Monster High and Ben 10 do not belong to me.

This is a work of fiction.

Any resemblance to people, organizations, religions, and places is just a coincidence.

Possible grammar problems later.

Chapter 11: Many Things Change part 1


Thunder cracked the sky as the sound of a fierce fight echoed through the air.

Frankie watched with an expression full of fear and awe as two figures moved in a lethal dance, slicing through the raindrops as if they were static in the air.

A macabre dance that sought to subdue the rival.

The blood-red glow, the seawater-colored crystals that shattered the landscape.

The lightning in the sky, along with the dark symphony of sounds that both fighters provoked when they clashed their weapons, flooded the air.

The bolts in the young woman's neck were constantly short-circuiting due to the contact with the water, but this did not seem to distract her. She knew she couldn't stand in the rain or it would be dangerous for other people, but her body refused to obey her.

She was still, unable to move, and could only watch as two monsters tried to kill each other.

The clash of the vicious claws of the first, and the crystalline hands of the second momentarily stopped everything. It was as if time froze for a second. Even the raindrops seemed to avoid both fighters.

It was as if the world wished to avoid them both.

Frankie wanted to understand how it all ended so badly.

A flash of lightning broke through the stormy clouds, illuminating the darkness of the park just as the two combatants crossed attacks once again.

That night had started so well. It was her, her friends, a party, and full-on fun, she even met a fiery-looking monster boy. Fiery in a literal sense, his hair could light up in a blaze.

A perfect night and it just had to go on a little longer, just a little longer.

She wanted to spend more time with Holt and her friends, that's why she went with them to Riverfront, she just wanted to extend the fun, one, no, just half an hour more, and then she would go home and pretend nothing happened that night, that she was just in the garage watching movies inside the car.

A perfect plan. A flawless plan.

So... At what point did things go wrong?

Was it at the time that Jackson, her date that night, didn't show up?

Maybe it was when Cleo's older sister showed up to chase everyone away at the party.

Maybe it was when she and Lagoona argued about Jackson and Holt.

Perhaps.

Just maybe.

Fate was playing a very bad joke.


One hour ago...


Being a quiet Friday night and lacking any work to be done, the police station staff could afford to loiter.

Two people, in particular, were having a little chat, unaware that this tranquility would not last forever.

"I thought you weren't working today." A police officer commented. It was a brown-haired human male sitting at a computer, who spoke to another, black-haired one, who was pouring himself a glass of water. "That it was your day off."

Both performed their nightly duties as they should. Much to the chagrin of the latter, who did not look happy to be there.

"Ha! Tell that to Sheriff." He replied with annoyance. "After that stolen car fiasco and that strange ship, the Sheriff has been in a bad mood. Do you want to know what he said to me? "If you want to go home so badly to hear your wife talk about the stuff she bought online, you better drop your badge and leave!"." He repeated the words with a mocking, satirical tone and then drank from the glass of water in his hands. "Can you believe it? If it wasn't for me having to pay the mortgage, I'd throw my badge in his face."

His partner just nodded and answered him.

"It sounds moody. I, on the other hand, am enjoying my life." He said sarcastically and pointed at the computer screen.

"Are you kidding? Friday night and all you do is stand here taking crank calls from some brats with nothing better to do or noise complaints. We should be at a bar drinking." Said the second as he took a sip from his glass of water. "But at least I'm not filing the pap."

"Poor rookie, he sacrificed for everyone."

Both officers lowered their heads and remained silent for a few moments, thus showing their respect for their partner.

Their chat was interrupted by an incoming call, and the officer in front of the computer answered it.

"Nine, one, one, what is your emergency?"

"Hi. I'm calling to report a monster that won't let cars move forward. He's walking down the middle of the street." Said a voice on the other end of the line.

"All right. Tell me where you are and I'll send a patrol."

"What's wrong?" questioned the water-drinking officer with intrigue.

The first police officer signaled him to be quiet and began to type the information provided to him.

"Got it. We'll send a patrol. Please keep your distance." Once he ended the call, he turned to look at his partner with mild annoyance. "Don't you know when to shut up?"

"I'm curious. And..?"

"A monster seems to be causing a scene." He replied, his words coming out as if it was just another routine call and nothing special. "I'll call some patrol to go see what's going on."

"Call patrol car number ten."

"Why that one?"

"One of the officers on duty in that patrol car is a RAD."

"And what is a RAD?" he questioned in confusion.

"It is the sensitive term for calling monsters. It means, Regular Attribute Dodger." He replied to his partner. The cop just arched an eyebrow as he saw that his colleague was just presuming to know something he didn't. "Just call them, OK? It's better to have a RAD for these cases, we don't want to have those threads on Twitter cancelling the police."

"I guess you're right...since when do you use twitter?" confusion ensued at such information.

"I am modern."

The officer sitting at the computer just rolled his eyes. He wished his colleague would go off to do something more productive.


"Attention mobile units. A 32-13 has been reported, a lunatic appears to be causing a scene in the vicinity of Front St NE southbound. Suspect has been confirmed as a monster. Unit number ten, go apprehend this subject and prevent this from appearing on Twitter."

"Copy that..." replied the driving officer, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair. Next to her was a black and white cat man sitting and with a bored expression on his face, he just stared out the window. The officer gave him a sidelong glance and just drove to the reported location. "He's one of yours. You should do it yourself."

The cat man picked up the radio and spoke.

"Hey computer nerd, do you have anything else we should know? Dealing with a brother is fucked up if you don't know who you're dealing with. I don't want to end up with burnt whiskers."

