I'm ALIVE! ALIVE! MUA-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Okay, so it's a little early from Halloween to go all Dr. Frankenstein, but that's exactly how I feel: energized, electrified, and refreshed! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and love the previous chapter; without further ado, it's time to get down to business, crack my knuckles, stay up late for hours on end, and squeeze as much content into this chapter before I post it and then pass out from exhaustion only to wake up several hours later and become delighted upon seeing your wonderful comments again.
Lets get started, shall we? XD
StrongGuy159 – Glad you like the chapter. And don't worry; Grimm will get what's going to him.
Redrangerlegacy – I fully intend to, mi amigo ;)
Cartoonfan10 – Eventually . . .
Linkonpark100 – That he is XD
DracoAngel17 – Ask, and ye shall receive! Enjoy the following beat down that Daring shall receive and that I have written! Trust me when I say I had to restrain myself from killing him in this one.
spurlinpatricksean2 – Thank you for the kind words. It's much appreciated. As a token of gratitude, enjoy the following chapter with my regards!
Guest – I took a look at this 'Ridley', and I have to say that I am impressed with what I see. Unfortunately, I'm not impressed enough; besides, I already have a dragon-like transformation coming up later in the story. As for your Joker idea, I think I'll base his personality more off of the Batman villain (can't argue with the guy. He'll kill you before you can). As for the Valkrie idea . . . I think not. Don't worry, though. The girls will still become badass later on. As for HoodudexCedar, I'm sorry to say that while the idea is sweet, I, and a lot of other readers, like BenxCedar even better.
Menatron the Angel of Ideas – This will most likely be a reality, as Clawdeen and cerise are both temperamental and rather possessive; this should be interesting XD
Black Cat Angel – Indeed he is. Indeed he is.
Gosick5233 – Now that you pop the idea, it does sound like a descent idea; throwing in someone related to the Snow Queen would be interesting, to say the least. I'm not saying this will be a reality, but it's something I'm willing to consider.
Unknown – You insult me, my good man (or woman)! I never do such a thing, to disown or give up on such a wonderful and fun story to write! I could never do that to you or my other loyal readers! As for Ben and Cerise . . . I'm sure they'll be able to work something out. I'm not sure. I'll have to ask them. Don't worry about Cedar. If her constant blushing and claiming that Ben was hot wasn't enough, she'll be in the harem. As for the wand, I like the idea; remind me to credit you for that when the time arises. And don't worry about Grimm and Daring. Right now, I'm just giving them their comeuppances, but they will definitely be portrayed much better later on in the story (once I'm satisfied that they've suffered enough.
masterart – While I can assure you that your fusion partner wish will granted, I can't say that I will take your idea, as it interferes with my plans to incorporate Way to Wonderland, of which involves the Ever After cast retrieving the Storybook of Legends.
Sallem Cortez 004 – The main reason I didn't include the O'Hair sisters, Ginger, or Blondie is because I wanted to people guessing at who would join the harem next; I don't know if that changes things or not, but I thought it might work (shrugs).
maverickmoxey2000 – I'm not too good with writing countless soldier deaths, so this is why I mostly use mindless creatures or abominations for battles, like I did in my previous story. As for Darkstar, he'll most likely earn a Humungou-fist to the face if he gets his creepy, pasty fingers on Raven. Loved the different weapon ideas that you suggested; I fully intend to use them, with some modifications and tweaks. And sorry for postponing the fight between Ben and Daring, but hey, it got to come back and read this chapter, now didn't it? As for Cerise in heat . . . remind me to thank you for that later on. I just got a wicked idea that'll probably leave Ben and Cerise scarred for life or something.
Codecrash – You're right. Considering Ben survived both the destruction and creation of the universe, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon. VIRTUALLY INDESTRUCTABLE BABY! Again, loved the idea you PMed and I hope that I did it some justice in this chapter. As for the Charming family . . . wow, conceded and self-absorbed much? This is gonna make Daring a likable character all the more difficult. Oh, well. I've come this far, so I probably won't stop now!
Darkness Rissing – Unless absolutely necessary to the story's plot, I try not to put an alien in a chapter directly after use, so Rath is unfortunately not an option; the main reason I do this is because, with the new aliens added in my sequel and will add through out this story in addition to the canon aliens, there are a lot of transformations to put in. Almost a hundred I think. The main reason Ben hardly considers the Forever Knights a threat now is because they've been little more than a nuisance; granted, if this happened directly after Ultimate Alien (which it does not), Ben would claim otherwise. And trust me, the knight's will get more respect as time goes on. As for Cerise, she has a good reason for being a hypocrite, as you claim (not saying this in a bad way); she's literally, by the laws of her parent's stories, to have never even existed, thus meaning if anyone finds out, she could very well be killed (heck, Ben was almost executed). Ben however, could have revealed his secret from day one if he wanted to. Glad you liked the RavenxCerise moments. More to come on those.
Isom – Maybe not Jigsaw, but perhaps another alien based on a cartoon character just as looney . . . anyway, Ben will help Dexter get over Raven, but it's going to be a long and rather painful road.
luciayshadow – Yes, I saw the latest episode; I love the winter episodes of Monster High and Ever After High. So warm and cozy, that you can bet there'll be some of those in this story when winter rolls around (in the story of course). As for Darkstar, the only reason Ben doesn't remember him as much as Aggregor is because he didn't appear as often and wasn't as much as a threat as Aggregor was (the dude nearly took over the entire universe; Darkstar just drained some girls of their energy so he could be handsome again). While I can't say what Kitty's favor will be (Sphinx, even I don't know. She's that unpredictable) I can assure you it won't be anything sexual. She's crafty and clever, but I don't think she'd go that far; and the reason I gave Kitty a tail was because she's a cat and the only time we ever see her have a tail is in Way to Wonderland. Meanwhile, Toralei is waltzing around Monster High wagging her own tail back and forth without a care. Glad you liked RavenxCerise; more of that to come XD And actually, Genie does like Ben, he's just being his usual, crazy self. As for your ideas, I like all but the last one, mostly because I already used Rath and don't like using an alien right away unless absolutely necessary; this is mostly because I have so many transformations I have to squeeze in at least once. I mean, Omniverse managed to only put in Ditto and Goop about two or three times while other aliens like XLR8 and Terraspin were featured more often. The other two, will most likely happen. Also, since you're offering, do you think you can tell me what the Sphinx Rath was saying in Secret of Dos Santos? I've always wanted to know, but my Spanish isn't enough me to understand more than one sentence.
Grimlock – I thought about using Diamondhead, but I have a lot of aliens to squeeze into this story between now and then, so it'll be a while before we see our favorite, crystaline alien again (not too long though).
Karlos1234ify – I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it! Continue to enjoy it further as I post this chapter!
Everything is Batman – Right now, I'm currently busy with my current stories, collaborations with other authors, and a sequel to my Total Drama story; as much as I enjoy Percy Jackson and what limited Harry Potter I've seen (never really had the time to watch them) I don't think I could write a Xover with them. Plus, if you look at my profile, I have other planned works that my priority when they come to fruition.
Smaug – To be fair, Adwaita and Darkstar are more of Gwen/Charmcaster's enemies than Ben's; he just gets dragged into the mess because he's related to Gwen and almost always near her whenever they try to strike her down. Plus, with Ben having a much bigger villain line up than Gwen, Kevin, Rook, or even Grandpa Max, he tends to forget the lesser of the villains (Billy Billions and Sublimino, etc.) and those he's barely encountered (such as Darkstar and The Road Crew). As for the Forever Knights, the only reason Ben doesn't see them as much as a threat now as they were before is because not only is their leader, Sir George, dead, but they nothing more than a small band of crazy guys in suits of armor with barely any money, weapons, or power in their current world.
animefan – I hope it can be glued back together!
Erebor – Was there any doubt she would give up on writing her own destiny? It wouldn't be Ever After High if she did, now would it?
Gojira – Don't worry. I plan to tie up all those loose ends as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Maddie seems to be plotting to take over my story any day now, so I'm not sure where things'll go then. All I can hope is that I ave enough tea to keep her passive long enough for me to write all these things before she knocks me out with her mallet and does it herself.
Classic Lover – Yes, I am currently working on Jigsaw's artwork and will post it on my DeviantArt account as soon as possible.
Royal Rebel – I am now thoroughly terrified of you and Red Riding Hood. But don't worry, those loose ends will be tied up once the events of this chapter are taken care of. As for Maddie, she is currently plotting to knock me out with her mallet and take over the story, so watch out! I may not be the one writing soon!
Kaiju Fan – No one, I suppose. I was just pointing out the similarities between Vulpimancers and Xenomorphs. Not that I don't plan on using your Xenomorph idea.
The Question – Answers in the order you asked for them: I can not reveal that right now, as that is top secret information (or is it!?); true, but I thought naked Rath would be more hilarious; things can only go uphill from here, trust me on that one; Badwolf has already approved of Ben. It's Red Riding Hood you gotta worry about; that, I can not reveal. Shame on you! XD
That seems to just about cover it!
Also, I would like to thank Menatron the Angel of Ideas for giving me the idea on how to start off this chapter; it was originally meant to happen in We're All Monsters, but as you can figure out, that never happened. And big thanks to Morantis for helping me figure out things that I can not say without spoiling what happens!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! I love hearing from you guys and gals and your creative ideas! Remember, no idea, suggestion, or request is too stupid or dumb to at least be thought over (no matter how brief).
Onward!
F.N: I . . . don't even know where to begin on this one.
M.N: For once, we can agree on something.
F.N: Doesn't mean I'm not ready to give it a shot. (Ahem). After much trail and tribulation, the fog of war had settled and Ben, er, Rath had emerged the victor. But with a ticked off Cerise Hood in his clutches, a fight with Daring Charming on the horizon, eight weeks of detention, and a suspicious absence of the Forever Knights, how long will these uneasy peace last?
M.N: For once, I won't criticize your narrating. Only because I couldn't have said it any better.
M.H: I could have!
M.N: Ms. Hatter! What are you doing here again!?
M.H: I was getting bored! Nothing hexciting happens until the fight with Daring when-
F.N: Don't say anything!
M.H: Alright, fine. You two are no fun. I just really wanna meet Ben! He sounds so hat-tastic and Wonderlandiful!
F.N: You'll have to wait your turn, dear.
M.N: Yes, get in line with all the other girls Ben is to be paired with.
M.H: I have a hammer you know.
M.N: . . . I say we make her wait short. How about you?
F.M: Agreed.
M.H: Hat-tastic!
Rook sighed as he lazily watched the nearly blank monitor before him, taking a sip out of the Mr. Smoothie's cup in front of him; it just didn't taste the same without Ben there to try and drink his smoothy faster, only to receive a term called 'Brain Freeze'. It had been at least two weeks since Ben had once again disappeared, and his family was practically hysterical with fear; Sandra was almost beside herself with concern and worry, hardly doing anything other than to sustain herself and keep any and all lines and sources of information about her son open. The ghouls were no better, fights often breaking out between several of the more temperamental of them with some rather destructive results often coming out of it.
"Hey, Rook."
The Revonnahgander sighed wearily as he placed his smoothy cup back down on the desk in front of him and set his feet that had previously been propped up out of boredom back down on the ground. He turned around to see Toralei Stripe coming strolling out of the Plumber Base elevator shaft with a proud smirk on her face; the werecat wore a red and black version of Rook's own Proto-Tech Armor, something Blukic and Driba had managed to craft after much (and by much, there was a lot of explosives and other disasters involved) trial and error. The fact that Toralei not only seemed to idolize him, but also had been placed under his command after graduating with flying colors from the Plumber Academy, something Rook was not fond of for one reason in particular.
Toralei was an incredible flirt.
"Yes? What is it Ms. Stripe?" Rook sighed, trying to sound as if he wasn't tired or already annoyed with her already. "Is there anything to report?"
"Nothing so far, Magister," Toralei purred, drawing out the word in a manner that sent shivers up Rook's spine and made his fur stand on end. "All prisoners are accounted for and Animo is currently in the medical ward getting treated for his broken arm; it seems we will have to get Avea some counseling of some kind."
"Yes. I imagine letting her anger out through her Tetramand form is not a very viable option." Rook tapped his chin in thought, oblivious for the moment to the fact that Toralei was now resting her chin on her arms on the back of hi chair. "Do you have any recommendations for Ms. Trotter to try? It would seem Ben's absence is taking a great toll on her."
Toralei was now resting one of her arms on Rook's shoulder, slowly and tentatively dancing her fingers along his collarbone as she spoke in what Rook perceived to be a seductive manner. "Maybe some therapy, perhaps? Or maybe she just needs to sit down and . . . talk to someone." she purred in Rook's ear; the Revonnahgander shivered.
"Please, Ms. Stripe, we both know that our chosen love interests would not find this situation you have put us in to be very appealing in any manner." Rook grunted as he pushed Toralei away from him.
"Oh, you mean Rocco?" Toralei purred. "He won't mind at all."
"That may be, but Rayona-"
"She's on another planet, Magister . . ." Toralei practically whispered in Rook's ear. "She'll never know. It'll be our . . . little secret." she smiled as she rested her hand on Rook's chest and cupped his cheek in a rather inappropriate manner.
"As your commanding officer, I order you to stand down and cease this childish behavior." Rook frowned, pushing Toralei off of him. The werecat didn't listen and continued to pursue her desires, sitting herself down on Rook's lap and pressing her body tightly against his, drawing in a sharp breath when she felt his strong, firm muscles underneath of his Proto-Tech Armor while she gently cupped his face in her hands, lightly stroking the fur that covered his cheeks as she leaned forward, lips parted slightly and puckered.
This was the last straw for Rook. With a slight grunt, he grabbed Toralei by the shoulders and pushed her off of him, spilling his smoothy all over the place in the process as he leaped out of his chair and made a run for it, his arms pumping.
"Come back!" Toralei pleaded before taking off after her fleeing commander.
"No! Please return to your station and leave me alone!" Rook called over his shoulder as he took a sharp left, nearly running over Jerry (from Inhuman Resources) in the process while he fled; Toralei was hot on his heels, front flipping over Jerry (once again, from Inhuman Resources) before continuing her mad chase after her one-sided love.
"Rook! Please, come back!" Toralei begged.
"I am sorry to have to do this to you, Ms. Stripe, but you leave me no other choice." Rook huffed as he swiftly grabbed his Proto-Tool off of his shoulder and fired off several shots, missing every time but coming dangerously close to hitting her as she effortlessly dodged and weaved through the blaster fire like the cat she was; Rook made a mental note to recommend her to teach a class at the Plumber's Academy on advanced dodging techniques, when she wasn't chasing after him that is.
