His bones ground and crunched as he was shrunk down to a height of only two and a half feet tall as his skin turned a smooth, blood red in color. A thin, spaded tail snaked out from the base of his spine as his fingers grew longer and his nails grew sharper. His eyes widened apart slightly as his nose suddenly jutted out at a comical, almost ridiculous, length. His ears became larger and slightly bat-like before becoming spiked as his toes melted together into three digits, his heel grinding against his foot before becoming a small spike. He became slightly obese as spikes formed on his chin and the corners of his eyes as a green and black aviators outfit materialized on his body, complete with a white ascot and a pair of goggles strapped to his head. The Omnitrix appeared on his belt, completing the transformation.

"Jury Rigg!? Are you kidding me!?" the little gremlin roared with frustration before realizing something. "You know what? Never mind! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled as jumped into the open hatch of the machine and easily snatched the jar with Whisp inside without getting shocked and tossed it over his shoulder as he went to work; the jar shattered on the floor behind him, and Whisp returned to her normal size, trembling as she rubbed the aching burns that dotted her body. From within the machine, Jury Rigg worked, tossing out an alarming amount of wires and chips as he made his way up the machine, occasionally tearing off a panel to toss some more unneeded junk out of his work space. Finally, after an agonizing few minutes with the machine just about ready to fire, Jury Rigg reemerged and dusted off his hands cockily, taking a spare wrench on the floor and whacking the side of the DNA Annihilator with it.

The machine didn't stop. It continued to whine as the energy coursing through it got bigger and more violent.

"NO!" Robecca yelled.

"YES!" Jury Rigg cackled as the machine fired, blinding everyone in the room with a bright, white light and a deafening roar that nearly made everyone lose their hearing. After a few heated seconds, the roar died down and Robecca dared to crack open her eyes. Was she dead? She didn't feel dead, though she suspected she wouldn't really know how being dead felt until she actually experienced it. And since she could still feel Venus and Jane against her and hear the machine shudder and die down, she guessed that she was still alive.

"Ben? Nothing happened." Robecca noted with relief.

"WRONG! Something did happen!" Jury Rigg cackled. "Something big! Big! Big!"

"Ben? What did you do?" Robecca asked, suppressing a slight grin.

"Bub was a monster, so I gave him an appropriate shape! And his hot daughter too!" Jury Rigg laughed maniacally as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back to the world. "See?" he had a slight grin on his face.

Robecca turned to where he was pointing, towards Lilith and Van Hellscream, and nearly dropped her jaw. Where Van Hellscream had been, now lay a large, burly ogre with the torn remains of a brown jacket around his bulked up form and a mop of dirty, greasy blonde hair on his face with a short, scraggly beard on his chin. Two large teeth curled up over his upper jaw, and warts dotted his sickly green skin, his nails long and absolutely filthy as his pants barely stayed on his person.

Lying next to him where Lilith should have been, was a completely different creature. The creature was a blood red in color, its skin nice and smooth and a long tail with a sharp spade like Jury Rigg's poking out from under a white and green sweatshirt. A pair of small, bat-like wings ripped through the back of the sweatshirt and long, pink claws tipped the delicate fingers. A pair of horns poked out from under dirty blonde locks, the feet tipped with pink claws that twitched every few seconds.

"Is that . . ." Robecca trailed off.

"Lilith and Van Hellscream," Ben nodded. "Turned into an ogre and a Jersey devil, if I remember correctly."

"Ben, how could you-"

"Relax. The transformation only lasts a week, two in Van Hellscream's case. By then they should have learned their individual lessons." Ben told her.

"Which are?"

Ben grinned. "Number one, don't mess with monsters. Number two, don't mess with Ben Tennyson. Number three, don't mess up your niece. Even if she's annoying."

"She really liked you, you know." Robecca noted. "She tried to free us."

"Which is why her punishment only lasts a week," Ben sighed. "But she's tad possessive, if you catch my drift. Plus, I don't think the rest of the ghouls would approve if the niece of their sworn enemy joined them." Ben replied as he bent down and picked up Whisp's body in his arms bridal style. "Can you carry Jane and Venus?"

"I'm fine, Ben." Venus yawned from the floor. "What'd I miss? Do I still get to take out that

whore?"

Ben shook his head. "Already taken care of," he pointed to Lilith and Van Hellscream on the floor. "Now lets get out of here while the going's good. I don't wanna be around when those two come to."

---

Draculaura signed and gave her black and pink pompoms another shake, finally getting the fast of the water out of them after a good hour or so of drying herself off and reapplying her make up, something very difficult for someone who couldn't see their own reflection in the mirror. With a small smile on her face she turned back to her locker and set the damp pompoms on the top shelf before grabbing one of her luscious pigtails and wringing the last of the water out of them. Humming quietly to herself, she noticed that a few things in her locker had accidentally been knocked out of place, most likely when a phantom or ghost had phased through her locker on their way to class; it was an act that didn't happen very often, so Draculaura merely shrugged it off and went back to organizing her things when she felt a tingling sensation in the back of her neck. She had learned that this was most likely because something or someone was sneaking up her.

She casually glanced over her shoulder, fully expecting her friends to show up, only to find a bouquet of black roses floating in midair!

"Ahh!" Draculaura startled as a ghostly figure began to fade back into view. "Oh. Hey, uh, sorry, Draculaura." Johnny Spirit grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, Johnny Spirit! Heh, you scared me half to life!" Draculaura smiled.

The bad boy ghost grinned as he slicked back his hair once more. "Clawd just asked me to give these to you. He's got or somethin'." Johnny chuckled, jerking down the hallway. Far on the opposite end was Clawd, looking completely miserable as he scratched himself senseless at the invisible fleas in his fur.

"Say away! I'm probably contagious!" he whimpered, scratching himself feverishly.

"Tell him, thank you for the roses," Draculaura smiled, taking the bouquet from Johnny and casting a a heartfelt wave at Clawd. "But seriously, don't scare me like that!"

"Anyway, me and some of the other ghosts are gonna go float around the mall this afternoon. You and Clawd are welcome to join us." Johnny offered.

"Uh, I'll have to catch up with you. I'm almost finished here." Draculaura replied as she wrung out her pompoms for good measure. Johnny shrugged and took his leave, floating down the hallway after Scarah and Operetta. Draculaura started to hum quietly to herself again, straightening her textbooks and makeup supplies before she felt that familiar tingling sensation in the back of her neck again.

"Hello?" she asked nervously, her voice echoing off the empty hallways. "Is someone there?" she asked as the lights flickered for a moment.

"Johnny Spirit! Is that you?" Draculaura whimpered fearfully, biting her lip when there was no response. "Ben? Whisp? Please tell me that's one of you?" she ventured, receiving the same response. With a nervous gulp, the little vampire closed her locker and walked off down the hall, glancing nervously back and forth as the tingling sensation in her neck got colder and chillier. A sudden creaking noise met her ears and she slowly turned around to see if anyone was there; there was no one.

But her locker door was open.

"I told you not to scare me." Draculaura gulped nervously as she tiptoed back over to her locker and slamming it shut, giving it a small shove to make sure it was closed tight this time; perhaps she was being silly and hadn't closed it properly. She gave a small smile and shrug and turned on her heel to walk down the hall when a loud rattling sound caught her attention. Breath trapped in her throat, she turned around to see her locker shaking violently, as if some beast was trapped inside and just waiting to be released. The locker door suddenly banged open, a large tornado whipping out from the depths of Draculaura's locker ad swirling around her in the empty hallway, textbooks, pompoms, make up and other personal items trapped in the wind as it spun around Draculaura.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Draculaura panicked, quickly making her escape as the cyclone died down. An afterthought occurred to her and she quickly ran back to her locker, scooping up a small lip stick capsule before making her escape once more, the creepy feeling in her neck slowly ebbing away.

---

"Your hair looks clawsome, Draculaura." Rochelle smiled as she picked at the unidentifiable glop that passed for a school lunch at Monster High. Sitting next to her, with equally disgusting dishes in front of them, were Twyla and Sirena, trying hard not to throw up their precious breakfast as their lunches either blinked at them or tried to take a quick bite out of their hands. "How did you get it to do that?"

"Don't know. You'll have to ask my ghost friend." Draculaura shrugged, casting a quick glance at her new hair. It seemed to defy gravity, her pink and black locks twisted and curled up into something that resembled devil's horns at the very least.

