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.

42. Frightful Returns

Hello, guys and ghouls!

That's right, I'm back with another chapter for everyone to enjoy! Once again, I would like to thank Zak Saturday for helping me with this arc. I seriously couldn't have done this without him.

And in unrelated news, I just realized that I have been spelling Boogie Man wrong all this time. Expect edits to previous chapters and what not once this story is over.

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

Disclaimer (haven't done this yet): I obviously do not own Monster High or Ben 10, even though I really wish I could. So, I obviously also don't own Haunted. The only piece of this story that I actually own is my Omnitrix alien OC Phobos. Do not use him without my permission and don't sue me!

WARNING! Slight lemon later on. If you are under 13, be smart and skip ahead if you are uncomfortable with such scenes, as I do not wish to either be sued and or yelled at for surprising anyone with this kind of stuff. If you do like this kind of stuff, ignore this message entirely.

Onwards!

"Help me!" Spectra wailed, her translucent fingers slipping out of Ben's as she was dragged into the darkness by some hidden force.

"Spectra!" Ben cried, rushing after her into the darkness without another thought, the only thing on his mind being to save and protect Spectra at all costs. He quickly turned to the Omnitrix, the one thing in the universe that never seemed to fail him when it mattered most, and turned the delight device on, welcoming the soft, green glow as he cycled through his transformations before selecting the one he needed and slapping the activation button. Ben's fingers hardened into sharpened blades as a long, whip-like tail sprouted from the base of his spine and stretched out a couple feet. His toes ripped out of his shoes and melted into four claws, two in front, two in back. The ball of his heel crunched forward, moving under his foot bones and becoming perfectly round and smooth, suddenly separating itself from his foot and held there by his curved toes. Ben felt his skull stretch back into a sharp point and his legs bent backwards. A pointy, black helmet with a slide down mask materialized on his head and a tight, black and green body suit appeared on himself, the Omnitrix appearing on his chest, completing his transformation.

"Hang on, Spectra! I'm coming!" XLR8 cried as he shot off like a rocket after Spectra, his balled feet sliding easily through the darkness as his long, whip-like tail kept him balanced. But no matter how fast he ran after Spectra, he never seemed to get closer; if anything, he seemed to actually be traveling backwards as Spectra was dragged off into the abyss, nothing more than a pale, white dot until she vanished from existence.

"Spectra? Spectra!" XLR8 wailed as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back into the black void that surrounded him and seemed to ooze into every nook and cranny of his body, filling him with a sense of ice, cold dread. A sudden shaft of light clicked on over his head, a bright, hot spotlight that blinded his eyes until he got use to it; somehow, the new source of light did not sooth Ben in anyway.

More lights clicked on in a large circle around him, appearing almost miles away, and yet Ben could see every detail clearly as a figure stepped out from the void and into each spotlight, glaring at Ben with dark eyes. Large, oak desks materialized out of a swirl of shadows in front of them, a pair of handcuffs suddenly appearing around Ben's wrists and pinning them behind his back as a desk appeared in front of him and a large, judge's stand formed in the center of the ring, facing Ben.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" a booming, female voice sounded. Ben looked up to see a pale, green mask with feminine features floating over the right side of the judges stand; another mask, this one with deep wrinkles and more masculine features, hovered over the other side of the stand, a stern look on his face.

"We have." almost a hundred voices said in unison around Ben.

"Wait, Bellicus? Serena? What's going on here?" Ben asked the two personalities. "Where are we?"

"Playing innocent will get you nowhere, boy." Bellicus growled in a more furious tone than he usually spoke in.

"He never was the brightest," Serena mused, showing only a sliver of the compassion she normally ever showed. "We might as well review why he is on trial for his incredibly dimwitted mind."

"Motion denied." Bellicus grumbled.

"Ben? What say you?" Serena asked, dropping the furious act for a second to look at Ben with the first kindness he had seen since arriving in this strange place.

"Please! Tell me!" Ben yelled.

Bellicus mumbled something under his breath before finally surrendering. "Fine. Motion carried."

"You, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson are on trail for your many deeds and tasks," Serena began. "Not only have you abused the Omnitrix and its many transformations-" the Celestialsapien personality was interrupted by a chorus of angry yells and bellows that Ben quickly recognized as his many transformations, all screaming for Ben's blood. "But you have used and betrayed every ally and friend you have ever encountered, Bellicus and I included." Serena went on, her lips turning down into a stern frown.

"All caught up, boy?" Bellicus frowned as Ben looked around to see everyone from Rook and Grandpa Max to his own parents, Gwen, and Kevin. Even Zed was giving the evil eye, gnashing her teeth together as if she wanted to feel his bones between her jaws. And if looks could kill, Ben would have been little more than a pile of ashes when he saw that every villain he had come across from Vilgax and Eon to Zs'Skayr and Maltruant were all glaring at him, roaring for his death.

"You have also heartlessly played with the force of love with many young girls that have suffered ever since they met you," Serena added as Ben turned around to see his ghouls and many more glaring at him with hurt and pained eyes, a few of them not even daring to look at him; dangling above them with her body limb and bloodied was Spectra, a Detention Chain wrapped tightly around her neck like noose.

"No! I didn't do any of that stuff!" Ben protested as a Detention Chain rattled from the darkness and lashed out, wrapping itself around one of his wrists and snapping the handcuffs.

"LIES!" Bellicus roared.

"I didn't do anything! Honest! I'm a hero, not a villain!" Ben argued as another Detention Chain grabbed his other wrist, forcing him down to the ground.

"Lying only makes the punishment worse, Ben." Serena shook her head sadly.

"I'm not lying!" Ben yelled as four Detention Chains wrapped themselves around his neck and forced his head to the ground.

"Shut it, Ben!" Clawdeen snapped. "If you had used that rock-for-brains head of yours, Spectra would still be alive!"

"Take your stupid watch and go back to where you came from!" Nefera demanded.

"But I-" Ben started.

"Why should we take him!?" Kevin roared. "We don't want him anymore than you do!"

"If I may offer a solution?" Azmuth piped up, a serious ticked and angered look on his face as he walked up to Ben.

"Oh, thank goodness it's Azmuth!" Ben breathed.

"Do not get your hopes up, Tennyson." Azmuth spat. "I am not here to alleviate you of your long deserved punishment." he frowned as he walked over to Ben's left wrist and waved his hand over the Omnitrix. The device shuddered and beeped for a few seconds before detaching itself from Ben's wrist and into Azmuth's hands.

"I had expected better of you, Tennyson," Azmuth shook his head with disappointment. "I should have known better than to trust you. Paradox?"

"It would be a pleasure." the Time Walker appeared through a swirling, blue portal before he suddenly whacked Ben over the head with his cane. "I really expected more of you, Benjamin. I guess I was wrong. Oh, well, time for your eternal punishment. I hear Hades has a special one just for you." the Time Walker gave a small, dark smile as everyone in the black void sneered and cackled at Ben's misery.

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson! You have been found guilty of all charges!" Serena and Bellicus announced in unison.

"Wait, don't I get a lawyer or something!?" Ben asked panicked.

"Don't even think about it, kid," Chadzmuth frowned from under his spotlight. "I'm the universe's best lawyer and there is no way I will tarnish even my reputation with the likes of you." he growled with a form nod.

"If that will be all . . ." Paradox trailed off, clapping his hands; one by one, the spotlights blinked out like fading stars, the figures underneath them vanishing into the shadows with them, maniacal smiles and grins plastered on their faces. Ben desperately turned to each spotlight before it blinked out, hoping that someone would help him and at least put in a good word for him; but no one ever did. Even Serena, the Voice of Love and Compassion, the one who had shown only the tiniest bit of kindness to Ben ever since he came to his horrid place, turned her nose up at him before the judges stand blinked out. Soon, there were only two spotlights left in the dark void; the first was Ben's. The second, was the single spotlight that illuminated Spectra's corpse.

"Do not look so surprised, Benjamin. After all, you've had this coming for a long time." Paradox frowned as he grabbed the back of Ben's shirt and dragged him off into the darkness, Ben's eyes forever stuck looking at Spectra's bloodied body until her spotlight finally fizzled out and enveloped him in darkness.

---

Ben awoke in a cold sweat, his heart pumping like it was on fire and his pulse racing. He glanced with frightened, wild eyes to see that he was not in some black void being tormented for reasons unknown; he nearly collapsed from relief when he saw that he was in the guest room of Spectra's house with Jinafire curled up at his side and Jane snoozing at his feet; the spot that was usually occupied by Spectra was empty.

He sucked in a deep breath to try and calm his frayed nerves as he starred up at the ceiling, wishing he wasn't lying in bed, all comfy and cozy, while Spectra was no doubt rotting away in some prison deep within the bowels of Haunted High. Despite what the ghouls and Charmcaster constantly told him, constantly promised him, he couldn't help but think that this was all his fault. If he had just held on a little bit longer, gripped her hands a little bit tighter, Spectra would now be curled up beside him with everything as right as rain.

As if on cue, a loud roll of thunder rumbled overhead, the sound of rain echoing on the roof; Ben found it hard to believe that New Salem would be having rain in December but it apparently not that uncommon to have rain and snow in New Salem. With a heavy sigh, Ben slowly and quietly got up from the bed and pushed off the covers that had been laid over him, returning them to cover Jinafire as he set his feet on the floor and stood up. He sucked in another deep breath and grabbed his T-shirt that was flung carelessly over the desk chair, slipping it on before sneaking out the door and down the hall.

As much as he hated to admit it, going to the Ghost World alone was probably not a very good idea, especially since Principal Revenant and the Hall Moanitors would no doubt recognize him now. But he couldn't just sit still and wait until morning, when the ghoul's parents would not even suspect of them crossing over into another world or register their absence for a while; he needed to talk to someone. Talking to anyone in the house was out of the question, as it held bad memories for the time being. It just didn't seem to be the same without Spectra's usual smile or habit of floating in an out of walls without a care.

He quickly slipped on his shoes and left the house behind him as he trudged out into the cold rain, not even registering the cold water as it splashed down his back and soaked his brown locks. He quietly ambled along the sidewalks, splashing through puddles without concern or care as he crossed the quiet streets as he headed towards a certain address. He would have normally talked to someone like Frankie or Lagoona about this kind of thing, but he was not exactly eager to deal with an angry Mr. Stein at such an hour. And Lagoona, as patient and as kind as she was, was not a morning person. Nobody was at such an hour. That left him with one last person to try and talk to.

He quickly jogged across a crosswalk and down a row of houses towards an address he knew well. Ben soon came upon a Mexican style house with large pots on either side of the door with soaked cacti in them, their needles tipped with drops of water; he made his way around to the back of the house and scooped up a wet pebble in his hand before aiming it at the window at the top and launching it as hard, yet as delicate as possible.

---

Tap.

Tap. Tap.

Skelita stiffened and sleepily blinked her amber eyes and yawned, stretching underneath her covers as thunder rolled overhead. She sat up in her bed, wrapping her abuela's quilt around her as she turned her head to face the window of her bedroom, watching for a few second sas the rain drops pelted against the glass; the tranquil scene and noise almost put her back to sleep, almost made her forget how she had been woken up in the first place, almost made her forget everything and just slip back into slumber.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Skelita jolted awake and climbed out of bed with her quilt still wrapped around herself as she sneaked over to the window and peered outside and past the rain drops that made beautiful designs on her window panes; down below in the yard, amongst the damp grass and howling wind, was a dark figure starring up at her. Skelita peered closer, pushing open her window and ignoring the rain and wind as it swirled around her and into her room.

"Ben?" Skelita gasped.

"Can we talk?" Ben asked over the roar of the wind.

Skelita cocked an eyebrow, but nonetheless gestured for him to climb up; instead of accessing the Omnitrix to turn into ChamAlien or Spidermonkey however, Ben merely climbed the tall tree that grew next to Skelita's house, his fingers curling around the branches as he hauled himself up and onto the first roof and climbing through Skelita's windows and out of the storm. The skeleton's room was rather simplistic, with a bed, desk, bookshelf, and dresser being the only major pieces of furniture within. On the walls were pictures of Skelita from her childhood and her family, her family necklace carefullyset over the top of her desk and out of harms way as Skelita patted the bed next to her for Ben to sit on.

"What troubles you?" Skelita asked, shifting the quilt around her.

Ben seemed to hesitate from speaking as he closed the window behind him and sat down on the ebd next to Skelita, as if afraid she would instantly turn him back out into the storm and go right back to bed without concern. "I'm . . . I'm having nightmares." Ben stammered.

"About what? Would this not be subject best discussed with Twyla?" Skelita asked, confused.

"I dunno," Ben shivered. "I just don't know."

"What ever do you mean?" Skelita asked, resting her bony hand on Ben's and giving him a pleading look that begged for him to let her help him get over what was troubling him. Ben looked into those kind eyes and gave a small smile before speaking, his voice cracking slightly as he launched into the story of Haunted High, never leaving out a single detail all the way up to Spectra's abduction.

"I keep having nightmares about her being killed," Ben sniffed, tears starting to well in his eyes as he held his head. "Everyone's there, even you, and they're all saying it's my fault. All my friends and family, they hate me and want to see me die. And what scares me the most is that . . . I agree with them." Ben lost his voice at this point.

"But it is not your fault." Skelita reassured him.

"I know, but I just . . ." Ben couldn't find the words to speak.

"I might be able to help," Skelita said with a small smile as she got up from the bed and shuffled over to her bookcase, her white bones seeming to glow in the darkness of her room as she bent down and peered through the different shelves before coming across the item she sought out and taking hold of it, walking back over to the bed and showing Ben her prize. It was a round, wooden wheel with tight, string spokes weaving towards the center, colorful feathers and beads woven into the string as a dul, orange gem hung suspended in the center loop of the strange object.

"What is it?" Ben asked.

"A dream catcher," Skelita explained. "This one however, is special. It allows one to enter an others dreams and view them like el libro."

