And I'm back, ladies and gentlemen!
I honestly would have posted this sooner, but the servers were down where I was and wouldn't allow me to access anything on my account, including allowing me to post this story. Who else had trouble getting online!?
Okay, I'm cool, I'm calm. Anyway, the feedback as usual as been phenomenal and I am simply over the moon about it; well, I would be if I wasn't dead. Still an undead Tetramand, peeps! And, as an added bonus, I have clarified who and which Narrators are speaking. A lot of you were confused by this and honestly, I can't balme you; I intend to make edits to the last chapter to fix this little issue.
Menatron the Angel of Ideas – Seriously, I think Professor Rumpelstiltskin is just asking to be glued to the ceiling.
Redrangerlegacy – Quit reading my mind! Get out of my head! AHHHH!
spurlinpatricksean2 – Glad you liked Rumpelstiltskin's unfortunate accident; as for Apple's reaction, you'll just have to wait and see.
Cartoonfan10 – What if I told you it was next?
StrongGuy159 – Thank you, thank you very much.
masterart – Ben won't meet them all right away, but he'll meet them soon enough, I guarantee.
.908 – Regarding the yuri, I can't guarantee it won't involve Ben or not. As for Cerise, read ahead and find out!
Kaiju Fan – Yeah, I know about Wildvine being a better candidate for the Son of Beanstalk gag, but I figured Swampfire looked more stalk-like, if that makes sense. Plus, who says beanstalks can't shoot fire? The beanstalks in the story could have just not expelled flame in the first place even though it could ;)
Justaquestion12 – What is with people reading my mind! GET OUTTA MY HEAD!
DracoAngel17 – Considering Ben's luck, you're probably right.
Codecrash – Wow, did you swallow dictionary or something? Perhaps drank a gallon of coffe? Or is my writing just that good? Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed it; it was fun to get revenge on Rumpelstiltskin because, if you ask me, he has it coming after everything he puts his students through. Maybe I should have him make Ben spin straw for him and suffer the consequences? Either way, thank you for the wonderful ideas for this chapter.
Darkness Rissing – Yeah, the whole beanstalk thing was just for laughs. I didn't expect anyone to take it seriously (except maybe Tiny). Either way, the many, laughable suggestions for rolls of Ben's aliens were indeed questionable and they could very well be used, if only to draw suspicion to Ben. As for CerisexRaven . . . my lips are sealed.
Guest – You make several valuable points. We'll have to see how this turns out . . .
n1ght4ury20 – Ah, thank you for the clarification. Now that that's been cleared up, it actually makes a lot of sense. This could very give one reason for the Evil Queen to target Ben. As for the time travel idea, I think I want to avoid that as much as possible; I did that at least three times in my previous story and I want to try new things to differentiate this story from that one so people won't groan when things are too similar to each other.
luciayshadow – I'd marry you too, but I'm not good with commitments XD Either way, I love that you loved the chapter, and considering Apple's thick skull, I think you'll like what's to come. As for Charmcaster, you're correct; like hex Dragoon's gonna leave her alone, and no, he is not the dragon Apple was talking about. Not that he couldn't be mistaken for it though ;) As for Kai and Julie, they might make small appearances, cameos, or mentions, but nothing too serious (yet) and as for Myaxx . . . she didn't really play a big part throughout the entire series, only really showing up three times through out Ben 10, Alien Force, Ultimate Alien, and Omniverse. And if the future's anything to go by, it looks like Ghoulia will be taking her place ;)
maverickmoxey2000 – You may have called it, but that doesn't mean it'll be official; we'll have to wait until the poll results come in. Anyways, thanks for your full analysis on the feral ghouls/girls bit. And, being a guy myself, I have to admit that is rather attractive and hilarious at the same time. As for who the Alpha Female will be of the Ever After harem, we'll have to see (it should be pretty obvious though). And don't worry; Cerise going feral will be coming up soon enough, when the time is just right . . . and the moon is full . . .
Enough of my meaningless babbling! Give a big hand to Codecrash and Darkness Rissing for giving me the ideas to work with this chapter, and if you haven't voted on the poll yet, please do!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Muppets. And while I'm making this disclaimer, I do not own Ben 10, Monster High, or Ever After High; if I did, there would already be a cannon Xover of Monster High and Ever After High, as well as Ben 10 and Monster High. Curse you laws of the universe! Curse you!
Onward!
M.N: So it seems things have gotten a bit . . . uh . . .
F.N: Crazy? Intense? Absolutely bananas with a sprinkling of cashew nuts the size of China on top?
M.N: . . . I was going to say unhinged, but those work just as well, I suppose. Now then, Apple White had finally discovered Ben's identity during her harrowing adventure with the young shape-shifter and Cupid's arrows; just what will unfold for our beloved princess?
F.N: Really? That's how you're going to end it?
M.N: AGH! You always do this to me! Do you here me criticizing your story telling? No, I don't think so!
F.N: Oh, really? What about-
M.N: Don't even bring that up!
F.N: You skipped a whole bunch of important stuff, and you know it! What about the Forever Knights or Ben's ghouls back home, or Cerise's crush on Ben? What about all that, huh?
M.N: Okay, wise guy, lets see you try to tell this tale!
F.N: What pleasure! Ahem. But all was not delightful and well in the world of Ever After; deep beneath the streets of the Village of Book End, the Forever Knights were plotting, conspiring against Ben to rise up and seek vengeance against him for all the wrongs he had done them while a far darker, more twisted evil lurked in the shadows, biding its time until the moment was just right. Will Ben realize what's going on before it's too late?
M.H: Oh, I sure hope not!
M.N: What the- Miss hatter!? What are you doing here!?
M.H: Oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but mostly I've just been listening to you guys ever since this wonderful tale started! It's hat-tastic!
M.F: I'm beginning to hate Wonderland and all of its ability to hear us . . .
M.H: That's not nice! When do I get to come in and meet Ben?
M.F: Soon enough. Now, get out of here!
M.N: Go on! Shoo! Scram! Beat it!
M.H: Well someone missed their morning cup of tea . . .
Joseph Chadwick growled with disdain as he drummed his thick fingers on the arm of his makeshift throne; it was mostly constructed of stone blocks and whatever wood remains the knights had managed to scrounge up when they first arrived in this strange, parallel world where dragons roamed free and knights in shining armor stood tall and proud. But before they could fully introduce themselves to this strange, new world they had been forced underground by the presence of him.
The Forever King clenched his teeth even tighter as he thought about him, the alien scum, here in the same universe they had so chosen to move to after they had realized that they were not making any progress in their battle against the off world tyranny that had plagued the planet; they couldn't seem to gain any sort of ground in the alien stained world they had left behind and so sought off in search of a world that would except them without concern and blindly worship them into giving them power. It had been a rather complex plan as well, having to stoop to the levels of the alien criminals that haunted Undertown's backstreets and alleys, but it had been worth it when they had managed to gather enough parts to build a makeshift dimensional jumper dubbed 'The Battering Ram', so called on the fact that it basically punched a hole through the fabric of space/time and into whatever world lay on the other side.
"Me Lord!"
Chadwick paused in his stewing and rose up to see Sir Morton standing at the entrance to the makeshift throne room; tattered tapestries with the Forever Knights symbol crudely painted over the already stitched images lined the walls and a long, red carpet that smelled of mold and mildew ran from the door to the throne without hitch as water dripped from the ceiling and strange things scurried in the darkened corners that were left untouched by the crude chandelier overhead.
"What is it, Morton?" Chadwick growled, hauling his considerable bulk up into a more considerable position. "Can't you see that I am busy thinking?"
The Forever Knight bowed with respect. "Apologies, me Lord, but I come bringing the surveillance camera of our fallen comrade, the Forever Ninja."
"Please, Morton. It is an android." Chadwick scoffed as he gestured for Sir Morton to approach. "I hunger to learn more of this world we have landed ourselves in. What have the Twins discovered?"
"As of yet, not much, me Lord. They have been spending the majority of their time trying to extract the footage from the robot." Morton answered. "What we can tell you is there are an unsettling amount of dragons plaguing this world; we saw a sighting of one making its lair down a large sewer drain not too far from here, in fact."
"Repulsive beasts." Chadwick spat with annoyance. "Well? What did the android find?"
