It was a warm June night, and everyone had gathered around in Broadway and Angela's room to watch their egg hatch. Urbana was watching the egg hatch through the cracks of her fingers.

"This is such an exciting summer," Maddie said as she and Jack watched the baby hatch with studious eyes, "It kind of makes me wish we were Cryptozoologists."

"Come on baby. Push. You got it. Push," Broadway encouraged.

Angela was sitting on the other side of their egg with a tub of warm water and a few rags. To everyone she said, "Thank you all for being here. It's important to us that the baby be surrounded by their clan members and since they aren't here yet, you are all a good substitute."

The egg crumbled more into itself and a bloody little beak started poking out. Urbana had to look away. She looked at her phone to see that Elisa had texted her saying that they were halfway there. Urban informed the group.

"It'll be nice to finally meet your Clan," Jack said, "Your stories about them are amazing."

"Have you decided on what you are going to name them," Jazz asked.

"I like the name, Hazel for a girl and Birch for a boy," Angela said.

"It'll only be a place name for them though," Broadway said, "If they decide that they don't like their name, I want them to feel free to change it however they like."

The egg then crumbled all the way in half and out stumbled the baby gargoyle. Angela moved in and picked them up and started washing them.

"It's a girl," Angela announced.

The room was filled with clapping and Urbana texted Elisa to tell her the baby's a girl. As soon as the baby girl was cleaned, Angela started breast feeding her. Sam, Tucker, Danny, Pugsley, Wednesday, Fester, and Lurch, left the gargoyle's room to do whatever they were wanting to do while Urbana, Jazz, Jack, Maddy, Grandmama, Morticia, and Gomez stayed to talk.

"Do you guys have any special customs that deal with the eggshell," Urbana asked, wanting to use it for an art project.

"No," Broadway said, "I do remember that the villagers of Wyvern Castle, would take our discarded eggshells, grind them up, then use them as fertilizer. They said it always made their crops grow well."

"Would you mind if we did that then," Morticia asked for her Grandmother and for herself.

"I don't mind," Angela said, and Broadway agreed.

Grandmama started gathering the still wet eggshell pieces while Broadway was trying to help Angela dress their daughter, now that Hazel was done breastfeeding. Hazel had her father's teal skin tone and his fin-like ears, while she had her mother's deep black hair and long slender arms and legs and wings. Urbana though that their daughter will become a quick flyer.

It wasn't long before the Manhattan Clan got to the mansion and everyone scattered to leave the family to celebrate their newest member.

# # #

It was Pugsley's fourteenth birthday and Urbana was driving him in the gyres to the turtle boy's home. It was Pugsley's specific request to hang out with Don, Mikey, Raph, and Leo on his birthday, to try and do something different. Urbana parked the gyres behind the turtle boy's gyres in the abandoned subway station and Pugsley jumped out of it excitedly and yelled, "Hey, guys! We brought cake and pizza!"

"Oh, yah!" Urbana heard Mikey cheer from deep within the crashed train car. Mikey then ran out of the crashed train car to take the cake and pizza from Urbana and Pugsley's grasp.

Leo and Raph quit sparing with each other to come over and help, with Raph complementing Urbana on her new shaved head look. Then Don came out from the upstairs lab to see what all the commotion was going on, to then come down and join them.

"This is going to be a fun day, guys," Pugsley said, "I brought board games, and a piñata, and I have fun drinks, and scary movies and it'll all be really fun."

"Cool," Leo said.

Mikey said nothing as he had his mouth full of a pepperoni pizza slice, but he was nodding his head along.

"I haven't seen this game in a while," Raph said as he picked out the Rock'em Sock'em Robots board game from the back of Urbana's gyres.

"Will you be joining us," Don asked Urbana.

"No. I'll be staying for a while, but I won't be joining you," she said, "I'm going to be playing shogi against Master Splinter for a while."

"He's in is room meditating," Leo said, pointing Urbana in the right direction.

While walking in the direction that Leo was pointing her towards, Urbana shouted, "Alright Rat Daddy, time for a shogi showdown!"

Mikey choked on his pizza. Leo's mind seemed to shatter like glass. Don hunched over like he was having a heart attack. Raph was slack jawed.

Urbana paused at the sound of Mikey choking on his pizza and Urbana went up to him and said, "Are you okay? Do you need to be heimlich-ed? Oh God. How do you even heimlich a turtle? I hope my arms are long enough for that."

Mikey shook his head. Then after a couple of seconds he said through his coughing, "What did you call our Dad?"

"What?" Urbana asked, "Rat Daddy?"

"Ah, no!" Raph yelled, as he could feel his skin crawling, "Don't say it again."

A mischievous, smile spread across Urbana's face, "I don't understand. What's wrong with saying Rat Daddy?"

"Stop saying that," Don said, "It's weird."

Pugsley didn't understand what was making his friends so uncomfortable at the phrase, Rat Daddy, it sounded more fun to say than anything, but he kept quiet.

"What? You mean, Rat Daddy?" Urbana asked again.

Leo then covered Urbana's smiling mouth and she let out a playful giggle as he said, "Please stop."

Urbana removed his hand then said, "Okay. Okay. I'll go now. You five have fun."

Urbana found Master Splinter's room and they set up a game of shogi with Ruth, the resident ghost floating above them to watch. As they played their games, the boys outside of Master Splinter's room would switch between being really loud to regular noisy. As they played, Urbana and Master Splinter would talk about training, then the current affairs in New York, then what's going on in their family lives and so on. When the boys weren't being super loud, one of the turtle boys would come in and ask Urbana questions. Don came in once to ask if she would like to see what he was working on in his lab. Leo came in once to ask if she would like to see how well his sword technique has gotten. Raph came in once to ask if she would arm wrestle him. Then Mikey came in once to ask if she'd like to see his skateboarding moves. To all of them Urbana said, "Not now but after this game I will."

As Mikey left, Splinter smiled, then said, "My sons seem to have taken a shine to you."

He moved a shogi piece.

Urbana only shrugged at that statement, then said, "I don't know how much longer that'll last now that I know their weakness."

