Once Upon a Tennyson

by Creaturemaster

(After WAM) Ben somehow arrives in a world of fairy tales and magic, where following one's destiny is important above all else and the student body of a certain school is locked in a war over how to live their lives. Can Ben unite the students under one flag before the dark force lurking within the shadows ends them and claims the world for itself? The first of it's kind!

13. Riding High and Riding Hood

Here and I am once more, ladies and gentlemen, monsters and fairy tales of all ages and species!

Consequently, I have figuratively died and gone to heaven (I'm already dead and am currently working in Hades' palace to produce this story. Other than his constant gambling, the dude's actually a pretty cool guy). You guys are amazing and have responded so quickly to the latest update; seriously, I got like thirty reviews or so in just the first three hours or so (that I was awake anyway). So, thank you all from the bottom of my undead Tetramand hearts.

To show some gratitude to one of my fellow readers, the always awesome Menatron the Angel of Ideas, I will once again shamelessly advertise one of his story ideas/ requests: a Winx Club/Avengers Xover! I myself have NO interest or time to do this, so he has asked me to spread this out to all you lovely peoples in the hopes that one of you will pick up on the idea! If you are interested, PM Menatron the Angel of Ideas.

Now onto the review answers that you may or may not have been waiting for!

Cartoonfan10 – If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise anymore, now would it?

StrongGuy159 – I fully intend to, mi amigo!

Da999 – THAT"S RIGHT, BABY! SKURD'S BACK IN THE GAME!

Redrangerlegacy – It will be a dark day indeed, when the two crafty kitties meet.

n1ght4ury20 – Hey, don't worry about it. Glad you liked the chapter.

Linkonpark100 – Bigger explosions, eh? Enter Bada-boom!

Karlos1234ify – Don't worry. All will be made right with Dexter and Cupid; Ben won't take this one lying down!

Guest – Some references, yes. Not a lot, but some. As for the fight between Ben and Hoodude . . . I'll think about it. As for Snakepit, that would actually be pretty hilarious. And yes, I did read your comment about Phantux, but that's not what I'm going for. Thinking Dr. Facilie, only more sadistic and manipulative. For your antlion/lacewing idea, I like it, but it's not what I'm looking for. I'd be more than happy to draw it though, once time permits.

Justaquestion12 – Actually, no. I just thought it would be funny. XD

Codecrash – Once again, there's a reason that Dexter's acting like a jerk, and it's not because he lost Raven (that's a small reason, but it's not the main one). As for the Halloween chapter . . . I have something more . . . spooky . . . in mind. And multiple Darings? This can't ever amount to anything good. Run for the hills, everyone!

Kaiju Fan – Wow, I honestly didn't think bringing Skurd back into this mess would be so well received. As for Alpha, I never really intended him to be taken as seriously as the other villains that were mentioned; he was and is mostly just someone for the ghouls to fight and overcome to keep my readers updated on how the ghouls are doing back home before they are eventually dragged into the mess as well (no doubt with disastrous results).

The Question – Why is it that whenever something strange happens, they always blame it on Paradox!? I'm not saying you're wrong of course, however, nor am I saying you're right. You'll just have to wait and see! As for Cerise, if I fused her with Blitzwolfer, everyone would just assume it was part of the transformation, plus I've been using everyone's favorite alien werewolf a lot recently and wanted to give him a break to bring in other aliens that hadn't been introduced yet.

Royal Rebel – WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST ME, HUH!? WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO SUFFER A CONCUSSION!? Fortunately for me right now, Maddie is drinking herself silly with tea, thankfully keeping her blissfully busy while I hurriedly try to get this done and hook her with Ben soon before she takes matters into her own hands. And knowing Ben, any job he gets won't last for long (except maybe a job at Maddie's tea shop).

Classic Lover – Don't worry. If I don't get to it this chapter, Maddie will take care of it the next.

Gojira – Ben and Cerise are not an official couple yet, but that should change rather quickly. As for Cupid, she still will end up with Dexter, but I have my ways of making things right as rain; there is, after all, a reason why Dexter hit her (if it was just because of Raven, he would have just yelled).

Erebor – Every now and then, when things are at peace for the time being, she'll return to that dream. Or someplace similar. That doesn't mean the nightmares won't come back though.

Story Artist – True, Ben isn't fully acquainted with Maddie yet, but she is plotting to knock me out with her mallet and take over the story at some point, so watch out! Currently however, she's drinking herself silly with tea, so thank goodness for that!

Mechazard01 – I actually thought about this, but I quickly thought against it; I already have enough characters as it is, and I do not need anymore to complicate things otherwise this story will never be finished; and before you say anything, Genie from my previous story was not the one from Disney's Aladdin. Just because they have a similar personality and lines doesn't mean they are related.

masterart – Alpha is the main villain of the Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes united Xover (this is actually canon. Believe it or not, this is actually where Shocksquatch debuted, not in Omniverse, though he's considering an Omniverse alien because he never appeared in any other series and he got a complete redesign after the Xover special). You'll have to watch the Xover to get the whole story (highly recommend it).

Smaug – Don't worry. Skurd's here to stay, whether Ben likes it or not. As for Maltruant, the little event may be mentioned, but it won't happen again. That ain't my style.

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – Glad you enjoyed the fusions and Skurd's return. As for Dexter and Cupid, there's more to this little mishap than anyone either knows ;)

Fantasy Knight – Jigsaw is basically the Ben 10 version of any of the Looney Tunes characters, if this helps clear that up.

Lord Humungus – Now that I look back at what I've written, I realize it was perhaps a bit extreme. But there is a perfectly reason for why Dexter is behaving this way, and it's not because of Raven (if it was just that, Dexter would have just yelled). And I assure you that Ben will get more than a few punches out of Dexter before this whole thing is resolved; and I'm to disappoint/anger you, but I am pairing Dexter and Cupid together. It won't happen for a while, and it will be slow, but they will end up together after a while.

Grimlock – Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to see. As for Snakepit, I'll consider it.

Gosick5233 – I think I'll leave the idea of a Ben 10/Ever After High Xover where Ben never went to Monster High open to someone else to write; as for Thronecoming, it already happened before this chapter, though not before Spring Unsprung and Way to Wonderland.

Morantis – Rex will not be appearing in this story (there are enough characters to fit in as there are). And once again, thank you for helping me come up with the fusions. As for Alpha, he was created during the original nanite project to work as the nanite's boss, for lack of a better word, to tell them what to do; unfortunately, whatever machine it built for a body quickly burned out, and when it started to try and take over biological bodies, Caesar sent it into an empty pocket dimension, which actually turned out to be the Null Void. I would highly recommend seeing the special because, as canon crossovers go, it's actually descent and awesome as hex.

Darkness Rissing – All in due time, my fair reader, all in due time. Now down to business; I have been getting a lot of bad reception towards Dexter, and I can't honestly blame you. But I have a reason why Dexter is behaving like an asshole to what is probably one of, if not the sweetest girl in Ever After High (apple doesn't count because she's still trying to push the destiny thing). As for the battle, I had to take into a account that while Daring is clearly no match for Ben in the long run, he's had enough experience to at least go toe to toe with several of them (not Four Arms or Way Big though, he's toast when it comes to them).

Lord Dominator – Hmm. An interesting idea indeed. I'll put it under my list of things to consider for that time period. As for Maddie . . . you have no idea what you have just sentenced me to.

Unknown – Don't worry. You have offended me in anyway. As for your idea, I have no plans to bring Rex into this (makes it less confusing that way). This is strictly a ghoul (and possibly Ben) problem, nothing more. Glad you're enjoying Skurd's return as much as everyone else it though :)

DracoAngel7 – I plan to, mi amigo! And to make up for the lack of Skurd, you'll get to see our favorite Slimebiote in action. Don't worry about Dexter, though. He'll get what's coming to him.

Maverickmoxey2000 – Glad you like Alpha. And I had my reasoning behind the chosen fusions: Blondie got Teleportail (it was originally going to be ChamAlien) because she has a knack for unlocking doors and getting into places she's supposed to be in, which is made all the more easier when one can just telport there; Ashlynn got Wildvine because she loves nature, and as far as we've seen with Wildvine and Pax, most Florauna's are just as connected; Hunter got Jury Rigg because it be hilarious and because he has a knack for 'jury rigging' things together with whatever's lying around; Cedar, I mainly picked Clockwork for her since they're automatons; Cupid received Crashhopper because . . . well, really I just thought it would be funny to take her horrible skill with a bow and arrow and apply that to jumping with disastrous results. And believe me, I've had the video game thing happen to me; don't worry about Dexter, he'll get what's coming to him.

luciaryshadow – Thank you for the translation; now that I look it over, I could totally see Rath yelling that in English XD And I originally wanted to do Thronecoming, but with me accidentally placing Giles in before, I can no longer do that, so that's out; thankfully, I still have Spring Unsprung and Way to Wonderland. So I'm a god, now, eh? BOW DOWN TO ME, MORTAL! Now onto your ideas and requests: I love the Appoplexian idea for Skelita and fully intend to utilize it the next chance I get; Tetrax, I could probably work in with the misadventures the ghouls are having without Ben around, but Myaxx and Euince will be harder to work in, especially since I don't really have an intention of bringing them into the big mess of things.

Marshman101 – Glad you liked it. Welcome aboard!

Natsu – While I would love to do this, I think I'll leave it open for another writer to attack should they so chose; I'll probably write a one-shot series like I am for my Ben 10/Monster High Xover, pairing Ben with ghouls he wasn't canonically paired with in my story, but that's about it.

Alright, I think I've covered everything that needs to be taken care of.

Oh, wait! I just remembered! Okay, so I had this wonderful idea popped to me by maverickmoxery2000, that I definitely want to use, but there are two ways I could go with it; one that could be acceptable and one that could pretty much destroy this story to the core if I'm not careful. So I'm ask you all, my loyal fans and readers, or an answer. I have set up a poll on my profile explaining the idea in full detail and what I would like to do with it; whichever option receives the most votes will be used. SO PLEASE VOTE!

As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Onward!

"Okay, can someone kindly explain to me what the hex is going on here?" Briar sighed as she gave her wings a rest and alighted down on the ground. "And on a related note, introduce us to this . . . slime ball, too."

"Slime Ball!?" Skurd narrowed his beady eyes incredulously.

"Easy, Skurd. She's a friend." Heatblast rasped. I suppose introductions and explanations are in order, though, so I'll try to make this as short and simple as I can; this is my friend, Skurd."

"I prefer Skurd the Slimebiote, the Greatest and Single Most Important Organism in the Universe, but do feel free to paraphrase if it's too much for your tiny minds to remember." the Slimebiote proclaimed proudly.

"Looks like being frozen in a block of ice did nothing to shrink your ego, Booger Bag." Heatblast smirked as Skurd deflated at the remark.

"Uh, Ben? Not that I don't doubt your friends with all sorts of weird and crazy monsters and aliens back home, but why is he sitting on your Omnitrix?" Raven asked from Cerise's back; the Vulpimancer had taken a sitting position near the base of Snow White's box, excessive amounts of drool dripping from her huge teeth while she occasionally scratched herself with her hind leg. Apparently she had taken to her new form far easier than the others had, though Daring didn't seem to mind admiring his own, handsome look. "With a device that powerful, I wouldn't want anyone getting near it."

"What a silly thought," Skurd scoffed. "Without me, the lad would be dead a hundred times over!"

The Pyronite rolled his eyes. "Maybe not that many times, but I'll admit that he has gotten me out of some tight spots. To put it simply, Skurd makes my aliens more powerful. Sort of like an upgrade of sorts."

"I don't get it." Hunter scratched his head with his claws as he sat on Ashlynn's shoulder, starring at Skurd with suspicion.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order, hmm?" Skurd cocked an eyebrow at Heatblast.

"You're the one sitting on the watch." the Pyronite hissed; with a satisfied nod, Skurd quickly blorped and oozed his gelatinous body over Heatblast's right arm, encasing it entirely in green slime before it was suddenly consumed in the familiar green flash of the Omnitrix going off, the Pyronite's flaming arm vanishing as it was replaced by the shimmering, crystalline arm of a Petrosapien, a large sword forming in his grip and lengthening outwards until it just barely touched the tip of Hunter's nose, forcing him to cross his eyes just to see it. The huntsman eventually fell over and off of Ashlynn's shoulder.

"Hat-tastic!" Maddie cackled madly.

"Finally, someone with some taste!" Skurd nodded with satisfaction. "Now then, if you would kindly introduce me to this rather odd and familiar looking folks before me? I would very much like to know their names before I insult them. And while you're at it, kindly tell me where in the name of Methanosian tubers we are!"

"It's a long story," Heatblast sighed. "But before I say anything, can you kindly fix this thing?" he asked, pointing towards the Omnitrix. "It keeps on turning me into random aliens and it fused my friends with my aliens in the process."

"Honestly, can't you go anywhere without damaging this thing?" Skurd starred at the Pyronite in disbelief.

"Hey, blame Ditto-Boy over there. He's the one that stabbed it with his sword and busted it." Heatblast threw a glare at Daring as he pointed his Petrosapien sword in the prince's direction; with a reluctant sigh, Skurd oozed his body back over Heatblast's shifted arm and returned it to its original form before he compressed himself down on the Omnitrix, his beady eyes quirking up and down and widening every couple of seconds as he worked. The fairy tale fusions all watched with anticipation, hoping it could be done and they would be turned back to their original forms. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Skurd finally popped back up before pressing himself back down again briefly, engulfing Heatblast in a flash of green light as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world.