"Well . . . it would be easier to simply show you, your majesty." Sir Morton bowed, opening his palms as he knelt down onto one knee and presented his king with a small disk about the size of flattened bouncy ball. The hulking, ape-like monster gingerly reached forward and plucked the item out of his servant's hands between two large fingers before setting it in one of his large palms and waiting as the center blinked a bright red for a few seconds before it gave a bright flash; a large, shimmering, red holographic screen appeared before Chadwick's face, fizzling and crackling for a few seconds before a crystal clear image stained the color red appeared before him.
The Forever King was seeing the world of Ever After through his robot's eyes, watching with interest as the video feed jumped from rooftop to rooftop with ease, pausing every now and then to gaze upon the people below. For the most part, they seemed to be normal human villagers simply trying to make an honest living, until Chadwick noticed something about about a few of them; a woman sitting at a cafe snapped her fingers and summoned a spoon into her hand in a burst of bright light as a trio of small, anthropomorphic pigs tossed around a tough, leather book with the white bindings of a football. A pair of gigantic legs and feet wrapped in vines carefully marched down the main street as what looked like fairies and sprites hitched a ride on the leaves that clung to his leaves.
"This world is infected with unearthly scum!" Chadwick roared angrily as the footage rolled past his eyes. His anger only grew greater when the Forever Ninja jumped down from the rooftops and its laser sword flashed into view as it quietly stalked up behind a girl that seemed to be made out of some kind of wood with curly, brown and purple hair; the blade swung and initially missed the first time as the girl absentmindedly bent down to sniff some flowers for sale and was then alerted of the assassin's presence by the destruction of the stand itself. The audio was unavailable, but the Forever King could easily tell that she was screaming and he was eager as she ran away as fast as she could with the Forever Ninja skillfully chasing after her, somersaulting over the frightened, wooden girl to cut her off and force her down an alley where she became trapped at the end.
Chadwick was practically biting his lip with anticipation as the Forever Ninja edged closer and closer, savoring the time before he would hack the wooden girl into kindling; this was abruptly stopped when the android's view turned around to face off against a very large and angry Diamondhead. The two of them clashed for a few minutes, the Forever Ninja suffering a few blows every now and then as it expertly fended off the Petrosapien before the very tips of crystals poked themselves into its vision; the last thing Chadwick saw before the video feed cut out was Diamondhead's face as he raised a crystal fist and cracked it over the robot's head.
"It's worse than I imagined." Chadwick cursed, closing his fist around the small disk as the video feed cut out and the hologram disappeared. "Dragons, possessed puppets, witches, talking animals, giants, fairies, this whole world is infected with magical impurities!" he roared angrily, his voice echoing for minutes on end in the sewer tunnels.
"What are your orders, your majesty?" Sir Morton asked.
The Forever King was silent for a few minutes as he sat back in his thrown to think, inhaling the rotting stench of the sewers he was forced to call a lair for the moment and trying to hold back his lunch. Eventually he answered, his voice cold and devoid of any emotion of disgust and hatred. "Find more about this world and its inhabitants, as much as you can, and report back to me your findings." he ordered. "Should you encounter the traitorous alien scum . . . surprise me."
"As you wish, me Lord." Sir Morton bowed before he left the chamber and his king.
Cerise smiled slightly to herself as she closed her eyes and inhaled slow and deep through her nose, taking in the rich scent of old books and ink as the warm sun cut through the window panes and softly stroked her pale skin and made her feel nice and pleasant inside. While the sun felt good against her skin, she was getting a different feeling deep inside of her, a feeling that she oddly only ever got when she thought of Blitzwolfer. That, or was in the same room as Blitzwolfer. Basically Blitzwolfer in general, actually.
The Daughter of Red Riding Hood found herself watching Blitzwolfer as he stalked around the school's library in complete silence, even making the Evil Step-librarians on the edge; no student was or ever had managed to be this quiet, and the two ugly hags were just waiting for the moment when the Loboan would make a sound, any sort of sound other than breathing, so they could least know he was human (in the literary sense, of course). She had sent Blitzwolfer out to collect the books she needed for her Damsel-in-Distressing class; the class was pointless in her opinion, but it was apparently one of the most important classes in Ever After High. Not that Cerise was actually thinking of studying for such a class, rather she was simply admiring the Loboan from a distance so that she could watch him freely without being disturbed.
Or so she thought.
"Hmmm, looks like the little she-wolf has some puppy love." a slow, seductive voice purred. Cerise yelped and startled as a cheeky smile materialized out of the air next to her before Kitty Chesire slowly came into existence in a flash of glittering sparkles like that of a thousand stars; the feline was dressed in long, striped stockings a light shade of periwinkle and purple with a black and purple dress with cat designs as her cat flickered back and forth absentmindedly behind her while she glanced over her claws and blew a strand of lavender hair out of her face.
"What do you want, Kitty?" Cerise growled, baring her teeth angrily; she naturally didn't get along with cats, with the exception of Fasttrack, and Kitty's manipulative and annoyingly clever personality only made her dislike them even further. And with the threat of Kitty knowing her secret, she was not open to any ideas the Wonderlandian had to offer, no matter what.
"Oh, nothing much." Kitty shrugged innocently. "I was noticing your . . . what's the proper word for it? Oh, yes, attraction to the new student." she purred. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now would you?"
"And what you do if I answered yes?" Cerise bristled, her face flushing a deep red; whether it was from anger or embarrassment, was up to debate.
"Nothing much," Kitty tapped her chin in thought before she stretched and bedded down on the comfy couch in front of the large window in a warm patch of sunlight next to Cerise. "Just thought there might be something you wanted to know about Blitzwolfer, that's all."
"What do you mean?" Cerise narrowed her eyes; she didn't trust Kitty as far as she could throw her, which was most likely about a couple of yards if she wasn't trying. Should she be angry or feral at the time, then that would have been an entirely different story, but the hooded girl didn't trust the crafty feline in the slightest, not now, not ever.
"You didn't overhear?" Kitty purred, disappearing in a burst of sparkles before reappearing right behind Cerise with a broad smile on her maroon lips. "Apple White just asked Blitzwolfer," she paused dramatically as she leaned down to whisper in Cerise's ear. "On a date."
Cerise froze on the spot, her eyes wide and unwavering as she seemed to stare off into space. She was in total and complete shock, barely able to understand yet fully grasp the situation at hand; her own hands trembled slightly as she clenched her teeth and felt a feral growl escape her lips as her eyes flashed an intense amber. The Daughter of Red Riding Hood hissed and pressed a hand to her head, taking deep breaths until she was relatively calm; the book in her hands had been torn clean in two and Kitty had been wise enough to scoot to the edge of the seat, far away from Cerise as possible with, ironically enough, an impudent grin still plastered to her face, as if she couldn't help but smile.
"What . . . what did he say?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"He accepted." Kitty grinned widely, shivering with anticipation as Cerise seemed to explode on the inside as she quickly got up from her seat, grabbed her crutches, and swiftly hobbled her way out of the library as fast as she could; seconds later, an unearthly and beast-like roar shook the school and resonated loud and deep throughout the halls for minutes, maybe hours on end.
"Hey, don't look at me!" Blitzwolfer defended himself when all heads in the library turned to him; the Evil Step-librarians relaxed and shushed him angrily, earning a low growl from the Loboan in response as Cerise came hobbling back into the library with a mask of calmness on her face, hoping that no one would connect the sudden din to her.
"Why are you telling me this?" Cerise whispered in a hushed tone as she sat back down on the couch and laid her crutches on the floor. "What do you have to possibly gain from telling me any of this?"
"What, can't a good friend help another friend?" Kitty asked innocently; Cerise merely increased the intensity of her glare at the Daughter of the Chesire Cat before she spoke again. "I know you have a crush on him; quite hard to miss actually. Don't you want to see how his date goes." Kitty grinned, putting an emphasis on the word. While she knew Cerise hated to admit it, her persuasive charms were working their magic on Cerise, sowing the seed of doubt she just love to tend to until it blossomed. What it would grow into was anyone's guess, which was why Kitty loved messing with people so much; one never knew what to expect.
"What do you suggest we do?" Cerise growled through gritted teeth; the doggy had taken the bait.