"Don't call me a computer nerd. You will be fine, cat, according to the description it's... some kind of skeleton, it appears to be covered in a black jelly and possesses red markings all over its body."

"That sounds like something the K-9s would like to catch." He joked. From behind the common line came a loud laugh.

"Good joke, Puss with boots, don't you have a can of tuna to choke on?" questioned a new male voice.

"You've got a dog's attitude, dude."

"I'll hit this asshole when I see him."

"Don't use the radio for your marital squabbles, please." Asked the first voice.

"One question - how long have you been using Twitter?"

"Over and out." Replied in a neutral tone the first officer.

The cat man was about to say something else, but a light tap from his companion broke his concentration. He looked at her and she just motioned for him to look straight ahead. As he did so, he saw the suspect they were sent to arrest.

The woman parked the patrol car on the side of the street. In the vicinity of the Riverfront Park carousel. Several meters in front of the vehicle was a strange black skeleton, which walked with its arms dragging on the asphalt. For the cat man, the sight of this dark and strange figure was chilling. It was like seeing a being taken from another world, a world of horrors. Even his ears became straight and his pupils sharpened. This did not go unnoticed by his companion. She took that reaction as an alert and turned her attention to the strange monster that continued at a slow but steady pace.

"Relax, it's just like any other work day." Said the woman in an attempt to reassure him. "After this, beers are on me." Hearing that cheered up the cat man a bit, who nodded and they both walked over.

With each step they took, the figure of the skeleton became clearer and clearer. Its disproportionate appearance only made them feel shivers. Whatever kind of monster it was, it was sinister.

They both stopped a few steps in front of the suspect and the woman raised her hand to stop his advance. Unexpectedly, she managed to stop him. That being only cocked his head to one side, curious of those two entities in his path. For the cat man, that simple action was enough to get on his nerves. His instincts were screaming at him that it was better to leave as soon as possible. That this thing, whatever it was, was unnatural and at the same time, it was a danger.

"Ladies first?" the cat man said with a smile, but only received an arched eyebrow. "You're the one with the gun, I just got a taser."

"We won't use any one, it will be a quick thing." Replied the woman. "Cheer up Tom, at least we're getting paid."

The werecat let out a sigh and merely nodded and turned his attention to the strange skeletal monster in front of them.

"Sir. We have been informed that you have been causing a disturbance and have been hindering traffic. Please escort us to the station."

"FeeeeEEeeeaaaaarrrrr." He said in a reverberated, cybernetic voice.

His response was unintelligible to them. It was like listening to a distorted word through an audio synthesizer.

The beastman swallowed saliva and walked past his companion approaching the strange skeleton and speaking to it.

"Take it easy, buddy. I'll just be a moment, okay? You just..." he narrowly dodged the large hand of the skeletal monster who tried to grab him.

"hey!" the policewoman drew her gun and pointed it at the skeletal monster. "Don't make any sudden moves! I'm warning you!"

The suspect looked at her. Sweat ran down the woman's face as she saw that strange head look in her direction, that mouth full of sharp black teeth and solitary red eye. It was like seeing a nightmare incarnate.

The commotion began to attract the attention of passersby and people in the vicinity. From the Riverfront sidewalk, some people were looking towards the policemen and the skeleton, some even had their cell phones or ICoffins pointed towards them, recording what was happening.

"Murphy! Put that down!" shouted her companion. The cat man noticed the crowd watching the scene and warned his partner. "They're recording! They'll fuck you up if you don't put that gun down!"

The woman kept looking at the skeleton, which did not take its eyes off her.

"Cuff this guy. He's starting to give me the creeps." ordered Officer Murphy to which her partner nodded.

"It's okay. Just..." the cat man looked at the monster and swallowed saliva. That thing was getting on his nerves and they'd barely been with him for a few minutes. "Okay buddy, put your hands out front and let's go to the patrol car."

"Faaa...theerr... " The guttural voice of the skeletal monster got on the cat man's nerves.

"All right friend, we'll look for your father, but you must come without causing any more trouble."

"Faa...aaaAAAAA... THeeeerEEERRR"

"I think he's out of his mind." Commented the woman with some distrust. "Just cuff him."

"Sounds easier said than done." The cat man swallowed saliva and began to approach the strange monster. "Damn... he's tall." He thought as he saw the considerable size difference. "Okay, buddy, I'll put these in your hands and we'll look for your dad, okay?"

There was no response, which only made him tenser.

Gathering all his courage, the cat monster pulled out a pair of handcuffs, ready to learn the strange skeleton, but when he tried to grab one of its arms, it turned liquid and fell to the ground.

"What the..." he didn't manage to finish speaking as the skeleton threw a punch. The blow, or rather, the push, was so strong that the cat man went flying several meters until he hit a tree. The blow made him release the handcuffs and fall to the ground with severe back pain.

"Son of a...!" the police officer raised her gun again and pointed it at the skeleton. "Get down on the ground!"

The monster looked at her again. No. He looked at her auburn hair.

"Didn't you hear me, get down on the ground!" Malware looked at her. He looked at that human woman, her face and appearance distorted as if the information shown to him was corrupted.

Then there was no longer a woman there, but a human boy with brown hair.

He took a step toward her.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" another step. "Stop it!"

"Teee...nny... sooooooon." in the monster's mind, in an instant, the figure of the woman transformed into that of a brown-haired teenager, but her face was blurred, for him, seeing her face was like seeing corrupted and damaged information.

"Don't take another step!"

The woman's finger trembled on the trigger of the gun. Seeing that monster approaching her with unknown intentions played with her nerves and by accident, she pressed the trigger.

