Greetings everyone! Tis I, Creaturemaster once more, the undead Tetramand from the depths of the Underworld currently being threatened by a crazed Hatter and now just suddenly learning that I have somehow developed a set of Celestialsapien personalities in my head!
On a completely unrelated note, I have reached a grand total of over 400 REVIEWS! You guys are amazing, I could kiss each and every last one of you right now I am so happy! Thank you for making this story the wonderful success it is! Without you, I would be nothing but a worthless loser wondering where my life went wrong, so thank goodness I don't have to do that!
Onto the review answers!
StrongGuy159 – Gracias, mi amigo
Karlos1234ify – Glad you enjoyed the chapter. And if you thought Maddie was breaking the fourth wall then, you have no idea what's in store.
Cartoonfan10 – My mind . . . she is a blown! Future crossover!
Lord Humungus – Don't worry. There'll be a good explanation for things next chapter.
mechazard01 – Do you mean someone getting redeemed?
Stretchy-Rat – I really only made the dragons resemble Monstrous Nightmares because I love making references to other media in my stories (if you look back at my previous story, there's a Frozen and Minecraft reference in there somewhere), so I'm not sure if other dragons from How to train your Dragon will appear or not. As for your idea, I had a similar idea to this, but it involves the Omnitrix more than it involves Raven's spells taking a mishap.
masterart – No, I'm usually grounded where I am for the holidays.
Marshman101 – Thank you.
Menatron the Angel of Ideas – It would have to be a Xover for someone else to write, sadly.
DracoAngel17 – I thought you might like that XD
Isom – Don't worry, mi amigo. Your wish shall be granted.
Kaiju Fan – I could freaking kiss you right now. The idea . . . I am at a loss for words. Copy, paste, print, it's going in! I don't know what I would do without you!
Royal Rebel – Okay, now you are really starting to scare me XD While I don't think Red Riding Hood could pick up a building, I have no doubt she'll have other ways of scaring the living daylights out of Ben should he ever hurt her daughter in anyway. As for Maddie, I'll ask her.
The Question – Okay, you make a fair point about Paradox; I was getting to that. Yes, the knights did cause the dragon rampage, but that will be revealed for later.
Gojira – Don't worry about the rant. But about the reason why Dexter hit Cupid, there is actually a particularly good reason why he hit her; as to what it is, you'll just have to read and see
Erebor – The nightmares will return occasionally, especially during times of strife, though whether they involve her future kids or not will be up to debate (I'm thinking a definite yes). Don't worry though, everyone's favorite witchling will have good dreams, too.
Story Artist – All in due time, mi amigo. All in due time.
Codecrash – Glad you enjoyed the chapter. I have to give credit to you though, since you came up with what is to be this chapter. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy!
Darkness Rissing – Is it really that obvious? The whole 'Beauty and the Beast' thing? Have I stooped so low that my future chapters are that predictable!? XD
luciayshadow – Once again, Genie actually really likes Ben; he just gives him a friendly warning every now and again to not mess with his daughters. Regardless, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter (and when I say "unexpected results", it will most likely blow your mind and this story if I'm not careful). As for your requests, I think Swift getting a redemption could work its way into this mess eventually, but I'm afraid Big Chill's offspring probably won't; it's not that I don't like the idea, I actually really like it, but its one of those ideas that just adds a whole lot of unneeded weight and exhaustion to the story. Too much of that, and I won't want to write it anymore.
maverickmoxey2000 – I think I could arrange Cupid to have some sort of fiery aspect to her when the big battle finally rolls around, but in the mean time she'll remain the love goddess we all love and want to comfort right now; and if you have any ideas for CedarxBen, I would love to hear them. As for Ben getting a 'badass moment', I see what I can do. If you have any idea on how to work that in sooner without involving a really huge, story changing battle, I would love to hear it. As for Cupid's Crystal Ball, it's not as big as a focus as this or my Total Drama story, but that doesn't mean I'm dropping it anytime soon.
spurlinpatricksean2 – if you must see something happen to Dexter (and it seems that you must), please wait until the next chapter for this; if you're looking for an explanation as to Dexter's behavior, this is also included in the current chapter you are reading (I sound like one of those automated recording machines, don't I?).
Guest – Answers in the order of reviews you asked them: your fight idea will most likely happen with Hopper Croakington II over Briar (though whether he wins or not, we'll have to see); we shall see. We shall see; I'm contemplating on whether to make Ben's life more miserable than it already is with an angry mob of some sort trying to kill him or not. As for the narrators, they seem to be blissfully unaware; I have not read Mecha Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Force. Could you give me the author to who it is by so I can check it out and debate amongst my Celestialsapien personalities about it? As for the latest chapter of my one-shot series, it will only get a follow up when people vote for it; while I already have enough OC aliens for this story, what I look for an OC alien is if they have an original concept, design, or power that Ben does not currently have. If a form already has a similar power, I look into whether it does it differently or has other powers to capitalize on (a good example being Swampfire and Wildvine); no, I do not watch anime; no, I have not heard of the song "Fairy Tale gone Bad".
Fanfic Fan – HOW COULD YOU TELL!? XD
Now then, if there are no more interruptions, I would like to continue. It would seem that the worlds of Monster High and Ever After High are linked (somehow) through everyone's favorite comet alien, Astranova; believe me when I say I wish I would have seen Boo York Boo York sooner, since this just makes things all the more complicated for me. But hey, I love a challenge!
You bet your teacups you do!
Maddie!? What are you doing here!? In my room!? Outside of my story!?
Oh, you silly, you're taking too long! I wanna meet Ben already! He's so cute! And don't even get me started on that Jigsaw form of his! So fairy tale!
Did you just come all this way to tell me about your secret crush or are you plotting something?
Silly! Don't you remember? You told the readers that I was plotting to knock you out with my mallet and take over the story if you didn't pair me with Ben soon! And that I was drinking myself silly with tea to the point where it was practically alcohol!
I was joking!
Awwww, I was really hoping to use this.
Put that mallet away!
Hmmmm . . . nope! I'm takin' over this story for the chapter! I'll try to mimic your writing style, so you won't have anything to worry about!
Maddie! No, wait! Please don't-
WHACK!
And he's down for the count, ladies and gentlemen! So due to . . . technical difficulties, I will be taking over as your lovely host and author! YAY! I'll try not to spoil everything, so stayed tuned for Maddie's take over!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! If not for Creaturemaster, then will you review for little ol' me? I know you guys and gals love me and I love you all, too! But not as much as I love tea! Also, thanks to Codecrash for the wonderland-ful idea for this chapter! Thanks!
Disclaimer: Creaturemaster does not own anything by Rascal Flatts, so don't sue him! If you do, I'll smash you with my hammer and won't invite you to my tea party! Also,the model of the newest alien to join Ben's growing family of Omnitrix aliens belongs to Master-of-Dreams on DeviantArt. Go check him out! His art his hat-tastic!
Oh, and Royal Rebel? Stop by the tea shop if you're ever in the mood for some tea or . . . something else ;) I'm always there and waiting with a fresh pot of tea!
Saddle up the donkey and put soap in the bath!
M.N: Ever After High is full of unusual and strange characters, both strange and frightening, sometimes both.
F.N: Take Cerise Hood for example: being the Daughter of the Big Bad Wolf gives her some rather impressive and frightening capabilities that only her true friends will look past. Then there is Ben Tennyson himself, wielder of a device that lets him change his genetic code at will in creatures the likes of which Ever After has never seen. Even Raven Queen has something to hide-
M.H: But it doesn't matter right now!
M.H: Ms. Hatter!? What you doing here yet again?
M.H: I'm taking over this story! The author was being too slow, so I sat him down at a tea party and asked him how many lumps he wanted!
F.N: I'm afraid to ask what followed . . .
M.H: He asked for two lumps, so I gave him two lumps!
M.H: Of sugar, hopefully?
M.H: Of my mallet, silly! Why would I ask anyone how many lumps of sugar they wanted?
F.N: You're right, I don't know why anyone would ask how lumps of sugar someone wanted . . .
M.H: Are you being sarcastic?"
F.N: No . . .
M.H: Hat-tastic! Now if you'll excuse me, you are fired for the chapter.
M.N: Excuse me!?
F.N: You can't possibly be serious!
M.H: I am! And there's nothing you can do about it! Hahahaha!
M.N: MS. HATTER!
M.H: I still have my mallet you know . . .
M.N: . . . I say it's time we took a break, don't you?
F.N: I couldn't agree more.
M.H: Hat-tastic!
Ben felt himself start to slowly stir, his eyes starting to flicker about and move underneath of his eyelids. He tried to force his eyes to stop moving so he could go back to sleep, but his body seemed against the idea; his muscles felt uncomfortably stiff and heavy, his brain was starting to take in information better, and his skin started to feel a tad hotter than last night after he collapsed into bed from exhaustion, barely even questioning why Hunter Huntsman was waiting outside of his room with a pillow, blanket, backpack, a set of carpenter tools and a stack of wood.
Apparently, upon entering the dorm the huntsman shared with the Son of Prince Charming he had been promptly thrown out with Dexter screaming at the top of his lungs to leave him in the hex alone to wallow in his misery; the poor prince looked as if he hadn't had a good nights sleep in days, much less eaten anything healthy, save for a few bottles of Fairy Wine and what little food had been slipped under the door way from the few that pitied him. His face had been covered in uneven stubble and his eyes were bloodshot and full of depression, his temper flared to a hurricane level. Long story short, Hunter had opted to bunk with the one room available in the entire boys dorm: Ben's room.
As the Master of the Omnitrix started to slowly wake up, he became vaguely aware of another presence in the room; at first he thought it was just Hunter sleeping the bed he had hastily constructed out of the lumber and construction supplies he had brought with him, but as his senses began to sharpen some more as he gained consciousness he became aware of the fact that the extra presence in the room was actually right next to him.
Ben slowly blinked open his eyes and drew in a sharp breath, waking himself just enough for him to comprehend that there was a ceiling above his head and a bed beneath his back; a few moments of lying still to wake himself up, and he was conscious enough to notice that he was not alone in his bed. Curled next to him with her head resting on his chest like a pillow and her breaths slow and shallow, was none other than Apple, fast asleep and dozing like a baby without a care in the world. Normally, Ben would have questioned why Apple had snuck back into his room again, especially considering the princess had been cured of her temporary phobia of Cerise attacking her in the night and dragging her off to mutilate and maul before devouring her, but it was still morning and he was still too tired to complain.
The princess was dressed in a red nightgown that let one see her crimson undergarments underneath if the light was just right or, in Ben's case, one happened to be very close; he wouldn't deny that Apple was very attractive, no boy of any species in all of Ever After High would deny that, but he had gotten together with Apple for another reason. The princess was perhaps the most compassionate person he had ever met, right up there with Frankie even, when it came to helping others or putting her friend's needs before her own. He had been quite surprised when he had found out, according to several fuzzy pictures and shaky video feed that would seem more suitable to a sighting from Lorna and her father, Apple behaved something like a vigilante in her spare time, rescuing fairy tales and performing good deeds no matter how bizarre they might have been; from picking a monstrous thorn out of Tiny's foot and heridng Lilly Bo Peep's sheep out of the Glass Slipper, to creating a safe crosswalk for Book End's duck population and breaking up arguments over trivial things such as coffee, it seemed Apple somehow managed to do it all. In a way, Apple was her own hero and Ben admired that about her.
"Morning, Ben." Apple smiled sweetly.
"I was wondering when my sleeping beauty would wake up." Ben grinned. "You have a good sleep?"
"Fairest of them all!" the princess beamed. "How was detention with Cerise?"
Ben paused for a second; he, the Hood family, and Raven had spent a couple hours simply talking and chatting the afternoon away over tea, biscuits, cookies, and bacon (upon Mr. Badwolf's request), which actually made detention all the more enjoyable. At least for him. He couldn't count how many times Cerise's parents had embarrassed her, turning her lovely face a deep crimson in color; thus, Ben got to know about Cerise than he ever cared to know. It were as though Badwolf and Red Riding Hood were preparing him for something that he didn't know about.
"It went well," Ben lied. "Badwolf had us sit on opposite ends of his classroom for the first hour before he made us clap the erasers, wash the windows, wipe down the desks, and mop the floor."
Apple seemed to relax after hearing that and snuggled up closer to Ben, resting her head in the crook of his neck; Ben didn't exactly how to respond to that, confused as to whether Apple was jealous or not. Was she even capable of being jealous?
His thoughts were broken when Apple tilted her head up slightly and gently kissed him on his lower jaw, tentatively leaving a trail of kisses as Ben groaned slightly, his grip around Apple tightening a little more securely around her shoulders while he pulled her closer to him; the princess, thanks to the Princessology classes that taught one how to properly return your prince charming's kiss, knew that she was in control of the situation for the moment, knowing how to read Ben's body language to tell how to proceed. This did not mean however, that she was prepared for what came next as Ben swiftly took her plump lips in his and kissed her deeply and with such passion it made her nearly faint from overexposure. She practically melted in his grasp as he gently rimmed her lips with his tongue, striking strong yet cautious against her, never taking an action until he was sure she was okay with before stroking fast and fierce.
