Once Upon a Tennyson

by Creaturemaster

(After WAM) Ben somehow arrives in a world of fairy tales and magic, where following one's destiny is important above all else and the student body of a certain school is locked in a war over how to live their lives. Can Ben unite the students under one flag before the dark force lurking within the shadows ends them and claims the world for itself? The first of it's kind!

10. Destiny Dilemma

Hello, everybody! I have returned! Please, hold all of your applause, please. What, no applause? I thought you guys liked this story? I deserve an applause!

Okay, fine. Don't give me an applause. I don't care, because I got all of your reviews to make me happy! So much feedback in so little time, it nearly blew my Tetramand brain outta my Tetramand skull (did I mention I'm a Tetramand?)!

Onto your questions and the answers I bring with them! Brace yourselves!

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – Tonight for one night only! In this corner, weighing at an undetermined weight for fear of getting bitten is Cerise Hood, Daughter of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf! And in this corner weighing in at an estimated combined weight of 5 metric tons is The Incredible Hulk, She-Hulk, Red Hulk, A-Bomb, and Skarr! Get ready fight of the century, 'cause we're ready to rumbleeeeeeeeee!

Bigby the Big Bad Wolf – Knowing Ben, he'll probably think of something at the last minute. And don't worry about Cerise and Apple; things are only beginning from here.

spurlinpatricksean2 – Wait no more, mi amigo!

.908 – Whose to say Pesky Dust won't be squeezed to death? It might not be Apple, but it could be some other girl ;)

kival737101 – Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Linkonpark100 – Hmm. Choosing between more lying or blubbering? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

StrongGuy159 – I fully intend to. I shall never let go!

n1ght4ury20 – Intend for that to happen, but if you like, then I'll take credit for it by all means!

masterart – You'll have to wait and see! Heeheeheehee!

Isom - A field day . . . or a ninja battle!

Lord Dominator – Now where the fun in that be? There's be action, excitement, pain! Oh, wait, I'm getting this confused with my Total Drama story.

Kaiju Fan – Scared, eh? Then I highly recommend you do not look at Toepick anytime soon.

Redrangerlegacy – While that would be fun, that would taking things a little too fast. I'm more of the subtle approach (I think. I have to look up what subtle means).'

DracoAngel7 – When's the funeral? XD

Titanzilla – I will admit, while this is very good, it won't be happening exactly. I've said too much already!

Royal Rebel – Thank you, it's very much appreciated. As for how things turn out, I am trying to make this as different from my previous story as much as possible, so things will be different. As for the dream . . . that does sound nice. I have been being a bit rough on Raven, haven't I? On an unrelated note, ARE YOU IN CAHOOTS WITH KITTY CHESHIRE!?

Codecrash – I'm glad you enjoyed that bit, along with the puppets; I seriously had a fit of the giggles and snickers when I was writing that bit. There's just something about seeing Hunter getting constantly hurt and humiliated only to be comforted by Ashlynn that is so hilarious and adorable at the same time. BTW, thank you for the awesome PM idea. Blondie is definitely and will be a force to be reckoned with once she gets the chance; hope Ben sleeps with one eye open. As for Ben himself, wouldn't that technically make him a zombie?

Guest – Well, if I made Phantux not like a ghost, then he couldn't be called Phantux, now could he? I'm portraying him as a subspecies of Ectonurite, similar to the Gourmands, but in this case that Phantux's species are weaker compared to Ectonurites but much more crafty and smart. As for a lemon . . . it might happen, but if it does it will be published as a separate story entirely, much like I did with When Life Gives You Lemons. And in response to your latest review, maybe I'm busy, maybe I'm not. I could simply be building up the suspense! XD

The Question – I know I've been putting it off long enough, and I will be getting to that; whether Red Riding Hood will neuter Professor Bad Wolf with a rusty spoon is yet to debate. Perhaps he enlists Ben as a sort of bodyguard until he can explain things to his wife?

Erebor – So many questions, so little time. Either way, I ain't tellin'!

Darkness Rissing – About half of those would taking the easy way out, now wouldn't it? And since when has Ben ever taken the easy way out? As for more appearances of Birchman and Oakler, expect to see them wherever a balcony seat might be available. I have now made it my personal goal to make you like Apple White! Even if I have to spend the rest of my life updating this story to change your mind, I WILL!

Smaug – You make a valid point. However, Birchman and Oakler are hard to please, just like Statler and Waldorf.

Mr. Z – Thank you for the congratulations! I never actually checked my word count, so wow. I'm impressed with myself. I guess that rumor about the sequels never being as good as the originals is false in this case. Enjoy!

luciayshadow – I'm glad you loved the chapter; I swear, I was giggling to myself the whole time I was writing Hunter's act (for some reason, he's fun to torture). And if you think Blondie was pushing things then, wait'll you see what happens next! As for Xenarms . . . it has a nice ring to it, but I like to avoid including other franchises as much as possible (Birchman and Oakler don't count). As for how Ben meets Ginger, it's pure genius, though knowing Ben things will probably go horribly wrong (somehow). Enjoy the following chapter (I'm sensing some hostility towards Daring. I'll see what I can do to ease that up;)!

Unknown – Ben doesn't have every alien made by kjmarch (such as Skybird or Airphant). He does however have kjmarch's version of Atomix, though I have renamed him Bonez. As for Artmachband196, I normally use his Ultimate alien designs when the time calls for them.

maverickmoxey2000 – I was actually thinking of bringing in Albedo at one point, if not only to just bring back the Ultimate aliens and make Ben's life a little more bothersome; as for the Forever Knights attacking the show . . . well, I can't say. A duel between Daring and Ben however, will most definitely happen if not this chapter then the next.

Harem Lover 26 – I've said this before, but I suppose you weren't there to hear it. I fully intend to incorporate the plots of Way to Wonderland and Spring Unsprung into my story, similar to how I put Haunted in my previous work.

Classic Lover – It wouldn't be fun if I didn't, now would it? XD

Enough of my- okay, you know what? I've probably said that enough times to.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Muppets, Looney Tunes, Ben 10, Monster High, or Ever After High. Also, on an unrelated note, I would like to thank Guest and Isom for giving me awesome ideas to work with. You guys (or gals) rock!

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! I love to hear your ideas!

Onward!

The tension was heavy in the air as everyone starred at Ben and he in turn starred back at them, not quite sure how he should properly react to such a mixture of looks thrown his way; Cupid had her hands over her eyes, worried about what was about to happen next while Apple and Raven simultaneously bit their lips out of fear. Hunter and Ashlynn hugged each other tightly as the later tried hold back tears of betrayal while the former looked like he wanted to tie Ben in a knot as Kitty flashed into existence on the railing of Birchman and Oakler's balcony, a look of interest plastered on her smiling face.

Faybelle was admiring Ben with a light blush on her face, tapping her fingers together in thought while Cedar simply drooled over him as if she were a dog gazing at a piece of prime meat; Cerise was now awake and looked as if she wanted to cry and break Ben in half at the same time as Blondie snapped picture after picture, eagerly smiling and not caring in the slightest that she been threatened by nothing more than a human boy in a costume. None of these looks however, put Ben off more than the enraged look on Headmaster Grimm's quickly reddening face as he shoved the group of stupefied girls off of him and looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Well . . ." Ben spoke up, his voice sounding hollow and nervous in the silence of the auditorium. "This has been fun, but I really gotta be leaving now. See ya!" he cried as he attempted to make a mad dash off stage.

"Not so fast, boy!" Headmaster Grimm snarled. "You owe us some answers!" he yelled before an idea crossed his mind. "Now that I think about it, you aren't even a student here, which means you are trespassing."

"Is that good or bad?" Ben wondered.

"For you, bad." Grimm smirked. "GUARDS! Remove this . . . this . . . incubus at once!"

"What did you just call me?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"An incubus," Raven whispered. "In simple terms, it's a sex demon."

"EXCUSE ME!?" Ben yelled before the two doors at the back of the auditorium burst open, making several rattled students yelp with surprise and quickly back out of the way as row after row of enchanted armored suits marched through the aisle's in an orderly fashion, their suits creaking and clanking loudly as they each carried a shield and sword in their grips; a faint, pink aura surrounded them as they moved before they came to a halt at the foot of the stage, about four dozen or so magical suits of armor standing between Ben and the doors.

Unbeknownst to Headmaster Grimm, Ben was not one to use doors very often.

"Well, looks like that's my cue." Ben shrugged as he tapped the Omnitrix on his wrist and called up the ever familiar green hologram before selecting a transformation and raising his hand above his head. "Thanks for coming out, everybody!" he quipped before slamming a hand down on the Omnitrix and swallowing himself in a flash of green light, sending gasps of shock and surprise through the crowd; Blonde looked like she was about to faint from being so happy as she switched from pictures to recording, much to Headmaster Grimm and Ben's annoyance. His skeleton crunched and scraped against itself as his frame stretched upwards about three feet before his shoulders broadened and his arms swelled with muscle and tissue, tight ligaments and tendons knitting together as Ben's skin turned a pale green in color; every last strand of hair on his body was slurped back under his skin, leaving him completely hairless as a small layer of slime spread over his body. His jaw was thrust outwards with a loud crunching noise as his tongue became long and elastic, able to stretch for dozens of feet when it wasn't coiled up inside of his mouth and his now expandable throat. His two middle fingers were slurped back into his hands with a series of snaps, his remaining three digits strengthening while feet shifted and morphed, leaving Ben only able to count to two on his now long toes. A black bodysuit with a green stripe down the middle appeared on his person with green cuffs at his wrists and ankles while an air tank of sorts materialized on his back and a pair of green shades on his face, shielding his eyes; the Omnitrix appeared on the breathing device of the air tank, completing the transformation.

"Good enough." Bullfrag shrugged.

"Get him!" Headmaster Grimm commanded the suits of armor before turning to the students. "Everyone else, please return your dorms until we have the situation under control!"

"Yeah, you do that." Bullfrag rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses as several of the enchanted suits of armor climbed up on stage while the members of the recently cobbled band fled the stage; Raven however, stood her ground, clenching her fists tightly as a furious look crossed her face.

"You helpin', beautiful?" the Incursean croaked.

"I guess I am?" Raven shrugged with a light blush.

"Was that a question or an answer?" Bullfrag smirked.

"Grimm always did want me to be a bad girl." Raven smiled as she summoned crackling orbs of raw magic and power into her hands before hurling one of them at a knight as it clambered up onto the stage with its sword raised over its head; the magical suit of armor was struck square in the chest and off the stage just before two more knights took its place.

"Ben! Run!" Apple screamed as Tiny climbed to his gigantic feet and scooped her up carefully in his grip, turning around to flee with the princess in hand.

"Don' need ta tell me twice, babe." Bullfrag ribbited before he lashed out with his long, elastic tongue and cracked the strong appendage across the face before wrapping his flexible tongue around the suit of armor's arm and yanking it off of the ground to smash into a pair of its brothers before slamming it into the auditorium's wall; the progress of moving the students to the safety of their dorms was going slow as most of them were too enraptured in the fight to even think about their own safety.

