And here we are, man-sters and ghouls! The final chapter/epilouge of "We're All Monsters".

Let me just say that it has been an absolute treasure writing for you wonderful lot. This is seriously the most fun I've had writing a story, and I hope I'll feel the same way when I write the sequel; lets hope that myth about the sequel never being as good as the original are false!

Anyways, it's onto the questions! Admittedly, not a lot of you sent in questions to be asked, but hey, we can't have everything. So for the people that did ask questions, here are the answer.


You sneaky...you took a scene from my story! - Morantis

Yes, yes I did. Among Morantis's wonderful story Ben 10: Clawsome Travels, I included scenes from Blazorna Ibara's story, The Troubles of a Misplaced Hero, and Cybertramon001's story Ben DxD. I meant to include a scene from DragonWarrior20's story, Gwen 10: The Omniverse War, but that somehow did not back it in there; note to self, make corrections.


Have you decided the harem for the Ever After sequel? - RedShade999

No, I have not decided the official harem. All canon couples, such as Hunter Huntsman and Ashlynn Ella, will remain intact, but all the other girls are up for grabs; should Dexter Charming and Raven Queen, I apologize. The webisodes come out at an agonizingly pace, slower than I type, so yeah.


Do you have any chapters officially done for the Ever After sequel? - RedShade999

I have two prototypes in the work, but I believe they require further work to compensate for what I've written.


Is there anything you can do to make the ever After sequel and one-shot series come out sooner? Because I'm dying to read them. - RedShade99

Unfortunately, no. I've been putting off on my Total Drama story long enough, and I've been meanig to work with Blazorna Ibara and help Dataseeker with their story.


Does Robecca remember Ben knocking her out as Ultimate Echo Echo? - Bigby the Big Bad Wolf

Yeah, she probably does. And trust me, Ben didn't hear the end of that one for a long time.


Is the last chapter an epilouge? - kival737101

Yes, yes it is :)


So when is that X-over Blazorna Ibara promised coming out? - ActionBoy 87

It depends. He is finishing up on working on a Xover within a Xover with Cybertramon001, so it probably won't be for a while.


You making a sequel where the girls of Ever After High join the harem? - Redrangerlegacy

For the last time, yes, yes I will.

Now that I've wasted enough of your time answering your senseless questions (kidding, I really enjoy answering them), I believe it is time to get onto the moment quite a few or not so few have been waiting for!

Enjoy!


Many years later . . .

"Did it work?" a gruff voice wondered.

"It worked on me, didn't it?" another more, feminine sounding voice responded.

I groaned slightly and slowly blinked open my eyes; my head hurt so much, it felt like . . . well, I wasn't quite sure what it felt like. In fact, I really didn't know much at all. Who am I? Where am I? How did I get here? And why are there two adults screaming happily and running around like complete idiots?

Well, adults might have not been the write word for it. The woman was tall with mint green skin and what looked like stitches criss-crossing the random parts of her body that I could just make out as she ran by. She had black and white streaked hair and mismatched eyes, with one being a bright blue and the other being a dull green; at least, I think they were that color. I could really see past the goggles that sat on her face, protecting her eyes from something. She wore a white lab coat over a tight, black jumpsuit that showed off her figure and curves with a light, green patch that covered her front and legs with a white and black belt around her waist and a pair of pouches on her hips. What really caught my attention however, was the fact that she seemed to have lost her right hand, with nothing by a chrome copy in its place. What was even stranger was the strange watch that was strapped to her left wrist; it had a sharp, green hourglass symbol on its face with a blue circumference and strap with white trimming.

Looking at the other person however, made this strange woman look normal by comparison. The creature was massive compared to the woman, standing maybe three times taller than me with a box-like head with a square jaw that let several, bad looking teeth curve up over the lip; seriously, has this ever heard of a dentist? When I wasn't focusing on the creature's horrible dental design, I noticed that several large bolts were jammed into the creature's black arms with a pair of large, green conductors thrust up out of the broad shoulders. The strange creature wore a pair of massive, metal, green gauntlets that let the creature's giant, plugged fingers show through. In addition to the plugged fingers, it wore a pair of black pants with massive boots and a thick, green and white belt around its muscled waist. Stitches ran up the creature's chest as a pair of long, cable-like antennae sprouted from the head and a similar-looking tail stretched out from the base of the spine. The large, single, green head was closed in joy as he thundered around the room, screaming, "It's alive! ALIVE!" at the top of his lungs.

It? I am most definitely not an 'it'. Or am I? I really have no idea what I am. But I am mostly right now is happy, sad, confused, enlightened, worried, hopeful, and overall hungry, all at the same time. Is this normal? I decided enough was enough and parted my lips to speak, my tongue fluttering around in my mouth for a few seconds as I intended to speak.

"Hello?" I whispered. At least, I think I whispered? I'm not quite sure.

"It speaks!" the strange creature cheered.

"Ben, she's not an animal!" the woman protested.

Okay, so I'm an animal, that much I know. But if I'm not an animal, what am I? I'm pretty sure I'm not a plant; plants aren't known for being able to speak. At least, I think so.

"Who am I? And for that matter, what am I? And who are you?" I rattle off, utterly confused and maybe a bit frightened as well.

"You're our daughter," the strange creature answered.

"Then how come I don't have tail like you?" I asked.

The creature and woman actually seemed amused about my ignorance, considering how much they laughed before the woman, supposedly my mom, wrapped her arms around me in a hug; I have to admit, I actually like this. It's nice, like I'm being wrapped in a blanket. The strange creature also makes a move to hug me before I back with fright; at least, I think I'm scared. Maybe I'm just unnerved?

"Ben, you're still Strikeback." the woman reminded my father.

"Oh. Right." the strange creature named both 'Strikeback' and 'Ben' said sheepishly before he raised a massive hand and slapped a strange disk fastened to his chest that I hadn't noticed before; it was the same sharp hourglass symbol my Mom had on her wrist. Before I could eagerly point out the similarities between the two to my Mom, a sudden burst of green light swallowed the creature whole. I screamed with fright before Mom gave me a reassuring hug and held me tight as the sudden light died down to replace a tall, muscled man with warm, green eyes that seemed to smile at me and deep, brown hair like that of melted chocolate. Whatever that is.

"Did I startle you?" he asked in a kind voice with a slight chuckle.

"How did . . . can I do that?" I sputtered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"I know it's a lot to take in, dear, so we'll try to make it short," my Mom smiled. "You're our daughter, created from a series of body parts we have collect over the years and finally decided to turn into you. Me and your father both wear a special watch that allows us to change our shape into millions of alien species; or in your father's case, hybrids of those species."

"Are we going too fast for you?" Dad asked with concern.

I wanted to scream no, that I was utterly terrified and confused and maybe even a little disgusted; did I really just use to be a mess of discarded body parts that no one wanted before I was brought to life? Looking at my Mom, I can only guess that she must have had the same origins, but I was confused as to why my Dad had no scars; did he create me and Mom? Was he lonely? Despite all the hundreds of thousands racing through my mind, I was actually taking this pretty well. For some reason, I actually knew who these 'aliens' were, as if it were preprogrammed into my brain already.

"N-no? Yes? I'm not too sure." I admitted shakily. It was then that I was practically naked, wearing nothing but a medical gown over my small body; an intense, warm sensation came into my cheeks, and I patted by face with confusion, not quite sure as to what was going on. Was this normal?

"Ben? Can you get one of my old dresses? I think we might be the same size," my Mom asked my Dad. "And if not, it will at least cover her up until we can get her some proper clothes."

Dad nodded and left me and Mom alone in the room, which looked to be a laboratory of some kind. I'm not sure how I knew that though; it might be the same reason as to why I actually know what aliens are. But there are more questions in my mind that I have to know the answers to.

"Are we aliens?" I asked Mom.

She smiles sweetly and shakes her head. "No, honey. You and I are Monsters. Your father is a human, or Normie, as some people call them."

"But what does that make me?" I press.

"Technically, you are a Monster, but you're our daughter. And we both love you dearly."

There's that burning sensation in my face again. Does that mean I'm on fire? I tense up, trying to find some way of putting out this internal flame, but Mom seems to know what I'm going through and hugs me again, rubbing her hand up and down my bare back in comfort; it's actually very soothing. Dad's back a few minutes and I nearly scream again when I catch sight of him.