"Nice try, Rook, but you'll have to do better than that!" Toralei laughed as she jumped over more blaster fire and dug her claws deep into the ceiling's paneling, allowing her to swing along with ease and catch up to Rook, kicking him between the shoulder blades and knocking him down to the ground; the Proto-Tech skidded just out reach.
"Now how about a kiss?" Toralei purred.
"Hold it right there, luv!"
The werecat turned her attention away from Rook long enough to see Robecca slap her metal fingers down on her Omnitrix's activation button, swallowing herself in a flash of golden light as her body was warped and changed into something new. The android could feel herself shift and move dramatically as her metal exterior was cut and sliced into thin ribbons with a loud shrieking noise, as if she were messily being cut by a pair of gigantic, invisible scissors. Her circulatory tubing system and artificial organs melted together into thin stripes of their own, stretching out to an incredible length before all of the thin strips that had become Robecca began to bundle themselves tightly together, wrapping around each other and forming themselves into a crude, feminine figure with long, exaggerated fingers and toes made of singular strips of the bandage-like material that Robecca was now made of. She could feel her face harden once more and quickly flatten itself while it rounded and turned a copper and deep black in color, leaving two small spaces for her slit-like, golden eyes to peek out of; the face plate sat itself on top of the bandaged shoulders as a gold and black headdress appeared on her head, a wide collar materialize on her neck and chest as two, thin tendrils sprouted from her back. Black and gold braces appeared on her arms and ankles as a golden belt with the Omnitrix on it appeared around her thin waist, finishing the transformation.
Toralei yelped as the Thep Khufan lashed out with her stretchable fingers, wrapping tightly around the werecat's waist and yanking off of Rook in a flurry of motion, spinning her much like a top. "And down goes Toralei!" Cleo-wrap-tra smirked.
"Thank you for the assistance, Ms. Steam." Rook sighed with relief as the Thep Khufan help him off of the floor.
"Please, Rook. It's just Robecca." Cleo-wrap-tra gave a mouth-less smile. "Now, might I suggest that we make a hasty retreat? Toralei's gonna be after both of us now, though for different reasons I suppose."
"Indeed." Rook agreed; Toralei gave a furious hiss and sliced through the bandages that Cleo-wrap-tra had wrapped her up in much like a Christmas present with her claws, arching her back and snarling before she chased after the Thep Khufan and Revonnahgander on all fours. The three of them raced down several hallways, narrowly dodging Plumbers and technicians alike in their mad chase throughout Plumber Headquarters; at one point, the three of them got separated in a long hallway that branched out into several smaller corridors, each one of them taking a different hallway in the hopes of either escaping one another or catching the other. This resulted in several rather odd and very cartoon-like chases between the tree of them as they raced down hallways after or away from each other.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" Toralei growled after a seemingly endless chase.
"Are you referring to the fact that you still do not seem to grasp the idea that I do not like you or the seemingly random and bizarre nature of ensuing chase?" Rook asked.
"Both!" Toralei frowned before grinning wickedly. "But now I have you, Magister!"
"Not quite!" Cleo-wrap-tra smirked as she quickly stretched her bandages across the width of the hallway and erecting a thick and sturdy makeshift barrier between her and Toralei just as the werecat leaped and tried to tackle Rook to the ground; she slammed into the wall of bandages, bending it inwards slightly before bouncing right off, the bandages holding in place.
"That should keep her off of us for a few minutes. Maybe even seconds, depending on how sharp her claws are." the Thep Khufan gulped with exhaustion; she could already hear Toralei slicing through the bandages with her wicked claws.
"Your tactics are quite clever." Rook remarked. "Ben has taught you well."
"Yeah . . ." Cleo-wrap-tra sighed sadly.
Rook immediately regretted the compliment. "My apologies. I did not mean to bring him up."
"Don't worry about it." Cleo-wrap-tra reassured him. "We're all just worried. A lot."
"I can imagine." Rook nodded as he stooped down to pick up the Proto-Tool from the floor and hold it in his hands. "However, I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." he pointed out as Toralei finally finished slicing through the bandages to lung at Cleo-wrap-tra and tackle her to the ground, grabbing her by the arm as they rolled along the ground, allowing the werecat to flip the Thep Khufan and throw her down the hall where she slammed into the wall at the end and slid down with a low groan.
"No one gets between me and my man." Toralei hissed venomously as Rook paled slightly; Toralei quickly turned on him, swiping his legs out from underneath him and kicking the Proto-Tool out of the Revonnahgander's grip, leaving him weaponless once more. This allowed the werecat to pounce on Rook, straddling his legs with her thighs as she expertly trapped his wrists together with her hand before she swiftly reached forward and grabbed a patch of skin between Rook's shoulder and neck, giving it a quick pinch and grinning with pleasure when the Revonnahgander's struggling movements halted on the spot, his limbs seizing up and lying limp and useless next to him.
"Wha . . ." Rook grunted with pain, unable to do anything but try to breath and slowly speak.
"Hephaestan neuro grip." Toralei licked her lips hungrily. "Perfect for subduing all manner of prey." she recited the infamous quote she had memorized upon learning about Khyber the Huntsman's exploits.
Rook gritted his teeth preparing himself for the ravaging that was no doubt coming his way when an ever so slight motion caught his eye from above Toralei, followed quickly by by a dull, red flash of light and energy, a welcoming sight for the Revonnahgander in the current situation. "But . . . what if . . . the hunter . . . becomes the hunted?" he grunted.
Confused by what her captive meant, she turned at the sound of a wet, squishing noise from behind and instantly froze up as a massive creature about the size of an elephant and looking very similar to a beached jellyfish oozed down from the ceiling and landed on the floor with a wet plop! The creature was a deep blue in color with lighter colored blotches slathered over its slimy surface as dozens upon dozens of oozing tentacles writhed and squirmed about in search of food; a flexible protrusion like looked like some kind of shaggy cob of corn protruded from the top of the creature's gelatinous bell, more slime dripping from the many sharp growths as the creature flopped about. A familiar disk floated around inside of the creature, guarded by the dozens of cracking tentacles.
"A . . . Devorantis Bulla," Rook observed. "The natural predator . . . of the Appoplexian species and . . . common reason why they are not fond . . . of water."
"It looks hungry." Toralei shuddered.
"Indeed." Rook agreed, the pain from the neuro grip starting to ebb away and give him control of his limbs once more. "Seeing as how the creature is practically brainless, not particularly picky when it comes to prey, and the fact that you look very similar to an Appoplexian, I would highly advise that you make a hasty retreat."
Too frightened to question the sudden appearance of the beast, Toralei leaped off of Rook and took off at a rather impressive speed for a werecat, possibly breaking a world record in the process; the Devorantis Bulla made a low growling and hissing noise as it slowly oozed across the floor and wrapped a tentacle around Rook's wrist, careful to not sting him with the toxic venom in its tips as the creature helped him up.
"Thank you, Ms. Boolittle." Rook smiled slightly as the large, gelatinous predator was engulfed in a burst of red light as the Nemetrix timed out and returned Jane to the world, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"N-No problem, Rook." Jane nodded. "I figured Aquattack would be more than enough to stop Toralei from making her advances on you." she said before she quickly turned her attention away from her Revonnahgander superior and rushed down the hallway to crouch down by Cleo-wrap-tra's side.
"Are y-you okay, Robecca?" the shape-shifter asked nervously.
"Fine. Just sore." the Thep Khufan moaned before her Omnitrix timed out in a flash of golden light and returned Robecca to the world, the android instantly going limb as her systems shut down.
"I was afraid of that." Jane sighed as she slipped one of her barely shaking hands underneath Robecca's hair, feeling along for a small catch in the metal paneling before finding it and working her fingernails underneath it to open up a small hatch in the side of her ghoulfriend's head; Rook came up behind her, confused and rather startled as well.
"What are you doing?" he inquired.
"This sometimes h-happens," Jane explained. "From time to time, during battles, something will get knocked lose inside of her and she'll either malfunction or shut down." she told Rook as she expertly slipped her hands inside of Robecca's head, delicately feeling around the contents of her artificial brain and memory banks until she found a small hose that had been pushed out of place. Jane quickly reinserted it and closed the hatch before reaching behind Robecca's ear to press a small, hidden button; her ghoulfriend's systems had been upgraded slightly to make repairs faster and her occassional accidents during fights less likely to happen.
Robecca's eyes slowly blinked open, her optical censors pausing for a second to readjust to the light levels before she responded. "Thanks, luv. You're getting quite handy with those repairs."
Jane blushed furiously. "W-Well, y-you were the one that sh-showed me and Venus how t-to do them." she stammered with embarrassment; Robecca smiled and gave her girlfriend a small hug before the two of them climbed to their feet. "How about you, Magister? Are yo alright?"
Rook nodded. "You may refer to me as Ben would have, Ms. Ste- Robecca." he corrected himself. "Toralei's advancements are becoming more and more frequent, I am afraid."
"I still can't believe she's a Plumber." Jane gulped. "She's starting to scare me." she whimpered slightly.
Robecca was about to console and comfort her ghoulfriend when a loud, red alarm blared loudly through the hallways, bathing everything in an eerie, crimson color as Jane covered her ears.
"The Null Void Projector!" Rook realized.
"Are you gonna let me down now?" Cerise asked, impatiently drumming her fingers against Rath's large fist as the still irritated Appoplexian stalked down the hall with the Riding Hood held firmly in his grip.
"Lemme tell ya somethin' Cerise Hood! Rath will let you go when Rath is good and ready! And Rath is nowhere good or ready to let you go!" Rath growled, snorting with annoyance.
"Ugh. I feel like I've been hanging here for weeks." Cerise sighed, resting her chin in her hand; she had lost track of time long after she and Rath had been a short, yet extremely damaging rampage through out the entire school, crashing through two floors, wrecking two classrooms, the Lifairy, and then ending up having to spend eight weeks in detention together with Cerise's father. And the worst part, at least for Cerise, was that Rath knew her family's secret. Whether he actually understood what was going on was up to debate, but there was no doubt that he would be able to figure it out once the Omnitrix timed out. The Riding Hood found herself silently wishing for the strange device currently fused to the Appoplexian's chest to keep going for an eternity, but she knew it was fruitless; the Omnitrix would time out, Ben would return to her, and things would all go downhill from there.
"Sit." Rath snarled as he released his hold on Cerise and let her drop onto a comfy cushion in front of one of the large bay windows that decorated a couple of the floors of Ever After High, allowing students to relax in the bright and warm rays of the sun while gazing down at the grounds below; a quick sniff of her sensitive nose told Cerise that this was a spot generally favored by Kitty, if the faint scent of Wonderland catnip wasn't enough to go by. She really hoped the Cheshire cat wouldn't show up to screw her over and make things worse like she normally did.
"Now are you gonna let Rath apologize to you, or am is Rath gonna have to make you let Rath apologize to you!?" Rath roared.
"Do you have to yell every sentence ever after?" Cerise winced, covering her sensitive ears with her hands.
"Yes! It makes Rath more impressive!"
"You don't look all that impressive to me." Cerise scoffed.
"Rath isn't about being impressive! Rath is about being angry! And Rath's angry is impressive!" the Appoplexian yelled at the top of his lungs; Cerise visibly winced at the loud noise.
"That made no sense."
"I know!" Rath yelled even louder before a soft beeping caught both of their attentions just before the Appoplexian as engulfed in a flash of green light, the Omnitrix timing out and returning Ben to the world; Cerise was tempted to attack him right then and there in his vulnerable, human state, but her entire body was still throbbing with pain from the wall she had been thrown through. He was probably feeling right as rain compared to her.
"Okay, I'm not the only one that has some explaining to do," Ben said as he sat down on another cushion across from her. "Do you want to go first, or should I?"
"You first," Cerise growled. "Not that it'll matter."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you'll kill me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm still one-hundred percent still alive and in one piece. No death for me, thank you very much."
"You're stalling." Cerise growled, her eyes flashing a bright amber before they returned to her dull, gray color.
Ben sighed, but began to talking. "Look, I'm sorry that I hurt you when I was Blitzwolfer; had I known you had such feelings for me, I wouldn't have lead you on." Ben apologized. "I'm use to having girls fall for me. Sphinx, I've got seventeen girlfriends back home. But I never thought you would fall for me, much less Blitzwolfer."
"I suppose that part was my fault." Cerise sighed with defeat; due to the fact she had to hide her heritage, she was quite withdrawn from the majority of the student body of Ever After High, meaning often had little to no interactions with anyone outside of her fellow Rebels. Not that anyone other than Raven, and now Ben, knew her secret.
Ben had to silently agree with her on that one, but decided it was best not to say it out loud for fear of being punched in the jaw; even as Rath, when he so durable and tough that he managed to survive a fall from several thousand feet up and slam into bare rock beneath with little more than a headache, he suffered a fair amount of pain. The girl knew how to take it and then sling it back more than double when she wanted to, something Clawdeen and Avea would be proud of. "Either way, I really enjoyed our time together, even if it was just mostly me carrying you around," Ben joked slightly. "You were smart, brave, and not afraid to stand your ground no matter the situation; Sphinx, most people run at the sheer sight of Rath." Ben added with a slight smile; Cerise couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth quirk up in the smallest smile imaginable.
"But enough about me. You can't seriously believe I'm not curious about those wolf ears of yours, right?" Ben said with a small smile.
Cerise wasn't quite sure what she was feeling right now; was that actually warmth in her face she was feeling? She shook her head slightly, and felt herself heat up again when she noticed that Ben had been starring at her. "Oh. Uh, I guess." she coughed uncomfortably. "As you may have guessed, my parents are Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf." she admitted, rubbing her awkwardly.
""So, your wolf ears come from your Dad, along with those teeth, claws, and temper of yours?" Ben guessed.
"I don't have a temper!" Cerise snarled, her voice much deeper and guttural as her teeth and fingernails grew longer and sharper while her eyes flashed the furious, bright amber that Ben was all too familiar with; a quick look at Ben's smug yet tense look, and the wolfish features retreated back under the costume of shy, secluded Cerise Hood that everyone knew. "Okay, so I have some . . . issues." Cerise sighed. "What are you supposed to do when you can you do when you're technically never supposed to have existed?"