"Uh, okay?" Sirena seemed confused. More than usual, that is. "I don't remember doing that, but apparently I'm an amazing hair stylist!"

"No!" Draculaura shook her head. "I . . . I" she looked over her shoulder, as if afraid someone would hear her and laugh at her. "I think I'm . . . being

haunted."

"Are you sure?" Twyla asked suspiciously. As if to prove her suspicions wrong, the fork in front of Draculaura shivered for a second before levitating into the air, forcefully stabbing a carrot and bringing it up to Draculaura's face, as if expecting her to eat it.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty sure." the vampire sighed. "And if that's not enough, I nearly got caught in Mr. Rotter's class looking at this scary cute cloak that's totes adorable; the magazine just started flying and then my pen pointed out the cloak! I'm pretty sure Mr. Rotter thinks I'm crazy now." Draculaura sighed miserably.

"Sirena? You are half ghost. Do you know anything about hauntings?" Rochelle turned to the hybrid while fending off her lunch with her spoon, having picked up a few fencing techniques ever since coming to Monster High and having to deal with the monstrosities that passed for meals.

"Hmmm," Sirena hummed before her eyes brightened. "My grandmother used to say that you could get rid of them by holding your breath-"

Draculaura took a deep breath and picked up her spoon, pushing the floating fork and carrot away from her as her face started to turn a darker shade of pink.

"Or, maybe that was hiccups . . ." Sirena wondered; Draculaura released her hold on her lungs, gasping for new air as Twyla piped up. "Maybe . . . we should talk to another ghost about this. One that isn't Sirena."

"An excellent idea." Rochelle agreed as the ghouls got up from the lunch table and grabbed their offending lunches, careful to not get their fingers to close to the savage meals as they jiggled and stirred.

---

Spectra sighed and looked at her laptop, her fingers hovering over the keyboard as her eyes starred at the blank document in front of her. So far, after posting that small update, she had gotten nothing but a small spike of satisfaction before she fell into a slump, unable to write any new material. The ghost heaved another sigh and closed the document, moving her cursor over one of the folders on her desk top and clicking on it; the folder opened up to a row of videos and Spectra clicked on the first one.

A new tab opened up on computer, the video taking a few seconds to load before it blinked to life. Spectra watched with a rather glum expression as Wildvine raced across the screen, the picture shaky and slightly crooked as the Florauna attacked a rather beefy Normie with a helpless werewolf in his arm, a knife in his other hand. Wildvine quickly bent backwards as the criminal swung his weapon in wide arc, hoping to slice the walking plant in front of him; the Florauna quickly sprang back up and fused all four of his tendril-like feet together before drilling through the sidewalk and into the earth, leaving the Normie completely baffled as Wildvine broke through the earth on the other side of him and lashed out with one of his stretchy arms, making him stumble forward. This was enough for the captive werewolf to suddenly bite the criminal's arm, sinking his fangs into the skin and gaining enough leverage to pry himself free before making a run for it, giving a thank you wave as he dashed away. The Florauna quickly reached behind his back and yanked off some of the tubers that sprouted from his shoulders, chucking them at the beefy gorilla before him and dancing back as the seeds exploded, leaving the Normie defeated.

Spectra sighed and closed the video, rubbing her aching temples. It wasn't that Ben wasn't interesting, to say the least; her blog had never been more popular ever since she started documenting his various rescues and adventures that she was lucky enough to be on. But her number of readers had started to drop, and she was worried that if she didn't find some new material soon, she would be right back where she started.

"Ghoul friend, we got a problem."

Spectra looked up to see Clawdeen standing in front of her, a seriously annoyed look on her face.

"You've got that right," Spectra sighed. "I'm going through the worst case of ghost writer's block in hiss-tory! I've got nothing to write about-"

"I'm talkin' about the story you posted! About the were-fleas!" Clawdeen interrupted, her expression far angrier now.

"Oh, yeah! How's that going? You're not still itchy are you?" Spectra asked with concern.

"Spectra, there's no such thing as were-fleas! That's just a gross rumor somebody made up!" Clawdeen sighed with annoyance as she sat down on the stairs next to Spectra. "Bad gossip. And I know you didn't mean anything by it, but you've got to be more careful posting rumors like that! You gotta check your facts first." she said firmly.

Clawdeen, I am so sorry! You're like, the best ghoul friend, and I'd never want to cause any problems with my stories!" Spectra apologized, closing the lid of her laptop.

"I heard Slow-Mo didn't come to school because he has . . . geist-lice." Heath shuddered as he, Deuce, and Manny walked by, ignoring the two ghouls on the steps as they made their way to the Creepateria to attempt to try and stomach the meal that passed for a school lunch.

Ooh! Geist-lice!" Spectra shivered with anticipation, grabbing the lid of her laptop in her fingers.

"You're doin' it again." Clawdeen frowned.

"Sorry." Spectra whimpered, moving her hand away from her computer.

"I meant what I said before. I'll help you find a story." Clawdeen reassured her.

"Thanks, Clawdeen," Spectra sighed. "I just get frustrated sometimes. Great stories just don't run up from out of nowhere you know." she said sadly.

"Draculaura's being haunted!" Rochelle exclaimed as she, Draculaura, Twyla, and Sirena ran up to the pair of ghouls, slightly out of breath.

"Did someone say haunted?" a deep, raspy voice purred. A ghostly figure phased up through the floor next to the ghouls, quickly becoming solid again, a wisp of icy vapor escaping its perma-frown mouth. A green light suddenly engulfed the Necrofriggian, returning Ben to the world as he cracked his back.

"I thought you were taking care of Jinafire?" Clawdeen asked suspiciously.

"Robecca, Venus, Gigi, and Genie are holding down the fort," Ben shrugged. "Plus, I forgot my Biteology homework. Now what's this I hear about a haunting?"

"Did someone say haunting?" a second voice asked. Ben and the ghouls all craned their necks skyward to see none other than Charmcaster floating above their heads, a faded pink aura surrounding her as she uncrossed her legs and sprawled out on an invisible plain in the air.

"How are you doing that?" Rochelle asked.

"Magic, duh," Charmcaster smiled and rolled her eyes. "Do it, did it, own it. Now what's this about a haunting? Because whatever it is, I want in!"

"Why?" Ben wondered, curious.

"I have had like, no fun ever since I joined this school!" Charmcaster sighed, flopping on her back as she continued to float above them. "I'm not saying I don't like it here, but you get to fight crime every day! I want in on some of that action!"

"First off, it's not every day. More like a weekly basis," Ben pointed out. "Second, I'm not always crime, I'm usually protecting the monsters from the Normies. And thirdly . . . actually, I got nothing. So, haunting?" he turned to Draculaura.

"Haunted!?" Spectra suddenly piped up, her voice filled with more dread and slight fear than it usually sounded. "No! There's no way she's being haunted!" she protested. "Maybe it was just . . . the wind?" she suggested.

"Heh, could the wind style my hair like this?" Draculaura asked, gesturing to her unique hair style; Ben whistled with admiration as Charmcaster clapped her hands, descending from the air and landing behind Spectra on the stairs. "Don't get me wrong, it's super cute! Isn't it?"

Spectra sighed and rubbed her aching temples again, her mind like a hurricane, tornado, tsunami, earthquake, and meteor shower all in one. "Are you okay?" Twyla asked her.

"It's not possible," Spectra murmured to herself, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "It can't be a haunting. That's . . ." her breath caught in her throat. "Against the rules!"

"Rules? What rules?" Rochelle asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Whoa, is there something you're not telling us?" Clawdeen frowned.

"Don't worry, Draculaura. It won't happen again! It-it just won't happen again!" Spectra seemed to be close to tears as she set her laptop down and took to the air, soaring high above the crowd and through the ceiling and into the bowels of Monster High.

"Alright then! Problem solved!" Sirena giggled. "What's next? Oh, how about we help Clawdeen with her flea-thingy-"

Clawdeen growled as she climbed to her feet. "C'mon. Lets see where she's goin'."

"But she could be anywhere!" Draculaura said worriedly. "How are we going to find her?"

"I got it!" three voices said at the same time. Ben quickly turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through his aliens before coming across the desired one and slapping the activation button; a green light engulfed him as Charmcaster quickly summoned a pair of pink orbs into her hands. Deep orange fur sprouted all over his body, as if a bomb filled with hair suddenly exploded inside of him. His lower jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharp and menacing. The wave of fur raced over his face, covering his eyes as they suddenly vanished all together. He could feel his ears disappearing as what felt like gills take their place. In actuality, they were sensitive ears able to pick up the tiniest of sounds. His shoulders and arms swelled as his dull nails became sharp claws. His legs twisted and formed into the hind legs of that of a dog as a thick green color appeared around his neck, the Omnitrix symbol in the middle.