"Ben, go! Get out of here!" Raven yelled as she moved her hands in a quick motion and summoned a shimmering, purple shield in front of her and the Incursean, blocking the attack of the enchanted knights as they slashed at and struck the construct with shields and swords, the barrier weakening with every blow as Raven struggled to keep it up.

"Alright, alright. I'll get goin'." Bullfrag grumbled as he slugged a knight in the face before bending his legs and launching himself high into the air, much to the fleeing audience's surprise and delight as he came crashing down into Birchman and Oakler's balcony seats, startling the two eldery puppets and Briar.

"Looks like it's the movies all over again." Birchman noted.

"Finally some real entertainment!" Oakler cracked, the two of them chuckling before Bullfrag grabbed the two of them by their wooden heads and tossed them over his shoulders where Daring was kind enough to break their fall without knowing it.

"Hey, gorgeous. Mind lettin' be by?" Bullfrag asked.

Briar fought back an intense blush at the nickname as she balled her hands into fists. "Why would I do that?" she growled.

"Because you're special, I can tell. Ya like doin' exciting and bad things, dontcha?" Bullfrag smirked.

"M-Maybe . . ." Briar was now a bright, rose red in color; she couldn't believe she was already falling for the mysterious, shape-shifting character when she knew that Hopper Croakington II had a crush on her as big as the man-sized frog currently sitting on the balcony railing before her; she wasn't sure she could break the tiny frog's heart so quickly. While she was thinking however, Bullfrag saw his chance and jumped over the stupefied princess, making his escape down the stairs behind the balcony seats.

"Later!" he called out behind him.

"Hex!" Brair cursed.

The enchanted suits of armor had now changed locations, turning their attention away from battering Raven's shield and now focusing their attention on shoving their way through the throngs of fleeing students and fairy tales in their mad rush to capture Bullfrag; the Incursean himself was currently running down a white, marble hallway, his webbed feet slapping loudly against the floor as a small group of knights chased him from behind. He was coming up towards a flight of stairs, giving him a quick escape route if he slid down the banister; he was almost there when another group of knights rushed up the stairs and cut him off, trapping him between the two groups of magical suits of armor.

"Well, if this isn't jus' dandy." Bullfrag croaked, balling his webbed fingers into fists. "You wanna piece of Bullfrag? Comin' get some!" he threatened; the two small armies of knights surged forward at him, shields raised and swords drawn as they rushed right at the Incursean, only to have him suddenly drop down to the ground and let the two lead knights crash right into each other before he swept their metal legs out from under them. Bullfrag then jumped back up to his feet, kicking two more knights in the face on the way up before spinning around to slug another knight in the face and deliver a swift uppercut to a third.

The Incursean was being pressed in from all sides by the enchanted knights, being pushed tightly together in the ring of metal suits and slowly suffocating when the knight's swords were threatening to cut him through until he sucked in a deep breath and inflated the large throat sac in his chest, inflating like an air bag and pushing the magical suits of armor away form him and allowing him to skyrocket straight up and grab onto a waiting chandelier overhead; Bullfrag swung the expensive lighting structure for a few seconds his weight was too much and it fell out of the ceiling and onto the knights below, defeating the rest of them as Bullfrag jumped free during the fall and landed on his feet just before the Omnitrix timed out and bathed him in a green light, changing him back into Ben.

"Okay, now how do I find my way out of here?" Ben wondered to himself. He decided to take the stairs and hopefully find a less noticeable entrance than just smashing through a wall or window, taking the steps two at a time before the sound of clashing swords and metal feet against marble caught his attention and he noticed a group of furious knights charging right at him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Definitely not that way!" Ben yelped as he turned tail to run down the opposite hallway with the knights right behind him.

"Please give me Lodestar!" the Omnitrix wearer pleaded as he tapped the device and cycled through Biosovortian icon before slapping the waiting activation button and engulfing himself in a flash of green light as hid DNA was changed and scrambled to his liking. A coating light, blue fur raced over his body, covering him from head to toe as his spine arched and forced him down onto his hands just as his fingers molded together like hot candle wax into three, firm digits designed to grasp and swing as his toes lengthened and became three, strong digits as well; Ben's skin flashed a dark blue as his shoulders swelled slightly and became muscled and fur as his chest expanded and muscles and tissue piled themselves up onto his body. His skeleton crunched and snapped loudly as he was compressed down to the size of a large dog, his spine arching and cracking loudly before a long, prehensile tail snaked out from the base of his spine, cracking back and forth with anticipation as several special organs formed at the base of the appendage. His lower jaw was thrust outwards as the warm fur covered his face and his eyes split into a two more green pairs as the shaggy hair on his head flipped up to form a pair of furry horns. The most dramatic transformation however, was when a pair of identical arms to his original pair suddenly burst out his sides from underneath him, flexing and moving on their own as two, green sashes formed across Ben's chest with the Omnitrix at the center, completing the transformation.

"Spidermonkey? That doesn't even sound like Lodestar! Ook, ook!" the Arachnichimp whined as he scampered down the hallway on his four knuckles before he launched himself at the nearest wall and began to run from the top of the lockers now, just barely out of reach of the annoying suits of armor below. Sooner or later however, he was going to run out of lockers to run on and he had no idea as to where the hallway was even taking him; with little choice left, Spidermonkey raised his tail into the air and fired off a sticky webbing at both end of the hallway, creating a large net-like webbing stretched across the entire hallway.

The Arachnichimp quickly jumped off of the lockers and landed in the center of the sticky trap, blowing a raspberry at the suits of armor. "C'mon! Ya don't wanna monkey with the monkey! Ook, ook!" he chattered.

The magical suits of armor fell for the trap and rushed blindly into the webbing, sticking fast to the glue-like strands as they fought and struggled to free themselves while Spidermonkey jumped down to the floor and dusted off his hands triumphantly.

"Alright, enough monkey business. How do I find my way outta here again?" he wondered to himself before he heard a short slicing sound; the noise was followed by several more and before he knew it, the band of knights had freed themselves from the webbing with their sharp swords, though they lacked the shields that remained stuck fast to the sticky trap.

"Geez, can't talk this out? Ook, ook! It's nothing to go ape over!" Spidermonkey gulped before turning tail and running, firing off a quick strand of webbing at the face of the lead knight and blinding it as its comrades pushed and jostled it to get ahead, unknowingly trampling their brother underneath their metal feet as they chased after Spidermonkey. The Arachnichimp whipped out his tail and fired off a sticky shot of silk about half a foot above the floor, drawing across the width of the hallway before scampering away to safety just as the first couple knights metal feet caught on the craftily made tripwire and fell to the ground, immediately being run over by their armored comrades.

Argh, this driving me bananas!" Spidermonkey cried as he fired off another jet of webbing and hooked himself to the ceiling before using the sticky strand like a grappling hook to swing himself up onto the ceiling, out of range of the knights; the Arachnichimp fired off another strand of webbing from his tail as he hung onto the previous strand and hooked it around a knight's sword before pulling the weapon away. Now that he had a proper weapon, Spidermonkey jumped to the ground and waved it around ina threatening manner, trying to look as dangerous as possible.

"En guard! Ook! Ook!" he chattered.

The rest of the enchanted suits of armor quickly drew their swords and pointed them at Spidermonkey.

"Oh, right. Forgot about the whole 'outnumbered thing'." Spidermonkey gulped nervously. With a sheepish smile, he gently set the sword down on the ground before running away as fast as his six limbs could carry him, with the now furious and insulted knight's right behind him.

"For the love of gargoyles, someone help me!" the Arachnichimp screeched loudly before he heard a sudden whooshing noise followed by several loud thumps and the clattering of metal; breathless, he turned around to see Raven standing between him and the magical metal suits, a shimmering, purple barrier thrown up between him, the witchling, and the angry knights.

"Thanks, Raven." Spidermonkey sighed with relief as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben back to the world. "I owe ya one."

"You can pay me back now and not get yourself killed or expelled!" Raven grunted as the enchanted warriors battered and attacked the shield. "And if you're going to do something, do it quickly! This kinda hurts!" she added with a pained tone.

Ben nodded and turned on the Omnitrix, cycling through his transformations before selecting a suitable one and slapping the activation button, engulfing himself in a flash of bright light as the changes began. His skeleton snapped and compressed loudly as he shrank down to less than half of his height while his skin became a pale white color; his fingers crunched and cracked loudly as they fused together into a single digit that quickly swelled and grew to the size and shape of a bowling ball. Muscles packed themselves tightly into his arms and torso, piling themselves heavily onto his legs while his toes ripped through his shoes and fused together into three, strong digits tipped with spike-like claws; every last hair on his head and body was sucked back underneath Ben's skin as his ears grew long and droopy to hang at his side. A pair of black pants trimmed in green materialized on his body as the Omnitrix appeared on a belt around his waist, completing the transformation.

"Brawn! Brawn! Brawn!" WOO-HOO!" the Twin cackled before bending his spring-loaded legs and launching himself right at the small army of knights. Raven barely lowered the shield in time before Brawn sailed over her head and slammed into the first knight he came across, effortlessly slugging it across the face and sending it flying all the way down the hallway where it slammed into the opposite wall; a painted picture of the first Snow White hung on the wall above the dazed knight trembled and fell off the wall, hitting the suit of armor over the head and thrusting right through where the painting's face was.

Raven held back a slight snicker as Brawn easily tore his way through the horde of knights, punching them in their metal guts and chest and slugging them in the heads and nether regions with no remorse; metal crunched and shrieked in protest as Brawn raked his claws across the suits of armor before he raised his two fists above his head to bring them down on the helmet of one of the knights, crushing and compressing the poor enchanted warrior into a pancake. The Twin then launched himself off of the destroyed suit of armor and back flipped through the air to land on the shoulders of another enchanted knight; before the metal man could do anything, Brawn had grabbed the edges of its helmet and effortlessly tore the helmet off, killing the warrior as it dropped lifeless to the ground.

A sudden scream caught his attention, and Brawn turned around to see a spellbound suit of armor with its metal hand wrapped all too tightly around Raven's wrist, squeezing hard and cutting off the circulation as the witchling struggled to free herself, too frightened and weak to summon any of her spells to defend herself

"Keep yer hands off of my woman!" Brawn roared savagely; the magical suit of armor never knew what hit it as Brawn rammed his titanium hard skull into its chest, heavily damaging the metal chest plate before delivering a swift upper cut to the knight's jaw and kicking it in its nether regions. Before the suit of armor could react, Brawn had kicked it several dozen times in the time of two seconds in the gut before slugging it across the face and tearing its head off, killing it.

Raven blushed red at the comment as she held her throbbing wrist, wincing at the bruises forming on her delicate skin; another scar to add to the collection. Brawn seemed to be in some kind of a rage now, using the lifeless corpse of the recently defeated knight as a weapon to beat the other suits of armor over the head with the limp knight; the Twin was roaring and yelling obscenities and threats at the top of his lungs as he effortlessly slammed the massive body over his head down onto another knight, dazing it long enough for Brawn launch himself high into the air and bounce off the ceiling like a spring to then slam into the two suits of armor on the floor, sending them crashing into the dorm below with a loud crash!