At first, I wasn't quite sure what to make of him as a dull, blue ooze slithers into the room at a breakneck speed, much faster than it ever should have; a small, device with the same sharp, hourglass symbol that my Mom has on her wrist floated over the goo before it suddenly springs to life, shooting up into the air as it twists itself into a loose figure that resembles a raptor of some sort with lean legs and arms with blob-like growths at the joints and a pointed head that seemed to ooze and drip like melting ice cream at both ends; note to self, find out what ice cream is and find out if it's edible. Its feet are large and bulbous and the long, tail-like growth is forked at the end, like the head is.

"Ben! Stop scaring her!" Mom scolded the strange creature.

"Sorry! I was trying to go for Fastfood, but got GoopLR8 instead!" GoopLR8 pouted as he produced a dress from some undisclosed location that I wasn't sure I wanted to know. And I know I've only been alive for maybe twenty minutes, but I could already tell that my Mom had a voltageous sense of fashion; the dress was mostly a simple, plaid dress with what seemed like a fish net lacing on the shoulders and around the bottom skirt. A black tie with cute, little white dots and a white skullette wearing a bow was looped around the hanger the dress hung from; a black belt with silver studs and a lightning bolt for a buckle was also lying limp around the hanger, waiting to be put on.

I realized that I had been starring and felt that warm sensation in my face again before I suddenly felt another warm sensation in my neck and a sudden jolt of some kind of energy came racing down my shoulders and to my finger tips, shooting out into a concentrated beam. Straight at Dad! Before I could yell a warning, GoopLR8's face suddenly split in two, molding around the beam of energy before morphing back together.

"She's got your spark, Frankie." he joked before a loud, duel beeping sound filled the air and my father was swallowed in a bright, green light, his human form returning to the world.

"Can I . . ." I asked with awe, never taking my eyes away from the dress.

"Go ahead." Dad smiled, handing the dress to me before turning around and covering his eyes as if to make sure he wouldn't see me change; I greatly appreciated the gesture and quickly threw off the medical gown before slipping on the dress as fast I could while Mom watched me with a touching expression as she seemed to be crying; I asked her why she was crying, and she simply replied that she reminded herself of when she was younger.

"All done?" Dad asked.

"Ready!" I replied. Dad turned around and gave a warm smile, nodding with approval as I set my hands down on the metal table and hauled myself to my feet. Before I could protest, both of my parents had rushed over and grabbed a hold of my arm, steadying me as I stood up on my wobbling legs like a newborn foal; out of the corner of my eyes, I could see my parents share a look with each other as I took my first steps, my bare feet softly scrapping against the cold, metal floor of the laboratory. I really hope I can find some place warmer soon.

"Can you walk?" Mom asked.

"Y-yeah. I think I've got the hang of this." I replied shakily. My parents then slowly released their hold on me, their hands hovering around my arms to grab me at a moments notice should I ever take a tumble and fall flat on my face; talk about embarrassing.

"What do I look like?" I asked.

"Well, you . . . well, you kinda . . ." Mom tried to explain but seemed to be failing to do so. "Maybe we should just show you. Ben, where did we put that mirror?"

What was a mirror? Was it something dangerous? Were my parents going to hurt me? I knew I was probably being utterly ridiculous, but I was still rather frightened and confused as Dad walked over one of the counters in the laboratory and pulled a small disk attached to a stick off of the flat surface before handing it to me. At first I was confused, until I turned the mirror around saw someone starring back at me! This girl was beautiful, with mint green skin like my Mom's, but with deep, green eyes like my Dad. The girl had a stitch mark running up and across her left eye with a pair of bright, ruby red lips on her face that opened and closed every few seconds or so; she had long, black hair with purple streaks in them that ran down to about the small of her back with a pair of metal bolts jammed into her neck.

It was then that I realized that the girl was me! The girl starring back at me, blinking at me in confusion and copying my every movement was me! My parents were once again laughing again and I couldn't help but laugh with them, a high pitched, giggling noise passing over my lips as my chest heaved in and out and the metal bolts in my neck sparking heavily.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" my Dad suddenly screamed as he lit up like a Christmas tree; note to self, learn about holidays and customs for said holidays. It turned out I had electrocuted both of my parents on accident, the shock not affecting my Mom in the slightest but seeming to cause my Dad a lot of pain. I guess humans aren't as durable as Monsters.

"Sorry!" I apologized as smoke curled off Dad's body.

"No worries. Can't be worse than my anniversaries with your Moms." Dad chuckled.

I was about to laugh along with him when my mind caught onto something Dad had said. "Moms?" I raised an eyebrow, more confused than before; I could handle the fact that I, along with Mom, were composed off seemingly random body parts and that both of my parents could transform into aliens, but did my Dad just acknowledge that I had more than one Mom?

"Uh, I think it's time she met the rest of the family." Dad said sheepishly.

Rest of the family? "I have siblings?" I wondered.

"More like step-siblings, but siblings nonetheless." Mom admitted, elbowing my Dad in the ribs when she thought I wasn't looking. Without much else in the way of words, they led me through a set of doors and down a hallway with the being closest to the outside being entirely made of windows; I pressed myself to the glass and starred out at the world, taking it all in. The sky was a light blue and all the buildings down beneath us looked so small, like . . . like something that was small! I turned my head to see a massive mountain rising above the city with the carvings of four men carved into the rock; why were they there? Were they important? I didn't get the chance to speculate as Mom and Dad pulled me away from the window after a few minutes to lead me down the rest of the hallway where we entered another set of the doors.

Except these doors didn't lead anywhere. I found this confusing as Dad pressed a button on a panel next to the doors that seemed to tell them to close. We stood there for a split second, and I was wondering what was supposed to happen when I got the sudden sensation that I was moving! I looked around wildly, but nothing else in the small box seemed to be moving, and I was beginning to think I had just lost my recently born mind when Mom gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze and held me close to her body until the movement had stopped and the doors had slid open.

I was greeted by the fresh open air of the outdoors I had seen moments before, something that brightened my spirits a little more as he ran out into the open space of the roof, running as fast as I could and stretching my new legs as I spun around with excitement and caught sight of Mom and Dad grinning at me like idiots.

"Aw, she's so cute!"

I stopped my happy dance and turned to see another woman come floating down from the air! Her image was shimmering and wavering and gave off a fate, purple glow as she smiled at me with dark, purple lips and lavender eyes. She had pale, almost white skin and deep, indigo locks that seemed to float freely behind her; she wore an outfit similar to Mom's, but with the green traded in with lavender and she too had the same watch Mom had strapped to her wrist.

"How old is she?" the woman cooed as she floated down to the ground and over to me, standing a good, couple of feet taller than me as she raised her hand to touch my cheek; I let out a loud yelp of shock when her fingers suddenly went through my face and came out the other side completely intact.

"About half an hour." Dad replied as he came up behind me and set a hand on my shoulder. "Honey, this is Spectra, your Mom."

"But what about my other Mom?" I asked, completely confused.

"We're both your Moms, silly." Spectra laughed before she seemed to realize something and turned to look up at the sky before gesturing for something to come down. I watched with shock as another girl that looked like she was maybe eight years old come down from the sky; she had translucent skin like Spectra, but her eyes were a vibrant, familiar green and her terra-twist hair was a light brown in color. Her image seemed to flicker a little between becoming invisible and solid, as if she couldn't make up her mind while she smoothed down the white dress she wore with a black, silk trim and a pair of black boots with multiple straps and chains that reached up to her knees.

"Ghouliana, meet the newest member of our family." Spectra gestured to the girl.

"H-h-hi." Ghouliana waved nervously before she hid behind her Mom's leg, as if I was afraid I would bite her. I wouldn't do that, would I? I'm not sure if I even can.

"Do I have more Moms?" I ask.

"Lots more." my first Mom replied; I made a mental note to remember all of my Mom's names so there wouldn't be any confusion.

"Hey, Lilith! How's it coming?" Dad yelled up into the air. I craned my neck to look up to see another woman flying through the air with a pair of large, bat-like wings jutting out from her back as she flapped them and descended down to the ground. I looked her over to see she had large, pink claws at the end of her fingers and had deep, blue irises for eyes; among the fact she had a braod set of wings, she had a long, whip-like tail with a spade-like growth at the end and a pair of large horns that sprouted out and curved back from her forehead under her dirty blonde hair. She wore a pair of tight, black pants with a tank top over her chest, along with a pair of straps over her chest with pouches trapped to them. Just like Spectra and Frankie, she had one of those strange watches.

"Nearly done, Ben. Just got to wait for everyone else to show up." Lilith replied before she noticed me. "This the birthday girl?" she asked me with a smile.