"How is that supposed to help me?" Ben asked Skelita.

"I do not believe your Nemuina form can enter its own dreams, correct?" Skelita guessed. "And since none of us possess your Omnitrix . . ."

Ben sighed. "What do I need to do?" he asked.

Skelita smiled and gestured to her bed. "First, lie down. I will join in you in a few seconds to view yours dreams." she instructed as she got up onto the bed and stood on her tiptoes, hooking the wooden ring of the dream catch around a small hook in the ceiling; Ben lied down on the bed, Skelita joining him a few seconds later and lying next to him, wrapping her abuela's quilt around the both of them.

"Now close your eyes." Skelita went on as her own eyes fluttered shut; Ben did as he was told as the orange gem in the center of the dream catcher started to glow slightly. Ben suddenly felt himself become incredibly tired, his eyelids feeling like they weighed a hundred pounds each. He felt his head become lighter, and his vision became blurry as he nestled into slumber next to Skelita, putting a protective arm around her as both of them dosed off.

---

Skelita blinked her amber eyes and looked at the landscape around her. To say it was pretty bad was an understatement, to say the least. Her eyes widened when she saw the Boo York skyline on the horizon, the sky a fiery orange and red in color. But the beautiful scenery was not so beautiful upon closer inspection; the towering buildings were smoldering and crumbling with decay and age as the colorful sky turned out to actually be made from the large fires that raged off in the distance. What frightened her even more was that there was not the wail of fire trucks rushing to douse the flames, no screams of help or agony. Only silence.

She hugged herself tightly as a cool wind swept past her, kicking up dust and ruffling her pink nightgown; a loud rattling sound picked up as her bones clacked against each other. Skelita calmed her jittery nerves and took her first cautious steps in the desolate landscape, her white bones kicking up small amounts of dust in the charred soil. The lonely wind was the only thing keeping her company as she crept through the desolate wasteland, the smell of death and decay everywhere she looked.

"Not a pretty picture, isn't it?"

Skelita whirled around to see Feedback standing there, a grim expression on his face as his single, green eye starred at Skelita, as if waiting for an answer.

"No. No, it is not." Skelita agreed.

"Walk with me," the Conductoid sighed, gesturing with a plugged finger for Skelita to follow him; the young skeleton didn't know why she did it, but she chose to follow this strange alien through the barren wasteland and to listen to what he had to say. "This is my most common dream." Feedback suddenly said.

"This?" Skelita gestured to their miserable surroundings.

"Unfortunately." Feedback confirmed. "And that's not the worst part."

"What is?" Skelita asked nervously.

"This." the Conductoid merely said as he slapped the Omnitrix on his chest and waited for the invertible to happen as the green light washed over him. Everything about him began to change in one single way: it got big. It got huge. It got enormous as Ben's frame rocketed upwards towards the sky, dwarfing everyone below him and even making the tallest buildings look like nothing more than a collection of large boxes to him, His skin turned a pale, metallic white and red, large, thin blades growing out of her wrists and arms, fins sprouting from her waist, wrists, and shoulders. A large, thin red crest rose up from his head, adding to his height. Hard, metal knobs grew out from the corners of his mouth and he could feel a pair of organs forming in his hands, filling up with a sort of corrosive acid. The Omnitrix appeared on his chest, finishing the transformation.

"I can't change back." Way Big boomed, bending down and setting a hand down onto the dusty earth. With slight fear in her eyes, the skeleton delicately stepped out onto the To'kustar's outstretched fingers and braced herself as she was lifted up into the air next to Way Big's face.

"Do you always dream this way? Without your own face?" Skelita asked fearfully.

"Not always," Way Big admitted. "But they're never happy dreams if I'm even human."

"You do not have happy dreams?" Skelita asked, scared that such a person could have such a horrible thing happen to them.

"No," Way Big shook his head sadly. "It's always nightmares. I can't even remember the last time I had a good dream."

"But what about when you had a good day? Surely that would give you good dreams?" Skelita asked, almost begging for it to be true.

"The nightmares just come back," Way Big sighed, bending his body to sit down on a set of old buildings that had fallen in just a right way to make a smoldering throne for the mighty To'kustar to sit on and watch his world burn before his eyes. "They never go away."

"But . . . you always seem so happy . . ." Skelita trailed, utterly confused.

"A mask," Way Big sighed; he now had Ben's voice, a sudden change that did not soothe Skelita in any way. "It's all an act. Everything I do is a lie."

"B-but-"

"Except you and the ghouls," Way Big gave the smallest of smiles. "You've been the first rays of sunshine I've had in years, ever since I've had this thing strapped to me." he gestured to the Omnitrix to his chest. "And if I could go back in time and change anything, I still wouldn't."

"Not even to stop your nightmares?" Skelita asked, stunned.

"No," Way Big shook his head. "Because that would mean I would lose you. I'll endure through this horror show, if only to wake up and see all of your beautiful faces one more time before I come back to this hell inside my head." the To'kustar gestured to the inhospitable landscape around them.

"B-b-but-" Skelita stammered.

"I know." Way Big sighed, lowering his hand a bit and resting his hand on the arm of his ramshackle throne. "Now, may we wake up?"

"Uh, I don't know," Skelita said rather nervously. "Is it alright if I just stay here with you for a few minutes longer?"

Way Big blinked, stunned by the question before relaxing a bit. "I guess so," he sighed heavily. "A king does need a queen."

"King?" Skelita cocked an eyebrow.

"It's this dream," Way Big sighed wearily. "In it, I become ruler of the world after I unlock the Master Control of the Omnitrix and wipe out all life. Now, I rule over nothing but filth and decay, cursed to remain in my alien forms and protect nothing but death and destruction."

Skelita was trembling now, scared by what her lover was forced to come to every time he closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. "May we leave now?" she gulped nervously.

"I thought you would never ask." Way Big, sighed, hauling his weight up from his throne and calmly strolling off through the wasteland of the earth.

---

Skelita's eyes snapped open as she shot up in bed, her breathing heavy and her heart hammering in her chest as Ben slowly awoke next to her, a weary look on his face as he sat up and wrapped a comforting arm around Skelita as she leaned into his frame.

"I can not believe you must go through with that every night . . ." Skelita barely whispered.

"You get use to it." Ben tried to crack a joke; neither of them smiled.

"Ben, if there is any way me or any of the other ghouls can . . . you can't keep going on like this . . ." she murmured.

"How can I not?" said Ben. "I've dealt with it for years, I can deal with it for the rest of my life."

"No, no you can't," Skelita shook her head. "Sooner or later, you will snap and . . ." she didn't want to think about what might happen. "You need help."

"One thing at a time, babe," Ben smiled sadly, kissing Skelita on the cheek as he climbed out of her bed and made his way to the window. "First I rescue Spectra. Then we deal with my nightmares."

"No, first we rescue Spectra; I want in." Skelita said in a firm tone that told Ben that there would be no arguments. Ben sighed, but surrendered as he opened the window, the storm having not let up in the slightest during their trip into the dream realm. "Good night." Ben said quietly.

Skelita gave a smile and, in a sudden flurry of movement, closed the distance between her and Ben and slammed her frame into his, pressing her lips to his own and hugging him tight. Quite use to a similar reaction, Ben snaked his arms around Skelita's waist, lightly rubbing her vertebrae and sending shivers up her spine as they eventually broke apart.

"Buenas noches." Skelita whispered as Ben pecked her on the cheek one last time before climbing out the window and back out into the storm.

---

Despite having the chilled wind blowing against his wet hair and having the rain soak through his clothes and chilling him to the bone, the down pour turning all the snow around him into slimy slush that soaked through his shoes, Ben much better than before. He felt like a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders with his talk with Skelita; it felt good to finally have someone else know what he suffered through every day, even if they didn't completely understand it completely.

With this in mind, he hurried back down the row of houses he had passed earlier and quickly scurried across the crosswalk to get out of the rain; now that he wasn't terrified of every little thing hidden in the shadows, he now realized that no sane person would willingly stay out in the pouring rain in December unless they were either distracted or actually liked the freezing weather; Ben was neither of those now as he quickly jogged up the sidewalk and back towards Spectra's house, trying to dodge slush filled puddles whenever possible to avoid totally soaking himself, despite the fact it was a lost cause.

He soon arrived back at Spectra's house within the hour, completely soaked to the bone and with his brown hair hanging heavily in front of his eyes. He slicked it back out of his way and quietly climbed up the creaky steps and under the dry porch, relieved to be out of the pouring rain as he shook himself like a dog to try and get as much water of him as possible, slipping off his shirt and wringing it out as best as he could. It was then, over the din of the pouring rain, rolling thunder, and crackling lightning that Ben heard a soft sound that most would have missed had they not been either lucky enough or actually looking for it.

Ben blinked and slung his wet shirt over his shoulder, the article of clothing his back with a loud slap! as he crept closer to the source of the noise; it sounded distinctly like sobbing. Concern crept over Ben's face as he moved forward on crouched legs, sort of waddling to hide his footsteps as he crawled the length of the porch and stopped near the end where the railing and house met at a right angle. It was here, pressed into the railing as far as possible that he found a rather familiar figure. He saw a white sweatshirt with green stripes stained with mud and what he hoped to Sphinx wasn't blood; a pair of smooth, black horns curved out and back from the skull in a perfect arc amongst greasy locks of dirty blonde hair. A pair of delicate looking hands tipped with sharp claws hugged the figure's knees to their head as a spaded tail wrapped around the body. A pair of bat-like wings ripped through the back of the sweatshirt, hugging the figure tightly; Ben noticed that other than said sweatshirt and a dirty pair of panties and bra, the figure was wearing nothing else. He recognized her instantly.

"Lilith?"

The figure flinched at the name and rolled its head up to look at Ben with watery, blue eyes. Lilith looked absolutely terrible, with one of her eyes blackened around the edges, her lips heavily split on one side, and her nose smashed in at a horrible angle, fresh blood mixed with dirt dripping onto the porch every now and then. "H-h-hey, hot stuff." Lilith said in barely a whisper.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked with concern, sitting himself down on the porch next to her.

"After you left and that machine turned me and my uncle into . . . this . . ." she trailed off, looking at her hands with a horrified manner. "He could not stand the sight of me and disowned me. Kicked me out of the house in the most painful manner possible." she winced, rubbing her aching backside before heaving a big sigh, tears starting to come back to her eyes. "I've got no where else to go; no Normie will ever take me in for my monster nature and no monster will ever take me in for what me and my uncle have done to them." she sobbed, burying her head into her knees again.

Ben blinked and cautiously wrapped an arm around Lilith's heaving shoulders as she cried; the frightened girl quickly leaned into his frame and buried her head into his shoulder, sliding her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Ben found the gesture incredibly confusing; he had been the one to ruin her life, the reason her uncle had abandoned her and forced her out of the house to fend against the elements on her own. And yet, despite everything he had done to her, Lilith still sought comfort in him, holding him like a security blanket that would make her troubles all go away. He was use to hundreds of fan girls chasing him all over town, shouting the craziest and most inappropriate things to him. He was use to having stalkers follow his every move until he had to get a restraining order on them or scare them off with a rather nasty misuse of the Omnitrix. But it seemed this girl was hopelessly in love with him solely for the purpose that she loved him and did not want to gain anything by dating him.

"Do you want to come inside?" Ben asked after a while of the two of them just sitting there.

"Your ghouls wouldn't want me," Lilith sniffed. "They hate me."

"True," Ben admitted. "But you did try to kill them."

"I-I'm sorry for that." Lilith sobbed.

"But most of them are very forgiving. Sure, it might take a while to fully gain their trust again, but I'm sure they won't mind if you stay just one night." Ben reassured her. "Besides. I can't imagine wandering around town in nothing by your underwear and a sweatshirt would be very good for your health."

"R-really? Y-y-you'd take me in? After all I-I've done to you?" Lilith sniffed wiping her eyes with the sleeve of Ben's sweatshirt.

"I insist," Ben smiled. "But you're going to have to be on your best behavior."

"I-I promise." Lilith gave weak smile, hugging Ben tight again. "B-but, I feel like I should do something . . . like, to pay for my rent?"

"Don't worry about it." Ben told her, climbing to his feet and pulling her up. "C'mon. It's getting late." Lilith nodded and trailed after him, holding his hand firmly, as if it were the last life line she had in this world, and followed Ben through the front door and back into the house, a wave of warmth hitting her as the loud sound of pouring rain on the roof dimmed when the door closed shut behind them.

"Nice place you have." Lilith noted.

"Thanks. It's my friend, Spectra's." Ben whispered, quietly pulling her the stairs to the second level and tiptoeing down the hall towards the guest room that Ben currently occupied.

"B-but, I should sleep on the couch!" Lilith protested quietly.

"Nonsense," Ben shook his head. "I won't have you sleeping anywhere but in my room. Besides, the couch is kinda toast after Jinafire threw up on it. Literally." he added with a small smile; it was then that Lilith actually noticed the faint smell of burnt furniture in the air.

"And you are sure it is safe to sleep with a sick fire breathing dragon?" Lilith whispered. "And what happens if your ghouls wake up and see me?"

"Positive. She was much better after that last spill." Ben reassured the nervous monster hunter. "And as for the other problem, they'll have to answer to me; when Spectra's gone, I'm in charge of the house. They'll listen to me. In fact, stay as long as you need to." he added with a smile. Before Ben realized what he had said, Lilith slapped into him and sent both of them tumbling to the floor, Lilith's arms wrapped tightly around him and her lips pressed hard to Ben's.

"No one has ever done so much for me," Lilith told him after she broke away from him. "I am going to pay you back, whether you like it or not." she said with a firm smile, slipping Ben's sweatshirt off of her smooth frame and slowly sliding her nearly bare body against Ben's, lightly kissing Ben around his neck and collarbone, sliding her hands under his shirt and smoothly rubbing them over his hard muscles. Ben was hesitant at first, surprised to say the least, but surrendered anyway; Lilith wasn't going to stop until she satisfied she had thanked him properly anyway. Plus, she wasn't that bad looking either, now even more stunning thanks to her transformation.

