The evening approached upon Ever After. It was the perfect evening for the Enchantment in the Forest dance.

Everyone was preparing for the big celebration tonight, almost everyone.

While most students were preparing themselves or decorating the school grimmnasium, a certain dark fairy was preparing to cause some chaos.

In her dorm room, Faybelle grinned wickedly as she looked through her Magicology book. "Let's see...there's got to be an evil spell in here that'll make this dance a total disaster!"

A knock came at her door. Irritated that her plotting has been interrupted, Faybelle slammed her book, tossed it aside and flew over to her door. When she opened it, her face was darkened with rage.

It was Ben.

"What do you want, Freakshow?" Faybelle sneered. "And it better be good."

Ben wasn't afraid of Faybelle or her wannabe villain act. "Fay, listen, I know you don't like me and all. But this is serious." Ben reached into his pocket and took out a shimmering green ticket. "This, is my ticket to the Enchantment in the Forest dance." he said. "I want you to have it."

Faybelle's eyes were wide as two spinning wheels. She couldn't say a word.

"You see, I can't make it to the dance tonight. There's a place I have to be. So, I can't go." Ben told her.

Faybelle lifted her hand, but she hesitated. "But...why me?"

"Well, there's a time and a place to be a villain, but I know that even dedicated villains like yourself need some time off." Ben said. "I can't think of anyone else to give this ticket to."

Ben placed the ticket in Faybelle's hand. "I better get going." He walked away, but not before turning to the fairy with a smile. "Have a good time, Faybelle." And the young hero took off.

Faybelle stared at the ticket in her hand. No one, not a single soul, has ever given her an invitation to anything. Whether it was a birthday, a wedding, or a school dance, it was the Dark Fairy's curse to never get invited to things.

But whether people intended to invite her or not, they just forgot to invite her. That was the curse. And it frustrated Faybelle greatly.

And yet, here Faybelle was, holding an invitation to a special event. Nothing could have prepared her for this.

Once that was done, Ben set out for phase two of his plan. It did a bit of a search, but he eventually found Dexter at the boy's dorm. He knocked on his door.

"Come in." Dexter called. Ben opened the door and walked in. "Oh! Hey, Ben! What's up?"

"Dexter, I can't make it to the dance tonight." Ben said. "Do you think you can take my place and go with Raven?"

Dexter's eyes grew wider behind his glasses. "But why? Is something wrong?"

Ben shook his head. "No, it's just...well, I really like Raven. And I was hoping we could have a happy ending together, but I realized that I was about to take it all away from you. You and Raven should be together. After all, you saw her first. Besides, it's for the best."

Dexter was about to say something when Ben took off and left.


Now that Ben has done his part, he decided to be alone. He went to the one place where he thought he would find solitude; Wonderland Grove.

The grove was lit up by the soft glow of giant Wonderland mushrooms and flowers. The fireflies made the grove sparkle. It was a much better place to be than inside a school. Ben laid down among the painted red rose bushes and gazed at the night sky.

He pondered the stars as they twinkled. The beauty of space was a remarkable one, but will Ben ever see the sky in his world? Perhaps not...

"Ben?" a gentle girl's voice called.

Ben looked around to see who was there, he then looked up and saw a girl he's never seen before. She had long, pastel pink hair, wore a pink cloud dress, and had angel wings on her back. Was she an angel? Ben watched in fascination as the girl flew down from the trees and sat down beside him.

"Who are you?" asked Ben.

The girl smiled warmly. "I'm Cupid, adopted daughter of Eros, the god of love."

"God of love?" Ben questioned. "He's a fairy tale?"

Cupid shook her head. "No, I'm not a fairy tale, I'm a myth. It's my purpose to help people find love and their true heart's desires." She looked at Ben knowingly. "I saw what you did back there."

Ben turned away. "You did, huh?" he droned.

"That was a very sweet thing you did. But why do you look so sad?" asked the young goddess. "I can sense a broken heart within you. Does it involve someone from your world?"

"Yes, it does." Ben flopped down on the grass. "It's why I can't return home! There's this girl that some say I'm fated to be with in the future. But to be honest, I'm terrified of falling in love."

Cupid's blue eyes widened. "Terrified of love?! But why? Love isn't something to be feared!"

Ben got up and glared at her. "It is if you're me!" he said angrily. "I've had crushes before and they all turned out the same. Just when I thought she was the one, my rotten luck and stupidity got in the way and the girl leaves me! Some even became my enemies! I don't ever want to go through that again!"

Cupid could see Ben's eyes get watery. "And after what happened to Kai, how could I possibly show my face to her again? She almost got killed because me..." Tears started to fall down his cheeks. "I'm just not lovable! I'm too dangerous to be around! I don't deserve to be loved!"

Ben completely broke down, tears cascading from his eyes. He screamed and wailed in agony.

Cupid didn't say a word. She just put her arms around Ben in a comforting hug. Ben needed a shoulder to cry on. And luckily, Cupid's was very absorbent.