Ben didn't have an answer for that. Now that he thought about it, Cerise couldn't do anything a normal student of Ever After High, such as Apple, could do; Apple could go to any party or school gathering she wanted to and party the night away, while Cerise had to remain in the shadows and hide away from the world; Apple could get herself involved in any activity she wanted to, while Cerise was limited to something that wouldn't expose her dark secret; Apple could talk to and go home to her parents during schools breaks whenever she wanted, while Cerise had to remain with either her mother or at school for fear of someone discovering the secret the Hood family was hiding. In a way, Cerise was handicapped in such a way Ben couldn't have been able to comprehend. Because of her heritage, she could never live a happy life without the world being such a dangerous place for her. How did you live life knowing you weren't supposed to even exist?
"Do you love your parents?" Ben asked after a while.
"What's that got to do with my wolf ears?" Cerise sniffed, blinking back tears. She absolutely refused to cry in front of Ben, not after what the two of them had just been through; her body was still aching, her muscles burning like the dying embers in a fire pit after the roaring flames had died down.
"Do you love your parents?" Ben repeated, his expression telling her that he wasn't going to say anything else until he got an answered.
Cerise sighed with defeat. "I . . . I do. Even if they made my life a living nightmare just by having me, I still love them." she said, not sure where Ben was going with this.
"Do you love your friends?" Ben asked next.
"Love how?" Cerise wondered; Ben just gave her a look of disbelief. "Yes, I do. Cedar's really fun to be around, Raven is always supportive and the best friend ever after, and . . . I guess you were okay, too. That time you got Professor Rumpelstiltskin glued to the ceiling was one of your better moments." she added with a hint of amusement.
"You think that's funny, you should have seen Rumpelstiltskin and Headmaster Grimm up against Jigsaw," Ben smirked. "I swear, it was practically something out of a Saturday morning cartoon." he chuckled before getting serious once more. "But my point is, if your friends and your parents love you, you shouldn't care what you look like. Just knowing that someone loves you and cares for you should be enough."
"That . . . actually makes sense. A lot more sense than what Rath was yelling." she added with a small smile. "He's actually kind of funny."
"As my friend Kevin once said, 'Rath is the only alien that makes me wanna get a box of popcorn, kick back, and just watch."
Cerise actually snickered at this. "If you think Rath's funny, you'll find me and Daring fighting each other at three on the Bookball field hilarious." Ben said sarcastically.
Cerise seemed to be greatly distressed by this. "Wait, you're fighting Daring? As in, the best sword fighter this school has ever seen?" she pressed. "The guy who can win a game of tug-o'-war with almost anyone and look good while doing it?"
"If I can turn into Rath and take a beating from you, then I'm pretty sure I handle Daring." Ben scoffed slightly. Cerise couldn't help but smile at that, her face heating once more; she didn't know what the feeling was, and she wasn't sure she liked it. And whenever her smile got bigger or when she glanced at Ben, the feeling intensified to the point where Cerise felt like her face was on fire and that Ben could see it all happening. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with him seeing any of that, so she did the only thing she could of at that moment: the Riding Hood lunged forward and pulled Ben into a strong hug, resting her head on his chest and squeezing him tightly.
"What's all this about?" Ben asked awkwardly after a few seconds, unsure of what he should do.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry." Cerise said quietly; she never realized how comfy Ben was, even in his human form. She thought it was impossible for any human other than her mom to be this comfortable, but Ben was like the world's softest and firmest pillow at the same time, like laying ones' head down on a rock made of silk. Cerise didn't know if that made sense, but it made sense to her at least. "I . . . overreacted a little."
"A little? You tried to kill me!" Ben joked slightly, gently wrapping his arms around Cerise and returning the hug; the Riding Hood felt herself unconsciously snuggling deeper into Ben's warm embrace, an almost tired feeling overtaking her. "But . . . I think I can let it slide." he added with a smile.
"Can I . . . ask you something?" Cerise wondered after a few seconds.
"What?"
"Remember when you were yelling at my Dad? About how you weren't going to let me go until you were ready to?" Cerise explained. "What did you mean by 'girlfriend'?"
Ben gulped nervously as his face turned a deep scarlet. "Uh, um, well, you know Rath . . . he's not too, uh, smart." he said sheepishly.
"But you control your transformations, right?" Cerise cocked an eyebrow over a calculating eye.
"To an extent . . ." Ben admitted, sweating anxiously at the look the Riding Hood was giving him.
"You like me, don't you?" Cerise smirked, her expression turning into one of triumph when he noticed his troubled demeanor; a quick sniff made her nearly recoil with the amount of nervousness that was rolling off of the Omnitrix wearer in waves.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Does a dragon breath fire?" Cerise responded right back with a question of her own, her smirk deepening when she caught sight of the dull, red blush creeping across Ben's face. The Riding Hood was now sure that the feeling that had been slithering throughout her being during the past few minutes was love, a feeling she thought had died long ago ever since her wolfly prince had turned out to be nothing more than a human; even during those nights when she had cried herself to sleep, staining her pillow and hood with tears as she lay in a tight ball underneath her covers, she still had felt affection for him. He was kind to her and had spent what little time he had hanging out with her, whether it had been just a simple walk in the woods, retrieving books for her in the Lifairy, or simply just curling up with her for a quick nap in the sun, and he had just recently commented on how skilled she was, not to mention how beautiful. After all, being able to go toe to toe with an Appoplexian and looking good while doing it was a feat that nearly impossible unless you just happened to be Cerise Hood.
"Cerise? I'd love to talk some more, but I gotta get going; it's getting close to three and I'd like to drop off my homework and things in my dorm before I hammer Daring into the ground." Ben spoke up after a while; Cerise felt her face heat up with embarrassment after she realized how long she had been hugging Ben..
"Try not to beat him too badly; you want to make yourself look too villainous." the half-breed warned.
"As if I want more bad attention on me." Ben rolled his eyes as he got up from the cushion seat and stretched slightly. "And don't worry. Your secrets safe with me."
"That's a relief." Cerise breathed. "So, uh, I'll see you in detention?"
"Probably." Ben shrugged with a smile. "I'll see you at the duel."
"I'll be rooting for you." Cerise smiled; the two of them bid the other farewell before departing, Ben to his locker to grab his things and Cerise to her father's office in the hopes of explaining things out and preventing her Mr. Badwolf from trying to slaughter Ben the moment he walked into the classroom.
"Remind me, what exactly is the Null Void?" Clawdeen asked as she leaned against the side of the elevator while she filed her nails; regarding the little incident that had combined both her and her boyfriend's universes together, no one but her, Ben, the other ghouls, and the mysterious Time Walker, Paradox, knew what actually had happened. Everyone else, from Rook and Grandpa Max to Vilgax and even minor villains such as Sublimino, believed that the monsters that now walked the planet known as Earth, had been there since the beginning of time, having evolved alongside humans with some rather disastrous results here and there.
"In short, Ms. Wolf, the Null Void is an alternate dimension discovered by the Galvans long ago," Rook explained. "Since its discovery, it has turned into an interdimensional prison where planets send intergalactic criminals far too dangerous to keep in the current dimension, a fine example being Vilgax."
"Yeah, fat good that did." Venus rolled her eyes; Jane was by her side, looking nervous and rather frightened as the elevator descended downwards towards the room the Null Void Projector was kept in, deep within the bowels of Plumber Headquarters to keep it out of prying eyes and grasping hands. Skelita stood next to Rook, absentmindedly fiddling with her Omnitrix in the slim chance of unlocking a new form; really though, she was just trying to distract herself from Ben's disappearance.
"There is a team currently holding the point, ready to fire when and should anything from the Null Void cross over." Rook explained. "The best option would be to try and reason with who or what ever may be on the other side and try to use violence only as a last result."
"Aw, but I was looking forward to cracking some skulls!" Venus pouted, Jane whimpering at the choice of words; Venus immediately regretted the decision and used whatever small amount of time they had left in the elevator to calm her down. The doors to the elevator dinged open, allowing Rook and the four ghouls to step out into the room, taking note of the small group of tense Plumbers with their various weapons and blasters aimed directly at the swirling, blood red portal a good couple dozen yards in front of them.
"Do we have una idea what activated the projector?" Skelita asked.
"The limited reports I have received are rather short and incomprehensible." Rook regrettably said. "The only information that I know of is that it was activated from the other side."
"T-The R-Rooters?" Jane gulped fearfully; she had read the reports of the Plumbers black ops and was immediately terrified of them particularly Servantis with his calm, chilling voice that didn't seem able to express any emotion at all.
"A possibility, but it is only mere speculation," Rook scratched his chin in thought. "According to Azmuth's studies of the Null Void, the dimension as certain weak points that can be exploited to tear passageways from both dimensions, should enough force be used."
"So we're dealin' with some unknown force powerful enough to rip holes through dimensions?" Clawdeen raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, this one is gonna hurt."
"For the bad guy, that is." Venus smirked as she turned on her own Omnitrix and selected one of the two available transformations before slapping the activation button, swallowing herself in a burst of neon green light. Her skin turned a pale shade of gray and looked as if it would split and break at the slightest touch as her fingers cracked and crunched loudly, lengthening into long, wicked claws while her eyes widened and turned entirely pink in color. Her fangs became longer and more pointed, some of them not even fitting into her mouth anymore as her chest and ass swelled to a decent size; muscles piled themselves onto her arms and legs as she felt her lungs expand to a large size as her heart began to beat slower and slower. She felt slightly empty and sort of drowsy at the same time, drained of the ability to eat normal foods and forced to feed off of . . . other things. Her feet twisted into sharp claws, hidden beneath a pair of bright, neon pink boots as a tight, black and green costume that showed off her curves and slightly exposed chest cover her; a green mask with a pair of bat-wing horns and curved spikes appeared on her face while the Omnitrix appeared on her stomach in a sudden burst of neon green light, a thick membrane growing between her arms and hips to form wings and complete the transformation.
"This is going to be fang-tastic." Whampira grinned toothily, cracking her knuckles.
"You're almost as bad as Ben." Clawdeen rolled her eyes.
"You still love it when he does that though." the Vladat smirked.
"Yeah." Clawdeen admitted before her sensitive nose caught hold of something. "Hold up. Something's comin' through." she glared at the portal, her hackles raised and her teeth bared in a deep, twisted snarl. The three ghouls, Vladat, and Revonnahgander tensed up and readied themselves for what was to come as the small army of Plumbers that stood between them and the swirling portals cocked and readied their weapons, their grips shaky and nervous.
A large, smooth, black hand reached out through the portal, groping the empty air for a few seconds before it grabbed onto the floor and dug its fingers into the paneling, as if it were struggling to pull something along. An arm soon followed, a poisonous white circuit pattern arching over the inky black skin as another hand emerged through the portal with another arm attached; the two hands continued to pull and strain as a lagre, bulbous head cover with white circuitry pattern and a single, white ring for an eye slipped out of the portal, followed quickly by the rest of the Galvanic Mechamorph's body. The criminal shakily climbed to its feet with great difficulty, wobbling and trembling on its unstable legs.
"W-W-What's wrong with him?" Jane gulped nervously as the Galvanic Mechamorph took a step and suddenly fell onto its hands and knees, struggling to hold itself up.
"Put down your weapons! Do not fire!" Rook commanded as Whampira flapped her arms and glided over the rows of Plumbers to come to the ailing techno-organic alien's aid and help him up just enough so he could breath more easily than he was.
""C-Close . . . th . . . the p-portal . . ." the Galvanic Mechamorph wheezed. "S-Send me back . . ."
"Not in your condition." Whampira shook her head.
"S-Send me back . . ." the alien criminal coughed again; the Vladat's eyes widened when she saw its circuit pattern covered swell with several, zit-like pods, the glowing bulbs growing larger and larger and forcing the Galvanic Mechamorph to lie on his stomach, too weak to support himself.
"Que? What is happening?" Skelita asked worriedly.
"What's going on?" Whampira demanded.
"H-He's . . . coming . . ." was all the poor Galvanic Mechamorph managed to say before the horrid growths on its back suddenly burst and split open with a wet, tearing noise, killing the criminal in the process; Whampira shielded herself from the blast with her wings, recoiling in disgust as the equivalent of Galvanic Mechamorph organs and guts oozed and dripped down her arms. The Vladat's attention however, was quickly drawn away from the unfortunate, dead Galvanic Mechamorph and now towards a large, swirling red cloud of dust about the size of a large car buzzing above her.
"What . . . what are those?" Clawdeen wondered.
"Problema. Trouble." Skelita frowned as she turned on her Omnitrix and selected one of her two transformations before pressing down on the waiting activation button with a bony finger, swallowing herself in a bright, orange light; her bones cracked and ground heavily as they rotated in their sockets to position her arms above her head, her fingers stretching to a near impossible length while her rib cage grew bigger and bigger, her bones fusing together to become thicker as her vertebrae molded together into a long, spinal cord that outwards into a cup-shaped dome that quickly connected with her growing rib cage and encased the skeleton in a large shell. Flesh and tissue began to form over her arms and legs, connecting the bones to strengthen their mobility as internal organs started to form within the safety of her shell. A large heart appeared in the center of her chest with massive lungs appearing on either side of the beating organ as skin began to coat the fresh muscles, tissue, and fat that had formed over her skeleton; a sickening cracking filled the air as six massive holes opened up in the front of her carapace as it ground heavily and became more teardrop-shaped in the process. Her jaw bones snapped and crunched loudly as they hardened into a horny beak, her eyes moving father apart as the Omnitrix appeared on her chest, completing the transformation.
The Geochelone Aerio gave a small jump into the air as her flippers stiffened into a pair of firm blades while her legs swiftly morphed into a third blade, giving her the appearance of a helicopter rotor on its side; Tortuga started to slowly spine her blades in a wide circle, spinning faster and faster until they were nothing but a whirl of green as she started to vacuum away the air in the room, specifically around the strange, red cloud that had come out of the Null Void. The dust floated there for a few seconds before slowly being drawn towards the Geochelone Aerio, as if it were somehow resisting her pull. Tortuga narrowed her eyes at this and spun her flippers faster, focusing more on the cloud of red ash as it began to pull towards her with some resistance before it suddenly gave up and rushed right at her, slamming into her with such force that it knocked her onto her back.
The red cloud of ash swarmed around the fallen Geochelone Aerio like a cloud of wasps, buzzing angrily as it began to slip inside of her shell, diving through the holes in her chest and pouring into her mouth as she struggled and flopped around on the floor, helpless.