"Ben!" Raven yelled with worry, sighing with relief when Brawn crawled out of the hole completely unharmed before the Omnitrix timed out in a burst of green light. The sound of a door being opened put the both of them on edge and then immediately whirled around with Ben just about to activate the Omnitrix for a fourth time and Raven about to blast the upcoming offender with raw magic before they realized that it was just Apple; the princess gulped nervously and peeked out from behind the door in the hallway, as if expecting Cerise to appear out of nowhere before she stepped out into the hallway, closed the door behind her, and raced right at Raven and Ben, immediately latching onto the later in fear.

"Apple! I . . . can't feel . . . my arm!" Ben gasped as Apple's nails dug heavily into his skin; the princess whimpered an apology and released her hold, though she didn't move an inch away from Ben.

"What are you going to do?" Apple wondered quietly. "You can't keep running forever."

"I could try." Ben joked. No one laughed.

"Apple's right, Ben. Sooner or later, the Omnitrix will lose power or you'll get caught." Raven sighed. "And I can't keep protecting you in those moments either."

Ben sighed and rubbed his temples. "I know, I know. What's Grimm's deal anyway?"

"As far as he knows, you aren't the descendant of a fairy tale character," Apple explained. "So unless someone or something else says otherwise, you're a threat to his goal of keeping the world in one piece."

"Geez, paranoid much?" Ben scoffed; Apple cringed slightly at the words. In order for her plan to work, for Ben to become her prince, for her to get her happily ever after, for the world to not end, she had to get Ben use to the idea of destinies and the important role they played in keeping their world safe and balanced. She needed to get Ben open to idea that destinies were important, while making sure that he lost any connections he had to a potential lover back home; it might have sounded harsh, but saving an entire universe and countless lives were more important than someone Ben might have loved back home, right?

"Ms. Queen! Ms. White!"

Her thoughts were interrupted as Headmaster Grimm, Professor Rumpelstiltskin, and a trio of armed suits of armor with shields and swords crashed through the doors at the end of the hallway, a furious look on Grimm's face and a large shotgun in Rumpelstiltskin's hands.

"Oh, applesauce." Apple whimpered.

"I got this." Ben smirked as he tapped the Omnitrix and selected the Vaxasaurian icon. "Better to go big than to go home!" he grinned as he slammed a hand down on the waiting activation button, fully expecting the changes to begin, for him to suddenly tower over the upcoming threat and then effortlessly obliterate it; except nothing happened.

"Oh, come on! A recharge!?" Ben cried with exasperation.

"RUN!" Raven screamed; Ben didn't need to be told twice as he grabbed Apple's hand and tore down the hallway in the opposite direction as Rumpelstiltskin roared something incomprehensible and fired off his hunting riffle, missing several times and shooting out a few windows and littering the walls and floors with bullet holes as Ben, Apple, Raven fled the scene.

"AFTER THEM!" Headmaster Grimm's angry voice echoed down the hallway as the three of them ran towards the nearest door they could find, tearing it open and diving inside before slamming the door shut, only to realize that they had unwittingly landed themselves right into the Headmaster's very own office.

"Please tell me that thing is fully charged!" Apple whimpered.

"Almost . . . there!" Ben sighed with relief as the familiar glow of the holographic menu popped up; the sound of metal feet and heavy breathing from a slightly overweight man caught his attention, and he quickly directed Apple and Raven to hide behind a curtain, the two girls pressed to hide behind the same curtain as Ben selected the Tetramand icon and slammed the activation button, engulfing himself in a burst of green light as his DNA was scrambled and rearranged.

---

Headmaster Grimm breathed heavily as he jogged down the hallway, his belly jiggling like jello as he pumped his arms and panted as the enchanted suits of armor silently ran past him, Professor Rumpelstiltskin skittering his little legs just to keep up with them; he had to stop that . . . demon from ruining all that he had worked hard for, from ruining his plans to make sure the world of Ever After stood tall and rpoud even after he was long gone and dead. He had to make the incubus was silenced and that his hypnotized victims were released so that Apple could fulfill her destiny as the next Snow White and Raven would finally get over the silly Rebel nonsense and except her fate as the next Evil Queen whether she liked it or not.

A sudden flash of bright, green light caught his attention, making him skid to a stop when he noticed that the fading light was coming under a closed door. His closed door. The retched demon was in his office, invading his private space and no doubt torturing Apple and Raven with horrific sexual assaults as he waited for his chance to slip away with his victims in tow. Not if he could help it.

With an enraged roar of defiance, the Headmaster kicked open the doors to his own office with Professor Rumpelstiltskin and the three enchanted suits of armor right behind him and ready to defend their master from any harm that should come upon him; standing in the middle of the office was a tall, lean figure about a foot or so taller than the Headmaster and covered in smooth, slimy looking skin. He was roughly human-like, with dark, black hair and bangs underneath his black top hat and his blank green eyes behind the pure white mask that obscured his entire face. He wore a pure black suit with green puzzle piece patterns and had three, sharp toe claws for feet while his sharp clawed hands rested on the emerald studded cane in his hands; the ever familiar symbol of the Omnitrix rested on his left breast as the creature regarded Headmaster Grimm with a cool attitude while he munched on a carrot.

"Ehhh, what's up Headmaster?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You can't fool me, you foul, heartless demon!" Headmaster Grimm spat.

"Try lookin' in a mirror sometime, bub." the Dodgjierian smirked as he took off his hat and tossed the half-eaten carrot inside for later. "What can I do ya for?"

Professor Rumpelstiltskin growled. "You, you shape-shifting demon with your shape-shifting ways and your blowing me up! You will make an excellent trophy for my wall!" he exclaimed as he cocked and loaded his gun.

"But, doc! You don't have a license to shoot me!" the Dodgjierian pointed out. "Ya don't wanna get in trouble with the law, do you?" he scolded.

The diminutive imp paused for a second, lowering his gun slightly to think it over while Headmaster Grimm seethed. "Stop with these mind games, you heartless incubus! Surrender now and release those under your control at once, or I will be forced to use . . . force." the Headmaster finished lamely, the warning not coming out quite as threatening as he hoped as he gestured to his three, armored body guards.

"Really? All this trouble over little ol' me? Aw, you shouldn't have," the Dodgjierian said bashfully. "The name's Jigsaw, by the way."

"I don't care if your name happens to be Cottoncandy Hexbunny Mcgee! Surrender now!" Headmaster Grimm snapped angrily; Professor Rumpelstiltskin finally got over his befuddlement and fired off a warning shot, putting a hole through Jigsaw's hat much to the Dodgjierian's shock. With horror, he took the hat off of his head and examined the hole in his precious hat before narrowing his eyes and setting it back on his head, his grip on his cane tightening.

"Of course, you realize that this means war." he growled; faster than Rumpelstiltskin or Headmaster Grimm could react, the Dodgjierian lunged forward with his cane and swung it like a sword, slicing it across the three enchanted suits of armor in quite succession before bashing each one of them over the head. At first, it seemed nothing happened until the three knight's clattered loudly to the ground intp three piles of metal shards and pieces, dead.

Headmaster Grimm's face reddened with anger as steam actually escaped from his ears and formed a rolling thunder cloud around him, much to Rumpelstiltskin's surprise before the Headmaster lunged at Jigsaw with deadly intent. "Those were three of my best men!" he roared.

"If those were your best men, I don't wanna see your best woman!" Jigsaw joked as he danced out of harms way. "When's the wedding, by the way?"

"ARGH!" Grimm roared with anger as the Dodgjierian gracefully dodged another attempt by the Headmaster to be grabbed as he danced over to Grimm's desk and pulled open one of the large desk drawers before pinching his nose shut and jumping right in, the drawer snapping shut.

"Ah-HA!" Headmaster Grimm exclaimed triumphantly. "I've that screwy demon cornered!" he grinned as he motioned for Rumpelstiltskin to come over and take over; the diminutive imp complied and eagerly scurried over to the desk, prying the drawer open long enough for him to wiggle the barrel of his gun into the drawer.

"Alright, demon! I know your in there!" Rumpelstiltskin growled. "If you're not out of there with your hands up by the count of ten, I'll blast ya out!" he ordered before he began to quickly count to ten; Headmaster Grimm grinned deviously and moved a short distance away, jamming his fingers into his ears to block out the inevitable gunfire. While it would no doubt mean he would have to get a new desk, it would all be worth it in the end when the girls were safe and that blasted incubus was out of his life.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Okay, demon! Now I gotcha!" Rumpelstiltskin's voice came as he slid the smoking drawer open and popped his head inside.

"Ehhh, what's up doc?"

Headmaster Grimm's eyes popped open as he whirled around to see Rumpelstiltskin and Jigsaw's heads stuck in the drawer, the former of the two not seeming the slightest bit concerned he had missed his target. "I'm hunting demons," Rumpelstiltskin replied. "It's demon season. I think." he added, scratching his head.

"Demon season, eh?" Jigsaw scratched his chin as the two of them gazed back into the depths of the smoking desk drawer. "Have any luck?" he wondered.

"Well, no. As a matter of fact, I haven't even seen a demon lately." Rumpelstiltskin said; the Headmaster could not believe what he was seeing. There, standing right next to him and talking to the little imp was none other than the very demon they were hunting, and yet Rumpelstiltskin didn't seem able to tell the difference between said demon and an average fairy tale one won't find on the street and talk with, much like they were doing now.

"This is preposterous!" he exclaimed with exasperation, storming over to the desk. "Don't you even know what an incubus looks like!? Hmmm!?" he wondered before pointing an accusing finger right at Jigsaw as the Dodgjierian nonchalantly munched on the carrot he had been saving for later before the Headmaster grabbed Rumpelstiltskin's gun and shoved it into his hands, confident he had managed to smooth out the small mishap.

"It's true, doc. I'm a demon, alright." Jigsaw admitted with a straight face, even though what he was exactly was far from what Grimm thought. "Would you like to shoot me now, or wait until you get home?" he offered.

"Shoot him now! Shoot him now!" Headmaster Grimm roared, at his wits end.

"You keep out of this!" Jigsaw yelled, suddenly turning on the Headmaster. "He doesn't have to shoot you now!"

Headmaster Grimm's red face got angrier and angrier with every passing second. "He does so have to shoot me now!" he snapped before turning to Rumpelstiltskin. "I demand that you shoot me now!" Rumpelstiltskin blinked, not quite sure he was hearing things directly; wasn't he supposed to shoot the demon and not the Headmaster? Then again, the demon was a master of disguise and could have very well impersonated the Headmaster, demanding to be shot like the fool the Headmaster was not so he would turn on the false demon and shoot him instead. Then again, if that wasn't how things were, it was better to be safe then sorry.

"Nah!" Headmaster stuck out his chin with pride as Rumpelstiltskin leveled his weapon at him and pulled the trigger, a loud bang! erupting from the barrel of the gun; Apple flinched involuntarily at the sound of the gun going off and whimpered, hugging Raven tightly as the witch dared a peek out from behind the curtain to find that the Headmaster was completely unharmed, save for a smoking head and his mustache completely blown off and now serving as an extra pair of bushy eyebrows. With annoyance, the Headmaster wiped the soot off of his face pulled off his mustache from his head, firmly reattaching it back to his upper lip before turning around to march right back up to a smirking Jigsaw.