"Aw, man! Good to be me again." Ben sighed with relief as he flexed his fingers experimentally.

"Yes, but what about us?" Apple rasped as she unfolded her wings to prove her point further. "We're still . . . monsters!"

"I can only do so much, dear girl! The only one who can truly fix the Omnitrix is Azmuth and, as much as it pains me to admit this, his intellect is far superior to that of mine." Skurd huffed.

"So what did you do?" Blondie asked, wincing slightly as her twin tails swished slightly back and forth on the floor in anticipation.

"I managed to fix the main transformation feature that the glorious device is known for," Skurd explained. "But as I said before, there is only so much I can do. Without Azmuth or someone of similar intellect to properly fix the Omnitrix, I am limited to making rather crude and cobbled repairs."

"So . . . you're saying we're stuck like this?" Cedar gulped nervously.

"No, no you're not." Ben said firmly as turned to the Omnitrix that now resided on his wrist and tapped, sighing with relief when the familiar green hologram popped back up into view. "I'll turn into Grey Matter to fix the Omnitrix."

"A brilliant idea, dear boy, except for the fact that your Galvan form places the Omnitrix on your back." Skurd pointed out.

Ben deflated slightly upon remembering that before a thought occurred to him. "Wait, Hunter's part Jury Rigg."

"Are you gonna insult my height again!?" Hunter growled defensively.

Ben shook his head. "No, but he's able to build weapons and fix things in a matter of seconds; if I turn into Grey Matter, I can direct you through the repairs of the Omnitrix until we've managed to fix it and return you all back to normal." Hunter was about to protest at the seemingly ridiculous idea, but everyone else quickly agreed to the solution, hoping that it would result in the fastest way of returning themselves to normal.

"Alright, alright." Hunter grumbled as Ashlynn lowered herself to the ground and set him down. "Lets get this done and over with." he muttered impatiently; Ben nodded as he turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster, finding the Galvan symbol and raising his hand to press down on the waiting activation button. Before he could do so however, a loud explosion rocked the ground, a fiery mushroom cloud soaring into the air all the way from Ever After High.

"What was that!?" Raven wondered.

"No idea. But we better check it out." Ben frowned.

"No, no! You're gonna turn into your Grey Matter whatever and change us back!" Hunter demanded.

"It'll have to wait." Ben shook his head as he raised his hand above his head again to slap it down on the waiting activation button. "It's Hero Time!" he quipped, slamming a hand down on the activation button and swallowing himself in a flash of green light, his DNA scrambled and rearranging itself into something new. His arms became more furry as hundreds upon thousands of yellow colored hairs sprouted all across his body, racing down his legs and over his chest, up his neck to cover his face as his pinky finger was sucked back into his hand, deemed useless for whatever alien he was becoming. His ears became large and fleshy, similar to that of a rodent's as they rotated up towards the top of his head, his face bulging outwards slightly as his nose became flat and primitive looking. His canines became longer and sharper as his teeth became slightly crooked, his skeleton cracking and groaning as it was compressed and shrunken down to a height of roughly four feet tall. Two, long, furry, prehensile tails snaked out from the base of his spine, cracking and whipping themselves around as if they had minds of their own as his feet became bigger and perfect for gripping, his big toe moving into a 45 degree angle that allowed them to be used like extra hands. Black, gauntlet-like coverings materialized on his wrists, allowing his fingers free movement as a suit that greatly exposed his furry chest appeared on his body with green rings on the knees and elbows; the Omnitrix and Skurd reappeared on a green and white belt around the alien's waist, completing the transformation.

"Ook! Ook! Teleportail? Good enough, I suppose!" the Vong Linducher chattered excitedly as his twin tails began to spin wildly behind him.

"Is that what I've been fused with?" Blondie wondered.

"Yep! Now get close to me unless you wanna walk back! Ook! Ook!" Teleportail grinned cheekily while his tails spun faster and faster, creating a small wind behind him; Cerise lumbered over to him without hesitation with Raven hanging onto her back, casting a knowing look at the rest of the fused fairy tales. Cedar and Cupid quickly joined the group, followed closely by Briar, Blonde, and Apple. The remaining three all shared a quick look before scampering over to join the group just as a blinding light engulfed Teleportail and the small band of fairy tales, tearing a hole in the fabric of space/time before they vanished from existence altogether.

---

Hopper Croakington II, despite his Heroics 101 training, was not as quick or fast as people perceived him to be; granted his amphibian form gave more agile and faster abilities, but he wanted to be known for his human form and not for his unfortunate habit of turning into a slimy, green frog whenever he got nervous or agitated. The only problem was that he spent most of his time as an amphibian and not as a human, mostly because very few girls were actually willing to kiss a frog, even if it was Hopper, Cupid being the one exception along with Briar on rare occasions when she was in a good mood.

This was beside the point however, as the amphibious prince was currently being chased by a fire-breathing dragon.

Somehow, the fire-breathing dragons Ever after High kept beneath the school for use in Beast Training and Care and the occasional practice in Heroics 101 had been let lose, unmuzzled, and somehow intoxicated with Fairy Wine; the alluring drink had many effects across a variety of species, most of them completely harmless, but when it came to dragons, Fairy Wine was the last thing one wanted to give to the monstrous, fire-breathing reptiles. The savory drink heightened the beast's senses, made their already hot tempers reach a blazing inferno, and made them incredibly aggressive and hungry, fueling them like massive amounts of sugar to little kids and making them all the more powerful. Even the greatest magic users were wary about the intoxicated beasts.

"Hopper! Over here!"

The Son of the Frog Prince turned his head towards the voice and saw Lizzie Hearts anxiously waving for him to run over to her; Hopper took a quick glance back the gigantic dragon chasing after him, the beast's massive claws raking into the marble floor as its wings blocked off any escape and its teeth dripped with a horrendous amount of saliva. That, and the dragon had actually set itself on fire, making any attempt to try and escape over or under it utterly fruitless. With little other choice, Hopper made a mad dash across the hallway, diving down to the floor and sliding across the smooth marble and into the janitor's closet the Princess of Hearts had stashed herself into for the time being.

"Thanks, Lizzie." Hopper sighed with relief as he wiped his brow. "Guess you always got an ace up your sleeve." he chuckled nervously under Lizzie's suspicious glare. "'Cause, ya know, you're the Queen of-" was as far as Hopper got before he was swiftly enveloped in a puff of pink and yellow smoke, his human form vanishing to be replaced by a small, green frog wearing a red bow tie and a small, golden crown on his head.

"Blast it! Curse my amphibious form." Hopper sighed unhappily as Lizzie scooped him up in a hand and held him up to eye level.

"I know this is not very becoming of a future Queen of Hearts, but not even a slimey frog like you deserves to be roasted over those voracious monsters." she whispered quietly in the hopes the dragon would not hear them as it roared and thrashed about outside.

"I shall try not to take that last comment offensively, dear Lizzie, but I will have you know that I am not covered in slime but a secretion of mucus that keeps my skin moist when I am far from a viable source of water." Hopper defended himself.

"That is not exactly any better." Lizzie sighed. "But I suppose since we are currently stuck here, we can't afford to have arguments."

"Very true, dear Lizzie." Hopper agreed. "I hexpected you to be far more despicable, no offense."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lizzie narrowed her eyes.

"You have a habit of threatening to slice ones head off whenever you do not get your way; I realize that this is a part of your future as the next Queen of Hearts and Ruler of Wonderland, but is not something people find rather . . . attractive, for lack of a better word." Hopper explained.

Lizzie blinked. "I . . . suppose that's true." she sighed. "I'm still getting use to the fact that I may never actually return home to my wonderful Wonderland, what with the Evil Queen's curse forcing the Headmaster's block off all entrances and exits to it."

"You miss Alistair and Bunny, do you not?" Hopper guessed.

Lizzie sadly nodded; she did not often talk about the two missing fairy tales, but she dearly missed them. They were almost like an unofficial brother and sister to her, with the rest of her Wonderland friends acting in a similar manner. When they had been forced to evacuate and leave Wonderland for fear of the Evil Queen's curse, they had banded together into a sort of family unit, each one of them supporting the other in some manner to keep them from getting the Rainy-Days, the Wonderland equivalent of depression. The only difference was that a small storm cloud often formed over the victims head and poured an endless amount of rain down on them until cured.

"Do you suppose the beast is gone?" Hopper asked. "I'm quite sure the staff is worried sick about our separation during the mass evacuation of the school."

Lizzie was about to answer when a loud roar shook the hall and hot fire leaked underneath of the doorway. "I . . . don't believe so." Lizzie shook her head.

"A sorrowful understatement, I am afraid. We are going to be here for a while." Hopper sighed.

"It would seem that way." Lizzie nodded as she moved to set Hopper in one of her hands and pull out a deck of playing cards from the same sleeve. "A game of cards to pass the time?"

"You won't cut off my head if I win, will you?"

"I . . . shall try not to." Lizzie promised. "I am trying to be a . . . nicer queen than my mother."

"You are doing quite a fine job, too, I might add." Hopper smiled. "However, I must request that we play Go Fish. It is sadly the only card game I know how to play."

Lizzie sighed; she would have normally threatened to cut off someone's head for saying such things, but she managed to keep her temper in check. "Very well. I can teach you to play other games later on, if you wish."

Before Hopper could reply, a blinding light and dull roar filled the janitor's closet, forcing the two trapped fairy tales to shield their eyes before they found themselves on the bottom of a pile of odd and rather frightening fairy tales.

"Ow! Cerise, watch the claws! Watch the claws!" Daring yelped as the Vulpimancer hybrid bellowed snarled as she tried to find herself some elbow room and climb to her feet, accidentally clawing and injuring her fellow travels in the process.

"Raven, could you please move your . . . wing?" Ashlynn winced. "It's pinning my arm against the wall, and it kinda hurts."

"Sorry." Raven apologized as she awkwardly moved the new limb just enough to allow Ashlynn to move her arm and then shift her form upwards, pressing her back against the ceiling as she hunched over on stretched legs in an attempt to give the others as much space as possible.

"Brilliant work, Ben. Ya got us all stuck in a closet." Hunter grumbled.

"Hey, if you think this is bad, I once teleported in on one of my ghoulfriends while she was taking a shower! Ook! Ook!" Teleportail shot back as he leaped off of Cedar's back, allowing the Chronosapien hybrid to climb to her feet with some effort and some help from Ashlynn; the princess winced slightly as her fingers grew long and more vine-like as it curled around Cedar's arm to haul her to her feet before shrinking back to their original length.

"I say, what is going on here?" Hopper wondered as he jumped and landed on Cupid's shoulder, doing a double take he realized that she was far different than he remembered.

"Off with your heads! All of you!" Lizzie shouted threateningly as Cupid attempted to try and get off of the Princess of Heart's back and let her climb to her feet, accidentally nailing Daring in his nether regions with one of her spring-loaded feet; the Son of Prince Charming promptly crumbled to the floor, whimpering in pain as Hunter scampered over the group to take his usual place on Ashlynn's shoulder.

"Is that everyone?" Blondie asked, wincing as Lizzie accidentally stepped on one of her tails in the process of standing up.

"Yeppers! Everyone's here, accounted for, and ready for tea!" Maddie giggled happily, her black, shiny body crackling with electricity.

"Ms. Hatter, please do not accidentally electrocute us." Hopper asked kindly. "I would rather not like to have my skin fried off."

"That can happen?" Apple whimpered.

"If you are an amphibian like me, dear Apple. Seeing as how you are not, you having nothing to fear. I think." Hopper added, unsure of whether or not Necrofriggians were amphibians or not.

"Why are we in a janitor's closet anyway, completely disregarding the fact that Ben's teleporting skills are not one-hundred percent accurate." Briar wondered; a loud roar rattled the hallway, followed by a sudden bright light from the edges of the doorway, smoke curling up underneath the door itself.

"Dragons." Lizzie simply replied.

"It had to be dragons." Teleportail sighed.

"Not just dragons, I'm afraid." Hopper sighed from Cupid's shoulder; most could swear the little amphibian was salivating with hunger when he caught sight of the massive, insect-like legs and wings that had replaced Cupid's own limbs. "Dragons somehow intoxicated with Fairy Wine, a mixture that makes them far more dangerous than they normally are."

"So it was sabotage." Raven concluded. "That could only mean that whoever drugged the dragons is either trying to just cause chaos or is trying to create a distraction of some kind."

"The Forever Knights, maybe?" Apple suggested worriedly.

"Maybe. Don't know how they'd get their grubby mits on Fairy Wine though, much less know about it." Teleportail suspected.

"Actually, Fairy Wine isn't that hard to come by. We have a massive stock of it here at Ever After High for the teachers and students," Lizzie explained. "It's really no different than drinking water." she added when she caught sight of the Vong Linducher's stunned expression. "At least, when it's not consumed by dragons."

Teleportail sighed. "Okay, lets get this over with."

"Right. You go out and deal with the dragons while we stay in here and play cards." said Hunter; Cerise snarled and bared her large teeth at the huntsman.