"I-I guess?" I shrugged; what the Sphinx was a birthday?

"I thought so," Lilith smiled. "Has anyone seem Damian?"

"WOO-HOO!"

"Found 'im!" Dad smiled as everyone else and I looked skyward to see a boy with dark, shaggy, raven hair soaring through the sky, flapping his wings to perform complicated aerial tricks with his bat-like wings as the air whistled past his curved horns and his long tail flapped in the wind. He had a considerably lighter tone of skin then Lilith and wore a black jumpsuit with a single, red stripe down his front that stopped at his belt. The boy, Damian, came dive bombing down towards us, and I flinched, fully expecting him to crash into us; was it wrong that I actually wanted him to crash into us, just so I could know what pain felt like?

Fortunately for us Damian pulled up at the last second and landed on his thick, black boots with little trouble as he grinned at me with a toothy smile and waved.

"Damian, what did I say about doing tricks?" Lilith scolded her son.; I think he looked like a young teen, maybe a few years older than me. Or my a few years older than my body?

"Oh, come on! I just wanted to make a good impression on my new sister!" he protested.

"Just like you when you were younger, eh?" Spectra smiled at Dad. It looked like he was about to respond when the strange box behind us gave off a loud ding and the doors slid open again as six figures came walking out of the box.

The first was a tall woman with long, black hair with blue streaks in it that ran down to her shoulders and a pair of hazel, brown eyes that blinked with a motorized sound every few seconds. It was then that I realized that this woman was not alive in the same sense as the rest of my Moms, but more artificial, yet still alive! She had tough, bronze skin and wore a pair of goggles on her forehead in addition to the strange watch that seemed to be on all of my Mom's wrists, though this one was noticeably copper and gold in color. She wore a caged skirt over a single, blue dress with golden trim. The person that followed after her only bared some resemblance to the first, the major difference being that she had similar skin to that of Dad's and had the same, deep, green eyes that seemed to run in the family. She had jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail with a single, brown and blue streak that framed the right side of her face. I didn't know if this was common in other kids, but she seemed disinterested in where she had been or where she was going as she gave me little more than a passing look before returning to the strange device that was hooked up to her ears by a glowing, orange cord.

"Amari, don't be rude." the woman scolded. "Say hello to your new sister."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hey." she merely said, raising her arm to wave before returning to the device she was hooked up to; it was then that I noticed that she was missing her entire left arm, nothing more than a bronze counterpart in its place. Amari didn't seem to care whatsoever and walked off to a quiet section of the roof to be alone as the woman suddenly lifted off of the ground by a feet inches and came over to Dad.

"How she been, Robecca?" Dad asked with a concerned and slightly exhausted voice; was something wrong with Amari?

"Getting worse every day, luv," Robecca sighed wearily. "I don't know what's wrong with her. She seems to be getting sicker every day; not even Azmuth can figure it out."

"I was afraid of that," Dad sighed. "First her lungs, then her small intestine, now her left arm." he whispered under his breath, as if he were trying to make sure I didn't hear him. "We might have to actually do it."

"She hasn't selected a species yet." was all Robecca would say before she left Dad and moved over to Amari, as if to talk to her, before she seemed to change her mind and head over to Spectra.

While I was left confused as to what was going on, I caught sight of the other four figures that had been in the strange box. The first of the second pair was a woman with pale, green skin and bright pink lips that allowed several fangs curve up and down over her lips at seemingly random points. She had neon green and pink on her head that was shaved off on one side and swept over the other, an odd look in my opinion. It seemed every adult in my family had one of those strange watches, because this woman had one too. She had bright, pink boots with multiple straps and buckles that reached up to her knees; the fronts of the boots seemed to have massive teeth dripping with saliva, which put me off considerably. Vines curled around her upper arms and ankles and on her shoulder was a strange creature about the size of a monkey with tentacle-like roots and a football-like head with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth and small, cute eyes that seemed to draw you in when you looked at them. The second figure was shorter than her, about maybe reaching her waist as he held onto her hand with his thumb in his mouth. He had a somewhat wilted look compared to what I could only guess to be his Mom, and had had surprisingly sharp, blue eyes unlike all of my other sisters and brother. His hair was was a bright pink, something that brought a small smile to my face as he cradled what looked like a smaller, young version of the thing sitting on the woman's shoulder.

"Go on, Mars. Say hi to your sister." the woman urged her son.

"Hi." was all the little boy would say before jamming his thumb back into his mouth and holding the little, plant-like creature in his arms closer.

"How are the preparations going, Ben?" the woman asked as the creature on her shoulder crawled up on top of her head with its roots and suddenly snapped at the air, snapping up a large moth that I hadn't noticed before; the sudden movement nearly made me wet myself. "Chewlian, what did I say about eating on Mommy's head?" the woman scolded.

"Venus, you know I love you, but I'm not going to refer to your pet as my son." Ben said as the hungry plant chewed, thankfully with its mouth closed.

"I didn't expect you to." Venus shrugged with a slight grin. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't give him some fertilizer every now and then. For me?" she added with a pleading expression that left me more confused than amused.

"Fine. I'll grab some of that Florauna plant food when I get the chance." Dad promised before he bent down to ruffle Mars's hair with a smile and jerking back when the little plant in his arms attempted to bite Dad's finger.

Another woman stepped out of the strange box and walked right up to Venus and Ben before she did something that caught me completely off guard; she went up to Venus and kissed her. Full on the lips for more than several seconds before pulling apart with a slight blush on her violet face. While I was absolutely stunned and flabbergasted, I noticed that her wild, long hair was a crazy mix of black, purple, and dark pink and reached down to her wiast as she wore a black jumpsuit with heavy, black boots and a belt around her waist. I half expected to see yet another one of the strange watches strapped to her wrist, but it was far different; it was red with a spiked strap and the watch face was a red and silver maw inside of a black ring instead of the familiar, sharp hourglass shape. What I found even more distracting was that the woman was carrying something in her arms.

Curious, I cautiously sneaked up behind Dad and attempted to look over his shoulder while he, Venus, and the strange woman were distracted by the small bundle in her arms, jumping up and down to get a better view. What I saw was a round, violet skinned face pale lips with dark, black hair with a single, brown streak through it in a wad of blankets, dozing peacefully.

"How's Jasmine doing, Jane?" Venus asked.

"Just fine," Jane replied. "Still sleepy, that's to be expected from babies."

"Hey, Jane! Can you give us a hand with the DJ stand? Holt and River are going to be here soon!" Robecca called from across the roof.

"Give me a sec!" Jane yelled back before handing the little girl in her arms to Ben and tapped the strange watch on her wrist before she raised her hand up and slapped it down on the watch, engulfing herself in a blood, red light; it made me uneasy. Her shoulders and back swelled with muscle and tissue as her bones grew bigger and bigger with a loud cracked noise. Her spine ground and cracked before splitting into a second pair right above the original, the transformation forcing it up and out from under her skin and into the open air where it quickly hardened into bony plates with two, sharp fins go outwards and another curving back. A long, bony tail whipped out from the base of her spine, muscle and tissue quickly enveloping it before skin and more bony plating covered the top, a spike forming on the end as four more, Stegosaurus-like spikes sprouted along her tail. Her legs made a sickening, wet sound as they split in two, forming a second pair that quickly bloated with muscle and bigger bones; her toes melted together into two, razor sharp claws as her heels ground and popped out as a third claw. Her body lengthened and became segmented as her arms split into not one, not two, but three pairs whose fingers quickly fused together into two large claws. Her head bulged outwards as razor sharp fangs ripped through her gums and four, bull-like horns grew on either side of her head. The skin around her head turned a blood red as her segmented underbelly turned a light lavender with the back plates turning a dark purple. A long, hollow horn sprouted out from her skull as her nostrils enlarged, completing the transformation as a large, red collar with white spikes formed around her neck.

I was completely terrified! One moment, Jane was there and the next thing I know, a giant monster is in her place! Venus saw the look on my face and smiled with amusement as she went on to explain that while everyone else could turn into aliens, Jane could turn into animals at will and alien animals with the use of the watch on her wrist; for some reason, they called it the Nemetrix. Either way, I was only slightly less scared than before as the massive animal lumbered across the rooftop on all four of its legs, its six, ridiculously small arms curled up against its body as it lowered its head and effortlessly pushed the DJ stand across the roof and into the desired place at the end of the roof.