"Lets run through that again." he growled.

"Okay." Jigsaw shrugged before clearing his throat. "Would you like to shoot me now or wait until you get home?" he recited.

"Shoot him now. Shoot him now." the Headmaster repeated in a monotone voice.

"You keep out of this. He doesn't have to shoot you now." Jigsaw added in the same tone of voice.

"HA! That's it! Hold it right there!" he exclaimed. "Pronoun trouble." he mumbled to himself before turning back to the Dodgjierian. "It's not 'he doesn't have to shoot you now', it's 'he doesn't have to shoot me now'." Headmaster Grimm corrected. "Well I say he does have to shoot me now!" he yelled before turning back on an incredibly confused Rumpelstiltskin. "So shoot me now!" he demanded; Rumpelstiltskin blinked and shrugged before blasting the clearly confused Headmaster in the face again, now turning his mustache into a pair of earrings on his smoldering ears.

With an irritable growl, the Headmaster pulled the smoking remains of his mustache from his ears and set them back in their proper place before turning back to Jigsaw and opening his mouth as if he wanted to yell some very loud and colorful words at the Dodgjierian.

"Yes?" Jigsaw asked innocently, not even flinching.

Realizing that yelling at the crafty demon was not going to get himself anywhere but another painful shot in the face, the Headmaster sucked in a deep breath and calmed down, lowering his accusing arm and closing his lips. "Oh, no." he shook his head. "Not again. Sorry." he said before turning around to face Rumpelstiltskin. "This time we'll try it from the other end." he muttered.

"What's going on?" Apple murmured, her face buried deep into Raven's cleavage, not daring to look up; the witchling tried hold back the furious blush on her face and the pained yelp at the back of her throat whenever Apple absentmindedly brushed up against the scars she didn't know were there.

"I think Ben's winning." Raven whispered. "Just hang tight. With the way things are going, it should only be a few more minutes." he promised the princess, hugging her protectively and stroking her blonde curls to calm her down.

"Look, you're a hunter, right?" Headmaster Grimm sighed, pinching his brow.

"Uh . . . yes?" Rumpelstiltskin agreed.

"And you're hunting a demon, right?"

"Right!" Rumpelstiltskin nodded.

"And if he was a demon, what would you do?" Jigsaw jumped into the conversation.

"Yeah, you're so smart! If I was a demon, what would you do?" Headmaster Grimm huffed, triumphantly crossing his arms over his chest now that he was confident he was not going to be shot for a third time.

"Well, I'd-" Rumpelstiltskin started before he decided it would be better to show what he was going to do rather than explain it and level his weapon at the Headmaster for the third time in a row.

"Not again." Grimm whimpered before receiving another blast of gunfire to the face, his mustache now functioning as a pair of furry horns on top of his head; once again, the Headmaster wiped the soot off of his face and returned his mustache to its proper place before grabbing Rumpelstiltskin by the shoulder and dragging him over to the snickering Dodgjierian.

"For the last time, you shoot the demon, not me! Shoot the demon!" Headmaster Grimm growled.

"No way! It's Grimm season!" Jigsaw argued.

"Demon season!" Headmaster Grimm shot back.

"Grimm season!" Jigsaw shouted.

"Demon season!" Grimm protested.

"Grimm season!

"Demon season!"

"Demon season!" Jigsaw yelled with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Grimm season!" Headmaster Grimm roared.

"Demon season!" Jigsaw continued to argue.

"I say it's demon season, and I say fire!" Headmaster roared, putting an end to the argument; Professor Rumpelstiltskin blinked and attempted to figure out who to fire at before shrugging and aiming at the confident Headmaster Grimm, blasting him for the fourth time in the face and turning his mustache into a goatee, much to Grimm's annoyance.

"Lets . . . try that again." Headmaster Grimm growled at Jigsaw. "I'll start it this time."

"Alright." the Dodgjierian shrugged.

"Demon season!" Headmaster Grimm growled, grabbing the barrel of Rumpelstiltskin's hunting riffle and pointing it at Jigsaw.

"Grimm season." Jigsaw smirked, pushing the barrel back towards the Headmaster.

"Demon season!" Headmaster Grimm argued, pointing the gun back at Jigsaw.

"Demon season!" the Dodgjierian grinned mischievously, now turning the gun back on himself.

"Grimm season! FIRE!" Headmaster Grimm roared, holding the barrel of the gun right at his face and earning a fifth shot from the now smoking gun; his mustache now acted like a necklace around his plump neck before he set it back into place, his temper almost at the breaking point. "You start it this time." he growled at Jigsaw.

"Whatever you say." the Dodgjierian shrugged before grabbing the barrel of the gun and pointing it at himself. "Demon."

"GRIMM! FIRE!" Headmaster Grimm roared, leveling the barrel of Rumpelstiltskin's gun right at his face and consequently getting himself blasted for a sixth time in a row, leaving the score Jigsaw: 6, Headmaster: 0. Not that anyone was keeping track as the Dodgjierian slipped a small chalkboard with several hash marks on one side with his name and an entirely blank side on the other back into his top hat.

"For the love of hex, just shoot him!" Headmaster Grimm roared, at his wits end.

"I would, but it looks like I don't have any bullets left." Rumpelstiltskin sighed.

"No more bullets?" Jigsaw sounded surprised. "You hear that, Grimm? No more bullets!"

"No more bullets!?" Headmaster Grimm snarled. "Lemme see that." he growled, taking the gun away from Rumpelstiltskin and peering down the long end of the barrel to see what the problem was and why he wasn't currently be victorious over the troublesome demon; the hunting riffle suddenly fired off, seemingly on its own.

"Oh, look! One bullet left!" Rumpelstiltskin remarked sheepishly.

"One bullet left?" Jigsaw gasped happily. "You hear that Grimm? No bullet-"

"Yes, I heard." Headmaster Grimm growled lowly, his face once more covered in soot and ash with his mustache nowhere to be seen; considering the way his upper lip was smoking and the smell of burnt hair however, it was most likely the mustache had been burned to a crisp after being blasted so much.

"Now, if we're done here . . ." Jigsaw smiled as he pulled his top hat off of his head and threw it on the floor. "That's all, folks!" he cackled before swan diving into the hat and disappearing into its seemingly endless depths; the hat remained on the floor for what seemed the longest time to the Headmaster before it suddenly vanished out of existence in a flash of green light. A quick check behind the seemingly noise affected curtains revealing nothing but dust bunnies.

"Um . . . Headmaster Grimm?" Rumpelstiltskin spoke up, shattering the awkward silence.

"Please, Rumpelstiltskin. Leave my presence." Grimm sighed, rubbing his aching temples. "We obviously will not catch the demon anytime soon, especially not with my current state of mind; return to your office and inform the rest of the faculty not to disturb me until tomorrow, when my headache has hopefully cleared up." he moaned.

"Are you-"

"Yes!" Headmaster shouted before sucking in a deep breath to calm his rattled nerves. "Yes. I am sure." he repeated in a much quieter tone. "Now please, leave me alone." The diminutive imp didn't dare argue and quickly scampered out of the office, leaving the exhausted Headmaster and the piles of shredded metal on the floor alone.

---

The halls and corridors of the boy's dormitory was dark and quite as the night, the luminous, white beams of the moonlight slipping through the windows and illuminating the bare hallways. A thin, feminine figure silently slipped through the hallway, dressed entirely in black garbs that covered everything from the neck down, letting the figure effortlessly blend in to the shadows. Blondie sucked in a deep breath as she looked around carefully to make sure that no one had seen her before she slipped a black mask over her head, stuffing her blonde locks inside as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness.

The now ninja-like Daughter of Goldie Locks quietly checked her pockets to ensure that she still had her the gift from her mother, a golden key that could fit into any key hole or lock and allow her to enter without difficulty. She breathed with relief when she felt the familiar shape in her pocket before she checked to make sure that Daring's sword was clipped to her belt; it had been rather tough to enter the prince charming's dorm without waking him, but it was worth it when she managed to borrow his blade without him waking up. With what she was about to do, she needed all the protection she could get.

Blondie's feet scrapped softly against the marble floor of the hallway as she she crept farther down and away from the dorm Daring shared with Hopper Croakington II; the sound of metal feet clanking faintly against the marble floor caught her attention and she dove into a particularly dark shadow behind a pillar built into the hallway's elaborate design, sucking her breath to reduce any sort of noise she might make as a pair of enchanted suits of armor carrying battle axes and shields marched by. She felt her heart skip a beat when the knight closest to her paused in its mindless march and slowly turned its metal head around to examine the corridor. Blondie was sure she was going to get caught before the knight finally moved on to catch up with his partner; the Daughter of Goldie Locks didn't dare move until the two metal men had vanished farther down the hall.

She released the deep breath she had been holding and gripped the hilt of Daring's sword tighter; her mission was too risky to be caught by the sudden surge in security ever since Ben had suddenly popped into the sheltered world of Ever After High, forcing the students to remain in the safety of their dorms.

All except Blondie, that is.

She was determined to get to the bottom of the sudden appearance of the incubus within their school, gather all and any necessary information about it and its shape-shifting ways. If not for her daily news report, than to save Apple and Raven from its hypnotic spell; there had been reports that the two of them had been closely associated with the morphing demon and had been seen protecting it from harm whenever it seemed to be in a kind of powered down state. If she could somehow figure out how to defeat the demon and chase it off, she would be regarded as a hero and never be doubted again!

Blondie finally came to the lair of the incubus, a simple dormitory that had once belonged to Blitzwolfer before things turned sour; oddly, no guards or knights were positioned outside to keep the horrific creature inside, but a strange, metal panel had replaced the lock and knob on all of the other dorm rooms; she cautiously approached the panel and noticed that it had a small screen and simple, red button. Without a lock to slip her magic key in, Blondie had little other choice than to press the single button and stifled a yelp when the screen in front of her blinked to life with six, glowing green rings flashing into existence one after the other on the screen.

"Please enter Omnimatrix Mutli-species Code to gain access." a computerized voice asked politely as images of dozens of bizarre and unusual images of strange creatures buzzed past her eyes, floating in a kind of card deck and waiting to be selected; in a way, it was like scrolling through the many pictures and videos Blondie had on her Mirrorpad.

With little choice left, Blondie reached with a finger to touch the screen and selected one of the strange creatures, startling when the computerized voice spoke upon again. "Talpaedan – Armodrillo." it announced.; one of the six glowing rings was filled with the image of a large, yellow, armored creature with broad shoulders, a small head, and jackhammer-like arms.

"What are these things?" Blondie wondered to herself as she chose the picture of a tall, green, plant-like creature with four, springy tentacles to walk on and a pair of leaf-like flaps on either side of its head.

"Florauna – Wildvine." the voice announced as the picture appeared in the second ring; Blondie gulped and selected the picture of another unusual creature, this one looking like nothing more than a small, blue fish with a pair of tiny legs jammed into its body. "Icthyperambuloid – Walkatrout." the computer responded, filling the in the third ring with the strange and rather funny looking creature.

