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.

43. Happy Haunts

Hello, ladies and gentleman!

I'm back with another update from here in the Underworld! You would not believe how excited Hades is now that several chapters actually take part within his domain. Never took him for the fanboy type but, oh well!

Anyways, I have three things to share with you! One, I now have a new poll up on my profile concerning the future of a character within the story: Lilith Van Hellscream. Should she stay a monster or should she return to her human form? Let me know on the poll!

Secondly, I now have a picture of my OC alien Phobos up on my DeviantArt account. Check 'im out sometime and let me know what you think!

My third bit of news also concerns my OC. The wonderful Deviant CheshireP has been kind of enough to accept my request and draw Phobos in her wonderful style of art, which is pretty darn good considering she actually worked on Ben 10: Omniverse! At least, I think she did. Never really had enough time on my hands to be sure. Oh, well!

Once again, I would like to thank Zak Saturday for spending an insane amount of time with me writing this wonderful arc for the story and helping me smooth everything out! Coodos to you, man!

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

Onwards!

"So, you were able to watch us at Monster High without traveling across the river?" Draculaura asked Kiyomi, curious as to how her new friend knew so much about her; Sirena and Clawdeen lazed about on some bean bag chairs nearby as Twyla and Rochelle lazily drifted around the ceiling while Skelita and Charmcaster played Rock, Paper, Scissors to pass the time. River and Vandala were quietly recalling some old memories of their first days out on the Haunted Seas, Vandala holding her stomach every now and then when River accidentally mentioned rolling waves and storms.

"The Ghost World and the Monster World are more closely connected than anyone knows by, I don't know, some kind of energy." Kiyomi explained, raising her hands as they glowed softly. A bright ball of light formed in the center of the room, catching the ghoul's attention. "And some ghosts can use that energy to open little windows between the worlds." Kiyomi went on, the small ball of light suddenly shifting into a small portal that acted like a television screen of sorts and showing an oblivious Hoodude scratching his butt between classes.

"It's usually more interesting than this." Kiyomi chuckled as the portal closed.

"Oh, windows between the worlds." Draculaura nodded with understanding. "That must be how the Red Lady was able to haunt the Monster World!"

"I know I shouldn't do it," Kiyomi fretted, her skin turning a dark blue with a sickly green tinge to it. "Every time I open a window, I risk revealing the Ghost World to the Monster World."

"I still don't understand why that's such a bad thing." Clawdeen grumbled, her sensitive werewolf senses allowing her to easily listen in on the conversation.

"There are a lot of ghosts who are scared." Kiyomi explained.

"Oh, I get what Ben meant by that being ironic!" Charmcaster suddenly piped up, laughing loudly.

Kiyomi rolled her eyes before continuing. "They really believe that the Solids are out to get them! And until someone can convince these ghosts that they're wrong, I have to keep this power a secret."

"Maybe they just haven't met the right Solids yet." Draculaura smiled.

It was that moment that both Spectra and an oversized Humungousaur phased back through the book case and into the hidden sanctum, the Vaxasaurian releasing his hold on Spectra and falling to his knees as he caught his breath, the Omnitrix timing out and returning Ben to the world.

"Principal Revenant! Planning something!" Spectra cried worriedly. "And then we got caught and she has all these Detention Chains, and then Porter-"

"And then he told me exactly where to find all of you!" Principal Revenant cackled as her frightening, oversized head phased through the book case and into the inner sanctum; the ghouls all backed away with fear as Ben glared at the ghostly head and put himself between her and them; his heroic gesture was all for naught as the three Hall Moanitors suddenly phased through the bookcase behind their leader and fired off their badges, Detention Chains slithering over the ghouls and pinning their arms to their sides.

"He told you?" Spectra sniffed.

"Oh, yes!" Revenant grinned darkly. "I offered to reduce his detention for good behavior. And so, he gave you up very easily."

"No! That can't be true! I don't believe you!" Spectra shouted.

"Yeah, the guy may not be able to take a hint, but he isn't that stupid!" Ben argued.

Principal Revenant suddenly cackled loud and madly, as if she had been a told a hilarious joke or actually found Ben and Spectra's words greatly amusing as a cloud of smoke exploded beside her and summoned Porter into the room; he was distinctly lacking a certain item.

"Look! All his chains are gone!" Clawdeen cried furiously.

"You! How could you?" Spectra whimpered.

"Oh, you know how they bad boy types are," Revenant seemed to pity the poor ghost. "They only care about themselves." she grinned darkly, all apathy towards Spectra evaporating as she and the Hall Moanitors laughed at Spectra's misery.

"Spectra, I . . ." Porter started.

"Don't." Spectra sniffed, tears streaming from her eyes as she floated into Ben's embrace, sobbing into his shoulder while he held her as best as he could.

"Oh, Spectra." Clawdeen sighed sadly, shaking her head.

"You," Ben growled lowly, turning to Revenant, the Hall Moanitors, and Porter. "Have just made me mad. Very mad." he snarled as he gave Spectra a comforting pat on the head before passing her off to Clawdeen. Before anyone could stop him, Ben reached for his wrist and turned on the Omnitrix, cycling through the roster before coming across the alien he wanted and slapping the activation button, his cold glare never leaving Porter. Ben's arms swelled as his veins popped out, alien blood coursing through them as muscles piled themselves on top of each other. His legs became muscled as he stretched upward, growing taller and taller until he was a good six feet taller than Draculaura. Fur began to sprout all over his body, turning white on his chest, gut, hands, and feet, and turning a pale orange everywhere else. A few black stripes stretched across his broad back and shoulder, a handful of whiskers sprouting on his face. His eyebrows turned black and became longer as they grew up and off his head. His jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharper. His hands became larger and muscled as a single, black claw grew out of his wrist. Some of the fur began to rot away, revealing blistering skin before that peeled away too, revealing dark, firm muscle under neath with yellowed bones appearing every now and then. The final piece of the transformation was the addition of a torn and ripped black and green luchador suit, a large section missing his right pectoral and exposing his rib cage as the Omnitrix appeared on a large, thick, rusted belt around his waist.

"Lemme tell ya somethin' Principal Revenant and Porter Geiss who are both being absolute jerks to my friend and lover Spectrea Vondergesit and seriously ticking off Rath! You wann a piece of Rath, you both got a piece! But you just bit off an eye bigger than your stomach can chew!" the Appoplexian bellowed, jamming a claw at Revenant as he flexed his exposed muscles; the sound of rsuted metal could be heard cracking and groaning. "Rath will tear every ectoplasmic molecule from your undead bodies before forcing them back together and then tearing it apart for good measure! AND MAKING YOU LIKE IT!" he roared as he snapped the chains binding his large arms to his sides and rushed at Porter, slugging him in the jaw and sending him flying before he flew up to the ceiling and snorted like a bull at the Principal.

"Undead Lewodan Anvil Drop!" the ticked off Appoplexian screamed as he plunged down at Revenant and jammed a large elbow into her skull before roughly grabbing her by her wispy locks and swinging her around. "Zombie Kinceleran Tornado!" Rath cried as he threw the oversized head into the three Hall Moanitors before charging at them.

"SIRIUS BUTT-KICKING!" Rath cried as he charged right at the small cluster of ghosts and laid the smack down on them; none of the ghouls were willing to watch, not even Charmcaster. By the time the Appoplexian was done, the three Hall Moanitors looked like they had been through an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, and sandstorm all at once while Principal Revenant looked nothing more than absolutely beyond being ticked off.

"Chain him!" Revenant demanded. With a bit of struggle, the Hall Moanitors were able to grab their badges and fire off multiple chains at the Appoplexian, their frightened faces turning into ones of triumph as Rath fought and struggled against the chains that bound him. "Is that all you got! Because Rath has got a lot more! In fact, I should give you some of mine so it will be a fair fight! And after that, everything I gave you, I can take it back! AND MAKE YOU LIKE IT!" he yelled as he crashed to the floor on his knees, fruitlessly fighting and struggling against the chains before the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back to the world.

"Now, now. Save your energy for later, young man," Revenant smiled wickedly. "I have plans for you."

---

"Attention, students of Haunted High!"

Clawdeen glared angrily at Principal Revenant, grinding her fangs together as the principal floated just a few feet out of reach behind her desk and speaking into her crystal ball, waving her hands dramtically over the smooth, glass surface. Beside her were Twyla, Rochelle, and Kiyomi with Vandala, River, Charmcaster, Skelita, and Sirena hovering behind them; all of them had chains wrapped tightly around their persons, pinning their arms to their sides as Spectra floated in front of all of them, her head bowed and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Much to the groups horror, Ben did not join them as Past and Present guarded them on two sides; Ben and Future were missing.

"We are on lockdown alert!" Principal Revenant announced loudly, her voice transmitting into a rather solid image of her head as it floated around the main lobby and delivered the news; from all over the school, the sounds of doors and lockers slamming shut echoed.

"By now, you must have heard gossip that intruders from the Monster World have viciously attempted to invade our beloved school," Revenant went on, pretending to be horrified as the ghouls all glared at her, wishing they could just break out of their bonds and tackle her to the ground, anything to end the lies she was about to dispense to hundreds of innocent students. "Well, I'm here to tell you that these rumors are absolutely true." she said darkly; the ghouls heard the faint whispers of hundreds of students gasping in shock and surprise.

"They've come to frighten us! To haunt us! To destroy our ghostly way of life!" Revenant cried dramatically, her false concern an fear etched deeply onto her projected head. "But rest assured, your principal is working on a plan that will end their treacherous plot to destroy us!" she announced loudly; hundreds of cheers erupted throughout the school.

"And I have even better news," Principal Revenant added with a dark, sinister, smile. "We have caught one of the invaders. Watch, and you will see just how horrifying these Solids can be!" she cackled loudly as her head disappeared and her crystal ball glowed brightly, flashing to a different room that was low beneath the school. The ghouls all gasped when the image cleared, showing Ben wrapped in Detention Chains by his wrists and ankles, dozens of chains attached to each limb before stabbing deeply into the cold, stone wall. Future floated into view, a sinister look on his face as he reached for the Omnitrix and turned it on, carelessly cycling through Ben's roster as the watch wearing hero struggled.

"No," Vandala whispered with a frightened voice. "They can't!"

"They're gonna." Clawdeen bit her lip nervously.

"Don't look, ghouls," Spectra whimpered quietly. "Just don't look."

Skelita, Twyla, Kiyomi, and River all followed Spectra's advice and turned away from the crystal ball; Clawdeen, Charmcaster, Rochelle, and Vandala ignored the warning and watched with pained eyes as Future selected an alien and slapped the activation button, floating back out of harms way as he slipped something out from inside his jacket. The ghouls watched as the green light did as it had been commanded, washing over Ben's frame and changing his body into something brand new. His skin turned a wilted, earthy brown while lightening in some places as it became soft and stretchable. The feeling of bones vanished all together to instead be replaced by some sort of woody structure that acted as a skeleton; sickly orange spots appeared on his skin, some of them forming into small pods that pulsed and throbbed with some kind of nasty liquid. His legs began to twitch violently until they each split in two, becoming long tendrils that would let him skitter and stalk amongst the ground. Two fleshy mounds appeared on either side of Ben's head, pulsing and swelling until they became Venus Flytrap-like flaps with pointed teeth at the ends. His arms became long and rubbery, long fingers forming on each end with fleshy thorns appearing on his elbows, knees, shoulders, and chest. His head retained a similar shape as his eyes molded together into one. A row of spikes formed on his head as a green belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared on a belt around his waist, rusted chains crossing over his chest and slithering over his wrists as the transformation was completed.

The ghouls watched as Future pulled out the object from his hand, holding it tightly in his translucent fingers before he cruelly jammed it into Wildvine's side, a dangerous amount of sparks spitting out from the object and into Ben as he gave a primal screech that sounded nothing like an intelligent being was even in charge in the Florauna's head; Wildvine screeched even more upon receiving a jab to his chest, large tendrils sprouting from his back and whipping around wildly as thorns erupted from his legs and arms; but Future wasn't done yet as he punched the Omnitrix on the Florauna's belt, starting another transformation.

His skin started to harden, becoming unbearably hot and solid as rock. It suddenly split apart, floating like bath toys on a rapidly appearing magma sea. Hot, molten lava swirled and pushed it's way through the cracks and crevices of his skin as Ben's bones literally melted away. His hair began to burn, smoke curling lightly off it until it burst into flames, causing Vandala to yelp in surprise. His fingers disappeared altogether as white hot lava covered them and solidified into a sort of gelatin like substance, a massive amount of smoke curling off his body and giving him a shimmering image as chains attached to shackles materialized around his wrists and ankles, a metal collar appearing around his neck. His toes melted into two digits that resembled claws as his eyes turned bright yellow and the Omnitrix appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.

