Omni-Magic Summer EP 23: The House of Ghouls Part 3
I don't own anything except my OCs.
Intro:
A Galaxy is shown with some planets as outer space music is heard.
Just for a flash of green light to occur it shows the Omnitrix symbol with Ben's silhouette in the middle as the song picks up.
"It started when an alien device did what it did."
The 1st clip is Ben, discovering the Omnitrix as it latches onto his arm as he panics.
He then presses down on the dial and it transforms him into Heatblast and he cries out.
"And stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid."
"Now he's got superpowers, he's no ordinary kid. He's Ben 10! (Ben 10!)"
The logo flashes a bit, before showing off aliens:
Grey Matter, Overflow, Shock Rock, Heatblast, Tear-Wolf, Lodestar, and Astrodactyl.
"So if you see him, you might be in for a big surprise."
"He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes!"
The boy is then shown transforming into Tear-Wolf as 6 more aliens appear and zoom in:
Upgrade, Shock Rock, XLR8, Four Arms, Heatblast and Tear-Wolf.
" He's slimy, freaky, fast and strong, he's every shape and size."
"He's Ben 10! (Ben 10!)"
Just then, a flash-animated Ben is running towards the screen and then flips and morphs into Tear-Wolf.
He bites at the screen as a black and green '1'. appear next to him.
2: Four Arms is next as he grins and raises his arms and flexes.
3: Grey Matter leaps at the screen, only to go splat comically.
4: XLR8 appears and zooms away.
"Armed with powers, he's on the case!"
"Fighting off evil from Earth or space!"
5: Upgrade wiggles his legs around as he raises his arms.
6: Shock Rock generates lots of power and blasts a large beam of blue energy across the screen.
7: Overflow flies upward on his water blasts.
8: Astrodactyl displays his whips and then rockets away on his jetpack.
"He'll never stop 'till he makes them pay!"
"'Cause he's the baddest kid to ever save the day!"
9: Lodestar raises his claws as they generate a green aura as several pieces of metal float around him.
10: Heatblast chucks a fireball at the screen as Ben himself lands on the ground with his fist, cracking it as he gives a big grin.
"Ben 10! (Ben 10! B-B-B-Ben! Ben 10! B-B-B-Ben!)"
Tear-Wolf is then shown leaping from some trees as he looks fierce.
Shock Rock poses as he finishes transforming.
Sunset and the Rainbooms are shown powering up into their magic forms.
Heatblast chucks a fireball.
Ben is then shown slapping down on the Omnitrix.
The Mane 6, Spike, the royal sisters, the royal crystal family, Discord, Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, the reformed Changelings, and Ben in griffon form stood together as they glared at an adversity as the Omnitrix boy just smirked with crossed arms.
Twilight is shown fighting a giant bird monster as she uses her Geode's magic to slam it down on the ground.
Four Arms roars out as he finishes transforming.
XLR8 is shown running on top of the water.
The opening finishes up with the aliens all getting sucked into the Omnitrix Ben shows it while green rays come from it as the title appears next to him.
Ben 10: Omni-Magic Summer.
As the alien kid and talking dog both recover, the 2 get up and stretch out the kinks. Courage then heard a sound as he went to check it out. The dog goes to the main room of the Chapel as he looks out from a doorway and finds not only Twilight and Rarity, tied to crosses and gagged as well! But also an 8-fit tall skeleton in a black and red cloak and hood that has tentacle-like ends on the bottom as it holds a large, wicked scythe with many branches coming out of the stick and glowing purple eyes, guarding them.
Courage just had a bored look as he went back to Ben. The kid dusted himself off as he looked at the talking dog. "So, anything interesting in there, Courage?" Courage just glanced back at the doorway and then at Ben and screamed in a panicking tone! Courage then starts pointing behind him as he yelps in gibberish. He then suddenly formed into a giant cackling skeleton as he then changed back as Ben frowned at him. "How about using your words, genius?!" "They're in there!" "Oh! Right..."
They poke their heads out of the doorway and see the situation as Ben frowns. "Okay! if we want to get Twilight and Rarity out of there, we have to deal with the bonehead, over there! So, here's the plane: I'll keep him busy while you work on freeing the girls." Ben suggests as Courage nods. "That's a good idea! Good thing I brought these!" He digs in his hammerspace pocket and pulls out some hedge clippers as Ben decides to not question where a dog got a pair of hedge clippers, let alone keep them on them.