"She can't breath! She's choking!" Clawdeen exclaimed as Tortuga fought for her life on the floor of the room; the were wolf snarled and turned to her Omnitrix, cycling through her two available transformations before she decided that Cerebella would hopefully suffice in the current situation and slapped the waiting activation button, swallowing her in a flash of yellow light. The first and most noticeable part of the transformation began when the fur and skin around Clawdeen's head suddenly melted off, the bare muscle and tissue quickly solidifying and turning a hard, metallic sheen as Clawdeen's head suddenly separated from her body, a forked eyebrow-like crest forming above her yellow eyes. Her shoulders pinched upwards, forming large points and then an upside down arch with her head floating between them, held in place by some magnetic field; the werewolf's chest swelled slightly, more a noticeable bust. Her skin turned a durable, metallic black with bright, silver lines and spots as her claws crunched and snapped loudly to fuse together into a pair of large pincers, her frame shooting upwards until it was about ten feet tall. Her toes ripped out of her boots in two, large claws, a tingling sensation coursing through her entire body as the Omnitrix appeared on her chest.
"Oh, great. A new one." the Biosovortian cursed. "At least it's useful. I think."
"Hurry, Ms. Wolf! I don't know how much more Skelita can take!" Rook yelled as he sniped at the buzzing, red cloud with his Proto-Tool, the other Plumbers following his example, though it hardly seemed to be doing anything; Jane had morphed into a large eagle, trying to beat the buzzing, red swarm back with her wings with Whampira copying her movements.
"Give me a sec! I don't quite know this works!" the female Biosovortian yelled as she clicked her pincers experimentally before aiming them at the red cloud and concentrating as her arms began to tremble slightly, like a phone on vibrate; the angry, red cloud tried to resist and pull away from the magnetic alien's attempts to pull them away, but the Biosovortian's pull was too strong. Eventually, the cloud of red dust was pulled out and away from Tortuga at the last second, allowing the Geochelone Aerio to finally breath with relief as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Skelita to the world.
"Skelita, are you alright?" Rook inquired.
"Si. I am fine." the skeleton replied shakily as she was helped to her feet by the Revonnahgander. "Never before have I been glad to not have lungs."
"Yeah, well, you can thank Polarizer for that." the newly named Biosovortian gloated, despite the fact that her arms were coated in glowing, red fuzz. "What is this stuff anyway?"
"Considering you were able to magnetize it, I question its origin." Rook remarked with a calculating look. "The safest course of action would be to contain it. I believe Blukic and Driba may have something to help."
"Are you sure you want to trust those two?" Whampira asked.
"It is our safest option." Rook said firmly; the ghouls shrugged as the rest of the Plumbers relaxed slightly. "Hobble, please shut down the Null Void Projector."
The anxious, little insectoid scurried over to the controls, gulping nervously as the pulsing, red portal roared; just as he made a move for the complicated network of buttons, levers, and computers, the Omnitrix stuck to Polarizer's chest timed out in a burst of yellow light, instantaneously returning Clawdeen to the world and releasing the strange, red dust. The Plumbers all readied their weapons again, preparing to fire upon Rook's command as the red swarm of ash hovered about in the air for a few seconds before descending down to the floor, dividing and shifting itself as it began to form a roughly, humanoid figure with slim shoulders, a muscled, male body, and roughly skull-like head; by the time the swarm stopped moving and held its new body together, it resembled something like a deformed Pyronite with its bottom jaw missing, along with the instantly recognizable lava rocks that were usually found on the flaming aliens.
"W-What is th-that?" Jane gulped nervously.
"Something that's going to get his face smashed in, that's what!" Whampira growled, socking her fist into her hand in a threatening manner just before the Omnitrix timed out and returned Venus to the world in a flash of neon green light. "Oh, for the love of gargoyles." she pouted.
"Freeze!" Rook yelled at the mysterious figure. "Put your hands above your head or we will shoot!"
"Why do you show such needless aggression?" the constantly shifting figure asked in a chillingly calm tone despite the fact it had several blasters aimed right at it by a small army of trained Plumbers.
"W-Who are y-ou?" Jane asked anxiously.
"I, dear girl, am known as Alpha."
The halls were relatively empty, with most of the student populace heading towards and gathering on the Bookball field, waiting to see the fight that would ensue between Daring and the wearer of the Omnitrix; this meant that Ben had mostly free rein of the halls, able to traverse them without hindrance from the stares and whispers thrown his way. This also gave him the temporary ability to hear the tiniest of noises, the marble hallways acting as amplifiers to the slightest of sounds.
One such sound caught his attention.
Curious, Ben took what little time he had left to find the source of the noise, wandering down through several hallways and corridors before he found himself heading towards the wing of the castle that was Ever After High that made up the student dormitories, specifically the girls side (not that dorms divided by gender stopped Raven or Apple from visiting Ben in the night). After walking a short distance down the hall that ran the length of the girls dorms, Ben found himself stopping from the third door down the hallway, a room that smelled faintly of perfume, chocolate, and fresh honey.
Cupid's room.
"Cupid? It's me Ben," he knocked on the door with his wrist; he was greeted by a soft squeaking sound from the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"
"F-F-Fine, B-Ben." Cupid sniffed.
Ben frowned at this. "Are you sure? You don't sound okay."
"I-I'm f-f-fine, B-Ben." Cupid repeated.
Ben's frown increased; clearly, the young deity was lying through her teeth (though she was currently lying through a wooden door) to him, hoping he would buy it and leave her alone. Ben however, was not as gullible as some people first perceived upon meeting him, something that he quickly changed their minds about within a few hours or so of meeting said person. "Cupid, I know you're lying. Let me in, or I will turn into Humungousaur and bust this door down." Ben threatened.
There was an uneasy silence after those words were said for what seemed an eternity, and Ben was about to fulfill his warning to its full extent when the doorknob rotated slightly to the right and the door slowly creaked open on its hinges; Ben would have found it rather lurid had his attention not been drawn to the sole, current resident of the dorm.
Cupid looked as if she had seen far better days, her silky, cotton candy pink hair disheveled and unfastidious in appearance with her pale, nearly pink skin now a fiery red around her face and cheeks. Her soft, blue eyes were now a raw red in color, faint shadows trickling down from the corners of her blue pools and down her face in odd, uneven streaks. Her usual, pink dress was slightly unkempt and she was walking bare foot instead of in her usual, golden winged pumps; her own, white wings hung limp and useless from her back, a few snowy white feathers littering the floor behind her.
"Cupid!?" Ben blinked with surprise.
" . . . hey, Ben . . ." Cupid croaked hoarsely, her throat dry and raw like the shifting sands of the desert.
"Have you been . . . crying?" Ben wondered.
Cupid simply nodded her head in agreement.
"Can I come in? Please?" he added when he saw Cupid's doubting look. After a few moments hesitation, the young goddess of love eventually let Ben in, steeping aside to pull the door with her and let him through; Ben sat down on Cupid's bed and waited as she closed the door and sat next to him, taking note of the several tissues that lay here and there on the covers and floor around Cupid's side of the room.
"What's wrong?" Ben asked the young deity.
Cupid didn't say anything at first as she sniffed and wiped her eyes with a tissue, discarding it with the other dozen or so used tissues that littered the floor. "D-Dexter . . . he," she sniffed, grabbing another tissue to blow her nose with. "He yelled . . . at me!"
At that point, Cupid burst out into tears and lunged at Ben, wrapping her arms tightly around him and squeezed him tightly in a bone crushing hug; the Omnitrix wearer could now safely tell someone how it felt to be part of a boa constrictor's meal, if the way his bones cracked were anything to tell by. But he hardly cared, despite the way his spine was screaming in protest. With a little bit of struggling, he was able to slip his arms out from Cupid's death grip and wrap his comforting arms around as she sobbed into his neck, staining the hem of his shirt with tears while he rubbed her back soothingly.
"What did he say?" Ben grunted once Cupid's crushing grip on him loosened slightly, allowing him to breath much better than before.
"He said . . . he said that it was all my fault," Cupid hiccuped as she blew her nose a second time. "He said th-that I was the one th-that d-did this . . . that I w-was the one that t-took Raven away f-from him."
"He what!?" Ben snarled.
"Dexter . . ." Cupid sniffed. "He said that I was . . . the worst best friend ever after . . . that I c-could just let him f-find happiness." she sobbed.
Ben felt his temper flare inside of his head while he remained calm and collective on the outside, running her fingers through her cotton candy locks and rubbing her back to comfort her; he could understand that Dexter was upset over the fact that his crush didn't return his feelings and that he would be stressed for days to come, but that gave him no right to yell at and blame someone for something they clearly weren't responsible for. He was about to say something to her when he noticed an odd change in color on Cupid's cheek, her faint pink skin suddenly contrasting into a sickening purple.
"Cupid? What's this?" he asked, gently touching the mark on her cheek,frowning when she cringed at his touch.
"I . . . I don't know." she gulped; Ben could tell she was clearly lying.
"Cupid. The truth." Ben said sternly.
Cupid sniffed and nodded weakly. "Dexter . . . hit me." she croaked.
Ben narrowed his eyes as he all but flung Cupid off of him and stormed over to the door, his heart racing as his breathing became quick and ragged; forget the fight with Daring in just a few minutes, Dexter was the one that needed to be taught a lesson, a lesson in that no one hurt one of the few friends he had in Ever After and get away with it. He was going to turn into Humungousaur and beat him into a bloody pulp, stuffing his own crown up his nose before tearing it painfully back and dislocating both his arms before breaking his legs in three different places before reattaching his arms in the correct spots only to break them again. Then he would tie Dexter's broken body into a knot and . . .
His angry thoughts were interrupted when he felt Cupid's light touch on his arm, his hand just an inch from grabbing the door knob in a tight grip; a quick, angered look back at Cupid, and Ben's expression softened slightly, his posture becoming less tense and likely to kill.
"Please don't," Cupid begged hoarsely. "I . . . I still love him . . ." she sniffed, wiping her puffy eyes with her hand. "I don't want anything . . . bad to happen to him. He's already hurt enough."
Ben was about to protest when he caught sight of those sad, ocean blue eyes starring up at him, saying that she was suffering along with Dexter's heartbreak as well, and not just because her best friend ever after had yelled at and hurt her; the young deity was in constant, dull pain whenever the feeling of heartbreak or loniless wafted through the air, the feeling being the equivalent to dulled, iron spikes driven roughly into her skin when she was particularly close. At the moment, Ben's strong love for Apple and Raven were the only things keeping Cupid from slipping into a coma-like state.
"Fine," Ben sighed with defeat. "I'll give him some time to recover, but I want a word with him afterwards."
"Okay . . ." Cupid croaked softly.
Ben nodded. "Now do you want to come watch the fight between me and Daring? Apparently, he's not taking no for an answer."
"I . . . suppose it couldn't hurt to get out again." Cupid sniffed. "Just don't hurt Daring too much, please?"
"I'll try. No promises."
Daring smiled handsomely, the sun glinting proudly off of his pearly, white teeth as he waved and appealed to the large crowd that had gathered in the Bookball stadium seats to cheer and root for him; the Son of Prince Charming stood tall and proud on the neatly mowed field, dressed in a suit of shining, metal armor of the highest quality with Ever After High's emblem, an open book with 'EAH' between the pages, stenciled proudly on his chest and a cape with an identical image hooked around his shoulders, flapping dramatically in the light breeze that swept across the lawn. In his left hand he carried a large shield with the same design plastered to the middle for all to see as it protected its owner while in his right hand he carried a large, long broadsword custom made for his use by his father's finest blacksmiths; tucked under his arm was his helmet with a royal red plume stabbed into the top.
"Welcome Ever After High to the fight of century!" Blondie announced eagerly from her spot up in the announcer's booth overlooking the stadium; roars and cheers of approval and excitement rolled through the crowd. "Up here, we have Ever After High's own Daring Charming!" the Daughter of Goldie Locks added, the crowd screaming a deafening rumble as Daring waved handsomely, occasionally blowing kisses to several females within the audience and making them faint when they believed they had caught the invisible signs of affection.
"And here we have the new comer, Ben Tennyson!" Blondie continued on; the crowd fell silent, though whether it was because they preferred Daring over the Omnitrix bearer or simply just the fact that he had yet to show up. Whatever the reason, Daring was currently standing alone on a Bookball field in a suit of armor in front of a silent audience.
"Ha, ha! The coward didn't even show!" Daring laughed (charmingly of course).
"Uh, it seems we are experiencing . . . technical difficulties?" Blondie sounded just as confused as the audience, wondering where the hex Ben was.
"The coward probably ran back to whatever dark abyss he crawled out of!" Daring smirked triumphantly. "I guess my dashing good looks and superior fighting techniques were too much for him!"
"Wow, and I thought Barney or Bobby or whatever his name was had a big ego." a whispery voice rasped. The audience watched with stunned silence as a faint, ghostly figure phased up through the ground across from Daring, caring a figure in its arms as it became solid once more to reveal a figure shaped like a classic ghost with faint, white exterior criss-crossed with black lines and wearing heavy, green chains. In the ghost's sharp talons was Cupid, looking a little worse for wear but otherwise alright as Ghostfreak set her down on the ground and gave her a small hug before she quickly jogged off the fields to climb into the stands and take one of the many empty seats surrounding Raven.
"Cupid? Are you alright? What happened?" Raven asked with concerned.
"Dexter was . . . upset . . " was all Cupid would say. "I'm fine though."
"Your hair, wings, eyes, and that large bruise on her cheek say otherwise."
Cupid sighed with defeat. "Okay, so he was . . . a little more than upset." she winced.
"More like devastated." Raven sighed glumly. "I never thought it would hurt him this bad."
"He refuses to come out of his room. He won't even let poor Hunter in." Cupid added.
"Well . . . maybe just give him some time? Raven guessed, not quite sure on how to deal with such things. With that being said, the two girls returned their attention back to the upcoming fight just as Maddie, Briar, and Apple returned to fill in a few of the empty seats around Raven with snacks in hand, the Hatter carrying a particularly large bucket of popcorn and stick of cotton candy in both of her hands.
"Hiya, Cupid! How're you feeling?" Maddie asked the young deity. "The Narrators told me what happened." she added sympathetically.
"I'm . . . fine, Maddie." Cupid paused at the Wonderlandian's words before a delicious scent caught her attention. "Is that cotton candy?" she asked, pointing at the delicious, fluffy treat in Maddie's grasp.
"Does a Bandersnatch secretly tap dance?" Maddie smiled brightly, handing Cupid the stick of cotton candy without hesitation. "With the way the Narrators were describing your hair, I thought you might like it!"
"Shhhh!" Briar hissed, nursing a small box of popcorn. "It's gonna start soon!"
"Is this a good idea?" Apple asked. "Can't they just talk this out?"
