I have returned, aliens, man-sters, ghouls, and fairy tales!

I know I've probably said this before, but I can not get over how successful this story has been: only four chapters, and I'm already over a hundred reviews. I'm literally blown away. I'm like in a hurricane or something! I love getting reviews from you guys and gals, whether they have ideas for future chapters or critiques of the chapter itself. I seriously wouldn't be where I am without you guys.

Onto the answering of the reviews! It's something like the running of the bulls, but less dangerous. At least, I think it's less dangerous (fingers crossed!).

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – The Forever Knights have always had the Forever Ninja with them, considering it appeared in the original series and Omniverse; don't know where it was during Alien Force or Ultimate Alien, but it was always there. And yes, Charmcaster will appear. She's too fairy tale-like to pass up!

StrongGuy159 – Thank you, thank you very much (I do a horrible Elvis impression).

kival737101 – I know, right? I'm just as excited as you are! Ooh, the possibilities!

superfanman217 – I'm beautiful, aren't I? XD

Codecrash – I LOVE Rath. He's one of my top ten favorite aliens, because you just seriously can't laugh whenever he comes out. As for your request, I intend to bring every single alien the series has debuted, the ones that appeared in my previous story, and some new ones, too. As for Rath's costume, I think I'll alternate between him wearing clothes and not, because I think the luchador outfit makes him more impressive (although Rath claims he isn't all about being impressive, as he's all about being angry. Appearantly Rath's angry is what makes him impressive). And if you have any ideas for how Apple or Grimm could try to get rid or capture Ben/Blitzwolfer, please let me know.

Guest – To answer the three reviews you left (love those by the way), I'm not sure I want to give Ben a knight-like transformation; Diamondhead is pretty close to a knight, and I already have plennty of aliens to bring in. Plus, an unspoken rule is that at least ten aliens debut in every series, which I intend to follow. If I come across a knight-like alien I really like however, or someone gives me an awesome one to work with, I might implement it. As for your other idea, I was actually going to do that regardless. And just because you've been awesome, I'll give you the name of said transformation: Phantux.

spurlinpatricksean2 – Yes, as unlikely as it seems, I do have a life outside of this website (unfortunately. If it was up to me, I would just write fanfiction for a living). Anyways, what I consider an official couple or not is if they have kissed; if they've kissed, they're a officially a couple, which is why I don't consider Raven and Dexter a couple yet. I do intend to bring Cerise and Maddie into the harem, but Cupid is another story altogether. She'd probably just a really good friend.

New Universe Returns – I intend to! I shall never let go! NEVER!

Darkness Rissing – Beautiful. Simply beautiful. I love the idea, and I fully intend to use it. Now onto your questions; I can not answer those right now without giving away the whole plot of the story, but lets just say that the Evil Queen is far more evil than you think.

Kaiju Fan – You make several valuable points. I really should have taken that into consideration back in We're All Monsters. As for your first suggestion, this makes a lot of sense; Ever After seems to have invented the internet and Mirrorphone before inventing the car, as I've only seen horse drawn carriages. Seems a little weird if you ask me, but then again it's a world of fairy tales.

Titanzilla – I'm sorry I confused you with the Narrators. I thought it would be fun to simply let the reader decide which Narrator was saying what (though the dialouge just goes back and forth between the two of them). Anyway, here are the answers to your questions in the order to asked them: yes, you'll have to wait and see, maybe, this information can not be disclosed at this time, he's bound to figure it out at one point or another, I do not see him as the funk master at all, and do you really want to know?

Lord Dominator – At one point, Lizzie and Kitty will appear, but as of now, they are not needed in the story yet. They will appear, but not yet. But who knows? Considering Kitty's mischevious personality, it could be sooner than you think.

Gojira – I can not answer your first question, as I do not know myself. My theory is that Raven's entire existence was nothing more than a cover up and that the Evil Queen wants to rule all of Ever After by herself without anyone to get in her way. As for your second question, yes, it does have something to do with Raven's mother. Giles . . . there's a reason Blitzwolfer was in Heroics 101 instead of General Villainy.

Royal Rebel – If you think you have offended me, then you are wrong. I was expecting something like this happen. Basically, I sometimes accidentally type what's in my head instead of what I actually want to write, and this was the case with the Mirror's riddle. Long story short, it was a typo. And the whole smoke thing? As I said in the story, Magic Mirror's are not 100% accurate, except when it comes to who's fairest of them all.

luciayshadow – Now that you mention it, it does look like a funny scene. And yes, I was referencing How to train your Dragon with the fact that the dragons are modeled after Monstrous Nightmares and the small line of Hiccup's when he's giving advice on how to train one (effectively). I used possibly one element from True Love Loophole (wonderful read BTW), and I'm glad I changed your mind about harems. It wasn't my intention to insult or degrade woman at all, but I felt like I needed to cover all the bases. As for your request for some yuri, we'll have to see what everyone else thinks.

DracoAngel17 – Then await no more, weary traveler! Your wish has come true!

masterart – I can't reveal who is trapped in the mirror without giving away the entire story. You'll just have to wait and see what happens!

Morantis – Dexter plays a pretty big role farther down the road in things and so does Cupid. I imagine he'd feel a combination of heartbreak, fury, betrayl, and possibly hunger (gotta love that comfort food).

The Question – Nice name; it's ironic or coincidental. Either way, Mindmesser can read minds, thus probbing through her memories and thoughts, including her dreams.

Penn Zero – Thank you, sir (or madame).

Marvel lover – Everyone will appear in due time, just you wait!

CreatureMan – Thank you, thank you very much (once again, I can not do an Elvis impression).

Super Dino Hero – Thank you very much!

Cartoonfan10 – I will be sure to do that the next time they appear.

Redrangerlegacy – I agree that a lot of stories portray Apple as the villain (mostly), and I think this a bit stereotypical; the way I see it, Apple is just horribly misguided, taught by her parents and teachers and whoever else has been watching her that following one's destiny is more important than being happy. She's really naïve and innocent, actually.

Gosick5233 – I never intend to drop this story until I have finished it! NEVER! I'm glad that I'm able to introduce one story or the other to new readers who haven't heard of one story or the other.

Anyways, time to give out the credit where credit is due! Thanks to Darkness Rissing for helping me start out this chapter, as well as Sigmu for writing True Love Loophole. Any aspects that might be related to both are stories are completely they're ideas and I own nothing for it. Bow down to them, bow! And give a round of applause to Codecrash once more! I honestly don't know what I would have done without this guy!

Also, leave in the reviews about whether you would like to see at least one yuri pairing in this story; I'd also ask you to leave your opinions about yaoi, if I could actually write the stuff. I've got nothing against gay people, but I can only comfortably write yuri; maybe it's because I'm a guy or something, but whatever. Let me know what you think.

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Onwards!

Venus sat on the roof of the mansion she shared with Ben and her fellow ghoulfriends. Or rather, her fellow ghoulfriends for the moment; no one had seen Ben for the entire day, not Rook, not Grandpa Max, not even Ben's parents. Set into a panic, the ghouls had set out on a city wide search for Ben, combing his usual hangouts and all of Undertown to try and find him without success.

Venus sighed and lay back on the roof, gazing up at the cool, night sky; while she was faring better than most of the ghouls, some of them were taking Ben's disappearance harder than others; Bonita was beside herself with worry, Twyla almost never came out of the shadows anymore, and Jane was beyond tired in her search for Ben, exhausting the Nemetrix and her powers to the brink where she hardly got any sleep. Avea and Clawdeen's tempers had soared without Ben to keep them cooled and were often squabbling and arguing over the smallest of things when they weren't searching for Ben or trying to Lilith and Nefera's own tempers under control.