"Well, I was thinking we could a little espionage, a little spying on Blitzwolfer and Apple. See how their date goes." Kitty purred as if she had just come up with the idea; Cerise knew better to suspect that the crafty cat had most likely been plotting the whole scheme for hours on end before coming to her, having gone through every possible scenario and come up with a proper reaction to each outcome. "What you say? Ready to make some chaos?"
Cerise glowered at Kitty and the outstretched hand before her, wondering whether she could get away with chasing the feline up a tree or biting her hand off before she decided that both actions were a bit rash. "Fine." she agreed, taking Kitty's hand and just barely shaking it. "But nobody finds out about my secret, got it? Or you'll be Carmine's new chew toy." Cerise threatened.
"Fair enough, I suppose." Kitty purred.
Apple hummed cheerfully to herself as she admired herself in her magic mirror for a few seconds, fixing her red bow so that it sat just above her right eye and pinned a stubborn strand of blonde hair out of the way; she twirled around to admire the dress she had chosen out, a mostly black dress with a strip of royal red dotted with golden apples down the front that attached to a black silk dress that showed off her long, pale legs and accented her bright, blue eyes as she gave a small smile and glanced at her gold heels. She had figured that, considering Ben's background, he might appreciate something a little less . . . adorable and find her more attractive if she was a little . . . darker.
"You sure you wanna go out in that?" Raven asked from her side of the room, lounging on her bed as she read a book.
Apple smiled. "Oh, Raven. Ben's not going to care what I look like."
"Then why did you spend an hour sorting through your entire closet before picking out the one dress?"
"Because I wanted to look nice!" Apple argued.
"So you do care about what Ben thinks of you." Raven smirked, knowing she had gotten the upper hand on her roommate; the witchling closed the book, memorizing the number of the page she had been on, and sat up in bed. "Look, I'm gonna be the sensible and cautious one here and suggest that maybe you hold off on the date until Ben's more comfortable here. He just got dumped here in our world, and who knows what he could have left behind; friends, family, a girlfriend maybe?" Raven suggested with a pointed look.
Apple blinked. She hadn't thought about that. Hopefully, by the time the day was down and over, Ben would have forgotten all about any sort of girl he had loved back home in favor of her; she had to admit that it sounded cruel, sadistic or insane even, but she wasn't just doing this for her own needs and desires. She was doing this for the world of Ever After, preventing its destruction by getting Ben to fall for her and become the prince he was always meant to be.
"Just . . . try to take it easy on him tonight, okay, Apple? Don't take things too far." Raven pleaded.
Before Apple could respond, there came a knock at the door. The princess smiled and clapped her hands before practically rushing over to the door and pulling it open to reveal Blitzwolfer standing there, looking quite out of place and rather nervous while he kept on glancing up and down the hallways, as if expecting some kind of monster to suddenly come rushing at him; in his hand, he carried a single, blood red rose.
"Uh, thought I'd try an' make a good impression." the Loboan chuckled sheepishly.
"Aw, that's so sweet." Apple cooed, scratching him under the chin and making his tail wag back and forth as she took the flower from him and took a small sniff, blushing slightly when she realized how wonderful it smelled. "Shall we get going?" she asked as she turned around to carefully set the rose in a small vase by the window sill.
"Sure. Ready whenever you are." Blitzwolfer grinned as he gently took Apple's delicate hand between his strong fingers and led her out the door, waving good-bye to Raven as the two of them left. With that, they quickly walked down the corridor and out into the main hall that spilled into the school, walking down the staircase in silence as they silently slipped out the doors of Ever After High and headed down the path to the Village of Book End; the majority of the population of the student body could be found here partying the night away with friends and lovers alike when they weren't busy trying to catch up on their homework. A few teachers could also be seen here and there, looking rather odd and out of place compared to the wild and carefree teenage fairy tales that made their way through the streets and open shops. A few street lamps had clicked on to give Book end a warm and inviting glow, but it was mostly the hundreds of fireflies and sprites that blinked on and off in the night air and the bright, white moon overhead that bathed the town in its comforting luminescence.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Apple breathed as the cool, night air tickled against her fair skin.
"Yeah." Blitzwolfer agreed. "What movie are we seein' anyway?"
"I thought I'd let you chose," Apple replied, oblivious to the couple of stares sent her way when several fairy tales caught sight of the tiny princess walking next to the monstrous wolf. "It'll be my treat, assuming you don't have a job."
"I use ta work at the Coffin Bean. Ya got any recommendations?" Blitzwolfer asked.
"You could try the Glass Slipper. I'm sure Ashlynn wouldn't mind hiring you." Apple suggested.
"Uh, I'm not really the best with breakable objects." the Loboan said.
Apple giggled slightly. "That's just the name, silly. It's really a shoe shop."
"I still think I'll should look somewhere else; because in case you haven't noticed, several people are starring at us and I think more than a few of them are about to try and rescue you from me." the Loboan growled with annoyance, pausing long enough to snarl at a band of boys that were getting ready to attack him; the boys thought better of it and ran away.
"Well, why don't we discuss this after the movie? You know, just relax and have a fun night out?" Apple suggested with a pleasant smile as they finally arrived at the Multi-Hex Theater, a collection of large trees that had been grown together so tight and well knitted that they formed a building of sorts with sturdy, wide trunks for walls and a leafy canopy for the roof that occasionally let in a few rain drops if it was raining; movie posters decorated the walls of the movie theater, advertising swash-buckling thrillers or sappy romance movies that invited happy couples to make out when no one was looking.
"Hmm, so many movies to watch, so little time." Blitzwolfer hummed as he looked over the available movies. "You got any preferences or somethin'?"
Apple panned over the available movie titles, tapping her chin in thought as she wondered which movie would be the most appropriate for her plan to work the most effectively; if she chose a romance movie, Blitzwolfer would either get the wrong idea or become too uncomfortable when they were surrounded by smooching couples, and if chose an action movie he might become too focused on the movie itself and ignore her altogether. She needed a movie that would let the Loboan easily divert his attention back and forth between both the movie itself and her so that she could begin to charm him. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she found the perfect movie.
"What about this one?" she suggested.
"The Poisoning?" Blitzwolfer read over the title. "A horror movie? You sure?" he asked with concern.
Apple nodded eagerly. "I've always wanted to see a horror movie! And, truth be told, my mother's not really fond of this one."
"Dare I ask why?" the Loboan asked.
"It's about a Snow White ancestor that went insane and started going around poisoning other fairy tales." Apple replied. "At least, I think that's what Briar told me."
"Did she tell you that you probably shouldn't see it?" Blitzwolfer guessed.
"How'd you know?"
"Just a hunch." the Loboan replied. "Look, if you want to see a horror movie, how about we pick something that's not gonna leave you scarred for he rest of your life?"
"Like what?"
Blitzwolfer paused and glanced over the list of available movies like Apple had done before, glancing over their titles, ratings, and what genre they were supposed to be before he found one that looked suitable. "How about Mary, Mary: The Gardening? It's a little less rated than what you suggested to watch."
"Meaning?" Apple wondered.
"It'll only give you nightmares for a night, maybe two at the most." the Loboan answered. Once the movie had been settled upon, they stopped to get snacks consisting of a large bucket of popcorn and two Fairy Berry Sodas before they headed to the appropriate theater, unaware that they were being watched. They were nearly to the doors of the theater when disaster struck.
"Do you here that beeping sound?" Apple asked her date.
"Oh, Sphinx!" Blitzwolfer cursed, glancing down at his collar to find that the Omnitrix was blinking a bright green. With a yelp, the Loboan shoved their snacks into Apple's arms and ran right towards the men's room, slamming into the door and shoving it behind him just as the Omnitrix timed out in a flash of green light and returned Ben to the world; thankfully, the restroom was empty.
"Ben? Everything alright in there?" Apple's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Fine!" Ben yelled back. "Just give me a second!" he said as he tapped on the Omnitrix, waiting for the familiar green holographic selection ring to appear and let him pick the alien transformation he needed; unfortunately, the watch didn't respond.
"Ben?"
Ben sighed and slid down the back of the door, pinching his brow. "Apple? Listen, the Omnitrix is in recharge mode," he said. "We're gonna have to do this date another time; I can't let people know my secret. Not yet."