"Daring's the one who challenged Ben," Raven explained. "He's not taking no for an answer."
"Ben or Daring?" Briar smirked.
"Both!" Maddie giggled happily while Earl Grey slipped out from under her hat and cannonballed into the bucket of popcorn she was carrying.
Daring narrowed his eyes at the Ectonurite that levitated tauntingly before him, his expression relieving slightly when the Omnitrix timed out in a burst of green light and sucked the ghostly transformation back into the watch and returned Ben back out into the world; the Son of Prince Charming was not afraid of the boy before him in the slightest, just . . . out off by his transformations. Yes, that was it. It was just the bizarre, alien forms the boy took on that unsettled him. "So, you decided to show that hideous mask you calla face, knave?"
"Three." Ben said absentmindedly.
"You have met you end, peasant!" Daring declared loud and proudly. "Today, you will walk away in shame and defeat while I walk away in glory and victory!"
"Eighty-seven." Ben counted off.
"I will crush you where you stand right now and grind you into the dust, destroying every last shred of dignity you possess until there is nothing left but a hollow shell left!"
"Fourty-two."
"What's going on?" Apple whispered.
"I think they're yelling threats at each other." Briar guessed. "That, or just Daring."
"You are a weakling, and I a mighty king! By the time this short battle is over, you have no choice but to declare to me that I am the best and that you were foolish enough to challenge me!" Daring continued to rant.
"Twenty-nine." Ben looked at his fingernails in boredom. "And technically, you were the one who challenged me."
Daring paused his long and ranting speak to glare at Ben, at a loss for words that someone had the gall to interrupt him when he telling them that he would defeat him with ease! Now that was just rude! "Oh, yeah? Well, you're . . .you're . . . you're a loser!" Daring shouted childishly.
"Ben smirked. "Haven't heard that one before." he chuckled sarcastically. "Oh, wait, I have. About six other times. Congratulations on making it seven."
"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Daring howled at the top of his lungs.
"Two-hundred and ninety-eight." Ben counted off nonchalantly. "Are you done wasting your breath or are we going to fight?" he wondered.
"Yes. Lets fight." Daring snarled angrily; the Son of Prince Charming paused long enough to smile warmly at the audience one last time before taking his crown off of his head and tossing it into the crowd, several fo the girls practically turning feral just to touch it, much less actually keep it as Daring then slipped his helmet over his head, encasing him fully in a metal suit of impressive armor as he struck a heroic pose for the audience.
"Is he seriously still doing that?" Cerise sighed as she pushed her way through the excited crowd to sit on the other side of Raven, a leg of mutton in her hand.
"The whole damsel-in-distress thing?" Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm glad Ben doesn't do that."
"I dunno, Raven." Apple shrugged innocently. "Daring does it quite well. Imagine Ben doing that." she said, her face turning a light crimson; Raven was sorry to say that the moment she pictured Ben in a suit of metal armor standing heroically in the setting sun with the wind rustling through his brown locks with his sword pointed triumphantly at the horizon, she too was blushing as well. Cerise however, both gagged and hid her own blush better than the other girls at the same time.
Ben rolled his eyes and tapped the Omnitrix, barely cycling through his roster before selecting the Talpaedan symbol on the green, holographic ring the Omnitrix produced, and slapped the activation button, swallowing himself in a burst of green light. His arms and legs ground and cracked as the bones shifted and realigned themselves, becoming shorter and more rounded like his fingers and thumbs. Ben's toes melted into three, flat claws that the small, webbed feet of an amphibian as a small tail sprouted from the base of his spine and curled at the end. Ben's face was squashed inwards as his nose disappeared and his mouth grew larger and wider to accommodate his crooked teeth; his tongue split into three, slimy tentacles with a wet ripping sound as the Omnitrix appeared on his pudgy stomach, completing the transformation.
"What manner of monstrosity be this?" Daring scoffed. "It would almost be insulting if it weren't so hilarious!" he chuckled; several of his hopeless followers in the audience laughed as well, pointing anf gawking at the small, chubby Gourmand.
"What is Ben doing?" Apple wondered as Cupid hungrily dug into her cotton candy like a starving animal.
"Kicking Daring's butt." Raven said a matter-of-factivly tone, a small smile on her lips.
Upchuck took the chance to strike while Daring was busy laughing his metal ass off; the Gourmand whipped out his three, adhesive tongues and plunged them deep into the ground, tearing out a sizable chunk of earth and grass before pulling it back into his mouth, quickly chewing it into a thick, gooey paste.
"This is gonna hurt." Cerise smirked slightly before taking out of her mutton.
With a loud belch, Upchuck spat out a hot, green ball of slime from his gullet, nailing Daring right in the chest and sending him flying a couple of yards before he hit the ground, bouncing a few times and then lying still; the crowd went nearly silent, with only Maddie daring to cheer loudly as Raven and Cerise smirked.
"Ooh! And it seems Ben has turned into . . . some sort of frog?" Blondie sounded confused.
"Upchuck!" the Gourmand corrected her loudly.
"Right. It seems Ben has turned into Upchuck! Daring's down for the moment, will he get up in time before Ben finishes him off?"
Daring groaned and climbed to his hands and knees, using his sword as a support to help himself climb to his feet and stand tall once more, much to the majority of the crowd's pleasure. With a loud roar of defiance that echoed deeply inside of his helmet, Daring grabbed his sword in both hands and charged at Upchuck, his metal foot pounding against the field as the Gourmand spat out several more balls of corrosive slime his way; a few of them missed, some just by inches, while others splattered loudly against the Son of Prince Charming's armor. Daring swung his sword at one such ball of digestive juices and hit like baseball, sending it flying back at Upchuck and hitting him in his large stomach, sending his skidding back a few feet. This gave Daring just enough time to catch up to him and swing his sword downwards, just missing Upchuck as he swiftly rolled to the side and out of harms way.
"Chew on this, Charming!" Upchuck burped slightly before threw himself at Daring with his mouth wide open and closed it around one of the prince's hand, digging his teeth into the armor and remaining stuck fast as Daring screamed and began to wildly wave his arm around while he ran around in circles with Upchuck clinging on for dear life.
Raven laughed at seeing this. "Looks like he bit off more than he could chew!" she joked.
"Rae, maybe you should leave the clever quips to Ben." Briar advised the witchling.
"Oh, and Ben doesn't say the same thing?" Raven raised an eyebrow; after what felt like eternity, Daring finally managed to shake the Gourmand off of his hand, throwing him a couple yards way with his metal glove still inside Upchuck's stomach.
"Looks like you bit off more than you could chew." Upchuck smirked.
"I rest my case." Raven smirked proudly.
"And it looks like Daring has been stripped of part of his armor!" Blondie announced loudly. "How will this affect the battle, princesses and princes?" she wondered as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world in a flash of green light.
"Ha! Now you're defenseless!" Daring smirked.
"Wrong." Ben smirked as he quickly tapped the Omnitrix and selected the first alien he came across before slapping the activation button and swallowing himself in a burst of green light, his DNA scrambling and warping into something new. His skeleton ground and crunched loudly until he was only a third of his original height, his skull cracking as three fin-like split out from the bone; two pairs of fleshy whiskers sprouted on either side of his face as his eyes turned wide and fully green. Ben's arms only became slightly more muscled than before, widening into long claws as two, metallic knobs appeared on his arms. A green and black jumpsuit with black patches ob his ankles and under arms appeared on his body as a black belt with three knobs materialized around his waist. His skin turned a pale white as his toes were reduced to small, cat-like paws as the Omnitrix appeared on his forehead.
"It looks like Ben has ust turned into a . . . small, alien child?" Blondie guessed. "Clearly, he must be getting at some hidden angle."
"Uh, yeah. That's it." Ditto told himself.
Daring guffawed at the sight of the Splixson before him. "You think turning into a child will stop me from regaining my honor and glory, Tennyson? Granted, I would never attack a helpless child, but I know it's you!" he corrected himself.
"Oh, well. You know what they say," Ditto smirked before he quickly divided himself into a dozen, identical clones, each and every last one of them sporting a cheeky grin that irritated the Son of Prince Charming to no end when he wasn't starring at the small army of Splixsons with wide eye. "Divide and conquer!"
"Dude, that has gotta be one of the lamest jokes I have ever heard." a second Ditto clone rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah? Well what would you have said?" a third clone accused.
"Time ta split?" the second Splixson tried.
"Dude, we use that one way too often." a fifth clone shook his head.
"We gotta get some new material." a six Splixson agreed.
"Uh, guys? We got bigger problems than that now!" the original Ditto screamed; the rest of the Splixson clones looked to where their brother was pointing to see Daring charging at them like a rampaging bull, his breathing heavy and quick as he raised his sword above his head to strike the Splixsons down, not quite sure which one to hurt. With panicked yelps, the Ditto clones scattered in all directions, diving to the ground and furiously digging away just as Daring swung his sword and missed.
"Come out and face me, you cowards!" Daring demanded.
"Yoo-hoo!" a Splixson clone sang in an annoying tone as he popped up out from a hole in the ground; Daring grunted and rushed at the tiny alien, bringing his sword down like an ax a second too slow as the clone dove back into the ground and into safety.
"Too slow!" another Ditto clone taunted from behind Daring; the Son of Prince Charming whirled around and swung his sword again, missing the little Splixson for a second time.
"Over here, sucker!" a third clone teased him from afar; Daring didn't care how far he had to run as he dashed across the Bookball field and smashed his sword into the ground, missing the Splixson as another one appeared behind him and taunted him with a silly face.
"It would appear that Ben is pulling off some kind of tiring, taunting technique!" Blondie commented as Daring rushed in an almost panicked manner around the Bookball field in his hurried attempts to strike at least one of the irritating little aliens that teased and made fun of him just as easily as they escaped his every attempt to hit them. The Son of Prince Charming now stood in the middle of the field, panting heavily as his arms hung limp at his sides, his sword almost lying on the ground.
"Nyah, nyah!" almost three dozen Ditto clones taunted as they rose up from the ground; Daring took one look at the army of Splixsons that surrounded him and gave a loud roar of defiance as he found new strength and charged at a pair of Ditto clones with his sword raised above his head, ready to deliver a powerful strike.
"Oh, no ya don't!" a chorus of voices yelled; before Daring knew what was happening, he was slammed into the ground by at least a dozen small bodies before more clambered onto him, beating and pummeling him relentlessly. As well as seemingly pummeling themselves, too, if the way they yelled and screamed at each other while they punched him was anything to go by. One of the clones grabbed the edges of his helmet and pulled with all his might, eventually yanking it off as he tumbled backwards, exposing Daring's handsome and giving the Splixson clones something else to punch.
"No, not my gorgeous face! Anything but my handsome face!" Daring pleaded.
It was then that one of the Ditto clones realized something. "HEY!" he hollered at the top of his lungs, catching the attention of his brothers, Daring, and the entire audience in the process as they fell silent. "I just remembered something!"
"And what, dare I ask, would that be?"Daring grunted from underneath the pile of little Splixsons.
"That zombie guy! The one whose name I couldn't remember? I remember now!" the clone yelled triumphantly. "His name is Darkstar, some egomaniac jerk-face that woos pretty girls before draining them of their life force just to stay handsome! And then he uses them as trophies!" the duplicate added. "Kinda like you, now that I think about it! You wouldn't happen to be related, would ya?"
"Of all the insults, you dare compare me to that monstrosity!?" Daring growled.
"Hey, with your twisted family tree, it ain't impossible." a second clone smirked slightly.
"Seriously, dude, now is not the time for this." aof yo third clone sighed, pinching his brow.
"Low blow, man. Low blow." a fourth agreed.
"Oh, what do you know? You're just a copy of me!" the third clone rolled his eyes.
"No, you're a copy of me!" the fourth duplicate protested.
"If anything, both of you are copies of me." a fifth clone argued; within seconds, the entire army of Ditto's was arguing amongst themselves, almost completely ignoring Daring underneath of them as he slowly reached for his sword, carefully inching nice and slow so none of the clones would notice his movements until his fingers curled around the hilt of blade, nice and secure. With a loud yell, the young prince sent all the Splixson clones flying in all directions in one swift movement as he climbed to his feet, earning a loud cheer of approval from the audience while all but one of the Ditto's vanished in bursts of green light before the Omnitrix itself timed out and returned Ben to the world.
"You're smart, I'll give you that." Ben nodded as he climbed to his feet.
"Spare me your compliments, you foul demon." Daring snarled.
"For the last time, I am not an incubus!" Ben yelled angrily as he activated the Omnitrix and slapped the waiting button without looking at whichever alien he had selected as the green light washed over his body and began to change him into something new. Muscles quickly piled themselves onto Ben's arms and chest as his skin began to blister horribly until short, brown feathers crawled up his arms and legs, turning a lighter shade of brown on his chest and stomach; his mouth and nose melted together like butter, hardening into a yellow, horny beak as teeth lined the inside. The feathers continued to cover his body, racing up over his back and stomach, growing on nearly every part of his body while Ben's wrists and ankles began to harden while thick scales coated them, his fingers crunching and grinding as they molded together into three digits. Ben's fingers grew longer and bigger, becoming curved, black talons as his toes all formed together into two, long, sharp claws as his bones ground against his foot and thrust out eh back in a third toe tipped with a sharp talon. A white plume appeared on Ben's head, looking something like a Mohawk of sorts as a pair of large, sharp blades thrust out of his elbows, glinting in the bright sunlight as green wrist and ankle guards materialized on his body; a pair of black briefs and green and white belt appeared on him as well as a green mask that covered his face while a green strap vest manifested on his chest, the Omnitrix appearing on the vest hooker.
"Time ta make the feathers fly!" Kickin' Hawk growled as he balled his claws into fists.
"The battle quips just get worse and worse!" Briar face palmed herself in exasperation.
"You . . . have to admit, though, he's got skill." Cerise noted in her usual, quiet manner; Daring yelled a battle cry as he swung his sword at Kickin' Hawk, forcing the alien to back flip out of harms way before dropping down to the ground to swipe Daring's legs out from underneath him. The prince went down hard, his teeth striking the ground and rattling his skull, dazing him for a second as Kickin' Hawk grabbed him by the foot and easily lifted him off of the ground, swinging him around and around before finally letting go. The Son of Prince Charming flew low across the ground, barely managing to dig his hands and feet into the earth to stop his motion before he surged forward again, grabbing his discarded shield and holding it up over his precious face to protect him from Kickin' Hawks talons. The prince rammed his shield into Kickin' Hawk's stomach, causing him to bend over in pain and allow Daring to deliver a swift uppercut to the alien's beak; with a grunt, Kickin' Hawk blocked another swing of Daring's fist and jumped into the air, landing on Daring's outstretched arm and stabbing his talons deep into the metal armor to hang on as he slugged Daring twice in the face before thrusting out with his talons and back flipping out of harms way.