She moved a shogi piece.

"And what weakness would that be," Splinter asked.

He moved a shogi piece.

"They don't like it when I call you Rat Daddy," She said with a mischievous smile.

Master Splinter belly laughed at that, then he said, "Well. I'll tell you that I don't mind that. It makes me feel young again."

Urbana moved a shogi piece then said, "Tsumi."

Master Splinter did a double take, then said, "Dōshite kon'nafūni watashi o odoroka se tsudzukeru no! Kachi ni chikakatta!"

"I didn't really understand any of what you just said, but you sound impressed and surprised, so I'll just take what you said as a complement," Urbana said, then she asked, "Do you want to go back over how I got you this time?"

"Yes, please," Master Splinter said.

After she showed him where he went wrong, Master Splinter sat up then said, "I'm going to make myself some tea."

"I'd like a cup too, please," Urbana said as she followed him out of his room.

The two of them exited his room to see that the living space had turned into a real mess. Unwrapped and wrapped candies scattered across the floor condensed mostly by the tree above the broken piñata, all the board games that they brought were opened and sprawled out, there were several empty plastic cups and disposable plates laying around with pits of juice and frosting and/or pizza grease on them. Near the tv area, the five of them were playing twister together.

"How can five boys make such a mess in only three hours," Urbana stated.

"I wonder that myself, sometimes," Master Splinter said as he was unphased by the sight, only heading straight for the kitchen.

Urbana went over to the tv area and sat next to Leo who was holding the spin board for Twister.

"Go Pugsley," Urbana cheered, "Tickle them. Try to knock them over."

"Their tickle spots are covered by shells," Pugsley said from the bottom of the pile.

"Yours isn't though," Mikey said as he started to tickle Pugsley's left armpit with his toes.

As Leo began to spin the Twister dial, the four of them collapse in on themselves.

"Welp, that's game," Leo said as he tossed aside the Twister dial.

Master Splinter came over with a cup of tea for Urbana.

"Urbana will you stay to watch my favorite horror movie with me," Pugsley asked.

"Isn't your favorite horror movie The Ritual," Urbana asked.

He nodded vigorously.

Urbana sucked in air between her teeth, then said, "I don't know. I have to drive the gyres through, dark creepy tunnels and walk through an abandoned park to walk to my car alone to then drive home alone."

"Please! Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeease," Pugsley begged from the bottom of the dog pile.

Urbana took a sip of her tea, then said, "Alright. Fine."

While Pugsley was cheering and the dog pile dispersed, Raph said, "But first we have to arm wrestle like you promised."

"Then to see my skateboarding skills," Mikey added.

"I have to show her my sword techniques though," Leo said, "The three of us are sword buddies." He gestured to Pugsley, Urbana, and himself.

"I want her to see the tech that I've been developing and upgrading," Don said.

"Guys. Relax. It's the weekend so I have the night off to stay and chat with all of you," Urbana reassured them, then to Raph she said in a playfully gruff voice, "So are you ready go little man!"

"Yah!" he said just a gruffly.

Urbana spent the day hanging out with Pugsley, the turtles, and Master Splinter with Ruth mostly staying in her tree to chill. She let the turtle boys impress her with their different interests and played games with all five of them, and they also watched her, and Master Splinter do a rematch in shogi again, where again she won against him. The final bit that was left for her to do was to just watch Pugsley's favorite movie with them, to which she watched between her fingers half the time and not being able to look at it the other half of the time. When the movie was over, Urbana was pumped with adrenaline that she didn't know how to deal with.

"Welp. Time for me to go and let you have your slumber party," Urbana said to Pugsley, "But I should stay long enough to at least help clean up."

"I would appreciate that," Master Splinter said as he got out of his lounge chair, "I will be heading for bed now. If you go out tonight, remember to leave me a note."

"Yes, Sensei," the turtle boys all said at the same time.

After helping to clean up, Leo asked if Urbana wanted to go roof hopping with them.

Urbana looked to Pugsley, who was nodding his head strongly. She still had adrenaline pumping through her veins and if Pugsley still wanted to hang out with her longer, then she wasn't going to say no. Maybe she'll be able to shake off her heebie-jeebies with some fresh air and running. She just made sure that the note was written, and that she had her shoulder bag on her, maybe she'll buy everyone a drink or something before she officially leaves.

The nighttime in New York was almost just as bright as it is during the day, only there were more dramatic shadows to hide in as the turtle boys, Pugsley, and Urbana leaped from building top to building top. Urbana made sure to keep an eye on Pugsley the most as he doesn't practice this sort of thing all that often, but Urbana saw his grand leaps and how good his tumbling was and seeing his good eye for where to jump and when, so she didn't worry as much. It was nice to feel the breeze against her face, and that feeling of leaping to the next roof top like she was flying did make her feel better about having watched that scary movie.

They were about to jump over an alleyway but then Leo stopped them and pointed down. A group of a dozen Foot Ninjas were meticulously and quickly robing a tech store.

"It's another Xanatos Tech store," Don stated.

"Come on," Leo said, "Let's stop them before they get away."

The four of them leaped down to start a fight with the Foot, but when Urbana went to tell Pugsley to stay on the roof top with her, the boy had already followed the turtle boys and had stolen one of Leo's swords. Urbana grabbed her head in a panic as she felt her heart fly up into her throat. Urbana quickly dug through her shoulder bag and pulled out the yokai mask that looks like Aku's face from Samurai Jack, that Grandmama said she could have, then she put it on. Then brandishing her heavy shoulder bag like a weapon, Urbana went into the fray of the fight.

As Pugsley was fending off one Foot ninja with Leo's sword, another Foot ninja was sneaking up behind the boy to stab him with a kunai. Urbana immediately barreled into the Foot ninja, knocking the assailant back, and before they could make any distance between themselves and her, Urbana grabbed a hold of their waist, then threw them at the ninja that Pugsley was fighting, knocking both assailants down to the ground, dazing them.

"Thank you," he said cheerfully, then he went over to help fight another Foot ninja.

Urbana growled and went in after him, but before that, Urbana kicked the two dazed ninjas' in the face to make sure that they were definitely passed out.

