"Smedley?" Zofia replied. "You sound like you would get beaten up in school all the time."
"They probably do." replied Gaz.
"Hoo boy... Guys, these are our cousins," said Phil.
"You two have my condolences." replied Giffany.
"So these are the cousins we've heard about." Zofia remarked.
"My, what a charming little minx you are, despite what you've said from my name," Smedley said, taking her hand and kissing it to look like a gentleman. "Charmed, I'm sure."
"Interested, I'm not." Zofia said, though bashfully from the kind gesture, but she didn't really like him since she just met him.
LJ finished his first burger and moved on to his second. "Didn't Phil and Lil's mom say we were gonna go visit your house after we got settled at the hotel?" he asked.
"Yeah," replied Lil. "But I guess our cousins decided to descend from upon high to mingle with us common folk."
"We thought we recognized you and had to step inside," Smedley smirked to Phil and Lil. "Didn't you miss your favorite cousins?"
"Sure..." replied Phil. "The same way you miss a toothache."
"Or a case of diarrhea." added Lil.
"Classy as always we see," Hedley replied. "We shall see you when you decide to show up at our house. Perhaps we can teach you some proper manners."
"Yeah, sure," Lil said. "Then after that we can have a chat going down the stairs. You two go first!"
Hedley and Smedley turned their noses up and walked off.
"Well... That was unpleasant." remarked Junior.
"Ugh..." Gaz rolled her eyes. "Worse than Jessica."
"Who's Jessica?" Zofia asked.
"Pretty much the popular girl from our school," Dib replied. "I mostly remember her from when Zim tried to make friends with a human student who was Keef and she said it was inhuman of him to have no friends and was all by himself all the time."
"After that, we never really heard much from her," replied Gaz. "Like she dropped off the radar or something."
"So the typical Alpha Queen Bee," Zofia then said. "Got it."
Dib and Gaz nodded at that.
"Mm... This food's pretty nice..." Kimberly said. "I guess I just thought it'd be weird since I'm not used to it."
"I guess it's alright," added Chrissy. "At least it's recognizable."
"Maybe I should get cheese for my 'chips' next time." Zofia commented.
"I'll get you some to go before we head back to the hotel..." LJ replied before ordering just that.
Zofia nodded as that sounded great. Nearly everyone else felt full, especially Jenny.
"I swear, ya eat like that pig sometimes that hangs around Dad, that goat, and the porcupine whenever we visit Grandma and Grandpa." Martin said to his sister.
"She's actually pretty civilized as long as you don't argue about how a peanut butter and jelly sandwich should be made." Jenny smirked.
"No kidding," Martin remembered. "That debate went on for three whole days..."
"Do we wanna know?" Zofia asked.
"Let's just say that Dad's animal friends are pretty interesting." Martin replied.
LJ, Zofia, and David shrugged at that in response as they got their food, paid, and left.
"That was pretty good." Kimberly said.
"Glad you liked it." LJ smiled.
"I did too," Chrissy replied. "I think I'll have to freshen up though a bit before we go see this family of Phil and Lil's after eating those fish and chips."
"Fine by me!" LJ replied. "I'm gonna need a nap before we go visit those snob-wagons."
"Yeah, I think some rest will do us some good." Kimberly nodded.
"Let's get back then." Tommy said while filming around his surroundings.
And so they headed back to the hotel room to rest up. The adults were still resting there, except for maybe Cherry.
"Hello, Mother," Zofia smiled. "Are you working on a new novel?"
"Nah, just taking a look around," Cherry replied, looking out her window with binoculars. "London's changed a bit since I last came here, but luckily not too much."
"It's pretty cool being here," said Lionel as LJ flopped onto the bed. "Since this is my first time."
"You know my old friend Katie's from here." Cherry said.
"Is she the one who married Willy Wonka and they had triplets?" Zofia asked.
"Yep," Cherry said. "Cocoa, Nutty, and Beanie."
"Huh... I thought she was with that Markiplier dude," said Lionel. "During that adventure where we had to fight the Floronic Man?"
"It depends on the reality." Cherry said distantly and mysteriously.
"What?" The others asked.