Heatblast hissed angrily, sending out a pulse of fiery, hot flame that covered the walls of the cell in a thick layer of ash as he tried to at least scorch Future and burn him to a crisp. The Hall Moanitor however, easily evaded the Pyronite's attempts and kept on diving in and out of harms way as he painfully thrust the object in his hands into Heatblast's neck and chest, summoning more insane amounts of fire to pour from the Pyronite's body. Once Future was satisfied, he swooped for a third time and slammed the Omnitrix with a fist and floated back as another transformation began.

His arms and legs ground and cracked becoming shorter and more rounded as his fingers disappeared and were replaced by four little claws that acted like his fingers and thumbs. Ben's toes melted into three little claws as a small tail popped out from the base of his spine, the end looking as it had been messily torn off. His face was squashed inward as his nose disappeared and his mouth grew larger to accommodate his sharp, crooked teeth as his flesh tore and ripped, stitches forming across his expanded jaw line, holding it in place as it nearly cut off the entire top of his head; his tongue suddenly split into three, slimy versions of itself as the Omnitrix appeared on his belly, rusty chains attaching themselves to it and crisscrossing over and under his arms as mottle, black spots appeared on his skin, completing the transformation.

Future grinned wickedly and jammed his deadly weapon into Upchuck's oversized belly, drawing an animal-like roar from the Gourmand's gut as he unhinged his jaw at an unsettling angle and slithered out his three tongues, whipping them around wildly as he tried to snag Future in them, succeeding in taking away his weapon and holding it up for the ghouls to see for the briefest of moments before he tore it to bits; it was a cattle prod. The ghoul's eyes widened as Upchuck slammed his three tongues into the stone floor of his prison and easily tore the rock out, drawing it into his maw and chewy it into a disgusting pulp before spitting it back out at Future. The image then distorted and cut out, Principal Revenant taking over control once more.

"You see what these disgusting, vile Solids are capable of of? Shape-shifting so the good ghosts of the Ghost World will never see them coming when they strike!" she cried. "Keep on the look out, dear students! Beware the Solids!" she ended the transmission dramatically before Present floated up to her and whispered something in her ear. With a sigh, Revenant waved her hands over the crystal ball again and started a last minute transmission. "Oh, and I'm being told that tomorrow is Hauntdog Day in the Creepateria." she added, a small smile coming to her lips when she heard the student's cheers of approval.

"You're a monster!" Vandala cried angrily, struggling violently against her chains.

Revenant actually grinned wickedly at the insult. "No, deary, I'm a ghost. You may be needing an eye patch sooner than you thought." she smiled darkly as Vandala fumed; she really wanted to run her sword through the Principal a couple times, but it remained firmly clipped to her belt and out of accessibility. "Now then, it's very important that you ghouls tell me how you turned yourselves into ghosts," Revenant told the ghouls before her.

"Why should we tell you anything!?" Twyla suddenly lashed out, firing off an ectoplasmic loogie at Revenant's face and cheering mentally when the disgusting glob hit its mark.

"If you tell me, I'll reduce your sentence." Principal Revenant offered. "Those Detention Chains could be much lighter."

"Why bother?" Twyla scoffed. "Ben can bust through your chains any day!"

"Yes, about your friend," Principal Revenant hummed, looking at her fingernails with mock interest. "He won't be leaving Haunted High until he hands over his special watch."

"He can't, you sick freak," Clawdeen snarled, just barely clinging onto her sanity and keeping her feral nature locked within. "The Omnitrix doesn't come off!"

"Oh, well that's too bad," Revenant sighed with mock disappointment. "I guess I'll just have to cut off his hand."

"You wouldn't!" Spectra cried.

"I would." Revenant smiled sinisterly. "As I said before, it is very important you ghouls tell me how you turned yourselves into ghosts; tell me, and I will not only reduce your detention, but I will the removal of the . . . Omnitrix . . . as painless as possible."

"You can't buy us off like that no good, back stabbing, traitorous paintergeist!" Clawdeen growled, gnashing her teeth. "I'm sorry, ghoul." she apologized to Spectra.

"It doesn't matter." Spectra reassured her ghoul friend.

"One way or another, you will tell me what I need to know." Principal Revenant frowned. "Even if I have to subject your friend to more tortures; sooner or later either you or him will tell me." Revenant drawled on with a smug grin on her face before she noticed Clawdeen scribbling something down in a journal.

"What's that? What are you doing there?" Principal Revenant wondered.

"Taking notes." Clawdeen growled. "Wen all this is over, my ghoul, Spectra here is gonna write a story tellin' the world what kind of principal you really are. And before that, Ben will come crashing through some wall and beat the ectoplasm out of you and your sick cronies!" Principal Revenant didn't seem frightened or offended in slightest as she waved her hand, the journal flying out of Clawdeen's grip and into Revenant's waiting hands.

"Wicked? Evil?" Revenant read over Clawdeen's careful notes. "My dear, you flatter me." she grinned darkly before she came across a page that greatly interested her. "Interesting. The Boogie Mansion. Boogie Sand! How very enlightening!" she gasped excitedly before carelessly tossing the journal back to Clawdeen, a wicked smile on her face as she turned to the two Hall Moanitors in her office.

"Gather Future and head to the Monster World and get to the Boogie Mansion at once!" she commanded Past and Present as the two Hall Moanitors saluted their boss.

"And just how do you expect them to get there without me to ferry them across?" River snarled, slamming the butt of her staff into the floor as her skeletal crow alighted on her shoulder and cawed angrily, daring any of the Hall Moanitors to try something.

---

"Well, that's . . . annoying." River huffed angrily.

"Beyond annoying if you ask me." Charmcaster grumbled.

"La odio tanto!" Skelita cursed, crossing her bony arms in front of chest. The three Hall Moanitors had rather roughly stolen River's keys to her yacht from her and had sailed right out from Haunted High, waving wickedly at the trapped ghouls as Present fired off the confetti cannon to rub salt into the wound. As if to add insult to injury, Ben had been returned to them just barely awake, the many shocks from his punishments sending him in and out of consciousness as Vandala and Clawdeen tried to steady him.

"I'm sorry my notes gave away the Boogie Sand," Clawdeen apologized. "I was just trying to help Spectra."

"No! This is my fault!" Kiyomi protested. "I never should have opened those windows to Monster High!"

"Don't blame yourself, Kiyomi," Draculaura shook her head. "If I hadn't been such a scaredy bat, Spectra wouldn't have come back to Haunted High in the first place!"

"If I hadn't come here and ruined your ghouls's lives, none of this would happened." Ben coughed; Vandala smacked him upside the head.

"Don't say that, mate!" she scolded him.

"No." Spectra scowled. "This is somebody else's fault." she frowned deeply before soaring off down the hall. With a common idea in everyone's heads, they all flew after Spectra down the hall and through many walls and classrooms before appearing in the darkest bowels of the school, following the moldy path before them that led to a familiar bookcase filled with musty books and papers that hid a wonderful secret and sanctuary.

"Spectra! Good, you're back," Porter sighed with relief. "We have to talk."

POW!

Porter went flying as Ben withdrew his fist, grinding his teeth together as he socked his fist into his open hand, relishing in the feel of seeing Porter hold his throbbing jaw. "That," he snarled as Vandala and Clawdeen took supporting positions on either side of him again. "Was a warning shot. Next time, it's Four Arms."

"I know you're all really angry at me, but I can explain!" Porter protested, floating back and holding up his hands in surrender as the ghouls all advanced on him, murderous looks on their faces; Ben cocked his fingers to look like a gun before pointing it at Porter's and 'firing' it off; the paintergeist gulped.

"Angry!? Angry doesn't even begin to describe what we're feeling, paintergeist!" Draculaura snarled.

"I understand, but if you'll just-" Porter started before Rochelle interrupted him.

"Oh, you understand?" she cried sarcastically. "Must be pretty hard to understand when you've got paint for brains!"

"Spectra, please, I-"

SHLAP!

Porter suddenly recoiled, clutching his throbbing cheek as Spectra lowered her stinging hand, a dark look in her eye that said she would hit him even harder, if that was possible, if he didn't shut up. "You know it's one thing to hurt me," she growled, jamming a finger Porter. "But what you did affected all of my ghoul friends, my boyfriend, and all of the people I care about! And that's a line that you just don't cross!" she screamed.

"But, I-"

"We've heard enough," Sirena piped up in an eerily calm voice. "Go get him, little fish guy!" she ordered Aye. The little cuttlefish saluted before zipping forward and attacking Porter's face, cling on tightly with his suckers as Charmcaster, unable to restrain herself any further, joined in on the fun and darted at the paintergeist, punching him in the gut before delivering a swift uppercut to the jaw. With Porter dazed, Charmcaster grabbed him by the collar and painfully headbutted him before kneeing him in his family jewels and letting him fall to the ground; Aye then took to slapping Porter across the head as painfully as he possibly could, which was not enough, unfortunately.

"Can I just show you something?" Porter gasped as loud as he could, clutching his throbbing nether regions as he staggered to his feet and pulled Aye off of his face before tossing him back to Vandala.

"This had better be good," Spectra snarled. "Or we're all going to turn around for exactly ten minutes and let Ben do whatever he wants to you. I'm sure he's been thinking of ways to pummel you ever since he met you, am I right?" she asked Ben who gave her a wicked grin that sent shivers down Porter's spine. With a nervous gulp, Porter reached into his back pocket and closed his fingers around a long item, pulling it out and letting it hover in the air before him.

It was Principal Revenant's key.

With a quick movement of his fingers, several rings on the key's neck spun and turned; the Detention Chains around Ben and each ghoul's waists pulsed with a bright, white light before smoothly slithering themselves off of the monster-turned-ghosts and over to Porter where they immediately attached themselves to him and brought him down to the ground.

"Okay, that is pretty good." Rochelle admitted.

"Bueno, Porter. Muy bueno." Skelita smiled.

"Porter, have I ever told you how awesome you are?" Ben grinned.

Porter shook his head. "No. In fact, pretty much everything you've said to me as been a death threat to my person."

"Well I am seriously considering on kissing you right now!" Ben smiled broadly, swooping up into the air and buzzing around the ceiling. "Aw, man! Does it feel good to be outta those!"

"I had to make a deal with Revenant so I could see how this key thing works," Porter explained from the floor, taking the key into his hands. "Then, I kinda borrowed it so I could get you all out of detention."

"I don't know what to say." Spectra smiled, pulling Porter into a hug; the paintergeist looked over her shoulder to see Ben, for once, not threatening to kill him and instead giving him a huge thumbs up.

"I figured out watching Revenant that the Detention Chains can't be broken," Porter went on once Spectra had released him. "Only transferred to another ghost using this key, so I set it to transfer them to me." he added before handing the key to Spectra. "Here. You can use this to free the Monster High ghosts and take them back to the Monster World."

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Charmcaster smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." Porter admitted sheepishly before turning to Spectra, grabbing the edge of a thick curtain in his fingers. "And here's one more." he smiled as he yanked down the curtain, drawing a gasp of surprise from Spectra. It was the antique writing desk, now fully restored and refurbished as the chair lowered down to the ground. On either side of the chair and elevated writing desk were cabinets stuffed with paper and pencils, binders and books, all waiting to be opened and used by someone eager enough to get into the desk and write.

"Oh, Porter." Spectra smiled, pulling the paintergeist into a hug; Porter glanced over her shoulder to see Ben making a 'I'm watching you' gesture with his fingers before giving him a proud smile.

"I thought you might be able to use this for, you know, writing," Porter shrugged as Spectra sat down in the chair, her smile broadening when it moved upwards to fit comfortably into the writing desk. "Do you like it?"

Spectra's response was to jump out of the seat and plant a quick kiss on his cheek before hugging him tightly. "All right, then." he chuckled, pushing her away a little. "Cool." he smiled before he suddenly fell to the ground under the weight of the chains. "I'm okay!" he groaned.

---

Johnny grunted and shifted the massive amount of paper and textbooks that he carried on his back, sweat dripping down his forehead as he drifted down the hall and entered a classroom to see Operetta set down an even larger stack of homework and assignments that made their way all the way up to the very top of the room.

"Here you, babe," Johnny huffed, lifting the pile off of his shoulders and setting it down on a desk beside him. "One last shipment."

"Did you remember to pick up the work from Ms. Hauntington?" Operetta sighed, slumping down against the side of the desk and making the paper tower quiver slightly.

"No," Johnny groaned, flopping down onto his back on the floor, his chain clattering loudly against the stone. '"Ugh, this bites!"

"You don't need to tell me twice," Scarah whimpered as she scrubbed the windows with a sponge, increasing the intensity of her cleaning when Principal Revenant's oversized head passed by and cast her a stern look. "I hope Spectra is fairing better than us."

"Okay, ghost guy and ghouls! Step one, we round up all the Monster High ghosts and get rid of their chains. And quickly, before Ms. Revenant realizes we have the key!"

The three ghosts nearly had triple heart attacks when they heard the voice, instantly forgetting about their worries and fears and rushing to the door of the classroom, phasing their heads right through the door to see Spectra and a whole collection of ghosts that they recognized as their friends speeding down the hall.