Ben stood out of the doorway and called out. "Hey, skinless freak! You want me?!" He frowned as he dashed towards the reaper, as the skeleton noticed and snarled as it got the scythe ready to swing. Ben slaps down on the watch, engulfing his being as the blade is swung, only for a clang to be heard as the light dies down to reveal Tear-wolf, blocking with his shield arms as he narrows his eyes. "You got me! Let's rumble!" The alien husky bites down on the stick and throws the reaper away.
Just then, as the Grim Reaper recovers, a large being lands near it. The thing is a large fish/crocodile monster with stitches, uneven skin color, sharp fangs and claws, a thick tail, black torn pants, and bolts on its legs and arms. The being roars out as the reaper hoists his scythe. "Whoa! The Grim Reaper and a Frankenstein fish monster?! Gotta admit, that's cool! Let's dance!" Tear-Wolf cries out as charges and throws some punches that knock the franken-fish back he dodges a few scythe swipes as he chomps on the blade, getting into a tug-of-war with the Reaper! As the 2 struggle, the franken-fish tackles Tear-Wolf as they roll and stop as the fish monster is on top, trying to bite at the wolf alien's head as he grabs hold of the mouth and holds it back. "Back off, fish sticks!" Tear-Wolf cries out as he makes an iron fist and punches it off.
While the alien brawled with the monsters, Courage stealthy made his way to the girls, ducking behind broken objects and pillars, having a few close calls when something crashed near him. The pink dog finally made his way to the crosses, got behind them, brought out the hedge clippers, and tried to cut the vines. But barely made any progress, until the blade snapped off. Courage glanced at the broken tool in worryment as he spoke out. "The clippers won't cut! Ohh... I don't know what I'm going to do, but it better be good!" The cowardly dog spoke to the 4th wall as he went off to find something sharper than hedge clippers. He then heard a noise and glanced up, just to see Tear-wolf crashed down on top of him! The alien then recovers and gets up as a flattened Courage is shown as the dog then laughs in a wheezing tone.
As the alien got up, he saw the reaper right beside him! He quickly made his shield arms to block the scythe. But as Tear-Wolf slid back from the slash, he saw some scratch marks on his armor and he felt his alien anger boil. "You scratched my armor... YOU SCRATCHED MY ARMOR!" He charges and slams his iron fist on the ground and sends out an earthquake that knocks the reaper down as Tear-Wolf leaps on and keeps slamming punch after punch at the reaper, slamming both fists down as the reaper is down from the strength from the steel covered blows.
Tear-Wolf noticed the fish monster, just to get knocked back from its tail, and crashed into several chairs. Tear-Wolf shook his head clear as he glanced up to see the franken-fish as it leaps up and tries to claw swipe the alien hero, but Tear-Wolf grabbed one undamaged bench and swung it like a baseball bat, knocking the beast away. "Nice! Think I hit a home run, that time!"
He then decides to end it as he slams the bench on the franken-fish and then grabs its tail, grunting as he pulls and starts swinging the monster around and around, gaining speed. He then throws it up and it hollers out as it falls towards Tear-Wolf, who rears back an iron fist and gives a powerful punch that sends the monster crashing through the ceiling and into the lake, never to be seen again. "Don't forget! I'm top dog, you hear me?!" Tear-Wolf smirks.
Courage recovers and notices the discarded scythe nearby and smiles. "Yes!" He grabbed the stick with the blade and went to free the girls. He managed to throw the blade away as Rarity sighs out. "Thank goodness! It was getting quite uncomfortable." Twilight fixes her glasses as she then smiles at Tear-wolf. "Anyway, thanks for saving us, Ben! We both knew we could count on you." "Not a problem, Twilight!" The alien grins out.