Apple moaned slightly as Ben gently ran his fingers through her fluid, golden curls, groaning slightly louder as she dug her own fingers into his scalp and dark, earthy brown hair, returning the kiss as best as she could and wondering why Ben wasn't currently teaching her Princessology class on how to properly kiss someone (then again, she couldn't imagine any class that didn't directly link to aliens, fighting, or how to trash talk someone, though this was beside the point). She was suddenly caught off guard when Ben swiftly dipped his tongue past her lips, hugging her close enough to him for her to feel his strong heartbeat pounding in his chest, somehow syncing with her own in mere seconds; she moaned louder as Ben passionately kissed her, whipping her tongue into submission while being as gentle as he possibly could. It seemed impossible, and yet here Apple was getting the best kiss she had ever experienced; perhaps the only kiss she had experienced, too. The two of them were practically glowing a bright white in the early light of the waking dawn, their luminescence almost outshining the rising sun. Before long though, it was over and Apple was left gasping for breath, her face tinted a deep pink in color as she rested her head on Ben's chest again and resting her ear against his heart, absentmindedly entangling her legs with his own as they rested.
"Where . . . did you get so good at kissing?" Apple breathed.
"When you have nearly twenty girlfriends back home, you get a lot of practice in. Especially with some of the more frisky ones." he added with a slight chuckle.
Apple felt a pain of what she now realized and admitted to be jealousy upon hearing Ben speak of his loved ones back home, along with perhaps . . . guilt? Was she really feeling guilty of her selfish plan to tear Ben from all that he loved and held dear to his heart? The princess unconsciously slid her hand down to rest on her stomach, flickering her gaze down to her midriff and remembering what she had been told yesterday, back when she had been fused with the DNA of a asexually producing Necrofriggian; had she actually been pregnant, had a child growing inside of her, would that have made any difference? Was Ben just playing her, using her like a tool for whatever nefarious scheme he had in the gears in his head.
"Ugh. I never knew Dexter could throw so hard," Hunter groaned as he sat up in his hastily constructed bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes; he yawned and froze in mid-stretch when he caught sight of Ben and Apple in the same bed together with the princess in nothing more than her underwear and her nightgown. "I must have been hit by that book he threw harder than I thought."
"You aren't seeing things, Hunter." Ben snickered slightly.
"I am seriously starting to feel degraded around you." the huntsman grumbled.
"It's not your fault the lad is so dashing and heroic." Skurd seemed to smirk from Ben's wrist; Apple yelped and fell out of the bed, landing upside down on her back with her legs still on the bed and giving Hunter a full view of her crimson panties when her nightgown slipped down. The huntsman quickly covered his eyes as Ben helped Apple back up into the bed and tried not to snicker when she drew the covers up around her.
"Can someone explain to me why one of the hottest girls in the school is currently sleeping in our dorm?" Hunter asked, peeking through his fingers.
"I'm just as confused as you are," Ben shrugged as he turned to Apple. "I thought you were cured of your fear of Cerise?"
"I am," Apple nodded. "I just . . . couldn't sleep last night. So I tried here."
"Am I really that comfortable?"
Apple blushed and smiled. "You make a nice pillow."
"This is great and all, but if you want your relationship to stay intact I highly suggest that Apple gets back to her room and quickly." Hunter yawned, tasting his morning breath and scratching himself. "Grimm's pretty strict when it comes to this kind of thing."
"Yeah, what's got his pathetic mustache tied in a knot?" Ben wondered.
"Why is his mustache pathetic?" Apple wondered.
"Have you seen Mole-stache's upper lip?"
Apple laughed at this and gave Ben one last kiss on his cheek before crawling out from under the covers, stretching a little, and then merrily skipping her way to the door. "I'll see you later, Ben. Meet me and Raven for dinner?"
"Count on it, babe." Ben nodded; Apple blushed and waved good-bye to Ben and Hunter before she left, running as fast as her legs could carry her to avoid getting caught by any teachers and early risers of the opposite gender.
"Tell me how you did that." Hunter asked after Apple had left, starring at the spot she had been moments ago.
"Did what?"
"Why is it so easy for you just get girls?" Hunter wondered. "I swear, all you have to do is just breath and they fall all over you! It took me months to even ask Ashlynn out on a date! And Daring, the most handsome, popular, and charming guy in school doesn't even have a girlfriend!"
Ben shrugged. "I dunno. I just be myself and treat them like they're actual people and can do something themselves; a girl doesn't like to be told that they're defenseless."
"True. Ashlynn's probably the toughest girl I know. Well, other than Briar or Raven." Hunter nodded. "I can still feel her punching me over and over again."
Ben snickered slightly before becoming serious. "So . . . are we cool?"
"What do you mean?"
"You remember the talent show when the Omnitrix timed out and everyone found out my secret?" Ben recalled. "I swear, you wanted to kill me and Ashlynn looked like I had just made her life a living hell."
Hunter cringed slightly upon hearing that; personally, he had been absolutely furious to find out that not only had his suspicions been correct about the mysterious wolf that had shown up in the Enchanted Forest with his girlfriend of all people, but that he had somehow managed to garner and gain control over two of the biggest influences of Ever After High in mere days. Granted, he too believed Ben was an incubus too back then, and it was in his nature and blood to save and protect helpless damsels in distress (even though Raven was anything but helpless). Now he obviously knew better.
"Well . . . yeah. You can't really blame us for hating you back then; we didn't know what to make of you! Especially when you just suddenly got what's probably the scariest and most thrilling destiny of all time the next day!" Hunter protested.
"True, I suppose." Ben sighed.
"Was there something that I missed?" Skurd wondered; the two boys ignored the Slimebiote and left him to feed off of the Omnitrix's DNA samples.
"What can I do to get you two to forgive me? I'm not lying when I say I really miss talking to you guys at lunch." Ben wondered.
Hunter shrugged. "I've kinda already forgiven you. I guess after being around you for so long, hating you just seemed . . . pointless." he explained. "Ashlynn though . . . she's gonna be tougher. She was really hurt back then, and she still is now."
"I hurt her that bad?" Ben winced as he swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood up to stretch his arms and legs.
"She really liked talking to you. She thought you had a nice sense of humor." Hunter replied as he climbed out of his own bed. "I don't know how, but she just gets these feelings about certain things or people; for instance, she's been secretly keeping his litter of orphaned microdragons under her bed and in return, they help her with Crownculus homework."
"She has dragons that teach her math?" Ben wondered in near disbelief.
Hunter nodded. "I thought it sounded weird too, but apparently they're really good at it. Ashlynn went from being one of the few princesses in the bottom of the class, to being right up there in the top five."
Ben whistled. "Impressive. Chemistry was always hard for me."
"You mean Che-myth-stry." Hunter corrected.
"Whatever," Ben rolled his eyes. "What can I do to get her to forgive me? And if you give me a straight answer in the next ten seconds, you can have the first shower." he added. Hunter tapped his chin in thought, trying to think of an idea that would let him get the first of the hot water and not get him creamed by whatever alien Ben might dial in if he gave him an answer that upset him or his slimy friend; Skurd made the huntsman slightly uncomfortable, but when one shares a room with a talking booger, things tended to get rather strange.
"How about you take her out to breakfast? Try and talk things out?" he suggested.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Skurd wondered. "After all, you said so yourself that the lad's a lady killer; what if he manages to steal your girlfriend?"
"You're not helping, Snot Rocket." Ben frowned, flicking the Slimebiote upside the head.
"Boogerface does have a good point though," Hunter hummed, oblivious to the enraged look Skurd was currently giving him; if Slimebiote's had fingers, Ben was sure Skurd would have been sending several rude gestures Hunter's way. "How do I know you won't try and take Ashlynn away from me?"
"You mean other than the fact that I already have too many girls hanging on my arm for my own good?" Ben raised an eyebrow. "Plus, come on, dude, you and Ashlynn were practically made for each other. You're like soul mates or something; you make her happy, and she keeps you in line."
"I guess you're right." Hunter chuckled. "What am I being worried about?"
"Only one problem with your plan," Ben coughed uncomfortably. "I'm flat broke; I use to work at the Coffin Bean back home before I then moved on to being a very expensive bodyguard for hire."
"Why so expensive?" Hunter wondered.
"Keeps me from being hired by some crazy fangirl or lunatic and gets me hired by the people that really need it, thus letting me keep up on my hero and Plumber work and duties."
"Rather ingenuous, coming from you. Are you sure you thought of it yourself?" Skurd wondered suspciously.
"Hey, it may not look like it, but I use my brain more than people give me credit for." Ben defended himself while he pointed at his head. "But that still doesn't solve my money issue."
"I could lend you some," Hunter offered. "You'd have to pay me back though."
"Which means I need a job of some sort." Ben concluded. "Does Book End have any businesses?"
"Loads." Hunter nodded. "Ashlynn actually runs a shoe shop there, The Glass Slipper. Maybe if you make amends, she might be willing to hire you. And if not, there are tons of other businesses you can try, too."
"Might be difficult, considering the lad's limited work experience." Skurd piped up. "Not many jobs require someone to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, now do they?"
"The Booger makes a point." Hunter nodded.
Once again, Ben had to restrain Skurd from hurting someone upon hearing the accursed nickname.
The halls of Ever After High had seen many things in its many centuries of sheltering, protecting, and educating countless generations of future fairy tales and myths, everything from claustrophobic giants and clumsy swan princesses to a boring Mad Hatter and even Ben Tennyson himself, who was perhaps by far the strangest thing the ancient, marble hallways and corridors had seen in all their days.
Apple White dressed from head to toe in black was a very close second.
The princess drew many odd stares and several slack jaws as she strutted down the halls with her pretty face screwed up into one of frozen anger, her crimson lips turned down into a serious frown as she glared ahead of her for all she was worth; her hips swaggered back and forth in a commanding and loose manner as she ignored the dropped jaws and wide eyes thrown her way, scoffing and rolling her eyes when a couple wolf whistles cut through the air like knives. The outfit she wore, 'borrowed' from Raven's closet, was mostly composed of a black dress with a dark, purple stripe down the middle that attached to a black, silk skirt that left little to the imagination if one were to look long enough at her lavender leggings and sharp, black heels. A black, leather jacket with spiked shoulder pads wrapped around her, and finger-less gloves of the same color covered her hands; a fair amount of black eye shadow made her soft , blue eyes now sharp and piercing and a faint scar now ran vertically over her left eye, giving her a rather frightening look, if the clanking, chain belt around her waist and spiked dog collar around her neck weren't anything to go by.
"Uh, Apple? What the hex are you wearing?" Raven asked as she walked up to her in a far more casual and simple outfit of a deep, purple sweatshirt with a silver raven stenciled on the front, black jeans, and silver sneakers that made her feet far more comfortable than the heels she normally wore on a school day; among most of the student body of Ever After High, weekends and holidays where classes were not in session were mostly used to catch up on homework, relax and hangout with friends, play, and wear far more comfortable clothes that didn't require one to look their very best. "And . . . did you get that from my closet?"
"Out of my way, you . . . very bad person!" Apple tried to sound threatening.
"Apple . . ." Raven said in that too familiar tone that Apple knew, that voice that Raven used whenever she the princess was up to something and wanted to know the full story without any detail skipped over; it was the same tone of voice her nannies had used on Apple the few times as a little girl when she had been naughty and was sent to sit in the corner for what seemed an eternity (which was really little more than five or ten minutes; by then, Apple's naturally sweet personality and adorable face often made the servants and teachers cut the punishment short).
"Okay, yes, I borrowed it from you, but I need it!" Apple whispered desperately.
"Uh, huh. And the gloves, chains, and collar?" Raven pointed at the aforementioned accessories.
"I borrowed those, too. I figured you wouldn't be using them anytime soon, so . . ." Apple trailed off, flinching under Raven's stern stare.
"Is there anything on you that isn't something of mine?"
"The shoes are mine." Apple replied, earning another glare from Raven. "Okay, okay, I borrowed them, too!"
"Uh, huh. And what's with the scar?" Raven asked, reaching forward to run a finger over the mark; she wasn't the least bit surprised when it easily came off on her fingers in a faded, red stain. "Face paint?" Raven sounded confused. "Apple, what are you doing?"
Apple glanced over her shoulder nervously, anxiously looking up and down the hall before she leaned into whisper in Ravne's ear. "I'm trying to get detention."
"And may I ask, why?" Raven sighed, knowing full well that this wasn't going to end well.
"Because Ben got detention!" Apple hissed.
"And this is a problem because . . ?"
Apple sighed with exasperation. "Because Cerise got detention, too!"
Raven still held a blank and unwavering stare. "Yeah, because crashing through half a dozen wall, destroying the LiFairy, endangering other students, and disrupting classes does get you in trouble. She said sarcastically. "Why is this so important to you?"
"Because!" Apple practically yelled, drawing a few utterly confused fairy tale's attention. "They'll alone together in a classroom with no one to watch them for eight weeks!"
"What, you're worried that Cerise is gonna still Ben from us?" Raven cocked an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Apple exclaimed, this time actually yelling now that her point was finally being made; images of Mr. Badwolf leaving the two of them alone in his classroom to take of something ran through her head, quickly followed by Cerise giving a seductive smirk and making her way across the room, slipping off her mother's famous, red hood to reveal a slim, black dress with a white ribbon around her thin waist, a pair of fake glasses, and a ruler. Ben was instantly entranced by her, and no matter what Skurd did or said, Ben ignored him and watched as Cerise playfully scolded him before sitting down on his lap, pressing her lips to his and giving him a short, passionate kiss that she ended with a quick strike of her ruler across Ben's hand; she playfully scolded Ben for trying to seduce her before kissing him again, digging her fingers into his thick, brown hair and allowing him to slip his arms around her waist and hug her close, his fingers dancing along her spine and the very edges of her ass. The two of them stayed like that for the longest time, completely ignoring Skurd before Cerise finally broke the kiss and leaned back slightly, a seductive smile on her lips as she slipped off her glasses and set them and the ruler down before reaching for the edges of her top and-
"Apple? Apple!"