"Ben, I know Wildmutt has a good sniffer, but trust me. I got this." Clawdeen said firmly as the Vulpimancer bellowed in protest; passerby didn't even cast a second glance at the massive alien carnivore that had suddenly appeared in the lobby, they had become that accustomed to Ben.

"Please. I could find her way fast by tracking her mana," Charmcaster scoffed as a smile crept over her face. "First one to find her wins!" she cried with glee before taking to the air once more with her her entire body glowing a faint pink as she soared through the air; Wildmutt let out a loud roar and took off after her, face pointed towards the ground as he barreled down the halls.

"Oh, no you don't!" Clawdeen snarled, giving chase after them.

"This is weird, no?" Rochelle asked Sirena.

"I dunno. Seems pretty normal to me!" the hybrid exclaimed before laughing and chasing after her three friends.

"Yeah, it's weird." Twyla reassured Rochelle before they and Draculaura took off down the hall.

---

Spectra silently moved through the cluttered attic, easily maneuvering over unsteady towers of taped up boxes and moving around old furniture with sheets draped over them that made them look like a variety of ghosts having a small party in the dank, dusty room above the school. But Spectra was not there to remissness about good times with the fake ghosts that made their home in the attic, no she was looking for something. Something important. She glanced around the crowded attic, passing over old paintings of famous monsters no one knew or really remembered and an old vanity before she finally found what she was looking for: a skull sitting on the edge of an old desk. Spectra floated over to it and waved a hand over the skull, the jaws opening wide as a silver key with a faint, violet glow faded into existence between the teeth. Spectra curled her fingers around it and floated up to the ceiling towards a hidden trapdoor and slid the key into the lock.

Unbeknownst to her, the door to the attic quietly creaked open as Draculaura, Rochelle, Twyla, Sirena, Clawdeen, Charmcaster, and Wildmutt sneaked through, the furrier two of the group getting stuck in the doorway as they tried to go through at the same time before Wildmutt shifted enough to allow Clawdeen to sneak in. The group quickly took cover behind a set of old tables and trunks with dusty sheets covering them and watched as Spectra turned the key.

The door suddenly glowed a bright, ghostly light before fading out of existence and leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling. The ghouls squinted their eyes and peered in closer as Wildmutt tried to pick up the occurring events with his heightened senses, accidentally knocking over a small jar of eyeballs. The ghouls all held their breaths as they ducked behind the table and trunks; Spectra whirled around, peering into the dusty attic.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping against hope that she wasn't being followed. Where she was going, she could only go alone. Not one of her friends, not even Ben or Sirena would be welcomed there. Shrugging the noise off as some of the vermin that inhabited Monster High, Spectra floated up throug the opening and into another chamber. The ghouls all breathed once more as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to normal; the ghouls all shushed him.

"Sorry." he whispered as they crawled out from their hiding place and over to the wall, Ben dragging a ladder with him and setting it up so that it sat right underneath the opening in the ceiling. One by one, Ben and the ghouls climbed up the ladder and into the room above, hiding behind a large vanity and old footlocker as Spectra moved about in the musty attic. The ghost drifted over to a large tarp that was stapled into the slanted ceiling above, most likely to patch up a hole in the roof until a roofer could come and fix it; Spectra, instead of leaving it alone, gripped an edge of the tarp in her hands and yanked it off the wall as a bright, ghostly light filled the room, the tarp dropping to the floor to reveal a portal of some kind or other.

The ghouls watched as Spectra floated down from the ceiling and stepped into the shaft of light the portal created, waiting patiently as the portal gave a slight roar and engulfed her in a flash of bright light, sucking her into the realm beyond. "It's like she just vanished!" Twyla exclaimed once Spectra was gone.

"Teleporter?" Ben wondered.

"What is this, a sci fy movie?" Sirena quipped.

"Hey, we have teleporters back where I'm from," Ben defended himself. "But I don't think this is one of them."

"Then, where did she go?" Draculaura wondered.

"I can't pick up anything," Charmcaster sighed as her hands faded from a glowing pink and back to their regular color. "And I don't think it was magic."

Clawdeen ignored them all and stepped towards the strange portal that cast its ghostly light onto the floor, cautiously sticking a hand into the bright light; her hand seemed to flicker and become more vaporous as she moved it deeper into a portal, her eyes widening in awe.

"Clawdeen! Are you sure that's a good idea?" Twyla asked nervously.

"Yeah, sticking your hand into some weird inter-dimensional portal or something probably isn't the best idea," Ben said with equal nervousness. "Take from a guy with experience."

Clawdeen blinked and turned back to her friends and lover, a determined look on her face as she withdrew her hand from the ghostly light. "No, but I promised Spectra I'd help her find a story. And whatever she's after, I'm not letting her go alone."

"Famous last words." Charmcaster grumbled under her breath as Ben elbowed her in the ribs.

Clawdeen, with her sensitive ears, ignored the biting comment and strolled back into the shaft of light, squinting her eyes a bit under the brightness as she spread her arms out like wings, waiting patiently as the portal did its magic. She felt a tingling feeling course its way through her body, like the time she had gotten too close to a bunch of balloons and experienced static electricity for the first time, and felt her body become lighter as the she was engulfed in the bright light and sucked up into the portal like Spectra had been.

"Come on!" Ben urged, rushing into the light and waiting his turn as Charmcaster charged after him. The ghouls were a tad more hesitant, sharing nervous looks with each other before summoning their courage and joining their friends in the shining light. The same tingling feeling crept over their bodies, like billions of ants all marching at random intervals, as the portal took them up one by one in a ball of bright light and through its vortex to the other side.

---

After what felt like maybe an hour so at the very least and an eternity at the most, Ben and the ghouls reappeared on the other side of the portal on something that felt solid enough to their feet. The air felt chilled and whispy around them, as if it were made of the finest clouds the world had to offer.

"Where are we?" Rochelle wondered as the ghouls glanced at their surroundings.

"Look! Behind us!" Charmcaster pointed behind them. The ghouls all turned to look and saw the imposing building of Monster High on the far side of the portal they had dared to step through, the portal swirling and pulsing endlessly as if it were finally getting rid of a dreadful amount of pent up energy.

"Whoaaaaaaa." Clawdeen said with awe. The ghouls and ben followed her gaze and found that they had landed on a large ship with a long bow and stern. A tall figurehead rose up from the bow as a dozen oars on either side of the boat endlessly moved back and forth, their power source unknown. The ship gave off a ghostly glow as the ghouls took to taking cautious steps up and down the deck, glancing over the sides into the empty, violet tinged abyss.

"Hello?" Draculaura called out, her voice echoing in the void. "Is anybody here?" she asked a fog began to roll in, making it hard to see really anything in front of her. A sudden flapping caught her attention and she ducked to the deck of the ship just in time as a skeletal crow swooped low over her head, giving a lone caw as it settled down on the boat's figurehead, cocking its head to the side as it studied Draculaura and her friends.

A sudden rattling noise caught Draculaura's attention and she took several frightened steps back as a thin, ghostly figure phased up through the deck, head bowed to its feet. The figure was dressed in a black cloak that wavered in an invisible breeze, slightly ruffling her pale, white dress and rattling the chains tied around her waist and her crystal blue boots; Ben eyed her suspiciously, hand poised above the Omnitrix at the slightest threatening gesture as Charmcaster's hands glowed a deadly pink. The figure rolled its head up, exposing deep, blue eyes and an almost skeletal face with which a pair of blue lips and rolling pink and blue locks were attached to, a long staff gripped tightly in its thin hands.

"Is anybody else here?" Draculaura whimpered fearfully.

The figure didn't answer and only raised its hands as it slowly drifted towards them; Sirena could just barely see the figure's bones under her pale skin as the skeletal crow cawed and alighted down on top of the staff, preening its ghostly feathers before glaring deeply at the group before it, almost daring them to make a move.

"Well, uh, this was fun, but, uh-" Draculaura startled before the figure spoke.

"You're not supposed to be here!" the figure said with the voice of little girl and a much more threatening voice that sounded like a demon's as it reared up to tower over the group, a sinister smile on the figure's lips. Then the strange figure did the most strangest of things: she started laughing.