Apple sighed from the other side of the door. "Ben, please? Can you just come out?"
"No. I can't let people see me like this. And it'll ruin your reputation!"
"I don't care, Ben." Apple argued. "I want to spend time with you, not Blitzwolfer. Can you please come out?" Apple begged; she was so close to getting Ben to be hers. She had had the tickets, the snacks, and the perfect movie where Apple could hold onto Ben all she wanted and it wouldn't seem strange or make him uncomfortable. The princess was determined and she was not about to let some stupid watch's dead battery get in the way of her happily ever after. Thankfully, eventually, the door opened and Ben came strolling out, freezing for a few seconds to see if anyone would notice his odd look or bizarre choice of clothes before finally relaxed.
"Come on. Movie's about to start." Ben grinned.
The theater itself was actually something more of a glade, with several levels of freshly cut grass leading down like stairs to the screen as the night sky opened up overhead through the canopy, letting the twinkling stars shine down on the clearing; couples sat on blankets on the grassy steps and talked and held each other lovingly while they waited for the movie to start, when a cloud of fireflies would come down from the ancient trees around them and light up the screen for everyone.
Cerise ignored the beautiful architecture of the Multi-Hex and narrowed her eyes as she watched Apple come walking down the isle to pick an empty blanket in the middle isle; the half-breed's eyes widened when she saw not the strong, muscled, and brave wolf she had fallen in love come strolling down the isle with a bucket of popcorn and two sodas, but a regular, human boy with scruffy, brown hair, sharp green eyes, and a black and green T-shirt with the number ten on the front.
"Well, now that isn't Blitzwolfer, now is it?" Kitty purred in Cerise's ear as she popped a popcorn kernel into her mouth. "Wonder what happened to him?"
Cerise clenched her fists tightly, digging her nails into her fists until she swore she was bleeding while she ground her teeth together. That no good, backstabbing, two-timing, little, son of witch! she cursed in her head. How dare she cheat on Blitzwolfer! He's probably curled up in his dorm right now howling his miseries away at the moon while she sits here with this-
"Whoa, Cerise, calm down." Kitty smirked.
Cerise blinked and whirled around on Kitty. "How did-"
"The Narrators." Kitty replied. "I usually ignore them, but they sometimes talk too loud." she shrugged without concern as Cerise gave a weird look. "Now be quiet. The trailer's are starting." the feline silenced Cerise as the first trailer, another horror movie, came and went just as two elderly voices cut through the hushed silence of the theater.
"Now that's talent! An actor that can sing while getting hacked in two." a squat, elderly puppet with rusted, red wood, a pair of trousers, white stockings, and a black bowler chuckled from one of the balcony seats in the trees overhead. "I wonder if there's anything she isn't good at."
"Yes." a second voice just as old and attached to a taller, thinner puppet with a short mustache, deep brown wood, a pair of lederhosen, and jacket said. "Choosing what movie to star in!" he finished as he and his partner roared with laughter.
"Who are those two?" Cerise wondered.
"Cedar's uncles, Birchman and Oakler. They spend every night in one of the theaters here at the Multi-Hex heckling the trailers, actors, plot, and pretty much the entire movie itself, too." Kitty replied without care. "Sometimes they even start going after the patrons themselves."
"That was a great movie, I don't care what you say!" Birchman's voice rang out through the theater.
"I thought it was dumb." Oakler said.
"Maybe you're right." Birchman agreed before the two of them burst out into laughter again.
"Doesn't this get annoying?" Cerise sighed; she didn't often go out to such places like the Multi-Hex unless absolutely necessary for fear of someone discovering her secret. But they were towards the back of the theater in one of the darker corners at Cerise's request, and she hoped it would pay off and that she wouldn't lose her cool against the two puppets currently mocking everything the theater threw at them.
"You get use to it." Kitty shrugged as she sipped her soda. "Sometimes they can actually be quite funny.
Birchman suddenly started to moan loudly, as if he was in great pain. "What's wrong with you?" Oakler wondered.
"It's either this movie or indigestion." Birchman groaned. "I hope it's indigestion."
"Why?" Oakler wondered.
"It'll get better in a little while." Birchman replied with a slight chuckle that only Cerise was able to hear with her acute hearing.
Cerise groaned her teeth as another trailer began to play on the screen; not only Apple double cross Blitzwolfer and cheat on him with some other random boy, but the two puppets in the balcony were starting to grind her last nerve while the trailer came to an end a few minutes later. "Hey, maybe we oughta go on stage!" Birchman suggested loudly.
"Yes," Oakler agreed. "There's one in five minutes: be under it!"
"Don't heckle me, you old fool, heckle the movie!" Birchman snapped.
"Is that a toupee you're wearing, or did your cat die!?" Oakler cracked, hooting loudly until Birchman angrily cuffed him over the head with a wooden hand.
Cerise was about to get up from the blanket she was sharing with Kitty to go give the pair of marionettes a piece of her mind when she heard a voice call out her name; she turned to see Blondie waving at them from the doors to the theater as she eagerly rushed down the isle with a soda in hand and sat next to Kitty and Cerise.
"Hey, Kitty! Hey, Cerise! What're you doing here?" Blondie asked sweetly.
Cerise was about to simply reply that she and Kitty were watching a movie together when Kitty interrupted her with one of her astute schemes. "We're spying on Apple." the cat replied craftily.
"Why?" Blondie asked, sensing a good story.
"Well, I overheard Apple asking Blitzwolfer out on a movie date," Kitty started with her usual, cheeky smile. "But, it seems our dear, sweet princess stood him up and is currently sitting just over there with some strange boy." Kitty grinned as she pointed over to where Apple and Ben were sitting and talking quietly.
"No way!" Blondie gasped as she whipped out her Mirrorphone and quickly typed something down for later before she quickly and quietly snapped a photo of Apple and Ben sitting together just as the movie started; unfortunately, the two old puppets in the balcony couldn't or wouldn't take a hint.
"I already know what's wrong with this movie." Oakler declared loudly.
"What's that?" Birchman asked.
"It's the theater!"
"What's wrong with it?" Birchman wondered.
"The seats face the screen!" Oakler delivered the punchline, erupting into chuckles and laughter with Birchman until the entire population of the room had finally had enough and silenced them all with a single shush and some airborne buckets of popcorn.
""Do they do this every time?" Ben wondered.
"You think that's bad, you should have heard them when me, Briar, and Blondie went to see that tragedy movie last week."
"Why? What did they do?" Ben wondered.
"Well, I wouldn't say it's anything to cry over." Apple joked with a small smile.
"Hey! Leave the heckling us!" Oakler yelled from the balcony.
"Which reminds me, Oakler. What'd you think of Humpty Dumpty's jokes?" Birchman asked.
"You know I hate off the wall comedy!" Oakler protested before he and Birchman burst out into laughter once more, earning groans of disappointment from the audience as the movie finally started; thankfully, mercifully, the two puppets decided to keep their jokes to their self. For the time being, that is.
"Do you know what this movie's about?" Ben whispered to Apple.
"I'm not quite sure. Based on the title though, I'd say it has to do with something about-" Apple started before a sudden scream of fright cut through the night as the horror movie rolled into the first act just as a beautiful princess of unknown origin was attacked by a bunch of thorn, prickly vines that wrapped her up like a spider's lunch and squeezed the life out of her before sucking her dry of her blood and tossing the lifeless corpse to the ground to rot as a woman's laugh cackled darkly from somewhere off screen; Ben found that about half of his popcorn had been split all over the place as Apple fearful clung onto him, burying her head into his shoulder as she trembled.
"That?" Ben guessed.
"Y-yeah." Apple whimpered as the sinister plants crept their way through the ancient castle on screen, quickly taking it over as vines and creepers covered the walls and draped from the ceiling, turning the entire structure into a jungle as the servants, cooks, butlers, and maids were all taken one by one, suffering a similar or worse fate to that of the princess at the start of the movie.
"Scared?" Ben asked.
"N-no, I like using y-you as a human shield." Apple shivered as a woman with four, thorny creepers for legs under her dress of poison oak leaves and deadly flowers against her pale, green skin suddenly lunged out of the shadows and wrapped an unsuspecting knight up in twisted roots that cut through and stripped him of his tough armor before she savagely bit his neck and drained him of his fluids, casting the lifeless body aside as a few, bloody drops dripped from the cage of fangs that resided past her plump, blood red lips.