"Wha- what!?" Apple startled, shaken from her thoughts.
"Did you just hear a word I said?" Raven frowned, cocking an eyebrow; despite her casual wear, she still wore the spiky, silver tiara she was known for, giving her an air of authority over anyone she was speaking to, even other fairy tales of a higher stature. Basically, Raven had a glare that could turn someone to stone or freeze them like ice.
"No." the Daughter of Snow White admitted.
Raven sighed before repeating herself. "Apple, you have to trust Ben that he still cares about and loves you, even if Ben manages to catch the eye and affections of other girls. I mean, he's gotta have seventeen girlfriends for a reason, right? If Ben was that untrustworthy or manipulative, do you really think they would have stayed?"
"They're monsters, Raven! The only monsters could possibly want out of Ben is to eat him!" Apple argued.
"Apple, you have to remember this is Ben we're talking about here." Raven reminded her. "Do you really think Ben would still be dating seventeen monsters if he wasn't suspicious that they were just fattening him up?"
"I . . . suppose you're right," Apple sighed. "But I'm still getting detention! I have to protect Ben!"
Raven was about to remind her roommate that this was Ben they were taking about here, the guy who wielded a watch that let him turn into millions alien heroes, the guy who single-handedly shattered Daring's record, the guy who had taken on a conquerer of worlds, the guy who had battled and beaten a god, and the guy who had saved his universe multiple times from utter annihilation, but she knew the longer she argued and talked with Apple, the more time she wasted; once Apple's mind was set on something, it was hard to get her to change it. She could only hope that the princess would soon come to her senses.
Besides, this was Apple she was talking about here, the nicest, sweetest girl in the entire school. Out of everyone, she was the one person that was guaranteed to never receive a detention, even if she tried.
"Alright, fine." Raven surrendered. Just how are you going to get detention?"
"By acting like you!" Apple smiled. "If I channel my 'Inner Raven', I'll get in trouble in no time!"
"I'll try not to take that as an insult." Raven frowned, deadpanned.
Apple smiled brightly. "That's the spirit!" she said before she realized that she was acting out of character. "Uh, I mean, that's what I thought." she corrected herself in what she assumed was a tough and scary voice; Raven merely rolled her eyes and backed off, making a mental note to ask Maddie to brew some tea for later, having a feeling that the princess would need someway of calming down (secretly though, she knew she was just making it for herself, knowing full well that this was going to result in a headache).
Satisfied that was behaving accordingly, Apple strutted down the hall with a scowl on her face and swing in her hips, giving off an aura of danger and authority. She soon found herself walking into the Castleteria, tapping her lips in thought as she looked around for some way of causing trouble; the idea came to her when she noticed Lizzie Hearts with a tray of food walking over to a table. With a devious smirk, she grabbed a pancake off of a passing fairy tale's plate and threw it like a disk at Lizzie's face, hoping to start a food fight.
Unfortunately, Apple was horrible at throwing and instead struck Lizzie's tray, sending the food falling to the floor in a mess of golden omelet, orange juice, breakfast potatoes, and more fluffy pancakes; while not what she was going for, it was just enough to set things off. The Princess of Hearts was one of the most temperamental fairy tales in the school, meaning at any moment she would strike back and initiate the food fight of the century, if Lizzie's reddening face was anything to go by.
"If I may ask my future ruler a question before she explodes," a pair of lavender lips spoke up before Kitty Cheshire materialized out of thin air next to Lizzie. "But aren't you allergic tomatoes?"
"Why do you ask?" Lizzie frowned.
"Because unless I'm mistaken, those are tomatoes," the Cheshire cat smirked broadly, pointing at the remains of the ruined omelet. "Looks like the apple blossom saved you from looking like a beach ball."
" . . . yes, I suppose that is true." Lizzie mumbled before turning to a dumbfounded Apple. "I don't normally say this, even to other Royals, but thank you, Apple."
"You're welcome." Apple sighed, deflating slightly.
Lizzie nodded. "Now that that's done," she said before turning on her heel to march right back towards the kitchen. "Off with your head!" she yelled at the lunch lady. Kitty smiled cheekily and followed after her future ruler, curious as always to see how things worked out; Apple merely sighed and walked out of the Castleteria, wondering how that little plan could have gone wrong as she went out looking for her next victim.
She soon found them in the form of Cedar Wood sitting out on the front steps of the school with a glum look on her wooden features.
"What's wrong with you?" Apple asked in a harsh tone as she sat down next to the puppet.
"Oh, hi, Apple." Cedar sighed, not noticing the princess's attempts to be mean. "I'm just . . . sad."
"About what?"
"Ben, I guess." Cedar replied, resting her chin in her hands. "I like him, I really, really, really like him, but I don't know how to tell him. Plus, how could he ever love someone like me?" she wondered, gesturing to herself. "Why would he ever fall for a cheap imitation of a girl when he could have the real deal?"
Apple was practically squealing inside; while she felt bad for Cedar, this was all but guaranteed to get her detention for being so cruel to someone in the Daughter of Pinocchio's position. And as an added bonus, she would be preventing another girl from stealing Ben's precious affection away from her! "Well, of course Ben would never want to go out with you!" she grinned darkly. "How would someone as handsome, charming, and heroic as him ever fall for someone as pathetic, weak, and cowardly as you?"
Cedar rolled her gaze up to face the princess with the start of teary eyes; time to go in for the scolding slap.
"I mean, compared to me, you've got nothing!" Apple scoffed. "Why would Ben ever possible want to hang out with you when he's got all this?" she gestured to herself with a sickeningly sweet, dark smile. Cedar was now on the brink of tears, and Apple was just waiting for her to start crying and going running off to tell someone, thus getting her in trouble and scoring herself a nice stay in detention with ben and Cerise. The princess was quickly shaken from her thoughts when Cedar threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly, a broad smile on her face.
"Thanks, Apple!" Cedar beamed.
"For what?" the princess wondered, utterly befuddled.
"For giving me the courage to tell Ben how I feel!" Cedar replied. "You're right, I can't just sit back and let this slide; I have to tell him! It's now or never!" she exclaimed with determination, standing up and marching right back into the school in search of Ben.
"Oh, applesauce!" Apple pouted.
Being mean was tougher than she thought.
Ashlynn sat at one of the open tables in the Beanstalk Bakery, resting her hand on her chin and waiting for Hunter to arrive; she had received a note from her that had been slipped under her door to meet him for breakfast, on him. Naturally, the princess was never one to turn down a chance to have a date with her boyfriend, as long as it didn't involve too much skateboarding or playing of video games, but she had been waiting for what felt like hours for him to show. Granted, it had actually been twenty minutes, but Hunter was never late for these kind of things if he could help it.
"Maybe . . . he found a bird with a broken wing or something." Ashlynn told herself quietly; contrary to her boyfriend's story, Hunter loved animals as much as she loved them, becoming a Rebel in the first place because his destiny actually required him to hurt and hunt animals for the sport, hence his name. Hunter wanted no part of this, and helped out the local wildlife around Ever After High and Book End whenever he could, even volunteering at the village's Beast Shelter to take care of the baby dragons, unicorns, and other beasts that ended up there one way or another.
"Or maybe Hunter didn't send you that letter at all."
Ashlynn glanced upwards and gagged, quickly covering her nose as a horrible stench pierced her senses; hovering a couple feet in the air above her was a massive, insect-like creature that had four, jointed legs and two, skinny arms tipped with three, sharp digits that were wrapped in black, finger-less gloves. The creature was divided into three segments, with a ball shaped head upon which four stalk-eyes sprouted from above a massive underbite filled with crude looking teeth, a strong looking thorax and chest colored a deep green, and a thin, tail-like abdomen tipped with a gigantic stinger that looked like it could tear clear through steel; an ever familiar symbol sat on the creature's forehead with a certain parasite attached while it descended down from the to land on the opposite side of the table from Ashlynn.
"Ben? What are you doing here?" Ashlynn gasped for fresh air. "And what is that awful smell!?"
"Sorry," the Lepidopterran apologized. There was a reason I called this one 'Stinkfly'."
"You mean other than the fact that I feel like I'm gonna hurl?" the Daughter of Cinderella gagged.
"Exactly! Hunter wasn't kidding when he said you were sharp as a tack." Stinkfly grinned toothily as the Omnitrix timed out in a flash of green light and returned Ben to the world.
"It was kinda hard not to notice." Ashlynn grumbled sarcastically. "What are you doing here anyways?"
"The lad wanted to treat you, my fair lady, to some breakfast on him. With your boyfriend's money." Skurd piped up, earning another flick upside his gelatinous head from Ben.
"Excuse me?" Ashlynn frowned, expecting an answer.
"Look, I just wanna talk." Ben said, putting his hands up defensively. "And since Hunter's my roommate-"
"Since when is my boyfriend your roommate?"
"Since Dexter threw a book at his head," Ben replied. "Anyways, Hunter suggested that I take you out to breakfast; I'm flat broke, so he offered to pay as long as I pay him back."
"So you came to me to ask for a job at The Glass Slipper." Ashlynn concluded with a slightly irked tone.
"No, no! That's not it at all!" he said quickly. "Unless, of course, you're offering?"
"Smooth move." Skurd rolled his beady eyes sarcastically.
Ben sighed. "Look, can we order first before we start insulting each other?"
"Fine." Ashlynn sighed.
"And are the two love birds enjoying themselves?"
Ben froze upon hearing that all too familiar voice and slowly turned his head to see none other than Kitty Cheshire standing right before him, a black apron tied securely around her waist, a pen and notepad in hand, and what was perhaps the biggest smile Ben had ever seen on her to date; Ashlynn was just as confused as Ben was, her face turning a bright red at the 'innocent' nickname the Cheshire cat had given them.
"Kitty, what are you doing here?" Ashlynn asked tightly; Kitty lived to play tricks and cause chaos, and any place that she didn't belong in or appeared in too quickly without word or warning was a definite sign of her usual hijinks and pranks. Ben, to a degree, knew this too, though he was more experienced in keeping a certain werecat in line and away from Rook when the Revonnahgander was having a bad day and was not ready nor willing to put up with Toralei.
"Why, I work here!" Kitty replied innocently. "I just started today, too."
"How convenient," Ben mumbled before sighing and pushing some of his hair out of his face. "Look, can you just get me some toast and eggs, please?"
"With or with jelly?" Kitty asked, scribbling down the order.
"With." Ben replied. "As for a drink, you wouldn't happen to have any smoothies, would you?"
"Nope! We got coffee, orange juice, water, root beer-"
"Just get me some orange juice, then." Ben sighed, hoping there would have been something that would have reminded him of home; Ashlynn took notice of this and made a mental note to ask him about it later. "What'll you have, Ashlynn?"
"Just a salad and orange juice, please." Ashlynn replied.
Kitty quickly scribbled down the order before pocketing her notepad and letting a wide grin split across her face once more. "You're order will be out momentarily . . . provided you'll be able to stop kissing each other when it comes out."
"Dear girl, you are treading on thin ice! Cease and desist. You adult adolescence!" Skurd demanded as Ben and Ashlynn both turned red, though whether it was from fury and a single-minded agreement to strangle Kitty or out of embarrassment was up to debate.
"Deny it all you want, you two, but considering that Maddie's taken over as author, Hunter will be looking for a new girlfriend soon." Kitty purred, winking at Ben before she vanished from existence and left nothing behind by her shining, pearly whites before they too disappeared.
"She's starting to grind my nerves." Ben grumbled.
"Join the club." Ashlynn sighed before she rested her arms on the table and leaned forward, a serious expression on her face. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Ben shifted himself in his chair slightly before speaking. "I want you to forgive me."
Ashlynn blinked before frowning. "And why should I do that?"
"Are you still mad?" Ben winced.
"Mad?" Ashlynn sighed, touching her forehead with a tired hand. "I'm not mad, Ben. Just . . . hurt. I thought I could trust you, or at least the you I thought was you with all my thoughts and secrets, and then I found out that you've been hiding the secret of the century from me and didn't have the guts to tell me."
"To be honest, I thought you would have thought I was crazy." Ben admitted. He was about to say more when something caught his eye; a large figure was pushing his way through the crowd of students and early morning shoppers, drawing a few curious stares here and there as he moved about. The being bared resemblance to a gigantic, bipedal turtle with a sharp, jagged shell and segmented carapace, razor-sharp claws sprouting from the ends of his flipper-like arms and acting as short, stubby toes on his feet. Dark, green markings covered his arms and the back of his weathered legs while bright, purple flames crackled and cooked around his blackened skull, held in place by a neck of what looked like sharp fangs and horns; red armbands with yellow cuffs wrapped around his arms and a red belt of a similar design sat around his waist with a bull skull in the middle and a crimson loincloth attached.
"Quick question," Ben narrowed his eyes at the figure, suspicious. "Do you normally get strange people in Book End?"
"Strange how?" Ashlynn wondered.
"Strange as in their head is on fire and they look like they want to start a fight." Ben frowned, placing his hands on the table and standing up to get a better look at the creature that was seemingly oblivious to him for the time being. Ben was running through his mental list of villains and other caitiffs he had encountered over the years, delving into the more obscure of them that he vaguely remembered, wondering if there were any of them that looked like a giant turtle. Actually, now that he studied the odd looking character, he noticed more an more traits to his Geochelone Aerio form, Terraspin; it was then that he suddenly realized he did know who this strange figure was, though his actual name was on the tip of Ben's tongue.
"Hey, you!" Ben yelled, pointing a finger right at the bipedal turtle.
