Another MvA fic from me, this one being a bit longer and based off of the movie :) I had a sort of "what-if" moment with a certain scene, so I hope it's alright. I struggled with some points of it, but I believe I got it the way I like it, and I really hope you all like it as well! Please read and review! It means a lot to me :) Thank you!

Monsters vs. Aliens (C) Dreamworks Animation

It was just after the rather intense and exhilarating battle with the giant alien probe on the Golden Gate Bridge and Team Monster were now on the large military plane, heading towards the monsters' newly granted freedom. Susan was still feeling the rush at defeating something she never even dreamed about having to deal with. Dr. Cockroach and B.O.B had been watching her express her victory with big smiles. Link, however, didn't feel the same, for he had not only been incapacitated for most of the fight, but he was outshined by another monster; the fact that it was a female monster was enough to bruise his ego severely. He still felt sour about the whole thing, even after Susan defended him from being teased by the doctor and the blob.

"So, uh, tell me exactly how this "normal life" thing works with you being giant and all?" Link asked Susan, a questioning eyebrow raised to her and a hand on his hip. He wanted Susan to be happy and to see her living the normal life she's been craving for the past three weeks, but he knew that was no longer possible and was curious to know how she was going to have the perfect, healthy, and wonderful relationship with this Derek guy she kept going on about.

Susan looked down at him with her enormous, sky blue eyes and said, "I'm not going to be a giant forever! Derek won't rest until we find a cure for my…condition. We're a team!" Susan was sure that when Derek mentioned them being a team, they both would face any problem thrown at them together, even one as -pardon the pun- big as her current one.

"We could all do with a Derek," Dr. Cockroach mused from his seat on some strapped down bombs. He had a whimsical look on his face, as if he was dreaming of settling down with a girl of his own; one that he would treat exceptionally well and would do anything for. He crossed his legs as he addressed Susan again. "Perhaps someday we could make his acquaintance?"

Susan was surprised to hear this suggestion. "Really? You guys wanna meet Derek?" She never thought these monsters would take an interest in her prior life and it made her feel rather exultant that they were willing to step out of their comfort zone and meet other humans, despite being locked away in a secret, underground government facility for 50 years with little to no human interaction at all. She was sure that her parents and Derek would also love to meet them, if they didn't freak out at first.

~*~*MvA*~*~

After a rather…eventful…meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Murphy and Susan's friends, the giantess had learned that Derek hadn't come to the reunion because he was still at work. The boys saw this as rather suspicious, seeing to as how with all the talk about how wonderful and loving he was, they'd think the man would be ecstatic to see his fiancé again. Link had remarked that the man had his priorities a bit out of whack, which earned him a sharp glare from Susan who defended her future-husband by saying that Derek probably couldn't help it and that the studio was just keeping him away. B.O.B was naïve enough to believe her unlike Link and the good doctor. They weren't so sure, but decided not to dampen Susan's cheery mood and accompanied her on the short trek to the news studio, riding on her shoulder. Insectosaurus had told them-well, he told Link- that he would catch up to them when he could, taking the long way through the fields and hills so he wouldn't worry about crushing any houses or people.

"Oh I can't wait to see Derek again," B.O.B sighed dreamily. "Soon I'll be back in his arms. Or he'll be in mine."

"Uh, B.O.B? That's me," Susan corrected him, chuckling.

"What? You're marrying him too?" B.O.B genuinely looked upset, his maroon eye taking on a puppy-dog look.

"No, no, B.O.B," Dr. Cockroach said in exasperation. "Susan is Derek's fiancé, not you. You don't even know him yet."
"Really?" the azure blob asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, pretty sure, blob-boy," Link responded with an eye-roll. They had already went over this with the brainless, amorphous blue goo at least ten times on the journey, but sometimes it took a lot of repeating until B.O.B finally got it.

"Ooooh, okay." And B.O.B remained silent for the remainder of the trip, much to the fish-ape's and bug-headed scientist's relief.

Soon, the WDLH studio came into view, looking rather dull and plain, the only light source coming from the frosted windows and the call sign.

"Wow," Link said, raising an eyebrow. "This looks like a fun place to be rather than at your future wife's side. Ow!" The prehistoric creature rubbed his beer gut where Dr. Cockroach elbowed him harshly.