Just as he heard a groaning behind him and turned around to see the reaper getting up as it groans. But as Tear-Wolf got ready for a fight, he was surprised to see the reaper's eyes no longer glow and were now black and hollow as it spoke in a Jamaican accent. "Mon, that hurt as much as Mandy's bat." "Wait! You can talk?" Tear-Wolf blinked out as did the girls as well. "Now that, I didn't see coming." Courage points out. "Yeah, I can talk! Pretty good... Anyway, thanks for breaking that hypnosis spell on me, even though I didn't like you using me for a punching bag, man..." "Wait! The Grim Reaper is a good guy?" Courage asked in disbelief as the girls, used to Spike talking and were not fazed by Courage's words, both shrugged as they answered. "Who knew?" Tear-wolf changes back into Ben as the cloaked skeleton mumbles to himself. "I don't know what's worse: Being stuck with 2 little monsters for eternity or being brainwashed by a sorcerer! How humiliating." Grim frowns out.
"Uhh... Sorry about pummeling you?" Ben shrugs out as Grim waves it off. "No big deal. Believe it or not, I had worst beatings before." Just then, Grim spots Courage and blinks out. "Hey! I recognize you! You're that babbling mutt who screamed at your own shadow." Courage frowns as he rolls his eyes with his paws on his hips. "Hey! I am not scared of my own shadow. I'm only scared of it when it becomes a monster roaring." Twilight and Rarity stare at the 2 as the fashion lover whispers to her friend. "You know, this is considered the weirdest thing to anyone else to meeting the Grim Reaper himself. But, for some reason, it feels normal." "Considering all we have been through since we 1st met Ben and got our magic, Rarity, I'm not surprised at all."
"You know... I always thought the Grim Reaper would have bone spikes, flaming eyes, and a 10-foot scythe." Ben states as he ponders. But Grim scoffs out. "Bah, Japanese anime writers like to always exaggerate everything. I'll have you know I'm much more pleasant in real life. If it's not your time, at least. I also know how to make a killer souffle. Anyway, I'm surprised a dog like you can think of living in Nowhere. That place is like a supernatural magnet!" "Believe me, I know... You get used to it." Courage responds. Twilight spoke out "Never thought we would meet the personification of death itself." "I wouldn't say I'm the personification, exactly," Grim said. "You have to be voted to be a Reaper, but that's a whole 'nother story with spiders and flashbacks and whatnot."
"Anyway, thanks for rescuing us, Ben!" Both girls hug the kid as Rarity kisses him on the cheek and Ben groans. "Why did you have to do that, Rarity?" "Why, it's to show appreciation, darling! One does not rescue a damsel in distress, without getting a proper reward." "By the way, here's your scythe back." Courage gives the stick back to Grim, but Grim frowns at it. "Hey... This isn't me scythe! Me scythe has a smooth handle stick and the blade is blackish steel. This one has a blade with a few knots in it and the handle like it was made from a branch with all the twigs snapped off." "So?" Ben shrugs, not knowing what's so important about it.
"The scythe isn't just a weapon. It's the source of the Reaper's power. Whoever wields it will have power beyond comprehension. Why, it can rip open a rift into the underworld, unleashing horrors the likes of which you have never seen." Grim explains with a serious tone. The girls got a scared look as Courage just sighs out. "Why am I not surprised... "Okay! If we want to get Grim and Courage back home, we must find that scythe, pronto!" Ben frowns, knowing it's time to get serious. "But first, let's get the heck out of here. You girls think you can make a way out of here? The way me and Courage came in, has a zombie infestation." Ben points out while the dog nods as they remind the 2 teens of the zombies that lurk outside.
But Twilight and Rarity smirk at each other and activate their magic as they create a crystal platform. "We've got this!" They both said together as Ben, Courage, and Grim hopped on as they flew out of the hole in the ceiling.
The master of the mansion watches in disbelief at Ben not only destroying the Franken-Fish monster but also breaking his control on the Grim Reaper he summoned from an alternate timeline that parrels this reality and now has joined them to recover his lost scythe. "Gahh!" He cries out as he facepalms in anger. "I'm surrounded by boneheads!"
Rarity kept flying the disc over to the mansion and landed by the bus. "Okay! Last I checked, Rainbow and the others should be on the bus, I'm going to check up on Fluttershy in the house." "Got it!" Twilight smiles as Ben runs in while Grim follows the boy. "Wait! There's still the matter of recovering me scythe!" "And don't forget getting me back home to Mural as well!" Courage adds as he runs after the 2. Twilight and Rarity decide to open the bus door and climb in, only to find no one is in there. "Wait! Where are our friends? Ben said they were in here." "Odd..." Twilight ponders as she rubs her chin in confusion, but the 2 girls are unaware of something sneaking up behind them.