"Careful, Cerise," Briar smiled jokingly. "You just might be the next one to fall for him!" she chuckled, unaware of the Riding Hood's blush underneath her crimson hood.
"Princesses and princes, I have never seen anything like this before!" Blondie exclaimed proudly as Kickin' Hawk delivered a roundhouse kick to Daring's stomach and knocked him back a good distance before he slapped the Omnitrix on his vest hooker and initiated a quick change, swallowing himself in a bright, green light. His body began to grow as millions of muscles piled onto every part of his body, his fingers and hands swelling as alien blood pumped through his veins. Stitches appeared on his body as the transformation teared through his shirt, ripping it to shreds as patchwork skin took the place of his old one; a pair of green gauntlets formed around his hands as metallic bolts burst of his body on his arms and back, twin gigantic conductors tearing out of his shoulders and crackling with electricity as a pair of black pants and large boots appeared on Ben. His jaw jutted outwards with a loud cracking noise, a few 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, large scars etching themselves outwards from it as if the device had been ripped out of his body.
"I . . . I . . . I'm not even quite sure how to describe this . . ." Blondie sighed with exasperation.
"Frankenstrike!" the Transylian grinned as he crashed his large fists together with a green lightning show arching across his arms and skin. "I'll give you a chance to surrender, Daring. Trust me when I say getting struck by Frankenstrike inside of a tin can is not a pleasant experience." he smirked.
"I'll surrender when destiny dies." Daring snarled.
"So be it." the Transylian smirked cockily; the two foes stood starring at each for what seemed the longest time to the audience before one of them moved. In a last, desperate move, Daring flashed a blinding smile at the crowd before he rushed at Frankenstrike with as much power as he could muster, swooping down as he ran to pick up his sword and continue running just as the Transylian slammed his electrified fists smash into the ground, sending out a large tremor of energy that nearly threw the prince off of his feet as a dangerous amount of electricity coursed through the ground; Daring was fortunate enough to be too far away to suffer the full brunt of the blast, only earning a minor shock that made his blonde locks stand on end as he continued to run. With a furious yell, he thrust out with his sword, missing Frankenstrike's armpit by an inch before he spun around to try and slice him through the gut.
The Transylian saw this coming and caught the blade in his hand, using Daring's momentum to lift him off the ground by his sword and smash him into the ground behind him, just barely missing his sizzling conductors. Frankenstrike then cupped his hands together into a single fist and plunged it downwards, a move that would have smashed Daring's head in had he not swung his shield up over his hand to block the brunt of the blow, his arms burning from the force behind it as he quickly rolled out of the way when Frankenstrike drew back for another blow.
"Hold still!" Daring grunted as he thrust his sword outwards, only to have Frankenstrike bunch up his legs and launch himself high into the air, his arms spinning slightly as he flew before came crashing back down, just barely missing Daring as he reeled back in panic.
"Why do the bad guys always say that?" the Transylian grunted as he swung a meaty fist that would have knocked Daring's block clean off had the prince not duck in time and tired to get up under Frankenstrike's guard, only to have his blade blocked by the heavy, metal gauntlets on the Transylian's wrist.
"Since when am I the bad guy?' Daring snarled pushing up on Frankenstrike's arm and ramming his shield into him, causing the Transylian to lose his balance slightly; this allowed Daring lung at the Transylian and plunge his sword downward, missing his initial target of Frankenstrike's chest and instead stabbing the tip of his blade into the Omnitrix that resided on Frankenstrike's right pectoral.
"That's not good." Frankenstrike gulped nervously as the disk beeped a frightening bright green in color, nasty green sparks of energy coursing out from the device and around Frankenstrike and Daring, the both of them screaming in agony as Daring's metal suit, sword, and shield acting as an amplifier and sending more of the tremendous amount of energy outwards; the crowd started to panic, practically running over each other to leave the Bookball field while some of the more concerned members quickly jumped off the bleachers and rushed onto the field in the hopes of being able to do something, examples being Raven, Maddie, Briar, Cerise, Apple, Cupid, Hunter, Ashlynn, Cedar, and Blondie once she got down from the announcer's booth.
"What's happening!?" Apple cried over the roar of the massive amount of energy building up.
"I don't know!" Briar yelled back.
"We need to get them apart!" Hunter shouted over the din, glancing back and forth between Daring and Frankenstrike, unsure of which one he should attempt to save first; Ashlynn was watching with her hands over her mouth, trying to think of something to save both parties.
"The balloon is always bigger and the unsuspecting worm all the more dangerous!" Maddie declared in Riddlish.
"Everyone, get back!" Raven yelled in a commanding tone as she built a ball of swirling, purple energy and raw magic and power between her fingertips, barely holding the powerful blast in place as she waited for everyone to get out of range before she cast the ball of energy, a simple separation spell, at Frankenstrike and Daring in the hopes of pulling the two of them apart and out of harms way. Unfortunately, the blast seemed to have done more harm than good as the amount of energy the Omnitrix was outputting only increased to threatening levels, arches of crackling lighting dancing across the Bookball and field and getting dangerously close.
"AAAAAAAHHH!" Raven screamed at the top of her lungs as she was suddenly struck by one of the lightning strikes, her entire body flashing; she had never felt such pain in all her life. Her muscles were on fire, her skin was burning, her brain unable to process and comprehend what was happening as the breath was squeezed from her lungs. It was almost as bad as-
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Cerise howled in agony as she was struck next, her black and white locks standing on end as the smell of roasting hair (or fur) filled the air.
"AAAAAGGH!" Hunter cried out as he became the next one to suffer an electrocution; the other fairy tales tried to find some form of safety in the sudden chaos that had befallen them, but one by one they were taken as well, struck by the massive amount of energy that threatened to fry their brains and internal organs to a crisp when it wasn't stopping and restarting their hearts, burning their hair, or melting their eyeballs. Thankfully, it all ended before anyone suffer long term injury, a brilliant flash of green light filling the air before everything became still once more.
"Ow . . ." Ben groaned as he rubbed his aching head; it was several seconds before his brain realized that he was human once again, and a quick look at the now smoking Omnitrix told him it wasn't going to be used for a while, or at least, not properly. Thankfully, the device was only smoldering slightly, as if it had overheated, and the dull, barely noticeable, green glow told him that it was still working. Barely.
"Is everyone okay?" Ben called out, coughing at the vast amount of dust that now hung in the air and obstructed his respiratory system. The surprising amount of dust and earth that filled the air obscured his vision, only allowing him to just barely make shapes out as he stumbled around for a bit, wishing he could turn into Wildmutt to find his way around; but with the Omnitrix now on the fritz, he wasn't sure it was a good, nor a safe idea. Eventually, his foot kicked against something soft and sturdy at the same time, similar to that of someone's arm. Glad he finally found someone, not even caring who it was, Ben bent down and felt around with his hands, his eyes squinted to keep the dust out of them as it finally began to settle, allowing him to open his eyes further and get a better look at who he had bumped into.
"Ben . . ?"
Ben breathed a sigh of relief, glad to hear Raven's albeit sore voice. He half-blindly reached down and patted around for Raven, quickly finding what he assume to be her shoulder and then her arm as he carefully ran his fingers across her skin; it somehow felt . . . different. Just as soft as he remembered, but it was cold and clammy to the touch, not warm like he remembered; the dust continued to settle, allowing him to get a closer look at the witchling. What he saw made him do a double take.
Raven slowly blinked her fully, purple eyes, instantly squinting them shut against the glare of the sun as she raised a hand to shield from herself from the blinding light; it was then that she noticed her gentle, probing fingers had been somehow turned into wicked claws. Panicking, she looked over the rest of her body to find that her teeth were now razor-sharp fangs and a black, bat-winged mask with lavender markings covered her face, her skin still as pale as it was before. Her feet still sported five toes, but they had now taken the shape of pointed claws perfect for gripping things; a sudden motion caught her attention, and she glanced behind her with a horrified expression to see a pair of large, bat-like wings sprouting from her back, fanning out to an impressive size.
"Wha . . . what happened?" Raven gulped as she looked at her new body.
"Oh, man, not this again!" Ben mumbled, face palming himself in exasperation. "Okay, Raven, try to remain calm. In short, I think you might have been fused with some of my aliens. Namely Whampire in your case."
"Is . . . is that good or bad?" Raven asked, wincing slightly; her head was pounding and her body felt like it was on fire, her muscles aching and burning. In fact, now that she thought about it, something did smell like it was burning . . .
"In your case, bad." Ben said grimly.
"What's that smell?" Raven wondered, sniffing the air cautiously.
"That . . . would be you. Vladats don't do so well in the sun." Ben explained; Raven cringed as she took a cautious look at her skin to find wisps of smoke curling off of her pale, ivory skin, her purple and black locks sizzling loudly as the tips of her sharp, elf-like ears starting to burn away. With a yelp, Raven instinctively covered her head with her claws, flinching slightly when her new wings involuntarily folded themselves around and over her to attempt to shield her from the harmful effects of the sun, only adding to the pain the young witchling was experiencing as they slowly began to disintegrate.
"What about everyone else?" Raven asked.
"We can worry about them later; right now, we gotta get you into some shade." Ben fretted over her.
The witchling shook her head. "No. We check to make sure everyone else is okay before we get me out of the sun." she said firmly; Ben decided not to argue with her, figuring that the sooner they made sure everyone was okay, the sooner he could get Raven out of the harmful rays of the sun. With some effort, Raven climbed to her feet, heavily leaning against Ben as the sun ate away at her vulnerable skin and wings while she and Ben wandered around to try and find the others in the settling dust.
A sudden movement caught their attention, and they looked just in time to see a large figure low to the ground come racing at them, snarling and bellowing loudly before screeching to a halt, regarding the two of them; Ben took note of the creature's blind face and small, almost human-like mouth with feminine lips, save for the pointed canines that curved from the bottom jaw in a snarl. Shaggy, brown fur coated the creature's semi-muscled arms as it wore the several fur bands and feathers around its arms and wrists and the remains of what looked like hunt boots on its feet, razor-sharp claws now tearing through the toes and turning the boots into sandles; a familiar, crimson red hood covered the creature's head and back, a single white stripe down the middle of the beast's face.
"C-Cerise?" Raven gawked, not quite believing this monster was her friend.
"Grraaa-aaaawwwaaaggh." the beast growled, sitting down on its haunches and scratching itself while it drooled, as if it were pouting somehow.
"Wildmutt. Had to be Wildmutt." Ben muttered under his breath; the Vulpimancer hybrid rattled off a loud roar that was followed by soft whimpers as it climbed back to its feet and worryingly nudged Raven's hand with concern. "At least Cerise isn't slowly disintegrating in the sun." Ben sighed.
This remark only made Cerise whine more as it reached with one hand to tear off the comforting, crimson red hood that had protected her for so long and then hand it to Raven, not caring for the moment that she had exposed a pair of sharp, pointed ears that resided just above what looked like a row of gill-like slits in her thick neck; Raven hesitated in taking the cloak from Cerise, knowing how much it meant to her, before the Vulpimancer hybrid gave a low growl of assurance.
"Thanks, Cerise." Raven smiled as she quickly slipped the hood over her, noting that not only was it soft and very comfortable, but it was perfect for her size, save for the fact that her wings were pressed tightly against her back so they wouldn't burn in the sun.
"That's two down, nine to go." Ben sighed with worry.
"Hunter? Apple? Raven? Ben?"
"Scratch that. Three down." Ben brightened slightly at hearing Ashlynn's voice. "Stay where you are, Ashlynn! We're coming to you!"
"Hurry! I . . . think something might be wrong . . ."
"That's understatement," Ben muttered under his breath as he bent down so he was level with Cerise's face. "You've got Wildmutt's powers; you should be able to find Ashlynn by her scent." he told her. The hybrid snarled and nodded before sniffing the ground eagerly, circling around Ben and Raven before giving a victorious growl and bounding off in a direction; Raven and Ben were barely able to keep up with Cerise until she came to a halt, cocking her head curiously at what she saw (smelled, heard).
Ashlynn towered a good four feet over Ben, Raven, and Cerise, mostly due to the fact that her stiff, human legs had been replaced by four, stretchy, vines that held the rest of her body off of the ground; the princess's skin was a light green in color with leaves and shoots sprouting all along her arms and through her dress, with small tendrils and roots mixed in together with her strawberry blonde locks. Two, large flaps like that of a Venus Flytrap framed her head as she starred wordlessly at what she had become with a single, blue eye.
"Ashlynn, don't freak out!" Ben said.
"What's happened to me? What's happened to you?" she added upon seeing Cerise and Raven, her eyes wide with horror.
"The Omnitrix malfunctioned," Raven sighed wearily, her delicate skin smoking a little less than before. "We're fused with alien DNA."
"Wildvine specifically, in your case." Ben jumped in.
"What the- what did you do to me, Tennyson!?" Hunter's voice interrupted Ashlynn as she was about to speak; the small group of altered fairy tales looked around for the source of the noise before a slight cough of annoyance caught their attention and they looked down to see what had become of the irritated huntsman. He now stood just over a foot tall and had crimson red skin, a long, spaded tail, a hilariously long nose above a set of sharp teeth, and wore what looked to be like an aviator's suit under his already too big hunting jacket; his brown, sweeping hair remained in place and he didn't sport the spikes, claws, and sharp ears Jury Rigg's species was known for, despite the fact that he looked like he very much wanted to hurt and/or wreck someone or something.
"You got fused with one of my aliens." Ben sighed, already tired of relaying the same information. "Looks like you're Jury Rigg. Sorta."
"Remind me ta beat the ever livin' fairy dust outta ya!" Hunter snarled, rushing at Ben and fruitlessly pummeling his leg; Cerise tried to hold by a small growl that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Before the altered huntsman could turn on the Vulpimancer hybrid, he suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree as a massive amount of electricity coursed through his body before finally stopping.
"Sorry, Hunter! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!" Maddie cackled as she finally came to a stop next to Ashlynn and assumed what everyone now hoped to be a solid form; the Hatter's skin now shone a metallic black in color, multiple bots and screws running up her arms and legs as she grinned cheekily at everyone with a mischievous and crazy smile on her lips. Her wild, blue and purple locks had disappeared, now only a flat, circular top with a small knob in the middle; she was lacking any clothes of any kind, with nothing but a jagged, green lightning stripe down her front and back to cover her.