BANG

Murphy blanched. She fired her gun and the projectile hit the monster's neck. She could see through the wound, which should be fatal, but it wasn't, that monster was still standing as if nothing happened to him. What's more, it continued to advance.

She, unable to think of any other way to end things, once again fired a few shots.

BANG. BANG. BANG

Three consecutive shots were fired by a frightened woman. Three shots that hit the target, did nothing.

"TeeeEEEEEnnnyyyyyyyyyyiiiyyyysoooooooon." Her guttural voice only added to the woman's fear, which shot back

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG... CLICK... CLICK... CLICK... CLICK...

The gun cartridge was emptied after a consecutive series of shots, and only the click of the gun trigger sounded.

Murphy stood trembling as she stared at the huge monster in front of her. She could see its body with nine different holes in it, but it was still standing. She only watched as the monster stumbled awkwardly forward and its body began to regenerate wounds.

Unable to do anything else, the monster was already upon her, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her.

In the eyes of the monster, that woman was not a woman, but a human teenager. A teenager that... that...

Remembering that hurt him. The information was fragmented and all the data was scattered. Although they were slowly coming together, the pain they made him feel was not pleasant.

He did not want to feel pain.

He did not want to feel pain.

Then why were they hurting him?

Why did his father allow that?

"Whryyyyyyy..." the woman in his hand was unable to answer him and understand him, she only struggled to get loose, little by little her strength was diminishing due to the lack of oxygen, and soon she would fall unconscious.

"Fucking asshole!" a scream of rage accompanied by a glow of light blue took over.

The body of the monstrous skeleton had an extremely aggressive reaction when it came into contact with the electric shock of the taser in the hands of the cat monster.

That strange monster felt something, something strange and unpleasant. Pain. A lot of pain. Large amounts of pain. It was so much pain. But it also felt like something else. He felt fear, he felt anger and hatred. The hatred directed at someone. Hate towards... Ben Tennyson.

So it was that his body reacted violently to the shock. His nanomachines went out of control. Bubbles formed in the area where he received the shock and, as if they were pustules, they exploded, staining the asphalt and both law enforcement officers.

In the mind of the black and red monster, hundreds of thoughts began to emerge. Thoughts that he could not comprehend and that piled one on top of the other, thus beginning to saturate his head.

Distorted images. Incomplete thoughts. Mixed emotions. All in a short time.

All that made him feel pain and, consequently, he let go of the woman and launched a blind attack in an attempt to destroy those images. Trying to destroy those thoughts and emotions. Trying to destroy that brown-haired human that hurt him.

The werecat was struck in the abdomen by a tentacle-like protrusion that emerged violently from the monster's back, being thus, once again, thrown away from the monster and its companion.

The skeleton monster was angry. No. He was angry. The pain his body felt was no match for the pain in his mind. More and more new information was appearing and mixing with the existing one. He was trying to eliminate those things, he didn't want to feel pain.

ERROR.

It was the first message that popped into his head. Followed by another, and then another, until everything in his mind was covered by a single message.

The word ERROR written in huge red letters was written in his mind.

Why was I watching that?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?!

WHY?!

"It is a failure..."

A male, disembodied voice with a slightly nasal tone said that from the back of his mind.

No... He was not a failure...

CATASTROPHIC FAILURE IN THE MEMORY CELLS...

He just wanted... Recognition...

INITIATING RESTORATION PROCESS...

He wanted his father to recognize him...

INITIATING... 1%...

He was not a failure... He... He... He was...

MALWARE

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR

The monster's roar echoed through the air, causing the windows of nearby cars to shake and crack and their alarms to start blaring.

Police Officer Murphy watched from the ground with wide eyes as the creature roared with monstrous anger and several tentacle-like protrusions emerged from its body.

The monster, wounded and frightened, threw a punch at the woman, hitting her with ease as she was in shock. The woman landed on the door of a car, denting it, and then falling to the ground in a state of semi-consciousness, a line of blood began to run down her face as the creature once again let out a roar.

The last thing the officer could see before she fell unconscious was that nightmarish creature charging like a wild animal towards some cars and then a big glow before everything went black.


Almost at the same time, Lagoona had returned with her friends, who were still standing in line to get on the carousel. The young girl saw Clawd and Draculaura holding each other's arms and talking to each other while Clawdeen had a slightly annoyed and bored expression. A small chuckle escaped her lips, the werewolf still didn't seem to accept that relationship.

"Hey, where's Firecrak?" questioned Holt when he saw that she had returned alone.

The young woman was not going to tell him anything about their talk, so she opted for the second option, to distract him with a different topic. Although she did not know what could distract the young man, seeing that many people were looking towards the street and that there was a police patrol there, she realized that this was her opportunity.

"What's going on over there?" she asked pointing a finger. Holt looked over his shoulder and shrugged, instead Clawdeen replied.

"Maybe is a crazy person or something." Said Clawdeen. Lagoona was going to question her how she knew that, but the girl pointed to her wolf ears first. "Enhanced hearing."

"Sometimes I forget that..."

BANG

The sound of a gunshot interrupted the young woman, and in turn, caused everyone in the place to look toward the point of origin.

BANG. BANG. BANG

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG...

A whole burst of gunshots was fired. Some people began to flee the place, frightened. Mothers and fathers took their children who did not understand what was happening, and at the same time, people with morbid curiosity approached the place with their phones and ICoffins, ready to record.

"Clawd..." Draculaura clung tightly to her boyfriend, who tried to keep a calm expression so as not to alarm her further.

"Easy." Despite hugging her and telling her that, the werewolf was nervous. He looked at his sister. They didn't need to talk to communicate at that moment. It was better to leave the place.