"I hope I got this right." Blondie whispered as she swiped past more images of other strange creatures, pausing to look at one that looked like a fairy of sorts and another like that of a gigantic, brown, wingless dragon. She finally selected the image of a black, human-like creature with little, white dots that bared resemblance to stars marking its muscular body; Blondie decided to select this picture and watched as its image appeared in the fourth ring, leaving two more open.

"Celestialsapien – Alien X." the computer responded.

"Alien? What the hex is an alien?" Blondie wondered to herself as she selected the image of another creature similar in body structure to that of a gorilla made entirely out of colorful building blocks and massive fists; the image filled the fifth ring, leaving one last choice left.

"Segmentasapien – Bloxx." the computer recited without emotion.

"Which one next?" Blondie hummed quietly, tapping her chin in thought before she selected the image of what seemed to be a gigantic, roughly humanoid figure composed entirely out of water, an almost impossibly small head attached to the end of a long neck with a white mask marked with red and black markings covering the creature's face.

"Aguadite – Overflow." the computer said before the six selected creature;s glowed brightly and leveled out into a single row as the device hummed for a few seconds before beeping. "Access granted."

Blondie blinked; she had been guessing the whole time! She didn't think it would be that easy. With a deep breath, she silently pushed the unlocked door open, wincing slightly as the wooden door creaked loudly; the sound of bed sheets rustling caught her attention and she quickly dove into the shadows, hoping her black outfit would keep her hidden and protected. Blondie breathed with relief when the noise died down and quickly climbed to her feet, rushing across the sparsely decorated dormitory to search the large, oak desk pushed up against the wall near the balcony that led outside. She quickly checked the desk drawers, mentally cursing when she found nothing at all in the empty desk; Blondie then checked the dresser, but found no such luck. After a couple more minutes of searching, she ground her teeth together. Other than a change of clothes, there was nothing useful here, nothing about the strange incubus plaguing their school or his origins!

A sudden sharp breath caught her attention and she froze on the spot, turning to where the noise had come from to see the bed covers pushed aside and a very familiar face come into view. With her plump, red lips curled into a smile and her blonde curls draping messily over her face, Apple White lay asleep on the bed with an arm hanging over the side, her breathing slow and deep. Blondie felt her breath catch in her throat when more movement caught her eye and she saw a tall, lean, muscled boy with dark brown hair, pale skin, and a strange, watch-like device strapped lying in the bed next to the princess, an arm wrapped over her protectively.

A small squeak of surprise escaped her lips; Blondie knew the moment she let her guard down she was in trouble as the boy's eyes snapped open to reveal piercing, green orbs as he quietly sat up in bed and blinked blearily into the darkness, his eyes narrowing when they set on Blondie in the middle of the room. Without a word, he crawled out of bed and slipped the covers back over Apple as he drew up to his full height and frowned deeply at her; Blondie felt herself blushing underneath her black mask when she noticed that the boy was bare chested and wearing nothing but his brown pants, exposing his well toned muscles.

"What do you want?" Ben hissed.

Blondie gulped and grabbed the hilt of Daring's sword in her trembling hands as she drew it out before her, the large, silver blade shaking in her grip. "D-Don't move! I-I-I've got a sword a-and I'm not afraid to use it!" she tried to sound threatening; Ben rolled his eyes and tapped the Omnitrix, selecting the first alien that showed up in his roster before slapping the activation button without care, swallowing himself in a flash of green light as his DNA was rearranged and changed into something new. Ben felt every fiber and cell within himself being ripped apart at the molecular, maybe even the quantum scale, becoming lose and separated; he felt a sort of darkness within himself, a vile serpent that was curling its way around his heart the dark fibers began to condense and pack back together into a somewhat more sold form. Ben watched from what seemed like a third person view as the black fibers, shadows seemed to be the more proper term, twisted and turned and molded together, forming the standard body shape for a four-legged creature, complete with four muscled legs that ended in sharp, black hooves, and a tail that consisted mostly of stray hairs, much like one would find on a horse. The sequence didn't stop there as the shadows began to form what seemed to be the head, only for Ben to discover that the fibers were morphing themselves into a muscled torso as four, thin, muscle arms formed on the chest and torso, two on either side. A somewhat human-shaped head formed on the end of a slim neck, elf-like ears forming on either side of it as a white orbs took the place of the eyes. Dark, midnight colored hair sprouted from the scalp, tightening and condensing into long, wavy black hair tied into a ponytail. Ben then felt himself get sucked back into the lifeless body as a dark green chest plate that contrasted nicely against his shadowy skin materialized on him; arm, wrist guards, and spiked shoulder pads with black stripes against dark green formed on him while a Roman style helmet with a bright green plume appeared on his head, completing the transformation as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest.

"Let me show you what happens when you disturb the shadows." Phobos hissed in a low, whispery voice that sent shivers down Blondie's spine; two pairs of long, curved blades formed in his hands with small explosions of black fire, making Blondie's weapon of choice look downright pathetic.

"I will cut you a deal," the Varjoain half-joked, lowering his weapons slightly. "Leave this room now and leave me alone or . . ."

"Or what?" Blondie gulped.

"We duel. Every time you manage to strike a blow, I answer a question; if you wake up Apple however or if I defeat you, you get out of my room and never bother me again." Phobos proposed. "Do we have deal?"

The Daughter of Goldie Locks gulped and glanced between her quivering weapon and the four, dark blades that sat waiting in Phobos' hands, seeming to taunt and jeer at her for even thinking of trying to even compete against them; she would have given up right then and there and left Ben and Apple alone for the rest of the night, marching back to the room she shared with Cupid to bed down for a good night's sleep, but her reporter's instincts would not allow it. She sensed the story of the century somewhere and knew that the shape-shifting incubus was the key to it. If getting information meant that she would have to risk her life and her dignity . . . so be it.

"Hit me with your best shot." Blondie tried to sound brave; the way Daring's sword quivered and jiggled as if it were made of jello however, said otherwise.

"Your funeral." Phobos seemed to smirk darkly as he absentmindedly tossed one of his sharpened blades carelessly in his hand, catching it by the blade before tossing it up to catch it by the handle before raising all four blades above his head; Blondie recognized it as a sporting gesture. He was allowing her to attack her first.

The ninja-like Blondie took the opportunity and clumsily lunged forward with Daring's sword, swinging it in a wide arch and wincing when the Varjoain effortlessly blocked with a loud clashing of two of his swords; before she knew what was happening, Phobos had reared up onto his hind legs and lashed out with his front ones, barely missing Blondie as she ducked to the ground and tried to get up under his guard, only to be blocked once more Phobos' two other swords.

"Hex." Blondie gulped nervously as Phobos pushed against her single blade and knocked her down onto her back, sending Daring's sword skidding away and far out of reach; Apple stirred slightly in the bed. The kunoichi rolled to the side just in time to avoid getting her nose broken by one of Phobos' iron hard hooves and quickly jumped up to her feet, breathing heavily as Apple fell back into slumber. The Varjoain seemed to be grinned devilishly at her as he juggled his swords between his four hands with ease, slowly stalking forward at her with his hooves clopping loudly against the floor. With her heart racing, Blondie turned around and made a mad dash for Daring's sword just as Phobos surged after her, ready to strike her in the back when she suddenly grabbed her weapon and fell onto her back, sticking the blade straight up and stabbing it clean through his withers; the two of them remained frozen there for the longest time, Blondie breathing heavily as Phobos just starred at the blade implanted within him.

"That's going to need some stitches." Phobos joked darkly as his four swords vanished back into the shadows while he reached down to grab the blade and pull it out of himself; the wound dripped dark, purple blood that hissed loudly when it touched the floor before the wound almost instantaneously by itself. "Alright, you got me. You can ask me one question." the Varjoain mumbled.

Blondie took a few minutes to catch her breath, the sword suddenly filling like molten lead in her shaky grip; she couldn't believe she had been skilled enough to even touch the alien centaur, much less actually stab him with Daring's weapon. She quickly corrected herself, realizing it hadn't been skill, just more like pure, dumb luck. Luck that she had managed to earn a free question, luck that she hadn't woken up Apple, luck that she hadn't been injured or even killed. "What . . . what is an alien?" she asked breathlessly.

The Varjoain sighed and pinched his brow. "Oh, brother. This question again." he grumbled. "In terms you would be able to understand, an alien is another being or creature from another planet in space; beyond the stars, if you will."

"Really?" Blondie marveled. "Is that what you are?"

"Ah, ah, ah." Phobos' tut-tutted, wagging his finger back and forth as if he were scolding a small child. "One question per blow." he seemed to smile. Blondie gulped with fear as she climbed to her feet and held Daring's sword out in front of her, waiting as the Varjoain summoned a different type of weapon into his hands: a large, double-ended war hammer.

The kunoichi suddenly dropped down to the ground as Phobos' spun the heavy weapon in front of him before taking a swing at her; the blow would have knocked her head clean off her body at the most, giving her a severe headache or damaged skull at the very least had she not managed to avoid it and roll across the floor in a tight ball and between the Varjoain's legs to pop up behind him, confident she would be able to get him from behind.

CLANG!

Blondie gasped with surprise and shock when she saw that her strike had been effortlessly blocked by a long, reptilian tail with a mace-like growth at the end tipped with razor-sharp spikes; the strange appendage had appeared out of nowhere, as if crafted by the shadows themselves, though it had suspiciously taken the place of the Varjoain's original tail.

"Bet you didn't know I could do that, huh?" Phobos' smirked as he raised his new tail and slammed it into Blondie, sending flying across the room and rolling across the floor with the breath knocked out of her; Daring's weapon had once again slid out of her reach, this time sliding underneath the bed and just barely touching the tips of Apple's fingers as she peacefully slumbered.

"Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide." Phobos gave a mouth-less grin as he raised his war hammer above his head and slammed it down onto the spot where Blondie had been moments before she had scrambled away and crawled as fast as she could to the bed, holding her breath as she reached underneath of Apple and managed to grab the hilt of Daring's sword before quickly drawing it back out to block another swing of the Varjoain's hammer.

"Looks like you're a cut above the rest." Phobos joked.

"Do you always do this?" Blondie grunted as she struggled to keep her trembling arms from giving out on her.

"I won't respond until you hit me." Phobos responded.

"Then take this!" Blondie yelled, kicking her legs out and feeling the satisfying crunch as they slammed into the Varjoain's forelegs, knocking him down to the floor as Blondie popped back up to her feet and held Daring's blade at the Varjoain's throat. "Enough games. I want answers!"

"Shhhhh." Phobos shushed her, pointing a finger towards the bed where Apple had stirred once more; Blondie froze on the spot and didn't dare breath until the sleeping princess had settled back down, if only with a slightly concerned expression now on her face.

"Now answer me," Blondie rasped. "Who are you and why have you come here?"

Phobos rolled his eyes. "My name is Ben Tennyson. As for why I'm here, I have no idea." he answered simply.

