Hello, all you wonderful fairytales and monsters! Tis I, Creaturemaster, talking to you from the dark, twisted, bowels of the Underworld once more! And, hey, if you Hades' place sounds depressing, you clearly have not been to The Pit of Eternal Body Odor deep within the bowels of the Monster High catacombs; that place is truly nasty.
On an unrelated note, I am simply astounded, astonished, bewildered, confounded, shocked, flabbergasted, stupefied, dumbfounded, surprised, and down right blown away by all the wonderful feedback and reviews I've received from you awesome guys and gals. OVER 200 REVIEWS for this story and only eight chapters! This is the best I have ever done on a story! I can't thank you wonderful readers enough.]
Onto your reviews and the answers I bring with them!
Menatron the Angel of Ideas – I'm glad you got the joke and enjoyed the chapter! To borrow a line from Skurd, "Ah, the irony. It is delic; as well as the DNA."
The Tell-Tale Man – Fully intend to, mi amigo.
StrongGuy159 – I shall never let go, Mr. Coconut! NEVER!
FriendlyDogDude – Don't worry about Apple; her eyes will opened soon enough. As for Wonderland and Ben's multiple watches . . . that actually makes a good visual, like each transformation he has is inside one Omnitrix on a certain part of his body and a running gag is that he can't figure out which one belongs to which alien.
Isom – Everything you just said, from BenxCerise to Blondie's new cast will happen either in this chapter or the next couple to come, my friend. And don't worry about Jigsaw; he'll be coming along soon enough, with hilarious results for us and humiliating results for Headmaster Grimm ;)
Numbervania – I enjoy the Muppets as much as anyone does or did, but I love Statler and Walford for the best, with their constant complaining, witty comebacks, and the hilarious heckling of Fozzie Bear (and sometimes each other). In all honesty, I never really decided between the two puppets (Cedar's uncles) of who represented who in this story, so you're welcome to believe who you think is who (is there an owl in here?). As for history repeating itself . . . well, the schools gotta have its news. And while Apple may seem as cold as the Ice Queen right at the moment, she's in all honesty just really blind and naive (until Way to Wonderland that is. Trust me when I say Jigsaw will play a major role in that. I think. Still working on the plot).
masterart – What gave it away? Just like my first story, I am taking this some place epic. But in order to do that, I'll have to take things slow and steady and not rushed like I did for the first couple of chapters when I was really hex-cited to begin this. As for Ben's new partner . . . well, he's not really new in the sense that he's new (does this make sense?).
Cartoonfan10 – My, my, aren't we the clever one. You're very perceptive. And as for an answer . . . like I'm gonna tell ya! ;)
Codecrash – Horde your drinking water! Invest in gold! Break out the happy snacks!
Codecrash – Hey, you deserve at least some credit for this; you're the one that came up with the idea. Either way, there's actually a picture of Apple wearing something similar to what I had her in on the Ever After wiki (for all your Ever After needs). As for the ghouls, they probably won't appear until Ben has a sizable harem, but when they do the girls (and Ben) better hope they can run fast enough. Or at the very least, calm down said ghouls. I'll have to ask how they feel.
spurlinpatricksean2 – While Apple will attempt to do such a thing, she's going to learn very quickly that Ben's not going to budge on such a matter; sorry for portraying her as a bad girl right now, but she'll get better as time goes on.
DracoAngel17 – Wait no more, my good man! Ignore everything else I say and read on! I insist!
Redrangerlegacy – A daredevil, huh? Maybe to try and impress Ben, but I doubt she'd remain that way. That's more of Briar's style as she tries to cram in everything she can before she sleeps for a hundred years or so.
Kaiju Fan – While Ben is just as concerned about the Forever Knights, he's more worried about keeping his identity secret for the time being; as for Raven's jealousy, just you wait. Something's bound to pop up. Glad you enjoyed the Muppets bit, and I totally agree with you. Statler and Waldorf, eat your hearts out. As for a Predator alien, the idea sounds really cool. I'll consider it, but for the moment I have other aliens I want to incorporate.
Guest – I like your ideas, but sadly not all of them can be used. Blondie very well could be confronted by an angry Whampire and the Forever Knights will most likely be seen as the good guys until they take things too far. As for the Lollipop Chainsaw thing . . . never heard of it; I don't want o make Phantux too over powered and to be honest I already have an idea of what I want him to look like and do. As for a list of all of Ben's OC aliens, a list from both series will be listed at the end of the chapter.
Titanzilla – The thing about mass panic is that it makes for a really good cover; people are so busy running for their lives that they don't really notice things right away. Sure, they may later recount them, but in the heat of the moment, details tend to be a little fuzzy, and even a strange, teenage boy turning into an alien vampire can go unnoticed at first. And yes, pairing Ben and Apple together felt a little too rushed to me too, but there'll be an explanation for that too. For a princess, Apple can be quite crafty when she needs to be.
Royal Rebel – Having Cupid being able to dance between worlds without a care seems a bit too much of a loop hole for this story, so I won't be using that little trick right now, if ever; plus, I have no idea how that actually works fully. Either way, you can bet your boots that Ben will do something before Apple convinces him to turn away from his ghouls. Just out curiosity, which side of the conflict would you be on, considering your name?
Ernest P Worrell – Actually, Raven does have a non-evil class: Muse-ic. As far as I know, Raven put up such a fight with Headmaster Grimm and Baba Yaga about taking Muse-ic (a class usually reserved for princesses, even though Raven is technically a princess) they either surrendered or Gile stepped in and let Raven take the class, convincing his brother that it might make Raven far less sadistic than her mother was should she decide to follow her destiny (which I doubt will ever happen).
n1ght4ury20 – Just like Cartoonfan10, you're very perceptive. As for your space idea, I think I'll keep things down to earth for the time being; though considering the very likely possibility that at least one of the doors in the Mad Hatter's tea shop opens up into outer space, this could be very likely.
Maverickmoxey2000 – Can't really blame the knights though; they didn't really have any idea what kind of world they had stumbled into until the very last second. And trust me, your views on the Forever Idiots are shared by many (though I personally think the Forever Ninja is awesome).
Lord Dominator – I'll see your bet of Cerise and Apple and raise you a brand new chapter!
luciayshadow – I'm sensing some hostility towards the Forever Knights, no? And as for what will happen next . . . well, I ain't telling. You make a valuable and incredibly hilarious point about Venus though, and I fully intend to use that when the time comes. And while agree that Statler and Waldorg were rather harsh on Fozzie, you gotta admit they were awesome hecklers. "The Original Trolls", as I like to call them.
Enough of babbling!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything from the Muppets, Ben 10, Monster High, or Ever After High; if I did, Ben 10 and Monster High would already have a cannon Xover, just like Ever After High and Monster High (apparently it's a novel or something).
Onward!
M.N: Everyone at Ever After High has secrets; for instance, Cerise Hood's father is none other than the Big Bad Wolf, C.A. Cupid has a not-so-secret secret crush on Dexter Charming, and Briar Beauty tossed the real Storybook of Legends down the Wonderland Well.
F.N: But perhaps the biggest secret lying within the bowels of Ever After High is Ben Tennyson, Wielder of the Omnitrix.
M.N: Did you really just say 'bowels'?
F.N: I stole your chance to tell the reader about Ben, and your more concerned about me using the word 'bowels'!? Who are you!?
M.N: I was getting to that, ahem, small matter. Now then, where was I?
F.N: Ben Tennyson? Big secret? Need I say more?
M.N: Oh, yes. But secrets have a tendency to slip lose, to be found out, and to be exposed. Just how long can Ben stay hidden inside of his alien forms before his luck runs out?
F.N: Seriously? You're ending it there?
M.N: Quiet, you!
"Ben!"
"Raven!"
Raven watched helplessly, fighting against the gale force winds that ragged around like a hurricane, whipping her purple and black locks into a frenzy as Ben fought his way through the sea of horrifying Forever Knights below her; she couldn't see anything else but those awful knights for as far as she could see, their terrifying faces hidden behind their emotionless helmets as they heartlessly attacked her friend. Ben struggled against the army of armored men, ramming his head into one of their guts before sweeping out of the legs of another before he was suddenly overwhelmed and disappeared underneath the knight's for a brief second before his fist popped out of the top, the Omnitrix glowing a warning green in color.
Light blue fur sprouted all over Ben's body in a short layer, covering him from head to toe before his arms and thighs suddenly shed every last hair off of them, exposing deep, black skin beneath the blanket of fur; black spots appeared in random places on Ben's body as his bones hollowed out and became lightweight and strong, filled with sturdy beams of sorts that supported their structure while muscles piled themselves onto his arms and legs, packing themselves particularly tight in his chest and thighs. His fingers strengthened as his fingers grew into sharp and pointed claws with a loud cracking noise. A long, feline tail with a black tip arched out from the base of his spine, cracking back and forth with anticipation as his toes molded together into a pair of sturdy paws while his ears became sharp and pointed like a cat's, rotating to the top of his head as if they were floating on liquid metal; a handul of whiskers sprouted on his face as his teeth cracked and ground into sharp canine's. The final transformation was the addition of a black and green track suit, a pair of green tinted goggles, and the Omnitrix on the center of a belt around his waist.
"Eyah!" Fasttrack cried as he burst out from under the pile of Forever Knights before running around in a tight circle to create a vacuum of sorts that pulled in a good number of the armored villains around him, forming a tornado that reached higher and higher into the air the faster the Citrakayah ran until he came to a screeching halt and slammed into another one of the faceless knights, sliding down to the ground with a groan; the small vortex he had created dissipated and let the knights drop to the ground where they exploded into piles of ash and dust upon contact with the rocky ground.
Raven felt a firm hand on her shoulder and she turned around to see Headmaster Grimm standing with her on the high rock pillar that rose up over the endless sea of Forever Knights, a stern and unforgiving expression on his face.