"We'd better go find Frankie." Clawdeen said and everyone agreed, except Holt, who did so a little reluctantly, as he wished he could get closer to look.

"She stayed near the playground." Lagoona added.

The group, ready to retreat, walked in the opposite direction of the crowd, but Clawd and Clawdeen were forced to cover their ears when a thunderous roar pierced the air.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!

The ghouls looked worriedly at their friends, who gritted their teeth while covering their ears. The roar only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to stun them.

And so the chaos began.

After the roar, there was an explosion, accompanied by a column of fire. People began to flee from whatever caused it.

Not knowing what was happening, Lagoona looked around. That's when she saw black tentacles clinging to the top of the Riverfront Carousel building. These were used to propel a creature that to the young girl was unknown.

The legs of that being slid along the tiles, but its feet changed shape, adapting to its need and creating claws that dug into the ceramic, shattering it and fixing it there.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!

The bestial alien leaned back and roared into the stormy skies. The three tentacles emerging from its back darted in random directions, catching two poor unsuspecting souls.

The third rushed toward a girl with pink and black hair who had been petrified with fear when she saw him appear.

"Watch out!" the same girl was pushed aside by the blue-skinned, red-haired young man. "OH, shiiiiiiiiiiiit!" was his cry as he was thrown through the air in a random direction.

The young monsters who saw their friend being flung through the air were petrified to see the creature a little more than twenty feet away. One of them, the brown-haired wolf woman, wore an expression of complete astonishment. That monster. No, that thing was not a monster. That was an alien.

That alien was similar to another one she already knew, but her thoughts stopped and she was overcome with terror when that thing looked in her direction.

Those blade-shaped black teeth, that slender, disproportionate body, and that swirling red eye that adorned his face. The combination of a nightmare incarnates.

And what was even worse. That thing, it was looking at them.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!

He roared and menacingly bared his claws.

Malware's chaotic mind was not making him see reality, only fragments of it, which in turn were mixed with other images, with other memories.

To Malware, those two brown-haired young men were no ordinary teenage werewolves. No. To Malware, they both looked the same way, with a face that irritated him and green eyes that mocked him.

TENNYSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

This time, his roar was not a roar, it was a scream. A scream full of rage and rancor.

"Run!" the werewolf man grabbed the werewolf girl by the arm and pulled her away from the scene along with the girl with black and pink hair. Despite this, the werewolf woman could not stop looking at that alien.

Clawdeen saw how it jumped from the roof of the carousel and fell to the ground, breaking it with the impact and, as if it were an animal, began to run towards them on all fours. Such was his speed that it did not take him long to catch up with them.

When Clawdeen saw the thing leaping, reaching out to catch them, she reacted out of pure instinct and pushed her brother and Draculaura to the side, and she and Lagoona were thrown in the opposite direction.

The alien crossed between them and given the force of his jump, he continued his journey a few more meters, falling near a group of people who had not escaped from the area.

When they saw him fall in their midst, they opened their eyes, but no one could do anything when, from the alien's back, his tentacles attacked. They launched themselves towards one of the unfortunate ones, wrapping his right leg and arm, and then pulled him and used him to hit others.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!

He roared again, then turned to where his original target was.

People were running around, desperate and terrified, crossing into the alien's field of vision, but to him, they were blobs, vague silhouettes with static that prevented him from seeing his targets.

All that tumult of people fleeing in panic made it more difficult for Malware to focus on the objects. Everything was moving. He saw everything as if it had static. His mind, unable to process the information correctly, only made him feel more ill at ease.

Accompanying these failures, every nanomachine in his body failed, causing pain throughout his body. Everything hurt. Everything burned with pain. And he didn't want to feel pain.

Driven by anger and fear, the out-of-control mechamorph tried to push those things away from his vision, throwing punches in the air, trying to cut them with his claws. Unable to do so, its rage only increased.

As if giving warning of something, the lines of his body began to light up at the same time as a small projection of red and orange light formed in his eye.

The mechamorph unconsciously launched its attack and the energy it had accumulated shot to the front, hitting the carousel, causing a huge explosion and raising a column of fire.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!

Malware bent its body backward as it opened its claws and roared into the skies, ushering in a dark event for the city of Salem.

A helicopter belonging to a city news channel appeared in the sky, flying over the park and focusing its searchlight on that red-black monster, which looked up, his eye receptors only saw a powerful glow that prevented him from locating what was up there, he raised his hands to cover himself from the glow, but it was still annoying, so he roared towards the helicopter in a threatening way. On the other side, people were trying to flee the park, others were on the ground due to stumbling while fleeing or being pushed by others in their escape. The commotion caught the attention of the alien, who let out a roar and began to chase the fleeing people.

"Help!" shouted one who was hit by Malware and caught by the tentacles, Malware had no qualms about jumping on his back and smashing him to the ground, sending him easily into unconsciousness.

With his prey down, the alien approached her face and examined it, she had brown hair. Brown hair he hated, but... it wasn't that person. Being so close, the image was clear, the static disappeared and he could see.

He grunted as he realized it wasn't who he was looking for and lifted his head, looking for the next one, when he saw a brown-haired, green-skinned woman, he darted after her.

Realizing that she was now the target, she tried to flee, gracefully leaping over the crowd and away to the nearby children's playground. In desperation, she tried to use the fleeing crowd to evade the monster that was now hunting her, but to her unpleasant surprise, it seemed to know precisely where she was, and could also jump as high as she could, if not higher.