"Seriously, I don't think you're supposed to be here." the girl said with an earnest tone as she took off her hood and glanced over the group before resting her eyes on Sirena. "Except maybe you." she hummed. "Sorry about that. I get carried away with this whole 'Reaper' thing sometimes." the girl apologized with a twirl of her staff. "I'm River. River Styxx."

"Nice to meet you River." Rochelle smiled, casting a look at Ben and Charmcaster; both of them eased up a little, lowering their hands and deactivating their respective weapons.

"Um, nice boat." Twyla noted.

"Thanks," River smiled. "It's my dads. Usually he's the one that ferries ghosts between the two worlds, but he's at a Reaper Convention in Los Plagueas."

"Really? Los Plagueas?" Charmcaster mumbled, earning another elbow to the ribs from Ben.

"So," River ignored the comment. "Until he gets back, this baby's my very own party yacht to the Ghost World!" River laughed, twirling her staff around in her hands with ease.

"I'm sorry, but did she say 'The Ghost World'?" Clawdeen wondered.

"Oh, no, not this place again!" Ben whined.

"Excuse me?" Clawdeen turned to Ben.

"I've been down to the Underworld at least twice when I was shot off into the future," Ben explained. "Let me just say that Hades's gets annoying after a while."

"I hear ya," River sighed. "Some people call it the Underworld, but is better known as the Ghost World to its inhabitants." she explained as a second, ghostly figure phased up through the boat's deck next to her. Ben almost didn't recognize the girl in front of him, she looked so different. Instead of wearing her deep violet locks straight down, she had them curled and pulled up to her head, a deep magenta eyeshadow over her faded eyes. She wore a black dress with a pink top underneath, chains crisscrossed over the dress that rattled and shook as she moved.

"What?" the figure gasped upon seeing Ben and the ghouls. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"Spectra!?" Ben cried with relief.

Now that Ben was actually paying attention, he noticed that Spectra wasn't the only one that had gotten a make over upon entering the Ghost World; Sirena had changed too, her pale white body smoothly and slowly transitioning to a faint cerulean in color towards the end of her tail and hands. Her rolling, lavender locks that looked like stormy, ocean waves now had sand and aqua colored highlights with a starfish entangled smoothly in her hair. She wore a sand colored turtleneck tank top with swirling seashell designs and a turqoise belt just above her tail, a glittering sea star acting like a belt buckle. A small necklace of pearls and chains rattled quietly around her neck and tail, with a single pearl in each ear and another loop of chains around her wrists; it seemed the hybrid had also just noticed as she glanced over her new outfit with special interest.

"Yeah, the dancing Reaper made that pretty clear." Twyla sighed with a small smile, ignoring the distracted ghost above her.

"Did somebody say, 'confetti cannons'!?" River interrupted with her usual smile.

"What? No, of cou-" Ben started before River slammed the butt of her staff into the boat's deck, a pulse of light going through the boat's deck and towards the side. Immediately, six operational cannons popped out of the boat's deck and fired off a round of colorful confetti into the air as Sirena twirled and spun through the brightly colored clouds, laughing.

"Spectra, what is going on?" Clawdeen asked the ghost.

Spectra gulped before relenting, sounding very frightened as she spoke. "You have to promise not to tell anyone," she began. "There's another world. A ghost world. Where all the different types of ghosts come from," she told Ben, Charmcaster, and the ghouls. "There are phantoms like Operetta, banshees like Scarah, and even faceless ghosts like my old friend, Kiyomi."

"And don't forget us Reapers!" River butted in with a smile.

"But how come we've never heard about this Ghost World?" Draculaura wondered.

"It's a secret because most ghosts are pretty nervous around outsiders," River explained.

"Now that's ironic." Ben noted with a small smile.

"You're what we ghosts refer to as, 'Solids'." River added.

"Solids. Her story checks out." Twyla hummed, rapping a knuckle on Rochelle's stone shoulder; the gargoyle cast her friend a rather annoyed look at the joke.

"Most ghosts have never even seen outsiders from the Monster World," Spectra continued. "They'd probably be pretty scared if they saw you."

"Again with the irony." Ben said with a smile. "But I'm sure we can a good impression, right?" he turned to the rest of the ghouls; they had rather mixed faces about this suggestion.

"My family left the Ghost World a long time ago," Spectra went on. "Before they . . ." she trailed off, unable to continue at that point. The ghost quickly stilled the tears at the back of her eyes and went on. "They thought Monster High would be a good place for me." she added with a weak smile as she floated up to the top of the bow's figurehead. "This boat will take us back to my old school, Haunted High."

Rising out of the fog beyond them was a tall series of buildings whose crooked towers reached high into the ghostly skies, there not being a single straight angle that the ghouls could see from the distance. "Unbelievable." Clawdeen breathed. "A whole other school sitting right next to Monster High!"

"So, what brings you back to the Ghost World, Spectra?" River wondered.

"Draculaura is being haunted." Spectra admitted with shame as the vampire gestured to her rather unique hair style.

"That's . . . impossible!" River stammered. "Ghosts don't haunt the Monster World! There hasn't been a haunting since . . . The Red Lady!" River gasped.

"What is The Red Lady?" Rochelle asked.

River pulled her hood back over her head as she began to tell the tale. "The legend of The Red Lady is a story that every ghost learns when they're very young," River began. "Centuries ago, The Red Lady was the scariest, the most notorious ghost in the Monster World. No one was safe from her heinous crimes and sinister hauntings. They say that The Red Lady discovered a way to quickly travel between the Ghost World and the Monster World. The Red Lady became more infamous with every act of theft, tyranny, deceit, and every haunting she committed. From robbing treasure to causing destruction, chaos, and mayhem; nothing delighted her more than hiding in the shadows, waiting for the just the right moment to JUMP OUT! AND TERRORIZE UNSUSPECTING OUTSIDERS" River suddenly cried, making everyone visibly flinch as she continued to tell the tale. "But one day, her haunting spree finally came to an end, when The Red Lady was finally captured and then locked away. Legends state that the weight of her crimes was so heavy, that it would take her centuries to pay her debt to society . . ." she trailed with a sinister tone before suddenly breaking out into laughter. "Sorry, I just love a good ghost story!"

"Yeah, uh, me too!" Draculaura quickly agreed with a nervous tone.

"That's why there aren't hauntings anymore," River summed up. "No ghost ever wants to face the same fate as The Red Lady." A sudden explosion caught River's attention as something large soared through the air.

"What was that?" Sirena asked.

"Whoa! Hang on!" River said with a smile. Grabbing hold of her pet crow for safe keeping as a large cannonball slammed into the side of the boat with a colorful blast, rocking it from side to side as another cannonball slammed into the boat, nearly sending everyone to their knees.

"Everyone get down!" Ben yelled as he turned on the Omnitrix and cycled through his aliens before selecting a random alien and slapping the activation button; a green light washed over him and began to change his DNA as River watched with shock and awe. His skin started to harden, becoming unbearably hot and solid as rock. It suddenly split apart, floating like bath toys on a rapidly appearing magma sea. Hot, molten lava swirled and pushed it's way through the cracks and crevices of his skin as Ben's bones literally melted away. His hair began to burn, smoke curling lightly off it until it burst into flames, causing Draculaura to yelp in surprise. His fingers disappeared altogether as white hot lava covered them and solidified into a sort of gelatin like substance. His toes melted into two digits that resembled claws as his eyes turned a fiery yellow and the Omnitrix appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.

"Time to turn up the heat!" Heatblast rasped.

"That's new." River noted with little surprise.

"Ben, wait!" Spectra yelled as Draculaura suddenly gasped and pointed off into the distance. Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at as a large pirate galleon appeared through the fog, pulling up to the side of River's boat as another volley of colorful cannonballs was fired from the deck and rocked the boat.

"Yahahahar!" a figure cackled as she swirled around the main mast. The ghost had soft, green skin with a ghostly blue glow to it and deep, blue locks that looked like rolling ocean waves. On her head, she wore a large peach colored captains hat with a large blue feather in the brim and a blue art piece that looked like a ship on a stormy sea. She wore a black, gray, and white captains jacket over a sky blue dress with pink colored chains ending in small anchor criss-crossing her body. On one foot she wore a single, blue heel and her other leg was missing entirely, being replaced with a golden copy of her original leg. "Prepare to be boarded, you unsea-worthy brine shrimp!" she cackled as a ghostly skeleton crew cackled and bellowed their approval; a small little cuttlefish floated next to the figure with an eye patch over one of its large eyes.