"Right. Step two, we take Vandala's ship back to the Monster World and we get my dad's Boogie Sand back from the Moanitors." Twyla continued.

"And step three, we sail the Salty Spectre to the Scaribbean in search of the legendary sunken treasure of Davey Bones!" Vandala announced happily.

"Um, I'm thinking maybe we should stick to one adventure at a time." Clawdeen suggested.

"You can count me in on that!" Ben grinned before catching Clawdeen's stern gaze. "But, lets just focus on one adventure at a time, alright?" he added quickly.

Vandala sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right," she admitted before turning to her pet cuttlefish. "Sorry, Aye."

"Aye." the cuttlefish sighed sadly.

"All right, ghouls! Let's rattle some chains!" Spectra grinned broadly before noticing the three Monster High ghosts watching them with pleading eyes. "And I know who our first customers will be!" she smiled, screeching to a halt in front of Johnny, Operetta, and Scarah as she waved her fingers over certain parts of the key in her hands; the chains around the three ghost's waists glowed a bright white before slithering off of them and disappearing into the bowels of the school, making their way towards Porter.

"Oh, thank ghoul!" Operetta sighed with relief.

"Spectra, you are the ghoul!" Johnny crowed, slicking back his greased hair.

"No time to celebrate!" Spectra cried hastily. "Follow Vandala back to the Salty Spectre and wait for us there! We haven't much time!" she cried worriedly before flying off down the hall.

"You heard the captain!" Vandala shouted. "To the Salty Spectre, me hearties! Yaaaaarr!"

"You just love doing this pirate thing, don't you?" Ben rolled his eyes.

"It's a living," Vandala shrugged. "Now go, before I make ye walk the plank!"

---

"Last shipment!" Skelita called down from the crow's nest as Sirena approached the Salty Spectre with the final group of freed Monster High ghosts; the skeletal ghost hopped over the side of the large bucket and whizzed around the main mast, landing on the deck and rolling for a few yards before she popped back up in front of Vandala. "Que? How was that?" she asked the ghost pirate.

"Aaaar! Just like a professional ghost pirate!" Vandala laughed before she quickly floated over to the helm of the Salty Spectre. "Any sign of any unseaworthy brine shrimp, mate?" she yelled up to the rigging.

"Nothing to report, captain! Ook! Ook!" Spidermonkey chattered before firing off a jet of silk from his skeletal tail wrapped in the bare minimum of muscles and tissue before swinging across the main deck and landing on the side of a mast, diving his bony fingers into the wood as the chains wrapped around his chest and clasped tightly to his thighs rattled. The Arachnichimp then fired off another jet of webbing that landed fast on the captain quarters behind Vandala and quickly scampered across the line before landing next to the ghost pirate; the Omnitrix timed out seconds later and returned Ben to the world.

"All hands on deck!" Vandala roared. "The Salty Spectre is ready to set sail for Monster High!" she cried at the top of her lungs, cheers going up from the rescued students as the ship started to drift away from the docks and back out into the Haunted seas.

"Vandala? Can you wait for just a minute?" Spectra asked the ghost pirate once the noise had died down enough for her to be heard. "I need to see Porter."

"Awwwww!" all the ghouls sighed.

"Who-with-the-what-now!?" Ben sputtered, nearly falling back onto his butt.

"Calm down, Ben, I just need to say thank you one more time." she reassured Ben.

"AWWWWWW!" the ghouls cooed even louder than last time, doing nothing to smooth down Ben's suspicions.

"Stop that." Spectra frowned. "I'll just be right back." she told Ben before flying over the side of the Salty Spectre, oblivious of the fact that Vandala's crew mimicked the flustered ghouls on deck while Ben fumed until Vandala offered to teach him an old pirate's song her father had taught her. Spectra flew over the short distance between the ship and dock, flying through the front doors and immediately phasing down through the floor of the main lobby, flying through mazes of musty catacombs and bookshelves before she came across the one that led to Porter's hideout.

"Spectra!"

Spectra whirled around to see Porter sitting at an old desk with his feet up on the table before he hopped out of it and dragged a massive ball of chains behind him. "Don't you have a boat to catch?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, Porter," she sighed wearily, her eyes tracing sadly over the massive amount of chains tied to him. Here she was, free as a bird while Porter was literally weighed down with dozens if not hundreds of Detention Chains that held him tightly to the ground. While she and her friend would be able to come and go as they pleased wherever they wanted, he was stuck here at Haunted High until he was able to work off all the Detention Chains that had been transmitted to him, simply because he valued others over himself for what seemed the first time since Spectra met him. "I just wanted to say thank you," she gave a small smile, floating down to the floor so that she was eye level with him. "For everything. Without you, all of my friends would be stuck here."

"Hey, it was both of us, working together." Porter chuckled, taking her hand in his. "We make a pretty good duo."

"Yeah," Spectra admitted, pulling him into a tight hug. "I guess we do." she sniffed. "I promise I'll come back. You know, to break in that freaky fabulous desk." she cast a longing look at the old writing desk Porter had been kind enough to fix up for her.

"And maybe one of these days I could come see you at Monster High?" Porter asked.

"I'd like that," Spectra smiled. "I'll have Ben come back and snap those for you as soon as everyone is safe." she promised, pointing at the chains that curled and slithered around his body, holding him down. "You should probably leave your paint cans here." she suggested with a small smile before the moment was quickly interrupted by a very rude and sinister voice.

"Attentions, students of Haunted High!" Principal Revenant's voice came over the ancient PA system that screeched and howled like it hadn't been used in years. "Please report to the main hall for a mandatory Spirit Rally."

"Spirit Rally? What do you think that's about?" Spectra bit her lip nervously.

"Get out of here while you still can." Porter sighed.

"I can't leave." Spectra said firmly. "I've got to find out what Ms. Revenant is up to!" she cried as she dashed out from the bookcase, ignoring Porter's pleas and cries as she phased up through several floors and through several walls before reappearing towards the back of the main lobby, every student in Haunted High floating about and waiting for their beloved principal to appear.

"Oh," Spectra bit her lip nervously as she gazed about. "Look at all those Detention Chains." she whispered.

"Hello, students!" Principal Revenant's head appeared in a column of smoke, her voice loud and clear as she waited for the student body to greet her in its usual manner. "For centuries, we have lived in fear of the outsiders," Revenant began what Spectra knew to be the beginning of a long speech. "And now they have come to our school to haunt us! To frighten us! To TORMENT us!" she exclaimed dramatically as the students all booed and hissed angrily.

"I know, I know." Revenant sighed, sadly shaking her head. But, I have a plan to keep all of you safe from the outsiders, once and forever!" she announced loudly, a smile forming on her face as the students cheered and whistled loudly. "As we speak, our noble Hall Moanitors are traveling to Monster High. They are carrying a special powder I created that will permanently transform all of the students into ghosts!"

"So that's why she wanted the Boogie Sand?" Spectra whispered as Porter appeared next to her, his chains rattling loudly.

"And when they are ghosts, I'll give them well-deserved Detention Chains as punishment for sinister Solid scheming!" she cried loudly, the student body cheering loudly and clapping, roaring for the monster's blood. "As your principal always says, 'They'll never learn their lesson if they don't pay the price'." Revenant smiled wickedly as her head exploded into a cloud of smoke that showed the students a vision of the Hall Moanitors current whereabouts; Spectra gasped when she saw hundreds of jars containing Boogie Sand strewn all around the deck of River's ship as Past, Present, and Future readied the confetti cannons of the ship, though Future seemed to walk with a funny waddle that was more likely to found on a duck than a ghost.

"No good Solids! Trying to take over our school!" a student in front of Spectra and Porter growled, clenching her fist firmly.

"They never wanted to take over the school," Spectra sighed, shaking her head sadly. "I am sick of all these rumors and gossip!"

"This is usually the part where your boyfriend swings in and kicks the bad guys butt, right?" Porter asked; Spectra ignored him and flew up into the air, a determined scowl on her face. "Spectra! Where are you going?"

"I have to stop those Hall Moanitors!" Spectra called back.

"How?" Porter wondered.

"I have no idea!" Spectra cried as she turned to leave. "But I think Ben might!"

"Spectra, wait!" Porter cried, lunging off the balcony with his chains in tow; he had misjudged the weight of the massive amount of metal encircling him and promptly fell to the floor with a loud thud!, hitting the back of his head on the ball of chains.

"Porter and Spectra, cracking the case! Something, something, something all over the something!" he sang dizzily before collapsing back onto the floor.

---

"Yo, ho! Yo, ho! Is a thing that pirates say-" Vandala sang as loudly as she could, Ben attempting to match her lyrics and tone of voice and utterly failing without any sort of music but the clatter of Vandala's crew to guide him; the skeletal monkey now sat on his shoulder, attempting to guide him through the song now that the bony primate had gotten over the fact that Ben use to be a Solid before and not a thoroughbred ghost.

"We have to go!" Spectra interrupted, appearing over the side of the boat and landing next to Vandala, Ben breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his ghoul still in once piece.

"But there's still 37 more verses!" Vandala whined.

"You teach me the rest later," Ben reassured her, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Right now though, we need to get going!"

"NOW!" Spectra shouted with emphasis.

"Aye, aye!" Vandala cried.

"Aye, aye!" Aye chirped happily.

The ghost pirate happily took the wheel as Ben flew up to the bow of the ship, looking out over the horizon as the Salty Spectre began to move quickly and pick up speed, her ragged sails unfurling to take in the gusts of wind at her back.

"What is happening, Spectra? Sirena asked.

"Is something wrong?" Kiyomi asked worriedly.

"It's Principal Revenant!" Spectra cried. "She's sent the Hall Moanitors to Monster High to turn everyone into ghosts!"

"With my dad's Boogie Sand!" Twyla added.

"Then she wants to load them with Detention Chains! Everybody!" Spectra wailed before she realized something. "Wait. That's it!"

"Que?" Skelita raised an eyebrow.

"You holdin' us out on somethin'?" Charmcaster raised an eyebrow.

"The chains!" Spectra cried. "This is all about the Detention Chains! It's like Porter said, 'The chains can't be broken, only transferred'." she quoted.

"Then how come Ben was able to break the chains?" River asked.

"They were never truly broken," Spectra explained. "They easily reformed, but they returned to Principal Revenant once they were off of him. Principal Revenant wasn't just wearing those chains! She's being punished by them!"

"Um, Spectra? Monster High is that way!" Draculaura cried as Spectra soared up into the air and headed back towards Haunted High.

"I'm not going to Monster High," Spectra said firmly. "But you are! Do whatever you can to stop those Hall Moanitors!" she called over her shoulder before flying away.

"Ben will not like this." Rochelle shook her head sadly.

"I heard every word," Ben frowned. "But if Spectra insists on doing whatever it is she's doing, I'm not stopping her." he said as he turned on the Omnitrix and cycled through his roster before coming across the alien he needed and slamming his hand down on the activation button. His skin changed into a smooth, chrome white that became tougher than his original. He began to shrink down until he just barely reached the ghoul's ankles as his face widened for his expanding mouth. He could feel his organs sloshing about inside him as his bones became slightly softer and more bendable; his lungs expanded until they were the largest organ in his body as his eyes became smaller and turned squinty. His ears vanished, to be replaced by small holes, and even then they were covered by hardened skin that wrapped around his head in a way that resembled headphones. His arms and legs grew shorter as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his head, a thick collar appearing around his neck as shackles materialized around his waist, chains attaching themselves to all three of them before firmly embedding themselves into the Omnitrix, completing the transformation.

Before any of the ghouls realized what was happening, Echo Echo suddenly split himself into two, the both of them glancing at each other before nodding; one of the clones swooped over the side of the Salty Spectre and flew after Spectra while the other one remained on neck, flying up to the helm next to Vandala.

"Full speed ahead and don't stop for nothing!" the Sonorosian cried, jamming a finger forwards.

"Aye, aye!" Vandala laughed.

"Aye, aye!" Aye agreed, clapping his tentacles.

"We are running out of time!" Rochelle called from the bow of the ship when she saw the portal to Monster High so far off. "Can you not make this thing go any faster, Vandala?"

"You heard the gargoyle! Full speed ahead!" Vandala called up into the rigging to her skeleton crew and Sirena. She turned to look over her to see the Echo Echo clone floating up towards the sails, slamming a hand down on the Omnitrix on his forehead and instigating a second transformation as his body lit up with a bright, green light. His back expanded outwards, becoming dome-shaped and hardening into a tough shell as his fingers all fused together and his arms flattened out into large paddles that quickly turned into flippers. His toes ripped out of his shoes, fusing together into three, stubby claws on his short legs as the shell on his face expanded to engulf his head and chest, a small hole opening up near the top to allow Ben's head through as his lips turned into a hardened beak. Six, large holes suddenly opened up on his carapace, the Omnitrix appearing on his chest and completing the transformation as his skin turned a rough, green in color and texture and three braces appeared on each of his limbs, chains stabbing themselves into the thin rims of his carapace.