The girls felt a cold prescience and froze up, slowly looking back to see a girl in her late teens with black and purple hair that is short, purple eyes that have black eyeliner, and pale skin, and wearing a female vampire's cape/cloak with a multiple-pointed collar and a matching jumpsuit with boots and matching fingerless gloves that exposed her sharp nails. The girl grins as she flashes her fangs with a sadistic grin. "Hello..." And before Twilight and Rarity knew, the girl hissed as she lunged at the 2!
The trio, on the other hand, kept dashing through the front entrance and up the stairs as fast as they could. But as the boy almost reaches the room where Fluttershy, Cooper, and Amber are hiding out, he is confused to see the door is already open and looks in to see it empty and no barricades. "What the? Where's Fluttershy?" Ben asked as he scratched his head in confusion.
But just then, the 3 heard a scream from outside! "That came from that bus!" Grim cried out as they all dashed out there. "Hold on, Rarity! We're coming!" Courage cries out, having to recognize the scream from Rarity's voice. But just as they reached the bus, they found it empty. Ben is in disbelief as they look around and find nothing. "No... It can't be!" Courage then got on all 4's and started sniffing around, moving all over as the dog got a sad look. "Sorry, Ben... But there's no trace of them, anywhere." "Guys... No." Ben said in disbelief at the news, looking back at the empty bus with a sad look.
And before the kid knew it, he was sitting on the steps of the house, with his knees hugged to his chest with a depressed look. "Some hero I turned out to be... I couldn't even keep my friends from getting kidnapped again, after saving them. It's all my fault!" Grim and Courage both shared a sad look as the reaper came up. 'Hey... It's not you're fault, Ben..." "Yes, it is!" Ben rants as he pushes Grim away goes up to the back of the bus and sits on the bumper with a frown. "What was I thinking?! Splitting up at a haunted house filled with monsters? Only a real moron would make that stupid mistake!"
But Courage frowns as he doesn't like the way Ben is beating himself up over this. He then ran into the house, into the kitchen for a bit, and came back out, holding a large stick of salami, and confronted the kid. "Ben! If you don't snap out of it, I'm going to smack your head with this salami, hard!" Grim comes over and points out. "Listen to the dog, mon! That thing can hurt, you know!" But they both see Ben just looking away with his chin in his hand. "Come on, kid. You're not helpful if you're like this. We're going to find your friends and more importantly, me scythe as well! And who knows, maybe we'll find those other campers as well?" Grim shrugs with a suggestion.
But Ben scoffs as he frowns. "If they're still alive! Who knows why these things are stealing human teenagers?" Courage then adds out. "But we won't get answers if we just sit around, acting upset, you know." Ben thought about it and realized the dog was right! Now is not the time to act like a little kid who dropped his ice cream, now is the time to go hero! "You're right, Courage! Okay, Grim! Any ideas on where to find the others?"
The reaper smiled as he spoke to the boy. "Glad you asked, Ben! We know the monsters only steal human teenagers... So, step one!" He then used his limited magic powers to conjure up a dummy that looked and dressed like a teenager. "We get a decoy! And then we place it out in the open." The reaper said as he used his telekinesis and moved the dummy out in the open and left it there, making the 3 quickly hide behind the bus as Grim continued. "Next up is step 2: We wait until one of the monsters takes the dummy and whisks it away to who knows where." Grim shrugs out as Courage takes a peek and blinks as he panics, pulling on Ben's pants as they point and yell in gibberish. Ben took a glance at the direction the cowardly dog was pointing and blinked in surprise. "Grim! The dummy's gone!"
"Perfect! Now on to step 3: Tracking!" Grim then took out a small, tracking device with a radar screen. "I planted a bug on the decoy, so wherever that dummy goes, we'll find it with ease." "And wherever it goes, we'll find the others!" Ben grins out, grateful at the good news as Courage smiles and nods, also liking it as well. "Right! So... Uh, you have any flying forms in that watch thingy of yours, kid?" Grim asked as Ben gained a smirk in response.
