A/N: Thank you to those of you who did the poll for Ben's color. I'll have the overall results on my profile.

Chapter 1: The Weirdest Birthday Present Ever

The next morning,

Ben woke up feeling a bit sore. Suddenly his eyes shot open. It was his 13th birthday.

He pulled the covers off figuring that his father would be home today because SURELY he wouldn't miss his only son's big day.

However Ben instantly noticed that something was wrong. His usually dark skin was now covered with red scales.

"What the heck?" Ben asked going to the mirror in his room.

There, facing him in the mirror, was a dragon.

"!" Ben shouted

Suddenly, he heard footsteps come running up the stairs. Not wanting his mother and little sister to see him like this, he closed the door and locked it.

"Ben? Everything okay?" Rose's voice came after the doorknob jiggled

"NO!" Ben exclaimed "When I was told that turning into a teenager meant big changes, this WASN'T what I had in mind!"

"C'mon Ben." The ten-year old voice of Julie Long came. "it can't be that bad"

"I've only just been turned into a mythological creature" Ben muttered under his breath

"Ben. Your sister is right. Nothing can be this bad" Rose said

"I beg to differ Mom" Ben said.

"I have seen things FAR beyond your comprehension. I think I can handle this" Rose said

"No Mom!" Ben said "You can't! I…I'm a freak"

"Benjamin Jacob Long! You are NOT a freak!" Rose lectured "Now, I'm going to come in whether you like it or not. Julie. Go to your room"

"But…"

"This is something Mommy and Ben need to talk alone about" Rose said

Ben grabbed his desk chair and placed it in front of the door. But deciding to take precaution, he went out onto the fire escape and tried out his new wings and flew off taking great care not to be seen.

0000

After a few minutes, Ben landed in Central Park and hid under a bridge.

"Oh man. Some birthday" he groaned as he slid to the ground.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Ben looked up and gasped

There, surrounding him, was a gang of troll. Ben backed up against the wall unable to comprehend what was happening.

He was in a dragon body surrounded by a gang of tough looking trolls.

"Look. I don't want to fight you" Ben said

"Sure you don't" one of the trolls said sarcastically as he banged his club into his hand.

"This has got to be a nightmare" Ben muttered to himself

"Excuse us" a familiar voice to Ben came

The trolls and the dragon boy turned and saw a group of people. Ben INSTANTLY recognized his godparents. There was also a man dressed in a Huntsclan uniform (though Ben had no idea what the uniform was), and a pink dragon

Ben's godfather, Arthur Spudinski, aka Spud, had spoken.

"You must not know who you're dealing with" Ben's godmother, Dr. Trixy Wilkins, said in her tough act

"Step away from the dragon and nobody gets hurt" the man in the uniform threatened. Ben could have sworn it sounded like his Uncle Seth.

"And what if we don't?" the head troll challenged "A bunch of humans and a girl dragon are going to fight"

"No" the pink dragon, that sounded like Ben's Aunt Haley, said as she smirked and pulled out a cell phone. She hit a speeddial button. "Hello Big Brother?….a bunch of trolls are in central park messing with a new dragon who's birthday happens to be today"

She hung up and then shot a fireball into the air

"Now," the dragon continued. "If you don't want to deal with the American Dragon, I'd suggest you leave"

Most of the trolls looked downright scared causing Ben to get a bit more frightened. This new dragon was coming to fight and Ben was a bit worried that three dragons in one town might be a crowd.

"She's bluffing." The leader said before raising his club

"I wouldn't do that" Spud sang in a knowing tone

"Watch me" the troll leader said

Ben braced himself but instead of feeling the hit, he heard a grunt. He opened his eyes and saw a large red dragon fighting the trolls looking furious.

Two minutes later,

The lesser trolls ran off as the red dragon grabbed the leader by the collar of his shirt. Had Ben been paying attention, he would have heard the larger dragon threaten the troll saying, "Don't EVER come near my son again." However, between the waking up as a mythological creature and the attack of the trolls that actually existed in New York, he had other things to worry about.

"Welcome home Bro!" the pink dragon said after the Troll Leader went running

"Thanks" the red dragon, which to Ben sounded freakishly like his father, said . "I was on my way home when I got the call"

The red dragon then turned to the younger red dragon who gulped

"Are you okay Ben?" the dragon asked

Ben's jaw dropped. Now the dragon knew his name?

"You didn't hear out your mother's explanation did you?" the red dragon realized

"Mom hasn't even looked at me" Ben admitted

"Okay. First thing's first." The red dragon said before turning to the humans. "Meet us at Headquarters. Hales? You coming with us or going with the others?"

"I'll come with you" the pink dragon said

0000

Ben had to admit, when this new dragon wasn't fighting, he was actually pretty cool. The flight to Central Park had been a bit hard as it was his first time, but these new dragons were now giving him pointers.