The creature turned to face Ben out of pure instinct before narrowing its eyes at him and pushing his way through the crowd of fairy tales, not caring who he pushed aside or knocked to the ground; as he got closer and closer, Ben started to remember more and more about the figure until he was but a few feet away.
"So, it would seem that my escape did not go unnoticed." the dark character growled.
"I don't even know you escaped, Adwaita." Ben glared back at the altered Geochelone Aerio.
"Pity." Adwaita growled in a low, threatening tone. "You almost amuse me with your imbecility." he said with what Ben could only guess to be an amused tone of voice for someone of the Master Magician's caliber; before he could react or retort with an insult of his own, the altered Geochelone Aerio blasted him with twin jets of raw power and magic from his eyes, striking Ben square in the chest and sending him flying for almost a dozen yards where he crashed through the glass window of a small, clothing store. The following response was immediate as villagers and fairy tales exploded into panic, running around like panicked, flightless geese as they screamed and cried for help.
"You're pathetic screams amuse me!" Adwaita grinned darkly as he blasted a group of tables with another set of magical eye blasts before summoning twin orbs of raw energy into his claws and chucked them at the Beanstalk Bakery's counter, destroying it in a fiery explosion of power. "Such power." he marveled at his hands with a cruel smile. "The magic is strong here, though it pales in comparison to the realm of Ledgerdomain; perhaps I can gather enough power to regain my true title." he mulled to himself as he casually moved his claws into a series of intricate and fluid motions; the air between his claws wavered and trembled slightly before making a loud sucking sound as everything within range, debris, air, leaves, dust was pulled into the singularity and compacted into a growing ball. Helpless customers were being slowly drawn in as well, but they had little fear until Adwaita cast his hands outward and the singularity exploded, shattering the very around it.
Ashlynn was thrown away like a rag doll, slamming into the trunk of a tree and sliding down to the ground with a groan; when she lazily opened her eyes, she was greeted with a scene of destruction before her. The cobblestone road and paths had been torn up and peeled away like roof shingles, with the very earth blasted out into a large crater that encompassed the entire bakery and only slightly affected the surrounding buildings. Remains of tables and chairs littered the crater, and the smoldering roots of the village's beanstalk stood in the center, surrounded small, purple fires like those that consumed Adwaita's head.
"Yes, a fine start." Adwaita smirked. "I sense great powers in this world, but none shall defeat me. All will fall to me as I take their power for my own until I am the most powerful magician in the entire multiverse!" he cackled.
Ben groaned and sat up, rubbing his aching skull and wondering how the Sphinx he was still alive; a direct hit from something that powerful in his human form would have killed him or at the very least brutally injured him; he soon got his answer when he noticed that his chest was covered in a familiar, dark purple, rock-like substance with deep, dark grooves and spots etching their way through that allowed a few, small magenta crystals to poke out.
"Chromastone chestplate, huh? That's a new one." Ben remarked as the silicon armor was covered in a coating of green slime that retreated back along his body, shoulder, and then arm all the way back to the Omnitrix where Skurd resided.
"I try," the Slimebiote bowed slightly. "Now shall we show this heathen who he's dealing with?"
"Lets." Ben grinned as he tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through the available before selecting a suitable transformation and slamming a hand down on the activation button, engulfing him in a flash of green light. His frame cracked and groaned as he grew upwards by a couple of feet, his skin becoming tough and more resilient as it covered his entire face; he could no longer see anything but light shining through the skin that obscured his eyes before they withered away altogether. His ears moved to the top of his head and grew to a large size, becoming more likes flaps on his head rather than small, fleshy disks. Sharp teeth forced their way out of his gums as sharp claws overtook his fingers while his toes burst out of his shoes. And then, miraculously, he could see again; at first, he could only see the floor in front of him and his shifting feet. Then he could see a shower of shattered glass behind him. Then he could see up, down, left, right, forward, backwards, and everything in between until he could see in every possible direction imaginable all at once as a pair of black and green pants appeared beneath a green belt with the Omnitrix and Skurd at its center, completing the transformation.
"Good enough, I suppose." Eye Guy shrugged as he climbed to his feet and rushed out through the broken window and out into the open air, raising his hands up to fire off twin beams of green, plasma energy from the eyes on his palms, successfully striking Adwaita three times in the chest before the Geochelone Aerio thrust his hand forward and formed a glowing, purple shield in front of him.
"Hmm. Impressive. You actually managed to hurt me," Adwaita purred in a deep, dark tone that sent shivers down Ashlynn's spine. "Not bad, for a weakling."
"Yeah, well, this weakling's got an eye opening experience for ya!" Eye Guy grinned toothily before he fired off twin beams of hot energy from the eyes on his wrists and arms, following up quickly by firing off several more from the ones of his palms; Adwaita merely narrowed his eyes and spread the shield wider in front of him with a small movement of his hands. The construct easily absorbed the blasts before it was compacted into a tight, glowing sphere of energy that Adwaita sent flying right at the Opticoid with a flick of his claw, striking him in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Before Eye Guy could scramble to his feet and run away, the Master Magician raised a hand and fired off a concentrated beam of power and energy, hitting the Opticoid in the chest and forming a purple, crystalline prison around him, trapping him to the spot.
"And there you shall remain for all eternity while I conquer this retched world." the Geochelone Aerio growled threateningly. "A testament to all those that may oppose me."
"Ben!" Ashlynn cried.
The princess's scream unfortunately caught Adwaita's attention, drawing his focus to her as he raised another hand and aimed it at her. "You'll serve as another excellent example." he glowered; Ashlynn froze on the spot, too frightened and shocked to move out of the way in time as a large, glowing sphere of magic and energy formed between the altered Geochelone Aerio's claws. She just hoped that her inevitable death would be swift and quick and that Hunter would be able to go on without her.
"Not . . . if eye . . . have anything to . . . say about it!" Eye Guy grunted as Skurd pressed his gelatinous body against the Opticoid's skin and oozed along and through whatever space was available between his host's skin and their crystal prison to the Omnitrix where he applied just enough force to activate it and engulf Eye Guy in a blast of green light. Ben's fingers hardened into sharpened blades as his spine cracked and bent, sprouting a long, whip-like tail from its base while black and blue stripes wrapped themselves around the cracking appendage. His toes ripped out of his shoes and melted into four claws, two in the front and two more in the back, much like a parrot's; the ball of his heel crunched forward, moving his foot bones and becoming perfectly round and smooth, suddenly separating itself from his foot and held there by his curved toes. Ben felt his skin stretched back into a sharp point and his legs bent backwards into a new joint. A pointy, black helmet with a slide-down visor materialized over his head and skull, followed quickly by a black and green body suit that wrapped around his body with the Omnitrix and Skurd appearing on his chest and completing the transformation.
"You will die painfully, you insolent brat." Adwaita hissed, clenching his black claws into a fist.
"Gotta catch me first!" XLR8 grinned cockily.
"Famous last words." Adwaita glowered; the altered Geochelone Aerio summoned twin balls of energy into his claws, letting them build up before he hurled them at the Kineceleran, growling with annoyance when XLR8 effortlessly zipped to the side to avoid them. He then quickly rushed at Adwaita as he floated in the air, buzzing around in a tight circle and creating a large vacuum of sorts that would have sucked the very air out of most foe's lungs; Adwaita however, flicked his claws and summoned a shimmering orb of protection around him, locking in any air that was around him and allowing him to survive the brunt of the cyclone before it finally died down and allowed him to tear the shield apart, morph into a small ball of power and send it hurtling at XLR8, succeeding in knocking him straight in the gut.
"Oh, this guy's not going down easy." XLR8 frowned.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, if anyone cares to listen I may have a solution." Skurd piped up with an exasperated tone.
"You couldn't have said something sooner!?" the Kineceleran shouted angrily; the Slimebiote residing on his chest promptly ignored him and slithered his gooey self over XLR8's upper chest and arms, coating them with his gelatinous fibers and tapping into the DNA samples of the Omnitrix before a flash of green light engulfed them and shifted them into that of the arms of a Bombardian's.
"Ooh, Badaboom!" XLR8 grinned. "If Maddie is taking over for some author or whatever, she's doing a nice job."
"Enough with your incessant babbling! Onward!" Skurd declared, jamming a slimy tentacle at Adwaita. XLR8 nodded and rushed at the altered Geochelone Aerio, running around in a tight circle once more as he fired off a pair of small Minibooms from his barrel-like arms; Adwaita raised up a hand and just barely managed to erect a a protective shield in front of him to block the income firepower as the Kineceleran whizzed around him in a tight circle, firing off Miniboom after Miniboom at the Master Magician, forcing him to focus all of his attention on him.
Ashlynn watched with increasing worry as XLR8 ran faster and faster, firing off more ammunition and forcing Adwaita to react faster and faster; sooner or later, one of them would slip up, spelling the end for them. For the Kineceleran, a very painful death awaited if he made a mistake. For the altered Geochelone Aerio, whatever life he had left in his centuries old body would be spent rotting in prison. The princess was indeed still hurt that she had been lied to and not trusted with what she considered to be one of her best friend forever after, but if she didn't interfere in some way or turn the tides, XLR8 wouldn't get another chance to try and apologize to her.
Glancing around frantically for something, anything that could aid her, her eyes fell on an iron bar that may have at one point belonged to a chair or table before Adwaita blasted it apart; XLR8 was now nothing more than a blue and black blur around Adwaita, a small streak of green appearing every now and again when Skurd appeared. The Slimebiote didn't seem to be enjoying the ride, if the shrill screams he was giving off were anything to go by.
Ashlynn quickly grabbed the iron bar and looked for an opening of some kind, a sort of weak point that would allow Ben to gain an advantage and finish off Adwaita; normally, a princess didn't know how to wield a weapon any kind, as that was mostly reserved for the princes, knights, and other heroic boys at Ever After High; this did not mean that Ashlynn was in any way helpless. After a small amount of begging and a good amount of threatening on Briar's part, Ashlynn had managed to convince Hunter to teach some degree of self defense, mostly martial arts and how to wield simple weaponry, including on how to throw a javelin.
Granted, the iron bar in her grip was no javelin, but it was close.
"Maddie, if whatever you're raving on about it true, please let this work." she whispered under her breath.
She raised her arm and set the iron bar behind her head, taking careful aim at the distracted Geochelone Aerio for just the right moment when he was distracted, raising up a shield to protect himself from another pair of Minibooms fired off at him; seeing no other chance than this, Ashlynn threw the iron bar like a javelin, watching it slice through the air like a knife and slam painfully into the back of Adwaita's flaming head, succeeding in striking him down and sending him falling to the earth. XLR8 jumped on the chance and rushed at the Master Magician , running up onto his chest and swiftly kicking him in the jaw several dozen times in a matter of mere seconds before cracking his tail across his face; the altered Geochelone Aerio however, managed to get a chance to fire off twin beams of raw power and magic from his eyes once more, hitting the Kineceleran right in the face and sending him flying across the crater where he landed with a painful thwack! as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world.
"You . . ." Adwaita hissed as he climbed to his feet and lifted himself off the ground into the air; with a quick motion of his hand, he thrust his claws outwards right at Ashlynn, his dark, twisted expression never wavering as the princess was swallowed in a shimmer, purple light and was lifted off of the ground. Ashlynn's eyes went wide with fear as she started to fight and struggle against Adwaita's hold, wanting to scream in anger and terror only to find that her neck was slowly being squeezed, as if an invisible hand were wrapped around her throat.
"You have interfered with the first and final time, girl." Adwaita snarled with a severely annoyed tone; Ashlynn was gasped for breath, her throat being ever so slowly crushed as she instinctively clasped her hands around her neck in an attempt to pry whatever was strangling her off of her and return her breathing to normal.
"As soon as I have ended your pathetic and meaningless life, Tennyson dies next." Adwaita hissed as he clenched his claws tighter, increasing the hold on Ashlynn's neck and turning her face a bright red from lack of the oxygen that she desperately needed. "Now," the Master Magician purred in a dark, sinister tone. "Lets see if we can't make your suffering all the more painful."
Ben hissed as he held his aching skull once more, his eyes widening with horror when he saw the position Ashlynn was in, her face contorted into one of pure agony as Adwaita moved his other hand, the one not keeping Ashlynn aloft and choking her simultaneously remaining stiff and still; whenever the altered Geochelone Aerio pinched his claws together, one of the fingers on her left hand would snap and bend at an unnatural angle. A clenched fist snapped her her left forearm, a second one crushing her bicep with a slicing motion severing and breaking her collar bone in two places; the princess was screaming silently, her face now an icy blue in color as her eyes rolled up into her skull. A few more seconds, and she would be nothing but a lifeless corpse, the first of many to follow if Ben didn't do something.
"Skurd. Get ready to rock." Ben growled as he picked himself up and dust himself off.
"I am at your beck and call." the Slimebiote saluted, slithering aside to allow Ben to turn on the Omnitrix and cycle through his aliens before selecting a suitable transformation and slamming down on the activation button, swallowing himself in a blast of green light as his genetic code was shifted and warped into something new. His skin started to lose its firmness as his bones began to liquidate and fade away into a thick, slushy soup before disappearing altogether while his skin turned a faded lavender in color; with no skeleton of any kind to support him, Ben quickly fell to the ground in a pile, his fingers and feet stretching and morphing out to form the very tips of what he soon quickly realized to be tentacles of some kind. He felt his body compress and fold in on itself, his chest and gut fusing together as his head and neck were absorbed as well, forming a ball of squishy flesh with four, squirming tentacles attached. His head suddenly pulled upwards, as if by an invisible hand, forming a rough oval in shape as lose skin began to fold and harden slightly into an arrow-shaped fin that ringed what Ben could only guess to be a mantel. His eyes quickly divided into a second pair, the two new eyes then molding together to form a single, green orb between his original pair as his organs sloshed and squished around inside of him, pushing up into the mantel that had become his body while his brain began to enlarge and swell in size; the final touch was the addition of the Omnitrix and Skurd appearing in the form of a band around his body below his eyes, where a mouth might be if it were not in the form of a beak at the center of his tentacles.