Urbana then saw that a Foot ninja was already trying to get Pugsley in the back again using their ninjatō sword. Urbana ran over to grab the Foot ninja around the waist to suplex them, but they slipped out of her grasp and tried to slash down at her. Urbana blocked it using her shoulder bag, the blade mere inches from her face. Urbana then kicked the Foot ninja in the stomach sending them flying back and they lost their grip on their ninjatō sword.

Urbana then picked them up and told Pugsley to duck, as she threw the ninja, Pugsley curled into a ball and covered his head as the ninja that Urbana threw flew over him and slammed into the ninja that Pugsley was fighting, dazing both ninjas. The boy stood up and gave Urbana a smile and a thumbs up. Then as his face started to shift to worry, Urbana knew that she was under attack from behind. Urbana dropped quickly to the ground, dodging a kusarigama to the back of the head, then Urbana pushed her legs between their legs and managed to knock them down to the ground. Then in a fluid motion, Urbana turned 360 degrees and brought her leg down heavy to get the ninja in the face, but they managed to block her kick at the last second using their weapon. They then tried to cut her foot off by the ankle using their kusarigama, but she moved her leg out of danger before that could happen.

In the background, as Urbana was fighting, she could hear Pugsley singing the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song, and it was getting on Urbana's nerves. The Foot ninja took her moment of annoyed distraction to knock her off her feet. Urbana fell to her back and the Foot ninja tried to jump to get on top of her, but she caught the Foot ninja in the chest with her feet, then pushed them up and over her, managing to knock a Foot ninja over that Don was fighting, with them.

"Yah, go Urbana," Pugsley said, "and go you guys too!"

As Pugsley was cheering them on, another Foot ninja got behind him and was about to strangle him using piano wire, when Raph did a flying kick at them, sending them to the ground with a smack. Pugsley didn't even notice as he charged forward to help Mikey out. Urbana just wanted the fight to end as quickly as possible, so she did her best with the turtle boys to knock the Foot ninjas out or send them running. Even using her intimidation tactic of barely missing them with a kick, only for the concrete that she did hit, to crack from the impact. Though, she was only able to do that intimidation tactic once, she could tell that it shook the Foot ninjas to their core.

Finally, the fight was over. The turtle boys tied up the unconscious Foot ninjas then called the police, then the five of them left the crime scene. Once they were five blocks away, they all rested on top of a particularly dark roof top. The whole time, Urbana hadn't removed her mask or spoken to anyone. Pugsley on the other hand was pumped and full of energy and was gushing about who awesome they all were. The turtle boys would have joined in on Pugsley's celebration, if it wasn't for the fact that they could sense Urbana's angry parent energy and they were all nervously quiet.

"Pugsley. Ernesto. Addams." Urbana said, trying her best to not shout despite her anger, "What in God's name were you thinking?"

The turtle boys backed away from Pugsley to give the two of them some space.

"Can you not hear my complements from under the mask," Pugsley jested, not exactly understanding the situation.

Urbana lifted her mask off from her face and the look she was making seemed scarier to Pugsley than the mask. Pugsley didn't understand why she was angry at him.

"What did I do," He asked, his voice shrill from being upset that she was angry at him and for really not understanding what was going on.

"Do you have any idea how many times you almost died while brashly fighting those highly skilled, highly dangerous ninjas," Urbana asked, then answered her own question, "Seven. Seven times, young man."

He didn't know, but he said, "It was fine. You guys all had my back."

"The point is that you weren't and aren't thinking about what if we weren't fast enough to have your back," Urbana said, "What you did was stupid and irresponsible, and you could have died."

"But I didn't," Pugsley said, thinking that Urbana was making a big deal out of what didn't happen.

Urbana felt close to bursting with anger, so she quickly turned her back on Pugsley to take a few deep breathes and to take a little time to put away her mask, then turning back around she said, "You're coming back home with me. You're not having that slumber party anymore."

"Mom and Dad wouldn't have gotten upset about this," Pugsley yelled at her, "You're being paranoid."

Urbana gave him a steely gaze that made Pugsley look down at the ground as Urbana said, "We are going home. We can talk to Morticia and Gomez about this and if what you say is true you can have your slumber party tomorrow."

Pugsley crossed his arms and scowled at the ground, but he didn't protest. Mikey and Raph tried to protest for Pugsley in his stead, but one glare from Urbana shut them down. Once they were at the lair and Pugsley was in the gyres, Urbana gave the boys a quick apology, and told them that if Pugsley doesn't come over, she will come back to pick up the boardgames and movies tomorrow. With that out of the way, she drove them back home.

It wasn't too late out despite being dark, so Morticia and Gomez were still up, playing a game of chess with each other in the tearoom.

"Oh, Pugsley? What are you doing back?" Morticia asked, seeing her son first.

Pugsley then went into a spiel about how he was forcefully taken away from his friends just because he fought against some ninjas to help out. How it was unfair that Urbana was acting overprotective over him despite being the same age as the turtle boys who fight like that almost all the time. He exclaimed how fine he was and how unworried he was and how unworried they would be if they were there in Urbana's place. He finished by saying that he wanted them to tell Urbana that she was being controlling.

Gomez and Morticia nodded their head at their son then they turned to Urbana and indicated for her to tell her side of the story.

Urbana then told them about how Pugsley rashly jumped into the fray of a battle using a sword he's never practiced with. She told them how he was almost stabbed, strangled, slashed, strangled, stabbed, slashed and stabbed again before they took out the Foot ninjas. She told them how Pugsley wasn't paying attention to the fight around him and how his face wasn't covered so the Foot know what his face looks like, and they know Urbana's name since he kept shouting it, explaining the dangers of those choices and actions and the danger it put the Addams family in, in the future.

The more Urbana explained, the more Pugsley realized that he did mess up.

"I see," Gomez said, then to Pugsley he said, "My boy, I'm disappointed. If you wanted to join fights like this, you have to train more than every other week. You've got to train everyday like Urbana or train every other day like your sister."

"Okay," he mumbled.