"Oh, believe me it's so much cooler on the inside!" Susan said, either not hearing Link's remark or choosing to ignore it. "We used to play around with the green screens and make faux news reports." Susan sighed, remembering all the laughs and fun she and Derek had when they first started to date and he had gotten his first news anchor gig here.

"I'm sure you two will be able to do all that again, soon enough, my dear," Dr. Cockroach smiled, happy to see his friend so excited and beaming. He still had his doubts about Derek but still gave him the benefit of the doubt, for Susan's sake.

Susan's smile faltered a bit as she said, "Yeah, if I can somehow return to normal size."

Dr. Cockroach's antennae drooped a bit. For the past month he had unsuccessfully attempted to shrink the girl and always felt bad after each failed attempt, promising each time that the next one would work. This had become a sort of mantra for the first two weeks, but it soon became clear to them both that nothing the doctor made or tried was going to help her. They didn't even know what made her a giant to begin with, aside from a meteorite crashing onto her.

"We will find a way, my dear, I promise you," the doctor placed a comforting hand on Susan's cheek, patting it lovingly. Susan blushed slightly and smiled sadly down at him.

"I appreciate it, Doctor, but we've been trying and are nowhere near a cure. I think it's best if we just let it go."

"But, my dear…"

"No, it's okay! Really. I'm…I'm sure Derek and I can work something out so that we can still be together and happy, despite my condition. We are Team Dietl, after all."

Susan approached the side of the building, holding her hand up to her shoulder. The boys hopped onto her large palm and she set them down on the roof.

"Derek's working in this section. You guys hang out here while I'll get him," Susan told them before she bent down to peer into the windows. She could see Derek standing in front of a green screen, wrapping up his final forecast at the station. Now he was getting his make-up touched up by an intern. She winced as the intern saw her peering in and screamed before fleeing. She stood back up, knowing only one way to get to Derek. She pressed her hand on the glass and pushed until it shattered. Susan then proceeded to stretch her arm into the building.

Link, Dr. Cockroach, and B.O.B heard terrified screams coming from the building and saw people bolting outside. Link had to suppress a laugh as he heard a girly-shriek coming from the room Susan was reaching into, pulling out Derek a second later, accidentally causing him to hit his head on the window frame. The man screamed more as Susan happily spun him around.

"Oh, Derek! You wouldn't believe my last three weeks, you just wouldn't believe it!"

Just as Derek was recovering from the sudden whiplash of being spun around, he yelled again as he suddenly found his face being smothered by his fiancé's huge lips before being held back out again. Susan's hands had unconsciously gripped tighter around him and Derek could feel his bones and organs being sandwiched together. He started to try and frantically get Susan's attention, but she was babbling on with so much excitement that she didn't hear him.

"Thinking about you was the only thing that kept me sane!" Derek was then hugged tight by her. At this point, he found it extremely difficult to breathe.

"C-can't breathe!" He gasped, pointing at his blue face, struggling to release himself. "Ribs…ribs collapsing!"

All this time Link and B.O.B were stifling their laughter while Dr. Cockroach tried his very best from smiling smugly.

"Omigosh, omigosh! I'm so sorry!" Susan gasped, quickly setting Derek down on the roof. The weatherman now started to dramatically gasp for air, still clutching his ribs, which felt like they were about to shatter at any minute. "Oh my goodness, how's that? Is that better?"

"Oh, yeah," Derek wheezed. No it wasn't better, but at least he could finally catch a breath again. Derek rested a hand on a nearby support beam of the call sign as he recovered from being nearly crushed to death. The boys patiently stood off to the side, having gone unnoticed by Susan's fiancé.

"Okay, okay. I'm just still kinda getting used to my new strength!" Susan gave an apologetic wince.

"Wow," was the first thing Derek said once he was fully composed, looking up at the woman he had fallen in love with. Aside from the grey and orange prison uniform she was wearing, she pretty much looked the same as she had before being whisked away by the containment team. Link, Dr. Cockroach, and B.O.B smiled, expecting Derek to be relieved to see her well and alive, maybe give her a hug or kiss. So, needless to say, they were greatly appalled by his next words. "You really are big!"

That was one thing a man should never say to a woman, even if she was a 50-foot tall giant!

Susan felt her heart clench as gave him a bittersweet smile. "Yeah, but I'm still me! I'm still the same girl you fell in love with." She tried desperately to not to let the hurt show in her eyes, but her monster friends saw it clearly and knew that this reunion wasn't going to go as expected. They decided to step in.