"Oh, I remember this fellow." Skurd remarked brightly at the roughly squid-like creature that he now resided on. "What did you name this transformation?"
The Cephplobellum didn't respond, merely blinking all three of his green eyes and wiggling his tentacles in what Skurd could only guess to be a distressed manner; now that he was starting to remember things, he distinctly remembered a slight run in with Ben's future self and the (in)famous Professor Paradox regarding a slight issue with a rampaging Time Beast that resulted in several do overs and restarts before the little issue was resolved. And to think, it all started simply because of a blown out tire and his host's inability to transform into the alien he desired, instead getting several rather unusual aliens in the process, even a few he wasn't even aware he had.
Now that things were starting to come back to him, he suddenly remembered that Cephplobellums were absent of any ability to speak to anyone outside of their own species, mostly just a mixture of seemingly wild screeches, warbles, and clicks of their beaks, and required a host of some kind to perform more complex actions that did not involve swimming through their planet's home waters.
"Never fear, Skurd is here!" the Slimebiote announced while he shifted and oozed his slimy, green body over the Cephplobellum's four tentacles and tapped into the extensive database of the Omnitrix to produce and change the four, elastic tentacles into four, burly Tetramand arms.
With his new limbs, the Cephplobellum picked himself up and hurriedly skittered along the ground on his strong fingers and palms, quietly approaching Adwaita from behind and stalking closer; Ashlynn was lying limp in the air now, her face a light shade of purple. With a loud, warbled screech, the Cephplobellum launched himself into the air at the altered Geochelone Aerio and landed on his back, cutting off his control over Ashlynn and letting her drop to the ground while he hung on for dear life as Skurd returned the Tetramand DNA back to the Omnitrix, allowing the four, sucker covered tentacles to come out.
"Get off of me, you insufferable parasite!" Adwaita demanded loudly, clenching his claws tightly as his body began to glow a violent purple in color; before he could complete the spell, sending the small, squid-like parasite flying, and finish off Aslynn, the Cephplobellum forcefully latched one of his four tentacles onto Adwaita's back. The Master Magician could feel a slight drop in his power, watching curiously as his left arm twitched involuntarily before striking him across the face with a solid punch. With the altered Geochelone Aerio distracted for the moment, the Cephplobellum attached another tentacle to the back of his host's neck, assuming control of his right arm and punching himself in the gut; another tentacle and the Master Magician lost control of his legs, floating gently back down to the ground as he cried out in pain from his involuntary movements between curses and yells of anger. The Cephplobellum applied his final tentacle to the back of Adwaita's neck, and was momentarily surprised to find that his screaming had finally stopped.
"Testing . . . testing . . . one, two. Is this thing on?" Adwaita growled, tapping his flaming head with a claw. "Wait, I'm controlling Adwaita? Cool!"
"I thought we discussed this last time?" Skurd raised a beady eye.
"Hey, I haven't used this one in a while, alright? So cut me some slack." Adwaita's voice grumbled as the Cephplobellum's eyes narrowed slightly. "No wonder I decided to call this guy Ventrilosquid."
"Yes, fascinating." Skurd drawled. "Now, aren't you going to put the big brute down and make sure the girl's alright?"
"Oh, Right. Sorry." Ventrilosquid apologized through Adwaita's mouth. "Kinda got caught up in the moment."
"Clearly."
Now with his considerable mind focused on the task at hand, Ventrilosquid decked his host across the face with his own fist, a loud crack echoing through the air as his jaw snapped and broke; the Cephplobellum watched with awe and amusement as he opened his host's claws to watch a ball of swirling, pulsing purple energy and power form between them. With a twinkle of amusement, he force fed Adwaita the shimmering orb before releasing two of his tentacles to firmly grab Adwaita's head, pull back, and slingshot himself through the air and to Ashlynn's aid as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to his human form while Adwaita gave a frightening belch and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach horribly.
"You may have . . . won for the time being . . . Tennyson, but I . . . will be back." Adwaita growled before suddenly crying out in pain and clutching the area over his gut with extreme pain, closing his eyes and focusing his attention long enough for him to suddenly disappear in a flash of dark purple light, teleporting his way to safety. For the moment.
"Ashlynn! C'mon, don't do this to me now!" Ben begged, ignoring the fleeing villain for the time being; he would have normally given immediate chase, but with what could very possibly be the end of Ashlynn's life on his hands, he was willing to let Adwaita run away like the coward he was.
Frantically, he pressed his ear to her chest, nearly collapsing with relief when he heard a faint heart beat. Now desperate to save her, he cupped her face in his hands, grimacing for a split second about how much trouble he was going to be in if Hunter ever found out, and pressed his lips to hers, sucking in a deep breath through his nose and pushing the air into Ashlynn's lungs, repeating the process several times before he stopped and started pumping up and down on her chest furiously. After a few quick movements, he pressed his ear to her chest and felt a stronger beating beneath her chest.
"Come on, dear boy! She's fine! Stop kissing her before people get the wrong idea!" Skurd urged Ben. He nodded and quickly slipped his hands under Ashlynn's back and legs, lifting her off the ground bridal style and running down the street back towards Ever After High as fast as his legs could carry him, heart thumping loudly in his chest.
"Oh, for the love of Methanosian Tubers! If you're so desperate to get back, let me handle it!" Skurd interrupted what little, panicked thoughts had managed to form in Ben's head as the Slimebiote quickly slithered and oozed his body over Ben's legs, tapping into the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist and shifting them into that of a Citrakayah's in a flash of green light, a long, feline-like tail sprouting from the base of his spine as well; Ben smiled slightly as he put his new legs to good use, zipping along faster than he would have normally while his new tail kept him balanced through the tight twists and turns he made through the crowds of curious and panicked people, becoming little more than a blur that was only visible for a few seconds before disappearing.
" . . . Ben?" Ashlynn groaned, his voice soar and hoarse.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alive!" Ben sighed with relief, pausing momentarily to hug her tightly and wincing when the princess cried out in pain at her left arm being pressed against Ben's chest. "Sorry!"
"It's alright . . . just hurts like . . . something I'm not allowed to say." Ashlynn hissed, holding her shoulder.
"That's a relief." Ben smiled, resuming his running.
"Why?"
"It means you're alive." Ben smirked before turning into a slight frown. "I can only hope Hunter doesn't kill me."
"Why?" Ashlynn repeated.
"You mean other than the fact that I managed to get your entire arm?" Ben rolled his eyes. "Other than that, I kinda had to . . . uh . . ."
"Had to what?" Ashlynn asked.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, he had to kiss you, dear girl! Mouth to mouth!" Skurd yelled impatiently.
"Uh, yeah. What Snot Rocket said." Ben smiled sheepishly, earning himself an irritated look from his Slimebiote partner; the Omnitrix wearer hoped the Slimebiote wouldn't morph his legs back to normal in mid-stride just to spite him, though he supposed that was highly unlikely considering their precious cargo. Not even Skurd would be that cynical. He was shaken from his thoughts when he felt an arm around around his neck and looked down to see Ashlynn hugging him with her one, good arm, her bad arm lying limb across her stomach as she tilted her head up and rewarded Ben with a small kiss on the cheek, a small peck and nothing more.
"I forgive you." Ashlynn smiled.
"That's all I wanted to hear." Ben grinned with relief. He could only hope that Hunter wouldn't kill him on the spot or that he would be traced to the damages at the Beanstalk Bakery; after all, even with the Omnitrix, Ben could only work off so much compensation.
Apple peeked around a corner of the main hallway of Ever After High, the corridor that stretched all the way from the main entrance doors to the main stair wells that led to the second and third stories before branching off to the dormitories and different classrooms with the Headmaster's office near the very top to give him a wide view of the school ground and world of Ever After.
The princess's focus however, was not on the locker lined hallway nor its grand marble walls, but more so fixed on the small, almost unnoticeable red box on the wall next to the first row of lockers; one of the school's many fire alarms. Should it be activated and pulled, Book End's fire department would rush to the scene to put the fire out and access the damage and situation if the school's sprinkle system was not activated or did not turn on for some reason; Apple intended to pull the alarm and force an evacuation, taking credit for the little prank and landing herself in detention right between Ben and Cerise, hopefully before the crafty Riding Hood could steal her prince charming.
Apple cackled evilly, a sound that was more like the horrible gargling of a troll and the screech of an eagle rather than a sinister, shrill cackle a proper villianess would be known for; glancing around to make sure she was not being watched, she sneaked out into the empty hall on the tips of her heels, making loud clacking sounds on the marble floor. The main hallway normally would not have been so empty, but with the weekend in full swing, there was little reason to remain in the school building. Within seconds, she was over to the fire alarm and reached with her fingers to grab it, hesitating for a second and wondering if this whole 'channeling her inner-Raven' thing was a good idea. An image of a bare chested Ben and scantily clad Cerise making out in an empty classroom flashed through her mind and all guilt or doubt was erased as she pulled the fire alarm and was greeted by a loud, ringing sound.
"Apple!"
Before the princess knew what was happening, Raven's pale arm slithered past Apple's ecstatic face and grabbed hold of the fire alarm lever to push it back up and turn the loud ringing stop; Apple gulped nervously as she turned to face the furious witchling, cringing under her stern gaze as if she were boring into Apple's very soul with those deep, purple eyes of her.
"What are you trying to do!?" Raven yelled.
"G-Get detention." Apple flinched.
"Well, stop!" Raven snapped. "You're not getting anywhere with this, you're only humiliating yourself, and its pointless!"
"N-No, it's not!"
Raven sighed and pinched her brow, her hand still on the fire alarm as she tried to calm her nerves down. "Thank ancestors that I put that tracking spell on you at the last second," she murmured before returning her attention to Apple. "Look, can't you just except the fact that Ben's a girl magnet? You've seen how well he's been to us, always to comfort and make us laugh; he's probably managed to do the same thing to seventeen other girls back home, Apple. So what if he picks up a few more girls here and there? Your own family has been doing it for generations without care or concern, a lot of royalty has. That doesn't mean Ben will ever stop loving you or-"
"Ms. Queen!"
Raven face palmed herself out of sheer annoyance; almost afraid to turn around, she found herself facing the stern face of Headmaster Grimm, his arms folded across his chest as he glared down at her with a sorrow expression. "Yes, Headmaster Grimm?"
"What are you doing?" Grimm raised an eyebrow.
Raven didn't flinch under the Headmaster's angry expression; she was far more ticked off at Apple to be bothered by the portly man. "Well, you see, Headmaster Grimm, Apple-"
"Just stopped you from turning on the school's fire alarm, I presume?" Headmaster Grimm cut her off, glancing at the incriminating evidence of Raven's hand on the fire alarm and Apple bent down in what he could quickly assume to be an intimidated posture. Indeed, the situation did not look good for Raven.
"No, that's not what happened! I-" Raven protested.
"It's nice to finally see you embrace your dark, villainous nature." Grimm interrupted her once more, a proud smile on his face.
"But that's not-"
"However, I can not allow such behavior to go unpunished." Headmaster Grimm returned the stern expression he often wore when dealing with annoying Rebels or students in need of disciplining. "Report to Madame Yaga's office after lunch; I believe she requires help organizing her spells, potions and motions, and other witchcraft books."
"But . . . yes, Headmaster Grimm." Raven sighed with defeat.
"Good girl." Grimm nodded approvingly. "And who knows? You may pick up a few pointers." he added with what Raven could only assume to be his interpretation of a bright smile but was more akin to that of a hungry doberman. "Now, run along, Ms. White. And I would suggest returning to your usual attire; a future princess must look the part after all." he said to Apple before turning on his heel to calmly walk the flights of stairs back up to his office where a large stack of financial papers awaited him.
"Thanks a lot, Apple." Raven grumbled under her breath. "Go ahead and try to get detention for all I care. I just can't seem to catch a break like you can." she frowned before turning to walk off from Apple, fuming with annoyance; the princess watched her roommate leave before slumping back against the wall and sliding down to the ground in defeat, resting her face in her hands. Once again, her plan to get in trouble had utterly failed, leaving her stumped and defeated and with Raven, one of her closest friends, in trouble for something she didn't do, taking the fault and punishment that Apple deserved.
"What am I doing?" she practically whispered; she gingerly ran her fingers along the collar around her neck, wincing when she accidentally pricked her finger on one of the cold spikes. Looking down at the dress she had 'borrowed' from Raven, she couldn't help but feel an odd mixture of shame and guilt. She hadn't even asked Raven if she could borrow the dress for her little scheme, much less anything else that was currently on her person.
With a sigh, she picked herself off of the floor and slowly wandered down the hall, blocking all outside thoughts and interruptions while she quietly thought to herself; what was she doing, trying to be something she wasn't? She was the Daughter of Snow White, the most fairest of the fairy tale princesses, the most kindhearted person to ever walk the halls of Ever After High, the one with what was undoubtedly the best destiny of all time, not some bad girl that did naughty things to impress a boy! Granted, the boy was Ben and he was irresistible, but still! With a horrifying recognition, Apple realized that what she was doing . . . she was acting like a Rebel.
"Not anymore." Apple said to herself, slipping off her finger-less gloves and taking the dog collar off from around her neck to toss them in a nearby trash can; a princess never littered and Raven never wore the dark, sinister clothes adorned with spikes and claws and other evil things that Apple had filled her closet with. Apple was a princess, for ancestor's sake, not some villain! She was going to set things right if it was the last thing she did.