"Time ta blow 'em away!" Terraspin quipped as he quickly spun his flippers on their axis, his legs fusing together into a third flipper as they began to spin like helicopter blades and create a strong wind as Sirena the skeletons all sucked in deep breaths and blew at the sails as hard as they could; the Salty Spectre lurched forward just the tiniest bit before the Omnitrix timed out and reverted the Geochelone Aerio back into Ben.

"Nope, looks like this is as fast she goes," Vandala sighed. "Sorry!"

"Band news." Twyla bit her lip. "By the time we get to Monster High, we're going to be too late to stop them!"

"Unless . . ." Draculaura trailed off, an idea forming an her head. "Kiyomi, you could open a window! We'd get there in no time!"

"Can you do it, Kiyomi?" River asked the noppera-bō. She nodded and closed her eyes, sucking in a breath as she held out her hands in front of the bow of the Slaty Spectre, tapping into the energy of the Ghost World and shaping it to her liking as a small rift formed in the space ahead of the boat.

"It's not big enough!" Charmcaster cried.

"Not yet, anyways." Ben smirked as he turned on the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before selecting Teleportail and hoping he picked the right alien as he slapped the activation button and felt the green light wash over him. His skin turned a smooth, almost liquid black in color, a white sheen materializing on the border of his body as his frame only grew slightly taller than his original form. His toes all fused together into a single digit as a grinding sound filled the air, three horns growing up from between his deep, green eyes. His jaw jutted outwards as any other minor detail simply seemed to vanish, including his actual mouth. Tiny little, star-like dots suddenly blinked to life on his body, giving him the image of a starry sky. But what Ben felt most of all was the power that came to him. Unlimited, unquestionable, unmatched power poured into him from very available part of the universe into him. He felt like he could anything from merely destroying a planet with a flick of a finger to recreating the entire universe if he wanted to. Ben suddenly felt the addition of two more personalities enter his mind, one that was throbbing and pulse while the other seemed to be calm and placid; white, silvery chains with an ominous, cosmic glow materialized on his person and snaked their way around his body, attaching firmly to the Omnitrix as it appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.

"Who's the new guy?" Charmcaster wondered.

"Alien X, a Celestialsapein and Ben's most powerful form, if I remember correctly," Skelita noted before noticing the ghouls all giving her a look. "Que? I just happened to remember!" she smiled as Alien X said nothing and floated behind Kiyomi as she started to struggle to keep the portal open for much longer; the Celestialsapein gently placed his hands on her shoulders, and Kiyomi suddenly felt a massive rush of energy surge through her as Alien X carefully took control of her mind, reassuring her it was only temporary as he focused Kiyomi's mind and pushed the portal open wider and wider, opening it up until it was big enough for the Salty Spectre to just barely slip through to the Monster World.

"Ya-haarrrr!" Vandala hooted as she spun the wheel and sent the ship through the portal. "Next stop, Monster High, me hearties! Batten down the hatches and get ready to fire upon sight!"

---

"Porter and Spectra, cracking the-" Porter sang deliriously as he staggered up a flight of stairs, hauling up the massive ball of chains with him as he tried to lug them back to his hide out. It was then that Spectra suddenly rushed past him, too frantic and worried to even greet him. "Hi, Spectra!" Porter greeted her casually before returning to his singing; it was then he realized what he had just said. "Spectra!?" he cried.

"And her little boyfriend too." a gruff, gravelly voice added as Porter was hauled up into a the air a short distance by a lavender, cyan and misty blue Bloxx. The Segmentasapien set Porter on his back before running after Spectra on his knuckles, panting furiously under the weight of the chains. "Geez, how much do these things weigh!?" he wondered.

"Enough to keep ya down," Porter replied, wiping his brow. "What made you come back?"

"Spectra realized something, I think," Bloxx recalled as he hauled himself up the stairs. "Not sure what though."

"Come on, you two! That desk you fixed up is going to get some use after all!" she smiled at Porter before plunging down through the floor towards Porter's secret hideaway. Bloxx watched her go before slapping himself upside the head, as if he had just realized something as well, and phased down through the staircase and many floors beneath him with Porter on his back.

"You'd think I would have gotten use to passing through walls and stuff by now." Bloxx grumbled as he shuffled to the bookcase that hid the hideaway and phased through the shelves and books, coming across Spectra as she furiously typed away at a floating laptop in front of her and casting quick glances at the books that floated above and beside her; she oblivious to Bloxx and Porter as they came to a stop at her side, Porter reaching down to pick up a book in his fingers and glance at the title.

"The Red Lady!?" both boys exclaimed at once.

"I know it's hard to believe but-" Spectra started.

"Actually, now that I think about it, it's not that far fetched." Bloxx shook his head.

"No, that would require a dog." Porter smiled, earning him odd looks from Spectra and the Segmentasapien. "What? I thought it was funny!"

"Stick to art, Porter. Leave the comedy to the professionals." Spectra sighed.

---

"Ugh, another boring day at school." Manny sulked, falling back against a tree; Heath and Deuce lazed about on the ground and nearby picnic bench with equal expressions of boredom on their face. With almost everything set up for Ben's birthday party, there was little else to do but sit around and wait for Jane to return and report Ben's whereabouts. Which meant the trio of man-sters was out of things to do to pass the time. "Am I right fellas?" Manny grunted, kicking Heath in the back to prevent him from falling asleep on him and Deuce.

"Yeah, when's the party supposed to start?" Heath griped. "I wanna show Abbey my mad skills!"

"What skills, dude?" Deuce chuckled. "What are the odds that she'll actually stay near you long enough for you to show her anything?"

"For your information, the Heath-miester scored a date with the lovely lady!" Heath bragged.

"How? Did ya cry and beg until she surrendered?" Manny cracked.

"No, I beat her in a card game." Heath grinned.

"Dude, are you serious?" Deuce asked with disbelief.

"No lie," Heath smirked. "And no, it was not strip poker. Even I'm not that stupid enough to play a game like that with a ghoul like Abbey."

"Yeah, you're stupid enough as it is!" Manny snorted with a joking smile on his face.

Heath was about to retort with what he hoped was a witty comeback a loud roar caught everyone's attention as a bright flash of ghostly, blue energy pulsated in the sky far above the party, exploding outwards into a large portal as a gigantic, long, Greek-styled ship came sailing through, its many oars stroking the air in unison as it pulled free of the portal and into the open air.

"I take it back!" Manny cried as the party goers started to yell and panic, running in all directions like frightened cattle as three, shifty figures moved about on deck.

"Time to boogie!" an old, hag's voice cried from above as a cannon that was built to resemble a bird's beak rotated around from the front side of the ship, aiming directly at the three man-sters bellow. Heath and Deuce quickly beat a hasty retreat, running out of range with Manny hot on their tails before the minotaur noticed something; Iris was moving as fast as everyone else, tripping over a discarded roll of wrapping paper someone had accidentally left lying around, and falling to the ground just as the cannon fired an ominous, shimmering ball at the downed cyclops.

"Iris! No!" Manny bellowed, turning on his heel and charging right at his ghoulfriend with his head lowered to the ground. Sweat dripped down his face as his heart raced to protect the one he loved as the glittering ball came closer and closer, a loud whistling sound meeting his ears as he saw red and dove in front of Iris as the ball struck him in the gut, engulfing the both of them in a cloud of dark smoke before it died down.

"Manny?" Iris blinked her single eye, looking at her boyfriend. Was it just her, or was he lot more . . . faded than before? She looked down at herself to see she was hovering a few inches above the ground like Manny was, her image now shimmering and see through like a ghost.

"Look out!" Manny snorted, but it was too late. By the time Iris knew what was happening, long, dark chains with evil, blood red glows to them shot straight at them from the boat above, wrapping themselves tightly around Manny and Iris before hauling them up to the sky and into the boat where they were deposited carelessly at the feet of three, evil looking Hall Moanitors.

"Bah! Can't you get more than two in one shot!?" Present grumbled at Past as he loaded another round of Boogie Sand into a cannon. "No matter. This will all be over in but an hour!" he cackled, swerving the cannon around and aiming it right at Gil and Lagoona as they held each other tightly, braving for the worst to happen.

"Wait, what's that sound?" Future wondered aloud. Indeed, there was a loud sound that filled the air around them above the screams of fright coming from the student body below and clattering of tables and trays being pushed over.

"AAAAARRRRRR! PREPARE TO DO BATTLE, YOU UNWORTHY SWINE!"

The three Hall Moanitors glanced up just as a portal ripped its way across the sky, dwarfing their own as a tall, massive pirate ship swept through the opening and into the cool air, the ragged sails billowing as the many cannons on its side began to fire without mercy. What really terrified the three ghosts however, were the angry looks the crew of the pirate ship was giving them, particularly one of the crew members as he calmly walked up to the very edge of the bow and stood there, touching his wrist with his left hand and holding it there for a few seconds before he suddenly slammed it down on something; a green light engulfed him, and the three Hall Moanitors knew they were in for it.

His skinny figure suddenly swelled as hundreds of muscles piled on top of each other, sending his growing form upwards until he was more than twice as tall as his previous self. His fingers pulsed as thick veins appeared on his arms, sending alien blood through them. A second pair of eyes appeared above his own and every hair on his head disappeared. A short beard appeared on his chin that ran up to his disappearing earlobes as his jaw jutted out. Suddenly, a second pair of smaller arms burst out from under his own, still just fresh muscle and bone. Draculaura felt like she was going to be sick until rough, faint, red skin covered them. His toes melded into two large claws as a row of small spikes appeared on his head and shoulders. A ragged and torn black undershirt with a single, green stripe down the middle and a pair of ripped black pants materialized on his person as the flesh around his face dissolved slightly, exposing yellow bone on his right jaw and raw muscle on his thick neck as black, fingerless gloves appeared on his hands. Thick, dark green shackles appeared on his wrists with heavy chains attached to them with large balls of lead at the ends, a wicked grin forming on his face as the Omnitrix appeared on his belt, completing the transformation.

"For once, I did not see that coming." Future whimpered as Four Arms let out a loud battle cry that reverberated the air and sent shivers down their spines as the rest of the ghostly crew took up arms and echoed his loud cry of rage.

"Batten down the hatches, mates! It's gonna get ugly!" Vandala cried as she spun the ship's wheel hard to the right and brought the salty Spectre up to the side of River's boat. "Relatively speaking." she flinched upon seeing the three Hall Moanitors glaring at them.

"Fire!" Vandala yelled before a dull boom! met her ears; she ducked down to the deck just as a cannonball sailed over her head and nearly took off her captain's hat.

"So that's where the cannonballs are!" she heard Present exclaim.

"Apparently, I should've been more specific," Vandala grumbled under her breath. "Consider that a warning!" she shouted at the three Hall Moanitors. "Fire off the starboard side!" she ordered. Her skeletal crew were quick to comply as they swung down from the rigging and took positions behind three of eight cannons that lined the top deck, shoving cannonballs into their barrels and firing them off at River's ship, cheering when the boat jolted and rocked from collisions.

"Prepare for impact!" Twyla yelled from above just as a cannonball struck the side of the ship and heavily rocked it.

"Stop firing at my ship!" Vandala roared, whipping her sword, itching to run through of the three Hall Moanitors that dared to fire at her precious ship. "Aye? Yer in charge of the salty Spectre while I take care of some . . . business." she instructed her pet cuttlefish.

"Aye, Aye!" Aye chirped happily, floating up behind the helm as Vandala rushed down the deck, her metal leg loudly clomping loudly on the wood as she rushed to Four Arms's side. "Catch, mate!" she cried, reaching for the other side of her belt and tossing the Tetramand a sword; he caught it in one hand before stealing a sword from one of the skeletal crew's belt, Femur if he remembered correctly, and pulled it into his other hand.

"Ready, love?" Vandala smiled.

"I've been wanting to do this since I met you and those creeps, babe," Four Arms grinned.

"Well then, don't forget this!" Vandala smiled, pulling a black, captain's hat from the folds of her captain's jacket and setting it on Four Arms's head. "Now then, where were we? Ah, yes. YAAARRR!" Vandala cried triumphantly as she flipped over the side of the Salty Spectre and landed on the deck of River's boat.

"Don't be alarmed, we're taking over the ship!" Vandala grinned wickedly, pointing her large sword at the three Hall Moanitors.

"AYE! AVAST!" Draculaura cried as she appeared at Vandala's side, trying to look scary; the three Hall Moanitors instead burst out laughing as Vandala stared at her before a loud thump! echoed across the deck.

"I believe this is the part where you run." Four Arms suggested as he whipped out his duel blades for the three Hall Moanitors to stare at as he cracked his knuckles. "Ready for round two, suckers?" he grinned wickedly before the trio charged forward.