"You're scared." Ben concluded with a knowing smile. "Don't worry; I was almost exactly like you when I saw my first horror movie." he told her.
"R-Really? Wh-what happened?" Apple asked.
"I was nine at the time; stuffed every last one of my clothes, stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows underneath my bed and locked my closet so the monsters couldn't get me. Ended up sleeping in my parents room out of fear." Ben replied a smile; a cook on screen tried to beat back the advancing jungle with a rolling pin before one of the creepers managed to wretch it from his grasp and crack it over his head, knocking him out as the jungle hungrily descended on him.
"Don't worry. I gotcha." Ben reassured her, looping a protective arm around her shoulder; Apple blushed a crimson red and snuggled into his embrace before she quickly burrowed her head into his chest to avoid watching a screaming maid be torn in two by the savage plants before she devoured, all the while the mysterious woman cackled and screamed with laughter at the death that surrounded her.
"I think that scene raises a pertinent question." Oakler's voice rang out loud over the movie.
"What's that?" Birchman wondered.
"Why did they do it?" Oakler asked, earning a chuckle from him and his partner; nobody heard or cared as they were too busy either screaming and covering their eyes or just too busy watching the movie itself. Ben ignored the two, heckling puppets and merely hugged Apple close, comforting her as he watched the movie and occasionally whispered comforting words to her whenever she dared to peek at the movie itself.
Unbeknownst to either Ben, Apple, Cerise, Kitty, or even Blondie, Raven and Maddie were watching both groups from farther up from where Ben and Apple were sitting; a few minutes after the princess had left their dorm, Raven had quickly left the room and gathered Maddie as back up as she followed both Apple and Blitzwolfer through the streets of Book End and into the Multi-Hex. Her goal was somewhat similar to Cerise and Kitty's, but she was doing it more out of concern for Ben than Apple. She wasn't entirely sure what Ben was feeling right at the moment, but she assumed that he wouldn't want to take things too fast if someone he had only met days ago when he probably already had someone back home who was probably missing him. Raven felt her heart clench as memories came flooding back to her: a terrified shriek and the sound of metal cutting through flesh as cruel and sick laughter echoed through it all.
"Ooh! She's gonna get hacked! She's gonna get hacked good!" Maddie cheered with as much enthusiasm as one might be at a bookball game. On screen, a servant managed to cut off and fend herself from several sharp and prickly vines and roots trying to get at her as she was backed into a dark corner when suddenly, the plant woman shattered the glass of the window behind her and drove her spike-like nails into the girl's neck, sucking her dry as she dragged her out the window; Raven wasn't the slightest bit fazed. She had seen far worse.
It was then that she noticed out of the corner of her eye Kitty vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but her mischievous smile behind for a few seconds before it too disappeared and then reappeared attached to its usual place on Kitty's face on a branch overhead of directly where Ben and Apple were sitting; in her hand was a cup of soda that she "accidentally" spilled, her eyes widening with amusement when the sticky liquid fell closer and closer to the unsuspecting couple.
Acting entirely out of impulse, Raven raised a finger and sent a ball of raw magic right at the falling cup of soda, wincing slightly when the purple energy collided with the drink and sent it flying back towards Cerise and Blondie, splashing them all over with a loud hissing noise; several girls in the theater flinched and yelped, thinking that a snake had managed to slither its way into the theater, before they quieted down.
Raven just hoped nothing else would go wrong that night when the movie screen suddenly split open and was torn in two, sending the fireflies scattering in swarms as a massive, bulky figure with broad shoulders came charging out from behind the screen with his metal fists clenched tightly; directly behind him were two, seemingly identical figures that moved in near perfect unison as a final figure the color of rust and blood flew through the air and flipped before landing directly in front of Ben and Apple, startling them.
"Surrender now, alien scum!" Sir Morton roared. "Yer comin' with us!"
"RUN!" Ben yelled; the reaction was immediate as movie patrons screamed and yelled as they fled the theater, throwing their popcorn and drinks and candies in all directions as they ran; all among the confusion and terror, Ben tapped the Omnitrix, sighing with relief when he found out that it had recharged, and cycled through his roster before finding a suitable transformation and slamming down on the activation button, swallowing himself in a burst of green light as he was changed into something new and out of this world, literally. Ben's bones cracked and splintered as they were hollowed out, becoming strong and hollow as his skin crackled loudly and turned a pale gray in color while it softened; muscles piled themselves under his arms as his veins swelled and pumped alien blood throughout his body while his hands twitched violently before turning into wicked claws that looked like they could easily slice through flesh. His feet ripped out of his shoes, now three sharp talons attached to three, strong toes as his legs being more muscled and tone while his chest expanded. His teeth crunched loudly as they sharpened into razor-sharp, yellow fangs just as a black and green jumpsuit with a tough, green chest plate and gloves with green fingers materialized on him just as a green mask with two, spiked horns that resembled bat wings formed on his face; the Omnitrix appeared on his stomach as a thin membrane formed between his elbow and waist, completing the transformation.
Whampire's hissed angrily as he bared his dagger sharp claws and showed off his razor-sharp fangs, making Sir Morton pause for a moment; the Vladat was about to take the moment to rush at the Forever Knight and tackle him to the ground when he was suddenly blinded by an irritating flash.
"What are you doing!?" Whampire snarled at Blondie just before Sir Morton slammed him, sending him skidding back before he was slugged twice painfully in his pointed jaw before he managed to get a moment's peace with a sharp punch to Morton's face. With the knight distracted, the Vladat flapped his arms and took to the air, now out of reach of Sir Morton but not out of reach, unfortunately, of the Twins; each of them a short device about as long as their arm that was constructed like a triangle with a blaster being attached to the longest end, a laser lance. The Twins fired off their weapons at Whampire in the hopes of hitting him, forcing the Vladat to move and dodge through the blaster fire as the wild shots cut through the canopy and struck against the trunks of the trees, putrid smoke filling the air as wood burned.
Apple gulped and curled herself up into a ball for protection, covering her ears as the battle raged on around her; the movie had greatly frightened her, but this was beyond terrifying. She had been taught that knights were noble people that put others needs before their own as they gallantly rode across the land and righted wrongs, slayed dragons, rescued princesses, and stopped evil in its tracks all while being kind, courteous, and brave. These knights though, they didn't seem to follow the code very well, putting innocent lives in danger as they wildly and almost randomly fired off their weapons without care and endangered those that remained trapped in the theater in their mad chase after Whampire.
"Fear not, fair maiden!" Sir Morton's voice punched against her ears. "I shall save ye from the alien spawn!" he declared as he roughly picked Apple up in one arm and heaved her over his shoulder, holding her nice and secure as she screamed and beat her hands angrily on his back.
"Apple!" Whampire cried. With a savage hiss, the Vladat bared his teeth and dove down at the Twins, slamming into the first one before grabbing him by the arm and throwing him into his brother before flying tight at the two of them and slammed them into the trunk of a thick tree. Whampire then turned his attention onto Sir Morton as he then tried to attempt and pick up Cerise; the half-breed did not take kindly to this and bared her teeth angrily, growling like an angry dog. The Vladat took Sir Morton's hesitant pause as a chance to rush at him, crashing into him before he grabbed him by the shoulders with Apple in tow and hauled him up into the air, tossing him up before he slugged him a dozen times in the face, neck, chest, gut, and head before he let the Forever Knight fall to the ground.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Apple screamed as she plummeted; Raven gasped and was about to reach out with her magic and try to form a cushion of some kind to catch the fall princess when a green and black blur streaked through the air and caught Apple just in the nick of time; Whampire held Apple close to him with his strong hands under her legs and back as he descended to the ground and set her down before he was suddenly punched in the face.
Holding his jaw, the alien vampire stumbled back to see a newly repaired and highly vengeful Forever Ninja standing before him, giving him a taunting gesture before it lashed out with a roundhouse kick and sent Whampire flying into a tree trunk.