"Hey, 'sup?" Link was the first to greet Derek, who squealed upon seeing a 7-foot fish-ape hybrid suddenly approach him, accompanied by a 6-foot bug-headed man wearing a labcoat and mustard yellow tartan pants, and an 8-foot pile of semi-transparent blue goop with a single maroon eye.

"Aaah! Whoa, y-you're the monsters that were on the news!" Derek pointed fearfully at them, backing up a bit.

"Huh, not quite the welcome I was hoping for, but yeah that's us," Link lowered his hand that he held out to the man for him to shake. "I'm The Missing Link, but you can just call me Link." He flashed him a sharp-toothed grin, which frightened Derek more. His attention turned to the blue blob that suddenly scooped him up, twirling him around while exclaiming joyously. Derek screamed the whole time. Link shook his head. Man, this guy was such a wimp!

"Oh Derek! I've missed you so much, thinking that we'd someday be together again. It's the only thing that got me through prison!" B.O.B then hugged the man, but ended up accidentally absorbing him into his body. "I love you! I love this man!"

"No, B.O.B! He's my fiancé! You're suffocating him!" Susan gasped.

This clicked in B.O.B.'s gelatinous head goo and he opened his mouth; Derek slid out, covered in a thick layer of sticky slime. He lie on the ground, moaning in disgust. Link chuckled, giving B.O.B a thumb's up. Dr. Cockroach just watched with a look of utter disdain, shaking his head.

Susan helped Derek to his feet, trying to brush off as much of the slime as she could. "You okay?"

Derek smacked his lips for a second before responding. "I taste ham!"

Susan sighed, giving B.O.B a slight glare. "Sorry, honey. B.O.B's just a hugger, and slightly confused."

"Yeah, I get that," Derek scoffed, trying to rid his hair of the goo. But there was so much in it that he just gave up.

"I am terribly sorry about my colleague," Dr. Cockroach stepped forward, bowing his apology. Derek looked at him with mere repulsion, looking him up and down. This used to make the doctor feel a bit uneasy, but it was a natural reaction that he always got from other people and he had become quite used to it, so he ignored it. "My name is Dr. Herbert Cockroach, but you can just call me Herbert, or Dr. C, or what have you." He held out his hand. Derek looked at it with a grimace before quickly taking it, giving it a quick shake and then releasing it, wiping his hand on his jacket.

"Derek, these are my new friends! Insectosaurus isn't here right now, but he should arrive shortly."

"Friends?" Derek asked in disbelief. "You're friends with a bunch of freaks?"

"Hey now," Link growled, taking a threatening step towards him but Susan's hand stopped him.

"Derek! They're not freaks!" Susan said, shocked by the amount of animosity she heard in his voice when he said 'freaks'. "They may be monsters, but they're certainly not freaks! How could you say that? They helped me save San Francisco!"

"You also destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge while doing so!"

"Yeah, but we had no choice! That was the only way we could stop that giant robot!"

"Yeah, demolishing one of the world's most iconic landmarks was certainly the way to go. I'm not sure what you were even doing out there to begin with!"

"Derek, I've been locked up for nearly a month! It was horrible! Well, except for meeting these guys, of course. But these guys were locked up for 50 years against their will as well! I'm sure it was way worse for them. They tried all sorts of methods of escape, but never succeeded. It was only recently that we were granted freedom in exchange of fighting off the giant alien robot that was terrorizing the city! That robot would have killed thousands of people and destroyed many more cities if we hadn't stopped it! We saved lives! Did you ever think I could do something like that?" Susan asked, feeling rather proud of hers and her friends' greatest accomplishment.

Derek sighed, placing a hand to his forehead, rubbing it. "No, I didn't," he admitted, not seeming all that impressed. "I can honestly say it never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever occurred to me." He finished with a look that told Susan that of course he never believed she would be able to do something like what she had done because she wasn't a 50-foot tall woman with incredible super-strength before!

"No need to be so nasty there, bud," Link snarled, crossing his arm, beginning to hate the man even more with how he was starting to treat Susan.

"Can it, Flounder before I can you," Derek turned to him, fists clenched.

"Oh ho! You wanna tangle with the Link?" Link growled, pounding a fist into his hand, his ear fins turning a slight shade of red.

"Guys! Please!" Susan turned to the mad-scientist. "Dr. Cockroach, can you please take Link and B.O.B away for a few minutes? I want to talk to Derek without worrying about having to break up a fight."