The alien fell on one of the sets, shattering the metal and wood of which it was composed, and rested its only eye on the woman, who wanted to escape again, but making use once more of its powerful legs, the alien jumped towards her and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

"Please, I have a family! CROAK!" the woman let out a croaking, frog-like croak. Malware cocked his head to the side, confused as to what kind of creature this was, but his curiosity faded very quickly, it wasn't who he was looking for, so he just roared in her face and threw her out of his sight.

He didn't understand why there were so many, but none of them was him! Where was he?! That person who hurt him! Why?! Why?!

WHY WASN'T HE APPEARING?!

A sizzling sound was heard and the alien turned around. There he saw a young woman of humanoid appearance, black and white hair, so she was not the one he was looking for, but... her neck was sparking.

The little flashes of electricity awakened another memory in his mind. How he was fighting against... something... something that... was black... and white... And that could handle electricity.

The alien felt even more furious and roared. At last, it had found him.

TEEEEENNNYYYYYYYSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

He bellowed angrily and lunged toward the girl, mistaking her for the person he wished to meet.

Frankie Stein stood with a terrified expression and was unable to move. She just watched in slow motion as that creature so similar to Upgrade charged at her.

All around him, the world seemed to be falling apart, all because of a single creature. A creature that she could see closer and closer. That nightmarish figure created so much chaos and that was just a few steps away from her.

She could not think, fear, dread, nerves, and emotions slowly building up in her and causing her bolts to release sparks out of control.

The alien reached out its claws toward her, wanting to catch her and harm her beyond imagination, but when its vicious hands came within an inch of the young woman, a great electric shock ensued.

From the sky seemed to have fallen a lightning bolt of celestial color that shattered the ground and drove the monstrous creature away from the young girl.

Malware took a great deal of damage given his machine-like biological makeup, and the energy overload liquefied one part of his nanomachines and caused another part to go haywire, creating little tendrils all over his body that vibrated and fell apart into nothingness.

In his head, a message was present.

ELECTROMAGNETIC DAMAGE DETECTED

He managed to regain control of himself, but signs of electricity could still be seen throughout his body, as small electrical charges emanated from his body.

Stunned and furious, he searched with his eye for that girl, and he found her on the floor with her eyes closed. He felt happy at that, but not satisfied, he was going to get his revenge!

"Open fire!" as he approached, part of his head exploded and stained the ground and some of Frankie's clothing, but he quickly regenerated and rolled over. Only to take another shot and then another and another.

He roared at his attackers, and though they barely managed to damage him, they stood in his way. He was silenced when once again a portion of his head was blown into a two-inch hole.

He looked at the girl, but she was no longer in the place. This made him angry and he hurried to look for her. He saw two people walking away with the girl on the back of the taller person. He was enraged at that and wanted to go after them, but another hail of bullets held him in place.

He looked at the policemen, and even though he was only acting like a wild animal driven by vague memories and emotions, he knew one thing for sure, if he wanted his revenge, he had to get rid of the hindrances.


Darkness, was all around him he could see, despite this, he felt, felt that underneath him something was poking him, along with a burning sensation, as if he had hit his abdomen. His ears picked up distant sounds of sirens could be heard, blurred as if they were passing through a filter.

"Run! Here it comes!"

"step aside freak!"

"Please! Somebody help me!"

Screams... Were those... screams? Why was I hearing screams?

A dazed Jackson began to sit up. His head was spinning and his vision was blurry, this was because he was missing his glasses for some reason.

The boy felt a twinge in his back, realizing that he was in a clump of bushes for some other reason.

"Where...am I?" he questioned as he tried to get out of the bushes. "What am I doing in some bushes? Wait, what time is it! The party, I have to..." the boy was silenced as a person tackled him, dragging him with him into the bushes and through them until he hit the ground.

This person was none other than Clawdeen, who together with Lagoona hid there to avoid the vision of that sinister alien.

"Ah, what's the matter, am I going to be robbed?!" he questioned, confused, surprised, and frightened by the sudden appearance. Not having his glasses, the teenager's myopic eyes only let him see vague colored spots with poorly defined silhouettes, forcing him to squint his eyes to focus.

"What... you... no one is going to rob you! Be quiet and duck!" replied Clawdeen. The boy was about to question what was going on when suddenly gunshots rang out.

Lagoona and Clawdeen peered through the bushes toward the source of the bushes. Halfway across the park, a group of nine policemen was facing off against the alien.

They saw the alien stumble when one of his legs was pierced by a bullet, creating a gap between his nanomachines, and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Why does it keep moving!" shouted one of the policemen, disturbed at the image of that entity.

Without being able to foresee it, Malware's arms stretched out towards the policemen, deforming their length and thus gaining reach. He managed to catch two of them and pull them up to use them as shields to stop the gunfire.

"aaaaahg!" they shouted as they took damage from the crossfire.

"cease fire!" ordered a policeman not knowing that this was not a good idea.

The mechamorph quickly disposed of its hostages, throwing them in opposite directions. One hit the carousel, shattering some parts and the other was thrown in a random direction.

"What the hell is this thing! why don't the bullets do anything to it!?" shouted one of the policemen, horrified at such a living nightmare. "aaah!" he screamed as he was caught by two of the mechamorph's tentacles, which wrapped around him and pulled him in.

Using it as a blunt weapon to attack the other policemen. Malware turned his body, and the trapped policeman hit three others and then was thrown toward others in an opposite direction.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Once again, in a desperate attempt to stop him, or at least slow him down, the policemen began firing at him but only succeeded in infuriating him.

RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!

Malware lunged toward one of the policemen and caught the officer's leg and let out a piercing scream as he was lifted into the air and used as a blunt weapon to strike his fellow officers. He was rocked from left to right, hit one of his partners, then another, and used as a mask to attack three others only to finally, bored of his weapon, Malware got rid of him by spinning to gain speed so he could throw him away.