Lilith slid her tongue out past her lips and traced them over the bare flesh on Ben's neck before lightly pressing her lips to Ben's again, startling slightly when Ben suddenly took control and pulled her closer to him, slithering his tongue past own lips and pleasuring her; Lilith moaned and pressed her body harder against Ben's body, her breasts squished against his chest. The monster hunter reached with her hand and grabbed Ben's wrist, sliding it from her back and to her breasts, slipping his hand into her bra and pressing it hard against her right breast, a moan escaping her lips as Ben roughly squeezed his hand. Lilith found her self slowly grinding her wet nether region against Ben's erect member, and nearly tore off both of their clothes and got it over with; she quickly restrained herself, reasoning that Ben would never go for something like that with someone like her, and resorted to pleasuring the both of them in their current way. She grabbed Ben's other hand and set it on her ass, moaning loudly and slithering tongue into Ben's mouth when he roughly squeezed her ass, curling a finger under her panties and snapping them, an act that made her jump slightly but made her want it all the more.

"You're making it almost impossible for me to simply not fuck you right now." Lilith smiled sexily, breaking their sweet kissing for a moment as her spaded tail trailed past her lips, wiping off a small amount of saliva.

"Hold your horses," Ben smiled, sitting up and pulling Lilith onto his lap. "First rest, then we'll see." he said in a mocking tone; Lilith's face comically fell but brightened when she kissed him full on the lips again and slipped off her bra, breaking the kiss and gently forcing Ben's face into her cleavage and his firm hands back onto her ass. She moaned quietly as Ben slowly licked light circles into her flesh, his hands roughly squeezing her ass and rubbing large, firm circles into her cheeks. By now, Lilith was in absolute heaven with the pleasure Ben was bringing her; and the fact that his ghouls were but a few feet away, oblivious to the world, made her feel all the more naughty as she ground her wet snatch against his member again.

"Naughty, naughty." Ben scolded her, kissing her on the cheek and climbing to his feet; Lilith smiled, but refused to detach herself from him, resulting in Ben placing his hands under her ass and hauling her entire weight into his arms as he sneaked through the door of the bedroom and set her down on the edge of the large, king sized bed that allowed for Ben and the ghouls to all sleep together with plenty of room to spare; Lilith sat back a little bit and slipped off her panties, stuffing them into her bra and rolling them up into Ben's sweatshirt before tossing them over to the door.

"Like what you see?" Lilith grinned upon seeing Ben starring.

"I probably shouldn't answer that . . ." Ben mumbled as he climbed back into Ben and took back his usual spot. Lilith gave a sexy smile and crawled over to him, shaking her ass and bedding down in Spectra's usual spot; Ben gave her a look that said he would only allow her to take the spot once. Lilith got the message and curled up in the bed beside him, snuggling her naked body in his frame and pulling the blanket back over him and her, leaving a generous amount on Jinafire.

"We've got to get you some clean clothes in the morning." Ben yawned.

"You don't like my new look?" Lilith grinned.

"I'm not complaining," Ben mumbled as he turned over and closed his eyes. "But the ghouls will most definitely have a thing or two to say."

"Is there anyway I can get to like me more?" Lilith asked, shifting her wings so that they lay more comfortably on the bed.

"The only way I can think of is to start with Venus," Ben murmured. "Hope you know how to sexually please a girl."

This thought would keep Lilith up for most of the night before she finally told herself to suck it up and take it; if it meant she could be with Ben, her one love, then she would do it. Even if that meant going way out of her comfort zone.

---

Spectra gulped nervously as she was led down a long hallway by Present, with Future and Past cutting off any escape from behind her, stern expressions on all their faces; a Dentention Chain was wrapped tightly around her waist, giving something Present to pull on should she start to slow down for any reason. Spectra nervously bit her lip, wondering what her ghoul friends and Ben were doing right now. Were they plotting a way to rescue her? Were they going to march right back into the Ghost World to save her? Would Ben suddenly come crashing through a wall in some alien form of his to rescue her, fearlessly fighting off anything the Hall Moanitors and Principal Revenent might throw at him?

Or were they at the Maul, laughing their heads off while they sat back and drank and became merry, happy to have the annoying ghost that constantly poked and prodded into their personal and private lives gone for good? Was Ben cruelly laughing at her absence, glad to be forever rid of her? Was she doomed to remain in the Ghost World, forever tied down by chains? Her thoughts were interrupted when Present pushed through a set of tall doors, yanking her chain behind him and dragging her into a dark office; Future and Past took positions on either side of the door as Present stood behind her, a firm grip on her chain.

"Well . . . Spectra Vondergeist . . ."

Spectra flinched when she heard the voice, wincing when she saw the Revenant's distorted image in a large, crystal ball that sat on her desk. "You certainly caused quite a scene." Revenent frowned; Present coughed out a mouth of confetti and Past ripped out a sticky cobweb from her massive hairdo. "Explain yourself." Revenant demanded in a sinister tone.

"Principal Revenant, I'm sorry I broke your rule bringing my friends to the Ghost World," Spectra shivered under the principal's intense glare. "But, look! I don't belong here! My school is Monster High!"

"Yes. Lets talk about this 'Monster High'," Revenant grinned maliciously. "You're not the only ghost who goes there?" she asked, looking at her fingernails and making a mental note to file them when she had the time.

"Well, no," Spectra admitted. "There are a lot of ghosts at Monster High! Every kind of monster is welcome!" she smiled.

"How . . . very . . . progressive." Revenant rolled her eyes with a sarcastic tone. "And what about your shape-shifting friend? If I remember correctly, shape-shifters are quite rare, almost extinct. How is it that he was able to change form so easily?"

"You mean Ben?" Spectra gulped. "He has a special device called the Omnitrix." she replied nervously.

"Hmmm. Tell me more about this . . . Omnitrix . . ." Revenant ordered Spectra.

"W-well, P-principal Revenant, the O-omnitrix allows Ben to ch-change into a variety of s-super p-powered alien forms . . ."

"Aliens, you say? How interesting . . ." Revenant hummed with a suspicious grin on her lips. "I think we are done here. It's going to take you quite a bit of time to work off that Detention Chain."

"Uh, and how do I do that?" Spectra asked nervously, shrinking back under the principal's stern gaze.

"By completing ten thousand essays on the complete works of Ghostoyevski!" Revenant purred as Future handed Spectra a heavy armload of books. "And then doing it one more time." the sinister principal added with a dark grin.

"That could take forever!" Spectra protested. "When will I blog!?"

"I'm sure I don't know." Revenant frowned without a care.

Spectra sighed and turned around, floating towards the doors with a frown on her face as she went off to try and start her impossible task; she then suddenly remembered something. "Ms. Revenant, you haven't heard anything about any of your students haunting the Monster World, have you?" Spectra asked.

"Of course not!" Principal Revenant replied all too quickly. "There hasn't been a haunting since . . . since . . ."

"The Red Lady?" Spectra supplemented the words.

"Oh . . . yes. T-that's the one." Revenant shuddered, trying to keep a straight face. "Terrible. Just terrible." Spectra sighed and left the principal and the three Hall Moanitors in the office, sighing heavily to herself as she phased through the door and floated down the hall towards the detention room.

As soon as she had left, Principal Revenant dropped the trusting smile and hauled herself to her feet, pulling her crystal ball back to the center of her desk as her three Hall Moanitors floated closer, sensing a new assignment. "I had no idea there were so many students in the Monster World . . ." Revenant smiled darkly as she slid her hands carefully over the surface of her crystal ball, a wavering image of Monster High materializing out of the gloomy fog within the sphere. "I have a job for you," Revenant continued, turning to Past, Present, and Future as dark smiles crept across their faces. "Two, actually. One of which will enhance our . . . attendance."

"And what about the other one?" Present asked.

"More of a private project," Revenant smiled darkly.

"Knew she was going to say that." Future muttered under his breath.

---

"Alright, ghouls. How are we gonna save Spectra?" Clawdeen asked, banging a fist on the table; other students ignored the werewolf and went about this usual business of conversing with friends, cuddling with loved ones, or trying to force down the rancid creations that passed for meals in the Creepateria while also trying to lose any digits to said meals.

"Aucun. I am afraid not." Rochelle shook her head, her pink and silver bangs swishing back and forth in front of her face. "Perhaps we should alert Madame Bloodgood of Spectra's disappearance?"

"That won't do any good," Twyla shook her head, taking a short break before ruthlessly stabbing at her meal with a plastic knife; the unidentifiable glop snatched the knife away from the Boogie girl and quickly began to defend itself as Twyla attacked with a plastic fork, the two of the locked in battle. And the sad part was that the food actually seemed to be winning, despite having no brain. "It'll just create another huge problem with the other ghosts here. We need to do this without attracting any sort of attention.

"WAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Students suddenly screamed in panic and dived out of the way, tossing their unappetizing meals into their air and making their escape as Jetray flew blindly outside of the window, swooping around in unorthodox circles before suddenly smashing clear through the window and into the Creepateria, taking to flying aimlessly around the ceiling as he clawed at his face, trying to get something off of it. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be some sort of small rock monster with strange purple markings all over its body as it feverishly crawled and scampered around the Aerophibian's body.

"Gang way!" Jetray cried as he suddenly dived to the floor. All the ghouls jumped out of the way as Jetray crash landed on the lunch table, spilling all their meals onto the floor and landing face first in a pile of disgusting goo that thankfully didn't seem to want to eat his face. "Owwww." the Aerophibian moaned as the rock creature scampered out of the lunch room and down a hallway.

"Do I even want to know what that about?" Clawdeen asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"None of the ghouls are happy I'm letting Lilith stay at the house with us." Jetray mumbled as he staggered to his feet and wiped the Creepateria food off of him.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear what I think I just heard?" Clawdeen frowned.

"Look, how about we talk about this later, okay? The sooner we rescue Spectra, the better, am I right?" Jetray grumbled as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world. "Aw, man." he whined upon seeing the broken window he would no doubt have to pay for.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Charmcaster asked as she strolled into the empty Creepateria, sidestepping the messy stains and piles of food that littered the floor and tables; she cast a warning glance at Ben and summoned a glowing bolt of mana into her hand.

"We're gonna march right back into that attic, head back to the Ghost World, and get our friend back, that's what." Clawdeen growled.

"Wait! You heard the new rule," Rochelle remembered. "No non-ghosts allowed."

"She's right," Twyla sighed. "If we go back, we might get Spectra into even more trouble."

"So, to go back to Ghost World, all you guys have to do is turn into ghosts!" Sirena said triumphantly. "Ready? And . . . GO!" Sirena waited with a big grin on her face, fully expecting everyone of her friends to suddenly somehow change into mostly ghostly ghouls like herself; so far, she got nothing but annoyed glares. "I see a lotta starring . . . but not a lot of turning into ghosts."

"Sirena, we can't turn into ghosts!" Draculaura rolled her eyes.

"Si. It is impossible. Loco!" Skelita sighed; Clawdeen cocked an eyebrow at Ben.

"Long story," he sighed. "Short version, she's coming with us."

"Great," Charmcaster rolled her eyes. "On the bright side, Revenant probably won't recognize her."

"We still have one problem" Clawdeen frowned. "We can't turn into ghosts!"

"No, actually, Sirena is totally right." Twyla piped up.

"Thank you!" Sirena smiled. "Uh, what am I right about?"

"Listen, if we're ghosts, then we're not breaking the rules if we go back!" Twyla explained. "And I know how we can do it." she said with a smile, pulling a small, black key out of her pocket with intricate designs in silver all over the handle. "Follow me." Ben and the ghouls all raised eyebrows at each other, but followed their shadowy friend nonetheless leaving the messy Creepateria behind as Mr. Ogrethor came lumbering in with a mop and bucket, grumbling obscenities under his breath. They strolled down a hallway, turning a left and then right before coming to a stop in front of a rather large janitor's closet just the right height and size for a large ogre to amble through; Twyla inserted her key into the lock, the inky black turning piece molding and melting to fit the key hole, and turned the key to the left then right and then twisting it in a full circle before twisting it to the right again. Twyla then grabbed the handle of the door and yanked it open, a gasp of surprise coming from the group as the door opened up into a large, spacious mansion; Twyla's house.

"How did you do that?" Skelita asked Twyla as they walked through the door and into the house, leaving Monster High behind.

"Simple. Boogie key." Twyla smiled as she pocketed the small item and pushed ahead of the group.

"Twyla, it doesn't matter how many times you have us over to the Boogie Mansion," Clawdeen sighed with a small smile on her lips when she saw all the doors hanging from the walls amongst hundreds of other mirrors, mysterious paintings, and the occasional family photo. "I get lost every time!"

"Wait, where is Ben?" Rochelle wondered, glancing around and finding no sign of the Omnitrix-wearing boy.

"He was just here . . ." Sirena said with a creepy tone, like that of a story teller around a campfire at night; a loud knocking noise caught all of their attentions and they all turned to the noise coming from a small door in the wall that tilted on its side. With a cocked eyebrow, Charmcaster bent down and grabbed the small handle of the door, pulling it open to reveal Ben squished inside of s amll room on the other side. "I think I took a wrong turn." he grumbled before Charmcaster slammed the door in his face.

"What was that about!?" Skelita yelled.

"For bringing that Van Hellscream girl back home," Charmcaster grumbled. "Never want anything to do with him or her again."

"Just give her a chance, Charmcaster," Ben's voice came high above and the ghouls all tilted their heads skyward to see Ben now in another door in the wall on the opposite side of where he had been, far above the floor. "She's mostly harmless. Just like you, if I remember correctly."