It was then that Ben noticed I was flickering my gaze and forth between the massive animal on the roof and the small baby in his arms. "Don't worry. Jane's harmless and Jasmine's only two months old." he reassured me, holding up the baby for me to see; the little girl stirred in his arms for a second before she sleepily blinked open her bright, jungle green eyes and starred at me with a blank expression before she suddenly giggled slightly. I couldn't help but smile back.

"YAARR! AVAST, ME HEARTIES!"

I looked up to see a gigantic ship with ragged, torn sails, a skeletal figurehead, and algae encrusted hull slowly and silently sail through the air as it defied gravity; I have no idea what gravity actually is, but that was the least of my conerns when my eyes widened upon seeing what looked to be human skeletons decked out in pirate garb jumping about through the ship's rigging as if they were monkeys, their bony jaws twisted up into smiles as they gave friendly waves down to us before the heavy, barnacle encrusted anchor suddenly dropped over the side and smashed into the roof, leaving a massive dent; Jasmine was utterly oblivious as she went back to sleep.

My eyes widened further as a woman surrounded with a sea blue aura suddenly dove over the side of the ship, laughing all the way as she spun and swirled around the rusted, anchor's chain and landed on the roof with a loud cackle; she had wild, swirling blue and white locks like that of a rough ocean and unnaturally pink eyes on her light blue face. She wore a large, peach colored captain's hat with a large, blue feather in the brim and an intricate head piece of a ship on the ocean waves; along with the captain jacket she wore over a torn, blue dress with a pink, metal belt around her waist with several chains hooked to it that floated around her like octopus tentacles. She too, had one of the watches on her wrist, but what caught my attention the most was the fact that her entire right leg was a bronze knock off.

"Vandala! I just got that roof redone last week!" Lilith shook her fist angrily at the woman.

"Sorry, matey! I'm just excited fer the birthday ghoul's party!" Vandala cheered. "Us pirates loves ta party! ARR!"

"Well, could you at least move the anchor? I don't want anyone to get hurt." Ben sighed as a red light swallowed the massive animal on the roof and returned Jane to the world; she walked back over to us and took Jasmine from Dad's arms.

"I'd love to, matey, but I need to use the loo; those Methanosian tubers aren't sitting well with me lil' Bony Anne." she smiled, patting her stomach before she suddenly phased downwards through the roof below. Dad sighed and rolled his eyes before crossing his arms in front of his face; I thought he looked silly, until he was engulfed in a bright, green light and was changed before my very eyes. His spine stretched upwards as his arms swelled with muscle and tissue as his veins expanded to let the new, alien blood into him as his skin turned a deep, earthy red in color and hardened into a tough plating. His fingers twitched and exploded in size as his chest became massive muscled with heavy plating running down his stomach. His jaw jutted outwards as his teeth cracked and ground to fit his new mouth while his eyes twitched and split into a second pair on his head. Every last hair on his head was pulled into his scalp just as a short beard appeared on his square jaw and a handlebar mustahce sprouted on his upper lip and under his eyes. A loud, cracking noise filled the air as his bones readjusted themselves and a reptilian tail sprouted from the base of his spine as his toes all molded together into two, firm digits with thicks nails. I assumed the transformation was done when the most sickening thing happened: a pair of extra arms suddenly burst out of Dad's sides right under his original arms. All they were raw muscle and bone; I felt something churn in my stomach and I had to bite back something as it crawled up my throat just as tough, red skin enveloped the muscled arms and ended the nightmare. A pair of black, fingerless gloves with a green cuff appeared on each of his four hands as a pair of baggy, black pants and a green sash the every familiar, green hourglass symbol on it materialized on him, ending the transformation just as several spines jutted out from his thick neck and shoulders.

"Fourmungousaur!" the strange creature bellowed as it completely dwarfed all of us. I cowered behind Venus as Mars hugged her ankle. Fourmungousaur merely ignored us for the time being and lumbered over to the massive anchor and effortlessly shoved it across the rooftop with a loud grinding and shrieking noise that made almost everyone cringe; Jasmine somehow managed to sleep through it all without even stirring as Fourmungousaur moved the anchor to the very edge of the roof and out of the way where no one was likely to get hurt on it.

"Everyone here yet?" the large creature rumbled before he was suddenly swallowed in another flash of green light and returned Dad to the world.

"No, we've still some more guests arriving, dear." Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Amari grumbled from her corner of the roof.

The strange box dinged omce more and the doors slid open to reveal four more figures that flew out of the box in almost perfect unison. They were rather unnerving to me; everything about them was symmetrical or opposite of the other. Where one of their hair was hot pink in color, the other's was midnight blue, and where their outfit was blue and pink, the others were pink and blue, their jumpsuits covering most of their bodies. Attached to both of their wrists were the same watches that everyone else seemed to have; between the two them were two small kids about Ghouliana's age, one a boy and the other a girl. The little boy had dull, pink hair and the girl had midnight blue locks pulled back into a long, segmented ponytail like her Mom's.

"Gigi, Whisp! What kept you?" Spectra asked.

"We had to pick up Jinni and Rune from daycare." Gigi explained as she held a squriming Rune in her grip; the little boy didn't seem to want to sit still, and before I knew it, he had suddenly vanished in a puff of purple smoke to reappear on the rooftop by Damian's side. Before long, the two of them were up in the air again, frightening Ghouliana when they flew too low for her comfort.

"We ran into some trouble with Sploot," Whisp added as Jinni disappeared from her Mom's arms in a puff of pink smoke to reappear at Amari's side; the teenager only shifted her eyes to glance at the little girl before ignoring her with a sigh. "Don't worry though; Stinkerbell and Sonic Doom took care of 'im."

"Glad to hear it." Dad nodded. I was about to ask more when a sudden shadow cast over me and blotted out the sun for a brief moment before a great wind swept past us; I was suddenly feeling a little chilly under my dress, but that was the least of my concerns when something utterly massive landed on the roof, nearly sending me falling down to my feet before it stopped.

"Dragoon! Charmcaster! So nice of you to make it!" Lilith waved before she returned her attention to trying to get her son and Rune down from the sky.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world." a warm, feminine voice replied. I forced by skirt down, making a mental note to ask Mom for some underwear when I got the chance and turned around to see a tall woman with neatly tanned skin and long, white hair that reahced down to her waist tipped with purple. She wore a single, purple dress with a black stripe down the front and a pink collar around her neck with a ribbon of the same color around her waist. A point, black crown of sorts that looked like a 'V' sat on her forehead and she wore long, black fingerless gloves; she looked almost human, save for the noticable bulge in her belly region.

What really caught off guard though and nearly made myself wet again was the gigantic animal that stood next to her, surveying the rooftop for danger before it cuddle its head up to the woman and nuzzled her lovingly. The creature was massive, bigger than even Fourmungousaur had been and had two pairs of large, bat-like wings folded against its scaled back as its long, reptilian tail swished low against the ground; four long, curved horns sprouted from the beast's skull and it had large snout filled razor sharp teeth. And was it just me, or was that smoke drifting from its nostrils?

"How're the kids, Charmcaster?" Jane asked.

"Unbearable at times, but imagine it'll be worth it when the day comes." Charmcaster grunted, wincing at her aching back until Dragoon actually spoke and told her to take it easy during the party; I really wish I understood what everyone was talking about.

"Dragoon, can you please stop moving for a second? Loch is can't get off." a blue scaled girl said from Dragoon's back.

"Sorry." the dragon apologized, as he lowered his head to the floor and allowed the woman and a small boy slide down his neck like a slide and to the roof. I was a little surprised by this woman because not only did have blue scales for skin, a head of curly, red hair, webbed hands, and a mouthful of needle-like teeth, but she also had a long, reptilian-like tail with a fluke at the end! Unlike most of the other woman, she wore a black leotard with a bright, tartan patterned skirt of some kind around her waist; a small beret sat on her head as she took the small boy in her arms and hefted him up. The boy, Loch presumably, had a deeper skin tone to him than his Mom and dull, brown hair instead of the rich red his Mom. The one thing the boy did seem to retain from his Mom other than the body shape, was a pair of light blue eyes that starred widely at the world.

"Glad you could make it, Lorna. I thought you'd still be trying keep the Appoplexians and Lewodans from tearing out the Tetramand and Incurseans throats." Dad sighed with relief; the comment left me both confused and uncomfortable as Lorna shrugged.

"After a lot of yelling at each other, it smoothed out rather quickly." Lorna admitted. "Believe it or not, Loch actually was some help in keeping Empress Attea and Warlady Looma quiet."