The alien switched to a much more active attack. Its body turned liquid and it lunged like a shapeless mass toward the policemen, pummeling them like an out-of-control bull.

Malware didn't care about those blurry, static-filled images. No. All Malware cared about was catching those brown-haired beings. He was going to get revenge. He was going to get revenge.

TENNYSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Both girls were disturbed to witness such a scene. It was like watching a horror movie, only the monster was in the real world and nothing seemed to be able to stop it.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" questioned the frightened boy, unable to see anything but silhouettes.

"Were you asleep!" replied Clawdeen. "That thing is tearing up the park!"

"Thing? Park? I don't... I don't get it. I should be at a party and..."

All three opened their eyes when a red lightning bolt streaked across the sky and managed to hit a news helicopter that was flying over the area.

They watched as the flying vehicle plummeted near the southern part of the park, away from where they were.

"What... what the hell is that thing?" whispered a terrified Lagoona, unable to look away from the black and red monster.

Clawdeen gave her a sidelong glance but said nothing. She knew what it was, it was impossible to be confused, and the similarities were clear. It was an Upgrade. Of course, she wasn't going to say it, but she questioned why that thing was attacking in such an aggressive and uncontrolled way, the opposite of Upgrade, who had a more jovial and friendly personality.

"Later if you want to ask him, do it." She replied sarcastically to her friend. Her expression turned worried and she tried to look past the chaos, searching for her brother and friends. "We have to find them, even that red-haired fool. You said you saw him flying in this direction. Well, where is he?"

"I'm sure I saw it! But I'm also worried about Frankie! I left her alone!"

"You two had an argument? I hope that bolt brain is okay."

"Excuse me...You said...Frankie?" both girls turned to look at the boy, who had his eyes half closed in an attempt to be able to see without his glasses. "Frankie Stein?"


At least twenty minutes had passed since the chaos swept through the city of Salem. People had long since fled the area and police officers had cordoned off three blocks around the park. Some unfortunate people did not escape in time, but hid in nearby buildings, hoping that the nightmare would be just that and they would soon open their eyes in their beds.

Inside one of those buildings next to the park, Frankie Stein was on the floor. Her beautiful attire was ruined by several dirt and dirt stains. The cold earthenware floor and the warmth of her body gave her opposite and unpleasant sensations, which made her open her eyes.

Disoriented and dazed, she began to sit up and look around her. She could not think, the fear, the pain, the emotions building up in her and causing her bolts to spark, but they could barely do so, it was as if all her energy had been drained.

She tried to stand up, but she couldn't, her body felt heavy. It was then that she saw a blurry figure approaching her, she tried to move anyway, to flee or defend herself, but she couldn't, she felt very weak, very weak.

Fortunately for her, her vision cleared, showing her that the figure was none other than Clawd Wolf, Clawdeen's older brother. The boy seemed relieved to see her awake, so he held out his hand, helping her to her feet.

"Clawd?" she asked with some difficulty, her head was spinning and she almost fell again, but the boy managed to catch her. "What... happened?"

The boy was silent, he wasn't sure what to say, he didn't know, he didn't understand what was going on. He didn't understand and he wanted to understand. Whatever that creature was out there fighting the police had managed to unleash pandemonium all by himself.

"What matters is that we made it to safety." He said.

Frankie said nothing, his head still spinning. He needed to lie down just a little.

"Frankie!" preventing her from resting, a small black and pink figure tackled her, giving her a tight hug. Frankie looked down, finding Draculaura. The little vampire was hiding her face in her chest, but Frankie could tell for sure, her friend was crying. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaimed between sobs.

Frankie let her friend hug her, even though she barely had the strength to stand.

A few minutes later, Draculaura managed to calm down, her makeup had been ruined by tears, leaving black furrows on her rosy cheeks.

The three young men were still inside the building, hidden behind a black felt sofa at the entrance of the building.

Clawd was leaning out, peering through the glass panes that made up the front.

Despite being so exposed there, they did not move, because that strange monster seemed to be concentrating on his fight against the police, which seemed rather one-sided.

Draculaura was in the center and Frankie at the opposite end, both girls seemed to be almost in a trance, but for different reasons. Fear dominated Draculaura's heart, while Frankie's mind was trying to understand what was going on.

Why? Frankie wondered in her head. Why did things take this turn? She had just been out having fun with her friends.

He couldn't help but direct the blame on someone who wasn't there. Upgrade. That other alien was like him, she was sure, which meant they must be related somehow. Her mind told her, this new alien appeared within a week of Upgrade's appearance, was his friend a lying invader and not the good-natured, friendly space boy he claimed? Was it all a plan to bring in more like him?

She did not want to believe that her good intentions had been used in such a way.

"I can't get a glimpse of Clawdeen." Clawd's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Shit. I should have been more careful, now she's..."

Draculaura held her boyfriend's hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"Clawdeen is strong, and besides she's with Lagoona, she won't let her do anything foolish." Draculaura's words, though full of fear, showed the confidence she had in her friend. The werewolf hesitated a bit but decided to remain calm for her boyfriend and nodded.

Frankie looked at the interaction the two of them had, that trust and love. She wanted to experience that, but all she got that night was being trapped in a building with a lunatic alien tearing up the park.

"I'll go see if I can find a way out the back, stay put." Said the boy, and as best he could, he slunk gruffly around the place, avoiding in any way being visible to the outside.

Both girls were left alone. Frankie looked at her friend, who wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her outfit. She wondered if her friend also believed this was all Upgrade's fault.