"Sign the book!" he hissed, his grip on Raven's shoulder tightening.
"No!" Raven cried, wretching free from him. "Why can't you just leave me alone!?" she glared.
The Headmaster ignored the question. "You will sign the book or else." he threatened.
"Or else what?" Raven glowered, trying to sound brave as her bottom lip trembled slightly with fear; the Headmaster's eyes brightened into a cruel grin upon seeing this and merely turned his gaze upwards with a slight gesture of his hand; Raven followed his gaze and nearly vomited upon seeing the horrific sight above her.
Standing on dozens upon dozens of platforms that hung high above the rock pillar she and the Headmaster were every last fairy tale Raven could have called a friend, everyone from Apple and Cerise to Maddie and Dexter; even Hunter and Ashlynn were there, struggling against the gags that covered their mouths and prevented them from speaking. Rough ropes hung likes nooses around their necks, tied tightly around them as every last one of them stood on their own gallows, murmuring and fighting against their bonds.
"Every time you refuse to sign the Storybook of Legends . . ." Headmaster Grimm grinned sadistically. "One of your pathetic, Rebel friends pays the price." he hissed before pulling out a quill pen from his pocket. "Sign it!" he demanded, shoving the writing tool into Raven's grip.
"No!" Raven yelled defiantly. The Headmaster smiled cruelly and snapped his fingers, a loud clack! echoing through the air as a trapdoor opened and a loud, sickening choking sound punched its way into Raven's ears, forever haunting her as she looked up and gasped to see Maddie's bloody corpse hanging from the noose overhead, her dress tattered and torn; an object fell from the Hatter's dead fingers and shattered loudly on the rock below, a hot liquid pooling around Raven as she fell to her knees and scooped up the precious brew into her hands: tea.
"Y-you . . . you monster! Raven screamed, tears forming in her eyes and streaking down her face.
"Remember this, Raven. You are the one that killed them." Grimm said coldly. "Now sign the book!"
"N-No!" Raven yelled back; another trapdoor banged open and another noose tightened as another life was taken from Raven's life, this time belonging to none other than Apple. Her flawless, white skin was now stained a horrifying pink from the many wounds and cuts that pockmarked her body, her dress destroyed and barely clinging to her her as hot, bubbling blood dripped her lips and pitter-pattered quietly in front of Raven.
"Sigh the book!" Headmaster Grimm demanded.
"N-N-Never!" Raven cried weakly. A third trapdoor opened overhead and another noose tightened with that same sickening sound that sent shivers down Raven's spine, the victim this time being Hunter; Ashlynn gave a muffled scream as she sobbed uncontrollably, unable to tear her pained eyes away from the lifeless corpse that hung next to her as a flock of vultures circled lazily overhead, descending down to peck and nibble at his carcass every now and then much to the princess's horror.
"Sigh the book!" Headmaster Grimm ordered once more.
"N-No . . . no!" Raven cried again, her voice choking as another trapdoor opened, another noose tightened, and another one of her friends died by her hand; Ashlynn now hung inert next to Hunter, the rope digging raw marks into her perfect skin as blood dripped from her mouth and from a large stab wound under her breasts, right where her no longer beating heart would have been as the vultures now changed targets, tearing into the princess's corpse with vigor much to Raven's horror and Grimm's twisted horror.
"You can end this anytime, Raven." Grimm told her.
"B-Ben . . . h-he'll stop you!" Raven yelled over the howling storm, unable to look up at her friends overhead.
"The alien spawn?" Headmaster Grimm scoffed. "He's worthless, barely even able to save himself." he grinned, pointing behind raven with the quill pen; Fasttrack grunted as he slapped the Omnitrix on his waist, swallowing himself in a burst of green light as his DNA was scrambled and shifted into something new. His skin changed into a smooth, chrome white that became tougher than his original exterior as his skeleton crunched and compressed into something smaller until he barely reached about knee high of the knights that surrounded him on all sides; his face was stretched as his mouth widened and his eyes followed, moving farther and farther apart as his bones became softer and more bendable. Ben's lungs began to blow up like balloons until they were the largest organs in his body while his ears melted back into his head to become gaping holes in his skull before they were covered by a hardened shell that wrapped around his head in a way that resembled headphones; the Omnitrix appeared on his forehead, completing the transformation.
Echo Echo quickly divided himself into half a dozen clones, each one of them inhaling sharply and sucking in massive amounts of air before they shot it back out in an ultrasonic blast, sending all the knights within a good dozen yard radius flying in all directions; the knights exploded into ash and dust upon making contact with the ground, but these were easily replaced by an endless army of the cruel armored men.
"He won't last for long, Ms. Queen." Headmaster Grimm grinned darkly. "Sign the book, and your friends and his life will be spared."
Raven trembled, gulping nervously as the Sonorosian recollected all of his clones and slammed a hand down on the Omnitrix resting on his forehead, encompassing himself in another burst of green light as the changes began to warp and change his body. Millions of muscles piled themselves onto every part of his body, his fingers and hands swelling in size as alien blood pumped through his veins; stitches arched their way across his body as the transformation teared through his shirt, ripping it into shreds as patchwork skin took the place of his old one. A pair of heavy, green gauntlets formed on his hands as metallic bolts burst out from his body on his arms and back while two, gigantic conductors teared out from his massive shoulders and crackled with electricity; a pair of black pants and large boots appeared on his Ben as his jaw jutted outwards, a few crooked teeth sticking out as his hair turned jet black and became long and shaggy. The final piece of the transformation was the Omnitrix popping out of his right pectoral muscle in an almost painful manner as a scar etched itself out from the device, completing the transformation.
"This can all end, Ms. Queen," Headmaster Grimm promised. "Just sign the book, and your friends will be released, unharmed." he said simply as Frankenstrike crashed his fists together and let a dangerous amount of electrical travel its way through his conductors and body, electrocuting the vast army of knights surrounding him, grinning victoriously as they exploded into dust and ash all around him; his smug grin quickly turned into a look of worry as more Forever Knights converged on him, kicking aside the mounds of cinders and swarming around the Transylian. No matter how much Frankenstrike fought, grabbing unlucky knights by the heads to crash them together like symbols before frying them and using their battered bodies as bludgeons and weapons, there were always four more to take the place of every one knight that disintegrated into cinders and ashes.
"Sign the book!" Headmaster Grimm roared over the howling winds for what seemed the hundredth time.
"N-Never!" Raven gulped; another trapdoor snapped open and another noose tightened, killing another one of her friends; she didn't dare look up, her throat dry and parch as she squeezed her eyes shut, willing all the misery and horror to go away before a loud clank! caught her attention. She cracked open her eyes and nearly fainted with fear as Dexter's dented crown lay in front of her, the rim stained red as if the crown had been stapled to poor Dexter's head before being painfully ripped out of the prince's head and tossed carelessly at Raven's feet; Dexter's broken and mangled glasses soon followed after, clattering loudly to the stone pillar as Raven cried and held herself.
"W-Why . . . why are you d-doing this to me?" Raven choked between tears.
"Because you are spineless, worthless, and pathetic!" Grimm roared loudly, bending down to grab the young witchling by the front of her shirt and yank her to her feet to yell in her face. "You are nothing but a lowly worm who deserves everything you have coming!" he spat in her face grabbing her shoulder with his other hand and messily tearing away her dress in anger before throwing her to the ground, his glare of disgust turning into one of hatred as his eyes traced over the ugly, silver scars marking her arms and shoulders, traveling around and across her neck before disappearing under her dress to run over her breasts.
"Raven!" Frankenstrike called from below as he finally overwhelmed by the infinite battalion, disappearing under the layers of Forever Knights as he suffocated.
"Ben!" Raven screamed.
Raven gasped and bolted up straight in bed, gasping for breath as she clenched her bed sheets with white knuckles; she looked around fearfully like a panicked, wild animal surrounded on all sides by hunters, panting heavily as her heart thumped in her chest. Her throat was dry and parched as sweat dripped down pale skin, staining her bed sheets with moisture. Once her heart rate had calmed down slightly, she glanced across the room to see that Apple was still asleep and unaware in her own bed, a pleasant and innocent smile on the princess's face.
Confident that she wouldn't be seen, Raven reached with a shaky hand for the hem of her nightgown around her neck, slipping down around her shoulders enough for her to carefully trace her trembling fingers over the barely visible scars that sat there; the wounds have healed, but the pain was still there, sending shivers up Raven's spine whenever she touched them. They hurt every time she was touched, every time some affectionately hugged her tightly, they hurt every time she brushed up against someone in the hallway; the young witchling was in constant pain everyone so much as touched her. She had gotten very good at hiding the pain after a while, managing to suppress whimpers of pain or the involuntary way her body jerked, but every now and then when she was sure she was alone, she would let everything she had bottled up inside her out, becoming nothing more than a heaving, sobbing mess that tried to cry the tears of agony that never came. The only one who knew what Raven went through every day was Maddie, and even the crazy Hatter managed to suppress her insane and wild urges around Raven, being delicate and tentative whenever touching her friend.
Her Mirrorphone that sat on the nightstand next to her bed suddenly buzzed, nearly scaring Raven witless before she realized it was just the harmless device; the witchling picked it up and turned on, biting her lip nervously when she saw she had gotten alert about Blondie's latest new report. Worry crept across her face as she tapped the notification after a few minutes of debating whether or not she should look at it, her eyes widening when she read the headline.
The sudden rustling of sheets caught Raven's attention and she just barely pulled her nightgown back up over her before Apple woke up and could take notice of her hidden scars.
"Good morning, Raven." Apple yawned. "How did you sleep last night?"
"Not so good." Raven admitted. "How was your date with Ben?"