Once Ben's crying slowly died down, Cupid spoke. "Ben," she said. "I know you're upset about what happened. It's okay to cry, but you have to forgive yourself and move on. I'm sure Kai would understand if you just talked to her." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.

Ben took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes. "No, she wouldn't. Some things were just not meant to be." He blew his nose. "I'll never find happiness."

"Don't be so sure."

Ben sniffled and turned to see Raven and Dexter of all people.

"Raven?! Dexter?! What are you doing here?!" Ben said, standing up. "Why aren't you guys at the dance?!"

"Dexter told me what happened." Raven said. "But that was before I met someone at the village this afternoon."

Raven looked over to a girl who was emerging from the woods.

It was Kai.

Ben's just froze. He wanted to run away. But Cupid held him still.

Kai's breath hitched and she ran right over to Ben. She threw her arms around him and started to sob. "I heard the whole thing." she said. "I'm sorry, Ben!"

But Ben pulled Kai off of him. "No, Kai. I'm the one who's sorry and I always will be. I'm just not the man anyone deserves. You never would have been hurt if it wasn't for me."

That's when Ben noticed that Kai's arm wasn't in a sling anymore. "Ben, my arm wasn't really broken. The doctor said it was only a minor stress fracture and I healed a lot faster than I thought."

She looked right into Ben's eyes. "Ben, what happened to me that day was nothing compared to how badly I treated you." she said from the bottom of her heart. "Physical wounds heal, but the ones in your heart are more difficult to recover from. And you've got the biggest heart I've ever seen. Raven told me what you've done around here. And even after all you've been through, you still have enough warmth in your heart to help people and do the right thing. You are a true hero."

Ben was still as a statue. A bomb would have blown up beside him and he wouldn't even care. All he knew, at that moment, Kai wasn't mad at him.

"And right now, Gwen, Kevin, your grandpa, Rook, and every Plumber in the galaxy is looking for you. They're all miserable without you." Kai said. "Not to mention the many innocent lives of our universe will need you when there's danger."

"She's right, Ben." Raven said, smiling. "Here, we can be our own heroes. So we can protect ourselves. And your world needs a hero more than any other universe."

Dexter adjusted his glasses. "And we all have our ups and down, but that's how life goes." the young prince said. "But in the end, helping others always helps yourself. That's what makes being a hero truly worth while."

Ben turned to Kai. The two teens looked deeply into their eyes. Ben pondered what to do while Kai anticipated Ben's next action.

"Y'know," Raven said, getting their attention. "It's a beautiful night and we're here in a pretty romantic spot." She smiled as she used her magic to conjure a guitar in her arms. Speakers and a standing microphone appeared in a cloud of purple smoke. "Perhaps we can have our own Enchantment in the Forest dance here."

With her guitar pick, Raven began playing a slow song. Her opened her mouth and began singing. Her voice was so enchanting.

Ben and Kai looked back at each other, unsure if this was really necessary.

Cupid saw their hesitation and waved her finger at the two teens. In less than an instant, their fear dissipated.

Ben offered his hand to Kai with a hopeful smile. "It's been a while since I've been to a dance."

Kai gave Ben a look, but she smiled and took his hand. "Why not?"

They smiled and put their arms around each other, swaying to Raven's song. But Ben felt Kai step on his foot.

"Sorry," Kai said, looking rather sheepish. "To tell you the truth, I've never really waltzed before."

Ben chuckled. "Don't worry, Gwen gave me some pointers. Just follow my lead." Ben began to dance and Kai picked up on the lesson fast.

It felt so magical, like part of a romantic story. It's as if Ben and Kai were starting their own fairy tale together.

Ben smiled. "Kai, I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me." Kai said, smiling back.

And what felt like the first time, Ben felt very, truly, happy. "I certainly will." He leaned towards Kai.

Kai closed her eyes and leaned in as well.

The two kissed. Very deeply.

Ben's entire being melting as he kissed. Kai felt just the same. She sagged into Ben's arms and held him tighter. She didn't want to let go.

But they both had to breath. So they pulled apart at last.

"Awesome." said Kai. They shared a hug.

Raven, Dexter and Cupid smiled proudly on a job well done.

Kai took in the spelltacular wonderland scenery. "This place is amazing. It's like a dream." Her smiled fell though. "But Bellwood kinda needs you right now."

Ben's smile also fell. "It's pretty bad back home, huh?"

"To say the least."

Ben turned to his fairytale friends. "Raven, I..."

Raven held her hand up. "Say no more, I'll take you home."

"But, I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to everyone." the hero said. "You've all been so good to me."

"Don't worry about the loose ends." Raven said. "I have a feeling we'll see you real soon."

"Yeah, you can visit us anytime, Ben." Dexter said.

Ben and Kai nodded to each other and held each other's hand. "Alright, Raven. Do your stuff."

Raven took a deep breath, concentrated hard. She held her hands out and a mist of dark magic swirled around the teen couple. Everything went purple and...

POOF!