Dr. Cockroach nodded and bowed his head to her. "Of course, my dear. Link, B.O.B, come now. Let's give these two some privacy."
"Aaww, do we have to? I want to talk to Derek alone!" B.O.B whined.

"And I want to teach him to never to call me Flounder again," Link grumbled.

"Link…" Susan looked at him with pleading eyes. Link's face softened and he nodded.

"Alright, Susie, you win. C'mon, B.O.B, let's go." The fish-ape placed a hand on the "back" of the blue goop and pushed him towards the door. Cockroach gave Susan an empathetic look before turning to Derek, his compassionate gaze turning into one of abhorrence. He didn't want to leave Susan alone with this guy, but he also didn't want to go against her wishes. But, he was a gentleman, after all. He respected her wish and left them alone, giving Susan a final meaningful look before shutting the door.

With her friends gone at last, Susan looked back at Derek. "Look, I know this is a little weird," she chuckled nervously.

"Little is an understatement, Susan," Derek pointed out, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, you're right, but we'll figure it out, I'm sure! I know that, together, we can find a way to get me back to normal."

"You should get your bug-headed boyfriend to do that for you," Derek muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Oh, I said, uhhh…" Derek sighed, turning away, hand to his head again. "Look, Susan, try and look at this from my perspective. I have an audience that depends on me for news, weather, sports, and heart-warming fluff pieces."

Susan watched him walk around, her heart starting to ache as he carried on. Her stomach felt like it was tying itself into knots. He wasn't doing what she think he was doing, was he?

"You expect me to put all that on hold while you try to undo this thing that happened to you? That I had absolutely nothing to do with?"

Susan nodded, her eyebrows furrowing.. "Yes. That's exactly what I expect!" Her voice started to break as the truth finally slammed into her with as much force as that meteorite had hit her with. How could Derek not care about what happened to her? How could he not want to help the woman he claimed to love this whole time? "What about the life we always talked about? Don't you still want that?"

"Of course," Derek replied. He tried to sound and look sincere but his tone was off a bit and it just looked like he was grimacing. "I just...don't see how I can have that with you."

Susan's heart sunk like the Titanic and descended into the deep, dark, icy depths of despair. She collapsed onto her knees so that she was now eye level with him, gripping the edge of the roof with trembling hands. "Derek, please, don't do this."

Derek sighed in minor frustration. "You have to face facts, Susan. Don't crush me for saying this, but I'm not looking to get married and spend the rest of my life in someone else's shadow. And you're casting a pretty big shadow."

Susan looked like she wanted to cry; she desperately held back her tears, even when the supposed love of her life said, "I'm sorry. It's over," before he turned his back to her and headed towards the door. Before he exited through it, he turned his head to look at her, his face showing false compassion. "Good luck, Susan."

Susan broke down. Her arms felt like Jell-O and her heart felt like it was being crushed in between a vice grip. She hung her head, the tears flowing out and splashing onto the ground like rain, creating large puddles. She sniffed and sobbed before standing up on trembling legs, walking away from the studio, forgetting that her friends were waiting for her somewhere inside. She stepped onto the highway and made her way to the border of the town, planning to leave and never come back. Susan had never expected for her life to crumble around her like it did. Now she wanted to lie down and die. If Derek had lied about loving her, who's to say that her parents and friends weren't lying as well? She felt even more alone than she had before.

~*~*MvA*~*~

Derek reentered the newsroom, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He chuckled to himself at the pun.

"Oh, I slay me," he smirked, running a hand through his perfect hair.

"I'm sorry, but I think that's my job," a low, gravelly voice startled the anchorman. He screamed loudly, jumping a foot in the air. The lights flashed on over the area where the anchorpeople performed the daily news. Link was casually leaning back in one of the chairs, his webbed feet propped up on top of the table, and his arms folded behind his head. He was looking at Derek with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. His mouth opened in a small grin, some of his shark-like teeth visible. "Wow, you sure have quite the girly scream when you get scared."

Derek quickly composed himself, clearing his throat and trying to act like nothing had happened as he approached the prehistoric monster. "Look, chum, you and your freaky pals better leave before I call the cops and have them arrest you all for trespassing."

Link rolled his eyes and started to pick his teeth with a fingernail. "Puh-leeze. Like those bozos could take me on. I took down the Coast Guard, the National Guard and the lifeguard singlehandedly before, you know."