"Oh, it was so wonderful!" Apple beamed happily. "We went to see a horror movie and a great time . . . until these knights came in and ruined the movie; I didn't get to see how it ended!" she pouted slightly before quickly brightening. "It was worth it though."
"How? Getting attacked by the Forever Knights doesn't sound like a fun time to me." Raven said, trying to hold back her nervous expression.
"Who are the Forever Knights?" Apple wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"A group of racist knights who hate and destroy anything alien, supernatural, or just plain creepy; fairies, aliens, giants, monsters, you name it." Raven replied. "So why was getting attacked by the Forever Knights worth it?"
Apple was practically squealing. "He . . . he kissed me!" she exclaimed happily. "Underneath the moonlight at Troll's Bridge! It was so romantic." she sighed lovingly.
Raven blinked; she hadn't thought Apple would be that successful in seducing Ben so quickly. But then again, they had been rather close in the Multi-Hex last night, with Apple cuddling up nice and close to Ben during the movie with Ben not seeming to be bothered in the slightest, though Rave suspected he was just being gentlemanly and comforting the frightened princess during the scary parts of the movie. Apparently this was not the case in any way, considering Apple had claimed Ben had kissed her right after the date; and the reason Raven believed this to be true was the fact that Apple was a horrible liar. While nowhere near as horrible as Cedar, where the wooden puppet could do nothing but tell the truth even when the situation never called for it, Apple was just simply bad at hiding the fact she was lying, constantly twiddling her thumbs, avoiding eye contact, playing with her hair.
It was then that the princess noticed she had a notification on her Mirrorphone.
"Ooh! A new post from Blondie!" Apple smiled as she read over the short message. "Wonder what it's about?"
"Uh, Apple, I wouldn't do that if I were you . . ." Raven tried to warn her friend, but Apple ignored the witchling's admonition as she tapped the alert and eagerly scanned her eyes over the report before she finally realized what it was about.
And then came the scream.
Cerise ground her teeth heavily against each other as she messily tore into her mutton, not even caring in the slightest that passerby were giving her odd and rather frightened looks, especially Lilly Bo Peep and her small flock of sheep; the gigantic, flat screen TV currently broadcasting Blondie Lock's latest news bulletin was not helping in the slightest as the naive blonde continued to spout off words that increasing began to anger the half-breed further and further.
"Big Bad news, Ever After!" Blondie announced. "It seems our very own Apple White isn't as perfect as everyone thinks she is."
"You have no idea." Cerise growled under her breath.
"It seems our sweet Apple White asked the newest student to arrive at Ever After High's doors, Blitzwolfer, Son of the Big Bad Wolf, out on a date," Blondie explained. "Only for the princess who's all about following our destinies stand the big lug up! Prepare yourselves, Ever After High, for what this reporter managed to capture!" Blondie smiled as her image was cut out to show a picture of Apple leaning into the warm embrace of a tall, fit boy with scruffy, brown hair, piercing green eyes, and a kind smile on his face as he wore a black T-shirt with green trimmings.
Several gasps sounded from around the Castleteria and Cerise could only gristle and grind her fangs together when she heard a few sighs and swoons of happiness upon seeing the boy in the picture next to Apple.
"I cannot tell a lie, that boy is so dreamy!" Cerise heard Cedar's voice come from across the Castleteria, making her bristle and growl under her breath even more.
"Apple declined a comment of any kind and our mysterious strange could not be reach, but get a good look, fairy tales!" Blondie spoke up. "Because you haven't seen anything yet! This reporter managed to also uncover some incredibly pictures for you hungry fans! It turns out that while our little Apple was busy cheating on the one she asked out, the date was crashed when three heroic knights and a red golem crashed the party just in time to save the Multi-Hex's patrons from a plague of three monsters! Get a good look, Ever After High!" the reporter smiled as she once again disappeared to be replaced by the images of a large, humanoid bat with pale skin and gigantic fangs, a small rodent with a massive, blonde mustache, and a crazy, insane red imp dressed in an aviator's outfit as he messily tore into the helpless, red golem.
"Thankfully, no one was injured in the attacks by the three monsters and the noble knights managed to save the night before retreating, leaving the identities unknown for the time being; not that this reporter will stop until she knows, that I promise you!" Blondie smiled. "This is reporter Blondie Locks signing off!" she concluded before the screen went dark once more and the Castleteria quickly filled with chatter about Apple, the monsters, and especially about the strange boy Apple had been with; that last one was mostly discussed by the girls.
Cerise suddenly decided she was no longer hungry and got up from her table to dump her lunch tray away when she was suddenly struck by someone walking by; the half-breed immediately went on the defensive and let loose a warning snarl as her eyes flashed an intense amber before she realized that she was glaring at a terrified Daring Charming, a shattered mirror at his feet and a somewhat cowardly look on his face.
"Sorry." Cerise mumbled quietly over her shoulder towards the prince before dumping her tray out and heading towards the dorms, deciding to see if Blitzwolfer was awake and alright.
It took approximately ten minutes for Raven to finally calm Apple down long enough to take the princess's Mirrorphone away from her and pull her into a comforting hug; the witchling mentally winced as Apple unknowingly brushed her hands across the hidden scars that marked her neck and shoulders, but she was willing to put up with the pain to comfort her distraught friend as she rubbed Apple's back and whispered soothing words in her ear.
In a way, Raven acted something like a second mother to Apple while the two of them were at school, being the more rational and down to earth of the two, in addition to being a good friend; Apple could never figure out how Raven could stay so calm and collective in such situations that often made her head spin and tie her crown in a knot. She was certainly worthy of being the leader of the Rebel cause, that much Apple would admit to anyone without hesitation.
"Shh, come on. It won't be that bad." Raven reassured her.
"R-Really?" Apple sniffed.
"I promise." Raven nodded. "If I can't think of some way to get you out of this mess, Ben will. I'm sure of it."
"Did someone rrrrr call my name?" a high-pitched, squeaky voice trilled. Both girls looked up to watch as a small fairy-like creature with light, blue skin and a pair of purple and pink butterfly-like wings come fluttering in through the balcony window; the creature had dark blue hair that stuck straight up and back into a sort of curl, pink markings on its cheeks and chin, green eyes with feminine eyelashes, white gloves, and wore a green dress-like outfit with black zigzags down the front with the ever familiar Omnitrix symbol on the creature's chest.
Apple couldn't help but smile and giggle slightly as Pesky Dust landed on the bed next to them, a perturbed look crossing his face when he saw the amused expressions on the girl's faces. "What?" he glared irritably.
"It's just . . . you look hilarious!" Apple laughed, falling back on the bed as Raven smiled slightly, her grin broadening when the Nemuina glared at the two of them.
"I'll have you know that I am still rrrrr tough in my own right!" Pesky Dust protested.
"What can you do?" Raven asked, knowing Apple was too busy laughing and trying to catch her breath to ask for an explanation; as an added bonus, Ben's current state distracted Apple from Blondie's revealing report.
"I can rrrrrr manipulate dreams." Pesky Dust grinned deviously. "So unless you wanna have a rrrrrr relapse of Mary, Mary: The Gardening, I suggest you rrrrr stop laughing!"
"Okay . . . okay . . ." Apple sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I think I'm good."
"Good." Pesky Dust huffed. "So what's with rrrrrr the rude awakening? I swear half the school could hear you."
"Didn't you hear about Blondie's latest news report?" Apple wondered.
"Don't gotta a Mirrorphone, just an iCoffin." Pesky Dust shrugged. Raven sighed and handed the Nemuina her Mirrorphone, smirking slightly when she noticed the device was nearly as big as him; her slight smile only turned into a frown when she notice the fairy-like alien grow angrier and angrier as he read Blondie's report to the point where she actually had to steal her Mirrorphone back for fear of Pesky Dust snapping it in half out of anger.
"I'll be rrrrr right back." Pesky Dust glowered as he fluttered his wings as flew towards the window. "If anyone asks what happened, just tell them Blitzwolfer got detention and didn't want Apple to go to the movies alone!" he called over his shoulder before fly out of the window.
"Should we be concerned?" Apple wondered.
The door to their dorm suddenly received a loud bang! from the outside, the wooden door bending inwards as it was struck for a second time before being ripped off its hinges and knocked to the floor to reveal a very angry and very vengeful Cerise Hood on the other side, her breath short and ragged as she held her bent hands and fingers in a claw-like manner while her eyes glowed a suspicious amber and her teeth became sharp fangs.
"I think we should be more concerned about that." Raven flinched; stopping Cerise when she was in a somewhat controlled, feral state was not going to be easy to handle, especially when the witchling was going to do everything in her power to try and keep the Daughter of Red Riding Hood's secret from being found out by Apple of all fairy tales.
"C-Cerise?" Apple trembled in terror as the half-breed stalked closer. "W-W-What's wrong?"
"You are." Cerise snarled, crouching down low to the ground and growling lowly before she gave a loud roar and pounced at the terrified princess as she screamed; at the last second, Raven moved her hands in a quick motion in front of the two of them and created a protective, shimmering, purple shield just as Cerise slammed into it.
"Cerise! Calm down!" Raven grunted, struggling to hold up the construct that quivered under every blow from the Riding Hood.
"Can't we talk this out?" Apple whimpered, hugging Raven tightly out of fear.
Cerise paused and caught her breath, glowering venomously at the two of them like a hungry wolf that was just out of reach of its prey. "Let me through, Raven. It's the backstabbing witch I want."
"You know, that's kinda offensive." Raven frowned.
"Sorry. I would have called her something else much worse." Cerise seemed to regain some of her humanity for a split second before slipping back into the vicious, feral, killing machine that she was. "Now hand her over."