"You're grounded for the rest of the month," Morticia said, "You are only to leave your room when it's time for family meals."

Pugsley groaned, then mumbled, "Okay."

Once Pugsley left, Morticia said to Urbana, "Thank you for looking out for our son. Sometimes his excitement can exceed his rational thinking."

"I was so scared and worried about him," Urbana admitted to them, dropping the anger she had.

Gomez and Morticia nodded their heads in understanding.

*Translation - How do you keep surprising me like this! I was so close to winning!

# # #

It was another successful group meeting that they had in the living room. With everyone gone, Urbana was cleaning up with Danny, Sam, and Tucker.

In the middle of cleaning up, Tucker said, "I have an announcement."

"You're finally using your gym membership that you're paying for," Sam asked, with a teasing smile.

"Shut up," he said deadpanned, then he brightened and said, "I bought us four tickets to see a live concert of Mystery Skulls in New York."

"That's so exciting," Urbana said, "but when is it? I may not be able to go."

"Don't worry," he said, "I got tickets that are accommodating for your work time. The concert is next month."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Urbana said.

"It's been a while since the four of us has done anything together," Danny said, "Even if I'm not a fan of the music it'll be nice to go with you three."

"Why don't we all do something together tomorrow then," Sam said, "Steven said that he'd like to give me a tour of Little Homeworld. Maybe he'd give you guys a tour with me."

Tucker informed Sam that he was also given an invitation to tour Little Homeworld while Danny and Urbana said that they've already seen it.

"I think it's a great idea, regardless," Urbana told Sam then added, "Let's go over there tomorrow."

The next day, the four of them were at Little Homeworld while wearing their beach attire, wanting to go swimming after Steven gives them the tour.

"Thanks for coming over guys," Steven said, "I have some new things to show you since last Danny and Urbana were here."

"Show it off! Show it off!" Urbana started to chant, with Danny and Tucker joining in with her.

"Alright, already, you three," Sam chided them with a smile, "Let the man do his thing."

"Thank you, Sam," Steven said, then turning around he started to lead by saying, "This way."

Steven showed them the schoolhouse which was a medium sized building with artistically carved pillars holding up the roof and the underside of it was painted in constellations that the four of them weren't familiar with. Steven explained that the constellations on the ceiling were what the night sky looks like from Homeworld, the home planet of the Gems. He also said that Bismuth made this specifically for the humans that have joined the school and Lapis painted the ceiling.

Steven then took them to the town center, it had a large gold star in the center, and told them that this was where Bismuth and Pearl got married and where Sapphire and Ruby had their wedding vows renewed. It made Urbana think about how she hasn't told Tucker about her relationship with Scarlet yet, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Steven also introduced them to a few of his music students that him and his father have been teaching. They were all Gems except for one human.

Steven then took them to look at the new mess hall that was built by the community and directed by Bismuth. Steven told them that a lot of Gems were becoming interested in how humans make their food and so they built this place to accommodate such teaching. Steven also said that it was free to eat at the mess hall. As they entered the mess hall to eat, Urbana took Tucker to the side, feeling a little braver than usual.

"What's up," he asked.

Urbana took a deep calming breath, then said, "I'm dating someone."

Tucker was silent for a moment. Then said, "Okay. Cool. How long have you been dating this someone?"

"Their name's Scarlet, and we've been long distance dating for almost three months now or something along those lines. Scarlet would remember better if you asked them," Urbana said.

"I see," Tucker said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Are you okay," Urbana asked then clarified, "About me dating someone I mean."

"Hey, it's none of my business who you do or don't date," Tucker said nonchalantly, but then he sighed and said, "But I guess I do feel like I'm not good enough for you…"

"Well, I'm dating Scarlet mainly to experiment with new life stuff since I've never done any experimental dating in high school or grade school, and I'm dating Scarlet specifically because I know them really well and I feel comfortable enough with them to try being in a "romantic" relationship with them," Urbana said, "If I had known you for seven more years, I think I would have been more open to the idea of dating you."

Tucker gently face palmed himself, then said, "So, not only did I upset you, but I also managed to make you feel super uncomfortable around me?"

"I mean, yah, but water under the bridge," Urbana said.

He put his hands on his hips and with a small smile on his face, he said, "You know, when I finally get a girlfriend, I think it'll be fun to have a couple's date night with you, Scarlet, Sam, and Danny. We could all go roller skating or something."

"That sounds lovely. I look forward to that day," Urbana told him.

The two of them rejoined the group and shared a meal together. Steven showed them the rest of Little Homeworld and then they all went swimming. Overall, they had a nice late afternoon day together.

# # #

Urbana had finished doing her entertainment quota at The Witching Hour bar for the night and was preparing to drive back home when she saw something strange in the corner of her eye. A small streak of light whizzed by, sparkling like golden glitter, and bigger than a firefly's light. Then she saw a darkness, that was vaguely horse shaped. Urbana locked her car and went to check it out.

Urbana did her best to follow the two figures as best as she could, but eventually she found them both. The darkness had cornered the small light. Within the light, it looked like a little hummingbird and the dark figure, looked like a black sandy horse. Urbana ran and got between the two of them.

"Hey. Woah now. Easy," Urbana said to sandy black horse, "Easy."

The horse reared up on her hide legs and whinnied as she kicked her front legs forward. Since Urbana knew it wasn't a real horse, she didn't move away from its kicks. As the kicks landed, horrible images of her greatest fears became prominent in her mind. Her body, strapped to a science table as people dissect her alive, trying to figure out how she's able to see the dead. The family and friends that she's managed to curate abandoning her because they don't like who she is anymore. Seeing her loved ones dead and being unable to see their ghosts anymore. Seeing large, blood red spiders with poison dripping from their fangs crawling all over her body.

When Urbana came too, she saw that the sandy black horse was about to eat the glowing hummingbird, Urbana immediately got between them again and placed her hands on the horse's face. Again, the frightening images started spinning in her head, but she was still present. She soothingly talked to the agitated sandy black horse all the while trying to sooth herself of the fears that were circulating in her mind as she continued to touch the horse.