"AAAHHHHHHH!" Courage screams as Astrodactyl loops through the air while holding onto Grim while Courage is holding on for life on the alien's jetpack! "Now this is the way to travel! 'SQUAWK'" Astrodactyl smirks as Courage looks at the 4th wall and speaks out. "And I hate to fly." "Okay! We're getting a strong signal... We're gaining on it. It should be just below us." Grim points out, but the alien glances down and sees nothing but the forest that surrounds the house. "Nothing down there but woods." The alien spoke as Courage saw something. "Hey! That's the chapel and graveyard we just left. You don't think that's where the teens are being kept?" "Wait! It's changing location." Grim spoke out as he saw the dot on his radar moving away from the area.
"Now it said they're over there." The reaper points at a nearby lighthouse and boathouse near the lake. "Maybe they used the catacombs?" Courage suggested as Astrodactyl has his doubts. "No way! There's no way that place is connected to the lake." "Hey... Now my tracker is over by the greenhouse." Grim points out as Astrodactyl speaks out in disbelief. "But that's on the other side of the mansion! 'SQUAWK'" Grim frowns as he taps his tracker. "What gives?" As the alien flew towards the greenhouse, Grim pondered out. "How did they do that?" "Going down!" Astrodactyl said as he went down and landed in a garden, near an old cottage, changing back as he times out.
The 3 then looked around and spotted the dummy, only it was torn to shreds as pieces of it were scattered. "This doesn't look good, guys..." Ben mumbles as he holds up an arm. Grim picked up a head and saw some claw marks on it. 'Hmm... Claw marks." Courage shivers as his teeth chatter in fear as he holds his paw on his lips in worryment. Just then, Ben spots someone fleeing. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a human girl! "Hey! I think that's one of the missing campers! She must have escaped!" But Courage glanced off and spotted the person running away and gasped as he recognized her. "NO! Ben! Wait, she's not who you think she is!"
But Ben ignores him as he runs around a huge tree and climbs up a hill, arriving outside the greenhouse with a bunch of stumps in front of it. "The greenhouse... I made it... Wait..." Ben then spots the girl, sitting by one of the stumps. The girl looks to be 13-years-old in age and looks very pretty. She has long silver hair in the form of a low ponytail, purple eyes that have a pinkish tone, and light brown skin, and is developing an hourglass figure. Her outfit features a magenta hoodie with a few heart-like decorations on it, black jeans, purple boots, a black choker around her neck, gold earrings on her ears, and purple lipstick.
"It is a human!" Ben quickly runs up to the girl and tries pulling on her arm. "Look, miss! I don't have time to explain now, but we have to get out of here, fast!" But to his surprise, the girl just shoves him off! "I'm not going anywhere, runt!" "What?" Ben is confused and shocked as the girl frowns. "In case you're wondering, they didn't kidnap me, I went with the monsters because I wanted to!" "But... Why?" Ben wonders in confusion. "Simple: Power and magic." The girl grins as she stands up and shows her left arm has transformed, having black, shadowy veins over with her nails becoming claws as magic surges through the arm, black magic! "No way!"
"That's right! I can do all sorts of cool things, now! I joined the Shadow Ghoul Clan, 3 nights ago!" The girl then uses her new magic to levitate Ben as the boy stumbles around in the air. "Now I got the power! I like to see all those snobs, jerks, and meatheads call me 'Hopeless freak' or Hopeless wallflower!' Well, guess what? Old 'weirdo' Hope is now a powerful sorceress!" She then generates a magic energy ball and throws it at a sump, blowing it to smithereens as Ben blinks in shock. "I'm not a lonely nobody anymore. I'm finally someone to be feared and respected!" The girl, Hope, states as she slams Ben back down and she towers over the kid with a smirk. "I even got a new nickname: Charmcaster! And the best part of it is that the Shadow Ghouls are immortal, meaning I'll live forever! And you, twerp, have been quite a thorn in our side, all night."
Ben got up and stood across from Charmcaster as he mumbled to himself. "'Our'? What do you mean by-" He then heard hissing and glanced back and cried out in surprise at the same vampire woman that captured Twilight and Rarity behind him, just as she grabbed Ben by his collar and held him up, bringing him face-to-face. But as Ben stares at the hissing vampire woman, he takes a good look at her face and blinks in shock at a familiar person from his past! "Lark?! Lark Cynthia!? Is that you?" "Yes... Benji. It's me. Your old babysitter is making something of herself, just like young Hope, Ben." She grins as Ben's eyes widen by the minute.