The flutter of wings caught Venus's attention, and she looked up to see a lavender barn owl come silently soaring down through the sky, passing by the bright moon and alighting on the roof top next to her, giving a small hoot before disappearing in a whirl of purple feathers and flesh to become Jane. "How'd it go?" Venus asked.

"Badly." was all Jane would whimper as she rubbed er aching temples. "No one at the Blackhole knew anything before a bar brawl broke out."

"I told you going to the Black Hole alone was a bad idea." Venus sighed as she sat up.

"I know." Jane sighed.

"You really should be getting some more sleep." Venus also noted.

"I know." Jane repeated. "It's just . . . I'm scared. I'm scared that we'll never find Ben, that he'll be lost forever to us. And if he's still alive, that he's in some scary place where he's being tortured and kept barely alive or in some paradise where he'll forget all about and never want to come to us." she sniffed. "I miss him." she choked as she curled up on herself and hugged her knees; Venus laid a comforting arm around Jane's shoulders and hugged her close to her chest, the shape-shifter's head rest under her breasts as she rubbed Jane's back and combed her fingers through her hair.

"It'll be alright." Venus reassured her. "Ben will never forget about us."

"R-really?" Jane sniffed into Venus's midriff.

"Really." Venus nodded. "He's probably trying to find some way back even as we speak, wherever he is, or doing what he does best: being a complete idiot while helping those in need."

"B-but . . . I need him. We all do."

Venus nodded. "But somewhere, wherever Ben is, there's probably someone who needs him more. And if that is the case, he won't return until he's helped them. But I can promise you he will return, one way or another."

Jane sniffed and hugged Venus tighter, holding onto her like a child's security blanket; one of the reasons why she loved both Venus and Robecca as much as she loved Ben was that they were always there to comfort her no matter the circumstances. And now that her sacred love square had been broken, she was scared. Being comforted and held and loved like she was a small child again was soothing and comforting in the most pleasing of ways. "Th-Thanks." she sniffed, wiping her teary eyes. "I needed that."

"Good." Venus smiled as she laid back on the roof with Jane in her arms. "You wanna play with my boobs a little? I got 'em pierced a couples days ago just for you." she teased playfully.

"N-no thanks." Jane stammered as she turned a deep scarlet. "I . . . I think I'll t-take your advice and get some rest."

"Good." Venus nodded. "Good night." she said, half expecting Jane to leave her presence in favor of her own bedroom in the mansion below; when she didn't, Venus rolled her head over to see Jane starring at her without those wide, baby blue eyes she had come to love so much. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"C-can I . . . sleep with you?" Jane asked, blushing even deeper.

Venus smiled. "Of course. I'll be your very own mattress and you can be my blanket." she joked as she hugged Jane closer to her and let the shape-shifter rest her tired head on her green breasts, her cheeks flushing a light pink as Jane made herself comfortable and wrapped an arm around her for extra measure.

"Good night, Venus." Jane yawned.

"Love you, too, Jane." Venus smiled, kissing Jane's forehead as the two ghouls drifted off to sleep under the night sky.


Raven stiffened as she pushed herself from Ben to look up at him; he stood a couple inches taller than her, even with the silver crown she sometimes wore. "I assume you have questions?" Ben asked with a knowing simper.

Raven nodded. "What are you?"

"To put it simply, I'm a regular human boy with a watch called the Omnitrix that lets me turn into all sorts of alien heroes." Ben explained.

"Um . . . what is an . . . alien?" Raven asked, confused.

Ben blinked. "Uh . . . sorry, nobody's really asked me that question." he admitted with a chuckle. "To put it in simple terms, an alien is a creature from beyond the stars. A person from another planet in space." he explained.

"Oh, I see." Raven nodded. "So Blitzwolfer's an alien?"

Ben nodded. "Some aliens tend to resemble certain creatures or things from other places, like how Blitzwolfer resembles a were-, er wolf." Ben corrected himself; Raven raised an eyebrow, not falling for the correction.

"What were you about to say?" she asked.

"Well, um . . ." Ben tried to think up of a good cover up, but Raven's expecting stare shattered any chance of that within seconds. "Okay, okay, I was gonna say werewolf."

"We don't have werewolves around here." Raven tapped her chin in thought. "So if you're not from around here, where did you come from?" she asked.

Ben sighed. "First, keep in mind that I just turned into an alien, okay?" he said; once he was sure that Raven was open minded, he continued. "Anyways, I am from a parallel universe where fairy tales are nothing more than stories and humans, aliens, and actual monsters coexist in near perfect harmony."

"Near perfect?" Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah . . . some aliens, humans, and monsters are kinda racist towards one species or another and some are just evil villainous masterminds; that's where I come in." he grinned as several memories passed through his head. "I'm kinda of a hero back home."

"Really now?" raven quirked an eyebrow with a small smile on her lips.

"Hey, you just saw me turn into an alien! That's gotta count for something!" Ben protested as Raven laughed.

"I'm only kidding!" she giggled. "But in all seriousness, what are you doing here?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Ben rubbed his chin. "I honestly have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing here, but if the Forever Knights are involved, it can't be good."

Raven blinked with surprise. "Wait, they wouldn't happen to be knights in shining armor with laser sowrds and a symbol of a shield with an infinity shield on them, would they?"

Ben nodded grimly. "The very same ones from your dreams. They are just as bad as you portrayed them."

"I thought knights were supposed to be all chivalrous and heroic and stuff?" Raven wondered.

Ben shook his head. "In a way, they kinda are, but they're mostly racist jerks who hate anything alien, magical, or supernatural. Their main goal was to wipe out all aliens on Earth back in my dimension." he frowned. "If they're here . . . it's gonna be trouble."

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad." Raven scoffed.

"You have magical talking puppets, anthropomorphic wolves, magical suits of armor that walk on their own, dragons, griffins, and unicorns." Ben listed off. "And I've just seen all of that in one day. If they have the technology and power to get all the way here, then they mean business."

"So . . . why are you helping us? Helping me?" Raven asked.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm a hero, it's what I do." Ben answered, sounding a little surprised.

"Don't . . . don't you know who I am? Who I'm destined to be?" she sounded afraid.

"Yeah, you're Raven Queen. A friend who needs help." Ben replied with a smile.

"You . . . I'm a friend?" Raven blinked. "But don't you know who my mom is?"

Ben tapped his chin as he looked Raven up and down, taking note of her pale skin, her bright eyes, and her dark, midnight hair. "Snow White?" Ben guessed.

Raven's eyes went wide. "Wait, what?" she gaped. "Why would you think that?" she asked.

Ben shrugged with a devious smirk on his lips. "Well, why wouldn't I? Skin white as snow, hair black as midnight, lips . . . okay, so the lips don't apply, but you seem to care a lot for your friends to the point of sacrificing your own freedom. In other words, you are definetly the fairest of them all." Ben listed off. "And that's just what I got from talking to you and scanning your dreams with Mindmesser."

Raven blushed. "Why did you look at my dreams?" she asked.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything." Ben shrugged. "Either way, you're definetly more worthy to be Snow White than the Evil Queen."

"Really?" Raven's face flushed a deeper red.

"Really." Ben nodded. "I'll stay as long as I need to make sure everything turns out right for you." he promised. Raven smiled and hugged him again; she knew she had done enough times already, but nobody had been this kind to her, not even Maddie. While the Hatter was always supportive of her no matter what happened to her or what she did, her madness sometimes made her incapable of helping Raven during the worst of times whether Maddie wanted to help or not. She felt Ben wrap his arms around her again and give her a small squeeze before releasing her, taking note that the witchling shivered slightly.