"Hmmph!" Charmcaster huffed as Ben closed the door he was standing in and suddenly appeared in another door that was on the ceiling; Ben yelped and nearly fell to the floor before he managed to grab the door frame and haul himself back inside and closing the door behind him, reappearing in another door on the ground level this time with a startled look on his face. "Reminds of the little trick I played on Lilith." he smiled.

"Van Hellscream's mansion has Boogie Doors?" Draculaura cocked an eyebrow.

"Among other things." Ben replied grimly.

"He must have gotten them another Boogie Man," Twyla replied with a paler expression than normal. "Unlike most monsters, Boogie Men disintegrate into shadow dust upon death; those must be his trophies." she shuddered as Ben gave a disgusted face. Now that the ghouls were semi-use to the strange nature of Twyla's house, they followed the Boogie girl through it's layout, going down one hallway and somehow or other appearing in a door way on the second floor on the complete side of the room. It on like this for a while, traveling through seemingly random doors that confused Ben and most of the ghouls to no end, but Twyla seemed to know where she was going; Charmcaster didn't give the strange nature of the house a second glance, not even when they walked through a door that opened up on the ceiling and allowed them to defy gravity by walking across upper surface and through another door that led them back down to the bottom floor.

If it wasn't the doors that made someone's head spin, it was usually the mirrors. When one walked past them, their reflections would become distorted, turning Ben and the ghouls into skinny or fat versions of themselves or even giving them an entirely new look; one such mirror turned all the ghouls into Normie versions of themselves, but turned Ben and Charmcaster into monsters.

"Yikes!" Draculaura startled when they past a mirror that made every ghoul covered in disgusting sores and warts, their fingernails long and dirty and their hair tangled into knots and snarls. "For once, I think I'm okay with not having a reflection," she gave a small smile; it was then that she noticed a ghostly, floating orb in the reflection of the mirror, just above her clothes that seemed to be walking around with no one inside of them. "Still being haunted. Oh, goodie!" Draculaura sighed sarcastically. "Not."

They walked through more hallways, ignoring their twisted and contorted images in the mirrors as they traveled through more doors that led them to even more random parts of the Boogie Mansion; one door leading into a bathroom somehow got them into the kitchen, and another door that led into a closet somehow warped them onto the second floor and coming out of Twyla's bedroom. What got Ben the most however, was how the paintings that sat on the walls between the bizarre mirrors and plethora of doors not only seemed to follow their movements with their eyes, but actually move on their own, a few particularly mean ones giving Ben and Sirena some rather rude gestures.

"Your house is fun!" Sirena exclaimed happily, ignoring a painting that had given her The Finger.

"We're here." Twyla announced in her usual manner, gesturing to a tall set of doors that nearly reached the ceiling. She stepped forward and pushed open the tall doors, walking into a circular room with Ben and the ghouls behind her. The room was rather dark, the walls painted a dark gray in color that was only differentiated from pure black by a single candle-lit chandelier that hung overhead and cast a dim glow through the room. Instead of more doors that would undoubtedly get anyone lost should they step through them, there were instead shelf after shelf of glass vials and bottles, locked away safely behind glass doors. Inside of the bottles an vials were all manner of sand ranging from pure black to snow white and every other color in between; there was so much sand, that some actually seemed to mound together in piles on the floor as the high ceiling overhead made it seem the room was connected to every floor in the Boogie Mansion.

"Oh my ghoul," Clawdeen breathed. "What is all of this?"

"It's Boogie Sand. My dad use it for his Boogie Man work." Twyla replied from a top of a rather crooked yet seemingly stable ladder as she panned over the different cases and read the labels on each bottle. "Each one can turn you into a different monster. We just need to find the one that says 'Ghost' on it."

"Is this it?" Sirena asked, her fingers curled around the top of bottle with green sand inside. The bottle quickly slipped through her translucent fingers and smashed to the floor at Rochelle's feet, covering in a noxious green cloud. "Oopsie!" Sirena apologized.

"No, I do not think that was it." Rochelle remarked, glancing over her new form, a large, gray mass of jello-like liquid.

"Blob creature." Ben casting a look at the gargoyle-turned-blob before peering it at the many bottles locked away behind the glass cases.

"What about this one?" Sirena asked from above Ben's head. Ben had approximately three seconds before the bottle slipped through Sirena's fingers again and smashed to the floor in front of him, covering him in a yellow cloud of dust and smoke before settling.

"Ugh, what was that?" Ben coughed, waving his hand in front of his face.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Sasquatch sand." Charmcaster grinned. Ben blinked and looked down at himself to see he now had massive, muscular arms and hands covered in layers of thick, shaggy fur, massive feet tipped with sharp claws, and was wearing a torn version of old pants held up only by an old piece of rope. "A perfect look for you!" Charmcaster laughed.

"Oh, yeah? Well what about this?" Ben snarled in a deep, gravelly voice as he smashed his large fist through the glass cabinet behind him and picking up a bottle between two thick fingers before chucking it at Charmcaster's boots, a smirk traveling over his face when the bottle exploded and covered her in a pink cloud.

"Not funny, Ben!" Charmcaster shouted, clearing the smoke from around her. "And what did you just do to me!?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say I just turned you into Gargoyle." Ben grinned a toothy smile as Charmcaster looked over her new, stone features. Her spade tipped tail skidded loudly across the floor, her new, broad, stone wings flapping angrily as she grabbed another vial and threw it at Ben, a look of worry crossing her face when the bottle smashed at both Ben and Draculaura's feet, the both of them becoming enveloped in a cloud of orange smoke.

"What did you throw at us?" Draculaura hacked and coughed, waving her hands in front of her face. "And why is it suddenly so hard to breath?" she choked, her hands coming to her throat as a slapping sound caught her ears. She craned her neck around to see that her legs had disappeared altogether, fused together into a scaly, fish tail.

"Mermaids. It had to be mermaids." Ben coughed, sporting his own fish tail and webbed hands.

"Ben! Draculaura!" Clawdeen cried frantically, bending down and scooping up some of the sand on the floor before splashing it all over her ailing friends; unfortunately, some of the sand ended up on her too, engulfing all three of them in clouds of purple sand and dust. "Ugh, is this how transforming feels?" Clawdeen hacked.

"No, it usually involves less pain in the lungs." Ben told her as he towered over them and flapped his new dragon wings, smoking curling from his jaws as he swished his tail carefully on the floor. "Any particular reason why we're all different monsters, even though we got covered with the same sand?" he asked in a deep voice, bending his serpent-like neck down to look at the ghouls.

Indeed, each of the ghouls had somehow been turned into a different monster, with Draculaura now a magenta colored werewolf sporting her usual attire, Clawdeen as a were-cat (a fact that annoyed her to no end), and Rochelle now a plant monster delicately balanced on several root-like tendrils sprouting from her waist. Even Skelita and Charmcaster had been caught in the crossfire, with Skelita having been turned into a vampire and Charmcaster having been changed into a large Cyclops that was only a couple feet shorter than Ben's new form.

"The sand must have been mixed!" Sirena smiled happily. "Are you ready to change some more?"

"NO!" all of the mixed up monsters yelled at once.

"Rare and Ethereal." Twyla read a label to herself on a jar that contained a cyan colored sand that shimmered and sparked when she turned it. "Ghost sand." she smiled, turning around on the later to see her mixed up friends all starring at her patiently. "I'm not even going to ask." she murmured.

"How could you not hear any of that for the last few minutes?" Clawdeen asked in disbelief, slapping away her feline tail when it flicked her nose as Skelita ran her hands over her new arms and legs, not quite use to the fact she now had flesh over her bones now.

"I never knew having skin was so . . . bueno!" she exclaimed happily. "And having organs! Oh!"

"You guys ready to get ghosty?" Twyla asked as Clawdeen bent over and picked up a small journal from the floor, dusting off a layer of sand that had gathered on it from the small sand battle.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est? What is that?" Rochelle asked Clawdeen as she lowered herself down to the werewolf's level and shakily set her feet on the ground as her tendrils bent so that they just barely touched the floor.

"I'm trying to write down everything that happens for Spectra," Clawdeen replied, closing the journal and tucking it away in her jacket. "This is gonna make a great story for her blog!"

"Yeah, that's great and everything, but I'd kinda like to be able to see with two eyes now." Charmcaster grumbled, scuffing her hoof against the floor and glaring at Twyla. "You sure this is gonna work?"

"You're a Cyclops now, aren't you?" Twyla smiled as she descended down the ladder. "You ready?"

"Oui! So very ready!" Rochelle said with determination.

"Is this gonna be permanent?" Draculaura asked nervously, scratching at her fur feverishly. "How do you stand having this many fleas!?" she asked Clawdeen.

"Lots of flea bathes," Clawdeen replied as Charmcaster and Ben bent their massive, new bodies down to try and hear the conversation better.

"Yeah, yeah, until you use a different kind of sand." Twyla reassured Draculaura, opening the jar and pouring some of the sand into her friends waiting hands. "See, after we save Spectra and come back here, we'll use the other sands to change back to normal. Draculaura will use Vampire sand, Clawdeen Werewolf sand-"

"Do you have any Normie sand?" Ben asked as the Boogie girl poured some of the Ghost sand into his claws as Clawdeen curiously sniffed the sand in her hand, her nose twitching slightly; Twyla reassured him that she had some. Somewhere.

"Okay, then. Lets do this," Draculaura said. "For Spectra!"

Clawdeen sniffed.

"FOR SPECTRA!" everyone cried, as if rallying a war party to go storm a castle.

"On the count of three," said Twyla. "One-"

"ACH-OOO!" Clawdeen sneezed, blowing the powder out of her hand and consuming everyone in a cloud of cyan colored sand and dust.

"And three." Twyla rolled her eyes.

"Twyla, you're a genius!" Skelita smiled.

"Skelita, you're a ghost." Twyla noted.

"Check out our new looks! Totally haunting!" Rochelle grinned as she looked over herself. She had a faint blue glow around her shimmering image, a dark, cool gray dress that reached down to her knees with a silver belt around her waist; a faint skirt reached down to her ankles, silvery chains with a pink tint floating just a few inches above the skirt.

Clawdeen glowed a faint purple and wore a violet dress with golden belt and trim around the sleeves and rim, a pair of her gold heels on her feet and golden tinted chains shaped like crescent moons that hung from her shoulders and waist, floating about her like an octopus's tentacles.

Draculaura, naturally, glowed a pink bright with her black and pink locks tied back into a pony tail and with yellow chains hanging from a choker around her neck. She wore a sleeveless a pink dress that had so many little black bats all over it, it actually appeared to be black, dark pink flats, and had bat wing-like growths under her arms that might have helped her fly; if Whampire could only see her now.

Twyla glowed a soft white, looking the most ghost-like out of the four of them with a simple white dress with delicate cobweb designs that glowed a pale cyan and lavender in color; her belt was same color as the neutral gray chains that clipped to it and flickered about whenever she moved.

"I suddenly feel light headed." Charmcaster grumbled, her hands moving to her skull. The sorceress now glowed a deep violet in color, her hair pulled back into her signature ponytail with magenta and purple highlights She wore pink top over a single, white bodysuit with magenta designs trimmed in gold that formed hearts on her shoulders and hips. Alternating purple and lavender ruffles ran down from her hips towards her chain wrapped, pink boots; silver braces around her wrists glowed with intricate golden designs and a generous amount of chains were wrapped around her waist and small amount encircled her neck like a necklace with a small skull attached to the front.

"Oh, ha-ha. Very funny." Ben rolled his eyes sarcastically, his arms folded over his chest. He glowed with a slime green aura around him, wearing both white jeans with chains hooked into the belt loops and a white shirt. Over his shirt he wore a sleeveless, gray, leather jacket with lime green trimmings and he had green bands just before his elbows. On one hand he wore a long, white, fingerless glove that ran up to just below the elbow with a swirling DNA strand design, while he wore a regular, fingerless glove on the other, allowing him access to the ever present Omnitrix on his wrist. On his jacket he had a forest green 'X' on each shoulder. Around his neck was a small amount of chains with a similar amount wrapped his thick, knee high, lime green boots, and another around his waist; several chains attached to the back of his jacket made him look like he was wearing a cape, with his hair now a dark, ash gray and in a Fauxhawk. "Hmm. Never thought I could pull off the cape look." Ben noted, looking over his shoulder.

"It suits you well." Skelita smiled, looking over her own new form. Her black and marigold locks remained as they normally were, running down just below her shoulders and giving her entire body a frightful, orange glow as she floated above the floor. She wore a loose, black undershirt with her traditional family necklace around her neck, a sapphire dress pulled over her body and trimmed with fiery oranges. Despite having her bone limbs back, she a thin belt wrapped around her waist, a sparkling orange flower acting as the belt buckle. A small amount of chains were wrapped around her gray heels, alternating to look like Spanish flowers as a dark, red bandana encirled her head, trimmed with curved, rectangular chains that were slightly rusted.

"Alright, ghost guy and ghouls!" Sirena smiled upon seeing her friends liking their new looks. "Follow me back to Haunted High!" The hybrid turned to the door and pumped her tail, fully expecting Ben and the ghouls to be right behind her, determination on their faces as they raced off to save their missing friend. Instead, she heard a lot of startled yells and slight crashes as she turned around to see her most of her friends either stuck in one spot, accidentally phased through something, or trapped endlessly spinning in circles; only Ben seemed to have the least amount of difficulty, easily floating through the air for a couple of feet before accidentally phasing through a shelf and getting stuck inside.

"I can't stop spinning!" Draculaura wailed as she passed through Clawdeen and spun around in tight circles.

"I'm getting dizzy!" Charmcaster cried.

"Ayuda! Help!" Skelita yelled as she crashed into Twyla and bounced off of Rochelle before drifting over to Ben and grabbing hold of his boot, yanking him free from the shelf and steadying the both of them as Ben helped Skelita drift down to the floor next to Sirena.