"Uh, oh." Ben gulped nervously.
"What? What now!?" Hunter growled, angry that he was still the shortest person out of the group.
"She's fused with Buzzshock. A very hyperactive Megawhatt." Ben explained fearfully.
"So . . . if Maddie was crazy before . . ." Ashlynn trailed off, her single eye widening in horror.
"She's gonna be completely insane." Raven finished.
"Yep! You guessed it! Yee-haw!" Maddie laughed happily as she vanished in a flash of electricity and buzzed around excitedly in the air, barely able to contain herself as Hunter got dizzy just by looking at her, promptly falling over as a result; Ashlynn felt like she was gonna be sick just by watching the hyperactive Nosedeenian hybrid whiz around while Cerise whimpered slightly and hid behind Raven, unsure of how to handle Maddie in her current state.
"Hey, watch it- Maddie?" a new voice that Ben recognized to be Briar's said; a quick glance upwards revealed that the princess now had light, blue skin with pink markings dotting her arms and face, in addition to the large pair of insect-like wings that sprouted out from her back and kept her aloft with their constant movement. Her feet had split into two, small claws with her brown locks pulled back into a slight, backwards lick while two pairs of periwinkle antennae grew from her eyebrows and flickered about.
"Oh, come on! Briar, too?" Hunter huffed. "Am I the only one here who's still small!?"
"Pretty much." Ben smirked slightly. "Especially considering Briar's been fused with Pesky Dust, one of my smaller aliens."
"Now you're just rubbin' it in." Hunter grumbled, his anger only increasing as his tail swished back and forth in response to his fury; a sudden blast of energy and light caught their attention as a small hole was torn into the fabric of space/time and a figure came hurling out, landing painfully on the ground with a groan. Ben vaguely recognized the figure as Blondie, if not with a few . . . changes. Yellow fur now grew around her cheeks and chin, melting perfectly into her golden locks as more tufts covered the back of her hands, elbows, and ankles. Black, finger-less gloves sat on her hands, her ears more rounded and looking they belonged on a lower primate like a monkey than her; Blondie's feet had grown larger and more primitive in appearance, looking more like hands than actual feet as a twin pair of tails snaked out from the base of her spine and dragged limply on the ground.
"What just happened?" Blondie asked, holding her aching temples.
"We all got fused with aliens, apparently." Briar grumbled.
"And from the look of things, you got fused with Teleportail." Ben noted. "Lets see, that's Raven, Cerise, Maddie, hunter, Ashlynn, Briar, and you, so that leaves us with . . . four more people to find." Ben counted off on his fingers.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" a feminine voice screamed through the thick dust in the air.
"Well, we found one of them." Briar noted as Cerise sniffed the air and bounded off in a direction, leaving the others behind to just barely keep with her; Hunter grumbled in protest as Ashlynn bent her new legs down to scoop him up in her grasp and carry him along as the small band of fairy tales and Ben gave chase after the Vulpimancer hybrid just as the high-pitched scream they heard earlier was suddenly silenced with a pained yelp.
"Looks like Cerise got her." Raven remarked as they quickly approached the hunched figure of Cerise.
"I think you mean 'him'! Hee-hee, hee-hee!" Maddie cackled as Daring hung from Cerise's teeth like a recently shot duck in the jaws of a hunting dog; the prince was holding a small mirror in what used to be his hands, now nothing more than shovel-like claws as three, green, ridges rose from his head and black markings traced down from his eyes and covered part of his face. Small, fleshy whiskers grew from his cheeks as metallic, sensory knobs dotted his arms and wrist, forming a belt around his waist. All in all, the prince hadn't suffer a dramatic change as some of the other fairy tales, despite what he was blubbering about between Cerise's teeth.
"You can put him down, Cerise." Ben said; the Vulpimancer hybrid bellowed slightly before doing as she was told, spitting out Daring and trotting back over to Ben's side to nuzzle his hand affectionately.
"What did you do to me, you . . . you . . . demon!?" Daring demanded.
Ben frowned as he folded his arms over his chest. "Call me that one more time, and I won't cure you." he threatened; Daring immediately clammed up upon hearing that.
"We've been fused with alien DNA, Daring." Blondie explained carefully.
"Don't you dare take a picture of me in this horrendous state!" Daring shouted, pointing his mirror at the Vong Linducher hybrid in an accusing tone.
Blondie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Relax, Daring. I wouldn't want to be seen like this either." she sighed. "What alien did you get fused with anyway?"
"That cute little guy from before, if I'm not mistaken. Ditto, right?" Raven guessed.
Cerise snarled at the thought and made a series of grunts and growls before producing a hand gesture that Ben had never seen before but was sure to be quite inappropriate and immature at the same time; clearly, the Vulpimancer hybrid was not happy about something. Daring however, seemed to immediately realize what was bugging her as multiple flashes of green light appeared on either side of him, revealing to be about half a dozen identical clones to the original, each one just as handsome and charming as the last.
"One Daring is enough . . ." Briar bit her lip.
"But seven is just torture." Ben mumbled under his breath.
"I must admit," Daring smiled. "Despite the unwanted change in appearance, this is actually quite welcome. Finally, someone just as handsome and charming as me!"
"Right back at you, beautiful." a second clone smirked.
"Make it stop!" Hunter whined, covering his eyes.
"ACH-OO!" someone sneezed; a blast of cold, icy vapor swept over Daring and his clones, encasing them in jagged blocks of ice and freezing them on the spot, much to everyone's relief. "Excuse me." a dull, emotionless sniffed. Ben turned to see a roughly human-sized figure hunched over a few feet away, its back bent over in a menacing manner as it's snow white skin seemed to glow in the limited light, the blue blotches and spots that dotted the figure's arms and legs seeming to give off their own luminescence. Just starting to fold back over the figure's hunched figure, forming what looked like a blue and black cloak, were two pairs of leathery wings and antennae as a pair of large, blue, bug-like eyes peered out from under the hood amongst blonde curls and a pair of blood red lips; a pair of sharp claws had taken the place of the feet as an icy vapor curled out of the figure's lips whenever it breathed.
"Apple?" Ashlynn blinked her eye in surprise.
"Ashlynn?" the altered princess rasped.
"Looks like Apple got hit with some Big Chill." Ben noted.
"What about Daring?" Blondie wondered, pointing towards the small collection of ice sculptures that stood before the small band of fairy tales.
" . . . he'll thaw out eventually." Ben shrugged. "I could use some peace and quiet."
"If you say so," Raven sighed. "Alright, who's left?"
"Cupid and Cedar, I think." Apple breathed, wincing slightly at her no longer melodic voice.
"Someone call our names?" a voice coughed; everyone turned to see two figures come walking through the settling dust, one of them thin and nearly skeletal while the other was large and barrel-like; the first one turned out to be Cupid, now with a pair of insect-like legs that bent backwards, had a sort of webbing between the joints, and were tipped with five, short claws in place of her usual toes. Sharp, green spines grew from her arms and back of her legs, her eyebrows having hardened into a pair of curved horns that bent back slightly, framing her cotton candy locks and a large amount of needle-like teeth that now lined her jaws; her wings had been modified to become large gossamer, like that of a large fly's.
The other figure seemed to be Cedar, somehow. The puppet had head of earthy brown and purple hair and her hazel, brown eyes, but this seemed to be all that remained of her before the transformation; she was now more than twice her original build and size, her wooden skin and feminine figure traded in for hard, bronze exterior and a large, upside down bell-shaped body. Black tubing ringed with bronze connected her stout body to her bulky feet and forearms, her metal fingers still retaining a delicate figure despite their composition. Her head was still round and vaguely human-like, but her expression was firm and unmoving, nothing more than two brown eyes and a small line for a mouth plastered on a black marking on her face; her purple, lederhosen-like dress had stretched to cover her new figure, a large, circular glass pane cutting through the fabric to show glowing green gears inside of her.
"Looks like somebody got fused with Crashhopper and Clockwork." Ben addressed the two girls.
"Is that what happened?" Cedar wondered with a thick, German accent. "That would explain why I suddenly know what time it is right down to the nanosecond. I think."
"This is . . . weird." Cupid paused to give her wings an experimental flap.
"That pretty much sums up my entire life." Ben half-joked before he tried to calm himself down. "Okay, so we've got eleven mixed up fairy tales, the Omnitrix is busted, and I am gonna be in so much trouble for this." he listed off. "Could things possibly get worse?" he wondered aloud.
His question was soon answered when a loud tremor shook the around, turning his legs into jelly as he flailed his arms to try and keep his balance while the rest of the fairy tales tried to do the same; the ice holding Daring and his clones prisoner cracked and groaned under the intense shaking it finally shattered, freeing the seven princes that promptly panicked and fused back into one as he threw himself on the ground with his hands over his head, screaming.
"What's happening!?" Raven cried over the roar as she tried to keep Cerise' hood in place.
"I don't know!" Apple hissed.
"Why did I even ask that question!?" Ben yelped as he fell to his knees. "The moment I ever say it, the universe makes me pay for it!"
"Not important right now, Ben!" Hunter yelled as he fell from Ashlynn's grasp and fell into the back of Ben's head, causing him to strike the Omnitrix against the ground, hard; the device beeped and blinked twice before it seemingly activated on its own, swallowing Ben in a flash of green light. Hard, metal plating raced up his back and front, melting together into a single shield as his shoulder crunched and cracked loudly, broadening while they became rounded and massive; flexible, black tubing covered the skin between his elbow and shoulder. Ben's arms began to swell, metal plating taking the place of his skin as his bones and muscles fused together before sending out thousands upon thousands of sensitive nerve endings that connected them to the armor that now encased Ben in a tight, yellow shell. His hands trembled and splintered loudly as they suddenly changed into sharp, gray claws while a large piston formed on the back of each of his elbows, merging with his arms underneath of the armor. Metal plating enveloped his head and formed something that resembled a Greek Corinthian helmet as two, small, pointed ears slipped out from beneath the armor just as his feet turned into hard, metallic claws. The Omnitrix appeared on his broad chest as a short tail popped out from the base of his spine, completing the transformation.
"What the- Armodrillo?" the Talpaedan starred in disbelief at his new form. "Since when does the Omnitrix actually give me something useful?" he wondered sarcastically as he quickly fused his metal fingers together into hardened, metal drills that he quickly drove into the ground beneath his feet; the pistons on the back of his elbows began to pump furiously as the tremors and earthquakes only seemed to increase even more before finally stopping after a few more, intense seconds.
"Wha-What d-di-id y-o-ou d-o?" Ashlynn asked, her vine-like legs still wobbly and unable to support her weight for the moment.
"Easy. Just created a counter tremor to stop the current one in its tracks." Armodrillo explained proudly. "And my seismic direction power-ability-thingy says it came from that way." he added, pointing off towards the Enchanted Forest.
"Seismic direction power-ability-thingy?" Blondie raised an eyebrow while Cerise starred in the Talpaedan's general direction with what he could only assume to be a look of disbelief .
"Well, I don't know what to call it." Armodrillo admitted. "But right now, we need to check out what caused that earthquake."
"What about us?" Cupid asked. "No offense, but I'd rather not be stuck with this legs." she said, holding up one of her spring-like legs for emphasis.
"That's the least of our problems right now." Armodrillo said. "Trust me, it'll be weird, but you'll be fine for now. At the moment though, for all we know, that earthquake could have unleashed some kind of ancient evil incarnate or whatever it is you guys have here; I may have magic back in my dimension, but aliens are more of my thing, if you haven't guessed that already."
"No, it completely slipped my mind." Hunter grumbled.
"You're just mad that you're the short one." Cedar smirked slightly.
"I am not!"
Raven involuntarily hissed as a small spot of sunlight struck her delicate, pale skin, a trail of smoke curling up out from the corner of her eye before the welcoming shadow of the shade enveloped her once more; despite her protests and arguments, Cerise had pulled the fused witchling up onto her back, knowing full well that she was too weak from sun exposure to walk on her own. Raven appreciated the kind gesture, even if she was against the whole thing.
The small band of mutated fairy tales quietly trudged through the Enchanted Forest, following Ball Weevil as he rolled a large, gooey, ball of plasma along the ground to travel on; Hunter had fallen over in laughter at finally being taller than someone in the group, even if that person was the one who made him short in the first place. The altered huntsman now rode on Ashlynn's shoulder, grumbling obscenities under his breath as his girlfriend carefully walked on her delicate legs, twisting her head to marvel and gaze at the Enchanted Forest with a new perspective.
"Are we . . . almost there . . . yet?" Cedar panted heavily, her new, bronze body working against her.
"Armodrillo's earthquake sensor-thingy said the source of the tremor was this way." Ball Weevil replied as he continued to roll his sizable plasma ball along. "Shouldn't be long now."
"The way your calling it is not exactly giving me confidence, bub." Hunter quipped.
"You know, I could leave you like this." Ball Weevil threatened.
"Call it whatever you want!"
Ball Weevil would have smirked had he had lips. "How're things lookin' up there, Briar, Apple? You see anything yet?" he called up through the canopy of the Enchanted Forest.
"Nothing so far!" Briar reported as she rapidly pumped her new wings to keep her aloft; upon being told what the Nemuina part of her could do, she had received multiple ironic looks sent her. The irony had not been lost on her, though she wished the looks and stares sent her way would.
"I'm just trying to get use to flying!" Apple yelped, covering her eyes as she frantically flapped her leathery wings.
"It might help if you could actually see, Apple." Briar suggested.
"Oh. Right." Apple blushed sheepishly as she removed her hands from her face and let them drop to her sides; now that she could actually see, she was far more stable and maneuverable. With the wind rushing through her hair, she laughed with joy and flew herself further down to the tree tops, reaching down with a hand to run it through the canopy, laughing louder when butterflies and flower petals were sent flying just at her touch; that, and her huge wings created quite a gust of wind.
"Enjoying yourself?" Blondie smiled as she launched out from the tree tops, sailing through the air for a couple of yards before falling back through the branches, quickly hooking her flexible hands around tree limbs to brachiate quickly through the trees before she threw herself into the air again, the breeze rustling through her fur and golden locks.
"You're one to talk!" Apple laughed.
"Hey, I think I see something!" Briar announced loudly, pointing off towards the distance; Apple and Blondie paused their play to look where the princess was pointing at a large, whitewash building peeking out through the trees. Without a moments, hesitation, Briar dive bombed through the canopy of the Enchanted Forest with Apple and Blondie right behind her.
