Only Human

Chapter 1 - Problem

What a night it had been.

'Crazy' would be an understatement. No, it was far more chaotic than one word could describe. It was wild, it was insane, and it was downright terrifying at times. But now things had finally settled down, and just in time too. Johnny, once a 500-foot dragon-like kaiju not only ten minutes ago, was finally reverted back down to his normal human self thanks to the brand-new crystal for the monsterfication ray. He was rattled and worn from his rampage, as was everyone else, but he was okay. No one was hurt, no one was unaccounted for. He and Dracula finally made the amends that were a long time coming.

Now, the monstrous family soared high above in the sky as dusk fell, traveling in the trusty Van Helsing blimp. It took a while to get everyone back inside, as Mavis had to grab each of them one by one to fly them up, but the effort of course was worth it. Now, they could get back to setting things right again.

"Okay guys," Mavis called out cheerily, toting the monsterfication ray between her hands. "Who's ready to switch back?"

Her four uncles-turned-human immediately lined up in front of her, eager expressions on their faces.

"Right here and ready to go, Mavis!" Murray exclaimed. The Egyptian prince gave a laugh, and then immediately fell asleep, a habit he had been unintentionally doing ever since his transformation. He snapped back to consciousness when Wayne slapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm awake!"

Wayne rolled his eyes. "I just want my fur back," the wolf-turned-human grumbled.

"Well, I hope that the ray still lets me keep my hair!" Frank exclaimed. Out of all of them, he had enjoyed his human transformation the most. With a practiced swivel of his head, his glossy brown hair swished almost in slow motion, and he gave a suave grin. Close by, his wife Eunice rolled her eyes, having had enough of his antics as a human.

Next to Frank, Griffin also shook his head at the soon-to-be monolith. Like Wayne and Murray, he did not particularly like his human form either, and was anticipating going back to being invisible. "Okay Mavis," he said, turning to the girl. "We're ready!"

Mavis nodded, but then noticed something. "Hey wait a minute... where's Blobby?"

Just then Griffin yelped, noticing something behind the vampiress. "Ah! No, no, no!" He ran over and dived, scooping up the plate that held the green gelatin that was Blobby right before the wolf pups could sink their teeth into him. "No! What did I tell you guys? Blobby is not for eating!"

He quickly brought the plate over and wiped his brow. "Phew! That was close!" Griffin caught his breath and then straightened up. "Okay, okay, now we're ready!"

Mavis giggled and fired up the ray, making sure to switch the dial to the 'Monster' setting. The crystal changed from its clear neutral state to a brilliant red. "Alright," she said. "Here goes nothing!"

One by one she fired it at the monsters, and one by one they switched back, sighs of relief being released as they turned - Murray getting his bandages and glowing green eyes, Wayne getting his paws and fur, Griffin disappearing, and Blobby growing larger and sentient again. Only Frank seemed to be a little dismayed.

"Aww," he moaned. But then he perked up. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Look!" The Stein gave a grateful laugh as he noticed that the glossy brown hair had indeed remained on his head as he had hoped. He pulled out his phone to take a picture, but a shriek from his wife halted his actions.

"AGGHHH!" she cried in horror. Seizing a machete from the blimp's wall of monster-hunting weapons, Eunice chopped and sliced at Frank's hair in swift motions until all that remained was the classic short tufts from before. Frank frowned at the change, but Eunice smiled. "Ah, much better!" She kissed him on the cheek and did her own selfie with him.

Now that he was back to being a wolf, Wayne's horde of wolf pups turned their attention from their mother to him. They yipped in excitement and cuddled around their father, snuggling down for a nap. Wanda smiled at the sight... and then settled down on a lounge chair for a nap of her own. Wayne frowned, wincing as one of his children bit down on his hind paw. Things were back to normal all right.

Griffin in the meantime saw it as the opportunity to get rid of his clothes. He removed his shoes and began to bring the hem of his pants down, when Murray ran over to him.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" the mummy cried. "You are keeping those on!" He yanked the pants back up before Griffin could pull them down further.

Griffin pushed him away. "Don't be so uptight, I'm invis."

Murray scoffed. "Man, just because you're invisible, doesn't mean you get to be naked." He shook his head in disbelief. "What is wrong with you?"

Meanwhile, Johnny cringed as he saw Blobby. Dirty footprint marks were caked on his gelatin body from when Dracula had used him to skate in the Crystal Cave. The ping-pong eyeballs that the wolf pups had created for him were still embedded into his middle.

"Errr... looking good?" Johnny tried to say. Blobby knew otherwise though. He glanced down, noticed the stains, and furrowed his Jell-O brows.

Mavis winced at the sight too, but then felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled. It was her father. If anyone deserved to have the transformation back, it was him. He had learned and grown so much over the span of those two days, finally accepting her husband and considering him part of their family.

"All right, Dad, are you ready?"

Dracula gave a curt laugh. "You don't have to ask me twice!"

Puffing out his chest, he stood proudly in wait as Mavis aimed the ray at him and fired. The red beam struck him, glowing brightly and enveloping his body as it had with the other monsters. When it was over, he grinned widely, at his daughter and son-in-law. But their expressions did not reflect his.

"Uhh..." Mavis started.

"What?" Drac asked.

"Weellll..." Johnny said, but then stopped himself.

Dracula's brows knitted in concern. "What? What is it?"

Griffin, now fully invisible again except for his glasses, strolled by. "Hey, Drac, you haven't been switched back yet?"

"Huh?" Confused, Drac looked down at himself, and gasped. He was still human!