With a wicked grin on her face, the figure proudly jumped off her ship and somersaulted through the air before landing with a dull thud! on River's boat as her skeleton crew followed her and quickly surrounded Heatblast and the ghouls as the Pyronite brandished flaming balls of fire.

"Yahaharharharharhar!" the figure cackled before turning to a skeletal member of her crew holding a large boom box over his shoulder. "Aaaaaand . . . time!" she announced, tapping her iCoffin to shut off the timer as the skeleton turned off the imposing, sea worthy music that had been playing the whole time during the attack. "Thirty-seven seconds! Ha! A new record!' she cried triumphantly.

"New record! New record!" her little cuttlefish chanted.

"Would you be so kind as to sign this for my Ghost Pirate class?" the figure turned to River, handing her a sheet and pen that River kindly took and scribbled her name at the bottom before handing it back to the ghostly pirate. "I, am Vandala Doubloons!" the pirate cried dramatically. "Captain of the Salty Spectre, Fiercest Ghost Pirate on the Spectral Seas, and I'm-" she started before her skin turned a sickly shade of green.

"Very seasick." she groaned, quickly floating over to the side of River's boat. "C'mon, Vandala! Get it together!" she moaned to herself. "No one likes a seasick pirate!"

Heatblast cocked an eyebrow at the pirate ghost as a small, skeletal monkey appeared out from behind one of Vandala's skeletal crew members and curiously tottered over to him, its deep sockets trained specifically on the Pyronite. Like a moth drawn to the flame, the primate skeleton cautiously scurried over to Heatblast, entranced by the flames as it curiously reached a hand out. Heatblast watched nervously as the skeletal monkey reached with a shaky fingertip and lightly tapped one of the rocks on the Pyronite's ankles.

The monkey suddenly let out a wild screech of panic, jumping back and pointing at Heatblast and the ghouls as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted the Pyronite back into Ben with a flash of bright light; the skeleton pirates all panicked and started running madly about as Vandala finally took notice of the situation.

"Solids! Solids! You have Solids on your boat!" Vandala screamed at River as she swooped around and quickly phased through the lower deck, nervously peeking out at Ben and the ghouls, as if expecting them to suddenly pounce on her and tear her to shreds.

"Uh, Vandala, it's okay!" River started. "They're, uh, nice Solids."

"You sure they're not here to haunt me?" Vandala asked skeptically. "'Cause, I have been having a lot of cursed treasure lately."

"I promise, we won't hurt you," Ben reassured Vandala. "She might though." he added, jerking a thumb back at Charmcaster.

"Oh, please! I'm not sadistic anymore, remember?" Charmcaster scoffed.

"I'm just being prepared in case the other shoe drops." Ben said warily.

"I still don't trust you," Vandala announced firmly. "You may not be pirates, but if there's one thing pirates are notorious for, other than swashbuckling and treasure hunting," she added aside to River. "Is telling lies!"

Ben rolled his eyes. "What can I do to make you trust us?" he asked.

Vandala seemed to think it over, slowly tracing her eyes over each of the ghouls and Ben before finally answering. "Sword fight. Right here and now. And no using that . . . whatever it was you used to transform." she announced, reaching for the large, curved blade clipped at her side and swinging it in a wide arc above her head. "Femur, give him your sword." she ordered on of her skeletal crew members. The skeleton did so reluctantly, handing Ben a smaller blade to use before quickly scurrying back to join his terrified brothers as the monkey climbed up onto his shoulder.

"First one to make the other submit or lose their sword, wins." Vandala announced as the ghouls all surrounded them to form a sort of ring. "And . . . GO!" she bellowed, charging right at Ben and swinging her sword in wide arcs in front of him, a determined look on her face. Ben yelped and ducked to the deck under each swing, backing up until he had finally had enough. He quickly jammed out his leg and swept Vandala's feet out from under her, sending her to the deck as he popped back up and quickly ran behind her as she climbed to her feet. Ben then went on the offensive, thrusting his sword forward and quickly parrying a blow to his abdomen as he swung for Vandala's neck. The ghost pirate saw the move coming and quickly ducked under the blade, Ben's sword quickly taking off her hat before thrusting down and under her guard. Vandala gritted her teeth and blocked the blow before shoving Ben back and jamming her sword forward, catching his blade as it swung for her.

The two of them were locked in stalemate for a few seconds, neither one giving to the other as they put as much force into their swings to try and knock the others blade out of their hands. Having more experience, Vandala jerked her sword upwards, bring Ben's with her as she then jerked it to her right and then pulled with all her might to the left, pulling the sword of his hands and watching as it plunged deeply into the deck.

"You lose," Vandala announced as she clipped the sword back to her belt. "Not bad for a Solid."

"Yeah, well that was on your turf," Ben grinned. "Now lets see how well you do in hand-to-hand combat." he said with a smile, turning to the Omnitrix and cycling through the aliens before selecting the one he needed and slapping the activation button. Muscles quickly piled themselves onto Ben's arms and chest, short, brown feathers sprouting up from his skin to cover them. His and mouth melted together like butter, hardening into a yellow, horny beak as teeth lined them. The feathers continued to cover his body, racing up over his back and stomach, growing on nearly every inch of his body. Ben's wrists and ankles began to harden as thick scales appeared on them, his fingers molding together into three digits. His fingernails grew longer and bigger, becoming curved and black as they turned into talons. His toes all formed together into two long digits, his heel bone grinding against his foot as a third toe popped out behind them, the toenails growing into long talons. A white plume appeared on Ben's head, looking like a Mohawk of sorts as a pair of large, sharp blades grew out from his elbows. Green wrist and ankle guards materialized on his body, as well as a pair of black briefs and green and white striped belt. A green mask fit over his face as a green strap vest appeared on his body, the Omnitrix appearing on the vest hooker.

"Kickin' Hawk's my best hand-to-hand fighter," the large, bird-like alien grinned. "Foot-to-head." he added, curling his talons into fists.

Vandala blinked, but quickly accepted the challenge. "I don't know how you did that, mate, but you'll be walking the plank when I'm done with ya!" she yelled, charging forward, her fists clenched tightly as she thrust them at Kickin' Hawk's face. The alien easily bobbed his head to the side to avoid each strike before jamming his knee into Vandala's chest and then attacking her with a roundhouse kick, sending her flying back; several of member's of the skeletal crew lost their jaws when they dropped.

"Lucky shot, you scurvy dog." Vandala grinned.

"Famous last words." Kickin' Hawk grinned, giving her a come-at-me-bro gesture with his hand. Vandala narrowed her eyes and flew at Kickin' Hawk's head, lashing out with her legs, attempting to strike him over the head with each blow; Kickin' Hawk blocked each one one before lashing out with yet another roundhouse kick and sending her to the deck, pinning her there with a firm foot on her chest.

"You lose." Kickin' Hawk grinned.

Vandala blinked before her face split into a smile. "Guess I do. You're not bad, mate." she grinned as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted Kickin' hawk back into Ben as he helped her to her feet.

"Um, Spectra?" Draculaura piped up. "I know that Vandala is pretty okay with us now, but if this is how ghosts at Haunted High are going to react to us-" she gestured to Vandala's still skeptical crew as they all id behind their captain and River.

"No, it should be fine," Spectra interrupted. "As long as you're with me. But, it wouldn't be a bad idea to disguise you ghouls so you don't attract too much attention." she decided.

"River Styxx has got you covered!" River smiled with another playful twirl of her staff as she phased down through the deck of her ship and came back up moments later with dark, black cloaks similar to her own.

"Uh, you sure you don't have anything less . . . grim?" Draculaura asked hopefully as the others each took a cloak without complaint. "Perhaps in a pink?" she added when she saw that the cloaks made the wearer have a faint, wavering image like River, Spectra, and Vandala.

"I don't think so," Ben shrugged as he kindly declined a cloak offered to him by Vandala and turned to the Omnitrix, cycling through his aliens before coming across the one desired and slapping the activation button. He felt the skin around his skull slowly vanish, as if some flesh eating parasite were eating at it. His skull slowly turned upside down as the bones ground and shifted with a sickening sound. The teeth became sharper as new, thicker skin covered his face and his eyes molded into one. His fingers turned into dagger like claws that felt like they could slice through someone's soul. His legs wrapped around each other into a sort of ghostly tail as thick, green chains formed around his neck and wrists. The Omnitrix appeared on his chest, the chains all meeting together at the same spot as a dozen writhing tentacles suddenly spilled forth from Ben's insides. The transformation was complete.