"We should get back inside. Before you catch cold." Ben said. "You wanna see another alien?" he grinned as he turned on the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before selecting the alien he needed. Before Raven could say anything, he had slammed a hand down on the activation button and engulfed himself in a flash of green light, changing right before Raven's eyes as his body was warped and twisted into something new. He felt the skin around his skull slowly vanish as if some flesh eating parasite were slowly digesting the skin and tissue around his head, leaving nothing but a white skull behind that rotated upside down with a sickening cracking noise. His teeth ground and split into sharp daggers as a new, thicker skin cover his face spread to fluidly cover the rest of his body as his eyes morphed into one; his hands trembled and twitched for a second before exploding into razor-sharp claws that felt like they could slice right through someone's soul. Ben's legs wrapped around each into a sort of ghostly tail as thick, green chains formed around his neck and wrists, the Omnitrix appearing at the center of his chest, suspended there by three heavy chains while a dozen or so tentacles formed inside of his chest, pushing aside most of the his organs as the majority of them vanished, now completely useless.

"Ever been invisible?" Ghostfreak rasped as Raven blinked and took a step back, slightly unnerved by the single, green eye that opened and closed horizonally every few seconds; she felt like the Ectonurite was gazing into her soul.

"No." Raven admitted.

"Thought not." Ghostfreak shrugged. "Trust me when I say it gets some getting use to, but it's harmless, really." he reassured her. "Now hold still. This may tingle for a little bit." he said as he suddenly swooped downwards and grabbed Raven by the shoulders, lifting her off the ground with ease as she yelled in surprise and feebaly kicked her legs before she got use to the feeling of the wind rushing past her face and through her hair, tickling her underneath her nightgown as she grabbed the Ectonurite's arms and wrists to strengthen his hold on her. They quickly flew over the Enchanted Forest, the trees nothing more than a carpet of green and brown beneath her as Ever After High loomed in the distance.

Before long, they had made it to the school, but instead of flying down to drop Raven off at the front doors, Ghostfreak flew right at a wall without stopping; Raven nearly screamed, fearing that she would be reduced to a bloody paste on the white, marbel wall of the school before she squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the worst.

When she found that she had not been turned into a red smear of red on the wall, Raven cracked open eye just in time to watch herself and Ghostfreak effortlessly phase through another wall and fly right through Briar Beauty and Ashlynn's dormitory; the two princesses were oblivious to the two silent intruders, deep in slumber as Ghostfreak flew himself and Raven though another wall and back out into the hallway, deciding to stick to the hallway itself as he set Raven down on the carpet and hovered beside her.

"That . . . was amazing." Raven breathed.

"Wait'll you try running as XLR8." Ghostfreak seemed to grin a mouthless smile. "Now which dorm is yours?"

"Two doors down." Raven whispered, quietly sneaking along the floor and hoping she wasn't making too much noise as she approached the door and waited as Ghostfreak slipped his head through the door itself to make sure Apple was asleep; a mess of blonde curls on the left side of the dorm from the door confirmed that she hadn't stirred.

"Hang on, before you go." Raven set a hand on Ghostfreak's shoulder as the Omnitrix timed out in a burst of green light and brought Ben back into the world. "There's something I need to ask you."

"What?" Ben asked.

"There's this charity cross country race we're doing tomorrow," Raven explained. "'The Annual Jack Be Nimble' race. No relation to Mr. Nimble." she added to alleviate Ben of his confusion. "Basically, people bet on which racer will cross the finish line first, with all proceeds going to build an orphanage for abandoned fairy tales. We need all the help we can get."

"A race huh?" Ben scratched his chin.

"I know it's a lot to ask, considering we just technically met and all, but-"

"I'll do it." Ben interrupted. "What time do I show up?" he asked.

Raven blinked; she wasn't expecting him to agree so quickly. "Uh, one o'clock, during Grimmnastics."

Alright. What happens if I win?" Ben asked, folding his arms over his chest.

Raven blushed slightly at what she was about to say. "Uh . . . a kiss. You kiss whoever bet on you."

"Alright. I guess I can handle that." Ben shrugged with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" he said.

"Okay." Raven nodded. "Good night."

"Good night." Ben smiled, tilting his head down to kiss Raven on the head before making his way towards the boys dormitory and then his own dorm where he could snuggle under the covers and drift off to sleep; considering the Forever Ninja had vanished by the time he had gotten back from Raven's summoning, he needed all the energy he could get for both the coming storm and race tomorrow.

Raven meanwhile, merely stood there in the hallway, stunned and with her face flushed a deep red. She was on autopiolet as she opened the door to her dorm and walked across the floor to her bed, crawling under the covers and nestling her head into her pillow. Ben, the knight in shining armor that was to protect her from harm of any shape or form, to help her fight for her own destiny, had kissed her. Willingly. No one but her father when she was a little girl had ever done that for her. It made her heart flutter and her face feel warm as she she thought about returning the favor, feeling her lips pressed against his.

With a smile upon her face, she pulled the covers up tighter around her and slept deeply, imagining the warm blankets around her to be Ben holding her and protecting her from harm.


Cerise stretched and limbered up as she waited patiently at the starting line. The day was bright and warm with the breeze being crisp and clear, allowing for an optimal running day; at least, that was what Humphrey Dumpty claimed. Cerise herself never quite understood everything that came out of the Son of Humpty Dumpty's mouth, but she decided it meant that it supposed to be a good day for a race.

Among the competitors, other than Cerise, was Daring Charming (in a desperate attempt to regain his dignity), Hunter Huntsman, Sparrow Hood, and Briar Beauty; Cerise had been disappointed that Blitzwolfer had yet to show up at all, and was about to go check on him when Raven came and told her that he was out with a head cold, taking the day off in his dorm to rest. As much the Daughter of Little Red Riding Hood hated to admit it, she found the Loboan attractive; she could see why her mother had fallen in love with her father.

"Good day, Ever After!" a cheerful, excited voice announced happily. "I'm your host, Blondie Locks, and I am honored to be hosting this year's Annul Jack Be Nimble race! It seems we have a wide selection of racers this year." Blondie noted; she was a girl of average height with natural, curly, blonde hair with a blue bow and dress, pale skin, and large, blue eyes.

"And now for the bettings! As a quick reminder, all proceeds towards the race will go towards the building of an orphanage for abandoned fairy tales; now onto the bets!" Blondie announced. "Daring Charming is currently in the lead with fifty-seven bets, Sparrow Hood with thirty-one, Briar Beauty with twenty-nine, Cerise Hood with twenty-five, and Hunter Huntsman with five." Blondie concluded. "Oh, wait! We have a final entry with exactly one vote!"

"Who else dares me in a race?" Daring scoffed as he admired himself in one of his many years.

"That would be me." a rather high voice growled. Everyone turned to see a human-like creature approach the finish line at a brisk jog as bright, blue four covered every available part of his body with black patches on his upper arms and thighs. A long, feline tail curled out from the back of the creature's spine, flicking back and forth as he trotted to a stop and flexed his strong looking fingers tipped with dagger-like claws; his feet ended in stiff paws with sharp claws, digging into the dirt and providing traction as a pair of cat-like ears sat on his head, rotating and flicking whenever they sensed the slightest bit of noise. He wore a green and black body suit with a green and white belt around his waist, a strange, black disk sitting at the center with a sharp, green hourglass figure decorating it.

"Who are you?" Cerise wondered, eyeing the odd looking creature and noting that it was decorated with black spots and it wore a pair of green goggles over its eyes that sat above its white whiskers.

"Name's Fasttrack." the blue, cat-like creature answered as he walked up to the starting line and crouched down low into a starting position. "And you must be the lovely Cerise Hood. I've heard a lot about your running skills."