"Cerise is right. We can't just sit here and be useless." Ashlynn agreed.

"You understood that?" Skurd cocked one of his beady eyes.

"Of course," Ashlynn smiled kindly. "I can talk to animals. Apparently that extends to . . . whatever it is Cerise is."

"Well, now that the matter is settled, would you be so kind as to leave me and Ms. Hearts to our card game?" Hopper asked kindly. "Unlike the lot of you, we do not possess the necessary means of defeating those monstrous beasts."

"What Hopper said." Lizzie agreed as she ducked under one of Raven's wings.

"If you say so . . ." Apple sighed; this went against everything her Princess Training and Damsel-in-Distress class taught her. Princesses and other pretty girls were supposed to look beautiful and sit on the side lines while the men and princes handled the fighting and slaying of villains and enemies. To be granted unworldly powers and then forced into a position she was not comfortable with nor accustom to did not sit well with the Daughter of Snow White, but she had little choice than to agree without everyone else currently packed into the janitor's closet like sardines. And, as an added bonus, if she somehow managed to prove to Ben that she was a suitable girlfriend and future wife, he may just severe all ties he had just to be with her; granted, it was a long shot, but a princess could dream.

"Well, what're we waiting for!?" Maddie giggled happily, her sharp black claws crackling with electricity. "Lets do this!" she cackled, sending a dangerous amount of power and energy from her fingertips to blast the door off of its hinges and shoot out into the hall in an electric fury; Cerise soon followed, bellowing and roaring loudly as her claws scrabbled against the floor while Raven hung on for dear life.

"C'mon, Blondie! I can give ya a few pointers! Ook! Ook!" Teleportail chattered excitedly; Blondie felt herself turning red slightly underneath her light layer of fur and followed the Vong Linducher out of the closet, running quickly on her knuckles as her tails cracked back and forth eagerly.

Cedar and Cupid shared a short look before pushing Lizzie and Daring aside to rush out of the closet after Teleportail. "Wait for us!" Cedar called out; Ashlynn followed close behind as she delicately shifted and moved her flexible tendrils through the doorway before drawing up to her full height and skittering after the small band of eager fairy tales with hunter clinging tightly to her shoulder. Biting her bottom lip, Apple left the closet behind and unfurled her wings, flapping them lightly to take to the air with Briar at her side, a hungry and excited expression plaster to her face.

"Should you not be joining them, Daring?" Hopper quirked an eyebrow; the little amphibian slipped off his crown and gave a small puff to polish it as Lizzie climbed to her feet and rearranged her crown just so on her head.

"And risk upsetting my handsome and rugged looks? Unlikely." Daring grinned charmingly as he admired his expression in his small hand mirror; when that wasn't enough, the Son of Prince Charming quickly split himself in two, the pair of Darings now flexing and posing for the other while admiring their own physic and charming features.

Hopper shivered with disgust. "Once again, you let Ben steal the spotlight, Daring. Sooner or later, no one will remember you." he added with a small smirk; this little remark made both of the clones pause in their posing and flexing before they both gasped with fright and swiftly left the closet to try and prove themselves better than Ben (while still admiring each other).

"I do hope this little skirmish is fixed soon." Lizzie shuddered. "One Daring is enough, thank you very much."

Hopper nodded. "Agreed, dear Lizzie. Now then, I believe we were about to play a game of cards?"

"As soon as we find a safer place."

---

Faybelle glanced frantically behind her, nearly letting out a terrified scream when she noticed that a dragon was right behind her, its cold, reptilian eyes starring hungrily at her as it snapped its jaws; of course, it had to be the school's biggest dragon, with at least six large horns, dozens of fleshy barbels and whiskers, hundreds of razor-sharp teeth, and massive wings tipped with pointed claws that the great beast used as a pair of front legs to lung and chase after the frightened fairy.

Faybelle normally was not bothered by dragons, considering her story would have her changing into one of the gigantic, fire-spewing beasts through use of the complicated and stalwart fae magic fairies were renown and feared for. This time however, she was very bothered by the dragon, especially considering the fact that it was currently trying to turn her into a barbecued snack.

"Stop! Heel! Sit! Go away!" Faybelle yelled over her shoulder as she frantically flapped her delicate fairy wings to just narrowly dodge a savage snap of the dragon's jaws. Her heart in her throat, Faybelle dove to the floor before shooting upwards in the hopes of confusing the dragon long enough to give her a heads start and an edge; unfortunately, the dragon was too quick and managed to grab the foot of her boot in its teeth, yanking her back and out of the air as the beast shook its head like a dog before slamming her into the floor, dazing her as it pinned her beneath its claws and reared back its head, an omnibus glow forming in the back of its throat.

"Good-bye, cruel world." Faybelle whimpered as she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her arms in the hopes of blocking the upcoming wave of fire and somehow managing to survive. Just when the giant, voracious reptile was about to burn her to a crisp, a sudden noise like that of a battle cry caught her attention and she cracked her eye open long enough to watch as Teleportail slammed into the back of the dragon's head, cutting off the upcoming flame and distracting the beast long enough for Faybelle to get loose.

"Run for it, Faybelle! We'll hold it off!" the Vong Linducher yelled as it clung tightly to the dragon's horns as it roared and thrashed its head about to shake off its pesky passenger; Faybelle need to be told twice as she pried herself loose from the dragon's claws and took to their air, nervously biting her lip as she watched Teleportail go flying from the dragon's head to grab onto a chandelier overhead and quickly spin his tails to disappear in a blinding light and reappear clinging to the side of the dragon's head where he quick poked the beast in the eye before disappearing again in a flash of light and energy to pop back into existence underneath of the belly before vanishing once more to dodge a quick bite.

"And that's how it's done! Ook! Ook!" Teleportail grinned cheekily. "Ook! Ook! Lets see you give it a try, Blondie! "

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" a small, green blob that was currently attached to a white belt around Teleportail's asked with apprehension.

"We got multiple dragons running wild all over the school, Skurd; I can't be everywhere at once, and with the girls being fused with my aliens, they'll be able to help keep things in check until I can deal the finishing blow."

"Hmmm. Actually smart. Risky and dangerous, but rather smart." Skurd admitted; Faybelle watched with a baffled expression as a second flash of light exploded next to Teleportail and vanished to reveal a girl with golden locks and large amounts of fur of almost the same color sprouting all over her face, arms, and ankles while she wore a dress that Blondie was normally known for wearing. The fairy quickly realized that this rather primitive, primate-like creature was actually the Daughter of Goldie Locks.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Blondie gulped as the dragon hesitated for a brief amount of time to study its latest opponent.

"If it isn't, me an' Skurd'll save ya from being toast!" Teleportail grinned reassuring the fused fairy tale. "Follow my lead!"

With a loud screech of excitement, Teleportail sprang right at the startled dragon, grinning even more when Skurd quickly oozed and shifted himself over the Vong Linducher's arms and encased them in green slime before they were suddenly swallowed in a burst of green light and changed into those of a Florauna. With a cry of triumph, the alien primate lashed out with his new limbs, sprouting thick tendrils and wrapping them tightly around the jaws of the ferocious dragon, trapping them shut as the Vong Linducher landed on the dragon's snout and taunted it by blowing a raspberry.

With the most dangerous end of the beast trapped, Blondie quickly spun her tails and vanished in a flash of bright light, reappearing above the dragon's head to drop down out of the air and deal a swift punch to the beast's skull with her fist, cracking her tails along the dragon's jaw before fearlessly poking it in the eye. The dragon gave a muffled bellow and thrashed about mightily, its tail smashing into the walls and windows and tearing great chucks of the smooth marble and shattering the glass while it flapped its wings in a fruitless attempt to shake off its unwanted passengers. This did not mean however, that it was not successful in throwing Teleportail off of it and into the air where he crashed into Faybelle and sent the two of the sprawling across the floor as the Omnitrix timed out in a blast of green light.

"Ow . . ." Ben groaned as he sat up and rubbed his skull; Blondie could nothing else but hold on tightly to one of the dragon's horns as it tried to shake her loose and bite her at the same time, smoke drifting from its nostrils. "You okay?" he asked, wincing when he noticed that one of Faybelle's wings had been bent at a horrible angle, grounding her.

"Fine. But I'm now stuck on the ground." Faybelle pouted.

"Our sincerest apologies, dear." Skurd apologized with a sweeping bow.

Faybelle quirked an eye up at this. "Uh, Ben? I know we haven't interacted all that much, but mind explaining why your booger is talking?"

"BOOGER!?" Skurd trembled with anger.

"Uh, Ben? Skurd? A little help please!" Blondie cried as the dragon roared and fired off a hot stream of fire; Ben just barely managed to throw himself at Faybelle and pin her low to the ground a second time to avoid getting roasted as the flame finally dissipated and allowed the two of them to climb to their feet again.

"Thanks." Faybelle sighed with relief.

"Don't thank me yet," Ben grimaced. "We still got Ugly here to take care of." he jerked a thumb at the dragon as he furiously tried to snap Blondie up in its jaws, digging its claws deep into the walls as it scaled them to try and grab her, missing every time as the Daughter of Goldie Locks leaped and dodged and swung her way out of reach with some effort; Ben quickly tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before he selected the Polar Manzardill icon and slamming a hand down on the activation, swallowing himself in a blast of green light. His bones cracked and groaned loudly as they grew larger and thicker, hundreds upon thousands of small support beams forming inside of his bones to strengthen them as his arms swelled and bloated in size; his skeleton crunched loudly as it grew bigger and bigger, increasing Ben's frame until he was more than twice his original size. Thick nails covered the tips of his fingers as his toes shrank back into his foot, becoming more elephant-like in appearance and structure as a powerful, reptilian tail sprouted from the base of his spine. His neck grew slightly longer relative to his body size, his skull cracking loudly as it was reconfigured and his lower jaw was thrust out slightly as thick, brown, armored skin covered his body, lighter plating covering his strong chest and stomach. A pair of black briefs and a green sash with the Omnitrix on it materialized on his body, completing the transformation.

"Humungousaur? Now we're talkin'!" the Vaxasaurian grinned confidently as he socked his fist into his massive hand; Faybelle was completely dwarfed by him, only just barely reaching his waist as Humungousaur let out a powerful roar that shattered any remaining windows. The dragon turned its attention away from the succulent little snack currently hanging just out of reach on a chandelier overhead and glowered hungrily at the Vaxasaurian before it, ignoring the fact that the alien dinosaur was almost identical to itself in size and weight.

"I'm gonna make you extinct!" Humungousaur growled.

"Hmmm. I remember your quips being more clever." Skurd hummed with disappointment.

"You try saying something clever when-" Humungousaur defended himself just before the dragon bellowed and lunged forward, snapping its jaws shut around one of Humungousaur's arms and swinging him into a wall, nearly sending the Vaxasaurian tumbling out one of the windows and down about three stories before he baled his meaty fingers into a fist and cracked the dragon over the head, releasing his arm and just managing to pull himself back inside.

The dragon shook its head and blasted forth a jet of flame, aiming for Humungousaur's face; the Vaxasaurian quickly shielded himself with one of his armored arms before the dragon suddenly rushed forward and rammed its head into Humungousaur's gut, catching him off guard briefly before he managed to grab hold of the beast's horns and shove it off of him long enough for him to then flip the dragon over his shoulder and slam it into the floor.

"I'm not getting anywhere with this." Humungousaur grunted as the dragon scrambled to its feet and blasted another jet of fire at him, forcing him to defend himself once more.

"Might I be of some assistance?" Skurd suggested; after receiving a nod from his currently Vaxasaurian partner, Skurd oozed himself over Humungousaur's right arm and tapped into the Omnitrix's immense DNA data base, engulfing the limb in a flash of green light and shifting it into that of a Segmentasapien's that quickly morphed into a gun-like weapon that attached to the Vaxasaurian's broad back.

"The Bloxx-lobber? Nice!" Humungousaur grinned.

"I try." Skurd bowed.

With a curious look, Blondie and Faybelle watched as Humungousaur aimed his new weapon at the fire-breathing dragon and fired off several colorful blocks at the beast, smirking when they exploded and forced the massive reptile to take several steps back and fold its wings defensively over its face as it reared up onto its hind legs; Blondie took this as a chance to quickly teleport into the air above the dragon's head and land right on its snout, socking it right between the eyes, stabbing it in the eyes themselves with her fingers before clapping her hands painfully on either side of the beast's head, thus boxing whatever ears it may have had.

"AAAAAHHHHH! Incoming!"

Humungousaur paused in his firing to watch as Cupid came shooting low over the dragon's head, just barely missing the tip of the beast's horns and crash landing right into the Vaxasaurian, knocking him to the floor with a pained grunt.

"Cupid? What are you doing here?" Humungousaur wondered as he hauled himself to his feet and pulled the dazed goddess off of his chest with his large hand.

"I . . . was trying to help," Cupid winced at her throbbing skull. "I was trying to hit the dragon in the head, but . . . I can't seem to get this jumping thing down!"

"It does take some practice." Humungousaur admitted; truth be told, he had managed to utilize and master Crashhopper fairly easily upon first locking him inside of the skyscraper sized anthill Dr. Animo had made his monstrous, mutant ants construct for a home and headquarters, but Cupid didn't need to know that. If lying to her about his skill with his alien forms made her feel better, so be it.