"I think we found what we're looking for!" Briar told everyone excitedly as she came in for a smooth landing; Apple was less fortunate in her landing and came crashing down through the branches of the trees, leaves and twigs caught in her hair as she landed on the ground with a thump! with Blondie landing on the branch above her, her twin tails wrapping tightly around the limb for support.
"Which way?" Ball Weevil asked.
"Over there! Not too far!" Briar pointed off into a large and particularly nasty looking thicket of brambles and brush.
"Uh, no thank you." Daring stiffened at the thought of getting all bruised and cut up.
"Let me put it to ya this way," Ball Weevil frowned, narrowing his beady eyes at the prince. "Would you rather stay like this, forever fused with a living copy machine, and never be swarmed by your begging fans?"
The little, yellow insect let that thought sink in, fighting back the stream of plasma that was building up in the back of his throat; it took approximately five seconds for Daring to process this idea before he gasped in terror and pushed past everyone to dash into the thicket without a moments thought, screaming at the top of his lungs at how he was going to be there first and no one could say anything otherwise.
"Should I tell him that my fan girls back home think Ditto is my cutest alien?" Ball Weevil wondered.
"Nah. Let him be." Ashlynn smiled slightly as she drew herself up to her full height and stepped over Ball Weevil, Cerise, and Raven to enter the brush next, with Hunter hanging on tightly to her shoulder until a stray branch whacked him in the face and nearly threw him off; Cerise followed afterwards, pushing herself up as high as she go to keep Raven out of the reach of the sharp thorns while the witchling hung onto the thick, shaggy fur that covered her. Cedar went next, acting something like a snowplow of sorts to crush and push aside the hazardous plants and create a large swath through the brush that the others could follow behind without fear of getting pricked.
"So, uh, Ben?" Cupid spoke up. "Just out of curiosity, what can I do? You said I was fused with someone called 'Crashhopper'?"
"To put it simply, you'll never find a better jumper than Crashhopper," Ball Weevil explained. "He jump as tall as a castle and has a head stronger than concrete."
"Really?" Cupid liked the sound of that. "Hang on, I want to try something . . ." she smiled as she bunched up her new legs and sprang high into the air, bursting through the tree tops and soaring high through the air as she cheered loudly; she had flown before with her wings, but there was just something about rushing through the air at high speeds thanks to a hextacular jump that she couldn't resist. That is, until she realized she was coming back down. With nothing else to see but the sea of leafy green tree tops, she had no idea where or how to land and thus came crashing through the canopy in the most painful manner imaginable.
"Ow . . ." she groaned from the ground, thorns embedded deep within her pinkish skin.
"Yeah, it takes some practice." Ball Weevil winced as he came rolling through the brush on his ball of plasma.
"Now you tell me . . ." Cupid moaned as she sat up and climbed to her feet, rubbing her aching skull. "I don't think my head's hard enough for this kind of thing."
"Considering you're only half of you, I wouldn't be surprised." Ball Weevil nodded sympathetically.
"I FOUND IT!" Daring's voice yelled triumphantly threw the woods. "And on a completely unrelated note, ow!" the prince added as he tripped over a tree root and tried to preserve what little shred of dignity he still had. With a quick nod, both Ball Weevil and Cupid ran off to catch up with the group of fused fairy tales, bursting out through the brush and into a clearing where the rest of the group stood, awestruck.
Standing before them was a massive, whitewash building of an impressive design and stature. It stood tall and proud in the clearing on a block of solid marble from which the building rose up; a grand staircase of golden stairs framed on either side by a pair of flickering torchlights ran up to the entrance of the structure with four, tall, massive pillars standing and supporting the grand roof.
"The Heritage Hall?" Apple breathed. "What's it doing out here? It isn't Thronecoming, is it?"
"No, the Well of Wonder is calm for the time being!" Maddie reported happily as she suddenly came whizzing through the trees at a high speed that made everyone's head spin as she bounced and buzzed around with energy; it made Hunter sick just by watching her.
"Maddie, where were you?" Raven wondered; Cerise was kind enough to remain in the shadows of the trees for the young witchling's comfort.
"And what does this strange building that's apparently not supposed to be here have to do with a well?" Ball Weevil wondered before he was suddenly swallowed in a flash of green light. His skin started to blister and crack horribly like mud drying in the hot, blazing sun; a loud crunching noise filled the air as his bones compressed tightly against each other while they were liquidated on the spot, melting into thick, molten magma along with his muscles, tissue, and organs. Parts of his skin start to melt as well while the small islands that had formed across his body started to swell and mold together, hardening into tough, crusty, lava rocks that the hot lava seeped and poured around and through. Ben's head started to smoke huntil it suddenly burst into flame, startling Apple as his jaw crunched loudly, his jaw bones and face turning into durable rock as his feet twisted into a pair of sharp claws just as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest and completed the transformation.
"I'm beginning to think this thing is busted." Heatblast rasped with annoyance, flames crackling across his body as the grass beneath his feet instantly caught fire and burned to ash and dust. "That, or stuck in Radomizer Mode."
"Why does that thing even have a Randomizer Mode?" Hunter wondered.
"Remind me to ask Azmuth." Heatblast grumbled. "Now if someone would so kind as to answer my questions . . ?"
"Well, the Heritage Hall only ever appears during Thronecoming, silly!" Maddie giggled. "It's so the generation of fairy tales before us, our parents, can pass down gifts to us! And we'll in turn do the same!"
"Okay, so it's some kind of tradition." Heatblast tapped his rocky chin in thought. "That still doesn't explain why it's here now, though. Like you said, it's not Thronecoming."
"Well, sometimes the Well of Wonder overflows," Cedar explained. "A sort of backsplash, if you will; when that happens, anything can happen; the seasons are switched around, fish inexplicably grow wings, holidays happen sooner, books and desks start talking, school supplies suddenly have minds of their own. The list goes on and on."
"So, I take it all those things have happened before?" the Pyronite cocked an eyebrow *if he had any, that is).
"It doesn't happen often, but it's not uncommon." Raven shrugged; Cerise grunted in agreement.
"I nearly lost one of my little fingers during Princessology when my desk got the munchies!" Apple shuddered slightly; not only had the desk tried to turn her into a snack, but it constantly kept on eating her homework, pencils, and cracking jokes about her underwear and mother, much to her embarrassment and the class' enjoyment (the desk was apparently a very good stand up comedian).
"So somethin's obviously up with the Heritage Hall." Hunter summed up.
"The question is what, exactly?" Ashlynn wondered.
"Only one way to find out." Heatblast rasped as he headed towards the hall, leaving smoldering footprints in his wake as he strolled across the clearing and jogged up the stairs; the fused fairy tales all shared a look before quickly following after him, Cerise moving faster than the others to minimize the exposure from the sun Raven would have to suffer through.
The interior of the Heritage Hall was wide and spacious, with high ceilings that could have easily let Tiny the giant stand up at his full height if he could get through the entrance; decorating the walls were stained glass pictures of various fairy tales, locked boxes sitting empty and abandoned in front of each one of them. One window was colored a stained orange and crimson hue in color, the image of a ferocious wolf and a woman enveloped in a hood decorating the pane while another one showed the image of beautiful ballerina dancing delicately on a lake under the broad, elegant wings of a swan.
"Whoa." Heatblast breathed.
"This place never ceases to amaze me." Cupid agreed.
"If only my own charming face were so gorgeous to look at. Not that it isn't something worthwhile." he added with a handsome smile, earning eye rolls from several members of the group.
Apple looked around in awe, her claws scrapping softly against the marble floor as the colorful windows rose up high and proud around them, the sunlight shining through them enveloping them all in a rainbow of color. She somehow felt like she was trespassing in a place that was only open during a certain time of year, as if she were breaking into a museum to steal a priceless jewel or piece of art; it felt odd and alien to her, but then again she was now an alien herself. Or at least, part alien.
"Does something feel . . . odd to anyone?" Apple wondered aloud.
"Now that you mention it, something does seem to be out place." Briar hummed, hovering a good couple of feet above the ground through the use of her wings. Cerise snarled and immediately began sniffing around, the gill-like slits on her neck fluttering open and shut as she moved around with her nose pointed towards the ground and Raven being dragged along through the whole ride; Heatblast ignored the Vulpimancer hybrid and her half Vladat rider to simple marvel and admire the intricate and beautiful images before him, wondering how anyone could create such powerful yet delicate looking craft.
A sudden noise caught his attention, and the Pyronite turned to see Cerise back off of a small pressure pad at the base of the box that would have held the Evil Queen's gift had it not been empty; Raven had cast a scornful look at the box with the memories it brought back to her before the trap had been triggered. The sound of rotating gears and machinery moving filled the Heritage Hall as the massive Storybook of Legends statue at the end of the hall started to rumble and tremble slightly before it began to sink into the floor, lowered away and out of sight into the bowels of the Heritage Hall as something else took the statue's place: a box.
"I don't remember this." Daring hummed with curiosity.
"The crafty weasel is often most confused." Maddie smirked; the Son of Prince Charming just gave her an odd look like Raven snickered.
"Uh, is it just me, or does something seem familiar about this?" Hunter wondered.
"What do you mean?" Heatblast asked.
"Oh, maybe the fact that your Omnitrix symbol or whatever is plastered right in the window behind the mysterious box that just rose from the floor?"
The Pyronite did a double take and looked at the window above the box that had been triggered by the pressure plate, the stained glass window having been hidden by the massive, stone statue before it had been removed; the window was stained entirely in vibrant hues of green, white, and black, the Omnitrix symbol centered in the middle of the pain with the silhouette's of what Heatblast quickly deduced to be his aliens radiating outwards from it, a clenched fist attached to the device and holding up triumphantly for everyone to see.
"Okay, officially weirded out just now." Heatblast rasped an amazement.
"Wait, if you have a destiny of your own, and the Heritage Hall includes a picture of your story . . . then whatever is in the box must be yours!" Apple quickly concluded.
"As much sense as that makes, it only opens up more questions." Cupid sighed. "Such as, who the hex put whatever is in that box there? In fact, if Ben's from a parallel universe, how is he even in the Storybook of Legends and Heritage Hall in the first place?" she wondered.
"Maybe we should look in the box?" Cedar suggested shyly. "Maybe whatever is in there has some answers."
"Worth a shot/" Heatblast shrugged as he cautiously approached the box; the Pyronite had to admit, despite knowing it only ever seemed to happen in movies, he was certain that he was about to trigger some booby trap or other that would fire poisoned arrows at him or drop him into a pit of snakes or send some gigantic boulder rolling at him if he so much as touched the box. Silencing his panicked mind and the movie references it was making, Heatblast curled his fingers around the edge of the box and lifted the lid up to be greeted by what seemed to be a solid block of ice.
"Ice." he rasped as he pulled the block of permafrost out for everyone to see. "I got a freakin' block of ice."
Hunter suddenly fell off of Ashlynn's shoulder, rolling around on the floor in laughter as he gasped for breath and beat his fists against the floor.
"Why would you get a block of ice?" Apple wondered.
"Snow cones?" Maddie asked hopefully.
"Hang on!" Cedar suddenly cried out. "I can't believe I didn't use these sooner!" she scolded herself as she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a pair of blue glasses that she carefully fit over her face, earning an odd look from Heatblast as the lenses lit up and focused on the block of ice in his hands, as if it were looking right through it for any sort of impurities.
"Ah, HA! There;s something frozen inside!" Cedar exclaimed excitedly.
"How do you know that?" Heatblast wondered.
"My Dad gave me these glasses that let me see the truth in practically anything," Cedar explained. "They can't tell a lie, and neither can I. Something is frozen and inside your block of ice."
"When did it suddenly become my block of ice?" the Pyronite wondered.
"Ever since you opened the block and picked it up." Daring suspected. "That, and when it was actually placed there."
"Fair point." Heatblast shrugged as flames and fire enveloped his hands, sweeping over the block of ice and melting it within seconds into a cloud of steam and a puddle of icy water before everyone's eyes; something small fell out of the block of ice, bouncing off of the open lid of the box and to the floor.
"What is it?" Ashlynn wondered, bending her legs down to lower herself further down for a closer inspection; the object was small, about the size of dollar bill and resembled something of a squid-like blob with bulbous eyes and small, green antennae or feelers poking out of the top of the head. Small pseudopods sprouted from the bottom of the small item, lying limp against its slimy, green exterior.
"Wait . . . is that who I think it is?" Heatblast whispered as he bent over and scooped up the small item in his hand, slowly heating it up in his palm as the rest of the fairy tales crowded around him in curiosity. The small object groaned slightly, nearly making everyone startle with surprise as the item, now a small creature, began to move around slightly, its little pseudopods wriggling and slither slightly as it sat up and rubbed its beady little eyes.
"Where am I?" the creature spoke in a classy tone. "And who, dare I say are you?" he asked Heatblast.
"Snot Pocket, don't you remember? Maltruant? The Contemelia?" the Pryonite whispered.
The little, slimy creature raised an eyebrow before it took a cautious sniff of the air, its antennae going rigid as its eyes widened in surprise. "Is that, perhaps, DNA that I smell? Delicious, sweet, DNA from none other than the Omnitrix, that sweet food of the gods?" he wondered; if he had a mouth, he would have been drooling.
"So you do remember?" Heatblast asked.
"Dear boy, I always have." Skurd seemed to smile as he bowed his head slightly. "Now then, if you would be so kind as to direct me to the nearest source of DNA? I am quite famished."
"All yours, buddy." Heatblast smiled as he lifted Skurd up to his chest and set him down on the waiting Omnitrix; the Slimebiote shuddered with anticipation as the familiar Omnitrix symbol appeared on his head while he eagerly hugged the watch close to him.
"Ah, it feels good to be back." he sighed happily.
And there we go!
Ah, feels good to be back, doesn't? Wait, why am I asking you? You're no the ones writing this story!
Well, I guess technically, you are. What with all the ideas, suggestions, requests, and questions that get me thinking, I seriously consider this to be a community effort of sorts. So give yourself a round of applause! You deserve it as much as I do!
Now for those of you impatiently waiting for Spring Unsprung and Way to Wonderland, they will happen. Just not for a while. Not only do I have the chapter following this to fill up, but it's coming around that time of year again when I must obey the laws of the holidays and writing a spooky, Halloween chapter as well! After that though, things should be clear and wide open!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! I love hearing from you guys!
Now if you;ll excuse me, I have some League of Legends to play. Pwn you later, n00bs!
Hasta Luego!