"Have you now?" Cerise raised an eyebrow; some inner part of her was bristling inside, but she waved it off as the wolf within her simply disliking cats. Or cat-like beings. "If I may ask, but what exactly are you?"

"Son of Puss in Boots." Fasttrack replied. "Have yet to find some boots that suit me though."

"Last I checked, cats weren't blue." Hunter noted with suspicion.

"I know that. I just wanted to try out a new look." Fasttrack replied. "And before you ask, yes I have spots; it can't helped anymore than Apple can help being blonde instead of black." he added before Hunter could make another comment.

Cerise cocked an eyebrow at the Citrakayah as she herself assumed a similar running posture while the majority of the other students opted to simply start on their own two legs; Briar was stretching and limbering up, unintentionally showing off her legs, bust, and ass to the boys of the crowd while she wore a pair of tight, pink biking shorts with white stripes and her usual pink and black top with the puffy pink sleeves literally torn off. Her hair was pulled back into a brown and pink streaked ponytail, with a pair of pink running heels on her feet, and a pair of pink goggles that she slipped down over her eyes after stretching.

"Get ready to eat my dust, boys." Briar smirked.

Hunter scoffed. "Yeah, right. You'll be eating my dust!"

"Please." Cerise rolled her eyes. "Both of you'll be eating my dust."

"I'll eating my own dust, thank you very much." Fasttrack piped up; the other racers gave him an odd look, but their attention was quickly diverted when Blondie announced that the race was starting soon.

"Alright, racers! You know the rules!" the blonde began. "You'll start here at the starting line and run the marked trail through the Enchanted Forest and into the Dark Forest, where you will then make your way to Book End and then back here; you will be required to stop at and give proof at several check points along the race track to avoid disqualification." Blondie concluded. "And remember! No flying, teleporting, or help from any kind of transportation! And absolutely no outside help! Other than that, pretty much anything else goes!"

Unbeknownst to most everyone, Duchess Swan was watching from the shadows of the rows of bleachers set up around the starting/finish line, grinning deviously. "Anything goes, huh? Well, I'll just have to make sure Daring is the only one to cross the finish line to claim that kiss." she plotted to herself as she rubbed her hands together maniacally. "Once Daring realizes how much better I am than the Apple, he'll want to be my prince!"

"Do you talk to yourself a lot?"

Duchess yelped and turned around to see Faybelle Thorn hanging upside down from one of the support beams of the bleachers, eyebrow raised and arms folded over her chest; she wore a pair of knee high blue boots with black laces over tight, blue pants and a dress colored a wide selection of blacks, blues, greens, and whites. Her platinum blonde hair with a teal streak was pulled into a ponytail and her periwinkle grey eyes starred at Duchess with mirth while her fairy wings lay pinned against her back.

"Hex, Faybelle! You nearly scared the feathers off of me!" Duchess panted.

"It's what I do." Faybelle shrugged. "So you're planning on cheating, huh?"

"You won't tell anyone, right?" Duchess gulped nervously.

Faybelle rolled her eyes. "Please. If anything, I wanna help. What are Best Friends Forever After for?"

The Daughter of the Swan Queen sighed with relief. "I just have one condition." Faybelle spoke up.

"What?" Duchess bit her lip.

"We leave Briar alone. That's my sole condition." Faybelle demanded. "I don't care if we wins or loses, but she is not to be harmed in anyway. Got it?" she asked.

"Got it." Duchess confirmed, taking the fairy's hand and giving it a good shake. "Now lets go make some mischief."

"GO!" Blondie announced.


Cerise naturally was at the head of the pack, easily outrunning most of her fellow competitors and taking the lead much to the majority of the better's disappointment. She ignored the small groans of annoyance and focused more on the cheers and yells of approval from the people that had voted for her, mostly boys and a few girls that either really wanted a kiss from her or were just supporting her; either way, it fueled Cerise like gas to a car, enabling her to pull farther and farther ahead of the others.

At least, she thought so.

"See you at the finish line!" Fasttrack grinned as he zoomed past the Daughter of Little Red Riding Hood in a black and blue blur that nearly sent Cerise tumbled forward as she desperately tried to keep her skirt from flying up and her hood from flying off. With a growl of frustration and shock as she watched the Citrakayah dash off into the distance in the time it took for her to blink; something told her that whatever the blue creature in front of her was, it was not the Son of Puss in Boots.

A feral growl escaped her lips as she raced after Fasttrack, her eyes flashing a dark amber in color as her teeth grew into pointed fangs and her nails turned into sharp claws; her wolf side was coming out, subduing and pushing her human side back into the recesses of her mind as she shot off like an arrow.

Daring blinked as he watched Fasttrack not only catch up to him from last place, but easily overcome him and leave him in a cloud of dust to plague his perfect skin and obscure his handsome face, not to mention humiliate him for the second time. And then he caught witness of Cerise hitting it into high gear, easily leaving him in another cloud of dust to be ignored and hidden in; he didn't mind it all that much, considering they had something of a friendship going. The prince charming could not deny that Cerise was a beast when it came to playing bookball.

"She must have practicing for Blitzwolfer." Briar noted as she caught up to him.

"Apparently." Daring agreed. "I'd go so far as to say she might actually be part wolf." he joked.

"That'd be ridiculous!" Briar laughed. "Cool, but completely ridiculous. How would that even work?"

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but get ready to eat my dust!" Hunter piped up as he caught up to the two of them.

"Hunter, we're past that now." Briar rolled her eyes as she started to pull away from the two boys. "Hext ya later!" she cried as she left the two boys behind while she pulled ahead.

"Come on, dude! We can't lose to a girl!" Hunter yelled at Daring.

"Don't let Briar hear you say that. Or Cerise. Or Raven, Ashlynn, Darling, and pretty much every other girl on campus." Daring gulped nervously; unfortunately for Hunter, it seemed that Briar had heard him, and came charge right back at him with the furousity of an angry bull, slamming into Hunter with the force of a freight train and throwing him to the ground, easily holding him there as she slapped him across the face several times.

"Save that again!" she yelled. "I dare you to say that again!"

"No! Stop!" Hunter cried inbetween slaps. "I take it back! I take it back!" he wailed.

Daring knew rescuing his friend was the right and heroic thing to do, but at the moment he didn't want to face an angry Briar Beauty when she was in one of her moods. Instead, he chose to keep running ahead, shouting an apology over his shoulder as he ran away.

"I think the tripwire trap will be unnecessary." Duchess whispered to Faybelle from the bushes.

"Yeah. Briar's owning Huntsman!" the fairy smiled with amusement as Briar gave Hunter a wedgie, much to his pain and horror. "We just need to slow down Cerise and Fasttrack." she tapped her chin in thought.

"Pitfall trap with spikes at the bottom?" Duchess suggested.

"That . . . might be a bit extreme." Faybelle told her.


Fasttrack had to admit; when Blondie said 'Enchanted Forest', she really did mean it. Once or twice, he had caught sight of a unicorn or two through the trees, and he could sworn he once saw a griffin flying over the canopy. But that was unimportant right now. Right now, he was in a race, and even though he was clearly in the lead, he was not about to relive the story of the Tortoise and the Hare simply because he was ahead. Before long, he came across the first check point and came to a screeching halt a few few beyond the point itself.

"Can't say I've seen you around here before." Maddie giggled slightly as she poured herself a cup of tea on top of a tree stump; Earl Grey popped out of her hat and hopped down to the stump, grabbing a biscuit and nibbling away at it hungrily. "Oh, well! Care for some tea?" she asked happily.

The Citrakayah blinked but shrugged and walked over to the stump that acted like a table for the party, grabbing a tea cup and sitting down on a rock. "You got any ginger tea?" he asked, holding his cup out.