"Could be worse," Sirena mused as her friends continued to twirl and fly about in an unorthodox style. "Not sure how, but it could be worse."

"You always look on the bright side of things, don'tcha?" Ben sighed as Draculaura passed overhead and got stuck in the same case Ben had been trapped in moments ago. "Oi."

---

Spectra sighed and scribbled something on her notepad. After a few moments of looking over her words, she sighed again and tore the page lose from the rest, tossing it at the waiting garbage can and turning her attention back to her notepad; instead of hearing the familiar swish of paper hitting the bottom of the can, she heard the sound of it being unfolded and looked up to see the last person she wanted to meet.

"'The Haunted Harold by Spectra Vondergeist'. What's this, homework or something?" Porter asked, drifting over to Spectra.

"No," Spectra replied with a small frown, snatching the piece of paper out of his hands. "Just a blog idea I'm working on."

"So, you're like, writing for . . . fun?" Porter asked, completely bewildered. Why would anyone waste writing something they didn't have to? Sure, he could understand being forced to write down five hundred essays or a similar project, but it boggled his mind to think that someone, anyone, would willingly waste their time writing words on paper.

"Sure," Spectra shrugged, turning back to her notepad. "I love writing. It helps me-"

She was interrupted by a loud snore coming from Porter; the poltergeist gave a goofy grin as Spectra rolled her eyes and continued.

"It helps me figure things out," she explained, trying to be patient. "Makes me feel good. Work out my frustrations."

"You wanna work out your frustrations? You should try painting." Porter suggested, whipping out a pair of spray paint cans and twirling them around in his fingers.

"Uh, no thanks," Spectra declined politely. "Never been much of a 'paint on the walls' kind of ghoul."

"Suit yourself," Porter shrugged, floating off a short distance down the hall and ignoring Spectra as he shook the spray cans before beginning another master piece.

"Isn't that what got you Detention Chains last time?" Spectra sighed wearily as she peeked over Porter's shoulder to watch him deface another piece of school property.

"Relax," Porter grinned. "It's my locker." she told her, showing Spectra a rather rude painting of Principal Revenant's head.

"You should give writing a try," Spectra suggested, handing Porter her notepad and pencil. "Might keep you out of trouble."

Porter took the items from Spectra's hands, a grin forming on his face as he moved the pencil over the paper. "Hey, you know what? This is actually kinda-" Porter stopped his sentence right there and promptly fell asleep mid-sentence.

Spectra sighed and took her notepad and pencil back from Porter, drifting away from him and down the hall. "Good-bye, Porter." she rolled her eyes, casting a look at her notepad to see a rather beautiful sketch of her; Spectra sighed and rolled her eyes as she took a left and looked longingly out the barred window. How she wanted to leave this horrid place and return to the Monster World, to feel the sun on her translucent skin, to feel a warm breeze through her hair, to have Ben's arms wrapped tightly around her as he promised to never let her go. Spectra reached with a hand towards the window, turning her hand so that it just might fit through the bars of the window.

"AHH!" she jolted back, as if she had suddenly been electrocuted.

"Yeah, I've tried that too," Porter said, phasing through a wall. "But as long as you have that chain, you can't leave the school." As if to emphasis his point, he too slipped his hand through the barred window and got a shock. "YEOW! Gotta stop doing that."

"So, I'm trapped here with eternity?" Spectra whined. "With you?"

Porter flinched as she flew away from him and into a classroom, taking one of the two empty seats available; Porter followed her and took the other empty seat that just happened to be to Spectra's left, and took a sheet of paper from the detention attendant to begin working on his punishment.

"Okay, uh, I read the Ghostly Gossip." Porter admitted after a few heated moments of silence. "You're really good."

"You can read my blog here in the Ghost World?" Spectra asked with amazement.

"Inter-dimensional internet," Porter replied. "I, uh, managed to unblock a portal. Did a search."

"Okay. So now all of a sudden you think writing is a good thing? When you were just mocking me moments ago? And how did you even read it that quickly?" Spectra asked suspiciously.

"When you've been in detention as many times as I have, you learn to read and write pretty quickly," Porter smiled, earning a glare from Spectra. "Look, I'm . . . I'm sorry I said it was boring." Porter admitted.

"I believe your exact words were-" Spectra promptly fell asleep on her desk, snoring loudly for a few seconds before Porter gently kicked her awake to avoid getting in trouble with the attendant.

"Something like that," Porter shrugged his shoulders. "So, uh, what's with all those edited photos?"

"What edited photos?"

"You know, the ones with all the strange creatures in them?" Porter explained.

"Oh, those aren't editted. That's my boyfriend." Spectra smiled.

"You mean the guy who can change into a ghost and a monkey?" Porter asked.

"They're aliens, if you must know," Spectra huffed. "And he can turn into a lot more than that."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?" Porter wondered.

"I am not crazy!" Spectra suddenly shouted.

"Shhhhhh!" Porter hissed, pointing at the teacher that was glaring at them; a disembodied head sat on the desk watching over the class while the body flipped through a book. "Look, I don't want to be on the business end of your boyfriend's magic watch, okay? I was just going to ask for your help. With journaling."

"I'm not following." Spectra frowned, the edge in her voice gone for the moment.

"Principal. Revenant." Porter whispered through gritted teeth when the teacher's disembodied head cleared its throat (do I really need to say it?) and glared deeply at them, the body giving both of them the 'I'm watching you' fingers. "I know she's up to something," Porter went on in a hushed voice. "Something bad. I want your help to . . . find out what it is."

"Are you sure it's not just because you don't like her?" Spectra asked suspiciously. "Back at Monster High there's this ghoul named Toralei, and she-"

"No, no, no. It's something else," Porter reassured her, glancing at the teacher before shifting his desk over closer to Spectra. "All the rules and chains she gives out, there's got to be more to it than just handing out detentions. It's worse than its ever been. It's not fair. It's not right!" porter raised his voice, slamming a fist onto his desk and drawing the teacher's attention.

"I gotta find out why," Porter whispered after a few minutes of work to get the teacher to stop looking at them. "I need help. I need someone smart, like you, to help me."

Spectra blinked and processed the thought; it couldn't really hurt to do some digging around her old school to find out why things had changed ever since she left. Plus, it would make for a very interesting story for her blog. "So, you really like my blog?" she asked Porter with a small smile.

"Yeah. It was really informative," Porter admitted. "Hey, what are were-fleas? And what's an Omnitrix?"

---

Venus grunted as she stood on the later, reaching up as high as she could with the corner of a large banner in her hands.

"Aaaaaiiiieeeeeyyaaahh." Ghoulia moaned, gesturing up a little more.

"I'm up as far as I can go, Ghoulia!" Venus yelled, stretching herself up just a few inches more. "C'mon, Jane, you of all people should be able to do this!"

"I'm no giraffe expert, but I think that's as high as she go." Robecca said, digging her metallic fingers deeper into the indigo mane on the giraffe's neck. "And me without any rocket fuel to use my boots." she added as she inched her body upwards.

"Iiiiiieeeeyaaaaahhaa." Ghoulia moaned, giving a thumbs up.

"Finally," Venus sighed, taking in a deep breath before coughing lightly and spitting something a sharp, blood red thorn from her throat and at the corner of the banner, pinning it firmly to the tree branch. She hacked a few more times and spat out a few more thorns to make sure the banner stayed in place before turning her head to do the same thing to the other end of the banner.

"Nice trick, luv," Robecca smiled as Jane bent her long neck back down to the ground to let Robecca off. "Too bad we didn't have any of that in the future."

"Hey, ghouls! How're the party decorations coming?" Frankie asked, a large cake in her hands. The cake was mostly covered in bright green frosting with curly white frosting ringing the delicious pastry. On top, in the center of a ring of eighteen candles, was a crude drawing of the Omnitrix in frosting with the words "Happy Birthday Ben" in neat cursive writing.

"Just dandy, luv." Robecca gave her a thumbs up. "Nice work on the cake."

Frankie smiled. "Aw, thanks! It's a good thing Ghoulia told us it was Ben's birthday today."

"Very," Venus agreed. "And Mother Nature has give us a beautiful day to spend it on, too!"

"Hard to believe just yesterday it was all cold and blowing," Frankie agreed as she set the cake down on a table. "I swear, no matter how many days I'm alive, I will never get use to the weather here."

"Me neither, luv," Robecca agreed as Jane shrank back down to her original form and rubbed her aching neck. "What did you get him for his birthday ayway?"

Frankie blinked before cursing. "Oh, Sphinx! I knew I forgot something!" she said with exasperation.

"You didn't get him anything either, did you?" Robecca sighed, pinching her brow. "Well, that makes four of us." she sighed, gesturing to Venus and Jane. "And I'm sure there are a lot of other people who didn't get him anything either.

"Ayyaaaahhha" Ghoulia moaned.

"Well, of course you got him something! You knew when we didn't!" Venus argued.

"Eiiieeeahhah." Ghoulia shrugged her shoulders, checking something off of her clipboard before leaving to see how Holt was handling the dance floor and DJ station.

Frankie bit her lip; it had really come as a surprise across everyone when Ghoulia seemingly casually mentioned that it would be Ben's birthday in but a day, sending the ghouls into a frenzy to try and set everything up for Ben's special day. Everyone was chipping in wherever they could, setting up tables and equipment for the big party they were planning. The only issue seemed that not only were some people not accounted for, but it seemed not many people actually had the time or money to get Ben anything on such a short notice. "Well, we can't just give him nothing." Frankie mumbled to herself.

"I've got an idea," Venus said after a few awkward moments of silence that was only broken when Heath accidentally tripped over a role of wrapping paper and fell into the outdoor pool.

"What is it?" Frankie asked. Venus beckoned Frankie and the two other girls to her, whispering her idea and plan into their ears so that no one else would hear them.

"You're . . . you're sure that will work?" Frankie asked with uncertainty.

"Positive. No teenage boy could resist this." Venus smiled. "I think Nefera and Whisp will in on it too. They won't want to miss this."

"I-I-I dunno . . ." Jane said nervously.

"Trust me. If Ben's not bothered by her, he won't mind this one bit." Venus reassured Jane, jerking a thumb over her shoulder Lilith. The ex-monster hunter was sitting quietly at a picnic table underneath a tree missing any sign of foliage, her head tilted towards the ground as she hugged herself. Despite still being irked with Ben, the ghouls were kind enough to lend her bits and pieces of their clothes, Jinafire lending her a pair of pants and, after calming her down enough, Venus relented her hatred towards Lilith long enough to give her an extra set of shoes and an old shirt that she didn't mind losing to Lilith's new wings. "We'll back here an hour, okay? Jane, you go find Ben and try to keep him distracted at all costs."

Jane nodded nervously before shifting into a falcon and taking to the skies, soaring back out over the town of New Salem and leaving the ghouls behind to take care of the rest of the preparations. Without anything to do, Frankie cautiously walked over to Lilith and sat down at the table next to her, not saying anything before Lilith interrupted the silence.

"Come to yell at me too?" Lilith murmured without looking up.

"No," Frankie shook her head.

"Don't lie to me," Lilith frowned. "Everyone else but you, the shape-shifter, and robot has had their go. Especially the plant girl and mummy." she shuddered. "I never thought girls actually did that kind of thing."

"Well, you better get use to it," Frankie sighed with a smile. "Venus, Robecca, and Jane don't seem to be ready to break up anytime soon."

"Yeah," Lilith shifted uncomfortably. "I just wish Venus hadn't made me do it."

"To be fair, you tried to kill about half of us a couple Halloweens ago." Frankie told her.

"I'm not saying I blame her. I had everything coming at me," Lilith sighed, rubbing her aching temples. "I just wish they would forgive me for my mistakes."

"Well, I forgive you."

"What?" Lilith startled slightly. "After everything I've done to you, you'd just forgive me like that?"

"Of course," Frankie smiled, hugging Lilith lightly. "Everybody deserves a second chance, even you."

Lilith sniffed, a small amount of tears coming to her eyes as she returned the hug Frankie had given her. No one had ever really been kind to her in her childhood; certainly not her uncle, and she had hardly known her parents before they were accidentally killed in a car accident. Van Hellscream had taken her in as a little girl, feeding her with lies that it was the monster's fault that her family was gone, planting the seeds of hatred towards all monsters. It seemed ironic now that it was a monster of all people that was comforting her without judgment.

"Thanks," Lilith sniffed. "I needed that. Is there anything I can help with?"

Frankie shook her head. "Not off the top of my head. But if you want to help us in our surprise for Ben . . ."

"I'm in." Lilith said firmly. "And Gigi, I know you're there."

There came a startled yelp and the rustling of branches before an invisible figure fell out of the tree overhead and landed with a painful yelp at Lilith and Frankie's feet; the air around the figure shimmered for a few seconds and Gigi soon appeared rubbing her aching head. "How did you do that?" the genie moaned.

"I've had years of monster training," Lilith replied, helping the sore genie to her feet. "Plus, my new form gives me enhanced hearing; I could hear you breathing."

"And I thought werewolves had good hearing." Gigi mumbled under her breath. "How are taking being a monster anyways?" she asked, lightly tapping one of Lilith's new horns.

"I'm getting use to it, day by day." Lilith sighed, sitting back on the table. "What were you ding up in that tree anyways?"

Gigi shifted uncomfortably on the seat beside Lilith and Frankie, biting her lip nervously. "Let me guess. You were listening in to see if we could somehow get Ben to notice you?" Frankie asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Gigi wondered, ashamed.

"Not really," Frankie admitted. "Your dad just messaged me in my head."

"DAD!" Gigi yelled angrily, her face flushing a deep scarlet.

"What? I was just moving the story along! The readers are getting impatient!" Genie's voice came from out of nowhere.

"What is he talking about?" Lilith wondered.

"You learn to ignore it after a while," Frankie admitted. "And the only reason you and Ben are together with the rest of us already is because he think you aren't interested in him; you constantly shy away from him, and he views that as the sign that you just like him as a friend."