Raven glanced between the two of them, between savage Cerise and petrified Apple, as if she were almost debating over which one she should listen. Cerise was waiting patiently on the other side of the purple construct, biding her time until she either lost her patience or Raven an answer while Apple was hugging Raven tightly like a lifeline, looking up at her pleading eyes that begged her not to throw her mad Riding Hood currently trying to kill her for some unknown reason; Raven bit back a yelp of pain from how tightly Apple was squeezing her out of fear.
"No." Raven stated loud and clear.
Cerise hesitated for a split second before she attacked the purple shield with renewed vigor, beating her fists powerfully on the shield and roaring angrily as Raven hissed and tried to keep the construct up until she couldn't any longer; the magic shield dissipated with a loud explosion of raw magic, causing Raven to cry out and hold her head in pain. Apple screamed at the top of her lungs as she let go of the young witchling and dove out of the way just to avoid a swipe of Cerise's claws.
"You're gonna pay for what you did!" Cerise snarled viciously, letting out a long, wolf-like howl before dropping down to all fours and racing across the dormitory towards Raven's half of the room where Apple had taken cover underneath the bed; the terrified princess screamed again as Cerise slammed into her and dug her claws into her skin, dragging her underneath the bed with surprising strength as Apple tried to fight and battled her way to freedom.
"Help me!" she yelled as she managed to scramble out from under the bed and reach for Raven with pleading hands before Cerise dragged her back beneath the bed again; Raven watched with horror as Cerise yanked and pulled at Apple's blond locks, slugging her repeatedly in the arms and chest before boxing the princess's ears and slapping her across the face several times before deciding to punch that too. A sudden relapse of Raven's dream came back to her, how she had been like Apple in that raging storm, helpless to do anything as her friends died by her hand one by one.
Not anymore.
"ENOUGH!" Raven roared at the top of her lungs, dispelling a blast of raw magic and power that swept over the dormitory and slammed into Cerise and Apple, knocking the half-breed off of the princess for a few seconds, long enough for Cerise to calm down as Apple sobbed and curled up into a fetal position and buried her head into her knees; it was a few minutes before Cerise came crawling out from under Raven's bed in a cautious manner, wincing when she saw the stern glare on Raven's perturbed face. The half-breed had attempted to pull Apple out with her, by the beaten princess only screamed and cried and fought harder whenever Cerise touched her.
"Mind explaining why you just destroyed our door and turned Apple into an emotional wreck?" Raven sighed, rubbing her aching temples; it was too early in the morning for this kind of thing.
"She cheated on Blitzwolfer." Cerise stated lamely, hesitating before answering and flinching under Raven's angry stare; the witchling may never become truly evil, but when she was angry or annoyed, she would be a force to be reckoned with. The half-breed had no doubt that Raven would make an excellent mother some day.
"And that gave you the right to traumatize poor Apple?" Raven's glare deepened.
"No . . ." Cerise cringed.
Raven glared at Cerise for a few more seconds before nodding, believing she had scolded the young half-breed enough. "Apple didn't cheat on Blitzwolfer, by the way." she said as bent down on her knees and scooted closer to her bed.
"What?" Cerise blinked.
"You know that little explosion in Science and Sorcery? Well, Professor Rumpelstiltskin made Blitzwolfer come back after school to spin gold during detention as payback for accidentally gluing him to the ceiling," Raven explained; the news about the little mishap in Science and Sorcery had spread like wildfire, and now the grumpy, Russian, imp couldn't go anywhere in the hallways without being followed by a gaggle of giggles sent his way. "Blitzwolfer didn't want to leave Apple hanging, so he told her to go to the movies with someone else."
Now Cerise felt really terrible. Not only had she probably traumatized and scarred Apple for months now, but she had believed that the one she had come to secretly love would want her to do something like this to someone who was for once completely innocent in what she had done. She watched as Raven slowly slipped her arm under her breath, brushing a gentle hand against Apple's leg and quickly drawing it back when the frightened princess flinched before reaching back under the bed to carefully wrap her arms around Apple and slowly, tentatively, pulled Apple out from under the bed to pull her into her lap and hold her. Cerise gasped and covered her mouth with her shocked hands when she saw the wounds she had inflicted upon Apple, everything but horrible, purple bruises on her arms, head, and face to raw claw marks that were slowly starting to seep blood; and those were just the ones the half-breed could see.
Raven slowly petted Apple on the head, running her fingers through her blonde curls with such care that it seemed almost impossible for it to occur; Cerise watched as Apple cried and sobbed helplessly in the witchling's lap like a newborn baby, holding her tightly and burying her head into her as she shyed away from Cerise as much as possible.
"I think you need to give her a little space," Raven said quietly after a few minutes. "She's pretty shaken up."
Cerise tried to form words, but found that her throat was closed and wouldn't allow her to speak, only letting her give a lame nod as she climbed to her feet and slowly made her way towards the broken door, looking back at the beaten princess that lay in Raven's lap like a frightened child; it was then that Cerise actually noticed Raven looked radiant and commanding somehow in the bright light of the coming dawn, how she tenderly comforted Apple. The half-breed shook her head and left the dormitory, making a mental note to call Hunter about fixing the door.
No doubt she would be hearing from her parents about this little mess.
Blondie hummed happily to herself as sampled her porridge, smacking her lips to taste it before deeming it to be "just right" and digging in hungrily, though not without restraint; savagely digging into her food like a starving animal was not very becoming of a princess or the Daughter of Goldie Locks. She wasn't entirely sure she classified as a princess in the first place, but she liked to think so.
If only everyone believed it as much as she tried to make them to.
No matter how hard she tried, Blondie couldn't seem to convince other fairy tales that she was as important as she claimed to be, that she was actually the daughter of a queen in a far away land that no one had ever heard, thus making her the princess she claimed to; unfortunately, no one ever believed her, as the Daughter of Goldie Locks had a tendency to stretch the truth about herself or the stories and news she had come to write and report.
The Castleteria was surprisingly empty around her, leaving her to be the only student there; most would have found it downright creepy or at the very least unnerving, but Blondie wasn't the least bit bothered by it; she had delicious, wonderful, just right porridge in front of her, for crying out loud! No sir, Blondie wasn't the least bit bothered by the fact that she was alone in the Castleteria with nothing but a bowl of porridge and a spoon.
That is, until the lights went out. That bothered her.
"Must just be a power shortage." Blonde shrugged off, ignoring the sudden darkness and focusing on her porridge again; she still had the large windows that let in bright shafts of sunlight to see by, only making the Castleteria slightly dimmer than it was before. That is, until the big curtains on either side of every window were suddenly drawn shut, swept over the glass panes by a gust of wind and sending Blondie into total darkness, the only light being the warm, inviting hallway and the slight light given off behind the curtains.
"O-Okay, this is just not right . . ." Blondie gulped nervously. She carefully took another spoonful of porridge, frantically glancing around with wild eyes for any sign of anything else that might come her way; the final straw was when the doors to the hallway suddenly banged shut and gave a loud click! locking her inside.
""Okay, this is definitely just not right!" Blondie cried, not caring in the slightest when she knocked over her bowl of porridge in her mad rush to the doors. "This isn't funny anymore! Let me out!" she cried, banging her fists on the doors; no one heard on the other side as she slammed her fists against the door one last time before sliding down to the floor.
"Okay, Blondie, get a hold of yourself. The sudden lack of light and captivity are admittedly unnerving," she said to herself. "But . . . princesses get themselves locked in towers and tight places all the time! So, maybe this is just a training exercise? Yes, that's gotta be it! That's just right!" she sighed contently, glad she had managed to convince herself that everything was fine.
"Talking to yourself, huh? That's usually the first sign of insanity."
The Daughter of Goldie Locks gulped and frantically looked around the source of the voice, not wanting to believe that she was already going crazy and hearing voices in her head; it was not very becoming of a reporter to go insane. That was more of Maddie's gig, and it didn't feel just right to tread on the Hatter's livelihood without permission; not that she really ever asked for permission.
"Up here."
Blondie fearfully rolled her head upwards the ceiling and startled upon what she saw. Hanging from the chandeliers overhead was a large creature about the size of a tall man with deathly pale skin; the creature had a pair of pure, green eyes that narrowed and glared at her as his mouth curved into a deep frown, showing off the yellow fangs that resided within his mouth. He had a pair of considerably well muscled arms and legs, the strong hands tipped with razor-sharp claws clicked loudly as the creature drummed them irritably on his arm when he had them crossed over his strong, durable chest. Not much else about the creature could be seen other than that it wore a black and green jumpsuit and a green masked with a pair of spiked horns that looked like bat wings, similar to the very same ones that sat under his arms and folded up when not in use.
The chilling thing was that it was the very same monster that had attacked the Multi-hex last night.
"You!" Blondie screamed, pointing a trembling finger up at the monster. "Y-You were there! Y-you attacked the theater!"
"At the theater? Yes." the creature hissed. "Attacked the theater? No. And on a related note . . . I don't like having my picture taken." he snarled.
"What . . . what are you?" Blondie gulped, her voice shaky and full of fear.
The creature grinned toothily, fully sensing her fear; he could see the blood flowing through her circulatory system, her heart beating faster and faster with every passing second. The constant thumping was music to her ears as he swung down from the ceiling and landed low on the ground in a crouching position, a hungry grin on his face as he drew up to his full height and stalked closer and closer to the terrified reporter until he had her standing and pressed against the locked doors with his face just an inch away from hers.
"The name is Whampire." the Vladat hissed. "Now I am going to give you one chance. Never expose me or my monster kind ever again, or I will hunt you down and drain you of every last fluid in your body until you are nothing by an empty husk. Got it?" he threatened.
Blondie was too frightened to answer, merely standing there and trembling with fear; it almost reminded Whampire of the first time he met Spectra, hunting her down and chasing her like mad through the hallways of Monster High until he had her cornered and crying. The difference was that he didn't have to phase through walls to get to the annoying reporter trying to expose his secret. With a quick snap of his hand, he grabbed Blondie by the throat and effortlessly lifted her off of the ground, her feet dangling a foot or two above the Castleteria floor as her hands instinctively went to her neck to try and release some of the pressure.