Was it? Only Upgrade himself could give her an answer, but she had no way of contacting him. Even if that wasn't the case, what would she tell him? Hey, is that guy destroying the park your friend? Did you lie to me? Would she yell at him and tell him she hated him?

Suddenly, a silver-colored object appeared in front of her and brought her back to reality.

Frankie blinked as she recognized the object, it was the translator Upgrade gave her so she could understand it. She looked at her friend, Draculaura had it, to her surprise.

"When we brought you here with Clawd, this fell out of your pocket." she explained. Not knowing what to say, Frankie took that object in her hands and looked at it. "Do you think he'll come to help us?" her friend's question made her look at her again. The vampire had a droopy, unsure expression.

What could she say to her? No, this must be his fault. Cleo was always right and we made a mistake.

The words didn't come, she just remained silent, but her friend spoke again.

"I know it sounds silly, but...I want to trust him. He was kind and helped me when I sprained my ankle." Frankie opened her eyes, remembered, and remembered that first night, how the alien interacted and behaved. How it helped her friend and at all times tried to keep her or any of her friends from getting caught by the police for following it. "And also when those humans insulted me, he stood up for me and dented their truck. That was funny." Despite the bad situation, the little vampire found the strength to laugh at what happened that day.

Frankie stood silently, looking at the object in her hands and reevaluating her friend's words and her thoughts.

Was he a bad guy? At first glance, he didn't seem so, and his actions only reinforced this image. He never attacked anyone he tried to avoid being discovered at all costs. He helped if required and tried to be a kind person.

Frankie just looked at the object in her hands. That device that Upgrade had entrusted to her, was something that was valuable but that she handed over without further ado. That strange device was still largely unknown to him, but he was aware that it could translate his language.

Staring at the red crystal of the artifact, she remembered something.

Frankie remembered that night when she couldn't sleep and was investigating that device the green and black alien handed her.

A red light emerged and she pushed the device away from her face as she was blinded by the sudden flash.

"What is this?" he muttered as he saw that a holographic screen had opened up over the device. To his surprise, the words were written in English and not some strange language.

Her eyes roamed over all the options in front of her, she was starting to feel confused. That thing had the basic functions of a phone, a computer, and several other things.

"Map?" she read and curiously brought her finger closer and pressed the holographic key. The image changed, showing several black squares and a red dot in the center. While it did not show anything resembling a map, it did show something else, a green dot a little to the left of the center dot.

She didn't need to be a genius, the center point was her current position, but what was the green dot?

She looked away from the object for a few seconds and observed his surroundings. The green dot was a little to his left, but to her left was only the window overlooking the garage.

"It's... detecting Upgrade?" she was confused, she didn't understand why on earth that device would detect its original owner.

Without realizing it, she touched the green dot and a holographic tab appeared in front of her.

Connection failure. Omnimatrix has been detected. A wireless connection is required.

"Omnimatrix?" the young woman didn't understand what he meant by those words. What was an Omnimatrix? And why could that device connect to that?

She tapped the holographic screen again, not sure what she was about to connect to, but she wanted to get an answer. Once again an error message appeared on the screen.

Connection failure. Failed to connect wirelessly to the Omnimatrix bidirectional communication system.

She opened her eyes as she remembered that. The Omnimatrix, whatever it was, she remembered accidentally discovering that this device could establish a communication channel with the Omnimatrix.

Hope dawned on the young woman. Maybe with that device, she could call Upgrade and he could come to help them. She was about to press the red crystal, but before doing so she stopped.

She still doubted the alien. She couldn't be sure, maybe it was all part of his evil plan.

"What's wrong?" asked Draculaura on seeing her so tense.

She looked at her friend. Seeing her in such a pitiful state filled her with remorse. She had in her hands the option of getting help from someone who could be very helpful in this situation, but she would not call him for fear that her doubts were real.

"Draculaura." She said in a trembling voice. The vampire paid attention to his words. "You... trust in Upgrade?"

The vampire was confused by this question. Trust Upgrade?

"I... I want to trust him." She replied, at the same time hugging her legs and pulling her knees close to her chest. "He's been a very kind boy. I also have doubts. That other alien is just like him, but at the same time he's very different. Upgrade is someone kind and peaceful, I know, my heart tells me so. I think he is a good boy. Don't you think so? He helped you erase the photos from Toralei's camera, remember?"

Frankie took in her friend's words. Draculaura, who had a huge heart, trusted Upgrade, and rarely was the vampire wrong about people. So she decided to ignore logic and follow her friend's words.

So she pressed the red crystal, but nothing happened. This lack of response filled her with despair. Frankie cleaned the device as best she could and pressed it again, but again it did not respond.

"Please... just... work..." she implored as she continued to press against him and rest her forehead on this one. "You have to work... please..." she said in desperation. Her uncontrolled emotions caused her bolts to release a few sparks.

The energy emanated by her was accidentally transferred to the device due to the close contact and it was then that it responded to the girl's commands.

The holographic screen opened before her and her friend, who watched in fascination. Frankie was relieved to see the red projection, but she wasted no time and hurried to look once again for the option that allowed the Omnimatrix to communicate.

"Please. You have to work." She prayed as she watched on the screen, a gray circle spinning, a sign that it was processing her command.

The seconds seemed to take forever for her, but as fate would have it, a message appeared that cheered her up.

Bidirectional communication was established... Connected to the Omnimatrix.

"Upgrade!"


Several blocks from the Riverfront, a car driven by Frankenstein's monster man was cruising the city streets. Beside him was a woman with the same features in the passenger seat and a human teenager in the back seat.