"Yeah, well, I-"

"Look out!" Faybelle interrupted Cupid, diving to the ground with Humungousaur and Cupid following closely behind as the irritated dragon blasted another jet of flame their way before whirling around to try and snap up Blondie.

"I got an idea." Humungousaur grunted while he climbed into a kneeling position as Skurd returned his arm to its original shape and form. "But you're gonna have to trust me."

"A-Alright." Cupid agreed, not quite sure she liked where this was going; she quickly made up her mind as Humungousaur wrapped his large fingers around her waist and lifted her off of the ground before running around in a tight circle to build up momentum as he held his arm, and consequently Cupid away from his body.

"Hey, Ugly!" the Vaxasaurian yelled.

The dragon perked up upon hearing the nickname and snarled deeply, ignoring Blondie as she teleported back onto its head and began to punch it once more before being taken out by a quick flick of the dragon's tail.

"Heads up!" Humungousaur shouted as he finally let go of Cupid and hurled her head first at the dragon, screaming all the way; the fire-breathing reptile was so caught off guard it didn't have any time to react as the screaming deity slammed head first into its jaw and sent it flying down the hallway, crashing into the opposite wall before slumping down to the floor, unconscious.

"Yeah! He shoots, he scores!" Humungousaur grinned triumphantly, pumping a large fist as Blondie swung down from the ceiling and excitedly high-fived the Vaxasaurian.

"That . . . that was spelltacular!" Blondie smiled broadly. "I-I-It was so much fun! I've never felt so alive! It . . . it . . . it was just right!" she shrugged for lack of a better word.

"Speak for yourself," Cupid whimpered as she staggered to her feet while clutching her aching head. "You're not the one he used as ammunition."

"Sorry." the Vaxasaurian apologized as the Omnitrix timed out and swiftly returned Ben to the world with a flash of green light that briefly blinded Faybelle. "Your skull is a lot thicker than any of ours and it was kinda last minute."

"I'd still like an ice pack, if that's not too much to ask." Cupid asked politely.

"Okay, clearly I'm missing something here." Faybelle sighed with exasperation while she pinched her brow. "if I promise to take Cupid to the kitchen and get her some ice for her head, will you explain to me what the hex happened to you two?"

"Sounds fairy enough." Blondie agreed.

"Well, you can take care of that. I've got more dragons to fight." Ben said as he quickly tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before he selected the desired alien and slapped the activation button, engulfing himself in a burst of green light. Ben's fingers hardened into sharpened blades as his spine cracked and bent, sprouting a long, whip-like tail from its base while black and blue stripes wrapped themselves around the cracking appendage. His toes ripped out of his shoes and melted into four claws, two in the front and two more in the back, much like a parrot's; the ball of his heel crunched forward, moving his foot bones and becoming perfectly round and smooth, suddenly separating itself from his foot and held there by his curved toes. Ben felt his skin stretched back into a sharp point and his legs bent backwards into a new joint. A pointy, black helmet with a slide-down visor materialized over his head and skull, followed quickly by a black and green body suit that wrapped around his body with the Omnitrix and Skurd appearing on his chest and completing the transformation.

"Gotta run!" XLR8 grinned cockily before he sped off to parts unknown in a blur of black and blue.

"Oi. His quips get worse every time." Faybelle shook her head sadly.

"I dunno." Blondie smiled slightly with barely noticeable crimson cheeks. "I think it's kinda cute. In a sort of pathetic comedian kind of way."

"I . . . don't believe I've heard of that one." Cupid raised an eyebrow.

---

Raven could currently do nothing else but hold on for dear life as Cerise charged right at the dragon without hesitation, bellowing and snarling loudly as she swiftly dodged a swipe of the dragon's claws before leaping into the air to dig her own claws into the dragon's neck, growling savagely as she bit down on the tough skin and shook her head like a dog; the dragon roared in pain and thrashed it head about to try and shake her off as her sharp claws dug deep, red lines into the fire-breathing reptile's flesh.

"Cerise! Watch out for the-" Cedar warned before the Vulpimancer hybrid and her Vladat passenger were sent flying by a crack of the dragon's tail, Cerise's claws digging deeply into the marble floor to try and slow her fall while she skidded backwards.

"How're we supposed to fight this thing?" Raven wondered as the dragon bellowed loudly and flapped its wings, sending Castleteria tables flying. "Cerise it the only one doing anything!"

"Can't you, I don't know, bite it or something?" Cedar wondered worrying, pointing a finger at Raven's sharp fangs.

"Only as a last resort . . ." Raven winced. Cerise roared and dove to the side to avoid getting caught in the dragon's jaws as they snapped shut on the spot she and Raven had been moments before; this unfortunately left Cedar exposed and helpless, and no matter how durable she looked, she knew full well that she wouldn't be able to withstand the voracious, destructive habit of the dragon currently trashing the Castleteria in search of food.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Cedar spun her head just in time to see XLR8 come blasting through the Castleteria doors and slam full force into the dragon's belly, sending it flying and crashing against the far wall as the Kineceleran came to a sudden and abrupt halt in front of altered puppet; the visor on the front of his helmet slid up as he grinned cockily and quirked an eyebrows in a similar manner, electing a slight blush from Cedar as the visor slid back down and XLR8 sped off again, slamming into the dragon again and racing up its belly to deliver several dozen sharp kicks to the fire-breathing reptile's jaw in a time span of mere seconds before lashing out his tail to crack it across the dragon's face. The beast however, was fast enough to just catch the tip of the Kineceleran's tail in its teeth, allowing it to slam XLR8 into the floor with wide twists of its head and neck before throwing him clear across the Castleteria to fly over the serving counter and crash into the kitchen in a small explosion of pots and pans.

"That could have gone better." XLR8 groaned as he staggered out of the kitchen with a pot on his head and two more stuck to his feet; the Omnitrix timed out mere seconds later, jamming Ben's feet into the pots firmly.

"Ben! Thank the ancestors you're here!" Raven sighed with relief. "We've been trying to take care of this dragon but . . . well, to be honest, we have no idea what we're doing." the witchling admitted.

"Right. Give me a second." Ben nodded as he removed the pot from his head and tapped the Omnitrix before slapping the waiting activation button without looking at which alien he had dialed in as he was encompassed in a flash of green light that warped and twisted his DNA into something new. He felt every last shred of his physical being vanish and become somewhat free, becoming pure energy as the Omnitrix focused his bouncing molecules back into a more stable shape. Ben watched as simply hands and single-toed feet formed on the end of his limbs. Black braces appeared on his hot, red arms and legs, a belt and pair of shorts attached to black straps materializing on his body. The transformation was only half complete however, as black pieces of metal began to wrap themselves around him, tightening and groaning as they formed movable pieces for his arms and legs, forming a jar-like containment suit that bent over his head and attached to the front with a lock of sorts. Bolts popped out of the shoulders and hands, metal supports appearing on the lock and a large handle appearing on the tightly sealed lid. Three slits in the grill plate allowed limited vision as the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on the lock.

"Huh. NRG it is then." the Prypiatosian-B shrugged, creating a slight, metal shriek from his shoulders. "Now then, time to turn up the heat."

"Would someone be so kind as to put me out of my misery?" Skurd wondered aloud; NRG and the small band of fused fairy tales ignored the Slimebiote's comment.

"So, Ben? Mind giving us a few pointers?" Cedar asked.

"You, I will get to in a moment; you're powers are more complex." NRG explained before turning to Raven. "As for you, my sweet little Raven . . . trying spitting at the beast." the Prypiatosian-B suggested.

"Excuse me?" Raven quirked an eyebrow with suspicion, her cheeks a light pink at the nice nickname.

"Trust me on this one." NRG replied with a heavy, Russian accent. "If my hunch is correct . . ."

"If you say so." Raven shrugged with a slight sigh. Feeling rather awkward and silly at the same time, especially considering she had never spat or hocked a loogie in her entire life, Raven started to cough and gag slightly in the hopes of building up a decent amount of ammunition, feeling quite silly sitting on top of Cerise's back as she attempted to spit out ancestors knew what. After what felt like the longest seven seconds in her entire life, the young witchling realized that she was indeed feeling something in the back of her throat, a feeling she mostly accustomed to the act of vomiting whenever she was feeling incredibly ill and sick; before she knew it, she was violently coughing and hacking as if she were choking, Cerise whimpering with concern as the witch clutched her throat tightly while gasping for air before something finally shot out past her lips and fangs and landed on the floor with a wet splat!

"What . . . what is that . . ?" Raven gasped, her voice hoarse for the moment.

"A Corruptura." NRG replied, bending over with a low creaking noise to pick up the inert parasite between two metal fingers.

"I . . . made that?" Raven shuddered.

"Yes. If it were to land on someone's head, you would be able to control them like puppets. Uh, no offense, Cedar." the Prypiatosian-B added as an added afterthought to the warm, bubbly puppet that was now currently fused with the DNA of a Chronosapien.

"We've got bigger problems than that now, Ben!" Cedar yelped as the dragon roared and succeeded in blasting her with hot flame, sending her skidding back across the Castleteria before she promptly fell over with a groan of pain and dull ringing noise like that of the toll of a large, bronze bell. NRG returned fire, blasting hot, radioactive energy through the slits in his grill and missing several times before succeeding in striking the dragon in the jaw and wings, tearing holes through the leathery skin.

"Raven! Use your wings!" NRG yelled as he rushed at the dragon as fast as he could and slugged in the underbelly with a metal fist before the dragon reached down with its neck and picked him up in its jaws, shaking him like a dog would to a chew toy before chucking him across the Castleteria and into a wall.

"My, my! What a fiery temper!" Skurd chuckled at his own joke.

"And you say my quips are terrible."

Raven gulped nervously, glancing over her shoulder as her wings shifted themselves out from under Cerise's crimson hood, spreading out to their full span of almost twelve feet, each wing being bigger than the witchling and colored dark shades of purple; Raven gave them an experimental flap and felt herself lift off of Cerise's back slightly before falling back down gently. Now feeling more confident, Raven pumped her wings and shot up into the air, drawing in a sharp breath as she she fell slightly before her wings caught her and let her hover in place, safely out of whatever melee attacks the dragon could offer.

Cerise let out a loud bellow as she shook her head back and forth, sending slobber and drool flying in all directions before she charged at the dragon once more, skillfully dodging hot blasts of fire sent its way as she then quickly dropped onto her back and slid across the smooth marble floor and under the dragon's belly; the Vulpimancer hybrid reached up with a half-formed hand and raked her claws across the vulnerable underbelly as she slid before rolling back up onto her feet and skidding to a halt while the dragon roared in fury.

Raven took the opportunity of distraction to spit out two more Corrupturas at the dragon's head in the hopes of hitting it; the beast merely glowered with fury and blasted forth another jet of fire at the small, winged parasites, incinerating them as it then went after Raven, chasing her with hot fire before it suddenly felt a small prick of pain on its tail. With a low growl, the dragon lifted its tail up to its face to see Cerise dangling there by her drool stained fangs, snarling and growling viciously before she suddenly threw herself at the dragon's head, distracting and blinding it.

"Now, Cedar! Before Cerise is barbecued!" NRG yelled.

"I don't know what to do!" Cedar cried worrying as Cerise hung on for dear life, bellowing and roaring in defiance as the dragon thrashed about, knocking over and destroying tables like they were dominoes.

"Just focus!" NRG shouted as he turned his attention to the dragon, sniping it with potshots of hot radiation while Raven dive bombed every couple of seconds, raking her sharp claws against the thick skin of the beast.

Unsure of what to do, Cedar nodded and closed her eyes, reaching out with what little senses she had as she searched for something; what she was searching for, she wasn't sure, but she hoped whatever it was she would find it soon and quickly. She suddenly gasped as she finally felt something, her mental and seemingly nonexistent fingers finally brushing up against something. It was a delicate, yet incredibly powerful feeling she had brushed past, and the more that she explored, the more she realized that there was more of what she had felt, seemingly hundreds upon thousands upon millions of them just floating all around her, intertwining with one another as much as they separated from the other.

Cedar suddenly knew what to do.

"Time to send you back to the stone age!" Cedar yelled as she clenched her bronze fists while a the glass pane in her stomach and gut region glowed an ominous lavender in color before a bright beam of energy shot out and slammed into the dragon's chest; the beast bellowed and roared in agony, finally managing to throw Cerise off its face and send her tumbling into a pair of lunch tables that had miraculously survived the dragon's attack. NRG watched as the dragon began to shrink in size, its loud and deep roar becoming more of a high and shrill squeak; it continued to shrink and degenerate, becoming smaller and smaller until it was now about the size of an elephant. Cedar clenched her fists tighter and increased the intensity of her firepower, watching with a stoic expression as the fire-breathing reptile now shrank to the size of a large dog, becoming smaller and smaller until it was now about the size of a house cat curled up into a tight ball with its tail and wings wrapped protectively around it. A sort of casing began to surround the now tiny dragon, encompassing in a thick, black shell as the bright beam of energy finally died down with a the final bong of a grand bell.

"Cedar? What did you do?" Raven wondered as she alighted down next to the dragon egg, carefully picking it up in her claws and studying it.