"I said, got it!?" Whampire hissed darkly.
"Y-Yes . . ." Blondie choked.
"Good." the Vladat growled as he set Blondie down and let her crumble to the floor with fear. "I will be watching . . ." he warned her before unlocking the doors, flapping his wings and flying up to the ceiling, slipping into the shadows and waiting patiently as Blondie caught her breath and looked around fearfully before panicking and running out into the hallway without a sound, not daring to scream or call for help for fear of having her body sucked dry.
"What do you know? Threatening people is actually kinda fun." Whampire chuckled to himself as he descended from the ceiling and slapped the Omnitrix on his stomach, swallowing himself in a bright, green light that changed and scrambled his DNA. He felt himself grow taller and much more muscled as thick, shaggy, gray colored fur sprouted all over his body as his back and chest swelled with muscle and tissue, his skeleton crunching and cracking as it was reinforced and changed to accommodate his new body. Ben's skull crunched and snapped in an almost painful manner as his face bulged into a pointed muzzle lined with sharp, canine teeth while a wet, black nose formed on the end; organs sloshed around inside of him as his bones crunched and ground heavily against each other while his muzzle split into four, flexible flaps. His fingers became longer and tipped with wicked claws that looked like they could easily slice through most objects as two, large talons ripped his shoes while a third popped out from the back. A long, fluffy tail sprouted from the base of Ben's spine as a mane of dark, coarse fur rose from his shoulders and neck as spikes sprouted from his elbows and shoulders; a green and black body suit appeared on his shifting body with green wrist bands a collar around his nec with the Omnitrix at its center, completing the transformation.
"Wonder how Apple's handling things?" he wondered to himself as he dropped down to all fours and walked out of the Castleteria after turning the lights back on and pulling back all the curtains, effectively erasing all traces of him being there. The hallways were mostly quiet, though they weren't empty as the Loboan noticed students given him odd and sympathetic looks when they walked by and whispering behind his back when they thought they were out of range of his sensitive hearing.
"Blitzwolfer!"
The Loboan held back a minor sigh of annoyance as Cedar Wood came running up the hall behind him, stumbling slightly when the Three Little Pigs scampered past her tossing a bookball back and forth, much to Headmaster Grimm's chargin as he chased after them, scolding the swine; Blitzwolfer waited as the wooden girl regained her footing and caught up to him, gasping for slight breath.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened to you even though the guy Apple was with was really hot looking and I really wanna meet him and-" Cedar stopped before she realized what she was saying and decided then to clam up, struggling to hold in the rest of whatever else she was going to say.
"Apple didn't two time me." Blitzwolfer stated calmly.
"What?"
"I said that Apple didn't two time me; I got detention for that explosion in Science and Sorcery, meaning I would miss my date with Apple. I wanted her to go with someone else so she could still enjoy herself even though I wasn't there." Blitzwolfer explained.
"Then why does it look like Apple just got into a fight with a mountain lion?" Cedar wondered.
"WHAT!?"
The Loboan whirled around to see Raven and Apple come shuffling towards them, the later of the two looking incredibly scared and frightened as she hugged herself closely to Raven as if she were the single most thing that could protect her harm; the whispers that had briefly followed Blitzwolfer now intensified when Apple and Raven passed by their fellow students, angry and disgusted looks following after them, though they seemed to be more directed at Apple than Raven.
"What happened?" Blitzwolfer growled when the two girls finally stopped at them; Apple immediately switched from sticking close to Raven to hiding near the Loboan, hanging onto him tightly and flickering eyes around the hallway as if she were about to be attacked at any given time.
"Cerise kinda . . . decided to take matters into her own hands," Raven rubbed the back of her neck in a sheepish manner. "On your behalf, she attacked Apple and now she won't stray more than two feet away me; I had to wait inside the bathroom for her to even consider taking a shower." she added with a light blush to her ivory face. "She's scared beyond all reason."
"Considering those bruises and wounds, I can't blame her. I may not know how human skin works yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be that color." Cedar shook her head; the whispers and rumors that had followed Raven and Apple now became even louder and more wild when the student body saw Blitzwolfer and Apple together again as if Blondie's report had never happened at all. Things only got worse when Cedar and Raven were thrown into the mix as well.
"So . . ." Raven said awkwardly. "Um, you guys gonna try out for the talent show next week?" the witchling wondered, attempting to change the conversation.
"I didn't know there was a talent show." Blitzwolfer cocked an eyebrow.
"We have them twice a year," Cedar explained as Apple continued to cling to Blitzwolfer with an iron grip and without any sign of letting go anytime soon. "Last time, I did a ventriloquist act with my puppet, Splinter."
"Cute act." Raven said with a smile. "How'd you get the puppet to lie though?"
"I . . . actually don't know." Cedar admitted. "I was just as surprised as everyone else."
"Okay, that's just creepy." Blitzwolfer shivered; Apple silently nodded her head in agreement, not daring to make a sound for fear of being heard by Cerise. "You gonna do anything for the talent show, Raven?"
Raven gave a nervous smile and twiddled her fingers absentmindedly. "Well, last time I tried to do a guitar solo until Sparrow Hood interrupted me and stole the show."
"Until you let your bad side out. It was awesome!" Cedar explained before clapping her hands over her mouth. "Sorry." she winced at Raven's crestfallen look; as much as she enjoyed performing in front of the cheering crowd and seeing Sparrow get what was coming to him, for the next several days people wouldn't stop calling her 'evil or a 'bad girl' ever since she lost her cool. She wasn't sure she wanted to do that again or even participate in the talent show at all, but she loved playing her guitar; she always had ever since she was a little girl and her dad had given her a toy violin to play on before giving her the real thing and then upgrading it to a full guitar.
"Sounds interestin'." Blitzwolfer rubbed his chin.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure I want to do that again . . ." Raven sighed.
"You should! You would be awesome!" Cedar nodded eagerly.
"I dunno . . ." Raven tapped her chin in thought.
"Believe it or not, I actually play a little guitar." Blitzwolfer spoke up. "We could do a duet. Ya know, change things up a bit, that way Sparrow can't try and show ya up if he tries what he did last time."
"You two would be awesome!" Cedar agreed; Apple nodded her head in agreement again, becoming slightly more relaxed than before.
"Is 'awesome' all you can say?" Blitzwolfer raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know what else to call it." Cedar shrugged sheepishly. Before the conversation could continue further, a sudden yelp caught all their attentions and they turned to see Dexter slip on the recently walked floor of a connect hallway, landing painfully on his back as his glasses and crown went flying; Blitzwolfer effortlessly caught the two items between his claws as they flew at his head.
"Thanks." Dexter groaned as he picked himself up and walked over to collect his things; Apple shied away from the nerdy prince, taking cover behind Blitzwolfer as if she were actually afraid that Dexter would hurt her. "S-So, uh, R-R-Raven?" the prince stammered. "I was w-wondering . . ."
"Yes?" Raven pressed.
"Um, if you, uh, w-wanted to . . . d-do something t-together for the talent show?" Dexter asked.
"I thought you were the sound man and technician?" Raven wondered.
"Y-Yeah, uh, Humphrey offered to cover me on that. As long as I give him twenty bucks in return." he added sheepishly. "I-I know that you really like music, s-so maybe we could play s-something together? I play the trumpet." he offered.
Raven gave the nerdy prince charming a sad smile. "I'd love to Dexter, but me and Blitzwolfer are already doing something together; if you want to rehearse or play together some other time, I'd love to." she said.
Dexter wilted slightly, but tried to look as if he were unaffected. "Oh. Uh, okay, then. I g-guess I'll see you a-round then." he gave a friendly smile before turning around and heading back down the hallway he come through, thankfully missing the slippery patch on the floor before he switched to a depressed body posture when he thought the witchling couldn't see him. Raven sighed sadly as she watched Dexter go; she had gone on a date with Dexter to the Multi-Hex once, all excited and eager to go with him, as well as nervous; the date had been nice and Raven had had a nice time with the prince charming, but she didn't really feel anything there. She knew Dexter had a hopeless crush on her, and for a time she thoguth she liked him to until that date; things just . . . didn't click. The witchling didn't know how to tell Dexter without tearing out his already damaged heart and stomping it into the dust.
"He's not good with rejection, is he?" Blitzwolfer guessed.
"Not really, no." Cedar shook her head. "Being related to Daring will do that to you."
"Just be glad you ain't related ta me, SPARROW HOOD!" the Son of Robin Hood screamed loudly as he slid across the floor in front of the small group on his knees, wailing away on his guitar; Blitzwolfer clapped his hands over his sensitive ears, growling annoyance as Apple whimpered and held onto him tighter, taking Raven's hand and giving a nearly bone crushing squeeze until Sparrow was finally kind enough to end his guitar solo.
"Anything you can do, I can do better! YEAH!" Sparrow cried.
"You mean like last time we had a talent show?" Raven smirked.
"That last time didn't count!"
"If you say so." Raven rolled her eyes. "Just remember that practice makes perfect."
"Practice is for losers, OHHHH!" Sparrow sang as he played his guitar in what most would assume to be an off key and tone death manner.
"We'll see about that." Raven narrowed her eyes at the musician.
Headmaster Grimm frowned and watched as Cedar stood on stage, once again doing an act with a miniature version of herself sitting in her hand as she talked to the puppet and responded to it as if it were alive and well; around the Headmaster, hundreds of students snickered and laughed every few seconds as Splinter, Cedar's puppet, back sassed and lied to her continually while others were simply confused as to how Cedar was able to make the tiny puppet lie.