"Please give me something useful." Whampire pleaded as he slammed a hand down on the Omnitrix on his chest and was swallowed in a burst of green light as his DNA was scrambled and turned into something new. Ben's bones and skeleton snapped and crunched with excruciating noises as he got smaller and smaller, shrinking down to about the size of a small child; a layer of short fur sprouted all over his body, become slim and smooth enough to be mistaken for skin as darker spots formed on his arms and face like freckles. His toes ground and shifted into stubby paws with three digits as tissue and muscle formed slightly on his arms and legs and more packed on his stomach, giving him a slight potbelly. His ears drooped like liquid, becoming long and pointed as their rotated like liquid metal to the top of his forehead while his eyes became round and moved farther apart as his nose snapped and cracked loudly, pushed back into his face. His top jaw crunched as it was thrust forward, allowing for his front teeth to grow bigger and longer as a green and black jumpsuit formed on his body and white gloves appeared on his hand just as a big, blonde mustache puffed into existence on his face; the Omnitrix appeared on a large belt around his considerable waistline, completing the transformation.
"Ha-ha! Mole-stahce, eh?" the small, plump alien chuckled as he climbed to his feet while the Forever Ninja stalked closer. "I say, dear chap, put your dukes up and have at me!"
With a grunt, the small rodentoid lunged at the android as his long and fluid mustache morphed into a pair of hairy fists that slugged the Forever Ninja in the head, causing it to stumble back before it was struck in the stomach region and sent flying; Mole-Stache chuckled in triumph before raising his mustache fists just in time to block a swing from Sir Morton, giving him a swift uppercut that sent him flying back towards the screen, tearing out an even bigger portion of it before crashed to the ground, unmoving.
"Ha, ha! So it seems you no match for me, gentlemen!" Mole-Stache chuckled confidently. "I suggest you chaps crawl back to whatever hole you slithered out of right now before you make even more upset than I already am." he suggested; the Twins were all to eager to leave as they scrambled to their feet and rushed to the destroyed movie screen to each grab onto one of Sir Morton's legs and drag him away. The Forever Ninja however, was not one to give up so easily and whipped out its laser sword before charging right at plump alien and swinging its sword in two quick swipes; a loud hissing and the smell of burning hair filled the air as the two burly fists Mole-Stache had constructed fell limp to the ground and fell into piles of lose hair.
"I say, time for a change of face." he gulped as he quickly slapped the Omnitrix on his chest, swallowing himself in a flash of green light as his body was changed and distorted into something new and bizarre, the likes of which Ever After had never seen before. His bones ground and crunched as he was shrunk down to a height of roughly two and a half feet tall as his skin turned a smooth, blood red in color; a thin, spaded tail snaked out from the base of his as his fingers grew longer and more jointed while his nails became curved and sharpened. His eyes widened apart slightly as his nose suddenly jutted out at a comical, almost ridiculous length; Ben's ears became larger and slightly bat-like before becoming spiked as his toes melted together into three digits, his heel grinding against his foot before becoming a small spike. He became slightly obese as spikes formed on his chin and the corners of his eyes before a green and black aviator's outfit appeared on his body, complete with a white ascot and a pair of goggles strapped to his head; the Omnitrix appeared on his belt, finishing the transformation.
"Jury Rigg, huh?" the imp-like creature grinned wickedly as he looked himself over and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. "Alright! Lets do this!"
Blondie ducked out from behind the tree she had taken shelter behind just as Jury Rigg cackled and swiftly dodged to the elft to avoid a swing of the Forever Ninja's sword and then launched himself right at the android's face, hanging on with strong fingers and firm claws as his tail wagged back and forth. There then came a bright flash of light as Jury Rigg's fist punched clean through the Forever Ninja's head and yanked out a fistful of wires and conduits.
"BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!" the imp cackled madly as he left deep scratches on the android's red plating and tore out more wires and processors; Blondie gasped and quickly snapped a photo with her Mirrorphone before ducking behind the tree again to glance over the pictures she had taken, sighing with relief when she saw she had captured images of Whampire, Mole-Stache, Jury Rigg, and Ben and Apple together.
"FIX! FIX! FIX! FIX!" Jury Rigg now chanted as he pulled wires and processors or memory chips back into new and seemingly random places, all while he cackled with an insane personality and rooted through the remaining items within the Forever Ninja. "DONE!" he cried triumphantly as he leaped back off of the android and clapped his hands together. The robot hummed and moved rigidly for a few seconds before it beeped and bowed low to the imp and gave a quick salute before swiftly and silently leaving the Multi-Hex behind, taking to the rooftops to avoid being spotted; the Omnitrix timed out seconds after Ben dove behind a log that functioned as a bench in the hopes of not being discovered. All was silent for a few more seconds before Apple uncurled herself from the ball she had folded up into to look around the trashed movie theater.
"You, okay?" Ben whispered.
"I'm fine." Apple responded. "C'mon. We should get out of here before the authorities come."
"Agreed." Ben nodded, taking Apple's hand, a gesture that made the princess blush slightly, and run out of the Mutli-Hex. Raven sat up, rubbing her head and looked around to find that Apple and Ben had left, most likely heading back to Ever After; mentally cursing herself, the witchling roused Maddie and swiftly left the movie theater as well, taking a shortcut she had used numerous times through the Enchanted Forest to get there before either Apple or Ben. Maddie didn't question her friends sudden rush and ran just as fast with her, cackling merrily all the way.
"Cerise? Kitty?" Blondie whispered once she was sure the coast was clear.
"Right here, Blondie." Cerise responded in a soft tone as she appeared to ooze out of a dark shadow, her hood tugged protectively over her head and face; Kitty flashed into existence next to the half-breed, a frown on her face as soda dripped from her hair and popcorn clung to her clothes, forcing Cerise to stifle a chuckle when she caught sight of the feline
"What happened, Kitty?" Blondie wondered.
"I don't wanna talk about it." the cat huffed. "I just wanna get back home and into a bath." With little else to say in the matter, the three girls left, Kitty feeling as if she had been tricked and outsmarted somehow, Cerise feeling both hurt and severely annoyed at Apple and the mysterious boy she had been with, and Blondie feeling especially hexcited; she was going to be up all night preparing for her latest newscast.
The theater remained silent for a few more minutes before Birchman and Oakler eventually spoke and filled the empty space with their heckling voices once more.
"What was that?" Oakler wondered.
"It was very strange." Birchman tapped his wooden chin.
"It was very weird!" Oakler nodded.
"It was peculiar!" Birchman agreed.
"It was kinda amusing."
"Yes, it was rather funny!"
"It was incredibly funny!"
"I loved it!" Birchman declared loudly. "Encore! Encore!"
"More! More!" Oakler cheered as their low, elderly voice echoed through the empty theater for no one in particular to hear of laugh with.
The moon was bright and full overhead as Ben finally came to a stop over the Troll's Bridge to catch his breath, Apple pausing next to him; the two of them remained silent for a few minutes as Ben sighed and rested his elbows on the bridge, setting his face into his hands as he sighed. "Not one of my better nights." he sighed.
"Well . . . it could have been worse." Apple ventured.
"How?"
"You could have missed." Apple suggested.
"Maybe." Ben inhaled a deep breath to clear his thoughts. "Look, Apple? Tonight started out as a fun night, but . . . I don't think I'm being completely honest with you."
"What do you mean?" Apple wondered.
"You know how I'm from another universe?"
"Yes?" Apple gulped nervously.
"Well . . . to be completely honest, I have . . . a girlfriend back home. Several actually." Ben admitted. "A harem of sorts, if you will."
"A . . . harem?" Apple gulped, her throat becoming dry and parched upon hearing that word; while it was not uncommon for a king or prince to have multiple spouses or wives, Apple was not use to this fact. She had grown up in a home with only one mother and father and an army of servants, cooks, nannies, butlers, and guards at her beck and call to order around or play with depending on what she needed. She saw them as an extended family of sorts in addition to her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and limited cousins, and treated them as such, often giving them homemade gifts on Christmas or their birthdays when it was known, but she had never seen her father treat them as other wives or her mother treat them as multiple husbands. It just seemed . . . unnatural.
"Yes." Ben sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry, Apple, tonight was fun while it lasted, but . . . I can't continue doing this without it feeling like I'm backstabbing the ghouls I've come to love."