"I . . . I'm not quite sure." Cedar admitted. "I just . . . did it." she shrugged.

"You turned it into an egg." NRG explained. "You turned back its clock so far that it now nothing more than an egg."

"I . . . I have time powers?" Cedar marveled, looking at her hands in disbelief.

"There was a reason I called it 'Clockwork'." NRG seemed to smile as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world. "And that's only scratching the surface of what you can do."

"Really?" Raven blinked incredulously.

"Yep." Ben smirked.

"Fascinating," Skurd drawled with boredom. "Are you going to ask the girl to stop time ong enough for you to find the next dragon or are you going to discuss the mechanics of the universe itself, dear boy? Desist, you adult adolescent! Onward!" he demanded dramatically.

"I was going to ask more nicely, but if you wouldn't mind?" Ben grinned sheepishly.

Cedar nodded with a slight blush; she closed her eyes again and grasped and groped around for what she had felt earlier, some sort of instinct that her new body hopefully somehow knew what to do. Her eyes snapped open again upon finding it and focusing upon it as she raised her hands above her head and felt her inner workings whir and buzz loudly, shifting and moving around inside her as a loud bong filled the air as a violet wave of power swept outwards from, washing over everything within range; everything that was hit, from the birds flying outside of the windows and debris moving and shifting along the ground to Raven and Cerise's breathing and slight movements, all of them began to grow slower and slower until they stopped altogether.

Cedar blinked and looked around, starring with amazement at the lavender stained world around her, every last movement that could possibly be made now frozen in time; a quick rotation of her head to her left and she saw Ben standing there as still as a statue, just as stuck in time as everything else was. The mutant puppet took the moment to look over him, knowing that she would not get another descent chance for some time. She gazed at his features, marveling how well sculpted they were like that of a statue or puppet like herself; she knew humans could be rather impressive and beautiful to look at, but Ben . . . words could not describe what Cedar felt for him. She felt herself deflate slightly with a slight creaking noise, knowing that someone as amazing as him would never love someone like her. He was alive, able to live and breath and experience the world like she never could. He would never love someone who, no matter lifelike they appeared, was nothing more than a cheap imitation of the real deal. With a sigh, she rest a hand on Ben's hand, watching as he joined her in the timeless space she had created with a short flash of light.

"Nice work, Cedar." Ben smiled. "Not bad for a first try."

"Oh, as if you could better." Skurd scoffed.

"I probably could; I've had more experience." Ben argued. "But that doesn't mean it's difficult. Time is a fickle thing." he shrugged.

"Never would I have thought to ever hear you sue the word 'fickle'." Skurd sniffed. "Now cease your senseless chattering and find that big brute! Before the time stream collapses!"

"Good point." Ben nodded earnestly. "Give me five minutes before you return things to normal!" he called over his shoulder as he dashed down a hall.

"I shall wait to the very second." Cedar bowed slightly; once Ben was out of sight, she sighed sadly and took a seat at one of the few lunch tables still standing, counting down the seconds until she had to release her hold on the time stream while she pondered what to do.

---

"Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Can't catch me! Woo-hoo!"

"Maddie, stopping taunting that thing and hit already!" Hunter yelled angrily as he managed to roll out of the way to avoid a crushing blow from the dragon's foot that would have squished him into paste had he not rolled out of the way in time. Gritting his teeth, the huntsman jumped over the dragon's sweeping tail and scampered on all fours up its foreleg, dodging bone-crushing snaps of the beast's jaws as he ran up the side of its neck and to its head where he fruitlessly beat his puny fists on top of the dragon's skull. "C'mon! Fall! Down! Already!" he yelled with every punch.

"Hunter, I-" Ashlynn started before she gave a sudden yelp and quickly bent her elastic body to the side to avoid a blast of hot fire from the back of the dragon's throat. "I don't think that's how Ben uses that form!"

"And! How! Would! You! Know!?" Hunter yelled, now jumping and down furiously in any attempt to try and at least get the dragon to acknowledge that he was throwing a beat down on its head.

"Think about it, Hunter. Does your current body look like its meant to be a heavy hitter?" Ashlynn asked him as she danced backwards on her vine-like legs to avoids the dragon's jaws. Gulping nervously and hoping that she was right, Ashlynn whipped her arm downwards and watched with surprise as it stretched out to an impossible length and cracked itself across the dragon's face, accidentally sending Hunter flying across the Mirror Lab.

"Woo-hoo! This is fun!" Maddie howled happily as she emerged from a computer screen and blasted a short burst of electricity at the dragon's face, forcing it to shield itself with its armored wings. The Nosedeenian Hatter cackled madly and retreated back inside of the computer, blasting through several more consoles before reappearing back out of the Mirror Lab's main screen and firing off a far more powerful blast of energy at the dragon, eliciting a roar of pain from the beast.

"Yeah, fun for you! I can't do anything!" Hunter cried, ducking to avoid another swipe of the dragon's tail.

"If you couldn't do anything, why would I even use Jury Rigg?" Ben asked him as he closed the door to the Mirror Lab behind him.

"Ben!" Maddie smiled happily, giving him a friendly wave.

"Okay, wise guy, what do you suggest I do!?" Hunter snarled angrily before giving a frightened yelp as the dragon leveled its head to the floor and blasted another jet of flame from the back of its throat, roasting everything in its path as the huntsman dove to the ground to avoid getting hit; when the blast stopped, Hunter noticed that the tip of his tail had managed to catch fire and began to run around in panicked circles trying to put his flaming posterior out.

"See those parts over there?" Ben pointed towards a pile of trashed computers. "Use that and turn into something useful. There's a reason I call him 'Jury Rigg', you know."

"And what about you?" Hunter growled once he had managed to extinguished his butt.

Ben smirked as he turned on the Omnitrix and slapped the waiting activation button, swallowing himself in a flash of green light. He felt his bones liquefy and his muscles turn into soup. His fingers and hands melted together into long, elastic tentacles. Ben felt every fiber of his being pulled apart as his face hardened and his organs moved up behind it. A hard casing formed around his organs and face, turning into a hard face plate with black designs on it. He felt the Omnitrix slip inside him as his entire body suddenly turned into a large puddle of water, the face plate floating around in the water.

"I'll be chillaxing and rockin' the waves, dude!" Overflow gave a mouthless smile as he formed a 'hang loose' sign with a watery tentacle; Hunter grimaced, but agreed to the plan as he rushed over to the pile of computer parts while Overflow surged forward like a tidal wave. The dragon bellowed and blasted a stream of fire at the Aguadite, the equivalent of a worried expression crossing the beast's face as Overflow simply absorbed the attack in a cloud of steam that curled off of his body.

"Dude! Check this out!" Overflow seemed to smirk. The small skirmish took pause for a second as a loud cracking noise filled the air, ice crystals materializing over the Aguadite's body, forming crude arms and legs made of frozen permafrost as icy spikes sprouted from his liquid shoulders and back; Overflow now stood about even with the dragon, standing a couple feet taller than the feet as massive, icy hands appeared on the end of his watery arms. "Who's ready for some surfin'?"

"Just shut up an' hit him already!" Hunter yelled as he frantically dug through the pile of computer parts; Overflow nodded and lumbered forward, the entire room shaking as he approached the dragon and swung an icy fist, slugging the beast in the jaw and snapping its head upwards before he punched it again a second time. The Aguadite failed to notice however, the dragon's tail come swinging at him and swipe his newly formed legs out from underneath him and sent him falling to the ground.

"Ashlynn, brah! Ya gotta, like, pin it down!" Overflow yelled as he just barely managed to catch the dragon's wide stretched jaws in his icy claws and hold it away from his face. "And, like, hurry, too!

"How!? I don't know what to do!" Ashlynn yelled.

"Might I suggest trying those peculiar pods growing out of your back?" Skurd suggested with what seemed to be a tired voice; Ashlynn paused and glanced over her shoulder, wincing at several black pods growing out of her back and shoulders that she had noticed before, despite everything that happened. With a grunt and slight hiss of pain as the princess tore two of the pods from her back, Ashlynn chucked the two seed pods at the dragon and watched as they exploded, instantaneously sprouting into thick creepers and vines that embedded their roots deep into the marble floor of the Mirror Lab and curled securely around the dragon's back legs, rooting it in place; two more seed pods later, and the dragon's wings were incapacitated, too.

"Nice one, Ashlynn!" Maddie smiled, emerging from another computer.

"Don't thank me yet!" Ashlynn gulped nervously; the dragon ripped its jaws free of Overflow's permafrost hands and blasted short jets of flame at the vines holding its wings in place before using the claws that functioned as hands and feet on its wings, depending on their use, to slice through the vines trapping its feet. Overflow yelped as the dragon lashed out with its tail and sliced it through his thick neck, knocking his face mask off and sending it flying across the room; instantaneously, the massive, golem-like body Overflow had built himself dissolved into a large puddle of water, leaving Ashlynn helpless as the dragon lunged its head forward and snapped its jaws shut around her head, tearing it off with a quick movement of its head.

"ASHLYNN! NOOOOOOOO!" Hunter wailed as his girlfriend's headless body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, dear boy, just wait for it!" Skurd scolded the huntsman as the Omnitrix timed out and returned the majority of the puddle that was Overflow back into Ben, thankfully with his head still attached to his shoulders. Hunter ignored the time out and watched in amazement as Ashlynn's corpse shifted and moved slightly, bubbling and rolling around with a loud squishing noise as a fresh, new head sprouted from Ashlynn's neck and blinked its single eye.

"I do not want to do that again." Ashlynn shivered, climbing to her four feet before she was suddenly slammed into by a relieved Hunter.

"Thank the ancestors you're alright!" Hunter sighed with relief.

"Well, I'm part plant. What did you expect?" Ashlynn smiled slightly before she gave her boyfriend a slight hug. "And don't worry; I am not going to attempt that again.

"Like hex you aren't!"

"Um, guys? If we could focus on the dragon?" Ben suggested as he tapped the Omnitrix and slammed a hand down on the activation button, encompassing himself in a burst of green light. A short layer of gray colored fur sprouted all over his body, leaving only his hands and feet bare as his ears rotated to the top of his head, becoming long and rodent-like in appearance. A loud cracking sound filled the air as Ben's bones ground and shifted, a long, rat-like tail sprouting out from the base of his spine as sparse hairs sprouted out at random points on the new appendage. His toes melted into three claws, his heel pushing out behind his new feet to form a fourth toe; Ben's face bulged outwards slightly into a rodent-like snout, a few stray hairs forming a small goatee of some kind his arms swelled and his chest bulked up with muscle. A thick mane of razor sharp quills grew from the back of his thick neck as a pair of black pants, black tank top with a green stripe down the front, green cuffs, and black, finger-less gloves materialized on his body. The final piece of the transformation was the addition of a green belt with the Omnitrix and Skurd on it around Ben's waist.

"Rollin' out the new guys, eh, Omnitrix?" PorcuPain grinned toothily.

"Will you stop talking to the watch and get on the offensive already?" Skurd demanded.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, Boogerface." the Espigilagisapien grumbled under his breath as he rolled up tightly into a ball and rushed right at the fire-breathing dragon, swerving left and right to avoid the dragon's teeth and claws, swiftly rolling under the dragon's belly and firing off several quills that mostly bounced off of the armored belly, save for one that managed to find a chink between the plating; the beast roared with surprise and moved its head underneath of itself to follow PorcuPain as he rolled along, the dragon failing to notice Maddie quickly taking the rest of the computers in the Mirror Lab while Hunter worked to finish his weapon.

"Ben! Heads up!" Ashlynn yelled as she tore a pod from her back and tossed it at PorcuPain. The ball of sharp quills uncurled to catch the seed pod in his claws before he leaped up into the air and chucked the pod at the dragon's head, watching with satisfaction as vines exploded and wrapped themselves tightly around the dragon's jaws and pinning them shut, negating any probability of being roasted for the time being.

"How is that weapon coming, dear boy?" Skurd yelled as the dragon gave a muffled roar and slammed its head into the floor in an attempt to loosen the vines before given up and chasing after PorcuPain and Ashlynn, swatting at them with its razor-sharp claws.

"Almost done . . . there!" Hunter exclaimed excitedly as he finished the weapon, something that looked like a combination of a rocket launcher and bazooka all rolled in to one, with a massive, human-sized compartment towards the back; it was a wonder how Hunter was even able to lift the heavy device, though no one bothered to argue otherwise. "Maddie! Get in!"

"I've always wanted to do this!" the mutant Hatter laughed madly as she buzzed over to the weapon and set herself down in the launching device.

"Since when?" PorcuPain wondered, ducking to avoid a swipe of the dragon's tail.

"Ever since the wonderful author, Creaturemaster thought of it!" Maddie giggled.

Hunter face palmed himself. "First you're talking about narrators that explain and tell about everything we say and do, now you're claiming there's some omnipotent writer that's making us do all these things for his sick, twisted pleasure!? You've completely fallen off the dragon now!"

"Well, that's not very nice! The author can't help it if he's got fans to please." Maddie huffed.

Hunter sighed and pinched his brow. "I am going to launch you right now at this dragon so I can get back in my real body so I can then go to bed and pretend this whole nightmare was a dream, okay?"

"Okay! Fire when ready, Captain Hunter!"