Vandala cackled with glee as she attacked Present, swinging her grand sword high and slicing off the top of the diminutive man's top when he ducked to the deck. Present quickly whipped out his badge and was ready to fire it off when the skeletal monkey came screeching down from the rigging and swiped it away, chucking it over the side and taunting Present as Vandala laughed and kicked him across the deck. She then charged right at the man and raised her sword above her head, prepared to slice Present's head off (or hit him over the head with it. Whichever she happened first) when present quickly reached into his coat and whipped out a small dagger, just barely blocking the blow before popping back up to his feet and quickly performing several impressive swings and stabs of his dagger.

"Oh, bugger." Vandala frowned as she swung her sword again, sparks spitting everywhere when the two blades hit.

"Lets see how many swings it takes for me to cut you into pretty party ribbons." Four Arms grinned darkly as he crossed both of his swords in front of his face and charged at Future; the ghost quickly stepped the attack before grabbing the Tetramand by the head and swinging up onto his shoulders, reaching into his pocket for the cattle prod he still owned from previous torturing. Before Future could stab the Four Arms with the electrified stick, the Tetramand reached up with one of his lower arms and grabbed Future by the foot, yanking him off and throwing him against the ship of the deck twice before slamming him into the deck and stabbing his swords downwards. Future rolled out of the way in time and popped back up with his cattle prod in hand, jamming the weapon into Four Arms's gut and earning a loud yell of agony.

Draculaura swooped and flew out of the way as Past fired off Detention Chain after Detention Chain, always missing as the ghostly vampire ducked and dodged each attack before lashing out with a leg and swiping the old hag's feet out from under her. In an instant, Draculaura was on top of Past, driving her small fists into her face before bouncing off of her rotund belly and plummeting back down with a furious look on her face as she jammed her pointed elbow into Past's gut and popped out the old hag's dentures, watching with disgust as they clattered all over the deck as if they had a mind of their own.

"You really should get that checked out," Draculaura muttered before dodging another Detention Chain.

"Fire off the starboard side!" Vandala cried over the roar of the battle as she ducked a swipe of Present's dagger and swept his small legs out from under him with her own metal limb. "Grab the sand lets heave-ho!" she hollered to Four Arms and Draculaura as she scooped up several jars of sand and tossed them over the side where they thankfully exploded on empty space. The Tetramand and vampire finished off their respectable opponents before each grabbing as much sand as they could carrying and flying back over to the Salty Spectre as the ghouls and skeletal crew kept them covered with cannon fire.

"What now?" Clawdeen cried over the din before the Salty Spectre rumbled violently, as if it had been struck by an earthquake.

"We are sinking!" Rochelle cried.

"How the bloody blazes did those swine manage to sink me beautiful ship!?" Vandala screamed, dashing over to the railing to see several dozen holes in the side of her sinking ship. "Oh, bugger." she cursed before running away from the railing and scooping up as many jars in her hands as she could carry. "C'mon, mates! We're making a run for it!" she cried. "Aye, see if you can't get me lovely ship seaworthy again!" she called over her shoulder as the ghouls gathered as many jars as they could flew off as River's boat chased after them, the three Hall Moanitors not looking happy in the slightest.

---

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Principal Revenant cried angrily, slamming her fists down on her desk when she saw the ghouls not only out of Haunted High and in the Monster World, but in possession of every last jar of ghost sand her three Hall Moanitors had managed to gather. "Ugh! What else could possibly go wrong!?" she griped angrily, getting up from her desk and making her way towards the doors of her office; if she made it out those doors, it would the first time in years she had ever left her office; a sudden noise put off the feat for the time being as horror crept across Principal Revenant's face.

"'What I've Learned About Spreading Gossip'," a sad and nervous voice announced calmly. "A haunted Herald blog post by Spectra Vondergeist."

"WHAT!?" Revenant screamed as she turned around to see Spectra's face taking the place of the fleeing ghouls in her crystal ball. Panic in her eyes, she rushed to the windows of her office to see the Spectra, Porter, and Ben all firmly standing on the small balcony that surrounded her central office in the main lobby.

"Before coming to Haunted High, I never saw much harm in reporting on rumors," Spectra began, silently nodding to Ben as he cycled through the Omnitrix and selected the alien he needed before slapping the activation button. He felt himself grow slightly shorter than before as his bones groaned and cracked, lengthening and becoming thinner as Ben's skin became lose like a paper bag that hung over his skeleton. After a few brief nanoseconds, the skin tightened and formed over the limited muscles that had grown over the bones, the skin know smooth and pebbled. His skin turned a pale shade of red as his fingers grew longer and his nails grew duller, his chin became a small cleft square spirals and swirls appeared on his skin. The skin then covered his eyes, blinding him and making them disappear all together as his organs sloshed and changed inside of him. The most noticeable part of the transformation however, was Ben's head. It began to grow upward, becoming slightly box-like in appearance as his brain began to expand and grow, filling every available space in the skull's brain case. A black jumpsuit with green, downward pointing stripes appeared on his body, black irons materializing on his wrists, elbows, and shoulders as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.

"They were just funny stories," Spectra went on as Mindmesser floated above the ground, raising his hands above his head as the air above him began to pulse and swirl. "Little tidbits of juicy gossip. It was fun to join in with the crowd and pass along the latest overhead pieces of news." Spectra gave a small smile when she saw several of the students murmur quietly to their classmates without taking their eyes off of her.

Spectra sucked in a deep breath before speaking as Porter set a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "But now I realize how harmful rumors can be." she admitted sadly before gathering her courage and speaking in a louder tone. "There's a particularly nasty rumor going around here at Haunted High about how the so-called "outsiders" want to come to your school to frighten you to terrorize you, to torment you. It's not true!" Spectra yelled loudly, banging her hand down on the railing as the air above Mindmesser warbled and warped into a wavering vision of some kind as images began to dance across the screen.

"The Solids don't want to hurt us," Spectra went on, confidence building through her as the images played about her; Heatblast had just saved a little vampire girl from a raging inferno using his own body as a shield from the searing flames; Humungousaur stopped a runaway train with his bare hands, skidding down several yards of track before the lumbering vehicle came to a complete stop; Spectra and Frankie were happily chatting in the hallway before XLR8 and Heath came racing by with an enraged Abbey hot on their heels.

"The Solids don't want to hurt us," Spectra repeated. "I go to a school where it doesn't matter what kind of monster you are; ghost, vampire, werewolf, sea monster, freshwater monster, we're all there and we can set aside our differences to become friends," Spectra smiled before the images above her shifted to show Ben's first few days at Monster High. "Imagine my surprise when a Normie of all creatures quickly became my Beast Friend and later lover. I never would have believed it myself and yet, here I am now." she smiled weakly. "The rumor of the Solids wanting to hurt us, to torment us, and frighten us is not true, but this rumor became so powerful, so real, that it was able to convince the entire school to go along with Principal Revenant's devious plan." Spectra sighed sadly as the image above her became larger and shifted to show the chaos that had ensued at Monster High as more portals of the same variety opened up all around the student body to show guys and ghouls running and screaming in fright as the Hall Moanitors viciously chased after them, howling in misery when the Boogie Sand hit them, and sobbing uncontrollably when they were ensnared in Detention Chains and hauled up onto the deck of River's boat.

"Do those look like monsters that want to hurt us?" Porter spoke up, his voice echoing out over the sea of students as Frankie screamed and was consumed by a sea of frightened students. By the time the crowd had parted, the Hall Moanitors were upon her, readying to turn her into a ghost and haul her up like some magnificent fish to be photographed and gawked at. The students watched as Four Arms suddenly dived in front of her, swinging his ball tipped chains as the confetti cannon fired a ball of Boogie Sand at Frankie; the Tetramand swung with all his might and sent the glittering ball back at the boat before scooping up Frankie in his arm and making a run for it as the rest of the ghouls flew after him, a few jars missing from their collection.

"And for what?" Spectra went on as Revenant dug her fingernails in her desk, heavily grinding her teeth against each other as she watched the podcast from her crystal ball; it took every ounce of her will power to not smash the glowing orb in front of her in the hopes that it might, just might end the unraveling of all her hard work. But she knew it wouldn't work. With a desperate frown she turned to the small chest she kept on her desk that held her precious key and lifted open the lid only to find a neon green spray paint can and a rather rude gesture painted on the inside of the lid.

"Because she really thinks the Monster High students deserve detention?" Spectra continued as the screens showed more horrifying images of the Hall Moanitors rounding up the frightened students like cattle and hauling them onto the boat by the chainful without worry or concern for the student's well being as they were pressed together on the deck. "No," Spectra shook her head. "All this is because she wants to get rid of her own chains."

Spectra gave a mental smile when she heard several, nearly silent gasps coming from the student body; time to go in for the kill. "And she has a lot of them because Principal Revenant . . . is the Red Lady!" Spectra cried, holding up her single source to a page of the infamous woman for the entire student body to see as images of the same villain appeared on the many surrounding screens.

"It's true!" Porter roared, holding up several of his chains for everyone to see when he heard cries of protest or argument. "These are her chains!"

"This building, it used to be her home!" Spectra went on. But her chains kept her from leaving, so she turned it into a school! The Red Lady wanted to give you all detention so you could carry out her punishment for her!" Spectra cried loudly, oblivious to a loud rattling sound.

"Look! Up there!" some called from the crowd.

"Spectra! Behind you!" Mindmesser cried as all the wavering images suddenly faded into thin air.

"That's quite enough of your blogging, Miss Vondergeist!" Revenant snarled as she waved her hand in the air; the key in Porter's hand twitched violently before being torn free and sailing right into Principal Revenant's waiting fingers, an irritated look on her face. "So. You figured it out." she frowned. "I am the Red Lady!" Revenant cackled darkly as her eyes glowed a soulless red and she was consumed in a cloud of blood red smoke that crackled and rumbled like a thunder storm. When the smoke cleared, Revenant now wore a blood red cloak trimmed with a dark gold and a ragged red dress as her body shimmered a dark red in color, the exact same color of a blood moon; shivers traveled up everyone's spine.

And your little friends may have disrupted my plan," Revenant frowned, edging closer to the trio on the balcony. "But it doesn't matter. If I can't have new students to put in detention, I'll just give all my chains . . . to you." she smiled wickedly as the key in her fingers glowed ominously, the massive ball of chains that floated behind her glowing a dark, almost black red before they shot off like rockets, all of them aimed directly at Spectra in particular and ready to weigh her down and trap her forever in the Ghost World.

---

"Geez, they just aren't giving up, are they?" Ben grumbled as he and the ghouls phased through the outdoor bleachers of the pool with the three Hall Moanitors hot on their tails in River's boat.

"Would you?" Charmcaster asked, deadpanned.

"Actually, no. Not after what we did to them." Ben mused. "Was it really necessary to destroy Present's hat?" he turned to Vandala as they banked a hard a right and flew back the way they came, scattering quickly as they came across the ship and regrouping once they were out of harm's way.

"Yes," Vandala replied, shifting her jars of Boogie Sand. "That hat was way too big for him. And I should know." she gave a smile smile.

"They're too fast! We can't outrun them!" Twyla exclaimed when she glanced back and saw the Hall Moanitors were gaining ground fast.

"We have to keep going!" River protested. "And once this is all over, we can throw a huge party!"

"I like parties as much as the next guy, but now is really not the time, River!" Ben frowned as he put on an extra burst of speed and hoped it was fast enough; the Omnitrix in recharge mode, he couldn't switch to one of his more agile forms and out run the three annoying ghosts behind him. All he could do was fly and hope it was fast enough to out run them at one point or another.

"No!" Kiyomi cried, come to a sudden halt. "No more running!" she yelled firmly.

"Kiyomi, what are you doing!?" Draculaura cried frantically.

"Are you crazy!?" Charmcaster yelled.

"I started all of this by opening windows between worlds!" Kiyomi shouted. "Now, I'm going to do the same to end it!" she cried, holding up her hands in front of her and focusing her energy into opening up a small portal as the ship rushed at her, getting faster and faster with every stroke of the oars; if Kiyomi didn't move out of the way fast enough, the Hall Moanitors would hit her head on and she would be splattered like a bug on a windshield without any chance of getting an after life. The Hall Moanitors didn't seem to care though, their eyes set firm on the ghouls behind Kiyomi, particularly Ben and Vandala.

"We have to help her!" Draculaura yelled, swooping down to Kiyomi's side.

"How? None of us has ever opened a window before!" River cried, following Draculaura.

"We have to try! Group ghost power!" Draculaura said firmly.

"Normally, I'm the one that suggests the crazy plans and whatnot, but it's nice for a change to have someone else suggest it." Ben shrugged, following Draculaura's lead without hitch as Clawdeen followed him. The ghouls all shared nervous glances with each other before following their friends and floating at Kiyomi's side, waving their hands in what they hoped were portal casting gestures and movements; but nothing seemed to be working. It seemed that they were all doomed to be killed as the Hall Moanitors gunned the ship faster, sick grins on their faces as they plowed the ship through the air, determined to seek vengeance on those that had irritated them for far too long.