"Hey, you silly billy. You beautiful monstrosity. You majestic creature. Aren't you supposed to be in someone's nightmares right now?" Urbana asked it.

The sandy black horse seemed to calm down, but it was still looking at the glowing hummingbird intently.

"Don't you have some children to scare into appreciating the kind, loving family they got, or an artist who needs the inspiration to create something horrifying and dark? Don't you have some nightmares to make people understand that their fear will only destroy them or to inspire them into taking action with their lives since you've shown them what the worst possible outcome could really be?" Urbana asked them.

As Urbana continued to talk to the sandy black horse, the horse stopped focusing so much on the glowing hummingbird and was focusing on Urbana's words. Soon it's mane and tail started to change color from its deep black color to a bright silver. Then it backed away from Urbana's grasp. It bowed to Urbana, then to the glowing hummingbird, then it turned around and ran off.

Urbana doubled over, like she just ran a marathon. A few fearful tears slipped from her eyes and she wiped them away with a shaking hand.

"Ugh, that was awful," she breathed.

The glowing hummingbird flitted over to Urbana's face and started squeaking. Upon closer inspection, Urbana could see that the glowing hummingbird had a human face and arms and legs. In her tiny grasp she held a child's baby tooth.

"Oh. You're a tooth fairy," Urbana said as she held out her shaking hand and the tooth fairy perched on her thumb. Urbana immediately felt less shaky. "Are you okay?"

The little tooth fairy squeaked a few words out, then nodded her head.

"That's good," Urbana said. Then she pulled out a piece of chocolate from her pocket, unwrapped it then offered a bit to the tooth fairy, "Here. To give you a little bit of energy and calm your nerves."

The tooth fairy took a bite. Then Urbana finished it off, she felt a lot better now.

"So, do you need me to drive you a ways away from here, or do you think you're good," Urbana asked her.

The tooth fairy shook her head, then after saying a few squeaky words, she fluttered off. Urbana stood in the dark alleyway for a few seconds as she watched her fly off. Then she walked back to her car.

The next night, Urbana was closing the bar down since she was the Bouncer that night. As she was making it to her car, Pitch appeared before her. She let out an involuntary scream.

"What are you—!"

"You did this didn't you," Pitch accused.

"What?"

"This!" He said as he pointed to a sandy black horse with a silver mane and tail that had suddenly appeared, "Undo it. Right now."

"Why? What's wrong?" Urbana asked.

"My Nightmare's not attacking any of Sandman's dreams or trying to eat any of Toothiana's fairies," Pitch stated, "It just goes about trying to find a child that isn't dreaming, then does its own thing. My Nightmare's not even trying to give the children the worst nightmares it can give. Now change it back."

Urbana was about to ask why he would want to do any of that when a mass of little tooth fairies flew down and around Urbana like she was in the eye of a tornado. A woman's voice called out, telling Pitch to get away from her. Then Urbana fell down into a dirt hole that she couldn't avoid. She tumbled and slid in the dirt tunnels, then she was shot up into the air. Then Jack Frost caught her in the air and held her bridal style.

"Jack! Good to see you kid," Urbana said as she ruffled his white hair, "I wasn't expecting to see you until fall, at the soonest… What's going on?"

Urbana looked around the Christmas themed workshop as Jack was explaining that they were protecting her.

As she was being put down on the floor, Urbana said, "But I'm not a little kid anymore. Why do you need to protect me?"

"Because you are a special case, Urbana Des Moines," a thick Russian accented man said.

Urbana looked to the tall, thick man with long white hair and a long white beard. His red shirt's sleeves were rolled up to reveal tattoos on his arms; one saying Nice and the other saying Naughty.

Urbana shook Jack's shoulder with a breathless squeal, then asked, "Is that Santa?"

North smiled broadly at the glee and wonder that was sparkling from Urbana's eyes, then he said, "It is rare for us to find an adult willing to believe in us just as much as the children and there's also the fact that Tooth wanted to thank you personally for saving Baby Tooth."

"There's also the fact that you did something weird to Pitch's Nightmares," Jack added.

"Yah, Pitch is really upset about that," Urbana said, "He wanted me to change it back, but I don't even know how I changed the Nightmare in the first place."

"Mmm. Maybe Manny will know what you did," North said as he stroked his beard.

After he said that, a hole appeared in the floor beside them and outburst a flurry of little tooth fairies and then Toothiana herself flew up and out behind them. Urbana thought she was absolutely beautiful with her green feathers that were tipped with a rainbow hue and her gold jewelry that hung from her neck and wrists. Then out popped a large, humanoid bunny rabbit with boomerangs strapped to his back and black flower patterns adorning his gray blue fur, and following behind him was a sandy, plump, golden little man riding the Nightmare with the silver mane and tail.

The Nightmare was running around and swinging her back legs up to try and buck the golden man off her back. Eventually she succeeded and Urbana caught the golden man before he hit the ground. Urbana assumed that this was the Sandman.

"I got you Cousin," Urbana said after she caught him.

Golden sand appeared above his head as he looked at her and the image of a thumbs up formed. He then hopped out of Urbana's grasp. Urbana then went over to the silver haired Nightmare.

"Hey, baby," Urbana cooed at her, "Do you remember me?"

Urbana held her hand out for the Nightmare to sniff. The Nightmare, however, skipped the formalities and went straight up to Urbana and placed her nose in her hand. Fear welled up in Urbana, but it wasn't bad, it actually felt manageable and not hallucinatory like it felt for her the first time she touched this particular Nightmare. Urbana continued to pet and coo to it.

"Man, where were you in 2012," Jack asked as he floated above her head.

"I wasn't even born yet," Urbana replied.

"Well, this is all noice an' dandy, but woat are we gonna do with the Noightmare?" E. Aster Bunnymund said.

Urbana smiled, as she wasn't expecting the Easter Bunny to have an Australian accent.

North, Bunnymund, and Jack started arguing with each other about what steps they should take with the Nightmare, when Toothiana went over to Urbana and tapped her on her shoulder.

Urbana stopped petting the Nightmare to greet the feathery woman, "It's nice to meet you Ma'am. Thank you for taking care of my teeth."