"I am not going to dignify that with a response." Hunter grumbled as he pulled the trigger on the weapon he had constructed from various computer tech and plating and felt the containment unit towards the back close shut with Maddie inside, a faint giggling reaching his ears as he quickly aimed the weapon at the dragon's moving skull, taking careful positioning before he squeezed the trigger a second time and fired, falling flat on his back from the recoil as Maddie was launched through the air straight at the dragon's head, screaming; whether it was with joy or fear (most likely joy) nobody knew. With a mad smile on her face, Maddie began to flash ominously before she connected with the dragon's face and released every last amount of energy and electricity she had absorbed through the now lifeless computer consoles into the dragon. Ashlynn and PorcuPain swore they saw the dragon's very skeleton appear between flashes before the beast gave a pitiful roar of pain and slumped to the floor, unconscious as smoke curled off of its charred body.

"Now that's what I call a shocking defeat!" Maddie giggled as she landed back on the ground.

"I take back everything I ever said about your quips and jokes." Skurd apologized to PorcuPain.

---

Briar sighed and pinched her brow with exasperation as she watched from above the raging, one-sided battle below in the middle of the Charmitorium; Apple and Daring were currently running around like what she considered to be two of the three blind mice as the two fairy tales were all but helpless in dodging and avoiding in getting blasted by the irritated and hungry fire-breathing dragon currently tearing through the many, cushioned seats as if they were butter. While Daring was slightly more adept in avoiding getting cooked alike by the dragon's fiery blasts, Apple was all but helpless as she barely managed to avoid getting barbecued, seemingly forgetting about her new wings altogether.

"Something wrong, beautiful?"

Briar shivered slightly upon hearing that deep, seductive voice caress her ears as she turned around to see Bullfrag come strolling out onto one of the nearby balconies with Skurd sitting casually on the Omnitrix as the Incursean leaned on the railing of the balcony and observed the battle from below. "Not very adaptable, are they?" he remarked.

"That's putting it simply." Briar agreed. "I mean, I love Apple, but . . ."

"She's about as useful in a fight as a wet cat against a runaway train?" Bullfrag supplemented.

"That's . . . a rather weird way of putting it, but then again everything got weird ever since you showed up." Briar shrugged.

"My entire life became weird since I got this thing." Bullfrag smirked, pointing to the Omnitrix.

"Are you two quite done with your tea party, or are you ready to actually do something useful?" Skurd interrupted with his usual attitude.

"The Snot Rocket's gotta a point." Bullfrag agreed, ignoring the annoyed expression his Slimebiote partner was throwing him as he cracked his knuckles with a grin. "You ready, beautiful?"

"Whenever you are." Briar blushed slightly as Bullfrag climbed onto the balcony railing and bunched up his legs to launch himself into the air, rolling himself up into a tight ball as he fell; while the two of them fell, Skurd quickly oozed and shifted himself over Bullfrag's arms and hands, reaching deep within the depths of the Omnitrix to pull out a certain DNA pattern and shift the two limbs into that of a Petrosapien just before his Incursean partner unfolded himself and slugged the dragon across the face as he flew by and landed on the Charmitorium's stage, a deep smirk of triumph on his face.

"AO! Big an' Ugly!" Bullfrag taunted. "Yer mother was a salamander!"

The fire-breathing dragon apparently took this insult to heart, smoke curling angrily from its nostrils as it bellowed and lunged its head forward with its jaws wide open; Bullfrag smirked and drew back a fist, socking the winged reptile in the jaw before taking a huge leap to avoid another swift movement of the dragon's jaws. The Incursean grinned cockily as he landed on the dragon's head and hung tightly onto the beast's head, hanging on tightly as the now furious dragon thrashed about, smashing clean through theater seats like they were butter as it smashed and bashed its head into the floor to try and shake its unwanted passenger off.

"If'n anyone's gonna be doin' somethin, now would be appreciated and what not!" Bullfrag yelled over the dragon's furious roaring.

"You heard the lad! Do something, you insufferable royalty!" Skurd added, turning to shout at Daring, Apple, and Briar.

"For once in my handsome and charming life, I have no idea what to do!" Daring scoffed. "I have no weapon, my precious armor is all but worthless, and there are none of my lovely admirers watching!" the Son of Prince Charming huffed, turning around on his heel to ignore the ensuing battle and coming face to face with what Daring first thought was an angry harpy; upon a second look, he realized that was in fact Briar, looking like she wanted to tear something in half with her bare hands.

"Get your sorry excuse for an ass in there, or I will spend every waking moment of my life making your life miserable." Briar hissed.

"Fair enough." Daring gulped nervously, flinching under the princess's glare before he retreated back into battle, deciding that facing a fire-breathing dragon would be far easier and less painful than facing Briar Beauty when she was angry; Daring quickly divided himself into half a dozen clones.

"Excuse me, but what are we doing here?" the first clone frowned.

"Yes, why aren't we in a hall of mirrors where we can admire all of our beautiful physic?" a second clone wondered.

"Because," Daring explained. "We have a slight dragon problem."

"So? I can't go anywhere near dragons! It'll ruin my handsome, charming face!" a third clone protested.

"Yes, well, would you rather face a dragon or Briar?" the original Daring gulped nervously, jerking a shaking thumb over his shoulder at the fuming princess.

"You . . . make a good point." a fourth clone agreed; the rest were quick to reply, especially when Briar made a rather threatening gesture and snarl.

"I got one thing and one thing to says to you, Ugly!" Bullfrag yelled as he cupped his Petrosapien fists together. "Play dead!" he shouted, bring them down on the dragon's skull and forcing its head down to the ground, crushing a couple of theater seats in the process. After a few moments, the dragon shook its head and lifted it off of the ground, giving it a good shake and sending Bullfrag flying across the theater and into a wall where he slid back down to the floor with a groan.

"I said play dead!" the Incursean whined.

"You actually excepted the dumb beast to listen?" Skurd cocked a beady eye.

"Not really."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Apple screamed; Bullfrag shook his head to clear his vision as the princess barely managed to roll and duck beneath the dragon's fiery jaws, taking note that the irritated beast had set itself on fire and was currently barbecuing anything within reach just by touching it. Fortunately, at the moment, this did not include Apple, but would be subject to change if the helpless Necrofriggian hybrid didn't get off of the ground and out of range soon.

"Apple! Hang on, babe!" Bullfrag exclaimed as Daring and his clones all rushed the dragon, only to be swept aside by a careless flick of the fiery beast's tail; with a low croak, the Incursean fired off his long, elastic tongue and felt it connect high above the Charmitorium floor, somewhere in the balcony across the way. Once he was sure the line was secure enough, he stopped resisting its strong pull and let his tongue pull himself along like a grappling hook, sailing through the air as he quickly reached down and wrapped a protective arm around Apple's waist, lifting her off of the ground while simultaneously slugging the dragon across the face with his free Petrosapien hand as he soared off the ground and landed safely in the balcony on the other side of the Charmitorium.

"Oh, thank you!" Apple sighed happily, hugging Bullfrag tightly. "That was so brave and . . . actually kind of weird."

"Hey, if you think this is weird, you should of seen the time I gave birth to a buncha of Necrofriggian babies." Bullfrag ribbited.

Apple blinked and did a double take. "WHAT!?"

"To put it simply, dear girl, Necrofriggians, you current form I might add, reproduce asexually every eighty years or so; a couple of years ago, my host's Necrofriggian form took temporary control and gave birth to fourteen, bouncing babies." Skurd explained.

"And how, exactly, do ya know all this?" Bullfrag raised an eyebrow.

"Rook and I occasionally read over you're file."

"Seriously, is that all Rook ever does?" the Incursean croaked.

"Okay, hold up. You're saying I could just go into this instinctual reproduction stage at any time and give birth to hex knows how many baby Big Chills?" Apple raised an eyebrow.

"It does only happen every eighty years or so." Skurd shrugged his tentacles. "It would be highly unlikely for you to do such a thing, even in your current state."

"Can we stop talkin' 'bout the babies and the weird reproduction cycles and awkward flashbacks and what not? Because in case none of yous has noticed, wes still gots us a fire-breathing dragon still on the rampage!" Bullfrag yelled, grabbing Apple's shoulder and pulling her down with him to dodge a stray jet of flame aimed their way. "You need to turn that overgrown lizard into an ice sculpture!" he turned to Apple.

"I don't know how!"

"You did it before! You turned Daring and his annoying clones into snow cones!" Bullfrag shouted over the dragon's furious roars as the Son of Prince Charming quickly divided himself into approximately fifty identical copies of himself; the small army of Splixson hybrids grabbed whatever debris and remains were leftover of the Charmitorium seats and brandished like weapons, rushing at the dragon and clambering up and all over the beast's sides, beating it with their hastily gathered weapons as Briar skillfully dodged and weaved around the dragon's head, keeping it distracted.

"I sneezed!" Apple protested.

"Well, ya better either start sneezin', or starting figurin' out how to do it by yourself! Ugly here's getting' nasty!" Bullfrag shouted over the dragon's roar; with a grunt, the Incursean climbed up onto the railing of the balcony and leaped off, drawing by a crystalline fist and punching the dragon in the side of the head as he flew by before whirling around and shooting out his tongue around, wrapping it around one of the dragon's horns and stopping his descent before he was pulled back towards the dragon's head again, slugging it in the jaw as he swung him up onto the top of its skull.

"Come on, you overgrown lizard! Fall down already!" Bullfrag grunted as he relentlessly hammered the dragon's skull with little effect.

"Eat my fist, Ugly!" Briar yelled as she pumped her wings furiously and delivered a swift uppercut to the dragon's jaw, eliciting a wince of pain from the Nemuina hybrid as she held her throbbing fist; the pain was intense, and she could have sworn that her hand was broken as she dodged a quick movement of the dragon's jaws in an attempt to eat her.

"Stand aside, fair maiden! We shall take protect you!" a pair of Daring clones declared.

"Uh, guys? Do you even know whose you're talkin' to?" Bullfrag wondered; before either of the Splixson hybrids could answer, Briar dive bombed them from above, tackling them to the ground and relentlessly began to punch them repeatedly in the face, ignoring the cries and pleading of mercy coming from the two Darings as dozens of similar screams of pain came from around the Charmitorium.

"Briar, baby! Ya gotta stop!" Bullfrag yelled. "Yer hurtin' the other Darings, too! And since when I'm concerned about that?" he added to himself.

"Oh. Right." Briar felt her face heat up as she slowly lifted herself off of the two, crippled clones beneath her and took the air to return her attention back to the dragon, hoping no one had seen her reaction to the Incursean's nickname for her. "How's that ice breath coming, Apple!?"

"Working on it!" Apple replied, clutching a handful of melting ice cubes in her claws.

"Well work on it faster, dear girl! The old boy's getting antsy!" Skurd yelled as he shifted his gelatinous and slimy body over Bullfrag's Petrosapien arms and morphed into those of a Florauna with long, vine-like whips clutched tightly in the grip of the newly formed limbs. With a croak, Bullfrag flipped off of the dragon's head and landed in a crouching stance on the Charmitorium floor before lashing out with his Florauna arms and wrapped the green tendrils around the dragon's hind legs, pulling his arms tight to pin the two limbs together and the dragon tumbling to the floor, crushing more of the theater underneath of its bulk; with a united yell, the Daring clones quickly rushed the downed dragon and swarmed it like ants around a spilled Fairy Berry Soda.

"I think I got it!" Apple announced.

"Nice! Now hurry!" Bullfrag yelled as he struggled to keep the dragon from climbing back onto its feet. Gulping nervously as she unfolded her wings and took to the air, still finding the sensation of flying just as amazing as it was terrifying, Apple inhaled a deep breath and filled her lungs with air before she swooped low over the fallen dragon and expelled what air she had captured back out into a thick, icy vapor that froze on the dragon's skin upon making contact; ice crystals rapidly formed over the dragon's body, forming a thick glacial layer over the ailing dragon and Daring clones until everything was frozen in a several layers of solid ice.

"I . . . I did it!" Apple cheered.

"Yeah. Nice job, princess." Bullfrag smiled as Skurd returned his limbs to their original form. "Nows all we gots ta do is-"

The Incursean was interrupted as small cracks began to form at the base of the frozen dragon, radiating outwards and becoming larger and thicker as they traveled through the ice, the small glacier trembling and quaking as the dragon bellowed and broke free of the ice layer, roaring and spewing out an excessive amount of fire and flame as it fanned its wings out and sent several dozen Darings flying.

"Oh, applesauce." Apple whimpered.

"Don't worry, I gots an idea." Bullfrag reassured her before turning to Briar. "Make 'im sleep with the fishes."

"And how do you propose I do that?" Briar cocked an eyebrow at him while resting her fists on her hips in a defying manner.

"Just point yer finger at it." Bullfrag sighed.

Confused, but not unwilling to try something new, Briar did as she was told and pointed a blue finger at the infuriated dragon; the princess watched with surprise as a trail of sparkling, sand-like substance came floating out from her fingertip, arching and spinning through the air as it encircled the dragon's head in a wide loop; Briar noted with amusement that the dragon seemed to be getting weaker by the second as it inhaled a good portion of the strange substance and gave a wide, cavernous yawn, giving her an excellent view of the dragon's massive teeth. Before long, the dragon had folded its wings up against its back and slumped to the ground, wrapping its tail over its head as it drifted off to sleep.