"It's not entirely my fault," Gigi argued. "Every time I work up the courage to tell him how I feel, something happens!"

"Can I help it that you have a messy lamp?" Genie's voice came from somewhere.

"For the last time, that was Whisp!" Gigi yelled; any passerby quickly assumed that Gigi was starting to lose it after being locked away in a lamp for a couple millennium. "So, how do I get Ben to notice me?" Gigi asked in a much quieter tone.

"Well, you could always help on the secret project . . ." Lilith grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"I dunno, Lilith. I don't think Gigi's quite ready for that." Frankie warned the Jersey devil.

"I'll do it." Gigi said firmly. "Whatever it is." Lilith's grin broadened as she whispered into Gigi's ear, the genie's expression turning from one of jaw dropping-shock, complete embarrassment, and finally a look of utter nervousness on her face. "You sure that'll work?"

"Trust me. He won't be able to resist you." Lilith grinned.

"Yo, Frankie! Where do you want these?" Johnny Spirit interrupted, carrying a a box of strobe lights with Scarah and Operetta each carrying a generous length of extension cord.

"Over by the dance floor next to Holt's station," Frankie instructed, pointing in the general area. "Let me know when you're done."

"We'll have it done faster than you blink, don'tcha worry!" Operetta promised, following Scarah and Johnny to the dim dance floor that had been spread out in the middle of the small graveyard on the school property.

"Hey, Scarah?" Johnny asked as he set the heavy box down and stretched his arms. "What's the story about Spectra's blog? I need my updates." he said with a dramatic tone, clenching his fist.

"She hasn't been posting," Scarah replied, setting her set of extension chord down. "So not like here at all."

"If you ask me, that ghoul is more stressed than a- AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Operetta suddenly screamed as she was suddenly yanked to their ground, her fingers clinging onto tufts of grass as she was dragged amongst the tombstones back towards Monster High with Johnny and Scarah in hot pursuit.

"Operetta!" Johnny cried, lunging forward and grabbing the phantom's hands as they phased through the front doors and crashed into a row of lockers before being pulled into the air by a dark, black chain that glowed a sinister blood red in color; Scarah dived to the floor and managed to grab onto Johnny's leg, pulling with all her might before she too was pulled into the air.

"Help me, Johnny!" Operetta wailed. "Don't let me go!"

"Baby, baby, BABY!" Johnny struggled, pulling back with every emphasis of the word before Operetta was yanked out of his hands. "BABY!" he cried before a black chain wrapped itself around his waist and pulled him after Operetta, Scarah not too far behind on their own chain. With most of the school either busy in classes or helping set up for Ben's party, no one noticed the three ghosts being dragged down halls and through walls before being pulled up into one of the school's many attics. It was then that the trio noticed they weren't the only ones being taken, with dozens of other flailing and panicked ghosts all ensnared in the chain's tight grip.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the three of them screamed as they were pulled towards a pulsing, glowing portal in the ceiling; Johnny struggled against his chain, managing to grab an old globe to try and weigh himself down, but it was fruitless. Scarah latched onto the edge of an old trunk, but she was quickly pulled free and swept into the portal after Operetta, Johnny, and couple dozen other frightened ghosts that didn't seem to have any identity but were part of the student body anyway.

---

"Spectra, where are you going?" Porter asked as he rushed to catch up with the speeding ghost; when Spectra was determined about something, she seemed to move faster than mot other people around her. She rushed past towering shelves of books that twisted and turned at odd angles, somehow keeping their papery treasures nice and safe within their wooden prisons despite the fact that a few of them actually turned upside down.

"We're going to check our facts," Spectra replied once Porter had caught up to her. "This library has records of every ghost that's ever lived in Ghost World." she said, checking a book before setting it back on the shelf and swooping over to a floating computer terminal and typing away at the keys. "If Ms. Revenant is up to something, we might some kind of clue by looking into her past."

And so it went for what seemed hour after hour of searching through hundreds upon thousands of books. They riffled through the history of the school before setting off after all of the staff records and even going after the ghosts who had built Haunted High in the first place. They then started searching through the incredibly long list of every student that had ever attended Haunted High since it was first established, borrowing enough books from the shelves to building opposing forts and actually have a full scale battle should they so chose; Spectra kindly declined the offer when it was suggested by Porter.

"Porter and Spectra cracking the case! Yeah!" Porter sang in a hushed voice so that the ghost librarian with an ax embedded in his skull wouldn't hear them. "Solving lots of mysteries all over the place! Hoo!" the poltergeist drummed away on a set of books, throwing a wink at Spectra.

"I have a boyfriend you know," Spectra said without even looking up. "A very protective, shape-shifting boyfriend that will not hesitate to tear you limb from limb."

"Message received." Porter flinched.

"What are you doing anyways?" Spectra sighed, rolling her eyes and closing the book in her hands before grabbing another one and riffling through the pages.

"I'm working on our theme song!" Porter replied with his trademark grin. "All good duos need a theme song." he added, playfully elbowing Spectra in the ribs.

"So we're a duo now?" Spectra sighed, looking up from her book.

"Yeah! I paint and write the theme songs, and you do all the boring reading and writing stuff!"

Spectra sighed with a small smile before glancing back at her book, reading over the last sentences as her smile faded into a frown. "Nothing." she stated, closing the book and tossing it over her shoulder.

"Nothing bad about Principal Revenant?" Porter said with disbelief.

"Nothing at all about Principal Revenant!" Spectra cried with exasperation. "There's no record of her at all! Like she never existed!"

"If there's no record of Revenant," Porter paused to flip through the first few pages of a book before chucking it over his shoulder and hitting the librarian on the ax. "Then that could only mean one thing! She's . . . she's . . . she's a g-g-ghost!"

Spectra frowned and floated away from Porter with an annoyed look on her face. "Funny." she said deadpanned.

"Come on, it was a little funny!" Porter said with protest, leaving their towering towers of books behind them; the librarian glanced up at the large skyscrapers of books and files before promptly fainting at the sheer sight of so much work to do.

"Seriously though," porter caught up to Spectra as they floated out of the library and down several hallways. "If there's nothing there, that totally proves that she's up to something!"

"I dunno," Spectra sighed as they turned down another hallway and came out onto the floor that encircled the central lobby of the school. "Maybe there's nothing to find. Maybe she really is just a regular principal trying to make a positive difference at her school and-" Spectra stopped in mid-sentence to gasp at something down below.

Porter followed her gaze and flinched slightly when he saw numerous ghosts in varying degrees of confusion and fright all glancing around at their new surroundings, chains all wrapped around their waists as they floated within the boundaries of the three Hall Moanitors. "Or, not." he frowned.

"Welcome, new students! Welcome!" Principal Revenant boomed, her large, terrifying head materializing in a plume of smoke that greatly frightened the students in chains before her.

"I know those ghosts!" Spectra whispered to Porter. "They all go to Monster High! What are they doing here? Why are they wearing Detention Chains!?" she asked frantically, grabbing Porter by the shoulders and shaking him.

"Stop! Can't . . . see . . . clearly!" Porter shouted loud enough for Spectra to herself down and let him go.

"I think you'll feel right at home at our school," Revenant went on, a dark smile crossing her face as she spoke. "We're always on the lookout to take in bright, new ghost students like you. Welcome to Haunted High!" she said with as much cheerfulness as she could muster. "Now, off you go then. You don't want to be late for Ecto-nomics." she added, disappearing in another column of smoke; the Hall Moanitors took their leave, leaving the frightened students alone in the lobby.

"Operetta! Scarah! Johnny!" Spectra whimpered as she floated down from the second level to speak with her friends.

"Spectra? So they got you too?" Operetta wondered. "Well, that explains the blog."

I . . . I don't understand!" Scarah cried, holding her throbbing temples. "One minute . . . Monster High, preparing for Ben's birthday party . . . the next thing we know we're pulled by these chains and locked up in the Ghost World!"

"Some kind of mandatory transfer?" Johnny guessed.

"I don't wanna be here," Operetta whimpered, shaking her head. "Johnny, I wanna go home!"

"Me too, baby. Me too." Johnny held Operetta tight, kissing her lightly on the head and holding her hand.

"Don't you ghosts worry! Spectra and I are on the case!" Porter announced, weak smiles coming to the ghost's faces.

Oh! This is Porter," Spectra explained, gesturing to her partner. "He's a paintergeist."

"We're a duo!" porter announced loudly.

We're not a duo," Spectra shook her head. "Just sit tight. We'll figure out what's going!" Spectra promised before soaring upwards and back up to the second level.

"Duo!" Porter sang before following her.

"Poor kid," Johnny shook his head. "Ben's gonna tear him to pieces if he sees this."

"He'll be all over him like Clawd on a T-bone steak!" Operetta agreed with a small smile.

---

"Ghosty Wolf, are you in position?"

"For the last time, I am not playig your dumb games!" Clawdeen hissed. "And I'm right next to you!"

"Sorry. I joke around when I'm nervous." Ben replied as he and the ghouls all floated above the roof of Haunted High. After an hour of slowly making their way back to Monster High and avoided being detected by any means, they had managed to slip through the portal and back into the Ghost World, hitching a ride on Reaper's boat when he wasn't looking and making their way back to Haunted High.

"Are we all set?" Charmcaster asked.

"Si. We are ready." Skelita confirmed.

"Right. We're going in." said Clawdeen, taking a huge breath before diving downwards and phasing through the roof of the school; it felt like she was passing through a freezer, a tingling sensation that ruffled her fur as she passed through to the other side, ending up in a wall, before she phased through a locker; Ben and the others were not too far behind.

"Alright, ghost guy and ghouls," Clawdeen said as they drifted down an empty hallway. "Lets find Spectra and get her back to Monster High before-"

RRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!

"That." Clawdeen finished as classrooms suddenly burst open all around them , hundreds of ghosts swooping and diving past them in their rush to make it to class on time and avoid getting the detentions that seemed to plague the school so. The ghouls were bumped and jostled until they were spung off their feet and spinning around in circles again, unable to keep floating in one spot.

"Oh, I knew we should have practiced more!" Clawdeen cried as she tried to right herself.

"I don't see what the problem is," Ben shrugged to Sirena. "We're not having any problems."

"That's because we weren't born ghosts!" Charmcaster snapped as her head phased through a locker. "And none of us have a magic watch on us!"

"Science." Ben corrected with sigh.

"WHATEVER!"

"Hey, Spectra's ghoul friends are back!" Kiyomi exclaimed with a smile on her face. "And it looks like they could use a little help."

"A fish flopping 'bout on the deck needs a little help, mate," Vandala sighed, shaking her head sadly. "Those ghouls need all the ghost help they can get!" she sighed, a small smile coming to her face when she saw Ben trying to pull Charmcaster out of the locker she had been trapped in. "Ahoy, matey!" she called out.

"Vandala? Kiyomi? Oh, man, are we glad to see you ghouls!" Ben sighed with relief as he finally pulled Charmcaster free of the locker. "Can you help us? Most of us aren't use to flying." Ben admitted, jerking a thumb to the ghouls that had managed to stop spinning for the moment but were having trouble righting themselves.

"T'would be a pleasure, matey! Yarrrr!" Vandala laughed as she floated over to Ben and clapped him on the shoulder. "Always good to have ya back on board, me hearty!"

"My, aren't you a chipper ghoul?" Ben wiggled his eyebrows, drawing a light blush to Vandala's face.

"If ya wanna see me real happy, change into another of them aliens!" Vandala requested, giving him a friendly wink. "C'mon, matey! What're you scared about?"

"Nothing really," Ben shrugged as he turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through the transformations before selecting a random one. "I just feel like I'm doing this to fill an empty void of some kind."

"Then fill away, matey!" Vandala grinned.

"If you say so." Ben smiled as he slapped the activation button and felt the green light wash over him, playing with his DNA and changing it into something new. Scales raced up his arms as his bones ground and shifted, webbing forming between his fingers as claws formed at their tips; his neck thickened as the scales raced to cover his body, six slits opening up in his neck as his jutted outwards and his teeth curved out of his jaws into huge fangs that overlapped each jawline. His eyes became glassy, as if they belonged to a deep sea creature as his forward pulsed and throbbed, like a giant zit was about to explode. And explode it did, a long thin rod sprouting from his forward with a glowing sac at its tip as his arms and legs chest swelled with new muscle tissue. Ben's feet suddenly wrapped around each other, fusing together into a skeletal rod of vertebrae as long, thin rods formed on the end, a sort of thin membrane forming between them and finishing a tail. Rusted braces with chains attahced to them materialized around Ben's wrist as bits of his flesh started to peel away to reveal white bone or red muscle; a green and white belt with the Omnitrix on it materialized around his waist, completeing the transformation.

"AHH! Geez, that is creepy!" Ripjaws panicked, looking at his skeletal bones. "Must be because I'm a ghost now." he mumbled.

"I imagine your much more handsome when you're alive, mate." Vandala chuckled as Kiyomi led the group through a wall that brought them into what seemed to be the pool' a tall tank of water of water rose above the surrounding bleachers, a crude diving board attached to one side as Sirena took the opportunity to dive in and watch as Kiyomi led the ghouls through simple movement exercises.

"Okay, ghouls, flying is just like swimming," Kiyomi explained as the ghouls all lined up in front of her. "Look to where you want to go, and try pushing your body to that direction. First, we go up." she instructed as she floated upwards, the ghouls copying her movements. "And then we go down."

"Heads up!"

The ghouls never caw it coming as a soccer ball came whizzing right through them, turning them all topsy-turvey once more, twisting them upside down and spinning around in tight circles much to Kiyomi's exasperation.

"Yeesh, they really could use the practice." Ripjaws shook his head. "And you really think I'm handsome?"

"As sure as a cuttlefish flies!" Vandala grinned as Aye floated near her head and cuddled up to her.