Now that the matter was settled, Apple looked at her surroundings and found that she had walked herself into the school's LiFairy, having walked past the Evil Step-Librarians without saying a word to alert them of her presence as they stamped overdue books; a gaping hole in the ceiling overhead that had been created by Rath and Cerise during their little skirmish had been hastily covered with wooden planks and surrounded by warning tape. In fact, much of the LiFairy lay cobbled fixes and construction, with the books that had been salvaged during the destruction stacked neatly into boxes while bands of enchanted suits of armor worked together to resurrect the fallen bookshelves into their proper places; oddly enough, the Evil Step-Librarians actually tried to silence and shush them, giving up after several minutes of the small creatures ignoring them.
Being taught to help out whenever she could, and having some experience with helping the servants around her castle home to prepare for her fairy tale, Apple quickly delved into the poorly stacked towers of boos and manuscripts, organizing them into their proper groups of call number and bar code to make the job of shelving them once more all the more easier; Ben would have normally been subjected to do the task as punishment instead of sitting still for eight weeks, but the Headmaster felt that the less his latest and most unwanted student did, the less damages to the school there would be for him to tear his already receding hairline out over.
As Apple began to sort and organize the books into neat piles, she noticed that one of the towering shelves that had been recently set up was somehow lopsided, it seemed; her face screwed up into one of curiosity as she paused in her work and moved over to the bookcase for a closer look to find that a thick book had been wedged almost carelessly beneath it. Figuring that someone had accidentally dropped the book while filling boxes, Apple bent down and managed to slip her fingers underneath the edge of the old, leather book and gave a quick jerk to try and pull it out, only to find that the book was stuck fast beneath the shelf. Determined, Apple slipped off her heels and placed her feet on the edge of the bookshelf to give herself some leverage before giving an almighty tug and managing to pull the book out after a few harrowing seconds, tumbling back slightly with the old manuscript in hand.
"Oh, applesauce." Apple whispered under her breath when she caught sight of the teetering bookshelf, flinching when it leaned dangerously close to her before tipping over the over way; Apple watched with horror as the bookcase fell into another, sending that one crashing into another bookshelf and another one after that . . . and another . . . and another . . . and another. A massive domino effect took place in the massive LiFairy with towering bookshelves crashing and slamming into each other like child toys and sending books and papers flying everywhere while Apple winced every time a bookshelf connected with another until everything finally stopped, leaving the LiFairy deathly quiet and with a thick atmosphere of ancient dust that had been shaken free during the fall.
"Ssssshhhhhhhh!"
"Double applesauce." Apple whimpered when she heard the sinister hisses of the Evil Step-Librarians; the princess cringed as the two hideously old woman stormed out from behind their desk, waving their hands in front of their faces to keep the majority of the dust out of their lungs as they narrowed their eyes at Apple with the book in hand.
"Detention!" one of the step-sisters screeched in a manner very much like a harpy.
"But-" Apple started.
"Double detention!" the other of the two evil step-librarians hissed.
"The book it-" Apple tried to say.
"Triple detention!"
"Triple detention?" Apple gulped.
"Quadruple detention!"
"Infinite applesauce." Apple pouted, letting the book drop to the book with a loud smack! Unsurprisingly, the Evil Step-Librarians shushed her, narrowing their eyes to near total slits if that was even possible; the thick tension in the air was quickly disturbed as Headmaster Grimm himself came stumbling into the LiFairy, coughing at the large amount of dust in the air as he pushed and picked his way through piles of fallen books and a few enchanted suits of armor that had been accidentally caught in the accident.
"What happened here!?" he cried, clutching his already receding hairline with his clenched fingers; he caught sight of Apple standing amongst the carnage with the Evil Step-Librarians preparing to silence the Headmaster with the evil step-mother of all shushes. With nothing else around to claim otherwise, Headmaster Grimm sighed and rubbed his aching temples for what seemed the hundredth time since Ben had shown up. Not only was the shape-shifter putting the student's destinies in jeopardy, but he was running up the fairy godmother of all bills damage wise, even when he somehow wasn't involved; whether the destruction of the LiFairy was directly linked to Ben or not was up to debate, but the Headmaster could already feel an idea forming in the back of his head.
"I can assume that Ms. White is at fault here?" he asked the Evil Step-Librarians, earning a stern shushing that he assumed to be a 'yes'.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster Grimm." Apple apologized, shuffling her feet uncomfortably like a child that had just been scolded.
""You should be, Ms. White. This behavior us inexcusable of a future queen of your status." Headmaster Grimm frowned. "As punishment for destruction of the LiFairy, you will fulfill whatever the Step-Librarians have already decided on as well as dust and reorganize the books and manuscripts," he instructed before he came in with the final blow. "And I will be having a word with your parents about your reprehensible behavior, not to mention your . . . relationship with Mr. Tennyson; I'm sure your parents would be quite interested to hear about this." he added before turning on his heel to leave the LiFairy and return to the growing pile of papers on his desk.
"Wait, what? My mom and dad?" Apple gulped nervously.
"Sssssssshhhhhhhh!"
If Apple wasn't a princess she would be making several rude and immature gestures at the two librarians right now.
M.N: Are you sure this is a good idea?
M.H: Nope! But that's never me before! Heeheeheehee!
M.F: This goes against everything-
M.H: I don't care! You two have been taking this way to slow, to the point where the readers hardly even remember me! It's my turn to get paired with Ben, and that's that!
F.N: But you can't do this! It goes everything we abide to and by as narrators!
M.H: Well, 'that's just the way the teapot boils', as Daddy always says. So, tough Wonderland tarts!
M.N: I could actually go for some tarts right now . . .
F.N: I give up.
Ben sighed with exhaustion, running his fingers through his dark brown hair as he came to a stop in front of his dorm's door and quickly typed in the needed code (Diamondhead, Ball Weevil, Goop, Clockwork, Brawn) without barely even looking, too tired to pay much attention; Ashlynn had been dropped off at the Nurse's office, the experienced, old crone already weaving spells of healing to ease the pain the princess was suffering through while her arm was bandaged and her bones reset. Even with the magic to help speed things up, it would be several long weeks before Ashlynn could use her other arm again. Needless to say, Hunter had been worried sick and absolutely furious with Ben when he had been alerted of what had transpired and very nearly throttled Ben before Skurd managed to give Ben the shaggy arm of a Gimlinopithecus to knock some sense into the worried huntsman. In the end, Hunter had clamed down long enough for him to thank Ben for him to give Ashlynn the ever changing code to the dorm he shared with Hunter should she ever need access or want to spend quality time with her boyfriend.
Right now however, Ben wanted nothing more than to collapse onto his bed and catch up on some sleep before dinner would be served and he would join both Raven and Apple in the Castleteria to eat; now that he thought about it, it wouldn't be unlike the large dinners he often had with his ghouls back home, with a large buffet being summoned by the Grant sisters when no one really felt like putting their new found cooking skills to use. Sure, the wonderful meals were often interrupted with Ben and a couple of the ghouls having to take leave to stop a crime in progress or something of bigger scale, resulting in cold leftovers and falling asleep in the most unusual and seemingly uncomfortable of places, but that was just how things worked in the Tennyson household.
Upon entering his dorm, the wielder of the Omnitrix fell back onto his bed, folding his arms behind his head as he got comfy and let out a content sigh of relaxation as his tense muscles started to relax and unwind.
Ben cracked an eye open, the hairs on the back of his neck raising up a little; he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt that something was off. And not in 'the fate of the whole universe is at stake' kind of way, but more in the 'way does the universe hate me so much?' kind of way where he was often dragged into some wild and crazy adventure that resulted in him losing desperately needed sleep and more destruction than was needed in the process. Glancing around his room and finding nothing, Ben snuggled back down to rest, ignoring the tiny snores of Skurd as the Slimebiote quickly drifted off while he started to lightly dream about his ghouls back home, missing them terribly.
"Hiya, Ben!"
Ben startled slightly, looking around for the source of the loud and cheery voice that had disturbed him so; Skurd was apparently still asleep and thusly oblivious to whatever was transpiring around him.
"Up here, silly!" the voice giggled cheerily.
Ben craned his head upwards to see none other than Madeline Hatter dangling from the ceiling out of a pitch black hole on the upper surface, her wild, curly, dark turquoise, mint green, and dark magenta locks hanging upsides down with her small, teacup-like hat somehow remaining firmly on her head; Ben briefly wondered if she actually glued her hat to her head.
"Maddie, what are you doing up there?" Ben yawned. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
Maddie giggled again. "I see that. Too bad you're missing your shirt!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not-" Ben started before Maddie promptly fell out of the black hole on the ceiling and landed painfully on his gut, knocking the wind out of him and allowing the Hatter to slip off his only black T-shirt with little struggle before leaning forward to kiss him full on the lips and then run away as fast as she could, cackling all the way.
"Aaaand, once again, the universe hates me." Ben sighed before he scrambled off of his bed and raced after Maddie, bare chested. "Come back here! That's my only shirt!"
"You'll have to catch me first!" Maddie sang tauntingly from farther down the hallway, pausing to hold Ben's shirt out in a teasing manner and waving it around like a red cape before a bull. Ben smirked and saw his chance, turning to the Omnitrix to push a still sleeping Skurd aside to turn on the device and cycle through the roster before selecting XLR8; the Hatter wouldn't know what hit her as he slammed down on the activation button and felt the Omnitrix work its magic, scrambling and rearranging his DNA. Ben's arms swelled as his veins popped out, alien blood flowing through them as muscles piled themselves on top of each other; his legs became strong and lean as his frame stretched upwards, growing taller and taller until he was a good five feet taller than the Hatter currently taunting him with his stolen shirt. Deep, orange fur began to sprout all over his body as his fingers split and cracked before bloating in size and strength, a razor-sharp claw ripping out of each wrist. His shoulders broadened as patches of white fur smoothly appeared on his chest, gut, hands, and feet while black stripes etched themselves across his back and shoulders; a handful of whiskers sprouted from his face as his eyebrows grew longer and pointed. His jaw thrust outwards with a sickening crunching noise as his teeth tore through his gums and curved into sharp fangs. The final transformation was the appearance of a green and black luchador outfit and large belt around his waist with the Omnitrix and Skurd at its center.
"What the- lemme tell ya somethin' Omnitrix that still keeps on turning Rath into the wrong thing! You still keep on turning me into the wrong thing, even though you gave Rath back his awesome wrestling outfit!" the Appoplexian roared angrily.
"Will you cease that insufferable bellowing!? Can't a Slimebiote get some sleep around here!?" Skurd cried incredulously, clenching a slimy tentacle into a fist.
"Lemme tell ya somethin' Skurd the Slimebiote, annoying parasite partner of mine that gives me body parts of all of Rath's aliens who I never really liked in the first place began to begrudgingly like in spite of myself! Rath will yell all he wants, even if someone tells him to stop no matter how politely they may ask!" Rath yelled in the general direction of his waist line before he turned back towards Maddie. "And as for you Madeline 'Maddie' Hatter, Daughter of the Mad Hatter and thief of Rath's shirt! Give Rath his shirt back!"
"You want it? Come and get it, silly!" Maddie laughed.
"Don't do it, dear boy! It's a trap!" Skurd hissed, slithering up onto the Appoplexian's shoulder.
"Lemme tell ya somethin' Madeline Hatter! Despite Rath believing this to be a trap of some kind, he will take back his one and only shirt by force if he has to! In fact, Rath will take his shirt back by force because using force is Rath's way of being diplomatic and stuff and it is the only way Rath will get his shirt back!" Rath snarled.
"You do realize that made absolutely no sense, right?" Skurd quirked a beady eye.
"I KNOW!"
"I'm getting bored over here!" Maddie called. "And you wouldn't want me getting bored, now would we!"
"OH, NOW IT'S ON!" Rath roared, dropping down to all fours despite Skurd's protests and pawing the ground while snorting in a fashion very similar to that of a massive and seriously ticked off bull; Maddie merely let her wide smile broaden even further as she waved the shirt back and forth until Rath's temper had peaked (which didn't take very long) and he let out a primal roar to surge forward on all fours, his eyes locked right on the black and green T-shirt right in front of him.
Unfortunately, Maddie yanked the desired item out of the way at the last second and let Rath smash face first into the solid, oak door beyond, actually punching his head clean through it as Maddie giggled with delight.
"Agh! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN' STUPID WOODEN DOOR THAT IS CURRENTLY HOLDING RATH PRISONER! YOU THINK YOU CAN KEEP RATH FROM GETTING HIS ONLY SHIRT BACK!? NOT BY A LONG SHOT!" the Appoplexian roared with fury as he struggled for a few seconds to pull his head free before he managed to get lose enough, tearing out an even bigger hole in the door in the process.
"Quick, dear boy! She's making her escape!" Skurd announced just as Maddie used Rath's shoulders as a spring board to launch herself through the recently made hole in the door, cackling all the way while she waved her prize tauntingly. "Come on, lad, use your head!"
"Lemme tell ya somethin' Skurd the Slimebiote! Using Rath's head is a really good idea so I have no idea why I am yelling at you in spite of the fact that Rath is furious with his current situation!" Rath yelled as he climbed to his feet and promptly slammed his head into the door, breaking the ring of wood stuck firmly around his neck before the Appoplexian took a few steps back and charged at the other wooden door that took up the hallway (the one without a hole in it), creating a Rath-shized hole in the wooden barrier in his mad chase after Maddie.