"What did I just do?" Briar asked.

"You put 'im ta sleep, obviously." Bullfrag shrugged as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world in a flash of green light. "That's what Pesky Dust does; puts people to sleep and lets him view and control their dreams. It's actually kinda fun . . . and a bit disturbing, too." Ben added as an afterthought, remembering a particularly uncomfortable instant involving Toralei Stripe and an interrogation gone wrong.

"This is fascinating and all, but if someone could be so kind as to pull us out?" a Daring clone grunted from underneath of the sleeping dragon's massive bulk.

"Dude, just call back all your clones." Ben sighed; several of the Daring clones blanked for a few seconds before a good portion of them were engulfed in flashes of green light, reducing the number of fifty clones to about three that quickly engaged in admiring each others handsome figure and charming face. Before the trio of princes could admire themselves even more, the doors to the Charmitorium banged open as the rest of the fused fairy tales came running in to the theater, with a flustered and enraged Headmaster Grimm on their heals.

"MR. TENNYSON!" Headmaster Grimm roared.

"Dude, I'm right here. I'd like to keep my hearing, thank you very much." Ben winced.

"What is the meaning of . . . this!?" the Headmaster gestured wildly at Raven sitting with her new wings pinned tightly against her back as she sat on Cerise's shoulders; the later sat on her haunches, drooling slightly and occasionally scratching herself with her hind leg while Briar fluttered her wings to keep aloft.

"Long story short, some of the students got fused with alien DNA when . . . uh, I fell down a flight a stairs and landed on the Omnitrix." Ben lied, trying to ignore the ticking noise that Cedar was unconsciously making.

"Ben, that's not-" Apple started before being silenced with a quick look from Raven.

"You . . .you caused this!?" Headmaster Grimm snarled.

"Just the fusions. The dragons, I don't have a clue." Ben said.

"It's true, Headmaster." Cedar spoke up, her newly acquired German accent startling the portly and well dressed man. "We were with Ben the whole time when we went to investigate the Heritage Hall."

Headmaster Grimm paused his fury to pop a look of dumbfounded confusion. "The Heritage Hall? But . . . it's not Throncoming." he mused, utterly baffled.

"That was our first reaction, too." Ashlynn nodded. "We're still not entirely sure what caused the Hall to rise, but it apparently has to do with Ben, as we found further evidence that he is somehow linked to our world and the Storybook of Legends, despite not being from our universe."

"And what could have possibly been so important that the Heritage Hall had to give Mr. Tennyson?" Headmaster Grimm frowned, glaring at Ben with a cold look.

"Ahem. That would be me." Skurd spoke up from Ben's wrist, startling the Headmaster. "Skurd's the name, scrambling delicious DNA is my game. I am the Dollop with a Wallop!" he announced with a slight bow.

"And why is a talking . . . booger . . . so important?" Headmaster Grimm wondered, hesitating on using the somewhat childish word.

"Oh, hex. Now you've done." Raven shook her head disapprovingly.

"Booger? Booger!?" Skurd cried angrily, oozing and shifting his slimy body over Ben's arm while he accessed a DNA sample from the Omnitrix before engulfing Ben's limb in a flash of green light, turning it into the ever familiar, razor edged hand and sword of a Petrosapien, the very tip of the weapon just barely touching Grimm's throat.

"He doesn't like to be called a booger." Ben said simply.

"Fine! Fine! Just put that monstrosity away!" Headmaster Grimm barked; satisfied that the potbellied man before him was thoroughly frightened, Skurd returned the DNA back to the Omnitrix and returned Ben's arm back to its original form. With a deep breath, Headmaster Grimm calmed and recomposed himself, stilling his frayed nerves to speak in a low and more dignified manner. "Now then, if you could please fix this, Mr. Tennyson?"

"I was getting right to that." Ben nodded as he quickly tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before selecting the Galvan icon and slamming a hand down on the waiting activation button, engulfing himself in a flash of green light. The first noticeable change was his size; he quickly shrank down from his good, six-foot frame to somewhere just a little under five inches. His skin darkened and turned a gray color as it became smooth and slimy to the touch while his bones ground and crunched, becoming more flexible and soft. He felt his feet each lose toes and become webbed as his hands each lost a single finger. Ben's eyes grew wide and light green in color as they bulged out from his skull. The most dramatic change that Ben felt was he felt his brain split in two, right down the middle as one of them halves shrank and became slightly smaller than the other; he suddenly understood the world around him and its inner workings, complex equations and hundreds of plans formulating in his head as a black and green jumpsuit appeared on him with the Omnitrix and Skurd fastened themselves to his back.

"Now, Hunter, if you would be so kind as to preform the necessary repairs while I direct you through the process?" Grey Matter asked kindly; the huntsman all by threw himself off of Ashlynn's shoulder and scampered over to the Galvan, excitedly tapping the Omnitrix disk on his back and watching with joyful eyes as the familiar, black and green hourglass symbol divided into four pieces and opened up to show the advanced and incredibly complicated wiring and machinery within.

"Now then, do you see an acute, green circuit running at about a thirty-two degree angle?" Grey Matter asked, recalling the inner workings of the Omnitrix from the time he and his Dimension 23 counterpart used his current form to fix their respective Omnitrixes from blowing up and taking them with it; he had no idea if that little incident occurred as he remembered it or if his combining of two universes managed to rewrite the time line in such a manner that everything he remembered either never occurred in the first place or it did, but not as he remembered it. For all he knew, his Dimension 23 counterpart was dating a kick-ass Cleo De Nile, a very frightening thought when one considered how well her older sister was at wielding a pair of katana blades.

"Uh, I think so." Hunter nodded.

"Good. Now you need to bypass that and correct the deoxyribonucleic acid analyzer to initiate a proper DNA correction wave." Grey Matter explained.

"Was that even English?" Blondie wondered, the movement of her twin tails not bothering her as much as it did before.

"My head hurts." Apple whined.

"Don't fret, dear Apple. My usage of my extensive vocabulary and other complicated words is almost at an end." Grey Matter assured her. "Provided Hunter can properly fix the Omnitrix."

"Don't rush me!" Hunter snapped. "I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, and yet I feel like I've been doing this since the day I was born."

"Yes, that would be Jury Rigg's instincts and DNA taking over." the Galvan replied.

"FIX! FIX! FIX!" hunter cried eagerly. "Wait, what am I sayin'!?"

"Once again, that would be Jury Rigg's DNA." Grey Matter repeated. "Make sure you rewire the transformation coupling as well; this will hopefully fix that small error considering the attire of my Appoplexian form."

"Whatever. FIX! FIX! FIX!" Hunter cackled; Ashlynn merely looked at her boyfriend as if he had lost his mind and sanity (if ever had them in the first place since the unfortunate transformation).

"This is all . . . very weird, to say the least." Headmaster Grimm sighed, massaging his aching temples. "And I haven't even considered how much this will cost to repair all the damage done by the dragons." he added with disdain and a tired look, turning to gaze enviously at the slumbering dragon currently using a majority of the Charmitorium as a mattress.

"If you are worried about financial trouble, I could turn into Clockwork and-" Grey Matter started to offer.

"No, please. I believe you have helped quite enough." Headmaster Grimm sighed, pinching his brow.

"Are you sure? I could always turn back into Grey Matter and-"

"Yes, I am sure." Headmaster huffed tiredly; he was going to be up all night trying to balance the school's budget to cover the repairs and would no doubt either be passed out at his desk in the morning with a horrible crick in his neck and stabbing pain in his back or would end up drinking himself silly just to stay awake and end up making things worse. The Headmaster made himself a mental note to make sure he had enough Sandman dust and Fairy Wine to keep him up and awake all night if need be, along with a side note to then take several days off afterwards to recover. In the end however, Grimm knew he would probably come crawling back on his knees to Ben for some assistance of some kind just to make sure the school didn't go broke over the extensive and expensive repairs needed. "Just please fix my students and report to your first day of detention. You as well, Ms. Hood . . . wherever you may be." he added, not quite sure which of the the mutated fairy tales before him was the Daughter of Red Riding Hood.

"Done!" Hunter declared happily, closing the Omnitrix.

"About time," Skurd grumbled. "I was getting hungry."

"Please, Skurd. We have more pressing matters to attend to." Grey Matter lightly scolded the Slimebiote as he reached over his shoulder and hit the Omnitrix disk fixed to his back, triggering a deactivation from the powerful device and engulfing the Galvan in a flash of green light; in addition to the light returning Ben back to the world, it lashed out and struck every last one of the fused fairy tales, swallowing Raven Cerise, Ashlynn, Hunter, Briar, Maddie, Blondie, Daring, Apple, Cedar, and Cupid, all of them were encompassed in a powerful blast of green light, morphing and changing and shifting their bodies into something new as the Omnitrix repaired their damaged genetic codes with ease.

"Whoa!" Briar yelled as she dropped to the ground, no longer having wings to keep her aloft.

"Mmmm. So nice to warm again." Apple commented happily, hugging herself tightly when she realized she no longer could see her breath every time she spoke. It was then that she actually remembered Headmaster Grimm's request and glanced nervously between Ben and Cerise as the Riding Hood frantically tugged her precious crimson hood over her head at the last second, both she and Raven casting worried glances among the small group.

"Yes, well, I believe we've had a long day." Headmaster Grimm cleared his throat. "I will have the armory come by to collect the beast and return it the stables; in the mean time, I would advise that you all return to your dorms to freshen up and relax before at least two of you are required to attend detention for earlier damages."

"Whatever you say, Grimm." Ben shrugged.

"That's Mr. Grimm to you." the Headmaster sniffed before turning on his heel to walk out of the Charmitorium as regal as he could muster, knowing the long hours of calculating and balancing the school's budget that awaited him; he made a third mental note to ask Giles to bring him dinner, assuming that he would be too busy to even think of eating.

"Ben? If I may ask you something?" Daring asked once he was sure Headmaster Grimm was out of earshot.

"Make it quick, Charming. I'd like a short nap before I go to detention." Ben yawned.

"I suppose that's fair, considering what we've been through; a shame I shall never be able to admire myself as much as I did before." he added, stealing a quick glance in the mirror he always somehow managed to carry on his person and admire his regal complexion. "Anyways, why did you lie to Grimm about what happened? You could have easily told him about the fight between us and nailed my royal person with a detention or punishment of some degree as well."

Ben shrugged. "I was just being the better man. Trust me, I would have loved to land you in detention with Cerise and me, but I'm more mature than that . . . most of the time." he added upon getting a look from Raven. "Also, I don't think Cerise could stand to be stuck with both us for eight weeks."

"

Eight weeks!?" Apple squeaked, her voice barely audible as she dug her fingers into her palms and bit her lip so hard she could swear she was bleeding.

"Yeah. Grimm nailed us hard." Ben chuckled. "Guess that's what I get for turning into Rath."

"A rather . . . impressive form." Cerise commented; Apple could have sworn she saw the makings of a blush underneath of the Riding Hood's crimson cloak. A quick shake of her head, and the red tone was gone, but this didn't make the princess any less worried. Her boyfriend managing to land himself in detention, she could handle, but her boyfriend managing to land himself in detention with another girl was a different story entirely. They, Ben and Cerise would be alone . . . together . . . for eight weeks . . . without any supervision of any kind. The thought made her face burn and clench her fists a little tighter at the thought; what was this strange feeling she was getting?

"You think that's impressive, I once survived a drop from the stratosphere into bare rock as Rath." Ben chuckled. "When they say Rath is thickheaded, they have no idea."

"I'm just glad you didn't get expelled." Raven smiled, giving Ben a small hug that he returned without hesitation; Apple could found herself next to Ben and giving him a similar hug as well, her fingers just barely brushing up against Raven's arm as she cast a suspicious glance at Cerise while the Riding Hood watched the trio embrace. "Now if you'll excuse me, I plan to take a hot shower and lie down for a while before dinner." the witchling added, giving Ben a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the Charmitorium with Cerise, Cupid, Blondie, Ashlynn, Briar, and Cedar following afterwards; Apple hesitated for a second before giving Ben a small kiss on the lips and following after the group of girls.

"Dude, you are so lucky." Hunter gave Ben a small smirk.

"Indeed, Ben. You show great prowess with the ladies." Daring agreed with a pearly white smile. "Almost as great as me."

"I have almost twenty other girlfriends back home." Ben said with a wide grin as he headed out of the Charmitorium and left both Daring and Hunter to stare at his back with eyes as wide as saucers. "Good luck trying to catch up." he joked over his shoulder, knowing full well that if Raven, any of his other ghouls back home, or even Apple for that matter heard him that he would have his butt handed to him on a silver platter, no matter what alien he turned into to save himself (okay, maybe Apple was a stretch. Maybe).

---

"I still don't see why I can't just go as myself."

"Because I said so." Professor Badwolf growled.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn into Four Arms and tie you into a knot."

"Because you are currently carrying my daughter, Mr. Tennyson. And if you wish to avoid another week of detention and the wrath of my wife, I highly suggest you do not drop her."