"Never mind that, just get some rest and have fun," Cherry then said. "Then we'll go with Betty to meet her extended family."
"But that was literally in the same universe as this one!" Lionel exclaimed.
Cherry kept looking out.
"Ugh, whatever, I won't pry," Lionel shrugged. "You kids have a good rest now."
LJ and Zofia smiled from that before drifting off as they came into their beds. LJ was once more inside his mind, having a really good dream where he was with Chrissy and Kimberly, but he didn't know it was about to take a sudden turn.
Despara soon went into a room she shared with her mother as they settled in.
"How did it go, my child?" Maleficent asked.
"It seemed to work perfectly," Despara beamed. "He didn't recognize me, though that Chrissy girl got very jealous to see me talking with him after we met, just the two of us."
"Perhaps we could corrupt his friends as well..." Maleficent pondered.
"Maybe... As far as I know, they've gone into a deep sleep," Despara replied with glee. "We could manipulate them through their dreams."
"Then I'll leave that to you," Maleficent replied. "I need to rest and recharge my powers. Keeping this admittedly attractive disguise sustained is quite tiresome."
"Yes, Mother, I promise that I won't let you down." Despara replied.
"That's my nasty little girl," Maleficent approved, gently petting her daughter's head in approval. "I shall see you again shortly."
"Yes..." Despara nodded as she went to get to work. She concentrated her power and vanished into the Dream Realm.
The kids were fast asleep, unaware of what was going to happen.
"Mm... This is going to be good..." Despara smirked, rubbing her hands together, on her way to LJ. "You shall be the perfect boy that Mother's always wanted into the dark side."
In LJ's dream, he was an adult, setting up a picnic.
"Man, is this a great day for a picnic or what?" asked LJ. "If only Kimberly and Chrissy could be here to enjoy it with me..."
As Despara saw Kimberly and Chrissy appear in the dream, she duplicated herself and sent them both into the two girls' minds, corrupting them with her influence. Their eyes glowed bright green briefly before going to join him.
LJ soon laid out a checkered blanket with a basket.
"Hi, there, little buddy, looks like a great day for a picnic." A tall bear in a hat and tie smiled, standing with a smaller bear that had a bow tie.
"It sure is, talking bear in person clothes!" LJ exclaimed casually. "Oh, hey, there are my guests!"
Kimberly and Chrissy were soon coming, looking innocent and beautiful.
"Hey, you two!" LJ waved. "Take a seat, I'll get the food!"
The two girls nodded.
"Oh, boy, oh, boy." LJ smiled to himself.
The girls then hid a bit of wicked smirks at each other.
LJ then went to his car to get the utensils. "Alright... Where are the forks...?" he muttered as he dug around in the car.
Kimberly and Chrissy soon came up behind LJ. A thick green fog seemed to come out as the two began to surround LJ. LJ smiled as he turned around until looking like a zombie.
"You must change paths... Change paths~..." Maleficent's voice told LJ in his mind.
"What is this... What's going on?" LJ asked, confused.
"Change paths..." Kimberly and Chrissy told LJ in a hypnotic sort of way.
"Change paths? But whaddya mean?" LJ asked. "I literally just got here!"
"Change paths... Follow your true destiny..." Maleficent's voice laughed in LJ's head.
"Whaddya mean, true destiny?" asked LJ. "JUST GIMME A STRAIGHT ANSWER!"
"Don't you recognize me?" Maleficent smirked as she soon appeared. "You belong on the dark side, LJ."
LJ gasped as he went into a cold sweat. "...YOU!" he exclaimed.
"I'm afraid so, LJ, but isn't it nice?" Maleficent smirked as she gripped her scepter darkly.
"...Get away from me...!" LJ shouted, backing into Kimberly and Chrissy, who grabbed him. "What the... What're you two doing?!"
"Resistance is futile!" Kimberly told him.
"This is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt us." Chrissy added.
"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" asked LJ. "Besides, I thought you two were my friends! My girlfriends, even!"
"Oh, that sounds so adorable, but I'm afraid we have other plans for you." Maleficent told LJ as she stroked the top of her scepter which made hypnotic swirls appear in the glass above.
Kimberly and Chrissy began to make him look to change his personality a bit.