"Ha, right. There's no way you could have done that. You're nothing but a fishstick."

Link just chuckled. "Your insults are as lame as you are, man."

"Alright, that's it, I'm calling the cops!"

"You can try, my friend," a British voice spoke from somewhere near the cameras. Derek turned and saw Dr. Cockroach sitting in a chair beside one of the camera tripods, his elbows resting on the armrests, fingertips pressed together. "But I'm afraid that I had hacked into the building's communication center and disabled all the means of contacting the outside world."

"What?" Derek scoffed. "You're bluffing! Well, whatever, I still have my cell phone." He whipped it out but was surprised to see that he had no signal at all.

"Oh, and I've also created a device that jams all cell tower signals, so cell phones are useless as well."

"What the heck do you guys want from me?" Derek started to feel slightly intimidated now. "If you hurt me, I will sue and make sure you're locked up for the rest of your freak lives!"

"Like we haven't already been in prison for what seemed like forever," Link laughed, getting up from the chair and knuckle-walking up behind Derek, clapping a hand harshly onto his shoulder. Derek swore he heard a crack in his shoulder. "Besides, our warden will be sure that never happens, especially after he hears what you did to Susan." The amphibian's grip tightened on the man's shoulder, making him yelp in pain. He tried to get away but Link held tightly onto him with little effort.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to her!"

"That's not what we heard," Dr. Cockroach stood up, folding his hands behind his back as he took a few steps towards him. "Link has exceptional hearing that allowed him to relay back to us what you said to poor Susan. I must say, you are quite heartless."
"And I thought I had a big ego," Link agreed. He then shoved Derek into the chair Dr. Cockroach had been in, using a few cables lying around to tie him to it.

"Hey! Let me go! You will hear from my lawyer!" Derek cried, struggling to free himself.

Dr. Cockroach and Link ignored him as they started to set up the camera and any other equipment they needed.

"Wh-what are you guys doing? And where's the blob?" Derek asked, realizing that B.O.B was nowhere to be seen.

"I wouldn't worry about where B.O.B is, I'd worry more about what's coming to you," Link said, wheeling Derek behind the news desk before he sat in the chair next to him. He pretended to shuffle the papers professionally as Derek continued to try and free himself. Dr. Cockroach aimed the camera towards them, focusing the lens. He then smiled and gave Link a thumbs-up.

Link flashed the camera a big, mischievous grin. "Good evening, Modesto, The Missing Link here. Here with us today is a very special guest: The Most Selfish Jerk in the World! Say hello, Derek Dietl."

The camera panned over to Derek, who gasped, his eyes widening as he realized he was being filmed. "No! Wait, don't! Let me go!"

"So, you all may be wondering, "just what makes Derek a jerk?" Well, let's roll the outside footage, shall we?"

Link turned his chair around, using his tail to do the same to Derek's seat, so that they were facing the large monitor behind them. It showed the heartbreaking scene of Derek dumping Susan, leaving her to feel utterly rejected and broken. The screen went blank and Link turned them back around.

"Such tragedy, isn't it? Susan Murphy was just an ordinary girl who dreamed of going to Paris with the man of her dreams. But an unfortunate accident had changed that, and Derek here was the man who dared to not only turn away from her in her time of need, but he also ripped out her heart and crushed it to a pulp." At this, Link had clenched his fists and teeth, throwing a glare at Derek, who cringed at the dangerous glint in the fish-ape's red eyes. "Susan didn't deserve what had happened, which is why we monsters are here on her behalf to give Derek some well-deserved revenge."

"What? Aw come on! You can't be serious!" Derek looked utterly terrified now. Just what were these monsters planning on doing to him?

"Alright, Doc, what do we have in store for our good friend here?"

Dr. Cockroach stepped into the camera view, hands behind his back. "Ah, good question, my amphibious colleague. Today, I have this!" He then held up a large syringe that was filled with a neon green liquid. Derek gulped at the sight of it.

"Wh-what is it?"
"This is nothing but a mere concoction I had whipped up not that long ago, the reason not of any concern."

Derek's eyes widened even more as the doctor depressed the plunger on the syringe, getting rid of any air bubbles in the liquid.

"So tell me, Link, what kind of monster do you think this will turn him into?"