"YOU AIN'T TOUCHING A HAIR ON HER HEAD!" a loud voice boomed.

The Hall Moanitors jumped back, startled at the loud voice as they searched wildly for the source of the commanding voice, flinching and turning paler than ever thought possible when they saw exactly who it came from. Rising up from behind the line of ghouls and Ben was a massive dragon with dark, rust red scales, two pairs of massive, bat-like wings, four horns, giant, curved claws, and an incredibly ticked off look on his face. To make things worse, his image wavered and shimmered, a loud rattling echoing through the air from the shackles on his arms and the lose braces on his tail and neck.

"Dragoon? If you want a rematch, now's really not the best time!" Ben grunted as he tried to open up a portal.

"Please, as if I care about you anymore," Dragoon rolled his eyes. "My main concern is to protect fair Charmcaster with my dying breath. And if that means I save you in the process, so be it." the dragon shrugged before open his jaws as wide as possible and unleashing a tidal wave of hot flame at the approaching ship, the searing hot flames licking across the deck and figurehead as the three Hall Moanitors ducked for cover.

"Thank ghoul I sprung for that fire-proof paint when I had the chance!" River sighed with relief.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up!" Ben shook his head. "You love Charmcaster? Are you serious?" Ben cried with disbelief.

"Does the sun rise and set every day?" Dragoon asked as he flapped his wings. "And as you said before, now is really not the best time. And on an unrelated note, I've been wanting a piece of these guys ever since they turned me into a ghost." he added, firing off another jet of flame and blasting the boat back a little ways.

"Lemme show ya how it's done, Big Boy," Charmcaster smirked up at Dragoon. "Twista Combititus!" she cried, her body glowing with a dark pink aura as the air around river's ship shimmered and wavered. A sudden blast of bright light erupted right around the ship, forming into a massive cobra made of pure energy as the serpent wrapped its coils around the ship and constricted them as tight as it could, holding it firmly in place as the Hall Moanitors tried to pry off its coils by beating them.

"Nice trick," Dragoon admitted. "So, does this mean we're dating?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Charmcaster shrugged with a playful smile on her lips. "Either way, you do look kinda cute."

"I hate to interrupt the touching moment, but I don't think that snake's gonna hold for long!" Clawdeen yelled, still unable to make the shimmering portal before them any larger than before.

"Right," Dragoon grunted. "Save world now, relationship later. Ben, turn into Feedback." he instructed the watch wearing hero.

"Why?" Ben asked.

"I've got an idea," Dragoon replied. "Now do it!"

Ben did as he was told and turned to the Omnitrix, turning it on and cycling through the roster before he came across the Conductoid icon and slammed the activation button as the green light washed over him and began to change his DNA. The changes began almost immediately, starting his skin becoming a dark, midnight black that raced up his arms and legs and covered his face. His eyes widened into large almonds before melting together into a single, green orb. His teeth became sharp his toes all ground together into two claws. He felt an itching sensation at the base of his spine, and craned his head to watch a long, elastic-like tail stretch out behind him, a growth forming on the end that resembled a forked plug as braces traveled back up towards his spine. His fingertips become hard and metallic, becoming cube shaped as muscles piled themselves on his arms and chest. Two long antennae suddenly shot out from his skull, unrolling behind him like dreadlocks as forked plugs formed on their ends, rusted shackles forming just above them and all the way down to Ben's head. His chest and torso turned a dark shade of green as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest and a sharp, tingling feeling could be felt in his fingers as chains wrapped tightly around his arms and legs.

"Alright, what now?" Feedback asked.

"Now plug into the ghostly-energy-field-thing." Dragoon instructed.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" the Conductoid wondered as he rolled his antennae and tail forward before jamming them back and stabbing them into the air, the plugged ends disappearing into thin air as if they had been plugged into something; indeed, Feedback did feel some kind of energy there, a rolling, dismissive force that was hard to control, but manipulative enough nonetheless.

"Not in the slightest," Dragoon replied. "Now plug into Kiyomi and fuel her."

Feedback did as he was told and rested his wavering plugged fingertips on Kiyomi's head just as the cobra construct shattered into magenta shards and released the ship; Charmcaster cried out and flew back to be caught by Dragoon's strong grip as the ship rushed forward.

"NOW!" Dragoon roared, opening his jaws again and firing off a wave of fire at the approaching ship, creating a curtain of sorts that obstructed the Hall Moanitor's view as Feedback channeled the energy through him and into Kiyomi, the noppera-bōscreaming in agony as the energy coursed through her and into the portal she was making, slowly making it bigger and bigger with each passing second.

"C'mon, ghouls! Time ta get in on the action!" Clawdeen exclaimed, flying up to Feedback and resting on a hand on one of the metallic bolts on his arms, jolting slightly when she felt the energy run through her veins as she pointed a hand at the shimmering portal; it was opening faster now, if only slightly.

"You heard the werewolf, mateys! It's time to turn on the power!" Vandala cried, rushing up to Feedback and setting a hand on his other shoulder and pointing her free hand at the portal, the energy coursing through her violently as one by one the ghouls all followed her lead and rested hands on different parts of Feedback's body, tapping into the ghostly energy and firing it back out at the portal as it got bigger and bigger.

"Just a . . . little . . . more!" Kiyomi grunted.

"Way ahead of you, ghoul!" Dragoon yelled, cutting off the steady stream of fire and curling his claws around Feedback's waist and holding him tightly as he opened his jaws again and channeled the energy from the Conductoid through him and back out through his gaping maw, the portal expanding rapidly to accommodate the fast approaching ship. By the time the Hall Moanitors realized what was going on, it was too late!

---

"You are going to be in detention for a very long time." Principal Revenant grinned wickedly. Spectra gasped as the key glowed a frightening white in Revenant's fingers before the massive ball of chains attached to her legs grew brighter and brighter before suddenly exploding outwards, hundreds of individual chains rattling and snaking through the air all aimed directly at Spectra and ready to make her a mummy of unliving metal when a loud roar shook the entire school to the core. Dust and bits of cobwebs rained down from the ceiling as a massive portal opened up directly above the student body of Haunted High and River's ship came barging through at a break neck speed directly between Revenant and Spectra. The chains immediately latched onto the boat, coiling and curling themselves around the hull and stern like rattling octopus tentacles before they turned on the three Hall Moanitors themselves, wrapping around them and holding them as they were dragged to the deck.

"Not so fun, is it?" Porter smirked as the boat came to a slow stop in the air.

"Ha! That'll teach you to mess with another Reaper's confetti cannons!" River crowed upon seeing the trapped Hall Moanitors as she, the ghouls, Feedback, and Dragoon flew through the gaping portal and back into the ghost school.

"So this is Haunted High?" Dragoon mused. "Not bad. Could use a little dusting though."

"Agreed." Charmcaster coughed. "Now would you mind letting me go?"

"Sorry." Dragoon apologized as both Omnitrixes timed out and reverted Feedback and Mindmesser into two phantom clones of Ben. "Now I've seen everything." Dragoon shook his head as both Ben's simultaneously turned to their Omnitrixes and slapped the activation buttons. Their skin changed into a smooth, chrome white that became tougher than his original. They began to shrink down until they just barely reached the ghoul's ankles as their faces widened for their expanding mouths. They could feel their organs sloshing about inside of them as their bones became slightly softer and more bendable; their lungs expanded until they were the largest organs in their bodies as their eyes became smaller and turned squinty. Their ears vanished to be replaced by small holes, and even then they were covered by hardened skin that wrapped around their heads in a way that resembled headphones. Their arms and legs grew shorter as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on their heads, a thick collar appearing around their necks as shackles materialized around their waists, chains attaching themselves to all three of them before firmly embedding themselves into the Omnitrix, completing the transformation.

"Wall of Sound!" the two Sonorosian clones cried out as they divided themselves into a dozen more clones and sucked in huge breaths before firing them back out at massive frequencies at Revenant. The ghost had little time to react before the wall of sound crashed into her, sending her flying and tumbling through the air as the Sonorosians quickly molded back into one Echo Echo; the Omnitrix timed out seconds later and returned Ben to the world.

"Ah, man, it feels good to be whole again!" Ben grunted, cracking his aching back.

"Ha! Not really what I was going for," Principal Revenant shrugged once she had recovered; her chains were gone and she was no longer tied to the retched building that she used to call home. So what if she got blasted in the face and had her ears assaulted? "But I'm free! I'm finally free!" she exclaimed happily. "Well, it's been fun, boys and ghouls. It really has," Revenant smiled wickedly, ignoring the betrayed looks from her Hall Moanitors. "But if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of haunting to catch up on!" she cackled evilly.

"Looks like you'll have to reschedule, Revenant!" Ben frowned as he turned to the Omnitrix and slapped the activation button without looking as he felt the changes creep across his body. 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 making them look like dolls. 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. Gigantic, rusted shackles formed around his ankles and wrists, traveling up his arms and legs before massive chains appeared around his shoulders, waist, and neck, parts of his skin rotting away to expose muscle or yellowed bone as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest, ending the transformation.

Revenant ignored the transformation; once she was safe in the Monster World, hidden from the authorities and with a network of trustworthy spies that should most likely betray the second she got the chance, she could go after the Omnitrix all she liked. With that much power, she could acomplish any heist or fright she ever wanted and no one would be able to stop her.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Way Big roared, lunging forward with a gigantic hand and catching Revenant in his fingers, clenching his fist and holding her tight just as a blood red portal opened up in the air.

"I think I am, dear boy," Revenant snarled. "School's out!" she cried, raising her hands and stabbing them as deep as she could into the To'kustar's flesh. Way Big cried out and stumbled backwards, nearly crushing the students that didn't get out of the way fast enough as his grip loosened just enough for Revenant to slip free and fly to the open portal as fast as she could, a wicked smile on her face as she prepared to taste her first bit of freedom in an incredibly long time. She raced towards the portal, ready to feel its roar in her ears and the sudden rush of adrenaline she would get when she passed through to the other side, but it never came. She smashed first face into the portal, like a bird flying head first into a window, and yelped in shock, beating a fist on the portal without any effect of it passing through.

"No! NO! Why can't I leave!?" she howled miserably. "I don't have anymore-" she gasped as she looked down at herself to dozen, black chains with an ever familiar blood red glow to them materialize around her waist and legs, rattling loudly and weighing her down slightly. "Chains!? What's happening!? Who's doing this!?" she roared as Way Big's fingers curled around her again, clenching tightly as she was brought up to the To'kustar's face.

"Is it you!?" she yelled, jamming a finger at the titan. "Is it your little ghoul friends!? WHO IS DOING THIS TO ME!?" she roared as loud as she could, her enraged voice bouncing off the walls of the school as the student body flinched and floated a few steps back away from the giant.

"You're doing it to yourself."

"What!?" Revenant snarled, whipping her head down to see Spectra looking up at her with pity in her eyes. "No." she hissed.

"Yes," Spectra insisted sadly. "The chains are coming from you. It all makes sense." she said quietly. "Look around at your students," she explained, gesturing to the sea of ghosts and phantoms watching the scene unfold. "All those chains you've given out, and yet you weren't getting any closer to freedom. Because with every haunting, every unjustified detention, every lie, rumor and bit of gossip you spread, you were creating more chains for yourself."

"You . . . you don't know what you're talking about!" Revenant insisted, despite the pained look on her face. "Somebody . . . somebody else must be doing this."

"I dunno about you, but it sounds like you're the culprit." Way Big rumbled.

"It is not the cherry blossom's fault it is a cherry blossom," Skelita added. "It just is a cherry blossom, and it accepts that it will be a cherry blossom for as long as it may live."

"Chinese proverb," Dragoon nodded. "I thought you were Hexican?"

"Jinafire told it to me once before mi familia moved to the Boonited States and she moved in with mi amor, Ben." Skelita replied.

"No," Spectra shook her head as she flew up to be even with Revenant. "Deep down, I think you knew what you were doing was wrong. And your inner conscience created these chains to try and stop you. You said it yourself, 'You'll never learn your lesson if you don't pay the price'." Spectra shook her head. "You've been to the Monster World. You know the rumors you're spreading aren't true. The Solids are not out to get you. They're just like you and me."

"Amen." Way Big and Dragoon said.

"Well, mostly." Sprectra shrugged with a smile. "That was all just made up ghost gossip. I don't know about you, but I am done with rumors. And I think you should be, too." Spectra smiled, turning to face Revenant.

"Good for you, ghoul friend," Clawdeen chuckled. "Told ya we'd find a good story!"

