While I'm still on a posting hiatus, because VinnieStokerLover is a good friend of mine and I missed her birthday, I'm posting this belated birthday story for her, along with one other story for her to make up for me missing her birthday. Here you go, Amiga! Happy belated birthday! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Melody belongs to VinnieStokerLover. Vamps and Salwa belong to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel.

No Other Guy Tops Her Man

Melody groaned as she woke up, noticing her tongue felt strange as she looked to see she was tied up and sitting at a table. In front of her was Fisttrick and he gave her a smug look. "Well, the half-alien girl is finally back from dreamland," he said, a slight note of sarcasm in his voice.

"You drugged my drink!" She said and then wondered where Ben was. "Where is Ben?!"

"His alien freak friends got to him before we could," Fisttrick said. "But at least we got one hostage."

One of his men came up. "Hey, Boss. That alien that wanted you to kidnap the girl just left us a message to deliver her to a set of coordinates he's picked out, but he says we'll have to go to these certain places to figure out where to meet him," he said.

"What does he think I am? A guy who likes puzzles?" The leader said with a frustrated look.

"I'll solve them, Boss."

"Fine, bro. Tell Hoodlum to get his car ready. He's going to transport her."

Melody glared at him and snarled when he picked her up. "Put me down!" She demanded.

The other thug looked afraid. "Is that thing on her?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah, bro," Fisttrick said dismissively. "She's got that bracelet around her ankle and it's keeping her in human form, just as that Inspector whatever-number-he-was said it would."

The half-Vladat gasped softly to herself as she realized the creep meant Inspector 13. Just then, she was tossed into the seat of a convertible corvette and she glared at her captor again before seeing another creep get in. "Hoodlum, you're the transport, got it?" Fisttrick said bossily.

"Yes, boss," said the punk before seeing what Melody looked like and his eyes widened in surprise before he gave a small smirk, something Melody had seen her husband give her when he wanted to impress her or make her laugh with his antics. She inwardly groaned as they headed out.

The ride was going to take a while, she realized, when the thug solving the puzzles was having a hard time solving them and she sighed before feeling an unfamiliar arm around her shoulders and turned to see it was Hoodlum and he was giving her a flirty look. "I wouldn't mind you for my girl," he said, trying to sound sweet. "You look strong, especially since you're half-vampire."

She bared her teeth at him. "Vladat, jerk. Get it right," she snarled.

He smiled and shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "So, what do you think? You'd be a good addition and live like a queen."

Melody narrowed her eyes at him as he got closer and smiled. "Huh, Baby?" He asked.

She recoiled as a foul smell hit her nose. "Ugh! What do you brush your teeth with? Old tires?" She asked, turning her head away in disgust. "Either change your toothpaste or eat a lot of breath mints."

Hoodlum recoiled a little at her insult, but then smirked. "You've got guts," he said. "And you're tough. I like those qualities in girls."

Fisttrick had given the signal to find the next puzzle piece to get closer to finding where the coordinates were and Melody had an idea. Finding her Plumber's badge in her back pocket, she carefully maneuvered her bound hands to that pocket and, through touch, she found the tracking button on her badge and pressed it to turn it on. She then sat back, knowing that someone from Plumber HQ would get the signal and she'd soon see Ben flying in to save her.

Seeing her relax, Hoodlum jumped at the chance to impress her again when they stopped at another location. "Like my ride?" He asked. "I built it myself from scratch."

Melody gave him a look that clearly said she knew he was lying. "More like stole this car and modified it," she said. "And you have a lousy sense of color and taste. Plush seats? I prefer leather."

He looked at her in disbelief and she continued. "These colors? Yuck. This car needs an entire makeover. From scratch."

"Hey, I worked hard on this car," he protested.

"Not hard enough," she said. "I've seen better."

He glared at her insults before Fisttrick suddenly shouted in shock as Whampire, Vamps, Salwa, and Melody's father came flying in, landing near the crooks as Salwa used her wings to force them back and the Vladats hissed. "Bros, get them!" Fisttrick cried out. "Hoodlum, get our hostage away from here!"

Hoodlum instantly put his car in reverse and went to drive off. Melody let out a screech and began trying to get free as the punk drove. "Well, we'll find someplace where I'll make you like me," he said.

Suddenly, his car came to a sharp stop. "Hey!" He cried out before seeing something washing over the car. Something that was black with green circuit lines. Melody's eyes lit up.

"Ben!" She exclaimed happily.

Ben, who was in his Upgrade form, glared at Hoodlum. "Excuse me, but you have my wife," he said with a growl. "And the Plumbers caught Vilgax, so your 'boss' isn't going to get his pay."

Forming two arms in his Upgrade form, he picked up Melody, who smiled sweetly at him as he held her and began compressing his body to start destroying the car. Hoodlum got out fast and ran towards Fisttrick as Ben chuckled, allowing some of the Plumbers to confiscate the car to fix it and return it to its rightful owner while his Omnitrix timed out and he stood in human form holding his wife in his arms. "Are you alright, my love?" He asked.

"Yes, thanks to you," she said. "Fisttrick met up with Inspector 13 and put something on my ankle to keep me from going into my Vladat form."

Ben saw the anklet just as his father-in-law came over. "I heard," he said and used his strength to break the device. Whampire and Vamps came over and helped get Melody untied and hugged her, relieved she was okay.

"When Ben rushed to the Mansion and told us Fisttrick had kidnapped you, Rachel gathered all of us Vladats and Rook to help, as him and us were the only ones at the Mansion at the time," Whampire said.

"Salwa insisted on coming as she had learned a new technique to blow enemies back by flapping her wings hard and with long strokes, something Father had taught her," Vamps said.

Just then, Rook's Proto-Truk pulled up to them all and the Revonnahgander, Rachel, the Vladat King and his queen jumped out to greet them all and were relieved that Melody was safe. Ben held his wife closer. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" He asked.

"Other than my drink being drugged, no," she said. "But Hoodlum did try to flirt with me."

"Ew," Rachel said in disgust.

"Definitely," Melody said in agreement. "His breath stunk worse than Stinkfly's smell, and that's saying something."

The others chuckled in amusement at that before the half-Vladat smirked. "And his ride was totally a bore," she said. "Even the interior and color was really bad."

"How bad on a scale of 1 to 10?" Whampire asked curiously.

"1,000," she answered, making them all laugh. She then turned to Ben. "My husband has better breath and a much cooler ride than that punk did."

Ben smiled, looking at Melody lovingly and she giggled. "No other guy tops you, Ben. You're my man."

"And you're my lady," he said.

They heard Melody's father gently clear his throat. "Well, let's get these two love birds back," he said. "I believe Ben's plans for his wife have been put on hold for a bit too long."

"I agree," Vamps said.

The half-Vladat looked at them all curiously and then saw Rachel and Rook smile knowingly. "What are you all talking about?" She asked.

She found out as Ben turned to Fasttrack and carried her to Las Vegas. "This," he said and she gasped in surprise before smiling.

"Oh, you're the best husband in the world, Ben," she said, giving him a loving kiss right then and there.

"Anything for my absolutely beautiful wife," he said, returning the kiss as the colorful Vegas lights lit up the night.

Happy belated Birthday, VinnieStokerLover! :) Hope it was a blast! :)

Please leave a review, but absolutely no flames!

GoldGuardian2418