"Frog lady and ant lady mean!" Loch agreed.

I was completely confused as to what he was talking about when a loud squak caught my attention and drew it back towards the sky where I nearly did a double take upon seeing another dragon in the sky! At least, I think it was a dragon. It was a rust red in color, but far smaller in size and its wings didn't actually seem to come from the creature itself, as if it were fake. The toohy snout was more rounded and beak-like and there was no tail. The creature had two slim arms and legs that ended in sharp talons and had a sharp crest on the back of its head. The creature wore a tight, black and purple jumpsuit and was carrying another woman in its arms.

The woman was rather frightening to me, simply because she was nothing more than a skeleton. I'm not sure how I knew what a skeleton was, but it seemed rather disturbing to me. She had bright, brown eyes and had her long, black, red, and blue long tied back in a lush ponytail that reached down to where her tailbone would have been if I could see it. Despite the fact that was nothing more than a collage of bones, she wore a black top trimmed with seemingly random and bright colors with a skirt of the same design around her pelvis, just barely exposing her spine.

The two of them touched down on the ground, with the skeleton lady jogging a short distance to let off speed as the dragon-like creature did a lap around the rooftop before touching down next to Frankie and Dad before it was suddenly consumed in a golden light and replaced by yet another woman with yet another one of those strange watches fixed to their wrists; seriously, how many of those are there? The new woman was covered in dark, brown fur from head to tow with long, lucious, chocolate locks and the large golden eyes of a predator that set me on edge slightly. A black jumpsuit with a purple front and a sash across her chest over her body and a belt with a pair of pouches clipped to the side sat around her waist; she also had a noticably bulge to her belly, though I suspected it wasn't from overeating, whatever that was.

"Glad you could make it, Clawdeen!" Frankie smiled, hugging fury woman.

"I thought you and Skelita wouldn't be back for another week?" Dad wondered after kissing the skeleton woman on the lips, elicting a slight blush to her skull.

"We thought so too, but it turns out that the war was all a big, misunderstanding. It seems the King of Gilli-Perambulous Promenade actually got lost on his way to Aeropela; took a left turn at Pyros System when he should have gone right at Anur System." Skelita responded.

"That's a relief." Dad sighed with relief before turning to Clawdeen. "You doing okay?"

"Stop worrying, Ben. I'm absolutely fine." Clawdeen reassured him as she rubbed her swollen stomach. "Lupa and Faolan are developing nicely." she added with a smile before she took sight of me. "So the operation was a success?"

"Yep. I thought Strikeback wasn't strong enough, but it was better than waiting around for a thunderstorm like Dad did," Frankie shrugged. "That would be your grandfather." she added to me.

"I told you it would work." Clawdeen smirked. "Although I question why you couldn't just plug her into an outlet."

"Tennyson Tower doesn't run on electricity, Clawdeen. We've been through this." Dad rolled his eyes.

"Well, I can't understand half of what Greystorm ever says! I'm not a scientific genius like Ghoulia!" Clawdeen shoved Dad playfully; was I missing something with all this names?

The strange box dinged again and a pair of large figures stepped out onto the roof again; I was incredibly confused and just down right weirded out by the sight of them. The first was violet in color with the lower body of a horse and an upper body similar to Frankie. A set of large, broad wings sat on the shoulders and the head was human looking in appearance with a pair of horse ears on top of her head underneath a neat nest of long, ocean blue locks. She too, had a watch strapped to her wrist and wore a red jacket over a blue, plaid shirt with ruffles at the collar and hem. Standing next to her was a smaller version of her, with the exception of the fact that he was clearly a boy. His skin was a dark purple, almost black in color with a pair of small wings attached to his back. Unlike his Mom, he had ears similar to Dad's and had bright, green eyes on his face with his hair done up in a bright, orange Mohawk; he wore a leather jacket over a white shirt and winked at me as he and his Mom trotted out of the strange box.

"Are we late?" the woman asked.

"Nah, we haven't started yet, Avea." Dad replied. "How's Sagritarius's arm doing?"

"The Galvan doctor said he would be fine as long as he didn't try pulling another stunt for the next couple of weeks." Avea replied, stealing a glare at the sheepish monster before letting him off the hook and setting off to help out Spectra and Robecca with the party decorations. I was about ask Dad some more questions when Sagritarius gallopped over to me and suddenly grabbed me in a headlock before giving me the fatehr of all noogies!

"Hiya, ghoul! Haven't seen you are here!" he greeted me joyously once I was released. "What's your name?"

"My . . . name?" I wondered.

"You don't have a name?" Sagritarius cocked an eyebrow.

"I . . . I don't think so." I shrugged. "I'm only an hour old."

"Oh, you must be my new sister!" he exclaimed happily. "Sorry about your hair, by the way." he apolgized as he attempted to smooth down my mussed up hair.

"Don't worry about it. Right now, I'm just trying to remember everyone's names." I waved it off.

"Allow me to help ya, sis." Sagritarius offered. "So, it looks like you've met most of the family and Aunt Charmcaster and Uncle Dragoon. That leaves only a handful of others left." he listed off when he suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye and pulled me around to look at it. A short woman with pale, gray skin was standing near the shadows of the roof, actually talking to the dark space as if it were the most normal thing in the world; while I thought she was crazy, she had pastle green and twilight colored hair that would sweep over one side of her face if she moved too much and had yet another one of the strange watches attached to her wrist; she wore a leather suit with high, black boots and straps across her chest with what looked like a gun of some kind in the holester attached to her belt. She suddenly turned to look around and caught me off guard; her left eye was missing, covered up by a black eye patch. The woman turned back towards the shadows and reached inside before pulling someone of there, as if they were the shadows themselves!

It was a little girl, maybe a few years young than Ghouliana, with nearly white skin and crispy, green eyes like that of the sea foam in the tides as they rolled back and forth; how I knew all of this, all these things and colors, I had no idea and it actually kinda frightened me a little. The little girl had a similar hair color to her Mom with several streaks of purple similar to mine and wore a pajama-like dress with what looked like a teddy bear clutched tightly in her hand as she took her Mom's hand and jammed her thumb into her mouth as she hugged to her Mom tightly, as if afraid that any of her wild siblings or one of her other Moms would suddenly lash out at her. She only ever really brightened when the pair got close to Dad.

"That's Twyla and our sister Mist," Sagritarius explained. "She's kinda . . . afraid of a lot of things. Doesn't like to do much other than sleep, hang out with Ghouliana, her Mom, Dad, or hide in dark places."

"Should we say hi?" I wondered.

"Not yet," my brother replied. "Let her get use to her surroundings a little."

I watched as the Mist hid herself behind Dad's legs, rolling her eyes around to take the large party in until they settled on me; I'll admit that I was a little unnerved by her wide, sea foam eyes starring at me, as if she could see right through me without any difficulty whatsoever. It made me shiver slightly until she switched her gaze to Uncle Dragoon.

"Is that everyone?" I asked.

"No, we're still missing a few. Bonita should have been here by now." Sagritarius mused.

"WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO!"

"There she is." Sagritarius said as a green blur suddenly shot up from over the side of the roof and high into the air, reaching its climax before it came hurling back down and landed with a loud

thud! a mere few feet away and heavily denting the roof just like Vandala's anchor had done. The creature looked like a large insect of sorts to me with a sharp head and clawed fingers with spines on its arms. It had a rather bulb-like abdomen that sat just behind a pair of large, strong legs that looked like they could pack a serious wallop; the creature wore a pair of white and pink overalls over itself.

"Bonita! What did I say about using Crushhopper!?" Dad exclaimed with annoyance. "How many times am I going to have to fix this roof!?" he added to himself with exasperation.

"Sorry." Crushhopper apologized before a bright, pink light swallowed her whole and left someone else entirely behind. She had platinum, blonde hair with a black and white streak near her bright, pink eyes that was pulled into a long, French braid that reached down to her waist; the long braid ran down between a pair of large and absolutely beautiful wings that flapped open and shut every few seconds as a pair of feathery antennae danced on her forehead. She wore a tight, black top that showed off her figure and a short skirt that looked like it was composed out of exotic rags of fang-tastic designs and colors that greatly fascinated me; she also had a slight skeletal look that only slightly put me off. After all, I saw a complete skeleton and a fire-breathing dragon just landed on my roof. It's not like I could see anything stranger.

"Can you believe she use to be the shyest ghoul Dad had ever come across?" Sagittarius wondered. "Now she's practically the family daredevil!"