"You're in luck! I made a fresh batch!" Maddie smiled as she took off her hat and reached her hand inside up to the elbow, rummaging around inside and pulling out a lemon, rubber ducky, and even a full grown llama from the depths of her hat before finally pulling out a steaming tea pot; she poured Fasttrack a cup of tea before pouring a second cup for the llama.

"One lump or two?" she asked.

"Two, please." Fasttrack replied politely; he just barely dodged two strikes of the large mallet the Hatter had pulled out of her hat. "Geez! Are you trying to kill me!"

"Well, you asked for two lumps!" Maddie laughed, nearly falling off her rock.

"I thought you were talking about sugar!" Fasttrack tried to sound serious; he found it was hard to supress the smile crossing his face as Maddie laughed like the Mad Hatter she was. For some reason, he could already feel himself brightening around the bubbly girl that had tried to hit him with a hammer mere seconds ago. "How did you even pull all that stuff out your hat?" he asked, trying to change the subject; the llama paused to stop lapping up its teeth and aim a glob of spit at his head. "Okay, geez! How did you pull all that stuff and the llama out of your hat?" he corrected himself; the llama seemed satisfied with that and went back to drinking its tea and munching on biscuits with Earl Grey.

"Wonderlandian magic." Maddie shrugged it off. "How else do you think Lizzie Hearts can chop off heads with a flick of her finger?"

"Okay, I am now scared." Fasttrack blinked. "Well, I'd like to talk some more, but I'm kinda in the middle of a race."

"Oh, right!" Maddie snapped her fingers. She reached into her hat once more and pulled out a gecko, beach ball, and tennis racket before pulling out a stamp and ink press before beckong the Citrakayah closer and stamping his arm with the image of a sun stenciled in black ink. "Your next check point is at the place where the water roars like lions. Good luck!"

"Alright. Thanks for the tea!" Fasttrack bid Maddie farewell as he took off on all fours at a brisk jog before switching to his original legs and taking off in a blue and black blur, nearly spilling Maddie's tea, pulling her hat off of her head, and pulling up her skirt before the suction died down. Before long, Cerise came tearing up the trail, snarling and growling with rage as she descended upon the check point and came to a stop, sniffing the air for a few seconds before letting lose a loud howl; it was then that she realized that Maddie, Earl Grey, the llama, and gecko were starring at her.

"Uh, sorry. I've got . . . a nasty cough." Cerise lied, pulling her hood down further to mask her face as her eyes darkend into a dull gray and her fangs and claws disappeared into her normal teeth and nails. "Is this where I'm supposed to go?"

Maddie blinked, but shrugged it off as her simply being mad. "You bet your tea cups it is! Want some tea?" she offered.

"If it's alright with you Maddie, I'd just like to get on with the race." Cerise said.

Maddie pouted but stamped Cerise with the same black sun image on her arm before taking off at a brisk pace after Fasttrack, determined to at least catch up to the Citrakayah and end up with a tie; now that she was out of Maddie's line of sight, she let her wolf side out once more and felt her teeth and nails become sharp again as a deep growl reverabrated in her throat.

"Something tells me her hat's on too tight." Maddie said to Earl Grey. "But what do I know?" she giggled. The Hatter enjoyed a few more minutes of silence at her tea party, happily chatting away with her dormouse, the llama, and the gecko, when Daring came jogging up to her, taking off his golden crown to wipe his brow.

"Hello, Ms. Hatter. I assume this is the check point I am to stop at?" he asked.

"Does the boar tap dance to the ballet?" Maddie giggled once again.

"Uh . . ." Daring blinked; he had no idea what the Hatter had just said, but then again not many other people outside of the other Wonderland students and Raven understood a lick of what Maddie ever said.

"Yes, it is, Daring." Maddie sighed, rolling her eyes as she held up her tea pot. "Tea?"

"I'd love to, but I really must be getting back to the race. If you could point me in the direction of the next check point?" he asked; Maddie pouted again and stamped his arm before giving him the same riddle she had with the others. Why didn't anybody ever stick around for tea?

"Farewell, fair maiden!" Daring bid Maddie good-bye as he took off down the road.

"Nobody ever has any time for tea." Maddie pouted; Earl Grey squeaked something as the llama bleated.

"You make a valuable point, Earl Grey." Maddie agreed. "Grape jelly does taste better with jumbo shrimp. As for you Woolly, I can't say I've ever been to Mt. Everest After. I'm sure it's a lovely place at this time of year."

"Hey, Maddie!"

The small tea party turned to see Briar come walking up the trail, dragging a black and blue Hunter Huntsman behind her as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "This where we're supposed to stop?"

"Yep! Want some tea?" she asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Briar shrugged. "You want some, Hunter?"

"Sure . . ." Hunter groaned as Briar propped him up on a rock, wincing as he slumped nearly limp onto the table with a black eye, busted lip, and bruised face.

"One lump or two?" Maddie asked as she poured the Daughter of Sleeping Beauty and injured huntsman two cups of tea.

"One, please." Briar answered.

"Two." Hunter groaned.

Maddie promptly pulled out her mallet and crushed Briar's tea cup as she jumped back in time to avoid the attack; Hunter was not so lucky and received two cracks of the Hatter's mallet to the head, Briar wincing with every blow.

"Are you crazy!?" Briar yelped before she realized who she was talking to. "Uh, let me rephrase that. Are you crazier than before!?"

"I asked if he wanted one or two lumps." Maddie replied innocently as the llama bleated again. "See? Woolly agrees with me!"

"I thought you were talking about sugar!"

"That's exactly what Fasttrack said!" Maddie laughed.

"Fair enough." Briar sighed. "Can you just tell us where to go next?"

"You bet your tea cups!" Maddie nodded as she took out her stamp and pressed the image of the black sun onto Briar and hunter's arms before giving the more conscious of the two the directions on where to go.

"Thanks, Maddie!" Briar waved.

"Aren't you going to take Hunter with you?" the Hatter took a sip of her tea.

"I don't think he's ready to go just yet. Send him ahead when he's ready." Briar called over his shoulder. "And tell him I'm sorry!"

"Okay!" Maddie smiled, dropping two lumps of sugar into Hunter's cup. "You like buscuits, Hunter? No, Earl Grey, I don't think he's allergic to checkers."


Miss Muffet had seen several strange things since she had opened up her frozen yogurt business in the dark bowels of the Dark Forest; sure, being in such a secluded and dark place made her business susepable to such strange things along with a lack of seemingly normal customers, but she had never expected to see a large, huma-like cat covered in blue fur and dark, black spots try to come to a halt in front of her business, only to crash right into one of the tuffets around one of the large mushrooms that functioned as tables.

"Ow!" Fasttrack groaned as he picked himself up and rubbed his aching head. "This the next place I'm suppose to be?"

"Yep!" Miss Muffet nodded.

"But . . . I don't see any water that roars like a lion." the Citrakayah rubbed his chin. "And is it just me, or did it suddenly get really dark."

"You're in the Dark Forest!" Miss Muffet giggled. "Want some frozen yogurt?"

"Why is everyone offering me food?" Fasttrack wondered. "And what about the riddle?"

"You're in the right place." Miss Muffet reassured him, pointing behind him at a large waterfall that tumbled and spilled into a small pond below, creating a low rushing noise that sounded more like cats purring than lions roaring.

"That's it? I was expecting something bigger." Fasttrack blinked.

"Well, it only ever sounds like lions when its really stormy." a gravelly voice admitted; Fasttrack glanced behind Miss Muffet to see a large spider roughly the size of a horse descend down from the trees above, sporting a head and beard of white hairs while he wore a black top hat, red vest, and two pairs of spectacles over his four eyes.