"Is there anything that fancy gizmo of yours can't turn you into?" Vandala asked with a smile.

"A lot, actually," Ghostfreak rasped. "Anything that isn't a sapient aliens life form is a no-go."

"Did he just say 'alien'?" Vandala asked Clawdeen.

"I had a hard time believin' it too," Clawdeen shrugged. "But it was kinda hard not to resist him after a while; he's got practically half of Monster High's ghoul population drooling all over him." she exaggerated.

"So, is he dating someone?" Vandala asked, confused.

"A lotta someones actually, Spectra and yours truly included." Clawdeen said with a smile as Vandala's jaw dropped.

It's a gift and a curse." Ghostfreak shrugged.

"We're here!" River announced as both ships cut through the thick fog and slowly approached the ever impressive building before them, silently pulling up to a dock at the bottom of a long staircase to the main building. Random towers jutted out of odd intervals in the main building's structure, giving it a rather unstable and flighty look, one that perfectly accompanied the school's ghostly student body.

"Wow." Rochelle breathed as River docked her boat and let them off, floating ahead of them and parking her boat with a set of car keys; Ghostfreak decided not to question it as he flew overhead with Spectra, Sirena, Vandala, and River, silently approaching the main set of doors as the ghouls admired the school's architecture. The ghosts and fellow Ectonurite quietly phased through the front door with ease and hardly even noticing it while the ghouls were less fortunate; they bumped right into the large set of doors and nearly fell flat on their backs.

"Uh, a little help?" Twyla wondered.

"Oops. Sorry!" Spectra apologized, phasing half way through the doors and pushing them open with a strained shove of her hands. The doors creaked open on rusty hinges, exposing a large lobby with hundreds of spirits floating about on their way to classes. Dozens of staircases twisted and turned in impossible ways, all adjoining a central tower of sorts at one point or another.

"Oh my ghoul! It's . . . boo-tiful!" Sirena breathed. "I can't believe my parents never told me about this place!"

"Ooh, I like your . . . uh, squid?" Draculaura guessed, gesturing to the glowing little mollusk floating near Vandala's head.

"He's a cuttlefish," Vandala corrected. "His name is Aye."

"Aye?" Twyla wondered.

"Aye-aye!" Vandala laughed.

"Aye-aye!" Aye chirped happily.

"It's as if nothing changed since I left." Spectra sighed happily.

"Well . . . almost nothing." River noted as a ghost floated overhead with an alarming amount of black, diamond-shaped chains with a sinister, red glow wrapped around their legs; the dark looking chains were attached to a large barrel and a pair of buckets, the student not looking happy in the slightest.

"That's a strange fashion statement." Rochelle noted as more students with similar chains floated overhead.

"Those are Detention Chains. Courtesy of Principal Revenant." River explained.

"Detention?" Spectra wondered worriedly. "They're being punished?"

"If you get caught breaking the school rules, you end up getting chains that you have to work off by doing a variety of tasks. Sometimes with extra homework, sometimes with extra chores." River sighed sadly.

"I had to swab the floors for weeks to work off the last of my chains . . ." Vandala remembered miserably, shivering at the horrid memory.

"The variety of chains is large, but they all work the same way. As long as you're in detention, you can't leave Haunted High." River summed up with a grim expression.

"Ghouls," Spectra started before remembering something. "And Ben, someone has to know something about Draculaura's haunting. I say we hit the Creepateria and ask around."

"Aye-aye!" Aye agreed happily.

---

"Wow! Incredible!" Sirena laughed as they entered the Creepateria, a series of floating tables and chairs that hovered above an outside deck that was connected to a staircase leading back into the school. Dozens of ghostly students floated about, generally ignoring the crew if not to only give them an odd look as they floated by. "Uh, are you sure this is the Creepateria?" Sirena asked skeptically/

"It's the Creepateria." Clawdeen confirmed with a few sniffs of her sensitive nose. That, and the occasional retching noise could be heard from the ill student that had actually attempted to see the revolting glop that passed for food. It seemed no matter where one went, Creepateria' food was Creepateria food through and through.

A sudden commotion caught everyone's attention as they all turned to see a ghostly ghoul drifting down the staircase to the Creepateria, waving politely at the many students that greeted her as she passed by. She wore a Japanese school girl's outfit, complete with a faded pink tie around her collar and series of rattling chains attached to a belt around her waist. Her purple and pink hair spilled out behind her as she moved, her face all but almost nonexistent if one didn't look carefully enough.

"Hey, who's the popular ghoul?" Charmcaster wondered.

"Wait, that's Kiyomi?" Spectra seemed surprised, as if she could hardly believe it. "I'd recognize that face anywhere!"

"Face?" Ghostfreak cocked his one eye in utter confusion upon noticing that Kiyomi's features looked rather transparent, to say the least.

"Well, you know what I mean," Spectra smiled. "Kiyomi!"

The noppera-bōturned at the sound of Spectra's voice and squinted her eyes a bit, as if trying to pick out Spectra from the cluster of ghosts surrounding her before her face literally brightened into a vibrant yellow upon recognizing Spectra. "Spectra!" Kiyomi cried happily, swooping over to her long lost friend and scooping her up into a hug. "You're back!"

"You're . . . different!" Spectra grinned, finally finding the right word. :You use to be the shyest ghost at Haunted High! Now look at you, all fashionable and popular!"

"Hey, change is good, right?" Kiyomi smiled, giving a little twirl.

"Kiyomi, these are my friends, Sirena, Twyla, Rochelle, Charmcaster, Ben, and Draculaura." Spectra gestured to her friends as they all waved.

"Hello!" Draculaura piped up with a friendly smile before turning into a concerned frown as Kiyomi's skin started to flash vibrant colors, a worried look spreading across her face.

"Kiyomi, you seem . . . familiar to me," Draculaura mused, looking over Kiyomi closely. "Have we met before?"

"No! I-I don't think so!" Kiyomi stammered.

"Are you okay, Kiyomi?" Spectra asked. "You're turning green."

"Yes! I-I'm fine," Kiyomi reassured her. "I-I-I'm sorry, but I gotta fly. Lets catch up before you leave. Nice to meet you all!" she quickly called over her shoulder as she soared off and out of ear-shot.

"You're friend is so colorful." Draculaura noted.

"That's how Kiyomi shows her emotions, how she expresses herself." Spectra explained.

"Well she didn't stick around very long." Clawdeen frowned.

"It's fine," Spectra shrugged. "We're not here for classmate reunions. We're here to help Draculaura." Spectra smiled as she floated off to one of the lunch tables to ask its patrons a few questions.

"I dunno," Clawdeen mused. "Something about that ghoul just rubs me the wrong way."

"Normally I would agree with you, babe," Ghostfreak rasped. "But Kiyomi seems harmless. What's the worst she can do?"

"I told you not to call me that." Clawdeen growled.

"Oh, don't deny you don't like it! Your fur turns red every time I say it!" the Ectonurite chided as Clawdeen's face turned a deep maroon. "See? Like that!"

Vandala laughed and swooped down low next to Ghostfreak with a smile on her face. "Seems you're quite the ladies man, matey."

"It would seem so," Ghostfreak shrugged. "And I love every one of 'em."

"How many do you have? On your crew?" Vandala asked.

"More like a harem," Ghostfreak corrected. "And roughly around eleven so far."

"Hey, check it!" a voice called. Everyone glanced up from their business to see a trio of spray paint cans floating about in the air over a section of blank wall, quickly shaking themselves up, as if ready to paint a master piece for everyone to see.

"What's going on?" Charmcaster wondered.

"Oh, it's just Porter." River smiled with a shrug, turning to watch as the paint cans released multicolored sprays of paint that quickly swirled into an elaborate painting of a pair of ghostly hands bound tightly by chains. Spectra turned to face a ghost with slime green skin and intense blue eyes with a green sclera. He wore a black shirt with what looked like paint stains splattered all over in bright blues and dull purples as he moved his hands about; the paint cans followed his commands, changing the picture so that chains binding the hands were snapped free upon hearing the student body's numerous requests.

"He is kinda cute." Sirena noted with a small smile as Porter floated by to check out his art work up close.