"Not what I had in mind, but this works just as well." Skurd sighed.
His breaths ragged and quick, Rath chased Maddie through the halls of Ever After High, smashing clear through any door that got in his way (leaving Rath-sized holes wherever he went and racking up quite a bill in the process), frightening startled students and teachers, and nearly plowing over Cedar Wood while he was at it too. Their wild and merry chase led them all through the massive castle that was the school, everywhere from the dungeons that were Madame Yaga's classroom (surprising Raven in the process as she dusted off stacks of old spell books), the school's pool, courtyard, the girl's locker room (which was thankfully empty), and even Headmaster Grimm's office; upon seeing the destructive Appoplexian crash through one of the very sturdy, marble walls of his office and smash right through the opposite side chasing after Maddie, the old man all but started to cry at the growing damage to his school.
After what seemed hours of mad dashing, hijinks, and a whole lot of tomfoolery, Maddie came to a screeching halt at a dead end decorated with nothing but a marble bust of Headmaster Grimm himself looking stern and proud at the same time; that is, until Maddie puled off her hat for a second to reach inside and pull out a pair of Groucho Marx glasses to set upon the statue, giggling all the while.
"Lemme tell ya somethin' crazy Hatter girl that's been makin' Rath run all around and through walls like he's in some kinda Saturday morning cartoon! Rath is sick of running around like he's in a Saturday morning cartoon!" the Appoplexian panted.
"That's telling her." Skurd drawled.
"I dunno. I thought it was fun!" Maddie laughed as she pulled off her hat and rolled it along the brim across her arms and shoulders before catching it in her fingers. "You wanna see a magic trick?"
"Don't fall for it, dear boy! It's a trap!" Skurd warned Rath for a second time.
"Oh, stop worrying, you cute little Snot Pocket! He'll fall for it anyway because I'm the one who's writing this chapter! Anything I say, goes!" Maddie cackled; without further interruption, the Hatter set her teeny-tiny hat down on the floor and reached inside to pull out the top of a long, metal fireman's pole that reached into the deep depths of the hat. With a cheery smile, Maddie wrapped her arms and legs around the pole before sliding down and disappearing into the depths of her hat, laughing all the way as Rath and Skurd just starred at the spot she had been moments before.
"All in favor of turning around and forgetting this ever happened?" Skurd suggested, raising a tentacle in vote.
Rath ignored the Slimebiote as he stomped over to the small hat on the ground and picked it up between two large fingers to bring it up to eye level. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN' TINY MAGICAL HAT THAT CURIOUSLY DEFIES THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND REALITY WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ANNOYING RATH TO NO END BY SHELTERING YOUR OWNER MADELINE HATTER! RATH WILL DO WHATEVER HE HAS TO DO TO GET HIS ONE AND ONLY SHIRT BACK, EVEN IF IT MEANS HE HAS TO JUMP DOWN YOUR WEIRD INTER-DIMENSIONAL THROAT TO DO IT!"
And so, without further ado or pause, the Appoplexian dropped the hat back on the floor before diving head first inside, miraculously fitting through without stretching the brim or destroying the little hat in the first place; after a couple of minutes of sitting along in the hallway with nothing but a Groucho Marx glasses wearing bust to keep it company, the little hat disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.
After much falling and tumbling and hurtling through a void that suspiciously looked like the walls or a recently dug rabbit hole, Rath finally plummeted down and crashed into pile of fluffy pillows and other assorted junk that may or may not have included everything but a kitchen sink; this was quickly proven wrong when the Appoplexian sat up to rub his skull to find that he had somehow actually managed to land his head in a metal sink with a faucet. The unwanted accessory was quickly discarded as Rath scrambled to his feet and tried to gather his surroundings, muttering mild curses under his breath as he looked around to himself in a large garden of sorts.
High, stone walls rose up all around him in a near perfect circle, with the old stone bricks painted wild and bright colors with crazy patterns mixed in for good measure. Soft pink grass carpeted the floor of the garden, occasionally interrupted by neatly groomed patches of wild flowers that were watching and looking at Rath with suspicion (literally, the flowers actually had eyes that made Skurd uncomfortable to no end). Several tall trees with yellow trunks decorated with red and black diamonds, spades, aces, and hearts rose up from the earth, providing some sense of shade over the garden's small pond where a family of living rubber ducks swam about to a small fish band that played a peppy tune on the rocks. Overhead, magenta cotton candy clouds rolled overhead in the blue sky, shadowing over a stone table and chairs in the center of the garden, of which a recently placed tea set sat waiting; Maddie was nowhere to be found.
"Something tells me we're on the wrong side of the looking glass." Skurd mused as the Omnitrix timed out in a flash of green light and allowed Ben to return to his human form to wince and crack his aching back and neck, wondering if Appoplexian's ever felt the same after taking several beatings or crashing through sturdy objects.
"Where are we?" Ben marveled.
"Off hand, I'd say some sort of pocket dimension," Skurd deduced. "To be more specific, somewhere within the bowels of Ms. Hatter's hat."
"You did not just say 'bowels'."
"I did, dear boy! Deal with it!" Skurd shot back.
"Look, we're not gonna get the only shirt I own at the moment back if we continue to argue like this," Ben sighed. "Any ideas?"
Skurd tapped his gelatinous chin in thought with the tip of a tentacle, compressing himself slightly as he fed off of the Galvan DNA within the depths of the Omnitrix in the hopes that it would somehow give him an idea of sorts; after a while, he had something of an answer. "I have an idea. It's bit of a stretch, but it very well could work." he hummed.
"What is it?" Ben asked.
"Seeing as how our quarry is mad as a Hatter, we need someone just as loony and crazy." Skurd explained, quirking an eyebrow up upon seeing a wide grin make its way across Ben's face. "Why are you smiling?"
"I've got just the guy." Ben said, ignoring the cool breeze that tickled his bare back as he tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through his roster before selecting the desired alien and pressing down on the waiting activation button, guaranteeing a proper transformation. His skin cracked and split loudly as his frame stretched upwards a couple of feet, making Ben thinner and more skeletal as his bones started to hollow out with a loud crunching noise; his hair darkened and turned a deep black in color, growing longer and shaggier as his muscles shrank and disappeared in places, accenting his bony features while his remaining muscles tightened and expanded slightly, making him thin and lean in appearance as his skin gained a slight sheen to it, as if her were covered in sort of coating of slime or mucus, depending on ones preference. His hands trembled and twitched slightly before exploding out into sharp, wicked claws while his toes ripped through his shoes in the form of three talons; a hard casing began to form over Ben's face, a white mask of some kind that obscured and covered his entire face. Small spikes formed at his shoulders and elbows, growing to a size of a few inches as a pure black tuxedo materialized on his body with a top hat wrapped in a green brim and cane tipped with s studded emerald following shortly after. The Omnitrix and Skurd resided on Ben's left pectoral as green puzzle piece patterns flashed into existence all over his tuxedo, completing the transformation.
"Skurd, meet Jigsaw." the Dodgjierian grinned, leaning on his cane and tipping off his top hat.
"Hat-tastic! He's my favorite!" Maddie's voice giggled with a slight echo from somewhere in the garden. "He's just like me!"
"Oh, joy." Skurd mumbled.
"Aw, shucks. You flatter me." Jigsaw seemed to smile behind his mask. "Now can I have my shirt back?"
"Nope!"
Jigsaw's eyes narrowed at the giddy answer as Maddie's insane laughter rang loud and true throughout the garden, pounding heavily into his head and making his eye twitch involuntarily as he pulled his top hat off of his head to dust off the brim. "Of course, you realize that this means war."
"Ooh, fun!" Maddie grinned broadly as she popped up out of a flower bed, causing slight distress amongst the flowers as she flipped out of the blinking flowers with Ben's shirt gripped tightly in her hands; a tiny, teacup-like hat sat on her head, making Skurd wonder just where they were now while Jigsaw seemed unphased. The Dodgjierian watched as the Hatter tucked his shirt under her arm and pulled her hat off of her head to reach in up to her elbow and rummaging around inside for a few seconds, a slight clattering noise coming from the pile of seemingly random junk behind Jigsaw before Maddie finally pulled out a large scimitar with a blade the color of a neon candy cane.
"En guard!" she grinned happily.
"Oh, well, when in Rome . . ." Jigsaw shrugged.
"Yes, but I hardly think this place classifies as Rome." Skurd drawled; Jigsaw ignored him and grabbed his cane by the emerald tip, holding it out like a sword as Maddie laughed and rushed at him, arm pulled back and ready to give a wild swing that was easily parried and blocked by the Dodgjierian. The Hatter didn't seem phased in the slightest and thrust her sword outwards, forcing Jigsaw to bend over backwards to avoid getting run through before he lashed out with his leg and swept Maddie's feet out from under her. While she was down, Jigsaw popped back up to his feet and felt the pores in his skin give off an invisible pheromone or hormone of some kind while Maddie climbed back up to her feet.
"I hate to tell you this now, but that stuff won't work on little ol' me." Maddie giggled sweetly as she charged right at Jigsaw and managed to kick him in the chest, sending him skidding back a couple feet and beyond an old tree with fluffy, purple leaves. As Maddie came in for another swipe of her blade, Jigsaw grabbed one of the branches overhead and bent it back before releasing it; the idea was that Maddie would be struck in the face and either be thrown back a couple feet, far enough for Jigsaw to hopefully gain the upper hand, or stun her long enough for him to get an edge. Unfortunately for him, Maddie's short stature worked in her favor and the branch swung harmlessly over her head as she chased the Dodgjierian around the thick trunk of the tree.
"That won't work, silly Mother Goose!" Maddie giggled when she noticed that Jigsaw was attempting to pull the same trick once more; the Dodgjierian merely smirked as he miraculously managed to slid the base of the limba nd consequently its branches farther down the trunk so that it was level with the Hatter's chest, allowing him to let the branch snap back and send her flying.
"Um, what just happened?" Skurd wondered.
"Long story short, Jigsaw can manipulate the world around him like a cartoon." the Dodgjierian replied. Maddie was instantly on her feet again, still smiling happily as she gleefully rushed at the Dodgjierian and (wisely) avoided the tree branch altogether to slash her sword, only to have Jigsaw once again block it with ease and parry the attack effortlessly with his cane before he kicked Maddie hard in the gut and sent her skidding back to land forcefully against the trunk of the tree; Maddie laughed in response, even when a beehive was shaken loose from a higher branch and fell on her head, firmly attaching it to her with honey.
"I always wanted to try my hair in a beehive, but this is ridiculous!" she cackled madly; the bees surprisingly did not sting her, though this was most likely due to the fact that they were ignoring the Hatter altogether and were having tea in the branches above.
"Nice. Now can I please have my shirt back?" Jigsaw pleaded.
"Maybe . . ." Maddie purred with a small smile, lowering her sword slightly.
"I'm sensing a 'but' coming." Skurd seemed to frown.
"But-"
"I knew it! Let be known that I, Skurd the Slimebiote, called it!" Skurd declared loudly before being flicked upside the head by Jigsaw.
"But," Maddie smiled. "You have to join me for a tea party!"
" . . . that doesn't sound so bad." Jigsaw admitted, resting on his cane once more. Maddie clapped her hands happily and took off her hat once again to toss her sword inside; a noticeable clatter came from behind the Dodgjierian as Maddie set her hat back on her head and grabbed Jigsaw's hand to eagerly pull him towards the stone table in the middle of the colorful garden as the fish band that was playing in the garden's pond switched a more peppy, upbeat tune to one that was more commonly found in the romance movies that Cupid loved to watch at the Multi-Hex. Jigsaw didn't seem to be aware of this small detail as Maddie enthusiastically sat him down in the seat across from her before taking her hat off her head once more to allow Earl Grey to hop out with a stack of four teacups in his paws that he set down in front of Maddie, Jigsaw, Skurd, and then himself.
"What kind of tea would you like?" Maddie asked.
"Uh, you wouldn't happen to have ginger tea, would you?" Jigsaw asked. "Or maybe a smoothy instead?"
Maddie shook her head. "Sorry, Ben. I know how much you love Mr. Smoothy's, but I just can't bring that in the story right now. It would ruin what Creaturemaster has to come!" she smiled. "I do have some ginger tea, though. Recently brewed, too!"
Jigsaw and Skurd shared an odd and rather uncomfortable look with each other, very scared and curious as to how Maddie knew the name of their favorite after-and-during-work establishment to kill time while drinking frozen beverages until some sort of threat reared its ugly head once more. "Once again, there's gotta be something to this whole narrator thing she keeps going on about." Jigsaw mused.
"Oh, you have no idea!" Maddie laughed as she poured them all steam cups of ginger tea from the waiting tea kettle in the center of the table, which turned out to function as something like a stove corner of sorts when the teapot was placed back properly, allowing a seemingly endless supply of tea to flow forth, something that wouldn't have surprised Jigsaw in the slightest.
"Well, I suppose you can't chase a cat and expect it to catch mice!" Maddie declared suddenly, setting the teapot back down in the center of the stone table. "One lump or two?"
"Are you going to hit him with a hammer?"
"Maybe . . ." Maddie smiled once more.
"In that case, I'll just have my tea unsweetened, thank you very much." Jigsaw said firmly; Skurd quickly agreed and Maddie deflated slightly, letting a particularly large mallet that she may or not have recently used fall to the ground before a bright smile returned to her face as she proceeded to sweeten her tea with three lumps of sugar. "So, what exactly is this place?" Jigsaw asked, taking a sip of his tea and relishing the taste. It reminded him strongly of the nights when he came back after a rather exhausting chase to find Robecca was still functioning and boiling a pot of tea on the stove. The two of them often shared many a evening together just relaxing in the living room with some random movie on while sipping their tea and cuddled up together under a warm blanket, occasionally being joined by Jane or Venus, too.