"Uh, are you aware that there is a monstrous spider behind you?" Fasttrack asked; he had learned from Hunter first hand that judging a book by its cover was not the best thing to do when meeting some strange, new creature that was hanging out with a young maiden.

"Yes, I am." Miss Muffet giggled. "Bruce, you really need to stop doing that. Sooner or alter, no one will ever visit our frozen yogurt bar!"

"Sorry." Bruce sighed. "Well, at least we still have the free web access. Care for some forzen yogurt?" he asked the Citrakayah.

"Some other time, maybe. Right now, I'm in a race." Fasttrack shook his head.

"Well, with the way you came flying in here, I doubt you'll come in last place." Miss Muffet smiled as she pulled out an ink pad and stamp, pressing an image of a black spider into Fasttrack's arm just above the picture of the sun before Bruce pulled out a piece of paper and read off the next clue.

If you are not careful, it will surely shatter. Go to the place past the baking batter." the large spider read off. "It's in Book End, too."

"Alright. Thanks." the Citrakayah waved farewell. "Beep, beep!" he cried before he shot in a black and blue blur, nearly pulling Bruce's hat off of his head before one of his eight legs managed to catch it in time.

"Hex, talk about a speedster." Bruce remarked.

Miss Muffet was about to reply when a loud roar came from the woods, sending flocks of crows and ravens into the Dark Forest as Cerise came tearing out from the trees, a feral look in her amber eyes. She snarled and growled, a frightening amount of saliva dripping from her lips and sharp fangs before she realized that there were people watching her; she quickly recomposed herself and hugged her hood over her head out of habit. "Is this the next check point?" she asked softly.

"Uh, yeah." Bruce blinked.

"Would you like some frozen yogurt?" Miss Muffet asked.

"Do you have anything meat flavored?" Cerise asked as she allowed Bruce to stamp her arm with the black spider.

"Um . . . no. We've got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana, dragonfruit, fairyfruit, and flies."

"That last one's my favorite." Bruce smiled toothily. "But we don't got anything meat flavored. Unless you like the taste of insects."

"No thanks." Cerise politely declined as she took off.

"Oh, maybe I should just open my own business; my presence is making customers uncomfortable." Bruce sighed. "That, or we need to get meat flavored yogurt."

"Do think it might have something to do with our choice of location?" Miss Muffet contemplated.

"Maybe." Bruce shrugged all four of his arms. "I mean, not everybody finds this place as inviting as you and me."

"I see that Riding Hood girl here all the time." Miss Muffet noted. "Maybe we should get meat flavored yogurt."

"But why would Riding Hood like meat flavored yogurt?" Bruce wondered when Briar came jogging up to the frozen yogurt bar and sat on one of the surrounding tuffets to rest; moments later, Daring came trotting up, his letterman jacket slung over his shoulder as he gasped for breath.

"Welcome to Miss Muffets Frozen Yogurt Bar!" Miss Muffet chirped happily. "Would you like frozen yogurt? It's way tasty!"

"And we've got free web access, too!" Bruce chimed in, thankful that their two latest potential customers either didn't feel uncomfortable by his appearance or were too tired to be scared; either one worked for him.

"I'll take some." Daring panted. "Chocolate please. It keeps me handsome as usual." he grinned a weak, charming smile.

"None for me, thanks." Briar panted as she stood up, stretched her aching muscles and walked over to the small waterfall across the way from the frozen yogurt stand before dunking her entire head into the cooling waters for a few seconds before pulling it back out, feeling refreshed. "Whew! That felt good." she smiled as she flicked a lily pad off of her head.

"If you say so." Miss Muffet shrugged; she had soft, pink hair with curled bangs and corkscrew pigtails on either side of her head while she wore a cape that resembled insect wings and little tugget earrings. She wore a blue bow on her chest and a lilac shirt, her skirt being a dark blue in color with a flower belt around the waste. On her head was a small bonnet with feathers that resembled a spider and brought out her brown eyes; Bruce stamped her arm with the black spider and read her the riddle before sending the princess on her way as Miss Muffet handed Daring his frozen yogurt.

"Well, at least we finally got a customer." Miss Muffet said happily as she deposited the cost of Daring's frozen yogurt into the cash register.

"Hex!" Duchess cursed from behind a moss covered tree drapped in vines. "We gotta get Dexter back on his feet and running somehow." she hissed under her breath.

"Already gotcha covered." Faybelle grinned as she cautiously pulled a beehive off of a tree branch, suffering only a few stings to her fingers before she chucked the hive at the yogurt bar and dove into the bushes; Duchess watched as the hive exploded into a swarm of angry bees, making Daring scream in fright at the propect of receiving unsightly bee stings to his precious skin and run away down the trail as fast as he could with a good chunk of the bees chasing after him, forcing him to drop his frozen yogurt. The rest of the swarm went for Miss Muffet and Bruce, the two of them only suffering mild stings before Bruce managed to catch them ina hastily spun web.

"Mmmm! Lunch!" he licked his lips hungrily.

"You go ahead and try to stop Cerise and Fasttrack." Faybelle hissed as she wrung her aching hands. "I'll be along as soon as I've taken care of these." she added as she cautiously grabbed hold of one of the stingers in her teeth and started to slowly pull it out; Duchess grinned fraudulently, chuckling darkly under her breath.


Cerise paused to catch her breath, leaning against a large oak and forcing the wolf side of her that was currently in control back within her, shoving it into the dark corners of her mind as she tried to fix herself up and look proper; back before she had near total control over her wolf side, her parents had no choice but to tie her to a stake out in the yard and treat her little more than like a younger puppy before she finally had enough training to subdue her savage nature. And that was when she was only eight years old! Beside of her heritage, she had missed Nursery Rhyme school and ended up being home schooled by both her parents until she was able to venture out into the world without fear of losing control.

At times, she hated her parents for ever falling in love and having her, forcing her to be a Rebel simply because she was half girl, half wolf, forcing her to always hide in the shadows away from the majority of the other students. She could never fully enjoy herself when she went to school dances or participated in the few after school activities she liked without fear of someone discovering her horrible secret.

She shook her head; now was not the time for such negative thoughts. She was in the lead, with Fasttrack having stopped to rest after running nearly full tilt without stopping at all; she wondered how the Citrakayah could have run that fast without tiring for a long time, but decided she needed to focus more on the race. The Dark Forest was starting to thin out back into the Enchanted Forest, something she was glad of; while the Dark Forest didn't frighten her as much as it did with other fairy tales, she could never shake the feeling that she was being watched by something through the moss covered trees whose branches seemed to claw and reach for her with their gnarled, old branches.

She could start to see sunlight peeking through the thick canopy of the Dark Forest and Cerise sighed with relief as she pressed onwards, the dark grasses and skeleton bushes giving way to colorful flowers and lush reeds. She took a deep sniff of the air and she inhaled the sweet scent of wildflowers and the distant smell o baking pastries from the Beanstalk Bakery; she was already salivating at the thought of the delicious cookies and cupcakes that decorated the bakery's counters and shelves, and this fueled her onward.

She was so distracted by the wondrous smells overloading her sensitive nose with alluring scents and odors, that she didn't even notice the tripwire strung tightly between two trees on either side of the trail until it was too late; with a loud twang! Cerise fell to the ground, rolling for a few, painful feet down a hillside covered in sharp rocks and logs before she went screaming over the side of a cliff that was obscured by a row of tall bushes and plummeted down at least a hundred feet.

