really quick - awesome awesome awesome suggestions for pairings! this is so much fun. Maybe 1 day and 1-ish chapters to send me your suggestions. Also forgot to mention that if you WANT to see a romantic moment btwn any character (ie someone asked for Tarzan and Jane) let me know and I'll try to work 'em all in!

And 'Guest' that left all those GREAT questions, I will answer them in the next chapter! Thanks!

ok, here we go...

Chapter 60: The Magic Oven

4 - freaking - a.m.

Chink. Jim finished the last dirty dish. His haggard reflection glared on the sparkling surface as he set down the plate.

He untied his apron and dropped the sponge. Plunk. Greasy bubbles jumped from the suds bucket. Jim groaned. He pulled on his face.

It had been a long night.

Too tired to move and too exhausted to sleep, Jim sat back on his thoughts. His brain was busy as a locomotive and loud as a kettle. Different thoughts buzzed in and out of each other, swarming for his attention. And a solution.

Concern for Wendy nettled his mind the most, with the occasional uneasy sting for Billy Bones, longing pang for Ariel, and blinding anger for Peter.

It was overwhelming. The energy in his brain approximated across his body systems. Unable to contain the energy, Jim stood. The stool tipped over.

Jim's hands shook. He reached for the nearest tool he could find. A screw driver. Slouching next to an oven, he started picking apart a broken blender.

His hands came to life. Nimble and swift, they operated with minds of their own, flying flawlessly over the gaskets, couplings, and springs.

And as he tinkered, Jim's mind quieted. Peacefully, he began to reassemble the parts into nothing in particular.

Then, calmed, Jim concentrated on Wendy. He closed his eyes, willing himself to solve her conflict. Wryly, he wished life was a broken appliance that he could fix with a little logic and an hour of quiet tinkering.

Jim sighed. He looked down at his construction.

He was intrigued, despite having tinkered the device.

It was a hand guard. A skeletal glove, attached by a line of five rings around the fingers and a bracelet around the wrist. Jim hunched over.

He'd made it with Wendy in mind. Something she could wear to store the needle and thread. It was a whim: but if he could just weld a plate, spindle, and some sort of pulley system…she could use it as a weapon.

Jim yawned. He remembered Headmaster Mickey saying something about Wendy being pushed to far.

"Yeah." Jim mumbled, closing his eyes and leaning against the oven. "That'll happen."

Suddenly, Jim's eyes popped open.

The oven was…hot.

Sitting up, Jim turned. The oven was off. He turned again. It wasn't even plugged into the socket!

Frowning, Jim walked around the oven. Quickly, he slapped the stove top. It was cool.

Slowly, Jim knelt. The heat was coming from inside. Within the oven itself.

Jim looked around. After leaving Wendy's doorstep, he'd hoped that Silver would be in the kitchens. For advice. But the cyborg was not here. He was alone. Jim grunted. With a freaking magical oven that was running a temperature.

Magical…

Jim stared at his reflection in the glass door. Carefully, he unhinged the frame. He opened the door. Thick heat wafted through his hair. It was as if the oven was breathing.

Jim waited, inhaling waves of heat.

Then, he reached a hand into the chamber.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHH!"

Jim lurched backwards. Fleetingly, he glimpsed a black, bottomless pit inside the oven before landing flat on his back.

Then, two computerized, lime green eyes pressed against his.

"AT LAST!"

Jim heard his ribs crack as a copper robot with lime green eyes gave him a hug.

"OH! This is fantastic!" the robot cheered, seizing Jim's middle. "At long last I get to meet the cyborg that always needs spare parts! Oh I just want to hug ya – "

"—Whoa!—"

"—squeeze ya!—"

"—Hey!—"

"—and tell ya I love ya!"

"Would you just get off of me!" Jim hopped out of the robot's reach. He slammed into the oven as the robot charged. "Hey! Hold it! I'm not a cyborg!"

The robot's arms flung open. "I KNOW! And this is the happiest day of my – WAIT."

Lime green pixels narrowed in the robot's eyes. "Come again?"