"You do know most cuttlefish don't fly, right?" the Piscciss Volann said.

"Aye, but that doesn't mean Aye can't!" Vandala laughed as the cuttlefish chirped happily. "C'mon, mate, show me what ya got!" she chided, swooping up into the air before diving down into the tank with a loud splash! Ripjaws pumped his bony tail and swam through the air after the ghost pirate, doing a tight flip in the air before plunging down into the pool next to Vandala, a toothy grin on his face.

"Nice one, me hearty!" Vandala laughed, bubbles gurgling past her lips.

"You ain't bad yourself," Ripjaws nodded. "I never thought a seasick pirate could swim so well."

"Well, all pirates learn how to swim in case, you know, we fall overboard," Vandala replied, nervously tapping her fingers together. "And, uh, could you not mention the seasick part? That's kinda . . . embarrassing."

"Sorry." Ripjaws apologized, falling silent as the two of them took the opportunity to watch Charmcaster and Skelita try to pull Rochelle out of Twyla's abdomen area. Unbeknownst to them, Sirena was watching from above with curious eyes, pumping her tail to move around in endless circles through the water. She was watching Vandala and Ripjaws float next to each other silence, wondering why they weren't already passionately making out right now; it was obvious that they liked each other, even to the smallest degree, even if they might deny it and say they were just friends. What Sirena couldn't understand the most was how nobody else seemed to notice the two of them together.

And then an idea formed in her head.

"Tag! You're it!" she cried as she zoomed past Pisccuss Volann and whacked him on the head with her tail and swam off to a safe distance away.

"Oh, you are on!" Ripjaws growled as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back to the world. "Uh, maybe not." he slumped slightly. "Oh, well!" With that, he shot off like a rocket through the water, easily catching up to Sirena and just staying behind her as the hybrid swam up and down, left and right, over and under, and everywhere in between with Ben always staying just out of reach of her. She was so agonizingly close and yet so far, that it was pretty much all Ben could focus on, tuning out all of his surroundings and just focusing on Sirena's tail pumping up and down in front of him. He was so determined to tag her, to turn the tides on her, that he didn't see where Sirena was leading him, didn't see that smirk on her face, and couldn't slow down in time enough when Sirena suddenly jerked up and out of Ben's range; before he could even hope to slow down, he slammed face first into Vandala.

The two of them went flying, tumbling and turning through water before they managed to come to a stop, neither one of them daring to let go of the other until they were sure they were floating in one place and one place only. It wasn't until the dull pain in both of their heads died down that they realized what sort of awkward position they were in; not only were Ben's strong hands accidentally clutching tightly to Vandala's ass, but both of their lips had been smashed together under Siren'a deep smirk as she whistled.

"Um, uh, um-" Ben stammered, yanking his hands off of Vandala and pulling away from her, snagging her wide hat and handing it back to her.

"Oh, relax, you seaworthy shrimp," Vandala laughed. "Accidents happen! Uh, by the way, have you seen my leg anywhere?"

"You're what!?"

"My leg? You know, long, bronze item about as tall as my other one? Seen it around here somewhere?" Vandala described her missing limb.

"Is this it?" Ben asked, reaching beneath him and pulling up a smooth and intricately carved bronze leg that was about as long as Vandala's other ankle; the ghost pirate took the precious item without another thought and firmly planted it back into a metal ring that encircled the stump of Vandala's right leg right below the knee, screwing the leg back into place before thumping a fist on it a couple times to make sure it was back in place.

"There we go! Good as new!" Vandala smiled.

"How did you lose it? Your leg?" Ben asked.

"Born without it, I'm afraid," Vandala sighed unhappily. "Woulda liked to have lost it during some huge fight or raid, but I guess we can't all be you." she laughed before grabbing Ben by the jacket and yanking him towards her. "Now ready to try that again, mate?" she asked with a wide smile, sweeping off her hat before pulling it to the side so that it hid both her and Ben from view before she smashed her lips into Ben's, a shiver of pleasure running down her spine as she kissed him deeply. Being quite use to the sort of thing, Ben returned the kiss and hugged the ghost pirate tight against him, gently running his fingers through Vandala's hair as she slithered her hand under his shirt and around his back, pulling him in close before running her hands over his firm muscles.

"Aw, you guys are so cute!" Sirena cooed. "I'm a great matchmaker!"

"You are evil, you know that?" Ben grinned as a light pink blush crept across Vandala's face when they broke away.

"Consider me the newest member of yer crew, matey!" Vandala grinned, pecking Ben on the cheek.

"Wow, I must be getting good at this chick magnet thing," Ben cracked. "That's gotta be a record for how quickly a ghoul's fallen for me!"

"Technically, mate, I fell fer ya as soon as ya beat me back on the boat," Vandala smiled, resting her head on Ben's shoulder as she set her captain's hat back on top of her ocean wave locks. "Pirate tradition."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ben shook his head, phasing himself and Vandala out through the side of the tank with Sirena in tow; the ghouls were all looking at him with smirks on their face, Kiyomi's jaw dropped wide open and her face a bright green in color.

"Ben, you are too good at this kinda thing," Clawdeen shook her head, smiling. "Now, lets find Spectra!"

"You are so spooky sweet to help us out, Kiyomi," Draculaura smiled, shaking the noppera-bōout of her state of surprise. "You didn't have to do all of this."

"Yeah, Draculaura . . . I . . . kinda did." Kiyomi murmured quietly to herself as Rochelle spoke up.

"Now that I am weightless, there is something I just have to try . . ." she announced. "CANNONBALL!"

"Arrrr! Go fer it, mate!" Vandala cheered as Rochelle quickly soared up to the top of pool and rested on the diving board, bouncing up and down a few times before diving in with a gigantic splash that washed over the sides of the pool and doused everyone below.

"Now that's a splash!" Ben laughed, shaking his wet hair as Rochelle grinned.

---

Spectra nervously played with her hair as she and porter descended down the steps to the Creepateria to try and figure out what their next move might be. After seeing her ghost friends here in the Ghost World, and in Detention Chains for no apparent reason no less, her mind was a jumble trying to piece together the facts they knew about Principal Revenant, which was almost nothing. What were her motives for putting students in chains for unfair reasons? Why was she kidnapping ghost students from the Monster World? And just what in Sphinx could she and a paintergeist do about it.

" . . . I heard they wanna suck us up in vacuum cleaners and put us in cages and feed us crackers!"

Spectra didn't quite know what made her do it. She didn't know why she suddenly swooped over to a seemingly random lunch table holding a trio of frightened students that were badmouthing the Solids. But if there was one thing she was certain of, it was that no one hurt her friends in anyway, even if they weren't being specifically referred to. "Gossip is garbage! You have no idea what you're talking about!" she exclaimed angrily. "None of that is true! Those are just dumb rumors-" she paused in mid-sentence before silently fleeing the table and drifting across the Creepateria towards a table Porter had seated himself at; she could feel the startled student's eyes boring into the back of her head.

"Um, something wrong?" Porter asked with concern.

"No," Spectra sighed. "Just thinking about something a friend told me." the ghostly reporter replied glumly. "And she's right. Rumors and gossip can be very hurtful."

"Whoa, whoa. Isn't that what your blog is all about?" Porter wondered. "Gossip? Rumors?"

"Not anymore," Spectra announced firmly. "I'm finished writing gossip on my blog. From now on, I'm gonna report trustworthy news! And I'm calling it the Gory Gazette!"

"So, does that mean you'll take down all those stories you posted? Even the fake alien stories?" Porter asked.

"For the last time, Ben is real!" Spectra shot back. "You saw him transform last time he was here!"

"I'm not saying I don't believe you," Porter said, hands raised in surrender. "But I hit you pretty hard; I'm not sure if I was seeing things or not."

Spectra was about to retort when a loud sound met her ears, followed by a few startled screams and crashes. "WOO-HOO! This is better than riding the Salty Spectre on the Haunted Seas in a Spectral Storm! WOO-HOO!"

"Bad dog! Bad dog! Sit! Stay! Heel! PLAY DEAD! Uh, PLAY ALIVE!"

"GANG WAY!"

RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"Spectra! Look out!"

Spectra glanced up just in time to a large Vulpimancer with sickly green fur, twisted claws, yellowed teeth, and pieces of flesh missing from its side that exposed yellowed bones, leap off the overlooking balcony and land with a loud thump! on the table in front of her, bellowing loudly before happily licking her face and wagging its rear end as if it had an invisible tail; Vandala whooped as she jumped off of Wildmutt's back and flipped through the air, landing on the table behind Porter.

"Ben? Vandala what are you doing here?" Spectra wondered with a relieved smile on her lips.

"Over here, ghoul friend!" she heard Clawdeen's voice. Spectra looked with with wide eyes when she saw Clawdeen, Draculaura, Twyla, Rochelle, Charmcaster, Skelita, River, and Kiyomi all waving at her before they swooped out over the balcony and surrounded her, the Omnitrix timing out in a brilliant flash of light and returning Ben to the world.

"You're back!" Spectra cried happily, hugging Ben tightly before she noticed the slime green glow that encased her boyfriend. "And you're ghosts!"

"Yeah, long ghost story," Clawdeen gave a small smile. "But don't worry! I took notes!" Clawdeen's smile broadened as she took out her journal to show Spectra, a bigger smile creeping across Spectra's face at the prospect of such a wondrous story.

"But right now, we gotta get you out of that chain and back to the Monster World." Twyla turned the conversation back to the important matter at hand.

"Well, things just got a lot more complicated," Spectra bit her lip as Ben's expression deepened. "It's not just me. All of the ghosts from Monster High are stuck here too!"

"What!?" was the general word passed from ghoul to ghoul.

"When I get my hands on those no good Hall Moanitors, I'm gonna-" Ben started, making a throttling motion with his hands before he felt Spectra's hands on his shoulders; Vandala took the other shoulder, both of them telling their lover to calm down, though Spectra was slightly confused as too why Vandala cared.

"What do you mean?" Draculaura asked worriedly.

"It's Principal Revenant and those Hall Moanitors!" Porter growled, gesturing wildly to the three ghosts of Past, Present, and Future as they entered the Creepateria to make a round. "They're up to something." he frowned as Present floated up to a random student minding his own business.

"You there! Detention! It's against the rules to . . . to . . ." the diminutive ghost faltered, as if unsure of what he was saying as he quickly consulted a small rule back in his hands.

"Flying in a red zone!" Past supplied the words.

"Flying in a red zone!" Present agreed.

"Red zone?" the student wondered, utterly confused.

"Good one." Present whispered to Past.

"He's not gonna like that." Future informed his companions.

"What does that even mean!?" the student stammered.

"Told ya." Future whispered to Present as the short ghost whipped out his badge and sent a Detention Chain flying at the poor student.

"This is getting out of hand." Kiyomi whimpered as the Hall Moanitors cackled and moved on to their next victim. "They're giving detention for everything now. Look at how many chains there are in here!" Kiyomi exclaimed before jumping back, startled, as Present flew up in her face.

"Don't you know starring is against the rules?" Present frowned, jamming a finger at his book.

"Starring? No! I don't even have a face." Kiyomi smiled nervously, the illusion of her eyes and lips vanishing into smoky wisps before Present's eyes.

Then . . . talking back to a Hall Moanitor!" present quickly covered his tracks.

"That too, is against the rules." Future agreed.

"You can't give her detention!" Draculaura exclaimed. "She didn't do anything!"

Past frowned and tapped her badge before speaking into it like a walkie talkie. "Principal Revenant, we have a situation here." the old hag spoke into her badge before a plume of smoke suddenly exploded behind her and Principal Revenants head appeared, a deep frown on her bony face. "These ghouls," past pointed at the ghouls and Ben. "Are not ghosts. At least, they weren't before! These are Solids!"

"You've turned yourselves into ghosts? I need to know how !" Revenant demanded loudly. "You. Will. Tell me. How to turn Monsters into Ghosts!"

"Don't!" Porter whispered quietly.

"Stay out of this, paintergeist." Present warned him.

"Do it." Principal Revenant snarled.

Present nodded and pulled out his badge, aiming it directly at the group of ghouls and firing off a dark Detention Chain with a blood red glow at Draculaura. Time seemed to slow down as the chain moved through the air at Draculaura as most of the ghouls floated out of the way, Draculaura caught off guard at the last moment and unable to fly away. Just when it seemed the chain was going to tag her and trap her forever in the Ghost World, Kiyomi flung herself in the way at the last second and took the chain for Draculaura, not even flinching when its vile, metal body curled itself around her waist.

"Draculaura! Fly!" Kiyomi cried.

"Or in my case, run!" Ben yelled angrily, slapping the Omnitrix and relishing in the feel of the power that coursed through his body as the watch changed his DNA. Ben's fingers hardened into sharpened blades as a long, whip-like tail sprouted from the base of his spine and stretched out a couple feet. His toes ripped out of his shoes and melted into four claws, two in front, two in back. The ball of his heel crunched forward, moving under his foot bones and becoming perfectly round and smooth, suddenly separating itself from his foot and held there by his curved toes. Ben felt his skull stretch back into a sharp point and his legs bent backwards. A pointy, black helmet with a slide down mask materialized on his head and a tight, black and green body suit appeared on himself, rusted black chains attached to braces materializing on his wrists and ankles, even more chains crisscrossing themselves over his body and back as parts of his suit became torn and exposed rotted flesh.

"Stop those ghosts!" Revenant roared "And get me that Omnitrix!" The Hall Moanitors took chase after the fleeing ghouls, but before any of them could even phase through the wall the ghouls had fled through, XLR8 was in front of them, taunting them and shaking his tail in their faces. "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah! Can't catch me!" the Kinceleran teased, sticking out his tongue at the three ghosts before zipping away. The Hall Moanitors gritted their teeth and flew after the Kinceleran, determined to teach the annoying speedster a lesson as he easily evaded them and ran through walls and floors, utterly confusing them.