A few minutes later, the trio of dragons landed on the roof of a familiar building.

"What are we doing at my aunt and uncle's shop?" Ben asked

Lao Shi had retired to spend more time with the Dragon Council, so as far as the mortal world knew, Lao Shi was dead and the shop was taken over by his granddaughter and her husband.

"I'll explain in a minute. Now, I'm sure you have a LOT of questions which I WILL answer" the red dragon said. "But I will warn you that you WILL be mad and us"

"'Us'?" Ben asked clearly confused

"Your mother, me, your aunt and uncle, your grandmother…basically everyone involved."

"Okay. Here's my first question. Can I revert back to my human shape or am I stuck as a dragon forever?"

"Just focus on your human form." The American dragon explained. "Though I should warn you that once you do, keeping dragon form will be harder for a few months"

Ben obeyed and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, the dragons were larger. He checked his hands and sighed with relief at the lack of scales and claws.

"Now…why would I get mad at you?" Ben asked

"Before we answer," the American Dragon answered as he knelt down and placed his own hands on Ben's shoulder. "Promise me that you'll hear me out before you jump to conclusions"

Ben nodded

A blue swirl engulfed the red dragon and a familiar face replaced the dragon.

"D-Dad?" Ben gasped before turning to the pink dragon

The swirl that engulfed her vanished to reveal his aunt

"Aunt Haley?" Ben asked starting to freak out "I-I don't understand"

"It's as it looks Ben" Haley said. "We're dragons"

"But…how?" Ben asked

"I explained that bit before my trip" Jake Long informed his son

"Not what I meant!" Ben said "Is EVERYONE in our family dragons?"

"No" Jake answered. "Your Grandpa Jonathan's not. It skipped your grandmother's generation, and your mother and her family aren't"

"Neither is your Uncle Seth" Haley said

"So basically…just you two and me?" Ben asked

"And your great-grandfather Lao Shi" Jake added

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ben asked his father forgetting to remind Jake that Lao Shi was supposedly dead.

"Because you only showed your powers once before" Jake answered "After that, nothing. We were starting to think that the one time had been a fluke and it might have skipped your generation. We didn't want to introduce you and your sister into a world where you couldn't belong."

"Not to mention that little phase you went through where you told everyone everything" Haley reminded her nephew. "The magical world needs to be kept a secret"

"But what about Spud, Trixy, Chad, and Renee?" Ben asked. "And Mom and Uncle Seth. And Karen. Do they know?"

"Yes but they have their own stories" Jake said

"Except Karen. She doesn't know" Haley said

"I don't believe this" Ben said looking dazed as he walked over to the side of the building and looked over the New York skyline. "How could you keep something like this from me Dad?"

Jake turned to Haley and they exchanged a nod. Haley then went downstairs to inform the others that Jake and Ben were safe and were having a long overdue chat.

"Ben. Keeping this from you had been one of the top hardest things I've ever had to do" Jake said. "But there is a strict rule about human/magical creature interactions. Spud and Trixy…when they found out, I had been told to give them a potion to erase their memories. But their friendship meant more to me so I bailed on that and managed to convince your great-grandfather to speak on their behalf. Your mother and Uncle Seth grew up already knowing of the existence of magical creatures. The only reason your Grandma Susan was allowed to marry your Grandpa Jonathan was because the powers skipped her generation so technically she was human. He didn't learn of our existence until I was 14."

"And you and Mom?" Ben asked. "What caused the…whoever's in charge to allow you two to marry. And Uncle Seth to marry Aunt Haley?"

"Because your mother and Uncle Seth risked their lives to save the Dragon Council…it was after we were married, but…I'll tell you that story a bit later once you wrap your mind around all this" Jake said

The two stood in silence as Ben wrapped his mind around what he was learning

"So…everything Mom teaches is true?"

Jake nodded.

"When your sister started Kindergarten, I decided that since both of you were in school, I would be able to focus a bit more on my duties as the American Dragon. So, I let your mother take over the Mythology teacher position and I spent most of my time from 8-4 in the magical world helping those that need help."

"Your travels…"

"America's a big country." Jake explained. "When I told you that if all goes well, you would be able to tag along, I was serious."

"It's going to take some time for me to get used to this idea" Ben admitted.

"I understand. It's a lot to comprehend and I haven't even covered the half of it" Jake said "But when you ARE ready, I'll teach you how to control your powers. But until that time, now that you're back in human form, let's go home. Your mother is probably freaking out"

"Okay" Ben said

TBC

A/N: For those of you who are wondering about Karen, she is Haley and Seth's daughter. More details are to come in the next chapter which SHOULD be up tomorrow.