Blondie seemed surprised at this answer; he wasn't here to drain them all of their blood, souls, organs, and other bodily fluids? Then again, he could be lying. "What are you?" she hissed, edging the sharpened edge of Daring's sword closer.

"I'm just a human boy with a special watch that lets me turn into aliens!" the Varjoain managed to say with the blade of the sword just barely touching his throat.

Blondie was now more confused than before. "Wait, so all those strange creatures on your door . . . those are aliens? And you can turn into them?"

"In a word, yes." Phobos nodded stiffly.

"I'm so confused . . ." Blondie sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hand as she lowered her weapon slightly; a bright flash of green light caught her attention, and she found that Phobos had disappeared to be replaced by the bare chested boy she had seen before. The Daughter of Goldie Locks felt a light blush creep across her face, and she was once again thankful that Ben could not see anything but her figure and her big, blue eyes.

"You room with Cupid, right?" Ben yawned.

Blondie nodded. "Why? Does she know, too?"

"She knew before I was exposed at the talent show earlier today." Ben explained. "Talk to her and she'll explain the rest; not only is it late, but I have explained this whole thing so many times that it's not even funny anymore."

"Alright . . ." Blondie agreed. "Can I just ask a few more questions first?"

"Make them quick." Ben sighed.

"What did you do to Apple?" Blondie wondered.

Ben rolled her eyes. "If this is about me being a sex demon . . ." he warned.

"No, no! Not at all!" Blondie quickly said. "I just want to get the facts straight!"

Ben narrowed his eyes at her, studying her for a few seconds before nodding. "You remind me of Spectra. You two would have gotten along well," he said. "To answer your question, she's my girlfriend. We kind of hooked up after the movie date that you so rudely reported about." Ben explained with an annoyed tone. "And before you ask, I didn't put her under any kind of spell or whatever; ever since Cerise attacked her, she's been on edge and only feels completely safe Raven or me."

"So . . . you're not an incubus?" Blondie guessed.

Ben face palmed himself. "NO!" he hissed.

"Good. Just wanted to be clear on that." Blondie sighed. "Before I go though . . . can I get an interview tomorrow? Sometime around lunch, perhaps?"

Ben sighed. "If it's live and it gets you out of my room faster, then yes." he agreed.

"Thank you!" Blondie smiled. "Sorry for waking you. Good night!" she apologized as she slipped out of the dorm and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Ben stood there in the middle of the room for a few minutes, starring at the spot where Blondie had been moments ago.

"Mental note: change passcode." Ben sighed. "Guess Bluckic and Driba were actually right about Cerebrocrustaceans." He was about to return to bed down with Apple at his side when the door to the dorm clicked open again; Ben was fully expecting Blondie to come back in and pester him with questions again and was fully ready to use Four Arms if he needed to before he relaxed when he saw it was only Raven. In nothing but her nightgown, too.

"Ben? What's going on?" Raven whispered and she silently stepped into the dorm. "I thought I saw Blondie leave your room a few seconds ago."

"Well, you thought right." Ben grumbled. "The girl's got a knack for picking locks, no matter how advanced they are."

Raven chuckled. "Well, her entire story basically says she does a lot of breaking and entering. It'd make since if she was trained to know how to enter places she's not supposed to be in."

"Just like Spectra." Ben smiled. "Only difference between the two of them is that Spectra's dead and can pass through walls."

Raven smiled again. "I came to check on Apple; I heard the door close and her bed was empty. This is the first place I thought she'd come." she explained, getting right down to the point as she moved over to the bed and sat down next to Apple. The witchling set a tender hand on Apple's head and gently stroked her fingers through the princess's blonde curls, noticing that her expression had softened and her posture had relaxed at her touch, much like it had been before Ben had been rudely awakened.

"She's still scared as ever." Ben sighed, sitting down next to Raven. "We can't keep this up for much longer."

"I know, I know." Raven said with disappointment in her voice. "But at this point, there's nothing we can really do but be there for Apple and provide some kind of comfort."

Ben rested his chin in his hand, thinking. It wasn't something he normally did in his spare time, but when the situation called for it he could be quite resourceful, though his ideas and plans seemed rather off-kilter than ingenious until the moment they actually worked. "I have an idea." he said. "But you're not going to like it-"

"What is it?" Raven asked without hesitation. Ben blinked with surprised but nevertheless bent over to her and whispered his plan into her ear, taking note that the witchling's eyes widened upon hearing it.

"Are you sure that's safe?" she asked.

"I'll be right there to save Apple if things go wrong." Ben promised.

"If you say so," Raven sighed as she climbed to her feet and stretched a little, giving Ben a fair look at her slim figure, before she walked out over to the balcony and quietly opened one of the doors to step out into the cool, night air; Ben silently followed her, coming to rest on the balcony railing beside her as the two of them looked up to gaze at the glowing moon overhead.

"Something wrong?" Ben spoke up after awhile.

"You could say that . . ." Raven sighed. "I'm just . . . worried."

"About what?"

"About you." Raven replied. "What happens if you get caught or expelled? What am I, what are we going to do without you?" she wondered.

Ben scoffed at the idea. "Grimm's gonna have a hard time getting rid of me." he smiled. "Did you see the way I used Jigsaw on him?"

Raven giggled at the memory of watching the calm, classy, and sophisticated Headmaster Grimm reduced to nothing more than a bumbling idiot that fell for the simplest of tricks. "How did you do that anyway?" she wondered.

"Turns out Jigsaw can make others act like their in a cartoon, too. He's got some kind of gas or chemical or something that can make the even the smartest of people prone to falling for his tricks and gags. I wonder what Maddie would think when she sees him?"

"I'm pretty sure she'd fall head over heels in love with you." Raven laughed. "Especially if you like tea."

"To be fair, I didn't like tea to start out with; mostly kept to smoothies." Ben admitted. "Once I started dating Robecca though, ginger tea has become one of my favorite drinks. Still like smoothies better though."

"You talk about your ghoulfriends really fondly," Raven noted. "Do you miss them?"

"I've missed them every day and every second since I've been here." Ben replied. "I just hope they're alright; I know they can handle themselves just fine without me, but there are some things out there that even they aren't ready to face."

"Like what?" Raven wondered.

"Vilgax."

Raven was about to ask more about this 'Vilgax' that Ben spoke of, but one look at his stoic face and cold expression told her that it was probably not the best idea; with the way Ben's eye was twitching and how hard he seemed to be gritting his teeth, this Vilgax was not someone Ben was fond of in the slightest. She wisely chose to change the subject.

"So, uh, have you thought about how your ghouls will react when they hear you're dating Apple?" Raven wondered.

"Yeah. Most of them are pretty relaxed, though I might have to restrain Lilith, Nefera, Avea, and possibly Venus; they can be a tad . . . aggressive at times." Ben replied. "They are particularly fond of any human girls I know, with a few exceptions."

"Why's that?"

"Because it seems impossible to keep up with my hero duties and tend to a girlfriend at the same time," Ben answered. "Apparently, the rule doesn't apply to girls that aren't human."

Raven frowned at the mention of this. Ben had been trying his hardest to juggle his responsibilities as a hero and as a boyfriend, but it seemed no matter what he did or who he dated, it never worked out; she didn't learn the names of the girls Ben had dated or the situations they had been in together, but it seemed that all of them with the possible exception of a few never liked Ben for himself entirely; they always solely preferred his human or alien half, never the both of them. That is until he met girls that were just as freaky as he was, with horns and claws, wings and tails, bandages and vines, it seemed not even one of them were entirely human to begin with.

"It doesn't sound like you've had a lot of luck with love." Raven noted.

"Before I met my ghouls, no." Ben admitted. "But I love them and they love me, and nothing its going to stop me from returning to them in one piece."

"You sound so sure that you'll make it back." Raven remarked.

"That's because I am." Ben said.

The two of them were quiet for a while after that, simply just staring up at the night sky that yawned above them as the twinkling stars shimmered and glowed in the luminous light of the moon. A light breeze blew through the air, making Raven shiver slightly; considering she was wearing nothing but a thin night gown over her black undergarments, it was not a pleasant experience, though Ben seemed to be just fine. The young witchling found herself unconsciously leaning in closer to him, noting with satisfaction at how warm his skin was to the touch. Ben either didn't notice or didn't care at the moment.

"Can I . . . can I ask you something crazy?" Raven asked after awhile.

"Crazy became my middle name ever since I got this thing." Ben joked, holding up his Omnitrix wrist.

The witchling laughed slightly at the joke and felt her face warm up; she had always felt something whenever she was around Ben, but she had dismissed it as some kind of close friendship with him, where they were partners in the prevention of mass destruction, or even something like brother and sister. But ever since that night when she first learned his secret, that night where her fears had been tamed for the time being, that night where he had kissed her good night, that feeling had gotten warmer whenever she was around Ben. It was similar to how she had felt when she thought she had felt . . . something . . . for Dexter, but this feeling stronger, more sure it seemed. And there was that moment when Ben had turned into Bullfrag and called her beautiful . . . Ben had explained to her once that his transformations sometimes altered his personality slightly, and the Incursean form was no exception. But he always had some form of control over his alien forms . . . did that mean he thought she was beautiful, too?

"You remember earlier today at the talent show? When you turned into Bullfrag?" Raven asked. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"You know when we were at the gazebo and I thought you were the Daughter of Snow White?" Ben asked her back. "I meant every word I said. Before I actually knew whose parents were whose, you were about as beautiful, if not more than, the story described." Ben explained. "Not only that, but you are highly respected by your friends and even those you don't know, you're smart, and not afraid to fight for what you believe in; sort of like my ghoul, Frankie, now that I think about it. You would have liked her."

Raven smiled lightly. "So you're sure your ghouls would like us?"

"What do you mean 'us'?" Ben wondered; as far as he knew, Apple was the only girl he was dating in Ever After. Then again, he had a knack for attracting members of the opposite sex without meaning to.

"This." Raven smiled. She warped her arms around Ben's chest and hugged him tightly, warmth entering her body when she felt his strong arms slide around her and shield her from the chilling wind. She inhaled sharply when she felt his hands wrap around her back, fully expecting to feel a pointed spike of pain rattle throughout; it never came. Ben's touch was soft and delicate to her, as if somehow sensed that she was sensitive to touch while he carefully rested her hands on her hugged her tentatively, Not even Maddie was this gentle with her. Raven felt her eyes droop shut as a low moan escaped her lips when Ben let his hands travel up her shoulders to slowly massive the tense flesh while Raven rested her hand on his firm, yet soft chest. The young witchling felt Ben rest his chin on top of her head, running his fingers through her messy black and purple locks; Raven whimpered with pleasure as she tilted her head to softly peck Ben's chin and savor his sweet scent.