"Hopefully something I can grind into the ground," Link grinned nastily, pantomiming squashing something under his webbed foot and crunching it into the floor.

Derek gulped and shrieked as Dr. Cockroach started to roll up the sleeve of his left arm. "Nonononono!"

Suddenly B.O.B appeared out of nowhere holding in many of his gooey arms…five pillows?

"Hey guys! I did what you told me to!" he exclaimed happily, jiggling with excitement.

Dr. Cockroach smiled and withdrew the needle from Derek, capping it before placing it into his lab coat's pocket.

"Ah, good work, B.O.B!"

"Yeah, it wasn't easy getting some of this stuff, especially the tar, but I managed! And I grabbed as many pillows as I could, which, unfortunately, this is all I could get."

Link clapped the blob on what would be the equivalence of his shoulder. "That should be good enough, buddy. Did you make sure they were the downy kind?"

"The nice lady at the store told me that they were!"

"Excellent," Link chuckled. :Alright, Doc, we have everything, go work your sciency magic."

Dr. Cockroach nodded, grabbing the pillows from B.O.B and quickly scurrying off into the shadows.

"Wh-what is he doing?" Derek asked apprehensively. He really wished this wasn't happening to him.

"Oh, you'll see. Don't worry that curly-top head of yours. Just know that you deserve all of this," Link harshly poked a finger into Derek's chest, nearly knocking the breath out of him. "No one messes with our Susan and gets away with it!"

"What?!" Derek exclaimed, finally understanding what this is this is all about. "Oh, come on! You can't tie me up and threaten me for breaking up with her!"

"No, we tied you up and are threatening you because you were an A-Class as-uhh-jerk," Link quickly corrected himself, glancing at B.O.B. The fish-ape had learned the hard way to never curse around the oblivious blob who had the habit of repeating new words he's heard to everyone he sees, which often resulting in severe punishment from General Monger.

"You broke up with Susan just because she's a giant now and were afraid of losing your precious spotlight to her? That's pretty selfish of you, man. I'd really hate to know what her life would have been like if Susan hadn't gotten hit by that meteor and married you. Something tells me that she would have been pretty miserable and neglected."

Derek scoffed. "You really think I would have turned into an abusive husband?"

Link's lips pressed together in a scowl. "I wouldn't put it past you. All I can say is that I'm really glad she was turned into a 50-foot woman so she wouldn't have to suffer living with your sorry butt."

Before the anchorman could respond, Dr. Cockroach returned, wheeling in what looked like a cannon fashioned out of a food cart, a trashcan, a few pieces of camera equipment, and various other assortments of trash and wires. Two large metal cases with tubing stuck into them that snaked up into the back of the trashcan was attached on the bottom shelf of the cart.

"Hey! You're gonna have to pay for any equipment you damaged!" Derek cried, seeing the contraption.

"Oh, do be quiet, I found all of this in the garbage. Link, get him into position."

"Aye, aye, Doc!" Link smirked, grabbing the back of Derek's chair and wheeling him towards the door. Derek yelped as he suddenly found himself back out on the rooftop of the building. Dr. Cockroach and B.O.B were close behind them.

Link wheeled Derek to the wall beside the door as Dr. Cockroach placed his invention a few feet in front of him. He started messing around with some buttons and dials and the machine whirred to life. The cases started to vibrate as whatever was in them were being swirled around.

"I do believe you are familiar with the archaic form of humiliation that is known as tarring-and-feathering?" Dr. Cockroach asked Derek with a sly grin. "It is rarely used today but back in feudal Europe and expanding into the American frontier period it was regarded as a popular punishment to anyone who sought revenge against those who did dastardly crimes. And believe you me, this is far better than what Link here had planned for you."

"Wh-what was he going to do?" Derek asked, looking at the prehistoric monster with dread.

"Oh, you don't wanna know," Dr. Cockroach shuddered. "It's too graphic to get into detail."

Susan's ex-fiancé gulped and decided not to press the subject any further.

"Now, shall we get this over with? I'm quite concerned about Susan and would like to make sure she is alright."

"Sure thing, Doc! Let 'er rip!" Link quickly stepped out of the way as the mad scientist aimed the makeshift cannon at Derek, who began to squirm to try and escape again.

"Wait! No! Do you realize how hard tar is to get out of clothes? And hair?"

"Well then I hope you have good shampoo, buddy!"