Principal Revenant glanced carefully at the chains that bound her still then to the students that all gazed upon her with looks of shock, horror, and grief. She looked to Dragoon and Charmcaster and watched as the two of them glanced over their shimmering images with disdain. She looked up at the grim expression Way Big as he held her tight; Vandala came floating up nearing his head, a small smile creeping across the giant's face. It had suddenly occurred to her that she was not getting anywhere with her freedom. Instead, she was ruining lives by binding innocent students and monsters to her own punishment. How long had it been since her some of her students had ever left the school to return home to their families? How long had it been since they were able to set foot off of school property and experience everything the Ghost World and beyond had to offer? Then she glanced at the glowing key in her hand, the one object of this world that would grant her freedom if she just used it. It beckoned to her, calling out to her with its soft glow. And then she knew what she had to do.

I . . . I spent so much time blaming everyone else that I . . . I never stopped to consider this was my fault." Revenant said quietly as the key in her fingers glowed brightly than it had ever done before. The evil chains that bound every student in the lobby, every ghost, every phantom, every banshee, every poltergeist, and then some, glowed brightly and shifted a little before suddenly unraveling themselves from their prisoners, sailing through the air and intertwining with one another before circling around Principal Revenant like a school of harried fish before latching onto her legs and rolling back up into the massive ball she had carried for so long.

"She took off the chains!" a student cried in disbelief.

"No more detention!" another cried happily.

"I am sorry I made you all part of this." Revenant spoke up so that her voice was loud and clear. "These are my chains to work off, no matter how long it takes. Not yours." she smiled kindly. "And, I hope that you'll allow me to continue being your principal while I pay for my mistakes." she smiled sadly, raising the key up into the air for everyone to see as a pair of giant fingers swept over Revenant's head and closed around the key, raising it up to Way Big's head before the giant opened his fingers and swallowed the key whole without trouble.

"It is going to take a long time," Revenant smiled at the To'kustar before turning to the rest of the ghouls. "But, I will earn my freedom. Someday." she smiled kindly before taking the book of her history in her hands and snapping her fingers for a final time as a cloud of smoke engulfed her and reverted her back to her normal look of a shining blue cleansed of all evil.

"Can I just say, that was spooktacular." Porter grined widely as the student body started to chant Revenant's name loudly.

"You thought so?" Spectra smiled.

"I had chills!" Porter joked. And not just because, you know, I'm a ghost."

"So, is it true? About the outsiders?" a nervous ghost asked as she swooped up to the pair.

"We really don't have to be scared of them?" another asked as Way Big released Revenant and bent down as low as he could, easily covering the group in his shadow as the two ghost students flinched.

"Oh, stop with the intimidation tactics, Ben!" Spectra scolded him playfully. "And I think it's about time these two schools got to know each other." she smiled broadly.

---

"Frankie?"

"Yes, Ben?"

"Can I take the blindfold now?"

"No, not yet," Frankie told her boyfriend as she pushed him carefully down the empty hallway, a broad grin on her face; after the whole escapade with the Ghost World, things were starting to settle down. After returning all monster-turned-ghosts back to the Monster World and dousing them with the right Boogie Sand, including Charmcaster and Ben, things had seemingly returned to normal. Or at least, that was what Ben thought. He had yet to find because directly after he had been turned back into a Normie, Ghoulia had quickly put a blindfold on him and directed Frankie to stow him in a janitor's closet for roughly half an hour. Why he still needed the blindfold in the closet was beyond him, but Frankie had made sure he hadn't removed it until she had gotten a signal from Ghoulia.

"How about now?" Ben asked.

"Almost there, Ben," Frankie told him. "Just keep your stitches together.

"I don't have stitches." Ben reminded her as she took her hands off of his shoulders for a brief moment, the sound of rusty hinges meeting his ears as Frankie opened a door of some kind and pushed him outside before going after him; Ben could feel warm rays of sunlight on his skin and a cool breeze tickled his forehead.

"You ready?" Frankie asked in his ear.

"I've been waiting half an hour. What do you think?"

"I'll take that as a yes." Frankie laughed as she grabbed the end of Ben's blindfold and undid the knot, pulling the piece of cloth from Ben's eyes and returning his vision to him.

"SURPRISE!"

Ben blinked and looked out over the area to see all of his friends in this strange world and more gathered about amongst a forest of balloons and streamers. Off to the far side of the massive party before him was a long buffet table with a mountain of food piled on it to accommodate the variety of guests attending the event. High above with anchors securely weighed down to the ground was the Salty Spectre and River's boat floating in the air as Vandala whooped and swung down from a rope and landed next to Ben with a broad smile on her face. "Aaarr, matey! Turn it up!" she called up to River's boat. The Reaper gave a thumbs up and spun the records on her DJ table as Holt jammed alongside her, glad to finally have someone that understood how to fully rock a party; the three Hall Moanitors were currently swabbing the deck, miserable looks on their faces and Detention Chains wrapped tightly around their waists.

"What is all of this?" Ben asked, utterly confused as Party like a Monster by Catty Noire and Casta Fierce played over the many loud speakers hooked up around the outdoor pool; Lagoona, Sirena, and a phantom Rochelle dove into the coffin-shaped basin with a loud splash! as Johnny, Operetta, and Scarah relaxed on lawn chairs on the pool side.

"Aiiiieeeee-yaaaaAAAhhhhh!" Ghoulia grinned, hugging Ben tightly with a smile on her face.

"It's my birthday?" Ben wondered before realization crossed his face. "It's my birthday! Woo-hoo!"

"Happy Birthday, matey!" Vandala laughed, clapping Ben on the shoulder. "And it's the perfect occasion to let both crews get to know each other, too!" she added, gesturing to the massive portal that wavered in the air on one side of the pool, opening up into the main lobby of Haunted High where dozens of ghosts that weren't quite ready to jump into the frenzy partied and enjoyed the music; Principal Revenant could seen serving drinks to those that requested it as Kiyomi floated up through the portal with a slice of cake for the chained ghost.

"How'd you know it was my birthday?" Ben wondered.

"We didn't," Frankie admitted. "Ghoulia did."

"Eeeeyaaaiiahahahaaaaa." the zombie explained.

"That is both cool and creepy at the same time," Ben smiled. "But I'm glad you did it, sis."

"Sis?" Vandala cocked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry mate, but neither of you bare any resemblance to the other."

"Eeeeyyyaahhhiie." Ghoulia explained.

"Did either you catch that?" Vandala wondered. "I don't speak Zombie yet."

"That's their relationship," Frankie explained. "Brother-sister love."

"Eyyahaaaaa." Ghoulia smiled.

"Ghoulia's right," Ben grinned. "Lets party!"

"Hey, lover boy!"

"Did you think you could really start the party without us?" Whisp purred, appearing from behind Ben and sliding her arms around his neck as she rested her head on his shoulders; Nefera sidled up to him from his right, hugging him tightly as Ben's face turned a slight red.

"Glad you could make it, Nefera. Whisp." he smiled.

"Me too, Ben." Nefera, kissing him on the cheek as the first song ended and a second song came on.

"Ooh! I love this song!" Nefera squealed happily.

"I thought you didn't like much of anything?" Ben wiggled his brow comically.

"That was the old me," Nefera rolled her eyes. "Now I love this song!"

"What song is it?" Ben asked as the unfamiliar beat blared through the speakers.

"Calling All the Monsters by China Anne McSlain." Nefera replied with a wide grin; various ghouls were starting to make their way towards Ben, a similar look on all their faces. Ben gulped nervously and turned to the Omnitrix before selecting the alien needed.

"Hold that thought," he said. "Man, you getting a work out today." he muttered as he slapped the activation button on the Omnitrix. His skin changed into a smooth, chrome white that became tougher than his original. He began to shrink down until he just barely reached the ghoul's ankles as his face widened for his expanding mouth. He could feel his organs sloshing about inside him as his bones became slightly softer and more bendable; his lungs expanded until they were the largest organ in his body as his eyes became smaller and turned squinty. His ears vanished, to be replaced by small holes, and even then they were covered by hardened skin that wrapped around his head in a way that resembled headphones. His arms and legs grew shorter as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his head, finishing the transformation.

Echo Echo quickly divided himself into eleven clones before each clone slapped the Omnitrix, each of them selecting a different alien as the girls edged closer and closer through the crowd of monsters.

His body began to grow as millions of muscles piled onto every part of his body, his fingers and hands swelling as alien blood pumped through his veins. Stitches appeared on his body as the transformation teared through his shirt, ripping it to shreds as patchwork skin took the place of his old one. A pair of green gauntlets formed on his hands as metallic bolts burst out from his body on his arms and back, twin gigantic conductors tearing out of his shoulders and crackling with electricity as a pair of black pants and large boots appeared on Ben. His jaw jutted outwards, a few teeth sticking out as his hair turned jet black and became long and shaggy. The final piece of the transformation was the Omnitrix popping out his right pectoral muscle, a large scar etching outwards from it as if the device had been ripped out of his body.

The first change was incredibly major. Ben could feel himself being literally cut into strips through some unseen force, as if being cut by a giant pair of invisible scissors. He could feel his bones and organs disappear altogether, and for a brief moment Ben wondered if he was going to die within seconds. Except he didn't. He could feel each strip of body vibrate with health, as if each were alive in its own way. Like magic, they twisted themselves make together into a crude, muscled figure with exaggerated fingers and toes made of thin strips. He could feel his face harden and become flat, turning pointed and green and black in color. The face plate sat itself on top of the bandaged shoulders as a green and black headdress appeared on his head, a wide collar appearing on his neck as two tendrils sprouted from his back. Black and green braces appeared on his arms and ankles, a green belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared around his thin waist, finishing the transformation.

Deep orange fur sprouted all over his body, as if a bomb filled with hair suddenly exploded inside of him. His lower jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharp and menacing. The wave of fur raced over his face, covering his eyes as they suddenly vanished all together. He could feel his ears disappearing as what felt like gills take their place. In actuality, they were sensitive ears able to pick up the tiniest of sounds. His shoulders and arms swelled as his dull nails became sharp claws. His legs twisted and formed into the hind legs of that of a dog as a thick green color appeared around his neck, the Omnitrix symbol in the middle.

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

He felt his flesh become slightly squishy and more stretchable, glancing as he turned a dark green in color, parts of his hips, shoulders, wrists, and knees turning black. Large, red and yellow thorns ripped out of his shoulders and arms as he grew taller and taller, his head just barely scraping the low ceiling of the sewer. His hands turned into yellow claws covered by a dull orange covering with small spikes on his knuckles as fleshy thorns popped out of his disappearing knee caps and melting toes. His entire skeleton seemed to vanish completely to be replaced by something like the stem of a plant. His felt his head become engulfed in a flesh flap as his ebbing skull became pointed and brightly colored. The flap suddenly split open, forming into a kind of collar as the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on his stomach, finishing the transformation.

The transformation started with his skin hardening. It became cold to the touch the metal plating raced to cover his arms and transform his fingers into metallic fingers. He felt all of his organs simply vanish, as if they had never been there before. For a split second, Ben thought he was going to die, until he felt something else take their place. Things that were rounded and notched around the ends as they began to steadily turn against each other, making a steady ticking sound. The metal plating soon covered his whole body as he felt his face become more square like. A thick protrusion sprouted from his head as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on a glass window that showed his insides turning against each other.

He felt himself taller and much more muscled as gray colored fur sprouted all over his body. His face bulged forward into a pointed muzzle, lined with sharp canine teeth as a black nose formed on the end. Organs sloshed around inside him and bones crunched and ground together as he felt said muzzle split into four ways and his fingers become longer and tipped with razor sharp claws that could easily slice through most objects. His toes melted into two, large talons as a third sprouted from his heel and a long, furry tail grew from the base of his spine. A mane of fur rose from the back of his neck as spikes rose from his elbows and shoulders. A green and black suit appeared on his body with green wrists bans and a collar around his neck with the Omnitrix symbol on it.

He felt the skin around his skull slowly vanish, as if some flesh eating parasite were eating at it. His skull slowly turned upside down as the bones ground and shifted with a sickening sound. The teeth became sharper as new, thicker skin covered his face and his eyes molded into one. His fingers turned into dagger like claws that felt like they could slice through someone's soul. His legs wrapped around each other into a sort of ghostly tail as thick, green chains formed around his neck and wrists. The Omnitrix appeared on his chest, the chains all meeting together at the same spot as a dozen writhing tentacles suddenly spilled forth from Ben's insides. The transformation was complete.

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 and Skurd appearing on his chest, completing his transformation.

Ben's skin slowly started to melt away, revealing dark red muscle underneath and multicolored organs that sat on his skeleton. The muscle and tissue began to dissolve soon after the skin had vanished, the internal organs liquidating into a thick soup that pulled together into a glowing, green sphere; Cleo thought she was going to be sick. His bones began to blacken as his toe bones crunched and ground together into toe claws as a thin film began to form over his bones in a sort of suit of some kind. The soup that was his organs began to expand, gathering mass as the suit soon became whole and the organ soup exploded, filling with the space inside the suit and giving it an ominous green glow. A pair of black shoulder pads appeared on the alien's shoulders, a belt forming around his waist with the Omnitrix on it, completing the transformation.