"Thank you for saving Baby Tooth," Toothiana said, "She told me that the Nightmare did a number on you, but you were very brave."

"Eh, I just can't leave well enough alone," Urbana stated with a shrug.

The tinny tooth fairies got close to the Nightmare. Then one of them was brave enough to touch her, and when nothing happened, the whole mass of tooth fairies started to braid the Nightmare's silver mane and tail. The Nightmare was calm the whole time and was nudging Urbana's shoulder for more pets. She obliged.

Sanderson Mansnoozie tried to go up to the Nightmare to pet her, but she whinnied, stood on her hide legs to kick her front legs at him, then quickly trotted off to the opposite side of North's workshop. Scattering the little tooth fairies in the process.

"Man, she does not like you," Urbana said to the Sandman, "What did you do to her?"

Sandman shrugged his shoulders and had an, I-don't-know, look on his face.

"Nightmares are made from Sandy's sand that Pitch managed to corrupt," Tooth explained, "Sandy is trying to return them back into his sand."

"Yah, well, this Nightmare has a mind of her own," Urbana said, "Even Pitch can't control her anymore."

Sandy looked up at Urbana in surprise and Toothiana said, "Really. That's new…" Tooth then yelled at North, Jack, and Bunnymund who looked like all three of them were about to get into a fist fight. Tooth then told them what Urbana told her and Sandy.

"Ah, great. So, we got ourselves a rouge," Bunnymund said, "We should definitely destroy it."

"I still don't think that's a good idea," North said.

"I want to use it to help us defeat Pitch," Jack said, "Pitch is already getting stronger with how frightened the world is becoming, recently, we don't want a mass panic."

"I don't think that'll work either," North said.

While Tothiana was trying to be mediator between the three men, Urbana squatted down to Sandman's height, then said, "Hey, Cousin, do you really plan on breaking down the Nightmare to be your golden sand again?"

He shrugged.

"I think maybe you shouldn't," Urbana said, "She's essentially useless to Pitch as she is and he doesn't know how to make her back to the way she was, she also seems more friendly but she's still scary. I know this may be controversial to you Guardians considering what little I know about you guys through Jack, but a little bit of fear isn't that bad of a thing."

Sandy gave her a skeptical look with one eyebrow raised at her.

"I know. I know. Just. She's independent. I feel like she'll do some good on her own if she's allowed that chance," Urbana said.

Golden sand appeared over his head and he made an image appear, showing a small figure of him petting a horse. Then he made a question mark appear.

"Okay. I can try to get her to let you pet her if that's what you need to do to know what you want to do next," Urbana said, then added, "Wait here."

Urbana coxed the Nightmare over to Sandy as close as she could. It took some doing, but Urbana managed to convince the Nightmare to stay still and not run away from Sandy. Sandy then slowly went up to the Nightmare, then placed his little hand on the lower part of her left shoulder. The Nightmare stood extremely tense, but the longer Sandy had his hand on her shoulder, the less tense she became until she started to calmly shift from hoof to hoof and she bent her head down to look at the little man. Sandy lifted his hand off her shoulder to place it on her nose and then he started to stroke her nose. The Nightmare's lower left shoulder had a golden handprint and soon her nose and mouth were golden too, but she was still herself.

After petting her, Sandy gave Urbana a thumbs up and an approving smile.

"Oh, good. Let's tell the others," Urbana said, then she yelled at the four of them, "Hey, we're going to release this Nightmare back into the world!"

"Are you sure that's safe," Tooth asked.

"We really should just destroy it," Bunnymund said.

"No, we need to use it to push Pitch back," Jack said.

"You know, I like Urbana's and Sandy's idea," North said, "I want to see what she does."

The arguing continued, but then the workshop was enveloped by moonlight and everyone looked up.

"Oh, the moon's beautiful tonight," Urbana said.

"Manny," North greeted warmly, "Maybe you can settle our little dispute?"

Urbana looked around as everyone seemed to be listening thoughtfully to the silence. Then Bunnymund lifted his arms up in defeat as he groaned. Jack looked pouty. Toothiana looked put to ease. Sandy gave the moon a thumbs up. North looked accepting.

"So, uh, what's the verdict," Urbana asked.

"Manny says that the Nightmare can be released into the public," North said, "He's confident that she won't stir up a panic like Pitch can. However, he wants you to keep an eye on her."

"Me?" Urbana asked, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"He's leaving that to you," North said.

The moonlight then disappeared from the workshop.

"Did he at least tell you guys why this Nightmare became the way she is," Urbana asked, "Like, what did I do to her exactly?"

"Well," North said, "Manny was unsure about this, but he said that it was a combination of you being a storyteller and being an adult, but he's not sure if that's completely true."

Urbana sighed as she rubbed her shaved head while looking at the Nightmare, then she said, "I need to name her then… Licorice Mittens Des Moines."

"Seriously," Bunnymund said.

Urbana smiled gleefully and pointed at the Nightmare and said, "From now on you are Licorice Mittens Des Moines! My trusty steed and my new friend. Do you like your name girl?"

Licorice whinnied happily.

"Yah! Good girl," Urbana cooed as she patted her side. Then to the Guardians, she said, "So this has been fun and all, but I should get home and get some sleep."

"But you're not safe with Pitch out there," Jack said.

"Jack. Buddy. My boy. In all seriousness, I'm never really safe," Urbana said, "Besides, what's the worst Pitch can do? Give me really bad nightmares? Newsflash! He can't do anything to me that he hasn't already done to me as a kid. The only dreams I've ever had were nightmares so, don't worry. I know how to handle my nightmares."

Sandy grabbed Urbana's forearm, making her look at him as he made an exclamation point appear over his head, using his golden sand.

"Oh, don't worry Cousin. I don't blame you," Urbana told Sandy, "I know the world is large. You can't give every sleeping kid a dream."

"Yes he can," Tooth said, sounding concerned, "He's the Sandman. It's his job."

Urbana could only shrug.