Once the machine was ready, Dr. Cockroach pressed a big red button and, with a loud gurgling, something in the first case started to be pumped through the tube attached to it. A large glob of sticky black substance then shot out and hit Derek, the force pushing his chair back into the wall, subsequently sticking him to it.

"Ahh! Jesus Christ, this is really hot!"

"Sorry. Well actually, not really," Dr. Cockroach laughed his trademark mad scientist laugh. "And now, the feathering!" The good doctor pressed another button and a plume of feathers shot out of the canon next, coating the man in a thick blanket of small and soft downy feathers from head to toe, his eyes being the only thing that was visible of him.

Link guffawed at the now completely tarred-and-feathered anchorman. He wiped a tear from his eyes and high-fived his friends. "Aw man! Doc, tell me you had this recorded as well!"

Dr. Cockroach smiled smugly and pointed up at a mounted video-camera he had attached to the 'D' of the call-sign. "Of course, I figured Susan would love to watch these later on." The cockroach scurried up the sign and detached the camera, returning to the ground with it. At closer inspection, one could see that it was a busted camera and Derek wondered how the Doctor had managed to get it to work, but figured it was pointless to ask now.

"If we catch you near our beloved Susan again, we won't hesitate to show you how truly monstrous we can be," Dr. Cockroach threatened Derek. The cowardly man whimpered at the insect-man's intimidation as well as the pain of the hot tar and the itchiness of the feathers. He looked like her was about to cry.

"Yeah, see ya later, feather-brain!" Link gave him a salute as he followed Dr. Cockroach to the door. B.O.B remained behind, just staring goofily at Derek.

It was a few seconds of awkward silence before the blob spoke. "And let this be a lesson to you about dumping me, Derek!" was all that B.O.B said before following his friends, leaving a completely chastened and trapped Derek sticking to the wall, hoping that the janitor would be around shortly. Little did he know that the cleaning staff had left early for the night, so he was stuck there hoping that someone would eventually come up to extricate him. This was going to be a looooong night.

~*~*MvA*~*~

When Susan's friends eventually found her sitting alone on the roof of Lub's Diesel a few miles out of town, they were distraught by how depressed and broken she looked. But after Susan came into terms with her new monsterhood, she began to feel more confident and saw just how much she was loved by her fellow monsters. They saw that she wanted to be seen as the compassionate and loving person she really was and, in return, she saw them as being greatly misunderstood beings who just wanted to be treated like everyone else. After rescuing her and stopping Gallaxhar's invasion for good, the five monsters had gotten their wish and had become world-wide famous, no longer feared by the public. Of course, Derek had the nerve to show his face- even bringing along with a cameraman with him- while they were basking in the glory of the Modesto population, trying to win Susan back. Her friends were none-too-happy to see him up to his old tricks again, and that their vengeful ploy and threats hadn't had quite the effect on him as they had hoped.

Link and Dr. Cockroach were about to intervene when Susan beat them to it by suddenly picking up the selfish jerk and telling him that she no longer wanted to be part of his life and that she was way over him. The giantess then flicked the man high into the air; his girly shrieks music to the monsters' ears. The fish-ape and mad scientist laughed and silently congratulated Susan for her newfound confidence and independence. Susan was still a human being at heart and couldn't let her ex-fiancé splatter on the ground. It would really mess up her new reputation. So she had B.O.B act as a improvised cushion and catch him, albeit accidentally absorbing him before spitting the man back out, leaving him in a coat of sticky slime. This time, he was degraded not only on camera, but in front of the Modesto populace as well, and everyone seemed to be rather amused by it, much to Derek's chagrin.

The monsters were family now. They vowed to look after and care for each other in their time of need, no matter what it was. 50 years of confinement had already bonded Link, Dr. Cockroach, B.O.B and Insectosaurus, and a month with their new comrade had allowed them to form that same kind of bond with Susan. No one was ever going to treat either of them like despicable beings ever again, not unless they were willing to tangle with the others as well. Besides, who was willing to fight with a giant butterfly that can blow you into the next state with one powerful flap of his wings, a prehistoric fish-ape hybrid who could crush metal with his extremely powerful jaws, a blob who can suffocate you easily with one hug, a cockroach-headed scientist who could use any weapon he's made out of a pile of garbage or a fifty-foot woman who can literally crush anyone to a messy pulp if she so chose to? Team Monster was definitely not a force to be reckoned with.

Thanks for reading! R&R please!