"Go right!" XLR8 heard Porter cry. Without any idea of which way he was heading, he followed the sound of Porter's voice and came right through a wall as the ghouls passed him, nearly crashing into Vandala before ran up the wall and defied gravity by racing along from there, taunting the Hall Moanitors by leading them down other hallways and back tracking before catching up with the group.

"There! In there!" Porter cried, jamming a finger at an old bookcase; the ghouls followed without complaint as XLR8 zipped in after them, having ditched the three Hall Moanitors a long time ago. The Kinceleran breathed a sigh of relief as he relaxed a little, senses still alert as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted him back into Ben.

"Porter? What is this place?" Spectra asked nervously, glancing at the old chains that hung from the ceiling and the old book cases stuffed with rotting paper jammed between ancient columns. Old, wooden arcs held up the arched ceiling, keeping it firmly in place as the ghouls quietly drifted down the long hall towards a round, circular outlet; a pair of cobweb covered chandeliers that hung overhead on ancient chains clicked to life, dousing the room in a faint, blue glow. "Un boo-lievable." Skelita breathed.

"Geez, talk about artistic creativity." Charmcaster marveled as the glowing lights revealed hundreds of beautiful murals on the stone arches and walls; most of them contained unidentifiable swirls and shapes of gorgeous and wild colors, while others depicted sunny fields and imposing mountains that seemed rather crude, as if the artist had to guess at what they actually looked like.

"It must have taken ages to paint all this." Twyla said quietly as everyone starred at the works of art that dotted the hidden room.

I knew you were an artist," Spectra gaped. "But . . . I didn't realize . . . wow." Spectra was at a complete and utter loss for words as Porter gave a small smile; Ben frowned slightly before turning his attention back to the colors that adorned the ceiling and walls.

You ghouls will be safe in here," Porter reassured them. "Nobody know how this room but me."

"What is all this back here?" Rochelle asked, pulling back a curtain to reveal an ancient pile of junk covered in tarps and cobwebs.

"Just some furniture here when I found this place." Porter shrugged as Rochelle yanked the curtain open wider for everyone to see; a decrepit writing desk starred back at them, covered in layers of cobwebs and ghostly spiders that glowed a dull yellow in color as they skittered away in fear. "Never had any use for it." Porter added.

Ooooh! Such a beautiful, antique desk!" Spectra admired, placing a hand on the dusty wood.

"So, why do you think Principal Revenant went all crazy about turning Monsters into Ghosts?" Clawdeen wondered.

"And lets not forget the Omnitrix," Ben added, holding up his left wrist. "Though I don't a school principal might have much use for this thing."

"What does she want with that Boogie Sand?" Kiyomi wondered; everyone stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face the noppera-bō with mixed expressions, most of them raised eyebrows.

"We didn't tell you about the Boogie Sand." Twyla frowned suspiciously, sharing a look with Clawdeen as Kiyomi's face flashed a mixture between a bright violet and deep orange.

Wow! Kiyomi, you were there!" Draculaura realized. "You were the orb at the Boogie Mansion! You're the one haunting me!" she exclaimed as Kiyomi's face flashed a deep blue.

"I-I'm . . . uh, I . . . yes." Kiyomi surrendered.

"I knew there was something up with that ghoul!" Clawdeen announced proudly.

"I don't remember that." Ben whistled before Clawdeen threw him a look. "Uh, no wait! It's coming back to me."

"I'm so sorry." Kiyomi whispered, seeming to fold in on herself as she sank to the ground.

"But why?" Draculaura asked.

"I-I wasn't trying to haunt you. Or scare you." Kiyomi added from the ground, Draculaura drifting down to rest on her knees as Kiyomi explained everything. But I . . . love what I see at Monster High. You all are so cool with you're freaky flaws," she gestured to Ben and Charmcaster. "So nice to each other," she gestured to Rochelle, Twyla, and Skelita. "And, talk about fangtastic style!" she smiled at Clawdeen and Skelita.

Well, we are pretty stylish." Charmcaster said proudly as Draculaura blushed.

"I use to be so shy," Kiyomi sighed. "But spending time with you ghouls at Monster High . . . I don't know, maybe I feel more . . . colorful!" she smiled weakly as her body flashed a rainbow of colors; Draculaura smiled and hugged Kiyomi as the ghost flashed a mixture of bright pink and yellow. "I wanted to tell you, but then Spectra got Detention Chains and I felt so guilty because I was the reason you all came here in the first place." she whispered, her skin turning a sickly green.

"It's not your fault Kiyomi," Draculaura said firmly. "It's that no good principal!"

"So does this mean I can give her the old one-two?" Ben asked; most of the ghouls all glared at him, though Vandala and Charmcaster seemed more than ready to support his idea.

"What are gonna do?" Clawdeen wondered.

"Si. We can not hide in here forever." Skelita gestured the ancient stone columns around them.

"No we can't. This has to stop." Spectra agreed. "I'm going to go talk to her." she annnounced.

"Whoa! You can't!" Porter protested.

"Someone has to make Principal Revenant realize she's going too far!" Spectra argued.

"But she's . . . scary!" Porter battled. "She may do anything!"

"Anything she might do can not be worse than what I am going to do to you if you do not back off." Ben warned, floating over to Spectra's side. "If she wants to do it, she's gonna do it."

"I already have Detention Chains," Spectra agreed. "How could it get any worse?"

"I could . . . lose you." Porter flinched under Ben's cold gaze.

"Whoa. Bad boy's gotta a soft spot." Twyla said quietly.

"And that spot is going to get very bruised too." Skelita flinched upon seeing Ben's stormy eyes that seemed to drill their way into Porter's head and imagine the most horrible way to hurt him while keeping him a live; he really had changed ever since coming back from the cold, dark future.

"I'll be fine, Porter," Spectra reassured him. "I have to do this. For them." she smiled weakly at her friends before floating back out towards the entrance and leaving the hidden sanctuary; moments after leaving, Ben followed without another word.

"So, uh, I'm just gonna make sure they're gonna be okay . . ." Porter trailed off. "You guys wait here." he added quickly before chasing after Spectra and Ben.

"Poor Porter. We hardly knew ye." Charmcaster shook her head.

"Ben won't really kill him, will he?" Draculaura asked nervously.

"That I can not promise you." Clawdeen sighed. "All I can say is that I home Porter knows this school as much as he claims to."

---

Spectra carefully crept towards Principal Revenant's office with Ben watching her back, hand raised over the Omnitrix and ready to do battle at the slightest sign of danger as Revenant's loud, angry voice could be heard from behind her locked doors.

"You've lost them! GAH!" Revenant's voice boomed as she berated the three Hall Moanitors. "To be able to turn all Monsters into Ghosts and change my own form at will! Exactly what I need! I'll double our attendance!"

Spectra gasped and scribbled down some notes on her notepad as Ben pressed his ear to the door and Present spoke up. "But, won't the students become . . . suspicious when they see so many new students arriving at Haunted High?" she heard the diminutive man inquire.

"Ahh, leave the students to me," Revenant chuckled from behind the door. "There is power in gossip. I will manage the rumors."

"Did you get all that?" a deep voice suddenly piped up. Ben and Spectra jumped and startled, tumbling through the doors and into Principal Revenant's office as Future appeared behind them, a ticked look in his eye as he swiped Spectra's notepad from her.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Revenant purred, spinning around in her chair with her fingers resting together and a sinister look on her face.

"Somebody fancies herself a jojo reporter," Future replied, stuffing the confiscated notepad into his breast pocket. "And I don't think we allow pets on campus." he added upon seeing Ben.

"Hey!" Ben snapped as he and Spectra climbed to their feet, a very interesting detail catching Spectra's attention as Revenant floated up and out of her seat to tower over them, a loud rattling sound accompanying her as she moved.

"You're-you're wearing chains!" Spectra stammered, pointing a finger at several black chains wrapped tightly around Revenant's feet that glowed a dark red in color.

"I'm wearing a lot of chains." Revenant corrected as an even louder rattling sound filled the misty office, a gigantic ball of chains the size of a small minivan being pulled out of the mists and into a view. "Do you like them?" Revenant purred. "I'm more than happy to share them with you two, dears."

"Not on my watch!" Ben frowned, activating the Omnitrix and slapping the activation button without even glancing at which alien he had selected. Alien blood flowed through his veins as muscles piled themselves on him, everywhere to his arms and chest to his neck and legs, every part of him was getting bigger and stronger with each passing millisecond. His skin hardened into plate like armor that turned a pale brown as large scales traveled up his legs and chest, turning a sickly black in patches on him. His legs became thick and pillar like as his feet began to match those of an elephant. A thick, skeletal tail sprouted from the base of his spine as he was forced to hunch over slightly. His neck became a little longer retaliative to his 20 foot frame and his lower jutted out his fingers swelled with power. A pair of black briefs and a green sash appeared on him, completing the transformation as the Omnitrix symbol popped out of the flesh on his left pectoral, a torn, green sash materializing on his person as several dull spikes formed on his shoulders and head.

"Lets dance!" Humungousaur bellowed as the three Hall Moanitors stepped between him and their leader. The Vaxasaurian snorted before charging forward, driving a large fist into Past and sending her falling through a wall before he smashed the other fist down on Present and sent him through the floor.

"That just leaves you me." Humungousaur snorted as Future readied his badged and gestured for the large brute to come at him. The Vaxasaurian obliged and charged forward as Future fired off his badge, the Detention Chain wrapping tightly around one of Humungousaur's fists; a small chain disappeared from Revenant's collection as the Vaxasaurian and Future played tug o' war with the chain.

"Now!" Future suddenly cried. Humungousaur had approximately three seconds before Past and Present phased back up through the floors and fired off their badges at him, one of them wrapping tightly around his other wrist and the third wrapping fast around his neck. No matter how much the Vaxasaurian struggled and fought, the chains would not break as the three Hall Moanitors managed to drag him to the ground and pin him there as Revenant watched the whole thing with a pleased smile.

"Such power . . ." she admired.

"Yeah, well you can't have it." Humungousaur grunted.

"Oh, but I think I will," Revenant smiled evilly. "Unless you want your little ghoulfriend here to have the detention of an unlifetime."

Humungousaur actually seemed to think it over before speaking. "Yeah. Still not happening." It was at that moment that a single paint can phased through the door of the office and splashed Present with a large amount of green paint, blinding him as almost a dozen more paint cans slipped through the walls and began to whirl and fly around the three Hall Moanitors and Revenant, whizzing here and there and splashing them with bright colors whenever they felt like it.

"Porter!" Spectra exclaimed as the paintergeist phased through a wall with more paint cans in tow.

"Paintergeist!?" Humungousaur bellowed as he took the diversion as a chance to break free of the Hall Moanitors before focusing his attention on his body and already feeling the changes begin. An audible cracking sound filled the room as his plates shifted and his bones cracked, growing bigger, thicker, longer. His plates became sharper and jutted out as he grew taller, crests forming on his head and scutes running down his back as Stegosaurus-like spikes popped out of his tail; thee loud snaps echoed through the office as the three Detention Chains snapped free from Humungosaur, returning back to the massive ball of chains attached to Principal Revenant.

"Get outta here!" Porter cried as a 60 ft tall Humungousaur bellowed as loud as he could, his roar echoing through the school and shattering all the windows in the office and beyond as he slugged Revenant in the face and sent her flying into her desk, dazed.

"You heard the artist! We're getting outta here!" Humungousaur cried, stomping towards the doors and scooping up Spectra in a single, massive hand before running away. It was in that single moment that Spectra caught Porter's eye and saw something she had only seen one other time in Ben; the determined look that said Porter didn't care for his own safety or his own well being. He didn't care how many detentions he got or how many chains held him down and trapped his spirit. He cared for Spectra deeply and would willingly risk his life for her. And while she noticed the care for her was more dim than Ben's, it touched her deeply as she and Humungousaur fled.

"ENOUGH!" Revenant roared, waving her hand in the air and aiming it towards the back of the room where a display case of sorts sat. Inside on a small pedestal was a long key with several strange, thick rings around it with mysterious designs on them; the key glowed a bright silver as it phased through the case and flew into Revenant's hands. The key glowed brighter as a long, thick chain from the massive ball detached itself from Principal Revenant's hands and wrapped itself tightly around Porter as he tried to flee.

"Crap." he grumbled under his breath as he glared defiantly at Principal Revenant and the thee Hal Moanitors splattered in paint; if looks could kill, not one of the ghosts in the room would have been standing.

"Now, Mr. Geiss, you will tell me where your little Monster High friends are hiding." Revenant demanded as the paint cans all clattered to the floor, lifeless.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Porter glared before spitting in Revenant's face. The principal snarled and wiped the disgusting substance from her face, her patience nearly at an end.

"If you tell me, I might be able to get rid of some of those chians." Revenant offered, the chain around Porter constricting him tighter like a hungry python. Porter grunted, nearly losing his breath; the Principal made a valuable point. We're a whole bunch of Solid-turned-ghosts really worth getting himself possibly killed over? After all, not a lot of them, specifically Ben, had been very nice to him. Why should he care for their safety?

"Alright. Maybe we

could make a deal."

And there's the chapter!

I hope you all enjoyed the story so far because I absolutely am! It is a pain to have to keep on rewinding a video of Haunted back and forth and all over the place to get all the lines and details just right, but hey, I love my readers!

The little dream sequence was inspired by an image by Kapaychan on Deviantart called Takes your Mind Again. You should seriously check out her artwork if you are a BenxJulie fan. Or a Benlie fan, as I am now told it is pronounced.

I forgot to mention this last chapter, but PorcuPain is actually an OC alien on Deviantart by redamimi. The original name was 'Spikefall', but I thought PorcuPain sounded better.

Can any of you guess what Ben's big surprise might be? Leave your guess in the reviews below! I'm not saying anything!

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

Hasta Luego!