"Hang on, Ben!" Just then, Grim hollers out as he and Courage come running up the hill, racing to help Ben. "We're coming for ya!" Lark snarls at the 2 and drops Ben. "Charmcaster, let's leave!" "Right!" Chamrcaster cries as the 2 girls quickly dash and leap over the fence near the greenhouse, landing by the rock wall below. As Ben recovers while Courage checks on him, Grim chases after the 2 girls, just as Lark takes her index claw and it turns pure black. She then made a circle in the wall with it and a dark hole appeared. The 2 women leap into it, just as Grim crashes down near the hole, breaking into pieces. But he then puts himself back together. "Man! I just hate falling to pieces like that."
But Grim noticed the hole was shrinking so he quickly grabbed it and tried to stretch it out. "Gotcha!" Grim struggles to pull it open, just as Courage slams down near him with a thud and groan. But the cowardly dog recovers as he notices the reaper's struggling. He reaches into his hammerspace and pulls out a car jack, quickly stuffing it between the hole and pulling the lever to pry it open. "Got it! Thanks." Grim smiles as the dog smiles and cries out. "Yes!" Ben managed to climb down as the reaper asked the boy. "So, Ben? Who was that vampire chick and how do you know her?" "Yeah, she seemed to know you, too." Courage points out.
Ben sighs as he explains. "Her name is Lark Cynthia. She used to be my and my cousin Gwen's babysitter, back when we were little. She was a cool babysitter and the only one that was able to help me and Gwen get along. We always had great times with her. But one night, when we were both 5 and a half years old, she had just finished watching us for the night. My parents, aunt, and uncle came back and had just paid her. Gwen and I wished her bye and hope to see her again soon. She even smiled at us and hoped to watch her favorite twin cousins soon as well."
Ben got a frown as he got to a sad part. "But after she left the house and we closed the door, the adults were all talking to us when all heard her scream outside! We all rushed out, fast! But all we could find was her scoter, her discarded helmet, and her purse, which had everything in it, including her money! We all looked for Lark, but couldn't find her. So, my parents phoned the police and they filed Lark as a 'missing person'. Lark's family was so devasted, that they moved out of Bellwood when the cops couldn't find Lark. But I did notice something weird: When Gwen and I were outside the house that night, we both looked to the side of the house that was dark and could have sworn we saw the shadow of something. But when we took another look, it was gone! But I always had a feeling that thing was the one who kidnapped Lark. But I never did find out why or what it looked like."
Courage whines at the sort of sad story, feeling bad for Ben. Ben then gets back on track in the present. "Anyway, that must be how Lark and that Chamrcaster girl moved so quickly around and how those monsters get from one part of the mansion to another!" Ben points at the hole as Courage looks in confusion. "It looks like it was made out of shadows... Do these ghouls use shadow to get around?" Grim blinked in surprise as he felt like his mind just hit a bell in recognition! "Wait! Did you say shadows? It's the Darkness Crawlers! The Shadow Ghoul Clan! I should have recognized them!" "Shadow Ghoul Clan... That's what that Charmcaster girl said before." Ben comments.
"Wait! Grim, you know those things?" Courage asks as the reaper nods. "Almost everyone in the underworld has heard about these shadow freaks! They come to the realm of the living once, every 5 years, for 4 nights to roam and only during a full glowing moon." Ben glanced back to see the moon in the sky, pondering as he slapped down on the Omnitrix and turned into Grey Matter. The small brainiac alien then climbs onto Courage's head and looks at the moon and then the shadow portal, already calculating with his huge I.Q.
"According to my calculations, factoring in the moon's travel length and the portal's mass and dimensional shape, the Shadow Ghouls can roam the night for exactly 7 hours, 42 minutes, and 37.62 seconds, each night. And speaking of it, there was a full moon last night. And the night before and the night before, meaning this is the 4th and final night for the Shadow Ghouls." Courage then gains an idea. "Hey... If we wait here, then they'll go away for another 5 years! Problem solved!" But Grey Matter frowns at the coward situation as he leaps off the dog's head and times out, changing back to Ben.