Sandy balled up a baseball sized ball of his golden sand, then before Urbana knew what he was going to use it for, he threw it into Urbana's face and Urbana immediately blacked out. Then what felt like hours later, Urbana was being shaken awake by Jack. Urbana looked around, confused for a second, then she remembered where she was.

"Please send me home," Urbana said deadpanned.

Urbana got up and saw Sandy sitting in a corner looking upset, with Tooth trying to comfort him.

"What's got into him," Urbana asked.

"You really can't dream," Jack said.

"I know," Urbana said, "Now help me up onto Licorice's back."

Jack helped to push her up on the Nightmare's back then Bunnymund made a hole appear underneath them and Jack escorted them through the Easter Bunny's tunnels to Urbana's car. Urbana hopped off Licorice's back and then told her to follow her home tonight, so she'll know where she lives. The silver haired Nightmare nodded her head.

Urbana turned to Jack to tell him goodbye, but he looked upset.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Urbana asked him.

"You never had a dream in your entire childhood?" Jack asked.

"I used to think I did, but it turns out that the "dreams" that I did have were just my dead Grandfather visiting me in my sleep," Urbana said, "So, no. I've never had a dream before, only nightmares."

Jack went up to Urbana and gave her a firm, cold hug.

"Oh, Jack," Urbana said as she patted the teenage boy's head, "It's okay."

"No, it's not. We're the Guardian's of children. If we had known sooner, we would have done something about this," Jack said, "Sandy would have been able to help you better."

Urbana smiled kindly, then said, "You guys act like daydreaming doesn't exist. I dream plenty, I just don't dream when I'm asleep."

Jack stopped hugging her then said, "Really?"

"Yah!" Urbana reassured him, then she said, "Now go back to the North Pole and protect those children. I'll help you guys with whatever you guys need," then she leaned in and whispered, "I'll also kiss Pitch away for you guys too, if it needs to happen."

"Ha!" Jack laughed with Urbana's giggling as he pushed Urbana away from him. Then he said, "I don't think so. Have a good night." Then he flew off.

Urbana drove home with Licorice following close behind her.

# # #

Urbana was in the living room watching Disney's Robin Hood with Haley, Danny, Jazz, Red, and Raven when someone knocked on the front door. Urbana immediately got up, saying she'll get it because she was hoping it's who she thinks it is. She opened the door to reveal Scarlet standing in front of the doorway. Urbana immediately hugged the lanky, man-looking, redhead, squishing Raven in the process. Raven smacked Urbana in the face.

The couple stopped hugging and Urbana said, "Sorry Raven," then to Scarlet she said, "It's so good to see you again. Do you have any luggage? I'll help you carry it."

"No," He said, "I only packed a few things. I don't need help."

"Urbana… Who's this," Jazz asked as she held Red in her arms.

"Do you remember Scarlet," Urbana asked, "From the B.P.R.D.'s HQ?"

"Scarlet was a woman," Jazz said confused as she looked at the lanky man in front of her.

Scarlet's body morphed to look like their voluptuous human woman disguise then she said, "Do you recognize me now?"

"Oh! That's right! You're the Succubus Uncle Red warned me about," Jazz said, then asked, "What are you doing here?"

Danny came out of the living room with Jazz, and he said, "Come in. Close the door behind you."

Scarlet obliged and Urbana answered Jazz's question, saying, "We're going to have a slumber party and hang out for a couple of days. It'll be awesome."

Danny had a teasing smile on his face as he said, "Is that what we're calling it now?"

Jazz looked to her little brother and asked, "What do you mean?"

Scarlet's face started to turn pink and Urbana was confused, and she asked, "Is there a new slang or something for a slumber party?"

Danny sighed then said, "Sometimes it's so hard to tease you, Urbana."

"You can't tease someone who refuses to understand implied knowledge," then she handed Raven to Danny, then grabbed Scarlet's hand and said, "Come on. We only have three days together. I already know what we should do for today."

Urbana dragged Scarlet to her room where they'll be staying, then she dragged them to her car to which she drove them to a little coffee shop/bookstore in town to talk in private with each other. Scarlet told her about how there have been strange magical disturbances going on in remote places on Earth. Then they told her about how they've managed to make a new friend out of Abe, and how that went down. Then Scarlet told her about their rock collection that they started, and they showed Urbana pictures of what she's collected so far. Urbana thought they were really pretty. Urbana then told Scarlet about successfully designing and creating merchandise for her followers on her comic and how that's been selling really well. She told them how she's been rejected by five book publishing companies so far for making her comic a physical book. Then Urbana showed off her training wounds that she got from training with Jim, Draal, and Angor Rot the other day and she told them how it happened.

They were having fun talking with each other when a blond, rotund buff man with a little blond mustache came up to their table.

"Can we help you," Scarlet asked, sounding on edge.

He nodded his head at them in greeting, then said, "My name's Captain Fanzone. You're Urbana Des Moines, correct?"

"I remember you. You're Ms. Elisa Maza's police captain, right?" Urbana asked and when he nodded his head, she turned to Scarlet and said, "He helped arrest Susie," then she turned back to the Captain and asked, "What are you doing here sir?"

"Do you remember speaking with a woman called Arcee?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Urbana said with a sigh, "I was so worried. The radio silence has been so long. Do you have a friend with you or are you the messenger at the moment?"

"His name's Prowl. He's the motorcycle that I drove here on," Captain Fanzone said.

"I see," Urbana said as she stood up, "I'm going to call my friends and tell them we're coming. I told them about everything, so this won't take long."

Scarlet paid for their drinks then the three of them waited outside while Urbana had her conversation with Blinky and Jim. Once the conversation was over, Scarlet asked what was going on and Urbana filled them in.

"I thought Steven and his Gems were the only aliens on this planet," Scarlet asked.

"Yah, well, that's what I thought too, but I'm beginning to think there'll be more to come," Urbana said to them under her breath. Then to Fanzone, she said, "Alright, we're going off road so grab Prowl and I'll lead you guys halfway."

Once they reached the designated halfway point, an alleyway that's between an abandoned two-story apartment and the bar, The Witching Hour, that Jim decided would make a good meeting spot for the aliens to visit with them, Urbana told them what was up.