"Well, at least my death will be instant." Cerise murmured to herself as she fell, the bottom of the cliff getting closer and closer with every passing second. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the sudden spike of pain she would feel before she would peace; at least where she was going, no one could make fun of her ears anymore. Not that anyone had before, considering hardly anybody knew. She was going to miss both of her parents, regardless of how much they had unintentionally messed up her life, and she was going to miss Raven, the one person she had trusted with her secret; hopefully she would find her happily ever after, maybe with Blitzwolfer. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she had fallen hard for Blitzwolfer. She had always been attracted to the leader of the pack, and that use to be Daring of all persons, but after seeing the Loboan effortlessly shatter Daring's record, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Hope they all find happiness without me." she mumbled to herself.

"I don't think they will!" a familiar voice quipped.

Before Cerise knew what was happening, she struck something hard with a pained grunt and felt the wind get knocked out of her as she quickly shot upwards, literally defying the laws of gravity as she was pulled upwards; upon regaining at least some of her breath, Cerise flickered her stormy gray eyes around and took notice of the blue fur and black spots, the sound of claws scrabbling on rock and stone, and the long, cat-like tail whipping around in the air in front of her as she suddenly shot off the cliff and into the air for a few seconds before she came back down with a soft landing.

"You okay?" Fasttrack asked as he held her in her arms.

Cerise blinked and realized that while the impossible had seemed to happen, Fasttrack had raced ahead and down the cliff face in front of her before running right back up the vertical surface, catching Cerise in her arms and hauling her straight up the cliff face before coming to a stop. "Y-yeah. Just . . . just a little shaken up."

"Considering you just rolled down a hill and was thrown off a cliff, I can't blame you." Fasttrack joked as he gently set her down; Cerise suddenly screamed with agony and crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes, clutching her swollen ankle as she viciously bit her lip to bite back a scream.

"I think you twisted your ankle," the Citrakayah noted. "Maybe even bruised a few ribs, too."

"No, shit, Merlin." Cerise cursed through gritted teeth; Fasttrack was slightly taken aback and surprised by the foul language but shook it off as he careful slipped his arms under Cerise's legs and back, careful to avoid further hurting her leg and possibly injured chest, drawing a confused look from Cerise when she wasn't fighting back tears of pain.

"What are you doing?" she growled.

"We're finishing this race." Fasttrack said firmly. "And then getting you some help. No arguments." he added when he saw that Cerise was about to protest. With a grumble, Cerise made herself cozy before the Citrakayah shot off like a bullet, leaving black, blue, and red after images of himself and Cerise as he hungrily ate up the road, easily gaining ground as he left the Dark Forest behind and entered back into the Enchanted Forest, easily passing Briar as he sped by, pausing long enough to give her a shrewd smile before blowing her a raspberry and leaving her in a cloud of dust, all within the time span of 1.5 seconds.

"What? I gotta have some fun." he defended himself when Cerise gave him a disapproving look.

They were making excellent time, leaving the Enchanted Forest behind within a matter of a few more seconds, entering the fields that surrounded Book End and making the meadows of grass and reeds whip back and forth like they were in a hurricane from the shear suction as he sped into the Village of Book End and came to a screeching halt in front of the Glass Slipper; Ashlynn was waiting there surrounded by a few of her animal friends.

"Oh, hey, guys!" Ashlynn said brightly. "Cerise, what happened to you?" she asked when she noticed that Fasttrack was carrying the Daughter of Little Red Riding Hood in his arms.

"Twisted my ankle when I fell down a cliff." she replied with annoyance.

"I can take care of that for you if you want." Ashlynn offered as she took out a stamp and ink pad before pressing the image of glass slipper stenciled in black into Fasttrack and Cerise's arms.

Cerise shook her head. "No. I want to get this race over with."

"We'll be back before you know it." Fasttrack reassured her when he noticed the doubting expression of Ashlynn's face.

"If you say so." Ashlynn sighed. "By the way, have you seen Hunter?"

"Last time I saw him was at the starting line." Fasttrack remarked.

"I can't quite confirm it, but I did hear him screaming awhile back before the first check point," Cerise remembered. "I think I heard Briar yelling at him too."

"Oh, hex." Ashlynn bit her lip. "I hope he's alright. I'd love to go check on him, but I can't leave my station until someone's won the race."

"I'm pretty sure he's fine." Fasttrack reassured her. "He's Hunter. If he can stand up to Blitzwolfer and tame a fire breathing dragon, he can handle himself."

"How did you know about those things?" Ashlynn raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "I thought you were a new student?"

"Uh, word gets around fast." the Citrakayah lied. "Gotta run!" he quipped before he sped off in another flash of black and blue, nearly yanking off Ashlynn's tiara and pulling up her skirt as her songbirds hung on tightly to her hair to avoid getting pulled away in the suction.

That was close, Fasttrack thought to himself as he raced through Book End, dodging and weaving the few residents that were out and about and not back at the finish line eagerly awaiting; a thought suddenly occurred to him. "You haven't seen Daring by any chance?" he asked Cerise.

"No, I haven't." she shook her head. "While we were talking to Ashlynn though, I heard some distant screams that I think belong to him. Not sure why he would be screaming though."

"Maybe he's being slowly crushed to death by all of his fangirls." the Citrakayah joked. "Wait, were those screams ahead or behind us?"

"Ahead." Cerise answered.

"Sphinx." he cursed under his breath. "Time to put some pedal to the metal." he grinned as he pushed his muscles harder and harder, speeding up faster than he had before until Cerise's ears suddenly popped and a loud boom echoed behind them; everything was a blur of colors now and she could no longer rely on her sensitive ears to tell her where she was anymore as she squinted her eyes to protect them from any upcoming objects. Before long, they had caught up to the final stretch of the race, a small smile crossing Cerise's face when she saw Daring ahead of them, his arms over his head and flailing as a cloud of angry bees swarmed after him.

"I don't that's the kind of love he was looking for." Fasttrack joked; Cerise was unable to hear him as they quickly caught up to the Son of Prince Charming. Daring's eyes widened further than they were before when he saw Fasttrack and Cerise tied with him for a few seconds, his surprised look turning into one of angry as the two of them grinned and blew raspberries at him before speeding off again, leaving him in the dust as they shot off across the finish line and came to a screeching stop after sliding for a couple of yards; a sonic boom quickly followed and thundered across the area, eliciting screams and yelps of fright and surprise from the onlookers.

"H-hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Blondie tapped her microphone. "What words am I saying?" she asked the audience, who were just as deaf as she was; a few seconds later, she was able to hear again and she played with her ears just to make sure they still worked. "Right. Anyway, it seems we have tie!" Blondie announced. "Dexter, do we have a photo finish?" she asked her assistance.

"Uh, er, um, g-give me a second." the nerdy prince charming stammered as he fumbled with his Mirrorpad. After a few seconds, Dexter produced the captured image to Blondie, both of their eyes widening when they saw who had won.

"I don't believe it! The winner of the Annual Jack Be Nimble cross country race is Cerise Hood!" Blondie announced; wild cheers, groans of defeat, and a series of girl-like screams froma certain prince charming resounded through the area as Cerise blinked and appealed to her audience in Fasttracks' arms with a smile.

"Wait a splinter!" Blondie interjected, silencing most of the noise; Daring still screamed as the bees attacked and stung him,assaulting his precious skin and riddling it with horrible, red bumps. "It appears that by a technicality, Fasttrack has actually won; Cerise Hood was being carried in his arms, not running, thus disqualifying her! Fasttrack is the real winner!"

Near silence enveloped the area as Daring continued run around in circles, trying to shoo away the swarm of bees; everyone seemed to be in a complete state of shock at the thought of an underdog that hardly anyone knew had won the race.

"If you're done gawking and starring at us like animals in a zoo, we could use some medical help." Fasttrack snapped them out of the trance. "Cerise broke her leg and bruised some ribs, so unless ya wanna have one less fairy tale at Ever After High, I suggest that someone call an ambulance or something."