His frame shot up about three feet, drawing about even with Viktor Stein as ever last strand of hair was sucked back into his body, making him completely bald. His bare skin then slowly turned a light green as his jaw jutted outwards and his tongue became long and elastic, just barely staying inside his changing mouth. Before anyone could even seen the alien's eyes, a pair of dark sunglasses appeared on his face, discouraging the view as the transformation continued. Ben's fingers molded together into three digits as muscles piled themselves onto his arms, chest, and legs, his toes turning into two long digits. A black bodysuit with green cuffs on the wrists appeared on his body, a green stripe materializing on the clothing as an air tank of sorts appeared on his back. The Omnitrix appeared on the breathing device, the transformation complete.

"Pick whoever you like, ghouls, but this one's for me and Frankie." Frankenstrike declared as he took the cadaver's small hand in his gigantic fingers and led her out onto the dance floor with a grin on his face.

"Care to dance, beautiful?" Big Chill asked Bonita as she flushed a deep red.

"R-really?"

"Of course! I'm getting chills just looking at you!" the Necrofriggian cracked as both he and Bonita took to the air.

"How about me, handsome?" Nefera purred, tracing a finger over Snare-oh's collarbone area.

"If my queen commands it!" the Thep Khufan chuckled as Nefera pulled him to the dance floor.

"Grrrrraaahhh! RRRRRaaaaaaaGGGGHHHHH!" Wildmutt bellowed, happily licking Jane's cheek as she took hold of his half-evolved hand and nervously followed after Nefera and Snare-oh.

"May I have this dance?" Clockwork bowed to Robecca.

"You may, luv." she replied, kissing him on the cheek and following him on her rocket boots.

"How about you, Stinky? Can I dance with you?" Venus joked.

"Sure," Swampfire shrugged with a grin. "Just don't call me 'Stinky'."

"Whatever you say, Stinky." Venus grinned as the Methanosian groaned.

"Are you gonna stand there and be furry, or are ya gonna ask me to dance?" Clawdeen smirked at Blitzwolfer.

"I think I'll just stand here and watch you shake that cute ass of yours." Blitzwolfer grinned beofre running off as fast as he could with an angry, blushing Clawdeen armed with a smoothie she stole from a gremlin waiter.

"¿Quieres bailar, magnífico?" Bonez asked Skelita after tapping her on her bony shoulder.

"Sí. Me encantaría bailar con usted." Skelita replied with a smile, taking Bonez's hand and leading the hunched Esqueletian to the dance floor.

"Do I really need to say it?" Ghostfreak rasped as Whisp playfully tackled him from behind and dragged him up into the air with her, a seductive smile on her lips, as if she knew something none of the transformations knew.

"How about it?" XLR8 asked as he zipped from one side of Jinafire to the other faster than the dragon could blink.

"You must first slow down," Jianfire replied. "And then you and I may dance." she added as the Kinceleran flicked his tail excitedly.

"I guess that just leaves you and me, toots," Bullfrag grinned.

"Mmmm. I love strong men." Lilith purred. "Even if you are a frog."

"Really? What a coincidence," Bullfrag cracked. "I loves hot, sexy ghouls like yous."

"Hmmm, that is a coincidence." Lilith smiled. "Can you dance?"

"Not to save my life."

"Lucky for you, you won't have to!" Lilith laughed as she yanked Bullfrag towards the dance floor with where the other ghouls were dancing with their dates, with the exception of Clawdeen and Blitzwolfer; the werewolf was still trying to cream the Loboan over the head with her smoothy a the music started up and the lyrics began to play.

Heart thumps and you jump

Comin' down with goosebumps!

You dared to go there,

Ima-Ima get you so scared!

Snare-oh and Nefera rocked the Egyptian, their arms and legs bent into perfect angles as they shimmied back and forth in time to the music as Big Chill and Bonita twirled and flew overhead in a fantastic aerial show; Dragoon and Charmcaster danced some distance away, their feet easily gliding through the air as if they were on some invisible surface, most likely thanks to Charmcaster.

If you stayed in too late

To be afraid!

This scene extreme

I-I-I-Ima get you so scared!

Frankie grinned as Frankenstrike spun her around and pulled her close before getting a wicked grin on his face and suddenly tossing her up into the air. Frankie laughed and flipped and twirled as the Transylian juggled her between his hands as the song went into the chorus.

Gonna get your body shakin'

Wishin' you could just awaken!

Here we go!

Tonightall the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya!

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!
We're coming to get ya!

If you're only dreaming,

Why do I hear you screamin'?

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya! We're comin' to get ya!

Callin' all the monsters, callin' all the monsters!

Callin' all the, callin' all the, callin' all the monsters!

"Nice song." Swampfire commented as Venus had him spin her around before pulling him back into his embrace.

"Isn't it?" Venus asked, kissing the Methanosian on the cheek as the next verse came booming through the speakers.

You hide or you try

Kiss tomorrow goodbye!

We thrill to your chill

B-B-B-Buckin' for a freak-out!

We might just bite

Underneath the moonlight!

More fun if you run!

I-I-I-I'm I'm already chasin'!

Gonna get your body shakin'

Wishin' you could just awaken!

Here we go!

Tonightall the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya!

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!
We're coming to get ya!

If you're only dreaming,

Why do I hear you screamin'?

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya! We're comin' to get ya!

Callin' all the monsters, callin' all the monsters!

Callin' all the, callin' all the, callin' all the monsters!

Gonna paint it red

Get inside your head, head, head!

Like a demon choir

Playing with fire, fire, fire!

Gonna get your body shakin'!

Wishin' you could just awaken!

Here we go!

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya!

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya!

If you're only dreamin'!

Why do I hear you screamin'?

Tonight all the monsters gonna dance!

We're comin' to get ya!

Aye yeah-eh oh!

Aye yeah-eh oh!

Aye yeah-eh oh!

We're comin' to get 'cha!

Spectra smiled as the song ended, sitting on the bow of the boat and watching Ben's many transformations dance on the graveyard dance floor for the song, her heart fluttering when she saw Ghostfreak wink at her. Or blink? It was hard to tell with someone who only had one eye.

"Enjoyin' the party?" Porter asked, floating up to her side and resting an arm on the figure head.

"I guess." Spectra shrugged. "I just wish Ben asked me to dance."

"I was gonna, but I figured ya might wanna dance with ya friend before I use him as a chew toy." Blitzwolfer grunted as he hauled himself up the anchor chain of River's ship and slumped against the side, exhausted.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Porter asked.

"Never comment on a ghoul's butt, alright? That's my advice to you." Blitzwolfer panted before a Booberry smoothy was suddenly dumped on his head, the Loboan yelping with surprise as Clawdeen landed next to him, dusting off her hands. "I thought I last you at the booffet?" Blitzwolfer grumbled as he wiped the frothy, blue liquid off of his face.

"I can smell you a mile away Ben," Clawdeen smirked, pointing at her noise before turning to Spectra and Porter. "So, rumor has it, the ghosts and monsters are really hitting it off." she smiled.

"Hey, I think I read a blog post that said, 'There's nothing good about spreading rumors'." Porter grinned.

"I think this one is okay." Clawdeen laughed before turning to Blitzwolfer as he licking his hands to try and clean the patch of blue stained fur on his head. "And for you, Crüjo, follow me back to the dance floor and you can stare at my ass all ya want." she smirked; Blitzwolfer blinked as he watched her slide down the anchor chain like a fireman's pole before letting out a beastly howl that rocked the night.

"One dance, kid. Ya can have one dance with my ghoul," Blitzwolfer relented to Spectra and Porter as he hopped over the side of River's boat to chase after Clawdeen.

"I'm really gonna miss seeing you at school every day." Porter said with a sad smile.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Porter," Spectra smiled. "After all, we are a duo."

"Only when it comes to mysteries!" Porter said in a loud, quick voice in the hopes that Blitzwolfer had heard it and would not attempt to tear his guts out; once he was sure the Loboan had heard him, he pulled Spectra close to him and smiled, waving his hand and summoning a small army of paint cans he turned the both of them around and directed the paint cans to create a complex image on the wooden surface of River's ship in ghost paint. Once the colorful clouds had disappeared, a beautiful image of Spectra, Porter, Ben, and all the ghouls stood there starring back at them with bright smiles on their faces; Spectra noticed that both her and Porter's images were slightly bigger than the others.

"I still have a boyfriend." she reminded him sweetly.

"I know," Porter smiled. "But tonight, it's about us."

---

Twyla yawned and sat up in her bed, rubbing her bleary eyes as she starred at her rather simplistic and drab room; Boogiemen were not known for bright colors of fangtastic patterns. Yawning again, she shoved the covers off of her and swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare toes touching down on the wooden floor of her bedroom as she stretched and scratched her head. Her ears caught a dull noise coming from downstairs and, seeing as how her dad was away on a business trip and would not be back for a few more days, her curiosity was peaked.

She lifted herself off of the bed and snagged the twilight gray bathrobe that hung on the post of her bed; if there was an intruder in the house, she didn't want them to be able to see her black bra and panties underneath her gray nightgown. She quickly tied the robe tight around her stepped into the shadow that resided in her corner at the current hour and reappeared out of another a couple floors beneath her bedroom in a hallway with numerous doors on either side. She quickly opened one door that went into a storage closet and stepped inside before walking back out of it, reappearing on the door the farthest down the hall. Without much thought, she began a seemingly long and random trek through multiple doors and hallways that led to seemingly random and bizarre places before she came across the door she was looking for.

What sounded like disco music thumped loudly from the other side of the door that led into the Boogie Sand room, something that made Twyla rise an suspicious eyebrow as she strolled the hallway towards the doors, her feet scuffing quietly on the wooden boards as she finally came to the doors and pushed them open.

The music promptly stopped as she came across a rather bizarre and odd scene. Standing in front of her, frozen in mid step were the three Hall Moanitors dancing away to the disco music just as flashes of sand covered their bodies, transforming Past into a gigantic, hairy yeti wearing a pair of ragged, black pants, Future into slimy swamp monster with mucus green scales and dull, yellow fins, and Present into what Twyla could only guess was a vampire duck of sorts.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to sleep." Twyla yawned. "If your gonna have shape-shifting party, fine by me. Just do it somewhere else."

Before the changed Hall Moanitors could argue or protest, Twyla was shoving them into a broom closet that transported them out to the front door of the Boogie Mansion. "Take these with you." Twyla added, dumping a small collection of about a dozen bottles of Boogie Sand into their arms before depositing a jar of Ghost sand on top of the pile.

"Good night." Twyla mumbled, slamming the door in their faces and ignoring a startled "Quack!" from the other side as she lurched back to the Sand Room to make sure everything was still where it was, not including the sand she had given to the Hall Moanitors to make them leave. But when the Boogie girl got back there, she was in for a nasty surprise.

Every glass case was shattered, the bronze locks on the front either melted into a puddle or snapped in two while broken shards of glass dotted the floor. What was most terrifying however, was the fact that ever single jar of Boogie Sand was missing, everything from the Gargoyle Sand and Griffin Sand to the Dragon and Djinni Sand. Every last one of them was gone, vanished without a trace as Twyla felt tears come to her eyes. Her dad was rather laid back about Twyla using his Boogie Sand for special occasions or problems, but something as large scale as this was bound to make him absolutely furious. It was then, in her tears of worry and anxiety that Twyla noticed one small detail about the heist in her house: a single jar of dull, pink sand with a note taped to the front. Twyla quickly tiptoed across the sea of broken glass and picked up the jar in her trembling fingers.

"Plain and Deadening," Twyla whispered as she read over the label of the jar. "Normie Sand." She then quickly read over the same note taped to the jar, her fingers trembling with every sentence she read.

I am about to make those that have wronged, pay for their sins.

You are welcome.

S.M.

And there we go!

And that, my friends, brings an end to the Haunted Arc! And no, Spectra is not dating Porter. But what's this? A cliffhanger that will most likely lead into another hair raising, adrenaline rushing adventure for Ben and the ghouls! Indeed it is!

For those of you who want to see more romance between Ben and the ghouls that are and are not in his harem yet, do not worry! The next chapter is sure to please more than a few people, as well as make several people uncomfortable. I ain't saying what it is, but I'm pretty sure you might be able to guess.

And for those of you impatiently waiting for Ben to return to his own world, do not fret. I have had a word with Zak Saturday, the guy who gave me this wonderful idea, and I have made it clear that I want this to be nice and short, so expect all this to wrapped up in either one or two chapters.

Now then, I would also like to thank masterart for giving me the idea to use Calling All the Monsters for Ben's birthday party. For those of you with little, or no imagination, watch the music video by China Anne McClain and invision the ghouls and aliens in the place of China and the monsters.

And on a related note, I do not own Calling All the Monsters or A.N.T. Farm. Do not sue me!

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

Hasta Luego!