"You miss your ghouls, don't you?" Maddie asked, startling Jigsaw.
"Okay, you are really starting to scare me." the Dodgjierian blinked. "But, yes, I do miss them."
"I'd love to meet them. Robecca sounds particularly nice." Maddie smiled. "As for your previous question, silly, this is my own personal Wonderland! After me, daddy, and my friends escaped Wonderland after the Evil Queen put a horrible curse on it, I created this place so I always had a little bit of home to keep myself sane!"
"Since when are you ever sane?" Skurd cocked a beady eye as he took a sip of his own tea through a straw. "Delicious, by the way. Almost as scrumptious as good ol' DNA."
"I meant sane by Wonderland standards, silly!" Maddie giggled.
"Nice place. A few curtains, some shag carpeting, and it'll clean up real nice." Jigsaw joked, taking a sip of his own tea. "You must really miss Wonderland."
Maddie sighed and rested her elbows on the table as she absentmindedly stirred her tea and drew the concerned attention of Earl Grey as he hesitated in his chewing of a biscuit. "I suppose so. I mean, I love Ever After and everything . . . I met Raven here after all, and she's been my Best Friend Forever After, among other things, but there's just something about Wonderland that can't be filled with what's here in Ever After."
"What do you miss about Wonderland?" Jigsaw wondered.
"Oh, you would have loved it." Maddie smiled. "The checkerboard grass, the bright yellow and pink sky all rolled into one color, the playing card groves, the massive and crazy tea parties. And we only had to attend one day of school, too!"
"One day!?" Jigsaw nearly dropped his tea. "Where can I sign up for this school!?"
Maddie laughed hysterically. "Oh, silly, as great as Wonderland High is, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The one day of a year that we have to attend school is the toughest day yet! We aren't allowed to have tea parties in the hallways or classrooms, the furniture talks back and makes horrible jokes, and the teachers are all talking fish! Okay, maybe that ones a bit of an exaggeration, but still!"
"So, you're saying you still miss it?" Jigsaw quirked an eye.
"Yeah." Maddie admitted with a sad smile; the Omnitrix timed out seconds later in a flash of green light, returning a still bare chested Ben to the world; Maddie sighed and tossed him back his shirt. "I suppose I've wasted enough of your time anyhow. You can go if you want; exit's right back the way you came." she said, pointing over Ben's shoulder.
Ben frowned at the sudden change in behavior; normally, the wild and eccentric girl before him would be literally running up the walls and ceilings of the school while splashing insane amounts of tea everywhere as she simultaneously brightened up everyone's day no matter how terrible they were feeling. To see her suddenly down trodden and depressed just felt . . . wrong. As if to further emphasis Ben's point, a small stormy weather cloud slowly formed over Maddie's head, flashing with lighting and thunder briefly before letting a small down pour relentlessly pelt Maddie's head; the Hatter didn't seem to notice.
"What else do you miss about Wonderland?" Ben asked, determined to fix Maddie.
"Well . . . before Wonderland fell . . . I remember, when we were still small and only learning how to be mad, me and Kitty would play all sorts of pranks and jokes on Lizzie, just waiting to hear her scream 'off with your heads' before we all burst into giggles. Of course, that usually caused the local giggle plants to burst into fits of laughter and keep the Caterpillars up at night, but it was so worth it." Maddie recalled happily.
"Well, nothing's stopping you from still doing that here in Ever After," Ben pointed out. "Plus, you still have Wonderland Grove and this place; all you need to do is grab some of your friends and just . . . let lose." Ben shrugged, reaching across the table to place his hand on Maddie's and give her a comforting squeezing, almost dwarfing her fingers in the process. "And, hey, if you ever need some extra madness, just find me. You can have mine." he joked. "Sphinx knows I already have too much."
Before Ben could comprehend what happened next, Maddie had leaped clear across the stone table in a single bound and promptly tackled him to the ground, her arms wrapped almost painfully around Ben's neck and chest, squeezing him very much like that of a hungry boa constrictor as she fully pressed her lips to Ben's in a full kiss; the Hatter ignored his startled and muffled cries in favor of hugging him tighter and peppering him with sweet kisses until Ben finally surrendered and went along with it in the hoeps that he would survive the incident with nothing more than a pained crick in his neck. He in turn slithered his arms around Maddie's thin waist and hugged her close to him as she eagerly dipped her tongue past his lips and easily subdued his tongue without breaking a sweat before Ben lashed back with as much ferocity as the Hatter herself, if not more. Maddie found herself pressing herself closer to Ben's bare chest and moaning slightly as her hat fell off her head while she felt her legs instinctively wrap around Ben's waist, straddling him tightly as she kissed him.
"I feel your pain, dear friend. Lucky for you, you're not in the thick of things." Skurd sighed upon seeing Earl Grey covering his eyes with his paws.
"Oh, stop it, Earl Grey! You're just jelly!" Maddie giggled as she finally allowed Ben to breath while she cuddled up to him. "Mmm. You smell like tea."
"That may be because you practically spilled the entire teapot over us when you jumped over the table." Ben winced slightly at the hot liquid on his skin.
"That can be easily fixed." Maddie smiled seductively, licking her lips hungrily.
"Aw, man." Ben cursed with a slight smirk.
"What hurts the most, is being so close."
"And having so much to say, and watching you walk away."
Dexter sighed sighed dishearteningly as he lay on his bed, the dorm around him cold and quiet; the doors to the balcony and bathroom with shut and the main door itself was locked tight with the dresser shoved in front to keep even the strongest of men from coming in. The state of the room itself was not a pretty one, with dried food stains splattered all over the walls and floors with eating utensils and bowls scattered about among a mess of stray papers and worksheets that were either half filled out before they were torn to shreds or weren't even filled in in the first place; he had long since given up on working on the daily school assignments that were slipped underneath his door by some kind Samaritan, along with the pity meals sent his way via the balcony. Granted, they often sat there for hours on end before he noticed or even bothered to retrieve them, if at all, only for him to take a couple of bites before they were added to the collection of thrown food.
The Son of Prince Charming didn't look any better, with his glasses almost carelessly thrown on the side table next to his bed, his crown had been thrown across the room, leaving a large dent in the wall above Hunter's bed, and his usual blue and gold trimmed jacket now lay in shreds on the floor. His brown hair was greasy and unkempt, his entire body giving off a slightly unpleasant odor with the lack of soap or any sort of hygiene for that matter. Dexter's eyes were bloodshot and half open, having not gotten any sort of sleep for what felt like weeks on end; he had hardly moved since he heard those fatal words pass over Ben's lips and turn his world upside down, only moving every now and again to use the bathroom or repeat the song he constantly had playing, the only noise that managed to cut through the deathly quiet sanctum he had created.
He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that Raven Queen, the one girl he had fallen head over heels in love with so hard it very well might have counted as a meteor strike, didn't love him back; the one girl he had managed to work up the courage to ask out on a date, was snatched out of his fingers at the last second by not only someone who was more adept at charming and wooing girls whether he was actually trying or not, but some random guy from another dimension as well. That what hurt the most.
All Dexter's life, he had been seen as the lesser of the two Charming brothers, the extra or left over Charming to be hastily cast into the role of a hero should it be needed; his own parents favored Daring over him by a long shot, to the point where he was actually often forgotten when visitors came around and was only brought out to compare his older brother's heroic and handsome features and skills to his. Most of the time back home, he simply spent in his room playing video games to pass the time or hanging out with Darling before her mysterious disappearance, but he had attacked the chance of going to Ever After High with great force, hoping it to be a chance to set himself apart from Daring in some manner to be recognized as well.
But of course, that didn't work. No matter how hard Dexter tried or worked, his brother always came out on top and managed to foreshadow him in practically every way that didn't directly link to technology in some manner; the girls swooned and drooled over him, the teachers were fond and particularly friendly with him, and even the Headmaster acknowledged the older Son of Prince Charming as a friend to some degree. Dexter meanwhile, was hardly remembered to the point where he could actually walk up to several girls in the halls and they wouldn't even know his name, no matter how ong he had been in school with them; upon reluctantly telling them that he was related to Daring, they all immediately started squealing and swooning and talking about his brother until he was forgotten altogether and he retreated into the Mirror Lab.
And the one time he actually felt true and desired feelings for someone, the one time he put all his mind and effort into working what little princely charms he had into wooing the girl of his dreams, she had been snatched from his fingers before he got to fully grasp her. Just when he was able to call Raven Queen his own, Ben had swooped in and taken it from him, all his hard work shattered before his very eyes like a glass pane carelessly destroyed by a lobbed rock.
"And never knowing, what could have been."
"And not seeing that loving you is what I was trying to do."
Raven Queen, the love of his life, had been taken away from him by someone more handsome, more skilled, and just generally better in any way, and it wasn't even his brother! No matter what angle Dexter had thought of to try and win Raven back during the first few desperate hours of his isolation, there was always the possibility that Ben could instantly turn the tide in his favor with just a hit of that watch on his wrist, allowing him to keep Raven forever. And what made it all the worst, was that the person he could have probably relied on in this time of weakness, in this time or sorrow, he had chased away with nothing more than a few, harsh words and one solid blow to the face.
Those first few minutes after he had stormed out of the Mirror Lab had replayed in his mind over and over and over for the entire time he had been in his room, only disturbed by the presence of Hunter before he had angrily chased him out and shoved the dresser in the way to block everyone else out; what hurt the most however, was that Dexter hadn't the faintest idea of what had happened. One moment, he was yelling at Cupid, blaming her for his loss in the race for Raven's heart and that she just couldn't stand to have him win something for once, and then the next, he was standing over the young goddess with his fist clenched so tightly he was drawing blood from his palms as Cupid lay on the floor sobbing with a nasty bruise on her face.
One moment, Dexter had been in control, feeling a mixture of emotions; anger, defeat, sorrow, misery, hopeless, to name a few. The next . . . he couldn't describe. He had seen the whole thing unfold before his very eyes, the way his fingers curled into a tight fist before he slugged Cupid across the face and sent her falling to the floor . . . and yet, he had no recollection of it ever happening, of ever consciously doing it. It was like he wasn't in control of himself for the briefest of seconds, as if something else had somehow taken over the controls to his brain and made him deck his Best Friend Forever After across the face.
"Not seeing that loving you is what I was trying to do."
Cupid's cries of betrayal. That's what had kept him up and away from sleep. The way he stood over her like some kind of monster over its helpless and cornered prey, the way she was lying on the ground in a heap with that horrible bruise on her cheek, sobbing uncontrollably as she looked up to Dexter with such pain . . . trying to comprehend and understand why he had hit her.
He felt his heart clench at that thought, knowing full well that he no longer had a leg to stand on now; all bridges he had built to his friends had been burned with one simple movement of his hand. No one would ever talk to him again or even look at him for what he had done, and the one person he could count on to be at his side in the darkest of times and help him through the misery that was his life, now would most likely never look at him ever again, never speak to him again. Dexter twitched his fingers slightly and curled them around a stray, snow white feather on the bed next to him, the last and only thing to remind him of the eternal torture he now lived.
And it was all Ben's fault.
The Son of Prince Charming was quite surprised it took him this long to realize it, that none of this would have ever happened had Ben never interfered with their lives; had Ben never come to their world through whatever inter-dimensional portal spat him out in the first place, he could very well be holding hands with Raven right now, curled up together on the sofa in the student lounge watching a movie together and simply enjoying each others company. Cupid would always sit with him at lunch and occasionally go out for coffee with him always there to laugh at his horrible jokes and help him through the tough times while Daring continued to act the arrogant and egotistical jerk he was. Had Ben never destroyed every last piece of his life that he held dear by simply existing, he would be living his Happily Ever After right now.
Dexter suddenly sat straight up in bed, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth together; Ben was the reason Raven didn't love him. Ben was the reason he had hit Cupid and destroyed his entire life. Ben was the reason he was living like some kind of animal in a cage, completely dependent on the pity of others for sustenance and life. Just as the prince charming felt his anger spike he felt a stabbing pain in the back of his head, an unbearable, burning sensation that only increased as the seconds ticked by and his temper flared. His entire body began to ache and hurt all over, like he was being stabbed repeatedly by a million needles all at once while his insides boiled and cooked alive; he cried out and held his pounding head, rolling back and forth on the mattress in the hopes of easing the pain before he fell off and onto the floor. By then, his screams and howls of pain and become deeper and more guttural as his body began to change. His arms began to swell as his shoulders and back broadened, tearing his shirt at the spine as his fingers trembled and quivered before swiftly turning into sharp claws; razor-sharp teeth tore through his gums in a bloody manner as dark, shaggy fur began to sprout all over his body, only adding to his increasing frame.
By the time the pain finally subsided, it was all over. Dexter . . . he felt nothing. An eerie calm had befallen the prince charming as he blinked his eyes and took in a deep breath, a low growl escaping his lips; the scent of fear, betrayal, and misery hung heavy in the air around him, enticing him. His eyes narrowed as his simple mind replayed his last thoughts over and over in head like a tape recorder, constantly and eternally reminding him of his pained existence.
Ben.
And with that, I leave you all to guess at what comes next (though truth be told it won't be much of a surprise).
Now the next chapter will be the Halloween chapter, so get ready for some screams and frights, y'all! The chapter will be posted on Halloween night (just because), allowing me to write it and work on my other stories as well, so be patient if this isn't updated until everyone's favorite creepy and kooky, mysterious spooky, and altogether ooky holiday.
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!