"Okay. So, this is where Prowl and I will split with you two. Mr. Fanzone, get acquainted with the area, this is the meet up spot that my friends chose for their safety," Then Urbana looked at the gold and black colored motorcycle and asked, "How do I blind fold you when you're like this?"

"Uh, you'll have to cover my whole body," Prowl said.

Urbana looked through the abandoned garbage and then found an old bed sheet with dirt stains and other unknown stains. Urbana draped it over the gold and black motorcycle then said, "Okay, so this should take an hour at most, and if it runs longer, I'll come back here and tell you what the hold up is, okay Mr. Fanzone?"

"Sounds reasonable," he said.

Then before she started to push Prowl towards the abandoned park, Urbana turned to Scarlet and asked, "Kisses?"

Scarlet was surprised for a moment, but they bent down to give Urbana a quick peck on the lips. Urbana smiled wide after the kiss and Scarlet couldn't help but smile just as wide as Urbana waved goodbye, with promises of being back soon.

Once Urbana had walked Prowl out of the back end of the alleyway, he said, "That was endearing. Are you two a new couple or have you two been spark bonded for a while now?"

"We're a new couple. I don't know what you mean by spark bonded but I don't think we are," Urbana said.

"That's nice," Prowl said, "New love is a precious thing that should be tended to and nurtured, even during these trying times of war."

Urbana nodded in agreement to that.

They were almost to the bridge entrance when Prowl said, "So, Arcee told me that you made Cliffjumper appear by letting him eat your spark… Is that true?"

Urbana sighed as she propped him against the bridge, forgetting that he can stand on his own two wheels, then said, "Look. Do you trust Arcee?"

"Of course," Prowl said, "She one of our most proficient and straightlaced fighters in the Autobot ranks."

"Then why are you asking me if what I've done is true, if you trust Arcee to tell you the truth," Urbana asked him as she got out her rock key and drew the door under the bridge.

He was silent as she pushed him through the doorway, then once the door had closed behind them, Urbana pulled off the sheet.

"I don't know how big you are, but this part of the entrance may be a little cramped for you, so stay in your vehicle mode for a while longer. You'll have more room to stretch before we make it to the bridge, though," Urbana said as she folded the bed sheet and placed it on the floor.

"Is this an underground city," Prowl asked as he rolled down the stairs.

Walking in front of him, Urbana said, "Yes. Trolls will die in sunlight, so they have to live underground or in thick shady places like forests."

"And they're Earthlings too," Prowl asked.

"Yep. Just like me," Urbana confirmed, "Isn't Earth amazing?"

"Yes." He agreed.

Once they were before the bridge, Prowl shifted and scrunched up and then unfolded into a giant thin robot with a black paint job with golden accents. His eyes were covered by a golden visor and he kind of looked like a stereotypical movie ninja. Prowl looked over the edge of the canyon and said, "By the Allspark… If we ration this right, we can make this last for decades."

They crossed the bridge together and they were met with Blinky and Jim who were staring up at Prowl in amazement.

"Are you two trolls," Prowl asked them.

"Yes. We are," Blinky said, "I'm Blinkous Galadrigal the town elder, and this is the Trollhunter, Protector of Troll-kind and Human-kind, Jim Lake Jr."

"I'm Prowl and on behalf of Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime, I thank you for allowing me entrance to your home. We've been losing the fight against the Decepticons when it comes to the Energon game, but with this canyon of Energon, we can focus more on the war," he said, sounding hopeful.

"So, how do you want to do this," Jim asked, "Are you going to teach us how to excavate the Frozen Flames and then we give it to you guys or are you going to ask to come down here to mine for yourselves?"

"It'll be safer if you would allow us to come down here to let us mine it ourselves," Prowl said, "I think the only reason that the Decepticons haven't found this large deposit of Energon yet, is because of how deep it is and because that giant crystal in the middle of your town over there seems to be interfering with the energy the Energon radiates. If we were to take this to the surface, the Decepticons would be able to pick up its unique signals and put your home and the town above it in danger."

"Man, we've been really lucky so far then, huh?" Urbana said.

"How do you plan on getting the Frozen Flames out of here without taking it to the surface then," Blinky asked.

"Well, with the coordinates that I have, we can have First Aid or Ratchet make a Ground Bridge appear," Prowl said.

The three Earthlings looked at Prowl in confusion, not knowing what a Ground Bridge was.

"Oh. How do I explain this… What was that game called that Miko and Sari like to play together… Portal?" Prowl mused.

Jim and Urbana lit up at the name Portal, and Jim asked, "You guys have portal technology!"

"Not that kind of technology, but the concept is the same idea," Prowl explained, "but instead of making two holes you just have one double sided hole."

"Fascinating," Blinky said, then he turned to Jim and asked, "What do you think, Master Jim?"

"I don't see why not," Jim said, "If it's safer for them to Ground Bridge here, then I think we can allow it. Besides, we're not using the Frozen Flames for anything since it's so volatile and we can't eat it."

Blinky nodded his head in agreement, then said to Prowl, "Let's look around so we can find you an optimal place for the Ground Bridge to appear."

"Good idea," Prowl said as he and Urbana followed Jim and Blinky along the edge of the canyon.

An hour had passed, and Urbana was taking the dirty bed sheet off of Prowl's vehicle mode as they met up with Captain Fanzone and Scarlet again in the alleyway.

"How did it go," Captain Fanzone asked.

"Wonderfully," Prowl said as he rolled up to the man, "The Energon they have surrounding their home is enough to last us decades, if we ration it right."

Captain Fanzone got on Prowl then said, "Good. We can make a full report to the Primes when we get back to the base," then he turned to Scarlet and Urbana and said, "It was good meeting you ladies. Stay safe out there."

Then they drove off leaving Urbana and Scarlet alone in the alleyway.

"So… do you want to get dinner together or do you want to hang out at the mansion until I have to go to work tonight," Urbana asked.

"Let's go hang out in the mansion, then I want to go to work with you, I want to see what you're like on the job," Scarlet said as they took Urbana's hand in theirs.

Urbana shrugged, then said, "Sure. Why not."