"Um, Sagittarius? Only been alive for an hour, remember?" I pointed out.

"Oh. Right. You don't know the family history." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "You can just call me Bud, if you want. It's easier than saying Sagittarius all the time, am I right?' he joked, elbowing me in the ribs gently.

"I . . . guess." I agreed with uncertainty.

"Hey, don't sweat it. You'll get to know everyone." he reassured me when the strange box dinged for what seemed the hundredth time today and a pair of woman strutted out and onto the rooftop. The first was maybe the tallest of all the woman that were my Moms, standing nearly as tall as Dad; she had Nile blue, and brown streaked hair pulled back into a long, braid ponytail that framed her tanned skin and crisp, blue eyes and reached down to her knees. She wore a golden ring around her head with a bright, blue rune in the center just between her eyes, acting like a crown of sorts. She wore a golden brace on either arm and wore a black top with a golden chain design on the bottom and a Nile blue top where her cleavage was; I checked my own chest to find I had a considerable amount of cleavage and hoped to high heaven it wasn't Dad that had sewn me together. A golden belt was strapped around her waist and a tight, blue skirt that just barely covered her hips sat underneath that. On her feet she wore a pair of golden boots with snake figures over the front that put her feet at a near vertical angle. In her arms was a small bundle of blankets that I could only guess to be yet another baby, although judging from the size, this one was considerably older than Jasmine. And based on the bright, pink color of the blankets, I assumed it was also a girl, most likely named Isis from what the woman was cooing.

The other woman was perhaps half a foot or so shorter than the other woman and bared resemblance to Lorna. She had golden colored scales and a long, lizard-like tail with a plume of jade fur at the end. Looking farther up, I saw she had the same colored hair pulled up into a tight pun held together by a pair of sticks of some kind with a long lock running over the right side of her face. She wore a white top with red sleeves and bottom that stopped just above her midriff. She also wore a pair of white pants that just reached her knees with a red trimming on one leg and a decent patch on the other, with a pair of open toed, green saddles to support her feet; lying loosely around her waist and lower hip was a belt with some kind of jewelry looped into it. I decided she was decently normal until she caught sight of Rune and Damian flying through the air with Lilith chasing after them.

"Zhùyì!" she yelled loud and curt before she suddenly opened her mouth and blasted a hot, jet of fire right from her lips!

Immediately, Damian and Rune dove towards the ground without complaint and snapped to attention as the woman glared at them with smoke drifting her nostrils before giving them a curt nod and leaving them be; the two boys shared a look before scurrying off elsewhere, their feet never leaving the ground for more than a second.

"That's Jinafire and Nefera." Bud told me.

"How did she-" I started to reply before I was cut off.

"So you are the newest addition to our family?" Jinafire asked me.

"Y-yes, ma'am." I stammered, slightly frightened by her fiery temper.

"Please. You may call me 'Mom' or 'Jinafire'. Even 'Mommy', if you so chose to." she said with a warm smile before giving me a slight bow and leaving to go talk with Charmcaster.

"She only gets like that if someone's really misbehaving," Sagittarius whispered to me. "You wouldn't believe how much she chewed me out for breaking my arm."

"Is that everybody?" Dad asked.

"I think so, luv." Robecca replied. "Lagoona and Gil are vacationing on Piscciss, Abbey and Heath are still on their honeymoon, Cleo and Deuce are visiting Anur Khufos for a week, Rook and Rayona are celebrating Rook Jaji's Bi'nthakoid Ceremony, Draculaura and Clawd are vacationing in Scaris, and Grandpa Max is at a shuffleboard competition." she listed off before a sudden flash of pink light enveloped the air, startling everyone and sending several of my younger brothers and sisters running to their respective parents. Once the light died down, two figures emerged and were quickly welcomed by the adults and older children. The first was a woman with bright, orange bangs towards the front of her head with a pair of white, hoop earrings in her ears. She wore a blue and black spandex suit with a series of weird, little bals embedded in her right arm; to me, they looked painful. She had a light, blue cloak with a hood attached to her neck and a cat-like symbol on her belt. Next to her was a tall man with thick, greasy, black hair with dark marks underneath his eyes that made him look extremely tired in my opinion. He wore a black suit with gray markings and lines on his body with a padlock necklace around his neck with the number '11' carved onto the lock; he sported an 'X' shaped scar on his chin and wore black, finger-less gloves in addition to a pair of thick boots.

"Hope are aren't crashing your party, Tennyson." the man smirked.

"Gwen! I was wondering when you and Kevin were going to arrive." Dad grinned as the woman smiled and gave my Dad a hug before the man gave my Dad a fist bump. "Still haven't tied the knot, huh?" my Dad teasingly.

"Actually, Kevin proposed to me just yesterday." Gwen admitted with a slight blush on her face, holding up her hand to show a sparkling, cyan colored ring on her finger.

"Pure Taydenite. No expense spared for my girl." Kevin grinned, hugging Gwen close to him.

"And where exactly did you get pure Taydenite?" Dad asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow and speaking in a tone that scared me a little.

"Relax, Tennyson. It's totally legit." Kevin reassured my Dad. "Saved Vulkanus from the Rooters in the Null Void a couple weeks back, and he gave me this as repayment."

"They have gotten more nasty of late, haven't they?" Spectra sighed, shaking her head sadly.

It was then that Gwen and Kevin noticed me trying to look invisible behind Sagittarius; I wasn't afraid of them, but something about Kevin really made me uneasy. "Aw, she looks so cute!" Gwen cooed to my Mom and Dad.

"Yeah, looks just like you, Frankie." Kevin chuckled as he folded his arms over his chest. "How old is she?"

"About an hour." Frankie replied. "She already knows so much."

"That's probably because we preprogrammed her brain with the necessary information." Dad shrugged. "You sure this was how your parents did it?"

"Positive. I kept a diary and everything." Frankie said firmly.

"I thought you said it was an ancient manuscript you borrow from Kai!?"

Frankie and Kevin had doubled over with laughter as Gwen smiled slightly at my Dad's misfortune. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, from I assumed it was supposed to be happy or something, though I wasn't entirely sure how to respond. Fortunately, I didn't have to.

"Where's Vandala? I promised her I would duel her next time I saw her." Kevin wondered.

"Bathroom. Food isn't sitting well with her." Frankie replied.

"I'll go check on her." Dad volunteered as he quickly crossed his air in front of him and was swallowed by a bright, green light. His skeleton cracked loudly as his skin turned a creamy white with wavy, black lines etching themselves across his arms and legs. His fingers made a sickening sound as razor sharp claws tore through his fingers, a loud tearing sound filling the air as the cream white suit that enveloped him tore in several places to reveal black and white patches of something pulsing like veins underneath. His legs suddenly moved like ooze, wrapping around each other tightly as a sickening crunching sound met my ears; my guess it was his leg bones grinding together as his legs then fused together into a single limb. Dad's skull twitched violently as his head suddenly rotated upside down and his teeth turned into sharp fangs ripping through his gums. His eyes slowly slid across his face until they suddenly merged together into a one, large eye that blinked once before it fractured like glass into hundreds of different specs, like that of a fly's. A sudden wooshing noise caught my attention as a large, pair of wings appeared around my Dad, folding together like that of a cloak that enveloped my Dad's chest and formed a hood over his head; the strange disk appeared on his chest as black and blue armor appeared on my Dad's arms.

"Freak Chill!" my Dad rasped, a breath of vapor escaping the cage of teeth before he suddenly vanished before my eyes and phased through the roof, searching for Vandala.

"We really need to teach him to use the elevator." Gwen sighed.

"That's Uncle Kevin and Aunt Gwen." Bud explained. "That's pretty much everyone."

"What about her?" I wondered, pointing towards Amari; she hadn't moved an inch for the past hour or so, hugging the area of the roof through everything.

"She's . . . ill . . ." was all Sagittarius would say. "And moody."

"I'm going to talk to her." I said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Sagittarius warned me. I gave him a hard look, one that I hoped would be serious enough, and left him, walking across the rooftop with eyes tracing me for a few seconds before they would leave me and go back to what they were doing before. Amari didn't pay any attention to me as I crept up on her and watched her for a few seconds, wondering how and why someone was so depressed. Sucking in a deep breath, I took a few more steps forward and walked up next to her, staying still; for a few seconds, I thought she hadn't seen me until she turned her head barely and narrowed her eyes at me.

"What do you want?" she frowned, a hint of venom in her voice.