"Nnngh...!" LJ grunted as he tried to look away, but he soon ended up looking directly at the swirls.
"There... That's better..." Maleficent grinned darkly.
LJ, Kimberly, and Chrissy seemed to have shadows growing behind them that clawed their way out of the ground and became evil, dark versions of them. As soon as the hypnosis was done, Kimberly and Chrissy released LJ, but he didn't run. He dropped to his knees and bowed before Maleficent.
"That's a good boy..." Maleficent smirked. "So loyal... Just like a little Knucklehead."
"Except more useful." Despara added.
"What are your orders, Mistress of All Evil?" LJ asked.
"You will become my best follower and help lure the others to come with you so I can have my proper revenge," Maleficent told LJ. "Little by little, you will be a darker version of your former self."
"Of course, Lady Maleficent!" LJ replied, nodding obediently.
"I know you won't let me down," Maleficent smirked. "I look forward to working with you."
"And I, with YOU!" LJ replied as he kissed her hand.
Maleficent chuckled from that.
"Oh, this is going to be good." Despara smirked to herself.
LJ stood up and nodded to his two allies, who nodded right back at him. "Let's go." he grinned.
"There he is~" Chrissy and Kimberly grinned in a sort of evil way which they would never look in reality.
At that point, the shadow began to take on a form similar to LJ, but... Darker... More evil...
Suddenly, LJ's eyes shot open. "Whoa... What a bizarre dream..." he muttered to himself.
Cherry hummed to herself at her typewriter.
"Hey, Mom." LJ said.
"'Ello, Baybee." Cherry said, attempting her own British accent.
LJ blinked in confusion. "...Ooookay. I just had the weirdest dream..."
"Dreams are often always weird." Cherry replied.
And so LJ went into detail, explaining his dream in full. Cherry nodded as she listened closely to him.
"Does it mean anything?" LJ asked.
"Hmm... It sounds pretty bad..." Cherry replied. "Your Uncle Atticus used to have dreams about this a lot about King Sombra before he reformed until Twilight and Spike suggested he go visit Dr. Wolf."
"Dr. Wolf?" asked LJ. "First I've heard of this guy..."
"Oh, we didn't tell you about him?" Cherry replied. "He's a wolf in Equestria who specializes in therapy."
"Huh... Okay," LJ replied. "Maybe I need some time to myself so I can get my thoughts together..."
"Why don't you listen to some music before we have to get going?" Cherry suggested. "That always helps me whenever I'd be stuck in a funky place myself."
"Oh... Okay," LJ replied. "Thanks, Mom..."
"I do my best," Cherry said. "I may be a hard worker and have my own little world I live in, but I'm still a mother."
LJ leaned in and hugged his mom before he walked off.
"Way to go, hon." Lionel smiled.
"Ah, I have a soft spot sometimes." Cherry smirked a bit.
"And that's great," Lionel replied.
LJ came down to the hallway to notice that some of his friends looked a bit disoriented. "Did you guys have weird dreams too?" he asked.
"Yeah..." Kimberly said. "I dreamt that we were in this peaceful fantasy world, then suddenly, someone was trying to get me to do something... I couldn't make out what..."
"It sounded kinda... Dark..." Martin added.
"My kinda style, but that was a bit too dark even for me." Gaz commented.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one having this weird dream..." LJ remarked. "We might have to travel into our subconscious minds to get to the bottom of this."
"Is that even humanly possible?" Jenny asked.
"In the kind of world we live in nowadays? I wouldn't think less of it." Chrissy replied.
"She has a point," LJ replied. "We'd have to concentrate and travel deep within our linked minds to learn just WHAT could be making us have these dreams."
"I'm not sure if we'd have enough time to go back to sleep now though," Raul replied. "The adults are about to wake up so we can see Phil and Lil's cousins at their house."
"And considering how insufferable they are, it might lead to some serious trouble..." Dib replied.
"Then again, maybe it'll be so boring that we doze off!" suggested Nergal Jr.
"Heh, yeah," Gaz replied. "A good excuse to fall asleep."
"Either way, we'll find a way to meet in our dreams," LJ said. "It should work though because of Mom's dream-bending ability."