"You said it was a harem, right?" Apple spoke up after a few minutes of thought. "That means you would be able date and collect other girls without any problems, right?" she wondered hopefully; truth be told, she was against the whole harem idea, but if she could just get Ben to accept her at first, she could work her way into cutting off all his ties with the others girls of his harem until she was the only one left. She knew that it sounded selfish, but the way she saw it she was preventing the end of her world here but making sure her story played out as it was supposed to be, with a poisoned apple, a handsome knight, and evil queen, a beautiful princess, and seven adorable dwarves.
"I suppose . . ." Ben said, turning around to lean against the bridge; frogs croaked and trilled in the water below, singing their serenades as fireflies and fairies skimmed low and care free over the water surface, just barely grazing the surface to cause tiny ripples make the sky's reflection shimmer and waver. "It just doesn't sit well with me hooking up with girls from another universe without their permission first; we never actually discussed me dating other ghouls."
"Why do you keep saying that word? Ghouls?" Apple wondered.
"The girls I'm dating are monsters. Werewolves, sea monsters, ghosts, that kind of thing." Ben replied without being fazed in the slightest; Apple froze up upon hearing the word monster pass over Ben's lips. He had to be kidding, right? There was no way he could be dating nightmarish, terrifying creatures beyond all description of horror and fear, right? She glanced up at his face and winced slightly when she saw it was firm and unwavering; it had to be true. "Al-Alright." Apple nodded, shaken and uncomfortable with the fact that she was not the first, nor probably the last girl to fall in love with Ben.. "I suppose that's fair."
Ben sighed for what seemed the hundredth time. "Look, Apple, I like you, I really do. You're clever and pretty, everyone likes you and is totally bonkers over your beauty, but I just can't go any farther without getting this feeling that what I'm doing."
"So . . . it's over?" Apple asked fearfully; she felt like she was going to cry, and Ben seemed to sense it too.
"Well . . . no . . ." Ben surrendered. "I suppose . . . we could try taking things a little further." he said before becoming serious again. "But if I find out that this kind of thing isn't okay with my ghouls, it's off, no arguments, okay?"
Apple nodded eagerly, only really paying attention to half of what he had; she had stopped listening after Ben said they could try dating. She anxiously lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Ben, hugging him tightly under the moon as Ben reluctantly slipped his arms around her too, surprised to feel that it somehow felt natural; he had done this numerous times with the other ghouls, but this felt unique and different. Ben shrugged it off as finally lovingly hugging someone that was an actual human and not some walking corpse composed entirely out of "borrowed" body parts. He felt Apple nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck and it felt oddly innate somehow; he reached with a hand and carefully stroked his fingers through Apple's luscious, blonde curls, marveling at how smooth and fluid they were before Apple suddenly tilted her head upwards and kissed him softly on the cheek. Ben froze on the spot, closing his eyes as he inhaled the cool, night air sharply and noticed for the first time that night that Apple smelled like fresh apple blossoms in the spring time. Without entirely knowing what he was doing, he tilted his head downwards and tentatively pressed his lips to Apple's, the two of them freezing on the spot like statues to savor the moment before Ben slowly moved his lips and let Apple catch up, mentally smiling when the princess moaned quietly and shivered at his touch before they broke away to embrace each other.
The two of them seemed to glow an intense, white light in the darkness of the night, glowing brighter as the two of them embrace and held onto each other for the longest time, completely oblivious to their sudden luminescence before it died away. "I love you, Ben." Apple whispered softly as she rested her head against Ben's chest.
"I . . . love you, too, Apple." Ben answered back, meaning every word.
Frankie grunted as she ducked low under a swipe of Lilith's leg before popping back up and jumping backwards to avoid a swing of the Jersey Devil's fist; Lilith was about to run right at the young cadaver again when she was suddenly slammed into by Bonita as she swooped down from the air and slammed into her, knocking her to the floor. The three ghouls were training together in one of the many facilities the Plumber Base had to offer its working officers and cadets, the room having a black hexagonal patterned floor and tall posts and platform of the same shape with a circuit design rising up from the floor here and there, providing cover or a high vantage point depending on how the training Plumbers chose to use them.
"You're gonna regret that, Bonita." Lilith hissed, her sharp tongue slipping over her fangs as she turned to the Omnitrix on her wrist without hesitation and turned it on, selecting one of the two available transformations before slamming a hand down on the waiting activation button; Bonita gulped and hid behind one of the pillars. Lilith's skin turned a bright yellow and became hard and plated with a loud cracking noise while her fingers and thumbs melted together into a single, sharp spike. Her arms and legs snapped and crunched loudly, becoming jointed as she fell forward onto her new legs; her lips protruded out from her face and twisted sideways, swelling into a horny pair of cupped pincers. Lilith's eyes turned a jet black with blues slits as her horns rotated together with their bases fusing together into a single growth as they seemed to grow from her eyebrows into a large, forked pair of antennae while she continued to shrink and grow smaller until she was the size of a small dog; a blue and white neck brace formed around her chest, the Omnitrix appearing in a burst of blue light and completing the transformation.
"BugBomb!" the small insect declared loudly.
"I thought you named it Balle Weevil?" Bonita whimpered from behind the pillar she had taken cover behind.
"I renamed it, alright? Got tired of fans telling me the name was already used and that I was nothing more than a copycat." BugBomb grumbled before she suddenly coughed horribly and hacked up a gooey, blue ball of plasma and kicked it like a soccer ball right at Bonita and Frankie; the former of the two yelped with fright and instinctively took to the air as Frankie dove for cover just as the ball of plasma exploded and reduced the pillar Bonita had been hiding behind into rubble. BugBomb then coughed up another plasma ball and skittered on top of it, wobbling for a few seconds before she kicked her four, little legs into high gear and sped off in Bonita's general direction, absorbing the debris that littered the floor and succeeding in growing her plasma ball to a bigger proportion as she took a lap around the arena.
"Well, if if we're using our Omnitrixes . . ." Frankie thought to herself before she sighed; Ben would have loved seeing this, watching the ghouls train with each other as he occasionally interrupted with pointers for each ghoul on how to properly use an alien or help one of them out himself if they were having particular trouble mastering an ability. He was never harsh or cruel, and Ben often told the ghouls that he had once been rookie at handling the secrets of the Omnitrix himself.
Frankie shook her head; she was in the middle of a training match, not mourn over her boyfriend's disappearance; with a deep breath, she turned on her own Omnitrix and selected Tourma before slapping the activation button and letting the familiar cyan colored light wash over her and change her DNA into something new. Her fingers ground and cracked, twitching violently as her veins grew in size, pumping alien blood through her circulation as her skin oozed into an inky, black shade the color of midnight as her fingertips snapped and crunched in a painful noise, turning blocky and cube-shaped as they hardened into metallic plugs; Frankie's back cracked loudly as a long, whip-like tail sprouted from the base of her spine, a metallic growth forming on the end like that of a plug as her body shot upwards few feet and swelled with muscle and tissue. She formed a slight bust as her toes ripped through her shoes and morphed into two, sharp claws as every last hair on her head was sucked back into her scalp like strands of spaghetti while her bottom jaw thrust forward slightly and let her teeth grow into razor edges. Her mismatched eyes melted together into a single, cyan orb as a pair of long, elastic antennae sprouted from her skull as chest and stomach turned a light shade of cyan down the middle, the Omnitrix forming between her breasts and completing the transformation.
"Ooh! I got Feedback!" the female Conductoid grinned when she glanced over herself, whipping her tail back and forth for a few seconds to test it out. "Although, I suppose I should pick a different name."
"How about 'Roadkill'?" BugBomb suggested as she back around on a now car-sized plasma ball and ran right towards the Conductoid, barely missing by inches as she dove out of the way in the nick of time.
"That's a horrible name!" the electric alien protested. "What about 'Plug-in'?" she tried.
"I-I like it." Bonita gulped as she glanced at her own Omnitrix before shifting her eyes around in fear; there was supposed to be one more ghoul in the room with them, but she was nowhere to be seen, and this greatly worried the hybrid as she alighted down on the top of one of the pedestals, watching as Plug-in thrust her tail into the floor and siphoned off a considerable amount of electricity before raising her plugged fingers and firing off the high amount of energy at BugBomb, gulping nervously when the plasma ball only got bigger when it absorbed the attack.