"I just wanted to say hi." I replied.

"Well now you have." Amari responded bitterly before returning to the device she was hooked up to.

"Why are you so sad?" I asked after a few seconds of silence.

It was a few minutes before Amari responded at all. "Why do you think I'm sad?" she asked me.

"I don't know." I admitted. "I'm only an hour old. I barely know you."

"And you probably won't know me for much longer." Amari bit out with annoyance. "By the time you're even a year old, I probably won't exist anymore."

"Why? What's wrong with you?" I asked with concern; Amari turned to glare at me full force, her lips turned downward into a deep frown that made me wince slightly.

"You really wanna know?" she snarled.

"Of course I do!" I said.

Amari gave me a hard look, as if she were examining every last part and piece of me before actually speaking at all. "I'm sick, if you must know. Some sort of disease or other, I dunno." she growled. "According to Azmuth, it's some kind of parasite or something that's slowly eating away at my body; eventually there'll be nothing left me, as if I was never born." she said bitterly, saying the name as if it were a curse.

"What did your Mom mean by when she said, 'she hasn't selected a species yet'?" I quoted.

"Some kind of backup or cure or something," Amari rolled her eyes. "Azmuth has this idea or other to build me a new bodyor something from the DNA samples in my Mom's Omnitrix and transfer my mind into it or something; he won't start the process until I pick a species to become, but there is no way in Anur Transyl I'm going along with it."

"Why? From what I understand, it sounds like you're getting a second chance at life!" I pointed out with a smile.

"What would you know about life?" Amari snarled at me with incredible disdain.

"Not much," I admitted with a shrug. "All I know is that it's fun!" I laughed; Amari looked at me as if she wanted to burn me alive.

"What's fun about it?" she glared at me. "Even with my Dad and all my Moms and Uncle Kevin, Aunt Gwen, Uncle Dragoon, and Aunt Charmcaster, there's still evil in the universe; no matter what they do, nothing ever changes for the better. Life. Is. Pointless." she emphasized every word.

I guess she was expecting to hurt me with those last few words, but I kept a positive attitude. "C'mon, now! It can't be that bad!"

"Yes, it could." she grumbled.

"Alright, how could it be bad?" I asked, deciding to humor her.

"You could be me." she huffed sadly, turning to look away from me.

"Well, I maybe have only been alive for an hour, but I already love being alive! There's so much to do and so much to see!"

"I don't know where you-" Amari started to say, but I kept going; I was on a roll.

"I don't know how long I'll live. I could live for a hundred years, I could live for only one. I might even die tomorrow without any warning, but that's not gonna stop me from living my life, however short it may be." I pointed out. "And so should you."

"Why should I?" Amari frowned.

"Because you have a second chance to live!" I practically yelled. "You could be any species you wanted to! One those dragon men! One of the frog people! An insect person! A dinosaur dude! An ant person!"

"You mean an Astrodactyl, an Incursean, a Crashhopper, a Vaxasaurian, and a Tetramand?" Amari corrected me.

"If that's what they're called, then yes!" I practically screamed. "Carpe diem!"

"Seize the day?" Amari cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't even know what that means, but okay!" I cried happily, jumping up and down with joy.

"Looks like your girl ate too much sugar, Tennyson." I heard Kevin crack before Gwen smacked him upside the head. "Ow!"

"Actually, I think she just made my other girl live again." Dad smiled before he walked up to us and folded his arms across his chest; Vandala phased up through the roof next to him with a warm smile on her lips and a massive sword in her hands with a small, glowing cuttlefish floating near her head. "You two ready to party?"

"Party?" I wondered.

"Of course! It's your birthday!" he chuckled with a warm mirth.

"Birthday?" I was confused again.

"The day you were born. Or in your case, brought to life." Amari explained as she pulled out the two wires from her ears and wrapping them around the device before stuffing it in her pocket. "Guess I oughta start living mine while I still can."

"AGH! The cheesiness! It's too much!" Kevin gagged, clenching his throat with his hands as he dropped to his knees; Gwen smacked him upside the head again as everyone laughed at his misery.

"Yo! Holt and River are in the house!" a loud, obnoxious sounding voice sang loudly. Everyone turned to see a man with clear, blue skin and a wild look in his eye. His face was painted rather strangely, with one side being painted white and the other being painted black as he wore a tophat with goggles around the brim on his head; fire poured out of the burnt top like an active volcano, and I could just barely see the multiple piercings in his ears and nose glow a bright head as his goatee started to smoke; it looked like it hurt. He wore a red sweater vest under a black jacket with flames on the sleeves and a purple tie. Red, finger-less gloves sat on his hands with a golden belt around his waist holding up a pair of ripped, black and gray plaid pants. Thick, leather boots with multiple, red straps sat on his feet with a tattered and torn, purple cape flapping in the breeze behind him.

Following closely behind him with a wild scream of joy or insanity, I wasn't sure which one it was, was a woman on another hoverboard, a warm and crazy smile plastered to her lips. Her hair was wild and insane and as colorful as cotton candy, with the colors effortlessly blending into one another; I still wasn't quite sure how I knew what cotton candy was, but then again, my parents did say they programmed basic stuff into my head; perhaps cotton candy is one of them? Regardless, the woman had pale, white skin that seemed to shimmer and glow in the setting sun, and I could have sworn I saw her bones right through them as she flipped and twilred through the air on her hoverboard, just barely catching the sunlight before she came back down. She wore a tight, black top with a skullete wearing a pink bow with a small crack down the middle over a blood red heart with a needle jammed into it; Under that, she wore a frilly, white skirt with a layer of black silk underneath that flapped in the breeze as she soared. On her feet were high, pale, blue boots with multiple straps on them, a fashion crazy that really seemed to be popular with a lot of girls; or is it ghouls? She had wide, pale blue eyes and a tight, angular face, as if her skin just barely fit over her skull with numerous piercings in her ears and two more in her eyebrows. In her hand she carried a long staff with a massive, curved blade at the end with a black cloak that clasped around her neck.

"PAAAAARTY!" Holt howled at the top of his lungs as he and River came to a screeching halt in front of us. "Sorry we're late, T-man! Just got down with a crazy magic show!"

"It was awesome!" River cheered.

"I imagine it was," Ben chuckled, giving Holt a quick hug before taking River's hand and kissing the back of it politely. "I see no ring yet. Still dating?"

"We're just takin' our time!" River blushed furiously as Holt laughed like a mad man.

"Enough with the no poppin' and lockin' it! Where's the birthday ghoul at?" Holt wondered with a bright smile on his face.

"R-right here." I murmured; these two were starting to make me uneasy, and it wasn't just because they seemed to be immune to pain. With their wild attitudes, they could probably run around the entire world a hundred times without breaking a sweat!

"Aw, she's so cute!" River gushed.

"ARR! That she be!" Vandala agreed, swinging her sword in a wide arc and forcing everyone within range to duck, including me. "She be as cute as a kipper!" she added. I hoped that was a good thing.

"What's her name, T-man?" Holt asked.

"We were going to name her when she woke up, but one thing led to another-" Dad started to explain.

"Say no more, T-man! I got a perfect name for her!" Holt interrupted. "How about 'Casta Noire Tennyson'?"

"Holt, for the last time, we aren't naming any of our kids after pop stars." Ben shook his head. "Even if Casta and Catty are intergalactically famous."

"And yet they were still nice enough to show up fer our weddin', matey!" Vandala laughed.

"Alright, alright, alright. How about we let the kid decide, eh? It's her name after all." Holt pointed out.

"Holt, she's only an hour old. She doesn't know any names other than the ones of her own family." River rolled her eyes.

"Voltage! I knew I picked you to be my ghoul for another reason other than your drop dead looks! Ya got brains too! And lots of 'em!" Holt laughed.

"Aye, but not as much as Ghoulia. Still can't believe she's Azmuth's new assistant!" Vandala chuckled.

Amari and I shared looks at each other, not quite sure if we supposed to still fit into this conversation or not until things were quickly steered back to me not having an identity. By then, Frankie had come back and declared that the party should begin soon if we wanted to get all the younger kids to bed without a fuss; I noticed Dad winced slightly at the mention of that.

"But we can't start until she has a name yet!" Dad protested.

"Aye!" Vandala agreed.

"Well, what do you think a nice name would be?" Frankie asked, crossing her arms over her chest before catching sight of me and gesturing for me to come over to her. I followed and was immediately bombarded with name suggestions from Dad, Vandala, River, and Holt; I looked to Amari for help, but she seemed to have disappeared. I found her seconds later trying to coax Mist and Ghouliana out from the shadows after the grand entrance of River and Holt had frightened significantly.