"No way! I'm going in!" But Ben is stopped by Grim as the bone man frowns. "What are you doing, boy? Your EX-babysitter made up her mind. She wants to be a jerk, 'kay? Let's get back to finding me scythe." But Ben frowns as he speaks out. "No... Lark may be too far gone, but she still has my friends! I'm not leaving until I find them! That's what a real hero does! Are you 2 coming or what?" Ben dives into the shadow portal as Grim sighs. "Well, gotta admit he's not as dumb as Billy, but a lot nicer than Mandy and braver than Irwen. Wait for me, boy!" Courage just groans as he looks up. "The things I do for love... Especially if it means getting back to Muriel. Wait for me, guys!" The dog hollers as he leaps into the portal and is followed by Grim as the dark hole shuts itself.
And before the trio knew it, they were in some sort of weird foggy void, unsure where to go or which way is up or down. "Nice place... Could use some flooring, though!" Ben frowns as he looks around, only to be startled when Courage climbs into his shirt and jacket and hides in it as the dog mumbles. "Just don't look down or you're doomed! Trust me on this!" But before Ben could ask, Grim caught some noises as he spoke out. "Hey! Do you hear that?" All 3 listened and noticed the sounds were cries for help. "That sounds like... Teenagers!" Grims cries out as Ben points at one spot. "I think it's coming from over there!" Grim quickly went over and pondered, grabbing hold of the spot and tore open a hole into another place.
The 3 rushed out of the shadow portal, just as it shut behind them. They looked around and saw they were in some sort of temple/ruin area on an island in the middle of the lake. They then spot Cooper and Amber, along with 10 other teenagers, 5 boys, and 5 girls, all in an energy cage. "Guys! It's Cooper, Amber, and all their friends! They're all going to be ghouls! Just like Charmcaster..." Ben mumbled as Courage got out of his shirt. "Thank goodness you're here, kid! You got to get us out!" Cooper asked as Amber added. "Hurry! Who knows when those monsters come back!" "Help! Get us out of here, before our brains get eaten!" Another boy cries out as the girl next to him wipes. "I miss my home and parents!"
"Wow, Ben. Your babysitter has been busy." Courage comments as Grim adds. "Yeah... She certainly went through a lot of trouble, capturing all these teens." But as Ben looks at the teens and thinks about it and visualizes a younger, human Lark in their place, the answer hits him like a freight train! "Wait a second... Guys! This happened to Lark too! This all didn't start with her. Someone or something is behind the Shadow Ghouls, this whole time!"
Just then, the 3 heard slow clapping, making them spin in the direction of the clapping. They spot the Rainbooms, strapped to magic crosses, and were all unconscious. There, sitting on a stone throne with Grim's magic scythe hovering next to it in a magical field is a man sitting on the stone chair. He is a handsome, fit, grey-skinned man who has crimson-red eyes that can pierce souls. He has slick back hair that is black and reaches his shoulders while having a goatee and some sideburns. He is dressed in a rich aristocratic outfit that consists of a black jacket, red dress shirt, black pants, and white ascot tie and raised collar. He has silver dress shoes and silver shoulder pads, where a red cape is attached to it.
"Impressive, Benjamin! Very impressive, indeed. And you figured it all out by yourself as well." The man smirks. "Guessing you're the mastermind, aren't you!?" Ben frowns as the man stands up and nods. "Correct! To most of the world, I'm known as Shade Crystalton: A billionaire aristocrat and famous art collector, and CEO of 'Shadow Gems', the largest Jewelry store chain around the world. But in a previous life, in Equestria, I was the ruler of an empire. You can call me by my true name: King Sombra!" The man declares as he shows he has dark magic and throws his hands to the side as dark energy circles him as a hologram ain't of his true self appears behind him: A unicorn with the same features the man has, but his horn is sharp and red and is wearing armor and a crown along with a red with fur cape that makes him look like an evil king.
Ben blinks in surprise as he remembers him from the stories told by Princess Twilight, Spike, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor, Twilight's older brother. "Okay... The world is doomed, now that he has your scythe, which we also found. Happy now, Grim?" The reaper gets a flat look as a cow can be heard mooing. Ben glanced at Courage and said to him. "Okay... You can scream now, Courage." Courage then makes an epic freakout as he screams while a car horn and an alarm sound are also heard as well. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
To be continued...