She couldn't describe how Ben smelled to her, like a combination of sweat, courage, tropical fruits, and hundreds of other scents she couldn't identify with her pathetic nose. Ben cupped her face in his hand, smiling as she rested her head against his and pressed her lips to his own, savoring the feeling as she felt an intense warmth flow throughout her body, flowing through her veins like blood as she slowly began to move her lips; Ben copied her movements, hugging her close against his body, his face warming up when he felt her breasts press into his chest while her delicate arms wrapped around his neck. She moaned into the kiss that filled her body and mind with such pleasure, furiously pressing her lips harder to Ben's to intensify the pleasure she was feeling when she suddenly felt her tongue jam past both her and Ben's lips, startling the both of them for a few seconds. Raven felt her face heat up more severely than before as Ben smiled with his eyes and suddenly touched her own tongue with his, sending a passionate shiver down Raven's spine as Ben worked her nice and slow, letting her savor every moment as they fell against the railing together; it was several more minutes before they broke away for air, Raven panting heavily as Ben held her.

"So . . ." he trailed off.

"Yeah . . ." Raven gasped awkwardly.

"How do you think Apple will react?" Ben wondered.

"Probably . . . panicked at first." Raven guessed. "She'll get over it. I hope."

"How about we save the hope for tomorrow? I'm beat." Ben yawned as he stood back up with Raven still leaning into his frame and hugging him lovingly. "Do you want to go back to your room or stay the night?"

"I think I'll . . . stay." Raven nodded. "I'm too tired to move much more."

"In that case, I can take the floor if you want." Ben offered.

Raven shook her head firmly. "Oh, no. If we want to get Apple use to this, we are not going to have her waking up to her sharing a bed with only another girl; she'll be more open to it if you're there too and not curled up in a cramped ball on the floor."

"Fair enough." Ben smiled, kissing her on the forehead. With a slight yelp of surprise, Raven was lifted off of the ground by Ben and carried off of the balcony back into the room where she was set down on the bed on the other side of Apple, leaving an open space for Ben to occupy as he crawled over the sleeping princess and settled back down on the comfy mattress, already feeling drowsy and tired.

"Good night, Ben." Raven yawned as she snuggled up to him and set her head on his chest.

"Good night, Raven." Ben smiled, wrapping an arm around Apple and pulling her closer to him; the princess reacted immediately and cuddled up to him in her sleep, resting her head on Ben's arm and wrapping an arm protectively over his chest as the covers were pulled up slightly over the three of them.

Unbeknownst to the three, sleeping teens, the door to the room softly clicked open, creaking loudly as the hinges squealed in protest; the locking mechanism on the door had been destroyed with a single swipe of one of the battle axes one of the six, magical knights were carrying. Headmaster Grimm stood at the head of the small group, a stern frown on his face as he quietly stalked into the room, his shoes clapping softly against the floor as he approached the bed and grabbed hold of the covers, yanking them back to reveal the three teens huddled together.

"Disgusting." Grimm rasped quietly to him as he held his breath and reached inside of his breast pocket to pull out a fistful of shimmering, golden powder: fairy dust mixed with ground unicorn horn. Without hesitation, the Headmaster cast the powder over Raven, Apple, and Ben, being careful to not inhale the sleep inducing drug as it settled on the three of them and was inhaled quickly into their bodies. Once he was sure they were sound asleep and would be able to sleep through a dragon attack, Grimm snapped his fingers. The six suits of armor quickly scrambled into the room, three of them grabbing one of the sleeping teens and throwing them over their shoulder while the other three tightened their grips on their weapons for safety.

"It will all be worth it." the Headmaster whispered to himself as he felt the room with the three knights trailing after him. "No one makes a fool out of Headmaster Milton Grimm."

---

Ben yawned and stiffened slightly, groaning as he blinked open his eyes; he felt like he had been nailed by a train driven by Jury Rigg in his sleep, considering everything was stiff and sore. His legs were like bars of gold while his arms seemed to be like hot, molten lead while his skull pounded like a bass drum. He tried to see where he was, but the light was so intense that it took what seemed an eternity of blinking just to get his eyes adjusted to the bright light. What he found was rather startling.

He was in stocks, two wooden boards stacked together on their edges with holes carved out for his head and arms to slip through, trapping and holding him in place; Ben struggled to try and find some way out of his bindings, hoping the planks were rotten or old enough to snap with ease, but it proved to be fruitless. He attempted to twist his head to the side and sighed with relief when he saw that Raven and Apple were safe and alright, albeit chained to the wooden floor by their legs with large blankets wrapped around them. Looking down at himself, Ben found he was still only wearing his pants, much like he had been the later night, which could only mean the two princesses were still in their night clothes too.

A sudden noise caught his attention and he looked up to see that he was outside in Ever After High's courtyard and stage area, with him being held and displayed on the stage like some kind of animal to the large crowd below him; the students of the school were shouting things at him, most of them negative and insulting. Daring, Hunter, and Hopper were booing at the top of their lungs as they called him out and made rude gestures with their hands, particularly Daring while Cerise seemed like she wanted to strangle Ben with her bare hands. Maddie was waving excitedly at him once she noticed he was awake, a warm tea pot in her hands while Cedar waved sheepishly to catch his attention, a light blush on her face. Blondie was at the front of the stage, snapping a few pictures of the crowd and Ben before putting her Mirrorphone away.

"Blondie! What's going on!?" Ben yelled over the roar of the angry crowd.

"I don't know!" she yelled back. "But from what I can gather, it's a trial of some kind! They still think you're an incubus hellbent on ruining all of Ever After!"

"That's insane!" Ben shouted.

"I know!" Blondie screamed over the crowd again. "I tried to post an update about what you really were, but the Wifi was out! And I was so tired! And-"

"It's not your fault, Blondie!" Ben yelled.

"But-"

"Look, if you feel that bad, then do me a favor and hit the Omnitrix! I need to get out of these things!" Ben yelled.

Blondie gulped and looked back at the crowd of angry fairy tales behind her, wondering if activating the Omnitrix and freeing Ben was worth it; when she saw Headmaster Grimm and a magical suit of armor with a black cloth draped over its head come marching down the aisle much to the crowd's delight, she knew she had little other choice. With a deep breath, she rushed at the stage and jumped up to grab the edge, hauling her up onto the wooden platform; the crowd had taken notice and started to yell again, with Headmaster Grimm and the executioner knight running faster down the aisle.

"Guards! Stop her!" Headmaster Grimm roared.

Blondie was sweating as she fumbled with the Omnitrix, trying to listen to Ben's instructions as the sound of dozens of metal feet clapping loudly against the ground pounded into her ears over the roar of the angry crowd of students; was this what Ben had to deal with every day.

"Which one do I pick!?" she shouted.

"Anything!" Ben yelled, starting to struggle against the stocks when he caught sight of the small army of enchanted suits of armor running towards him, with dozens of razor-sharp weapons ready to slice and dice and cut him in half. Blondie nodded and held her fingers down on the Omnitrix, cycling through the images of the strange creatures and aliens.

"No. No. No. Hex, what's this one?" she mumbled to herself.

"Hurry!" Ben yelled as Headmaster Grimm and the executioner climbed up on stage and charged at them, the former getting ready to tackle Blondie to the ground while the later raised its weapon above its head to kill Ben.

"Got it!" Blondie yelled as she finally selected a transformation and punched the waiting activation button just as Headmaster Grimm slammed into her and tackled her to the stage; a bright flash of green light washed over Ben's form as his DNA was changed and warped and rearranged into something new. His wrists bloated to the size of basketballs as his fingers cracked and hardened, turning into large, black claws as the blubber from his hands traveled up the length of his arms, expanding and growing and swelling to massive proportions on his shoulders; his belly suddenly exploded outwards, and it would have been funny had the situation not been so dire. His legs crunched and cracked heavily as their became shorter than before while his toes became bony and sharp, now black claws to support his growing weight on as his skin began to harden in certain areas, piling up into layers on his shoulders, back, thighs, and wrists; durable, yellow armor that could withstand the most corrosive of acids and lava now covered him protectively as his skin paled to a chrome white while the top half of him turned a pitch black. His neck ground and snapped loudly as his head was compressed into his shoulders, his mouth widening to fit appropriately over his wide face as his eyes moved farther apart. The final part of the transformation was the addition of the Omnitrix on his chest and the sudden flexibility of his spinal cord.

"Cannonbolt!" the Arburian Pelarota roared triumphantly as the stocks were reduced to splinters due to the side of his head and wrists; a collective gasp rolled over the crowd as the Arburian Pelarota blocked the incoming ax with a quick movement of his armored wrist before grabbed the blade of the weapon with his other hand and pulled the sharpened ax out of the knight's hand before throwing it over his shoulder, ignoring it as it flew through the air and embedded itself deep within the trunk of a tree. Before the helpless executioner could do anything, Cannonbolt folded up on himself and curled into a tight ball of impenetrable armor before rushing right at the suit of armor and rolling it out into metal paste.

More knights came to their master's aid with swords and pikes and lances to defend themselves from the enraged Arburian Pelarota; Cannonbolt uncurled himself and gritted his teeth before he swung a powerful arm and smacked the lead knight across the face, sending it flying into the crowd where it crashed to the ground where the sea of students had parted to avoid getting hit. The next couple of knights were dealt in a similar manner, Cannonbolt's claws leaving deep scratches through their armor before he curled up into a ball again to protect himself from the upcoming wave of knights.

It was then that Apple and Raven woke up.

At first, Apple was confused as to why she was outside, in her pajamas, wrapped up in a blanket with Raven, and in front of a crowd of people. Then she noticed the enchanted metal men attacking the strange, yellow ball a little ways off to her left; it didn't take a genius for her to figure out that the yellow ball was Ben.

"Leave him alone!" Apple screamed as she threw the blanket off of her, not caring in the slightest that the entire school could now see her red bra and panties underneath her pink nightgown when the sunlight shined through it as she ran towards the knights and tried to shove her way through the crowd of metal men; one of the knights grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and dragged her out of the crowd of armored knights, holding her tightly in a bear hug as she screamed and struggled to free herself.

A sudden blast of purple fire to the knight's face released her as the enchanted suit of armor dropped dead to the ground; Apple glanced over to see Raven standing there in her night clothes too, a furious expression on her face as glowing orbs of raw energy and magic sat in her pale palms. If Apple didn't know that they were on the same side, she would have screamed and run for cover, the look on the witchling's face was so scary.

"She said, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Raven roared at the top of her lungs, firing off a concentrated beam of raw magic and power at the knights, her expression grim and angry as the enchanted suits of armor started to melt before her very eyes, liquefying into hot pools of molten metal much to the crowd's shock and horror; Apple would have normally acted the same way had the knights not been attacking her boyfriend. Cannonbolt suddenly started to spin in a tight circle on his axis, spinning faster and faster and creating a sort of vacuum that sucked the magical suits of armor towards him and into a small tornado; Apple and Raven held onto each other, hoping their combined weight would be enough to keep them from being pulled in as they tried to their nightgowns from being pulled off as well while the knights were helpless spin around and around. A sudden beeping sound echoed out over the roar of the howling wind and the Arburian Pelarota was swiftly engulfed in a bright flash of green light as the Omnitrix timed out and returned to the world, dropping the suits of armor painfully to the stage.

Before Ben could move, Headmaster Grimm had scrambled off a nearly blue in the face Blondie to sudden tackle him to the stage, wrestling with him for a few minutes and sorely loosing at first before he managed to grab Ben by both of his wrists and haul him off of the ground for the crowd to see, a furious expression on his red face; Blondie gasped for breath as Raven and Apple helped her to her feet.