That human was Ben, who watched with boredom as houses and various buildings passed by the sides of the vehicle.

"Why do I have to go with you?" he questioned, the boy wanted to go to the park to help stop whatever was going on, but since he still didn't have the watch he had to resign himself to following the monster couple's orders.

"You will not leave our sight until this whole situation is cleared up." Viktor replied. "You and Frankie have some explaining to do."

"What else is there to explain?" he asked again in a tone full of impatience. "I've already told you who I am and where I come from, why do you still not believe me?"

This time, it was Viveka who responded.

"You said you're a human who transforms into aliens thanks to his watch and comes from an alternate reality." She enumerated, earning a confused expression from the young human.

"But that's the truth."

"Now repeat that out loud."

"I'm a human who transforms into aliens and... ooooh." Ben was silent as he realized that to people who weren't used to such things it sounded crazy, even though he was well aware of the multiverse. "I see the point. But I still don't understand why you don't want to give me my watch back and let me go help in the park."

"Nothing assures us that you won't escape, besides, there are specialized people for cases like these, let them do their job."

"At least I get my watch back?"

"No."

"Gosh, how strict." He complained.

"Don't expect us to be nice, we don't know who you are, as far as I'm concerned, you approached my daughter with bad intentions," Viktor replied. Viveka for her part silently denied it, she could see through her husband's words, it was her father's jealousy speaking for him.

"Yeah, I wanted to end up in another world too, with no way to get back home and four girls sniffing around my ship." He replied sarcastically as he returned his gaze to the streets. "I prefer your version from the movies, he looked nicer."

"I heard you."

They continued traveling a few more streets until Viktor was forced to stop the car. On the street, several people were standing by their cars because the police had blocked off the streets. Besides them, other people, curious about what was happening, gathered to look towards the Riverfront. The column of smoke was visible from that location.

Curious onlookers of all shapes and sizes were in the area, both human and monsters as the place was at a midpoint between the human and monster halves of the city.

"Let me through! My son is in the park!" shouted a human-looking woman with reddish-brown hair, who was arguing loudly with the policemen, but they didn't give her a chance.

In the Stein vehicle, Ben watched everything with increasing trepidation, his duty as a hero urging him to plunge headlong into danger, even though it was unknown. He had to do something. He had to do something.

"We'd better go down another street." Viktor said.

Seeing the smoke, seeing the people arriving, running away from whatever was going on, was filling the human with anxiety. Along with this, a feeling of discomfort was affecting him as well. Ever since he saw that red beam on the news channel he began to feel something familiar. He had to go, no matter what, he had to go.

Bidirectional communication was established.

The muffled voice of the Omnitrix AI was heard, drawing the attention of everyone inside the vehicle.

Viveka took the watch out of her pocket, seeing that the faceplate of the watch was flashing as if this was a sign that it was receiving a message.

"Communication?" the woman questioned and looked at Ben. The young man was also surprised, but his face became more serious.

At first only static was heard, but soon, strange sounds accompanied by screams and gunshots were heard.

"Upgrade!" the voice of Frankie emerged from the device, startling both adults and young human.

"Frankie!?" shouted Viveka at the same time holding the watch in her hands. Viktor slammed on the brakes and looked at his wife with wide eyes.

The static was present again, but it only lasted a few moments before the monster girl's voice returned.

"Upgrade! Please come quickly! Another alien like you appeared on Riverfront!" the static returned again and then some explosion-like sounds were heard before the signal was lost.

The vehicle was silent, no one said anything or even moved. The adult couple was trying to assimilate what they just heard. Their beloved daughter was in the park? The same park that was under siege by an unknown monster?

Viveka snapped out of her stupor when the sound of the car door being slammed was heard.

She hurried and got out of the vehicle, just in time to see Ben run toward the barricade set up by the policemen.

"Hey! stop!" the woman shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears. She watched as that boy named Ben jumped the barricade and avoided the cops with unexpected acrobatic skill.

The boy jumped onto one of the patrol cars, slid off the roof of the car, and landed on the opposite side, avoiding the police officers and running at full speed towards Riverfront, leaving behind several police officers with shocked looks and two very concerned and perplexed parents.

She watched him run away as fast as his legs would carry him. She could only stand and watch him walk away until she realized that in her hand was still the watch that belonged to that young human.


xxx


Am I the only one who thinks this went from 0 to 100 too fast?

It's already October, autumn, pumpkins, Halloween... what a pity that here where I live its spring, it's 40 degrees Celsius and the only horror event is midterm and final exam week... I admit that instead of studying I just spent it playing NFS HEAT, I have a beautiful Mazda RX-7 that would make Keisuke Takahashi proud.

Fictitious love aside. At the time of this writing, I have finished my midterms and have 2 weeks until they come back.

It took less time than the previous time, but I still took my time. It was a bit complicated since, unlike the previous version, this time not only did it completely change the vast majority of events, but Malware caused much more damage. Besides, after watching Cyberpunk Edgerunner (Rebecca deserved more), the concept of cyberpsychosis caught my attention and I decided to apply something similar in Malware.

I admit I took a lot more risks in writing it, as I wrote the cop scenes and focused a little less on Ben and Frankie and more on the antagonist.

I have to ask, how was it? Good? Bad? I know I can improve since that's pretty much the direction I want to go in.

Tips are welcome, believe me, it's great to have that feedback. And rest assured, it'll take me a while, but I doubt I'll let this story die.

Greetings to the two readers who have been talking to me and sharing their ideas and opinions.

As I have nothing more to comment on, I will leave it here.

Farewell, friends.

PS: god knows I need to stop procrastinating so much.