The Headmaster could care less about how the puppet could lie while Cedar could not (though he found Splinter's blank stare to be quite unnerving). He was far more focused on what he deemed to be more important matters, mostly the new student Blitzwolfer; something about the wolf put him on edge and made him bristle on the inside whenever he saw him in the hallways, chatting absentmindedly with Royals and Rebels alike and actually getting along very well with Cerise Hood when they were clearly supposed to be enemies. And it wasn't just that. The wolf was slowly taking control over Ever After High without even realizing it, showing up the princes and heroes in Heroics 101 and trying new ideas in Beast Training and Care that were not supposed to be used in fairy tales! Nowadays, future heroes and princes charming would not try to appear charming and handsome in their quests to rescue the damsel in distress or fight and slay the furious dragons and beasts they would come across in their quests; instead they focused more on defeating the enemies and rescuing the damsels in record time and opted to try and befriend the unsavory beasts and creatures they would come across instead of fighting them.
Blitzwolfer was grinding Headmaster Grimm's last nerve, and he had tried to do something about it; he had hidden under one of the desks in the Science and Sorcery classroom, just getting barely lucky enough to be hiding under the one that Blitzwolfer was using in the experiment with Cerise Hood. Once he had been sure the two of them were distracted, he had slipped a small vial of troll snot into the bubbling potion the two of them had created, resulting the explosion that had landed Professor Rumpelstiltskin a nice stay on the ceiling of his classroom and sent the Headmaster himself flying out of the classroom, through and open window, and into the river that ran under Troll's Bridge, much to his annoyance. His plan had been to get Blitzwolfer either detention or even expelled, but that plan had quickly backfired. Literally.
When the Headmaster had held auditions for the school's next talent show, he wasn't the least bit surprised to find that Raven Queen was going to be playing a guitar solo; while originally disappointed that her song hadn't been evil enough, he was quickly put off by the presence of Blitzwolfer and had excepted their act together out of both fear and the small sliver of hope that combined they would do something truly evil.
"And that was once again Cedar Wood and her little friend, Splinter!" Maddie announced. "Who, oddly enough, can still only lie!" she added as Cedar smiled and bowed to the light applause she was given while Splinter gave a friendly wave; the judges, consisting of Earl Grey, Lizzie Hearts, and Kitty Cheshire gave the performance two thumbs up out of three.
"What'd you think of her act?"
"I dunno. I thought it was a little wooden!"
"And please welcome Cedar's uncles, Birchman and Oakler, everybody!" Maddie added, clapping lightly while the rest of the audience booed and hissed at the two old gentleman sitting in one of the balcony seats of the auditorium. "If I may ask, why are you here? Don't you normally haunt the Multi-Hex?" the Hatter asked.
"He's so old, he might as well haunt it!" Birchman chuckled, jerking a thumb at Oakler until the puppet smacked his partner over the head. "Alright, alright. Long story short, we've heckled the hex outta everything at the Multi-Hex."
"So we came here and decided to heckle everything else!" Oakler added, the two old puppets chuckling to themselves.
"Oh, it's gonna be a long show." Maddie sighed quietly to herself. "Anywho! Up next, we have The Hilarious Hunter Huntsman!" she announced; Tiny quickly yanked the curtains shut behind the Hatter, his great size and strength making the task effortless as Hunter walked out on stage with a sign in hand that he set up out on stage before slipping back behind the curtain to grab a stool.
"Die Hunter Huntsman?" Oakler read.
"Looks like the reviews came out early!" Birchman cracked.
"For your information, it's supposed to be German!" Hunter's voice rang out over the microphone system, causing a horrible squeaking sound that made several of the students, particularly Cerise, wince in pain until Dexter and Humphrey managed to turn the sound down on Hunter's mic; moments later, the Son of the Huntsman himself came back out on stage with a stool in hand that he promptly sat down on in front of the stage.
"Thank you, Maddie for that wonderful introduction," Hunter started off. "First time I've been introduced by a Wonderlandian MC. Of course you know what that means: she can be crazy over there and here and practically everywhere else!" Hunter cracked; a few snickers rolled through the audience as Hunter continued to warm up.
"I feel great, folks, just got back from a pleasure trip," Hunter continued. "Took my mother-in-law to the airport!" he said, earning a few more laughs. "And while I was there, I-"
"Funny, funny, funny!" two aged voices announced loud and sarcastically. Hunter sighed and looked up into the balcony to see Birchman and Oakler starring back at them, smirks on their wooden faces as if they had something planned.
"It's beginning, ladies and gentlemen. It's happening," Hunter grinned as he decided to turn the slight mishap into his act; after all, the best comedians were able to think on their feet and work with brand new material no matter the situation. "They're the two guys I heard about that heckle from the box! Get a good look at 'em, ladies and gentlemen: the original Grimm brothers." Hunter smirked as the audience broke into laughter. "Come on guys, don't start with me, don't start with me."
"Hey, Huntsman!" Oakler shouted.
"What?" Hunter sighed.
"I think I figured out your style!" Oakler replied.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you work like Gregory Hex!" Oakler yelled.
Hunter smiled and nodded before he realized something. "Wait, Gregory Hex isn't a comedian."
"Well . . ." Oakler smirked; the audience burst into a fit of laughter, louder and more wild than what Hunter had been getting before the two marionettes jumped in and started heckling his act.
"Now wait just a splinter, I have been a successful comedian for half of my life!" Hunter argued, now annoyed.
"How come we got this half?" Birchman yelled back before he and Oakler burst out into snickers and chuckles; the audience were now holding onto their seats for support as Hunter fumed on stage and thought up a quick come back.
"Look, did you come in here to be entertained or no!?" he snapped angrily.
"That's right!" Oakler responded.
"What's right?"
"We came here to be enterained, and we're not!" Oakler spouted off, grinning and giggling to himself.
"Oh, yeah?" Hunter narrowed his eyes at the two wooden puppets sitting in the balcony above him. "I'd like to see you come down here an' be funny!"
"You first!" Birchman yelled before hooting with laughter as the audience fell into disarray, falling into the aisles into fits of laughter and chuckles that left them nearly breathless while hunter gritted his teeth in anger.
"Ha, ha, ha, the audience! Don't pay any attention to 'im folks. He's the ninth child of a family of eight." Hunter smirked as the audience laughed at his own joke and not at him being heckled. "Now lemme tell this story-"
"Hey, Huntsman!" Oakler yelled.
"Oh, what is it?" Hunter sighed irritably.
"You know what you're doing wrong?"
"No, what am I doing wrong?" Hunter sighed.
"You're standing too close to the audience!" Oakler replied.
Hunter decided to humor the old puppet in the hopes that he and his partner would stay silent for the rest of his act. "How's this?" Hunter asked as he scooted his stool back a couple of feet.
"You're still too close!"
"Sorry, is this okay?" hunter asked, now scooting back a couple yards until he was pressed against the curtains.
"A little more!"
"How far back do you want me to go?" Hunter wondered.
"You got a horse?" Oakler cracked as he and Birchamn snickered at Hunter's expense.
Hunter gritted his teeth and marched to the front of the stage, no longer putting up with the two puppets. "Let me tell you something, if you don't stop I'll have the usher throw you out!" the Son of the Huntsman threatened.
"He can't, he's too busy keeping people in!" Birchman cracked, falling out of his seat in laughter as Oakler and the rest of the audience joined him, hooting and howling like animals as they laughed and chuckled loudly.
"And you're encouraging him!" Hunter complained to the crowd before turning back to the two wooden puppets. "You know, I got a good mind to go up and punch you in your nose!" he threatened.
"Please, not while I'm holding it!" Birchman begged, earning more laughter from them and the audience.
Hunter couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the joke himself. "Thtat's . . . that's actually pretty good." he admitted.
"You can use it!" Birchman offered, earning a lighter round of giggles and chuckles than before.
Hunter frowned again. "I don't need your material, pal." he said. "I got a million funny lines in the back of my head!"
"Yeah? How come they never reach your mouth!?" Oakler yelled, the crowd laughing once more at Hunter's expense.
Hunter himself sighed and pinched his brow in exasperation. "Guys, would you take it easy? Do you think I'm doing this for money?"
"Not so far!" Oakler cracked.
Hunter growled. "Oh, I see. And you think you can do better?"
"I couldn't do worse!" Oakler shouted, hooting loudly along with Birchman.
"Alright, I dare both of you to come down here and entertain!" Hunter yelled.
"Hmm. We should." Birchman agreed.
"Oh, yeah?" Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Can you sing?"
"No." Birchman responded.
"Can you dance?"
"No." Oakler replied.
"Can you get laughs?"
"No." Birchman shook his head.
"Then what would you do?" Hunter wondered, now utterly confused.
"Just what you're doin'!" Birchman joked, snickering along with Oakler as the audience cracked up for the umpteenth time since Hunter began his comedy act.
Hunter sighed and cracked his knuckles. "Okay, that's it! I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna call the police!" he warned the two elderly puppets.
"Yeah, you need all the protection you can get!" Oakler cracked, laughing so hard he could ahrdly breath.
"Don't! Just . . . just stop!" Hunter yelled at the audience before returning his attention back to the two hecklers in the balcony. "Look, I've had it! I've just . . . just had it with you two! I'm not gonna take anymore of this!"
"Uh, Hunter?" Maddie said quietly, tapping the stressed huntsman on the shoulder.
"What!?" he yelled.
"How are things going?" the Hatter wondered innocently.
"Oh, I'm gonna start with you now, huh? It's going terrible, that's how it's going. These have been pickin' on me ever since I started!" he complained, jerking a finger up towards Birchman and Oakler while the two puppets waved.
"Well can I help you out?" Maddie offered.
"Please." Hunter sighed.
"Alright, which way did you come in?" Maddie asked.