"Got it," said Zofia. "We'll meet up at the Dream Nexus and head into the Subconscious together."
"Uh... Yeah, what you said." Nergal Jr then said.
Eventually, the adults all began to wake up.
"All right!" Betty called out. "Let's get outta here and get reconnected with some family roots, eh, pups?"
"Greeeat..." Phil and Lil replied to their mother.
The kids groaned as they got into the rental car Betty had gotten for their time in England, dreading having to visit Hedley and Smedley.
"Betty, are you sure this is the right side of the road?!" Chaz asked as they seemed to be driving the wrong way.
"That's how it is back home!" Betty replied.
"Well, we're not back home," said Lionel. "Here in the UK, they drive on the other side of the road! Also, I think we've angered a few people..."
Behind them was a throng of pissed-off drivers screaming at the car.
"Hmm... I guess that's a pretty good point there, Lionel." Betty replied.
"Drive. The other way. Now." Cherry said, grasping her seat as her hair seemed to turn silver a bit with wide eyes as her heart raced in her chest.
Lionel gently patted her to soothe her nerves. "Hey, shhh... It's gonna be okay." he promised.
"She's driving worse than Drell," Cherry said. "I think my blood pressure went higher than when they made a live-action thriller/adventure movie with Blue's Clues."
Lionel chuckled as they pulled up to the house. "That was just crazy..." he remarked.
"Ah, relax, we're here," Betty chuckled to Cherry. "You worry too much, Duchess of Darkness. Maybe ya oughta step out in the sun once in a while."
"No, thanks, I'd rather keep my friend status with the Addams Family." Cherry replied.
Lionel nodded in agreement. "I mean, sure, a Blue's Clues movie is crazy, but a Banana Splits movie was even worse. Hey, let's turn the cast of a children's show from the 60's into murderous robots! That can't possibly fail!" he said sarcastically as they got out of the car.
Cherry shuddered and rolled her eyes from that. Everyone else soon got out of the car while Betty looked so excited.
"Here we go..." Zofia rolled her eyes. "And people think I'm a snob."
"Since when?" asked LJ as Betty rang the doorbell.
Soon, a woman in posh clothes came to the door. "Ah... Elizabeth," she said. "So glad to see you... And Howard. And of course, the twins."
"Hey, Winnie! Long time no see!" Betty beamed.
"Quite." The woman muttered before looking over.
"Right... So... Uh... You're... Um..." Cherry paused, drawing out, unsure of how to guess Betty was related to this woman.
"I am Winifred Flagston," The woman replied. "My mother's great-aunt was Elizabeth's great-uncle's second cousin."
"...Right, and let's pretend I understand that for a minute," Lionel replied. "Anyways... We all came to visit Europe, and the UK is our first stop."
"Please, come inside." Winifred told them.
The group soon came inside to check out the house as a man was shown to be by the fireplace.
"This is my husband," Winfred introduced. "Sir Cedric."
"Charmed." said Sir Cedric.
"Right. Nice to meet you." said LJ.
"So, you wanna call the kids down?" Betty smiled.
"Of course," Winifred said before a maid soon came by. "Hyacinth, would you get the children?"
"Of course, luv." The maid replied as she walked off.
"They have a maid." Phil groaned to Lil.
"Their house is probably three times the size of ours." Lil replied.
Hyacinth escorted the kids to Hedley and Smedley's section of the house, which was as big as Lil predicted.
"Talk about your fancy digs..." David remarked.
"I'd wanna live here if I was loaded..." LJ replied. "Except I'd have my own arcade machine that didn't need quarters, installed in the bathroom."
"I'd like a special room just to practice my singing in." Chrissy commented.
"It's almost like Eddie's place." Zofia said.
"Eddie, huh?" Tommy asked.
"Friend of ours," Zofia said. "Met him and a group of kids who needed a new music teacher," she then sighed. "Such a lovely school Wesley was... We should probably go back again for Christmas."
"We'll be sure to bring you guys this time!" LJ added with a chuckle.
"Play nice, dears." Hyacinth smiled as she walked off.
"And now we're in Hell." Phil mumbled.
Eventually, Hedley and Smedley came out of their rooms, coming to see their cousins and their friends.