"You . . ." Headmaster Grimm growled. "You have messed with my plans for the last time!" he roared.

Ben frowned and spat in his face in defiance.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't strangle you right now!" Grimm spat.

"You mean other than the fact that I could crush you into a bloody paste with one movement of my Omnitrix or the fact that Raven, Apple, and maybe even Blondie will make your life a living hell if you kill me?" Ben smirked; the two of them glared angrily at the other for what seemed an eternity, the tension between the two of them building to a frightening amount. Just when it seemed one of the two of them or the already enraged crowd would strike first, a shrill whistle echoed over the courtyard. Every head in the crowd to see a man wearing a maroon coat with some patches, orange vest, glasses, sneakers, and a pair of long, mismatched socks coming rushing down the aisle, waving his arms wildly; the man had wild, unkempt gray hair and smiling, green eyes behind his spectacles as he rushed up onto the stage and came to a stop in front Headmaster Grimm.

"What is it, Giles? Can't you see that I am in the middle of something here?" Headmaster Grimm rasped.

"Brother, put him down. He has done nothing wrong." Giles sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Done nothing wrong? Of course he has done something wrong!" Grimm roared, dropping Ben to the ground; Giles slipped off his maroon coat and gave it to Ben to wear while Raven and Apple grabbed the blanket they had been previously wrapped up in to cover themselves up. "He's impersonated fairy tales, hypnotized our students, caused trouble and mischief in classes, humiliated me multiple times, and gone against the way of our ancestors without care for tradition!"

Giles sighed and pinched his brow. "Milton, half of those things I know for a fact you were at fault for. As for impersonating students, there is nothing wrong with disguising one's self to try something out before choosing to publicly indulge in it."

"He's still trying to destroy Ever After." Headmaster Grimm snarled lowly.

"And what makes you think that?" Giles raised an eyebrow. "Keep in mind that Raven Queen is currently taking Muse-ic, a class normally reserved for princesses and Royals; Ever After remains fully intact." Headmaster Grimm tried to come up with a half descent response but could find none and clammed up angrily, balling his hands into fists as if he wanted nothing more than to punch Ben's block clean off; the way the boy was smirking slightly was not helping.

"He still should not attend Ever After High!" Headmaster Grimm protested. "He is not even in the Storybook of Legends!"

"And how would know this, Milton?" Giles pressed. "Need I remind you that the Storybook of Legends we currently have is a fake?"

"Don't remind me." Grimm growled under his breath.

"But, if you are so concerned about . . . I'm sorry, I never caught your name." he apologized when he turned to Ben.

"Ben Tennyson." Ben replied casually.

"Right. If you are so concerned about Ben not being a descendant of a fairy tale, then let us check the book we currently have; it may not be the one we currently have, but it still holds all of the current and dormant tales of Ever After."

"Fine." Headmaster huffed. "But when we find out he's not in the Storybook of Legends-"

"You mean if he's not in the Storybook of Legends." Apple spoke up.

"If he's not in the Storybook of Legends, I get to send him far, far, far, far away where I'll never have to see him ever after again!" Headmaster Grimm growled.

"Someone needs to take a chill pill." Ben remarked.

"Why, you-" Headmaster Grimm started before stopping himself from strangling Ben; he knew full well that there was no chance that Ben would ever after be in the Storybook of Legends, which things would return back to the way it should have been, with students following their destinies like they should have been from the start without all this silly Rebel nonsense to cloud and poison their minds. He so busy imagining what things would be like once Ben was gone, that he barely had anytime to react before the fake Storybook of Legends came flying right at his face and slammed into his noise; Maddie giggled madly as she her top hat back on her head, Cedar noting that her aim was painfully accurate.

"Go ahead, Tennyson." Headmaster Grimm smirked as he set the old, leather book down on the podium in front of them. "But when you fail, your rein of terror ends here!"

"Y'know, you are starting to remind of Harangue; he got turned into a slug alien." Ben threatened as he approached the podium and book, unsure of what would happen; Headmaster knew that if a key didn't appear before him, that it would prove Ben was not of fairy tale material and had no business in messing with his affairs. Unfortunately for him and to the surprise of everyone, even Ben, a key did appear in a flash of green light; the key was shaped like the Omnitrix, a black disk with a sharp, green hourglass on it.

Headmaster Grimm could feel himself getting hotter in anger as Ben slowly reached for the key and curled his fingers around it, carefully inserting it into the waiting lock on the Storybook of Legends; the empty symbol on the book suddenly flashed an image of the Omnitrix on it before it magical opened by itself, the pages flying back and forth wildly as if the howling wind couldn't make up its mind. The sky began to darken as thunderclouds rolled in across the land, causing panic and hysteria among the students and staff as the four, massive mirrors that floated above the courtyard stage trembled and shuddered as they struggled to form an image. A tremendous roar shook the earth as a beam of green light suddenly shot out from the pages of the Storybook of Legends, turning the darkened sky a green hue as everyone gasped in shock and surprise; Ben turned around to look at the four mirrors, ignoring the small one that had flashed into existence in front of him as images began to traverse their way across the glass panes.

Raven gasped when she noticed that unlike everyone else during Legacy Day, where the mirrors had shown four, identical pictures of the same image, the mirrors were showing whatever destiny belonged to Ben across all four of them like a gigantic TV screen; black shapes began to form together across a green background of bubbling orbs as familiar figures began to form. They were all roughly human-like, all with a feminine figure and human-like traits as they began to appear before everyone's eyes. One was a girl with mint green skin, mismatched eyes, black and white streaked hair, and a cyan colored Omnitrix on her wrist while another was purple centaur with broad bird wings and a dark blue Omnitrix on her wrist. More and more girls flashed into existence with horns and fur, vines and gills, metal plating and sharpened fangs, all of them with Omnitrixes on their wrists before Ben suddenly flashed into existence at the head of them, standing tall and proud with his own Omnitrix raised above his head. The shapes and figures of his aliens formed around him and the odd looking girls, much to the crowd's surprise and horror as fantastic and bizarre shapes took form. But the show didn't stop there; Headmaster Grimm watched furiously as Raven and Apple suddenly appeared by Ben's side before more girls flashed into the already sizable ranks behind Ben, among them that were recognizable being Cerise Hood, Maddie Hatter, Faybelle Thorn, and even Lizzie Hearts.

More and more students and people began to appear and arrive behind Ben and the girls surrounding them, though they themselves seemed to be farther set apart; Apple easily recognized Hunter Huntsman and Ashlynn Ella, Daring Charming, Dexter Charming and C.A. Cupid, Duchess Swan and Sparrow Hood; a woman with snow white hair tipped with a venomous purple with violet eyes stood by the side of a massive, rust red fire-breathing dragon while another, human-like figure covered in periwinkle fur and black stripes stood on the other side, each and every one of them standing tall and proud, looking battle hardened and stoic as they stood near Ben and his girls. The mirrors then rotated the already large group of Ben, fairy tales, monsters, and aliens to then face the opposite side of the mirrors as more sinister shapes began to form.

Gasps radiated out through the crowd as the shapes of a large, muscled knight in shining armor formed opposite of Ben before two figures identical to each other appeared by his side with a red golem appearing next to them as a gigantic, gorilla-like monster flashed into existence behind them. Blondie watched with horror and surprise, her shaking hand barely able to hold her Mirrorphone steady enough to film the spectacle as a large, turtle-like creature appeared next to the previous monster, only for a small, hideous looking man to appear on the other side. A boy that looked nearly identical to Ben, with the exception of his blood red eyes and snow white hair appeared at the head of the group of villains as thousands of enchanted suits of armor appeared in ranks behind them, accompanied by roaring dragons and other hideous monstrosities. The final straw was when a gigantic, shadowy figure rose up behind the line up of villains, her purple eyes flashing like lightning as deafening cackling echoed through the mirrors and open air, sending shivers down everyone's spine as Headmaster Grimm watched with disbelief and horror as the world of Ever After appeared before the two parties before they suddenly rushed at each other. The imagery came to swift and sudden halt just as the two sides were about to clash; the sky became clear once more with a sudden boom! and the wind dropped down to a barely noticeable breeze as the book slammed shut once more, leaving everyone in total and dead silence.

"Well . . . that was . . . something." Ben remarked.

---

Tap. Tap. Tap Scrape. Click!

The work was grueling to say the least, forcing her to draw on massive amounts of energy that had taken years to store and gather within herself; but soon, even those reserves had dried up and she was forced to use every last ounce of strength she could muster, using it almost immediately as soon as she had it. Her work was hard and laborious, not to mention tedious. She was barely making any progress, not even a quarter of the way there as she slowly, ever so slowly picked her way at the seal that kept her in her prison.

After what seemed hours of working and only making slight progress, she decided to take a break; time, after ten years of imprisonment, meant nothing to her anymore. Hours had turned into days and days had morphed into weeks before bleeding into months and finally years. She stopped her work and rested, her strength and energy slowly returning to her as the hours ticked by, though she could only guess at what hours were now after going so long without anyway to tell time. With a sudden surge of energy, she reached out with her senses to check upon the world that had kept her locked away.

The spawn was fine, becoming as powerful as she had hoped. But there was something different about it . . . something odd that she couldn't put her finger on. She reached out further with her senses, deciding to worry about the spawn later when her senses were suddenly obliterated by a surge of power, making her mind reel from pain as she caught her breath; now that she was aware of the power there, she carefully poked and prodded at it, examining it with the greatest care. She was quite surprised when the odd power actually responded back to her, analyzing and investing her carefully, caressing her with great care. Soon, the surge of power had taken its leave and vanished from her senses, leaving her blind once more. That is, until she sensed something else just as powerful, if not more than, as her or the previous anomaly; she stretched her senses out towards, her expression darkening when she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It was so strange and unnatural . . . almost alien in touch. She felt her strength leaving her and she closed up her senses once more to save energy, waiting a few more minutes or hours or whatever measure of time passed for her now before she returned to her long and tedious work.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

These strange entities . . . once she was free, if she could somehow locate them and subjugate them to her, make them bend to her wishes, all would go according to plan if not faster. And if they refused to swear their allegiance to her . . . she would have no problem taking their powers for her own. In fact, why even bother with trusting them in the first place? If they were as just as powerful as she was, they would not hesitate to turn on her if it gained them something, even if it was nothing more than the assurance that she would be out of the way.

Not if she could help it.

Tap. Tap. Scrape. Tap. Click!

And there we go!

Wow. I had a lot I wanted to write about! And that second to last part . . . I didn't know I could write like that. I swear I had a shiver going down my undead spine. This is why I was taking so long to write it. That, and life keeps getting in the way. Sometimes, I just wish I could hole up in a room with unlimited Wifi, TV, food, a bathroom, and the fastest computer the world can offer so that I can just write fanfiction for all you awesome gals and guys out there, but alas, that's not how life works; if it did, I suppose the world would no longer run. Oh, well!

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! I love hearing from you guys!

Hasta Luego!