"Not a cyborg." Jim repeated. Cagily, he eyed the robot's opened arms. "Silver is the cyborg. He's MIA. I have detention with Silver – the cyborg." Quickly, Jim differentiated himself. "I'm Jim."

The robot blinked. Slowly, it's head revolved 360 degrees around it's neck, viewing the surroundings.

Jim considered running, but was too enthralled. Magic oven and a sugar-high robot. This was already one Hell of a morning.

Jim waited for the robot's head to clack back into alignment. He stared at the robot. "What—er—who are you?"

"…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…." the robot's eyes darted nervously over the fake grin plastered on his copper face. "IIIIIIIIII….wasjustgoing! Bye!"

"Hey!" Jim lunged, blocking the oven entrance. Hot air rolled over his back. "Not so fast! Who are you?"

"Me? B.E.N! Just B.E.N. – Bio Electronic Navigator! Bye!"

Jim lunged again. "What's the deal with the magic oven?"

"Magic oven?" B.E.N's eyes dilated in and out as he waved a nonchalant hand. "Whaaaaaaaat? Magic oven? Whooo-wee. What an imagination you have Jimmy!"

"It's Jim!"

"Ah! Happy to meet you Jimmy! Bye!"

"It's Jim!" B.E.N squeaked as Jim lunged again. Aggressively, Jim grabbed both sides of the oven frame. "And cut the crap! You came out of the oven! What is it? Where does it go?"

"Whaaaat? You mean the miles and miles of Underworld that runs through the insides of this entire planet?" Panicking, B.E.N shrugged. "Not a clue!"

"Underworld?"

B.E.N tip-toed forward as Jim wondered allowed. "So…like the Outer World that Billy Bones…Hey!"

B.E.N skipped back as Jim pointed a finger. "Are you a Guardian? A Guardian of the Underworld?"

The robot leaned away. "Nooooooo." Cupping hands around his mouth, B.E.N spoke in a very clear and very loud voice. "I – AM – B.E.N! BIO ELEC-TRON-IC NAV – "

"Okay, okay! Heard you the first time." Jim shifted on his heels as B.E.N eyed the entrance. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm a BIO ELECTRONIC robot – "

Jim raised his eyebrow, insulted at B.E.N's tone. But B.E.N continued to speak agonizingly articulate. "And I NAVIGATE the Underworld. In and out of the darkness. Finding spare parts. Broken things. ALONE. IN SECRET."

B.E.N widened his eyes meaningfully at Jim. "ALONE. In the OVEN. ALONE."

"Okay, I get the picture."

Jim regarded the robot. B.E.N looked distraught.

"So…if this is a magic oven…and down there…is the Underworld…" the robot's gears started to twirl as Jim leaned closer. "…then…how do you know Silver?"

Creak.

B.E.N jumped. Jim turned as someone turned the kitchen doorknob. Indecisively, he moved an inch too far.

"Bye Jim!" yelled the robot, scrambling under Jim's arm and diving into the oven. The chamber rumbled as the oven door slammed shut behind B.E.N's feet.

"Hey!" Jim probed the oven frame. The glass was still hot. "Hey! Get back –"

He froze. "Shit!" Heart racing, Jim spun around as the kitchen door swung open.

"…Morph?"

Elated, Morph jiggled himself into a hysterical pink glue. Oozing in and out of cupcake trays, he giggled at Jim.

"Very nice." Jim snatched as Morph bounced overhead. "You little squit!

"Little squit!" mimicked Morph, transforming into a cupcake and blowing the candle in Jim's face. Happily, he snuggled onto Jim's shoulder and started to chirp in his ear.

"Shh. Quiet. Morph, tone it down."

Curiously, Jim turned back to the oven. He touched it.

"Cooler." he muttered, smoothing a hand along the glass. He looked at Morph. "But still warm."

Disinterested but still sympathetic, Morph cooed. Lovingly, he slicked against Jim's cheek before playing with the pots and pans.

"Weird." Jim muttered, hearing Silver's metallic gait down the hallway. Deciding to keep the incident to himself, but casting a lingering glance, Jim walked away from the magic oven. "Really weird."