That was the last straw. With an enraged scream of fury, Hunter picked up his stool and sigh ran screaming offstage at the top of his lungs as the crowd seemed to die with laughter upon seeing the huntsman's reaction; with Hunter gone, Birchman and Oakler stood up in their seats and bowed, waving to their audience as Maddie giggled and retook hold of the microphone as the judges gave Hunter a similar score to Hunter's; once they had managed to catch their breath from laughing so much.
"And that was The Hilarious Hunter Huntsman! Who will now probably need psychological help." Maddie with a slight giggle. "Next up we have Raven Queen and Blitzwolfer performing a duet!"
Raven gulped nervously from within the wings of the stage, biting her lip when she noticed how many people there were; they were everywhere, filling the aisles of the auditorium and cramming into every available space and training all their eyes on the stage. The stage she was about to walk out on and perform.
"Come on." Blitzwolfer reassured her as her grip on her guitar tightened. "We're gonna be fine. I'll be there right beside you," he promised her. "Most of the attention'll probably be on me anyways."
Raven nodded and sucked in a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves before turning around to face Apple; the princess hadn't left her or Blitzwolfer's side ever since that fateful day Cerise had decided to take matters into her own hands, never straying more than two feet away from any one of them when she could help it. While Apple had become a tad less frightened than before, she was just as jittery as before, if not even more; for seem reason, the more time passed between the attack and present seemed to make the princess more on edge, as if Cerise were plotting some complicated scheme to hurt her again.
"Tiny? Can you please keep an eye on Apple?" Raven asked the giant. "She's still . . . shaken up."
"That's an understatement." Blitzwolfer grumbled. Word of Cerise's attack on Apple had spread throughout the school faster than a lightning strike, with a few people actually now feeling sorry for the princess once they heard the false explanation Blitzwolfer had spread around; thankfully, all it took was telling Cedar how things supposedly went, making the task all the easier.
"Don't worry. "Sh-She'll be safe with me." Tiny promised as he slowly reached down with a hand and set it on the ground; Apple gulped and gave Blitzwolfer and Raven a terrified look as she walked onto the outstretched hand and let the friendly giant deposit her onto her knee, safe within eyesight and out of immediate reach.
The two of them were met with polite applause as Raven gulped and panned her eyes out over the audience, relaxing slightly when she saw Maddie and Cupid give her reassuring thumbs up; Blitzwolfer gave her a comforting nod as he tuned his guitar, wondering to himself how in the name of Egor's dentures he was going to play a guitar with claws while Raven tapped the microphone in front of her to make sure it was working.
"H-Hello? Can everybody hear me?" she asked; she got several thumbs up and cheers approval, followed by the incessant booing from Birchman and Oakler in the balcony.
"Ready when you are, Rae." Blitzwolfer nodded.
Raven gave a nervous smile and sucked in a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves; she had always dreamed of this moment, to grow up to become a pop star, to perform in front of a crowd of thousands, to inspire others to follow their own destinies with her lyrics. Now that she was here, on a somewhat smaller scale at least, she felt like she was standing in front of the world's biggest crowd stark naked with nothing to cover herself up with; it wasn't until she looked back and saw Maddie, Cupid, and now Dexter smiling and urging for her to go on from the wings as Apple and Tiny gave her reassuring gestures. Now feeling confident, Raven sucked in a sharp breath and played a soft, long chord on her guitar that sounded long and mournful, like that of a flute being played out over a wide and impressive mountain range; Blitzwolfer suddenly joined in with a quick strum of his guitar, turning the sweet note into a short rock ballad that last for several measures before Raven finally began to sing.
"Do you know what it's like when you're scared to see yourself?"
"Do you know what it's like when you wish it were someone else,
"Who didn't need your help to get by?"
"Do you know what it's like to wanna surrender?"
Blitzwolfer smiled as he watched Raven sing her heart out to the crowd, a round of applause rolling its way across the auditorium as a few people nodded their heads along to the soothing song; a quick glance at Headmaster Grimm and the Loboan was surprised to see that his normally stern and stressed out posture was relaxed and limp, as if Raven's music and words were actually calming.
"I don't wanna feel like this tomorrow, I don't wanna live like this today."
Make me feel better, I wanna feel better! Stay with me here now and never surrender!"
"Never surrender." Blitzwolfer howled soft and low, bobbing his head to the rhythm and beat of the song as he and Raven moved onto the next couple of verses; a short glance into the wings and he found that Apple was less ridged than she had been before, becoming much more relaxed as she sat there on Tiny's knee with that pleasant smile on his face that he had quickly come to love. Some would claim readying falling in love with someone he barely even knew was bad advice, but the Loboan had been through worse. Much worse.
Little did he know that Raven had been through worse as well.
"Do you know what it's like when you're not who you wanna be?"
"Do you know what it's like to be your own worst enemy,
"Who sees the things in me I can't hide?"
"Do you know what it's like to wanna surrender?"
Cupid clasped her hands together eagerly as she watched Raven sing on stage, her heart swelling with joy when she absentmindedly leaned against Dexter; the prince charming didn't flinch in the slightest and merely gave her that friendly smile she would spend all day daydreaming about and nearly fainted from happiness when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"There's our little Raven." Dexter smiled. "I'm so proud of her." he sighed.
"The chick will grow to one day be an eagle." Maddie nodded happily.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Sparrow growled with a devious smirk on his face as he pushed his way past the three of them with his guitar clutched tightly in his hands. Without so much as a warning, Sparrow ran across the stage before dropping down to his knees to slide the rest of his way, starting to play a loud, rock ballad on his guitar as he cut through the song Raven and Blitzwolfer were singing like a knife. The music was loud, abrasive, and made Blitzwolfer and Cerise howl in pain from the sheer noise level; but he rest of the audience seemed to love it, climbing to their feet and cheering loudly as Sparrow took over raven's performance.
"Silly, little Raven! I told ya practice is for losers! YEAAAAAAH!" he crowed loudly.
Raven didn't quite know what happened after that; one moment she was performing with Blitzwolfer and having their song interrupted by Sparrow, the next she was screaming at the top of her lungs as raw magic curled off of her body like hot, purple flames as everyone in the auditorium gasped and cringed as Raven's power stretched out into long, cracking tentacles that rose high up into the air before slamming down onto the stage, sending out a tremor and rush of power in a wide radius.
"Dexter!" Cupid gasped when she noticed that Dexter and Maddie were swiftly lifted off of the ground, glowing a worrisome purple aura; a yelp of surprise came from the audience as Melody Piper was taken from the crowd of fairy tales; she had lavender-white hair patterned with dark purple streaks and had violet-brown eyes on her olive skinned face. She wore a bright, colorful yellow T-shirt under a black, leather jacket and a purple skirt that reached to her knees before she wore knee-high black, leather boots; a set of headphones were looped around her neck as she struggled and wobbled in the air for a few seconds as she, Dexter, and Maddie were pulled up onto stage as Raven's magic swirled and swam around her and Blitzwolfer, pooling in some areas and objects began to take form; a trumpet, a DJ stand, a keyboard.
Bright, purple light swept over each of the taken fairy tales, Raven, and Blitzwolfer, changing them as the light died down to reveal their clothes had been changed and switched into something new; Maddie still sported her ever present top hat, but it was now a deep black in color as she a blue pinstripe top with a short, pink skirt that only reached her thighs as she wore a pair of blue stockings beneath. Dexter now wore a deep blue T-shirt with a white crown and crossbones on front underneath of a black leather jacket and blue jeans as he took hold of his trumpet, confused and eager at the same time. Melody didn't change all that much from her original outfit, only stenciling strange symbols and tattoos on her arms and neck as a pair finger-less gloves and black cap appeared on her head. Raven now wore a long, purple dress that reached down to her ankles, a black top covering her upper half with silver sleeves that looked like feathers with a pink sash around her waist and a pair of silver headphones around her neck. Blitzwolfer now wore a ragged, white shirt that looked as if it had been slashed and clawed under a black, leather jacket in addition to the green collar around his neck. A black helmet with a single spike on the top sat on his head as he wore a pair of tight black pants.
"R-Raven? What's going on?" Dexter wondered.
"You said you wanted to play something together, right?" Raven smirked. "Think of this as something like that, but with some our other friends."
"But . . . we don't even know what to play!" Meldoy protested after admiring the white, purple, and black DJ stand she had been set behind, quickly plugging in her headphones as Maddie clapped happily upon noticing she had been placed at the keyboard with Dexter holding his trumpet.
"Just follow my lead." Raven smiled.
"Trust me. I think she knows what she's doin'." Blitzwolfer reassured them. Before any of them could argue or protest, both the Loboan and Raven both let loose with loud chords from their guitars; Maddie immediately jumped in and Melody grinned as she set a steady, thumping beat for her fellow musicians and the audience to follow; Dexter gulped but decided to go along as he tried to look brave and put the trumpet to his lips, blowing a soft note that wouldn't have noticeable had anyone not been looking for it.
"Me and my friends get no respect!"
"What do the Royals do that we neglect?"
"We be puttin' all our destinies in check, but me and my friends get no respect!"
Raven crooned into the microphone as Dexter blew a series of brave notes that sounded like a short fanfare of sorts, exciting the audience as Melody grinned, sensing where things were going, and glanced over the series of buttons and switches on her DJ stand before pressing one that gave off a steady drum roll; Maddie meanwhile, just took things like she did with everything: fast paced and crazily.
"So what? Who cares? We're doin' it how we like."
"I'm singin' into my mic, a special fairy-magic mic!"
"Who's gonna save the world? Who's gonna save the day?"
"From warlocks, evil witches, and giant dragons with fiery rays?"
"Who's gonna charge into battle when the hero isn't there?
"Who's gonna chase down villains and never turn around and run in fear?"