"STOP!" Frankie yelled, her bolts crackling with electricity that quickly electrocuted the everyone around us except me; with everyone stunned and quiet, she bent down so she was eye level with me with a calm expression on her face. "Think hard, dear. If anyone's going to chose a name, it has to be you."

"But . . . you named all my other brothers and sisters. Why do I get to chose my name?" I wondered.

"Because they couldn't talk when they were born and needed one." Dad coughed and wiped black soot off of his shirt. "But your Mom had a point; if anyone's going to chose who you are, it should be you."

"Couldn't I just be named Frankie Jr.?" I pleaded; my parents merely laughed at the idea, and I had to agree it was pretty ridiculous. But how was I supposed to name myself if I had no idea what a name was?

"How about . . . Persephone?" Frankie suggested. "I think your Mom would be flattered.

Persephone. The name has a nice ring to it, but I'm kinda confused on its meaning. I look to my Dad for an explanation, but he somehow seems distant. I mean, he's right here standing in front of me, but he has this far off look like his mind is somewhere else entirely.

"What's wrong with Dad?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing. Just a bad memory." Frankie assured me, although from the tone of voice she used, it seemed to be a touchy subject; Vandala, River, and Holt had gone silent too, although I wasn't sure if they were still suffering from the sudden charge Frankie had given them or not. "Come on! You get to pick out the first song!" she suddenly became happy once more; I let the mood slide when I saw my Dad's brighten up, but I made a mental note to ask my brothers and sisters if they knew anything about what Mom meant by a 'bad memory'.

I was led over to the DJ stand by Frankie with River flying overhead and Holt running like a maniac with his pants on fire to check out the music selection for the night; I didn't really see anything that looked like to be music or anything, but from the way River and Holt were practically squealing after glancing over a small, hovering, green square above the DJ stand, I knew I was in for a wild night. Holt led me up to the strange, green square and slowly scrolled through the hundreds if not thousands of music choices listed on the square, knowing I had no idea how to operate it. I really had no idea what song to chose, but an artist's name caught my eye.

"What's this one?" I asked, pointing at the name.

"Oh, YEAH!" Holt practically screamed. "Catty Noire and Casta Fierce, ghoul! And it's the number one hit song in this entire galaxy, too!" he added; I guess I made a really good choice, because Holt was practically dancing around the DJ stand like the same maniac he was only with flaming ants in his pants this time until he grabbed hold of the microphone and tested to see it was on.

"Hello? Everybody here out there?" he asked quietly; once it was confirmed that everyone could here him, he quickly launched back into the loud, crazy dialogue he was known for. "Good evening, all you man-sters and ghouls! We're gathered here today for the T-man's newest daughter's birthday!" he announced loudly. "Give it up for the birthday ghoul, Persephone Tennyson!" he howled, a loud roar of approval going out over the family; Holt grinned like an idiot as he took off his top hat and surprisingly sat it on my head, the brim nearly going down over my eyes before I caught it. "Keep it safe for me, will ya doll?" he winked at me.

I'm sorry to say that blushed a little, probably from embarrassment, but I gladly took the hat and hopped down from the DJ stand as Holt and River took their positions and started the music up; it had a scary cool beat! And while I have to admit that watching my parents dance together to the thumping beat of the song was both embarrassing and scary romantic at the same time, my first birthday was the best day of my unlife!

You can be the coolest Monster in class, but that won't get you no pass!

Even the popular's got problems you know!

I watched as Spectra and Vandala danced together in the air above me, giggling like school girls as they soun around and danced to the beat; I was caught off guard when I saw Robecca and Venus dancing just like my Mom and Dad, nice and close together. It made me a little uncomfortable, but I figured my already massive family was full of quirks. What were a few more?

That doesn't mean that things won't try to tear you down!

It's the way of life as the living dead! I thought you know this by now?

Kevin, try as hard as he could, was unable to look as manly as he wanted to with Gwen leaning her head on his chest and his arms around his waist and Damian and Rune mocking him when he wasn't looking while they swung to the beat.

We're all just ghouls at the end of the day, howling at the moon, won't you come out and play?

W'ere all just ghoul at the end of the day, and we're breaking thru like zombies coming out of the grave!

I got a slight uneasy sense when all of my Moms and Dad suddenly got a mischievous glint in their eyes as they turned to the watches strapped to their wrists and tapped them before slapping them and swallowing themselves in various flashes of bright light; I was amazed and stunned as I watched my parents emerge as dozens of different aliens from the stars beyond or the city below, simply amazed at the various forms that I was sure to meet in my life. It was then that I felt a tapping on my shoulder and saw Sagittarius standing there, a goofy smirk on his face and an outstretched hand waiting for me; I took it.

I like to party like a Monster! Under the moon, we just spooking around!

Party like a Monster! It's a celebration, pump your fists and get loud!

How we get together!

Make it last forever!

We're stoppin' never!

Party like a Monster!

At this point, Holt and river grabbed a pair of microphones and started to sing along with the song with ridiculous voices for a few seconds before they decided to get serious and sing as best as they could. I was barely paying attention, since I was just trying to keep from tripping over my own two feet while Sagittarius skillfully moved all four of his and kept me standing with his arms; Charmcaster and Dragoon, who had somehow managed to shrink down to a rather attractive looking human-like form were dancing in the air as if there were some kind of invisible platform there that I couldn't see.

"Yeah, we go all night to the morning, goblins young, wild, and free! I need a Monsteress just like Medusa! One look will make 'em all freeze!"

"We, live inside of your nightmares! I might scare, you make me lose control! It's unusual to be the walking dead, but make it look so bootiful!" Holt rapped with surprising skill before River took over.

"Put ya hands up and rock it out! Pump ya fist and let's scream and howl!"

"Let's freak 'em out, up and down as we jump around!"

"Ghouls and Gals know how to get down! Haunted house party underground!"

"Do it just like the Monsters, owww!" River crooned into the microphone before the song jumped back into the chorus. I managed to see the Astrodactyl that was Clawdeen spin around in the air with what I could only guess to be Bonita in what looked like the body of an over-sized dragonfly with four, stalk-like eyes and a horrible odor. Jane had been one of the few adults to not transform during the first chorus, and was hanging near the back of the roof with Jasmine in her arms and Ghouliana and Mist shuffling and dancing around at her feet; I think she volunteered to look after my little brothers and sisters for the time being while everyone else danced.

I like to party like a Monster! Under the moon, we just spooking around!

Party like a Monster! It's a celebration, pump your fists and get loud!

How we get together!

Make it last forever!

We're stoppin' never!

Party like a Monster!

Party like a Monster!

I could tell that the song was starting to wind down for the moment as everyone started to slow to a crawl with their dancing, but I never felt so alive before; I could feel my bolts sparking furiously as I laughed and caught sight of Amari standing near the strange box that dinged with a small on her lips as she watched me have the time of my unlife.

Before anyone could stop me, I rushed across the rooftop, startling Mist and Ghouliana slightly, as I ran up to Amari and grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her out into the crowd, casting a quick look back at Holt and gesturing for him to replay the song; Amari gave me an odd and rather uncomfortable look, but decided to humor me at the very least and enjoy herself for the night.

After all, if you only get to live once, you might as well have fun doing it, right?


"So this is my future?" Ben asked as he watched his older self dance with a matured Frankie. He watched as his multiple children danced and raced around the rooftop to Holt and River's wild and crazy beat; despite all the noise this was probably creating for the city, he had to admit it actually looked kinda of nice. Like a perfect photo or something shot out of a magazine.

"It might be, it might not." Paradox smiled warmly beside him; the wild party below them were oblivious to the two of them as they watched through a temporary tear in the time line the Time Walker had created. "Only time will tell." he cracked with a broad smile.

"Little corny there, Professor." Ben smiled.

"Be that as it may, Benjamin, sometimes corny endings are the most happiest and fun to watch." Paradox smirked.

"Can't argue with you on that one."

And there we go, man-sters, ghouls, and gals!

I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did writing it, and I hope to see many of you and maybe more in my sequel and one-shot series! This is Creaturemaster signing off for now! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this story in some shape or form, whether you voted on a poll, helped me come up with plot points for the story, or helped me write an idea, it's all greatly appreciated!

Remember, be freaky, be fabulous, be a Monster!

Hasta Luego!