"And his artwork is cool!" Ghostfreak noted.

"Cool or not, is he allowed to write on the walls like that?" Spectra asked.

"He is not," River shook her head. "And here come the Hall Moanitors." she sighed as three ghostly figures of about the same height floated through the wall of the Creepateria. The first was a batty old hag in an old school teacher's uniform with a plump body, beady eyes behind large glasses, and a massive hairdo that was bigger than her entire body. The second was a short little man wearing a tuxedo and striped tie. On his rounded head with large ears, large eyes behind square glasses, he wore a towering top hat that he could easily slip his entire body into should he so chose. The third ghost was by far the creepiest as he was well muscled and wore a similar tuxedo to the second ghost with a dark black tie. Unlike the other two, he wore a fedora hat with a wide, circular brim and dark shades above his short Hitler mustache that kept his piercing eyes hidden from the world.

"The Hall Moanitors?" Rochelle cocked an eyebrow.

"The Ghosts of Haunting Past, Present, and Future," River explained wearily. "They're Principal Revenant's eyes and ears around the school. Present, the leader, is always on the lookout for someone breaking the rules," River gestured to the short little man before pointing at the old woman. "That one is Past. She keeps track of every student infraction at Haunted High,"

"Ahem! Chains!" Present exclaimed, pointing at a student who was playing a game on his iCoffin. Past turned to the poor student with a wicked grin on her face as she whipped out her badge and sent a ghostly, dark red chain spiraling at the student, wrapping it around his waist and tying him down as she snatched his iCoffin away from his hands.

"And the Ghost of Future, he has a way of predicting what you're going to do before you even do it!" River whispered as they watched Future catch a carelessly tossed juice box and frown at the poor student.

"It's chains for you." Future growled in a whispery, demonic voice.

"Nooo!" the student wailed, trying to make a getaway before the dark, evil chains slithered around his waist and held him tight.

"Just the sight of those scalawags shivers my timbers." Vandala quivered, ducking behind Ghostfreak as Present turned around and finally noticed the bright piece of artwork on the Creepateria wall, watching Porter continue his work out of the corner of his eye.

"Principal Revenant, we have a 1424 in the Creepateria." Present said, pressing a finger to his ear as he spoke a rather high and gentlemanly voice.

"Ah, come on!" porter whined with a grin. "It's Ghost Paint, it's not permanent!" he added, waving his hands as his latest creation vanished before Present's eyes.

"Give him the chains." Present frowned as Past and Future floated up behind him.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" Porter sighed with mock disappointment as he quickly zoomed off, the three Hall Moanitors giving chase after him. Porter flew through the air, back flipping off a table before disappearing back inside the school the three ghosts not amused in the slightest as they chased him.

"A bad boy artist on the run from the law! I might have just found my first story!" Spectra exclaimed happily, speeding off after Porter and the Hall Moanitors with the rest of her friends in hot pursuit. The followed Porter and thew Hall Moanitors down a hall and back into the main lobby of the school, watching as Porter flew over a railing and then whipped around on a connecting pole, tripping Past as she flew right by him and sending her flying into an open locker, school supplies jammed tightly into her hair as she slumped to the floor; Present and Future only gave a parting glance on their chase after Porter, Present whipping out his badge and pointing it directly at Porter in the hopes of catching him.

"Whoops! Coming through!" Porter exclaimed as he swooped over Ghostfreak and the ghoul's heads, spinning and twirling to dodge the advancing chain and quickly shooting upwards. The chain bounced off of another locker in front of him, speeding back at Present and smashing into his face, quickly wrapping itself around him like an angry cobra and dragging him down to the ground.

"Two down, one to go!" Porter chirped happily.

"I don't think so." Future growled, appearing behind Porter and quickly advancing on the fleeing ghost with a deep frown on his face. Porter quickly flew around the tall, central tower and swooped over and under several stairs before coming to a pause, a smile on his face now that he had lost Future.

"Think again, Punk." Future gave a wicked smile, appearing behind Porter once more and whipping out his badge, shooting a chain at the Paintergeist and missing as he rolled out of the way and took off again, disappearing from sight. Future growled and descended through a set of stairs and down a level, searching for the missing ghost when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped around to see no one before feeling another tap on his other shoulder and whipping around to meet nothing once more. He felt another tap on his head and turned to Porter floating above him as he pointed a finger upwards, gesturing to a colony of fiery red ghost bats that glared at Future with disdain before suddenly launching themselves at him, obscuring his view with their leathery wings as Porter flew off, chuckling to himself.

"Look out!" Porter cried, suddenly noticing a distracted Spectra as she quickly scribbled away on her notepad, completely oblivious to him until the last second when they suddenly crashed into each other and went sprawling through the air. Porter quickly wrapped an arm around Spectra's waist and held him tight against to prevent her from going too far as Spectra instinctively wrapped her hands around Porter's neck, gazing into his piercing eyes as her face turned a dark lavender in color.

"Wait, what is he think he is doing!?" Ghostfreak hissed angrily; if he had a moving jaw, it would have been dropped to the floor by now.

"A-HA!" Past suddenly interrupted, appearing between Porter and Spectra as she separated the two and cornered the former as Future and Present took up positions to finally trap Porter where he stood; Present grinned wickedly as the sound of rolling thunder boomed across the lobby, a crackling of electricity coming from the top of the central tower as a large object floated free from within and descended through the air towards Porter and the Hall Moanitors.

"Hello, students." the thing said, becoming more like a giant head with wispy hair and a skeletal face. She had tight violet lips and cold, purple eyes set on her hollow cheeks, a deep and stern frown on her face as she descended through the air down towards Porter.

"Hello, Prinical Revenant." the available students moaned fearfully.

"Porter Geist," Principal Revenant growled, edging her floating head towards Porter with disdain in her haughty voice. "Treating us to another one of your little art projects?" she purred as Porter's glare deepened.

"That's the fourth time this month, Ms. Revenant." Past piped up, consulting a large, thick book she had seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

"I knew she was going to say that." Future said darkly.

"Another detention, Principal Revenant?" Present asked.

"Oh, yes," Revenant said with mock disappointment in her voice. "He'll never learn his lesson if he doesn't pay the price." she added darkly, grinning maliciously at Porter. The three Hall Moanitors quickly whipped out their badges and sent three sets of sharp, blood red chains at Porter, wrapping around him and tying him up nice and tight, dragging him to the ground between the three ghosts.

"Thanks a lot." Porter frowned at Spectra.'

"Hey, you crashed into me." Spectra frowned.

"Exactly!" Ghostfreak added with a hint of anger in his voice.

"YOU!" Revenant suddenly said moving over to tower over Spectra's tiny frame. "I don't recognize you . . . are you one of my students?"

"I use to be ma'am," Spectra gulped nervously under the principal's sinister glare. "My name is Spectra Vondergeist. I'm just visiting from Monster High." she said quietly as gasps suddenly rang out from every student that had been watching the scene from within the lobby, hushed whispers spreading like wildfire between each ghost as Revenant's eyes widened in surprise.

"You probably should have left that part out . . ." River whispered quietly to Spectra.

"Really? So there are ghosts who attend school in the Monster World? How interesting," she purred darkly, turning to gaze down at the rest of Spectra's friends who all bowed their heads out of fear; even Ghostfreak didn't dare look her in the eye. "And your little reaper friends there, do you attend Monster High as well?" she asked the Ectonurite as his chains rattled as he trembled.

"Y-Yes Ma'am . . ." Ghostfreak gulped.

"Well, aren't you awfully shy?" Principal Revenant smiled maliciously. And then, the worst thing that could have ever possibly happened at that very moment and time, happened; the Omnitrix timed out, warping Ghostfreak's body back into the Omnitrix and replacing it with Ben's true, human, and very Solid form.

"What is this!?" Revenant shrieked with surprise before the corners of her mouth curled upwards in a sinister smile that sent shivers down everyone's spine. "Oh, I see what's going on!" she laughed darkly as her wavering hair suddenly rushed past the rest of the crew and tore their hoods free from their heads, exposing their own very Solid forms to the Haunted High student body; the reactions were not well.

"Well, I guess the were-cat's outta the bag, Ben." Clawdeen frowned upon hearing the frightened yells.

"HEY! I don't really have control over how this thing works!" Ben griped as he put his fingers to the watch and began cycling through his roster, ready to transform at the ready.