Blitzwolfer grinned as he slashed his guitar with his claws, grinning wolfishly as he watched Raven sing her heart out towards the audience, a smile on her face as she slashed and shredded her guitar. The Loboan smiled upon seeing her so happy, so content to be able to follow her dream and looked utterly gorgeous and beautiful while doing it; plus, the look on Sparrow's face was priceless. The Son of Robin Hood glared at the newly formed band on stage and attempted to play his guitar louder than them, wailing away on his instrument as a mischievous smile crept across Raven's face and she made a quick motion with her finger, summoning a portion of the power that ran through her veins before throwing the glowing ball of energy at Sparrow's guitar, holding back giggles when the instrument shuddered and shook before suddenly seeming to exploded, smoke curling off of Sparrow's guitar; the musician gaped and wailed at his damaged instrument, his cries unheard over the cheering crowd.
"You know who I'm talkin' about, we're strong and big on brains and I do not mean Daring Charming, I mean Fairy Tales!" Raven sang into the microphone, holding out the word for the longest time before she and Blitzwolfer dropped into a duel of guitars between each other as Melody kept the beat rolling; Maddie was practically dancing on her keyboard as dozens of scurrying mice scampered and scrambled around her feet to climb up onto Melody's DJ stand and dance the night away as Dexter blew one long blast, grinning sheepishly as the audience roared with approval.
"We try to further justice without making waves,"
"And to impress the men and ladies, but in subtle ways."
"They get lost between the sediment and water mains," Raven smiled before cheekily turning to Blitzwolfer. "And I will never date you 'cause you smell like meat!" she laughed as the Loboan pouted.
"So what? Who cares?"
"When a evil warlocks plots,"
"To send an army of ogrebots,"
"To tie you up in dragons' knots?"
"Who's gonna save the world? Who's gonna save the day?"
"From warlocks, evil witches, and giant dragons with fiery rays?"
"Who's gonna charge into battle when the hero isn't there?
"Who's gonna chase down villains and never turn around and run in fear?"
"Who's gonna stand for justice, when bad guys break the law?" Raven sang loud and proud as the music suddenly dropped low and quiet, building up bigger and bigger as Dexter climbed the scales and Melody kept the beat short and quick to get the audience pumped as they danced in the aisle's and cheered loudly to the beat. Blitzwolfer glanced at the young witchling and nodded as he strummed his guitar faster and faster building up the tension and covering both his and Raven's parts as she spun her hands around in a quick motion before turning around to fire a purple blast of energy and magic at Melody's DJ stand, hitting it right in the center as words began to form for all to see and read.
"You know who I'm talkin' about, we Dexter, Melody, Maddie, and Raven and Blitz, but if you're catchin' a odor of power, we're Fairy Tales!" Raven ended the lyric portion, taking to simply shredding on her guitar as she copied Sparrow's movements and jumped high into the air to play a loud note before sliding down to her knees and towards the front of the stage, putting her heart and soul into the song as Dexter blew a long ending note that was only drowned out by Blitzwolfer's sudden howl of triumph and approval as all three judges gave the group a perfect score, much to Sparrow's disappointment and the audience's approval.
"Thank you, Ever After High!" Raven waved to the crowd. "We're Raven and the Rebels! Thank you, and good night!" she smiled, her voice drowned out by the roar and screams of the crowd as several girls from the audience scrambled towards Dexter's portion of the stage; Cupid tightly gripped an old, broken microphone before breaking it over her leg with a swift movement, restraining herself when she saw the group of girls try to get to her Dexter.
"Wonderful, wonderful! That band is terrific!" Birchman nodded appreciatively.
"I reserve judgement." Oakler socffed.
"Until when?" Birchman wondered.
"Until the princess tells me what to say." Oakler gulped as he slowly turned around in his seat to stare at Brair's clenched fist; Birchman did the same and winced upon seeing the princess's stern expression, as if she were daring them to try and heckle her friend's performance on stage.
"Raven and the Rebels you can like." she said after a few seconds.
"I loved them! Loved them!" Oakler cheered.
"Good, good! Spelltactular!" Birchman added.
"It's the thief you gotta hate!" Briar added, jerking her finger down at Sparrow as he tried to get noticed by the crowd and feebly play something on his broken guitar.
"I hated him! Hate the Hood!" Oakler yelled.
"Rotten Robin Hood! Awful, truly awful!" Birchman chimed in.
"You did awesome." Blitzwolfer grinned as he waved to the crowd and ignored the two elderly puppets that guffawed and spouted nonsense from the balcony at them.
"Well, I couldn't have done it without you." she admitted before turning to the other three. "Sorry about that. I . . . kinda lost my cool when Sparrow stole my spotlight."
"Don't worry about it, Raven." Melody smiled as she spun a record around on one of her fingers with a smirk. "This was awesome; I always wanted to play in the talent show, but didn't know how to do it properly."
"I got no complaints." Dexter grinned as he took off his crown and tossed it out in the crowd, wincing when the crown clattered to the floor and was immediately descended upon by the group of ravenous fan girls like a flock of starving vultures, each girl trying to claim the crown as their own while fighting off the others. This went on until Headmaster Grimm got involved and tried to take the crown for safe keeping, only uniting all of the girls under one flag and earning a painful beating as they tried to steal Dexter's crown back from him.
"I honestly don't see how this night could get any better, Raven." Maddie giggled as she pulled off her top hat and took out a tea kettle and tea cup before turning the tea pot upside down and letting the boiling liquid flow upwards into her empty tea cup.
Blitzwolfer was about to put in his own input when a sudden beeping noise caught his attention. He gulped and glanced down at the collar around his neck, the Omnitrix beeping a warning green that got faster and faster with every second before it became a steady beam.
"Uh, oh." the Loboan gulped before he was suddenly swallowed in a flash of green light. His body began to shrink and compress, his strong, tight muscles shriveling and loosening up as his powerful arms withered into the equivalent of fleshy, bony noodles; his fingers cracked and ground heavily as they shrank into thin rods and the sharp, pointed claws on the end became short, stubby fingernails. His legs snapped as the extra joint in them disappeared, becoming the stiff pole that was his ankle while the long, fluffy tail at the base of his spine was slurped back into him like a long piece of spaghetti. Ben's face crunched and compressed as it was shoved back inwards into a rough ball shape, his pointed ears becoming small, round disks once more as they moved back to either side of his head. The shaggy coat of fur was shed slowly, gradually shifting back into Ben's body as the large mane on his shoulders and head was reduced to a scruffy, brown patch of hair on his head while his teeth ground against each other until they were flat and even instead of dagger-like spikes. The sharp talons on his toes were reduced to toenails as three small toes popped back into existence one after the other; a black T-shirt with green trimming and a white number ten in the center, a pair of brown pants, and a pair of green and white sneakers appeared on him as the Omnitrix reappeared on his wrist, ending the transformation.
The entire auditorium fell silent as all movement ceased and all eyes suddenly trained and moved on Ben as he stood there on stage in his human form; Dexter and Melody were starring with shocked expressions while Maddie had an all knowing and happy look plastered on her face as Raven gulped nervously and waited for someone to react or speak or do anything at that moment just to end the awkward silence.
Cupid covered her eyes from the wings, not sure whether she wanted to see what would happen next or not as Apple covered her gaping mouth her hands, a stunned and frightened expression on her face when she caught sight of Headmaster Grimm's stunned and furious expression from beneath the pile of frozen girls that were still reaching for Dexter's crown; Cerise had long since fainted into Daring's arms upon seeing the wolf she had come to love turn out to be nothing more than a human in disguise, the feeling of betrayal and deception heavy on her while Ashlynn and Hunter simply starred with wide eyes. Blondie had her Mirrorphone out, snapping pictures of Ben and the band onstage when she wasn't busy starring and Cedar was somewhere stuck between starring at Ben with shock and drooling over him.
"What do you suppose they call that, a novelty act?" Oakler's voice cut through the silence.
"I dunno, but it wasn't too bad." Birchman shrugged.
"Well, that's a novelty!" Oakler cracked before he and Birchman burst into laughter, their chortles and guffaws sounding tiny and insignificant in the thick silence that hung over the auditorium like a blanket.
"Aw, man!" Ben cursed under his breath.
And there we go!
What has our hero managed to get himself into this time? Deep trouble, that's what! On a side note, how many of you saw Pesky Dust appearing in her before Ben's secret was exposed? C'mon, show of hands, don't be shy. Now before any of you start and claim that Ben was exposed too soon, Ben is technically exposed about a little over two weeks of staying at Ever After High, while it was a little over a week and a half at Monster High. I really have nothing else to say, but I've getting a couple of messages asking for a list of all the OC aliens for this story and the past one; I assume it would be to clarify confusion. So without further ado, here is the list below.
We're All Monsters
Phobos
Overflow
RazrEdge
Mindmesser
Teleportail
Brains and Brawn
Bonez
Spikefall
Once Upon Tennyson
Spitter
Sludge Puppy
Jumbo
Snakepit
Sandbox
Blowhard
Ventrilosquid
Darkflame
Smashface
Phantux
Valkrie
Laser Rush
Joker
Jigsaw
Keep in mind that all these new OC aliens are subject to change and that these are the ones I decided to included in my story; I might add in more or take away some or not change them at, but the alien list for Once Ypon a Tennyson is not permanent. Let it be known that I said that!
Disclaimer: Never Surrender is a saw by Skillet, writer's of my all time favorite song, Monster. If you haven't heard ot them, I highly suggest you listen to some of their songs. Very empowering and very emotional as well. Also, I do not own Jabberjaw; who here remembers the Cartoon Network Groovies they made, especially the one with Jabberjaw in it? Yeah, that song belongs to the band Pain. The reason this song made it into the story was because I was just humming it one day and it wouldn't get out of my head and I eventually came up with some edited lyrics for my story and the rest is history.
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!