"On it!" Blondie's cheerful voice rang out over the loud speakers; the reporter didn't seem as affected by the results of the race as much as everyone else, though considering she hadn't taken part in the betting, she didn't have a lot to worry about. Briar arrived a few moments later, wincing as the last of the bees stung Daring and left while Ashlynn came jogging up the track after her; Maddie came walking up the other end, sipping from her tea cup as she dragged Hunter on the ground behind her, not seeming to find it bothersome in the slightest.

"Geez, I didn't think a simple race could cause so many injuries." Fasttrack winced. "Seems like only me and Briar made it out unscathed."

"With your speed, I'm not surprised." Cerise joked.

"And as the winner of the betting, Raven Queen, the only person to bet on Fasttrack, will receive the grand prize!" Blondie announced. "Pucker up, Fasttrack!" Blondie giggled over the microphone; the crowd seemed to react to that as Raven came walking down from the bleachers, a light blush on her cheeks as she walked past the gaping eyes and open mouths. By the time she actually made it down to the track, her ivory skin was a light pink in color.

"Why am I not surprised?" Fasttrack smiled.

Raven shrugged. "Thought I'd do something nice." she smiled, hoping that people actually believed her words; really though, she had been thinking about it for half the morning, turning the thought over and over in her head as she remembered that single kiss she had received last night when they bid each other farewell and good night. And really, she wanted to return the favor. Whether he actually returned her small crush, she didn't care, she just to make sure that they were even.

"Nice? How about doing something wonderful?" he teased before he leaned forward and kissed Raven on the lips, breaking away after a few moments when Cerise coughed; she had been pressed between the two of them, with her head squished underneath Raven's breasts and her arm pinned against the Citrakayah's lean stomach.

"Sorry." Fasttrack said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it." Cerise waved it off. I really should be . . . thanking you though; if you hadn't saved me, I would have been . . ."

"Don't worry about it. It's what I do." Fasttrack grinned.

"Still. Thanks." Cerise smiled, her face turning a rosy red in color as she leaned upwards and kissed Ben on the cheek, nuzzling into his chest and using it like a pillow as she rested and waited for the ambulance to come; hopefully they would be kind enough to leave her hood on.

The fact that the furry Citrakayah had been kissed by not one, but two beautiful girls seemed to have set off a bomb among the female populace of Ever After High, as several girls from the bleachers scrambled up from their seats to clamber down the stairs towards them and give Fasttrack a 'congratulations' kiss, though it was highly suspected among some of the restrained girls and boys that they just wanted to kiss someone that was furry and cute.

"I think we should beat a hasty retreat, don't you?" Fasttrack asked Raven.

"Not until I get in on some of this action!" Briar yelled. "I've always wanted to kiss someone covered in fur before I go to sleep for a hundred years!"

"Then you'll have to keep waiting." Fasttrack said as Raven climbed onto his back and held on tight. "Gotta run!" he quipped before he left, leaving Briar and the crowd of eager female students in the dust. "Now I understand how Rook feels around all those fangirls of his." Fasttrack mumbled under his breath as he carried Cerise and Raven away.

"Hunter!" Ashlynn gasped frantically, rushing over to her boyfriend to cradle his head in her lap. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, holding up three fingers.

"Two and a half?" he guessed with slurred speech.

"Well, that's better than four or five." Ashlynn mumbled to herself. "Maddie, how did this happen?"

"The rose's thorns are not to be made fun of!" Maddie replied with a laugh.

"What?" Ashlynn blinked.

"Hunter made fun of Briar." Maddie corrected herself, nonchalantly sipping her tea. "I recommend bandaging him up before scolding him though; I don't think he can hear us."

"Briar sure did a number on him, didn't she?" Ashlynn had to suppress a smile.

"If the missing tooth is anything to go by." Maddie, giggling when she caught sight of Ashlynn's face.

From the bushes, Duchess cursed to herself, mentally slapping herself for failing in her plan; why did she always fail? Why was it so hard for her to just simply win sometime? Was that too much to ask, to just win one time? Sure, it was acknowledged that she was the best dancer in Ever After High, with Tiny being a close second when one was not in danger of being stepped on, but was it so hard for her to win at something else that didn't involve dancing on her toes?

"This is all your fault you know." she snarled at Faybelle, only to find that the fairy was nowhere to be seen. Peeking out through the bushes, Duchess noticed that Faybelle was gaining faster ground than most of the girls below her, using her wings to fly ahead of the crowd and try to give Fasttrack a 'congratulations' kiss.

Oh, ancestors, Duchess mentally cursed.


A figure gave a low growl of anger as he examined the derelict pile of scrap metal on the floor before him. He was a hulking man with large, broad shoulders clad in a metal covering and strong, barrel chest with strong legs, all of which were covered in a metal suit; in fact, the metal suit covered every single part of his body, reducing his fingers to sharp, metal claws and his feet into pointed, metal digits. The only part of him not clad in armor was his wide mouth, of which a few, crooked teeth poked out from his lips, a knight-like helmet covering the rest of his small head. On his chest was a shield divided into four sections of gold and red with a black infinity symbol at the center.

A low, animal-like growl pierced the figure's ears, and he turned around to see a massive, gorilla-like creature towering over him, resting on its massive knuckles as it breathed heavily; it was covered in deep, black fur and wore golden gauntlets ringed with fur at the middle, leaving the string fingers exposed as golden gauntlets of a similar design covered his lower ankles and feet. A gold belt was around his large waist, holding up a red loincloth and holding together a red shirt with the identical symbol as the first figure's on the front; a large cape ringed with fur hooked around the creature's thick neck and a golden crown of sorts ringed his forehead.

"Your majesty." the first figure bowed.

"Enough with your formalities." the second figure growled in an almost animal-like matter. "What have you found? Why was the Forever Ninja unsuccessful in its scouting mission."

"Begging your pardon, your majesty, but is has been rather-" the first began before the second figure roared and slammed its massive fists into the stone ground, sending a labyrinth of cracks riddling through the ground.

"I don't want your excuses! Tell me what you have found!" the second figure demanded.

"The Twins have managed to recover the android's video system," the first figure began, trembling slightly. "They have yet to find out exactly what happened, but I did find something among thw wreckage."

"What?" the second figure growled.

"This." the first replied, producing a cyan colored crystal between his fingers to the hulking shadow, shaking slightly when he took hold of the crystal in two of his gigantic fingers and looked it over with his dark, beady eyes; he licked it once and sampled the taste before roaring and chucking it at the ground in rage.

"He's here! How in Sir George's name is he here!?" the figure roared angrily, his voice echoing off of the stone walls in a resounding echo.

"What is it, your majesty?' the first figure asked.

The second figure was breathing heavily now, calming down slightly at he looked at the first with rage and horror in his eyes. "That crystal belonged to a Petrosapein; alien scum. And where there is alien scum, Sir Morton . . ."

"There be the traitorous brat, Tennyson." Sir Morton growled, clenching his metal fist angrily.

"Exactly." Joseph Chadwick snarled as he turned to take his leave. "Repair the ninja, analyze the footage, and report back to me," he ordered. "I have some . . . business to attend to."

"Yes, your majesty." Sir Morton bowed.

And there we go!

Whew! Alright, I think I deserve a vacation. Thank goodness I'm going on one today! This unfortunately means I won't get any work done on my stories, but hey, it can't all be a bowl of cherries.

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! Let me know if anyone wants at least one yuri couple in this story, and if anyone has trouble picturing what Fasttrack now looks like, I have posted a picture on my DeviantArt account. Enjoy!

Hasta Luego!