"Moanitors! What is the punishment for bringing non-ghosts to Haunted High?" Revenant asked her three cronies.

"Whoa! Punishment?" Spectra asked, confused.

"Well, technically there . . . isn't a rule saying that you can't bring in non-ghosts," Past looked up from her book as Future and Present looked over her shoulder. "It's never happened before."

"Present? Make a rule . . ." Revenant drawled as Present whipped out a quilled pen and quickly scribbled something down in Past's thick book. "I, have business to attend to." she grinned darkly before disappearing a puff of black smoke.

"But that's not fair! You just made that rule up!" Spectra protested.

"Yeah, she does that." Porter sighed.

"Not helping." Spectra growled through gritted teeth.

"Yeah!" Ben added, eyes flickering back and forth between the situation and the Omnitrix.

Porter merely grinned as he raised his hands, sending a trio of paint cans flying at the Hall Moanitors; Future tried to warn his comrades, but by then it was too late and they were suddenly splashed with paint, several giggles going through the crowd despite the present of Solids in Haunted High.

"Ahh, another brilliant work of art!" Porter smiled, holding up his hands as if to frame the disgusted Moanitors. "I think I'll call it 'You Ghouls Should Get Outta Here While You Can'!" he announced.

"Thanks for the tip!" Ben grinned as he slapped the Omnitrix and felt the cool, green wave of energy wash over his body, changing his structure at the molecular level. First was the light covering of light and dark blue fur. It covered his whole body as he shrunk down to the size of a large bulldog. He was forced to hunch forward as his spine arched that way, a long tail sprouting from the base of his spine. His arms became thin, yet strong, designed to pull himself up and down, left and right, and whichever direction he pleased. He lost two fingers on each hand, but gained a second pair of similar arms that split out from his sides, thankfully already covered in skin and fur. Three pairs of green eyes appeared on his face as the fur on his head was flipped up and back. His jaw jutted out in an ape-like fashion as two, sharp canine teeth poked from his bottom lip at the corners of his mouth. Two green sashes appeared across his chest like an X with the Omnitrix symbol in the center, finishing the transformation.

"Sorry! Can't stick around! Ook! Ook!" Spidermonkey chattered as he shot out a quick round of webbing from his tail and pinned the three ghosts to the nearby wall as everyone flung off their Reaper cloaks and quickly ran for the exit.

"Good trip!" Twyla panted as she tossed her cloak over her shoulder. "We'll have to do this again sometime!"

"Sorry, but I've used up all my vacation days!" Spidermonkey hooted as he scampered past Twyla and towards River's boat as the Reaper pulled out her car keys and unlocked the ship from the dock. Everyone quickly climbed on board as Spidermonkey hauled himself up over the railing and perched on top of the roof, putting a hand over his eyes to see if they were being followed.

Unfortunately, they were.

"Hey, ghouls! We've got a trio of grumpy ghosts heading this way! Fast!" Draculaura cried, pointing a finger at the Hall Moanitors as they appeared on the horizon, seriously ticked off looks on their faces.

"Ahh! Enough monkey business!" Spidermonkey called down to the deck. "Fire in the hole!" he hollered as he shot another ball of webbing from his tail, aimed directly at Future's face as Charmcaster summoned balls of mana to her hands and threw them at the other two, smirking when they hit target and blasted the ghosts back a little.

"Maybe they just want to party!" River smiled, twirling her staff around in her fingers.

"What is with you and parties!?" the Arachnichimp cried angrily, lobbing another ball of silk at the ghosts and seriously thinking about using the ugly thing that almost all primates flung at one point in their lives when they were upset or angry.

River didn't answer as she slammed the butt of her staff into the deck of the ship, summoning the many confetti cannons once more. Vandala's grin quickly brightened up as she manned one of the two cannons on the top deck. "Ha ha-HA!" she cackled. "Now we're talkin'!"

"Never mind about the parties!" Spidermonkey called over his shoulder as he took the second cannon on the roof. "As they always say, 'It's time to go out with a BANG'! Ook! Ook!" he grinned as both he and Vandala fired off their cannons with great marksmanship, landing blasts of confetti to the three startled Hall Moanitors.

"Ha-HA! Nice shootin', matey!" Vandala laughed.

"You too!" Spidermonkey grinned. "Fire two!" he cried, shooting off another round as he beat his fours fists against the cannon, jumping up and down and beating his chest with excitement. Vandala grinned at the sight and shrugged her shoulders before joining, howling with laughter as the two of them taunted the Hall Moanitors and kept them at bay with their confetti cannons.

The Hall Moanitors however, would not be deterred easily and quickly fired their badges at Rochelle and Clawdeen, shooting off slithering rivers of Detention Chains at the two monsters before shooting more at the rest; but it was all for naught, as the chains simply passed right through the monsters before disappearing into vapor, the Hall Moanitors looking down right confused.

"I guess they only work if you are a ghost!" Rochelle shrugged.

"Look out!" Spidermonkey cried just as the ship went over a waterfall of sorts, the ghouls all screaming with fright as they went over.

"Okay, here comes your stop!" River cried over the roar of the waterfall, gesturing to an open portal that led back to Monster High. "It's been a pleasure!" she waved good bye as the Omnitrix timed out and Ben hopped down from the roof, the ghouls all abandoning ship and jumping through the portal.

"See ya later, matey," Vandala grinned at Ben, pulling him into a small hug. "You're the roughest, toughest, shivering-your-timbers-est pirate I've had the honor of meeting. Come back soon!" she grinned, playfully shoving Ben through the open portal before turning to Spectra. "It's been an honor, me hearty!" she grinned before floating back up to man her confetti cannon.

---

Spectra quickly waved goodbye and dived through portal and reappeared back in the musty attic of Monster High, with every one of the ghouls and Ben still in one piece and exhausted from their adventure. "We made it!" Rochelle excalimed with relief.

"Whoo! Never thought I'd be so happy to see this creepy, old attic!" Clawdeen sighed with relief as they quickly scurried down the ladder and into the storage room below.

"I'm sorry we didn't figure out who was haunting you, Draculaura." Spectra sighed. "But don't worry. We'll-AAAAAHHHH!" she screamed as she glanced behind her to see a detention chain that had slithered through the portal wrap around her ankle and pull her back.

"Spectra!" Ben cried frantically as Clawdeen and Sirena quickly latched onto Spectra's wrists. Ben turned to the Omnitrix, quickly turning it on and hoping there was enough juice left to save Spectra as he quickly cycled through his roster and slapped the activation button, the green light washing over him. Ben's arms swelled as hundreds of muscles piled themselves on top of each other, his back and chest expanding outwards until his shirt was ripped to shreds, hanging off of him in rags as he continued to change. His skin bubbled slightly before turning different shades of color in certain areas, large stitches quickly punching through his skin and separating the colors into crude patchworks. The Omnitrix suddenly punched through his right pectoral as if it had been crudely jammed there as his hair turned back and greasy, becoming thicker and longer; metal bolts popped out of his shoulders, wrists, neck, and back as two large conductors suddenly materialized on his shoulders in a flash of light, crackling with electricity and completing the transformation.

"Hang on!" Frankenstrike cried he grabbed Spectra's arm in a massive hand and yanked back as hard he could, Charmcaster and the rest of the ghouls latching onto Spectra and different parts of the Transylian as they attempted to pull Spectra through the trap door and back into Monster High while the chain seemed determined to pull her back into the Ghost World. Spectra's eyes were wide with fear as the two parties played a dangerous game of tug o' war with her as the prize, her body straining with every pull until one side finally won in the most horrific way possible; the Omnitrix, after so much usage beeped ominously and turned Frankenstrike back into Ben in a flash of green light, the sudden shift in weight making every one lose their grip and tumble back into a heap.

"HELP ME!" Spectra screamed at the top of her lungs as the chain pulled her through the trap door and into the attic, the door slamming shut behind her with a loud bang!

"SPECTRA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ben wailed.

And there we go! Wow, am I beat!

This is the longest chapter I have posted yet, up to 47 pages according to my processor. Either way, I seriously could not have done all of this without Zak Saturday helping me every step of the way, sacrificing his precious time to help me write this chapter and the other upcoming ones for the Haunted arc. Give the man a hand, everyone!

Now for those of us who are nitpickers, I obviously had to change the script a little to go with what I had in mind, but it shall mostly remain like the original movie. And for those of us who are rather impatient, this is the last major arc, I promise my heart and hope to live!

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

Hasta Luego!