The three ghouls and currently missing one had been divided up into two teams, with Frankie and Bonita being partnered up, and were currently locked in a challenge to try and hold the other at gunpoint (or claw, flipper, tooth, tail, or fist point, depending on the situation); so far they were at a stalemate of sorts, with the introduction of the Omnitrixes given to them by Ben meant to be used as a tiebreaker.
"Hello? Twyla?" Bonita gulped nervously, her voice sounding frail and insignificant despite the sound of electricity crackling the air and explosions echoing off the walls. When no answer came, she carefully turned on her Omnitrix and selected Eye Gal, pausing to make sure she was completely safe before she pressed the activation and engulfing herself in a soft pink light just as Twyla popped out of her own shadow and slammed into her, knocking the both of them off of the pillar as the Boogie girl activated her own Omnitrix and was swallowed in a bright, white light.
Bonita grew upwards a few feet, her pink exoskeleton cracking and splitting loudly as it became soft to the touch and spread over the gaps between her rib bones, radiating over her head and face and wholly blinding her; she could no longer see anything but light shining through the folds of skin over her eyes before they withered away into nothing nothingness, her skull crunching as new bone filled the empty sockets and her arms grew longer. Her feathery antennae wavered for a second before snapping loudly and hardening into large, flaps of skin strung between two, thin rods that curled into slight swirls at the tips while her teeth ground loudly as they became needle-like behind her blackening lips. Bonita's knuckles were covered by brand new skin and sprouted sharp claws at the end of her fingers while her toes burst out of her shoes. Then suddenly, she could see again. At first, she saw nothing but the ceiling above as she fell. Then she saw the floor racing upwards her. Then she could see BugBomb detonate her massive sticky ball in a fiery, blue explosion as Plug-in jumped back to avoid it. Then she could see up, down, forward, behind, and all around and even the inside of her tight, platinum and pink trimmed top until she could see in every direction possible as a pair of white and pink short appeared below a pink belt with the Omnitrix on it.
Twyla felt her entire body swell slightly with muscle and tissue as her shoulders broadened and arms bulked up with her veins pumping fresh blood through her system as her hands twitched and trembled and grew slightly larger than before, her fingers fusing together into three, long and flexible digits. Her throat bloated largely before deflating, now a malleable sack of skin as her legs became packed with muscles, becoming heavily padded in her hips, thighs and ass as her small bust grew considerably larger than before as her toes fused into two, long digits. Her pale, gray skin turned a pale shade of green as deeper mottled spots formed on her arms, legs and head as her lips became plump and full; a dark gray bodysuit with patches of periwinkle formed on her shoulders, arms, wrists, chest, stomach, and thigh as her feet were encompassed in firm, single-toe shoes, leaving only her face and fingers exposed. The transformation completed as an air tank of some kind formed on her back, a pair of sunglasses appeared over her eyes, and the Omnitrix appeared on the breathing device of her air tank.
The two aliens smashed into the floor of the arena, sending up a cloud of dust and debris before one of them finally emerged: an Incursean.
"AO, look at dis new alien!" the humanoid frog ribbited with a loud, Boston accent. "Whadda ya think I should name it?"
"How about 'look out behind you'!?" BugBomb gave a warning yell before she coughed off several more globets of plasma and hurled them at Plug-in; the Incursean whirled around just to receive an eyeblast to the gut, sending her flying across the arena and into one of the pillars where she slid down to the ground with a groan.
"Bet ya didn't see that one comin;." Eye Gal grinned as she climbed out of the crater and dusted herself. "And now for the eye-cing on the cake!"
"Hey, watch da puns!" the Incursean croaked as she climbed to her feet. "And as fer my name, how about Leapfrog?" she grinned before she gave a loud ribbit and lashed out with her long, elastic tongue, cracking her flexible organ across the Opticoid's face before wrapping it around her waist and slamming her into the ground twice before throwing her into Plug-in just as BugBomb was about to detonate her massive sticky ball; the ball of plasma exploded in a gooey, green mass, trapping and pinning Eye Gal and Plug-in to the floor.
"So whaddya say, toots? Surrender?" Leapfrog smirked as BugBomb crawled up onto her shoulder.
"Y-Yes, p-please." Eye Gal trembled; Leapfrog gave a satisfied nod and helped the Opticoid and Conductoid to their feet as all four Omnitrixes timed out in colorful bursts of light, returning Frankie, Lilith, Bonita, and Twyla to the world.
"Sorry I got the drop on you, Bonita." Twyla apologized.
"I-It's okay." Bonita replied shakily. "I'm j-just glad it's over."
"And just as well," Grandpa Max's voice rang out from the viewing platform above, drawing all four of the ghoul's attention. "Charmcaster and Dragoon just arrived back from Ledgerdomain with some interesting news." The ghouls waited patiently, catching their breath and resting until the doors to the training room hissed open and the enchantress and dragon themselves came strolling in; Charmcaster had changed her appearance since last time the ghouls had seen her, now wearing a short, purple dress with black patterns and pink hearts with purple centers on her arms and hips. She had a high, pink collar, pink sash around her waist, and black gloves that ran up to her elbow traced in pink. Black leggings adorned her legs and bizarre and strange black symbols and markings dotted her exposed arms as a black crwon sat on her head, the royal robes of a rule of Ledgerdomain; Dragoon meanwhile, stayed dressed in regular clothes, consisting of little more than just a pair of ragged jeans and white robe top trimmed with red as similar markings to Charmcaster's dotted his golden scales.
"Hey, Charmcaster." Lilith smiled. "How's Ledgerdomain treating you and Dragoon?"
The sorceress, who had been straight and ridged when she entered the room suddenly when limp and relaxed, suddenly tired. "Ruling a dimension is tougher than it sounds." she replied. "It was rather rough at first, but we're finally starting to repopulate and rebuild."
"After some . . . incentive." Dragoon added with a small smile, blowing a cloud of smoke from his mouth.
"Any luck finding Ben?" Frankie asked hopefully.
Charmcaster shook her head. "Unfortunately, no." she sighed. "We're coming nowhere close to locating him. And our problems just got bigger."
"How?" Bonita asked worriedly.
"It's Adwaita." Charmcaster sighed wearily; Dragoon wrapped a comforting arm around her, earning a small smile. "He's escaped from his prison in Ledgerdomain."
"I thought he wasn't being punished?" Twyla raised an eyebrow. "That he had suffered enough in your bag?"
Charmcaster was about to answer when she paused and reached down to unclip a familiar, mouthed bag seemingly sewed together from scraps of cloth and fabric before raising it up to her ear. "No, I'm sure she didn't mean it like that. You're actually quite comfortable."
When she received odd and worried looks from the ghouls, concerned that she was having a relapse of sorts, Dragoon interrupted. "Believe it or not, the bag's actually alive. And he cheats at cards, too."
"He?" Bonita gulped.
"Don't worry about it," Charmcaster waved it off. "Just some unimportant sorcerer whose serving his own punishment as my purse." she explained. "Anyway, while he did spend some time inside of my bag, he still has time to serve according to the traditions of my people."
"What happened?" Lilith asked.
"We don't know." Dragoon said gravely. "But Adwaita's free and on the loose. And no one will be safe."
And there we go!
Apple's officially a part of the harem, folks! After an eternity of waiting, Ben's finally got an Ever After girl! Just how much will Apple change due to Ben's influence? You'll have to wait and see!
Now before I go on, I apologize for anyone that thinks otherwise for Leapfrog's number of fingers; I am fully aware of the fact that every other Incursean, including Bullfrag, has three digits while Lord Emperor Milleous and Attea have five fingers (don't ask me how that works; I'm thinking its some kind of rare mutation that's only common among the royal family currently in power. That, or somewhere along the line, Milleous and Attea's ancestors married with humans or something), but with the picture I had to work with, it didn't show the hands.
Speaking of the drawing, if you are wondering what I am talking about, I based Leapfrog on a wonderful drawing made by TheWalrusclown and ZigWolf called Croakette. It's basically a rule 63 version of Bullfrag; they've done several of these for Gwen 10, and I base some of the ghoul's transformations of them if female species of their aliens are not available for me to look at.
Okay, enough of my babbling. Don't forget to vote on which yuri couple you want to see!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!