"Sure. Because the guy with the all powerful watch gets to be treated like a pack mule." Blitzwolfer grumbled under his breath as he stalked down the main road of the Village of Book End with Professor Badwolf leading the way and Cerise Hood sitting comfortably between his powerful shoulder blades, sinking her fingers into the deep, mane of fur that sprouted from the Loboan's neck.

"Stop complaining, Ben. You're not the one suddenly dragged into this." Raven commented with a yawn as she walked next to her boyfriend and best friend forever after. "And here I was thinking I could relax a little after everything I've been through."

"Sorry about this, Raven. But my wife wanted to speak with you and this was the only safe way to do so." Badwolf apologized. The group of five, an anthropomorphic, professor wolf, a girl in a crimson hood that shield her face in shadows, a future Evil Queen that could make you run away screaming whether she intend to or not, a Loboan from a parallel world and beyond the stars, and a small, slime creature that could manipulate the very blocks of life to his whim, drew odd looks and stares from the inhabitants of the village of Book End; most of them were looks of confusion or extreme fear, though whether it was because there were three particularly nasty looking villains walking down the main road or the fact that a seemingly innocent and helpless little girl was being paraded around as a hostage as if they were daring anyone to try and rescue her.

Needless to say, Blitzwolfer figured that he would probably be hearing about this again.

"Would anyone care to inform the poor, ruggedly handsome Slimebiote as to where he is being taken?" Skurd asked kindly as he slicked the back of his slimy head as if it were hair; Blitzwolfer rolled his eyes and continued walking.

"We're meeting my wife at the Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe," Mr. Badwolf replied before catching the worried glances thrown between his daughter, Raven, and Blitzwolfer. "Don't worry. Charlie's an old friend who can keep a secret 'tighter than a catfish's lips', as he says."

"Do you even know what that means?" Cerise asked.

"Not in the slightest. But then again, Charlie's mad as a hatter; if he somehow exposed our . . . little secret . . . no one would believe him otherwise. Same for dear Madeline." Bad Wolf explained.

"Wait, Maddie knows?" Raven sounded surprised.

"Apparently." Mr. Badwolf nodded. "She and her father were saying something about the Narrator's spoiling everything last time me and Simone went for some tea."

"Okay, can I just say that there actually might be something to this whole Narrator thing?" Blitzwolfer spoke up. "I mean, if Maddie won't stop claiming they exist, then there's gotta be some kinda reason behind it, right? Not that she's just crazy, right?"

"Maybe. But there'd be no way to prove it." Cerise shook her head. Before Blitzwolfer could say anything else, the small group arrived at their location, a rather odd looking building with a massive teapot and cups acting as the roof, outside seating with upside down teacups acting as shades and awnings, and a gigantic, over-sized top hat acting as a chimney of sorts, if the descent amount of smoke billowing out of the top in the shape of wild and dancing animals was anything to go by.

Extravagant and wild colors and patterns decorated the inside, everything from checkerboards and insanity inducing dots to vomit-inducing swirls and crazy mishmashes of colors the Blitzwolfer never thought even possible to exist. Oddly shaped doors decorated the walls and ceilings, a few of them opening and closing occasionally to reveal rooms and places that made Blitzwolfer dizzy just by looking at them. Hats with wings, butterflies with gigantic heads, and floating teapots all flew through the air as a school of fish skipped about around a table on their tail fins while what looked like a dodo bird played a little ditty on a clarinet; clocks of varying styles and sizes kept numerous amounts of time while staircases that led to nowhere and a few tables on the ceiling ran up a couple of the oddly constructed walls.

"Hiya, guys!" Maddie smiled happily, waving wildly to them from behind the cash register before flipping over the counter and cartwheeling through the air to land right in front of Blitzwolfer, eliciting a startled scream from Skurd.

"I say, the girl seems a few sandwiches shy of a picnic." the Slimebiote shuddered once he had calmed his nerves.

"I see Ben's manly charm has worked its ways once more!" Maddie giggled.

"Manly charm?" Mr. Badwolf cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know Ben! He's such a lady killer back home, what with having seventeen ghoulfriends!" Maddie smiled.

"Okay, now I'm convinced there is something to this whole Narrator thing." Blitzwolfer grumbled under his breath as he pinched his brow, not noticing the suspicious glare he was getting from Cerise's father. "Seriously, how would Maddie, of all fairy tales know that? I've barely even talked to her!"

"You didn't have to, silly!" Maddie giggled, playfully tapping his nose with a finger. "The Narrators talk about you a lot! Sometimes I just can't help but tune in and listen! I swear, one of these I'm just gonna pop right out of the pages!" she laughed.

"So it is true? You are dating more than one mate, including Ms. White and Raven?" Mr. Badwolf snarled, barring his sharp teeth in anger; Maddie merely smiled widely as Blitzwolfer let a low growl slip back his fangs, his eyes narrowing as he glared back at the wolf that currently towered over him with his hackles raised and his claws bared, ready for a fight if necessary. Raven and Cerise were looking nervously between the two wolves, wondering whether blows would come into play or not.

"Yeah, what of it?" Blitzwolfer snarled.

After what seemed chapters of glaring at each other, Badwolf's deep growl split into a wide smile. "Well done, boy. I'm impressed."

"Whowiththewhatnow?" Blitzwolfer blinked, surprised.

"Ben, it's not uncommon in my father's family to have more than one husband or wife," Cerise whispered into the Loboan's ear. "My dad's one of the few exceptions with that. He loves my mom too much to fall for another woman."

"Are you calling me a womanizer?" Blitzwolfer raised an eyebrow.

Badwolf merely chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you love all your girls as much as I love my wife, Tennyson. And who knows?" he added with a twinkle in his sharp, golden eyes. "My daughter may join them someday."

"Dad!" Cerise whined, flushing a deep red underneath of her hood.

Fortunately for Cerise, a large, circular spot on the floor slid aside like a trapdoor and let a tall, slim man rise up out of the floor, a wild and goofy grin on his face; in addition to the toned, dark and light, curly auburn hair that could be seen under the man's large, black top hat, he wore a satin pink suit complete with an over-sized toned, purple collar, a white a shirt, and several green buttons. He had dark pants and shoes along with gloves of the same collar, white cuffs, a light blue bow tie, and what looked like two earrings in his left ear.

"No room!" the man announced loudly. "You need to have a reservation."

"Uh, dude? There's no one here." Blitzwolfer pointed out to the empty tea shop.

Maddie giggled. "Exactly! They didn't have a reservation!"

Maddie and the man cackled, bending over and holding their aching stomachs as they laughed like hyenas before high-fiving each other and giving each other a quick Eskimo kiss. "Oh, daddy! That never gets old!" Maddie sighed happily, wiping a tear of joy from her eye.

"If we're done with madness, Charlie, could you please direct us to my wife?" Badwolf sighed with a smile.

"Does a Jabberowcky secretly tap dance?" the Mad Hatter beamed before he pulled his hat off of his head and reach inside up to his elbow before he pulled out a dusty, old book and cracked it open to pan over the worn pages. "Ah, ha! You do have a reservation!" he declared, clapping the book shut and stuffing it back inisde of his hat before reaching into the folds of his jacket and producing a large pocket watch attached to a long, golden chain; a quick press of a hidden button, and the watch face sprang open, spitting gears and springs everywhere much to Maddie's delight as the Mad Hatter then produced a key from the depths of the watch and cartwheeled over to a wicker door to slip the key into the lock and give it a good twist.

"Well, I have some tea I must be brewing! Call if you need anything!" the Mad Hatter smiled, waving good-bye as he walked up a wall and proceeded to vanish through a wooden door painted an exotic orange and green in color that was established in the ceiling.

"I take it this kinda thing happens a lot?" Skurd wondered, Blitzwolfer too stunned to even address the elephant in the room (ignoring the fact that there actually was an elephant in the room currently blowing bubbles into its large mug of tea with its trunk).

"At least, whenever you're with Maddie." Raven agreed. With that being said, Badwolf wrapped his clawed fingers around the knob of the wicker door and pulled it open, a warm smile on his face that quickly turn into a nervous frown; with a whine in his throat and his ears pinned back against his head, the Big Bad Wolf was swiftly pulled through the wicker door before he could attempt to run away, the door slamming shut firmly behind him and leaving the three girls, Loboan, and Slimebiote outside to wonder what the hex was going on.

"I think mom's mad." Cerise stated simply.

"Is your mother usually the angry type?" Raven wondered, having only met the woman a couple times.

"Not usually. She's fair, but not really one to get angry over something unless she has a good reason." Cerise replied. "Take the time when I chew up the couch when I was just starting to get my wolf teeth in; I swear, I never thought I would have seen more angry than then. That is, until I . . . um . . ."

"Do I wanna know?" Blitzwolfer sighed.

"Lets just say I wasn't . . . housebroken yet."

"Why did you even ask that question." Skurd sighed as Maddie giggled happily, as if she were blissfully unaware if the conversation and matter at hand; what worried the Loboan even more was that the Hatter seemed to have pulled a frighteningly large mallet out of the tiny hat she usually wore on her hand was patting it threateningly into her open palm.

The wicker door slowly opened a few seconds later, beckoning them inside as the Omnitrix timed out in a blast of green light; Ben promptly fell on his stomach, banging his chin painfully against the floor underneath Cerise;s weight. "Ow!"

"I'm not that heavy." Cerise frowned.

"I never said you were," Ben grunted as he managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees with Cerise still sitting on his back. "I was just caught off guard."

"You keep telling yourself that." Skurd drawled.

"Well, you guys have fun! I've got a tea shop to run!" Maddie smiled. "Hey that rhymed! Hahahahahaha!" she cackled madly before a large red spot in the floor opened up beneath her feet and let her drop down through a hidden tube before closing back up again, as if the Hatter had never been there.

"I'm really starting to question her sanity." Skurd shook his head sadly as Cerise finally got off of Ben's back and let him climb to his feet before she, Ben, and Raven cautiously peeked through the wicker door to find themselves in a private tea room off of the main store with a rounded, domed ceiling that a large chandelier decorated with multiple teacups holding candle sticks hung from. Sitting the middle of the room was a rounded table with several chairs seated around it with a rather frightened and stressed Badwolf sitting at one and a woman sitting next to him, a bright smile on her face; she had chestnut brown hair hidden beneath a familiar, red hood and had the same stormy, gray eyes that belonged to Cerise.

"Cerise!" the woman's smile broadened as she got up from her seat and eagerly rushed over to the Riding Hood to hug her lovingly. "It's been so long! Oh, how you've grown!" she cooed.

"Mom, I haven't gone that long." Cerise smiled back, returning the hug. "Still, it's nice to see you again."

"I'll bet it is." Red Riding Hood smiled before she caught sight of Ben standing off to the side, looking rather awkward and out of place (and not just because his usual attire stood out in the world of fancy dresses, hoods, hunting boots, and bottomless hats).

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Cerise asked as her mother approached Ben and studied, occasionally poking him or running her fingers through his hair; the Omnitrix wearer decided staying still anjd not moving a muscle was probably the best option, especially when Red Riding Hood glanced between him and Badwolf with slight disdain.

"What is it, sweety?"

"Why did you beat dad up?" Cerise wondered.

"What ever makes you think I did such a thing?" Red Riding Hood asked sweetly as she returned to her seat at the table and gestured for everyone else to take a seat as well.

"You mean other than the fact that I saw you drag him in here and the fact that Dad looks like he just saw the evil Queen?" Cerise rolled her eyes, just barely catching the way Raven cringed at her mother's name out of the corner of her eye. "That, and I can see your favorite ax behinds your back."

Red Riding Hood actually laughed at this. "Oh, nothing escapes you, does it, sweety?" she smiled. "Alright, I suppose an explanation is in order. It would seem your father can't keep his hormones under control." she forced the words out through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.

"Dear, I-"

"Be quiet before I neuter you with a rusty spoon!" Red Riding Hood snapped threateningly, clearly tickied off at her husband; Badwolf decided to keep his mouth shut and his ears pinned back against his head ina submissive posture in the hopes that his wife would calm and forgive him soon.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Cerise sighed, rubbing her temples.

"To put it simply, Cerise, you're little boyfriend would seem to actually be your half-brother." Red Riding Hood explained. "Imagine my surprise when I got word that a new student had been enrolled in Ever After High under the same title as my husband; at first, I thought your secret had been exposed, but then word soon got out that it was entirely different student, a full-grown wolf powerful enough to subdue a dragon with a single blow. Given our family tree, I couldn't just march right into your father's class and start questioning him, so . . . here we are now."

At that moment, Cerise could do nothing else but suddenly split into a fit of giggles, startling and surprising her mother as well as pretty much everyone else in the room. "Mom, Ben's not related to me in any way." Cerise laughed. "He's not even a wolf!"

"Whowiththewhatnow?" Red Riding Hood cocked a confused eyebrow.

"Oh, wonderful. She doesn't even know you, and you've somehow managed to rub off on her." Skurd sighed, eliciting a surprised yelp from Red Riding Hood when she heard the Slimebiote speak.

"Clearly, I'm missing something here." she sighed, massaging her aching temples.

"I tried to tell you, dear. But you kept threatening me with your ax. And that rusty spoon." Badwolf added.

"I suppose I was a bit hasty." Red Riding Hood admitted. "If someone would be so kind as to explain what in the name of Hood Hollow is going on here?"

"I guess this is where I take over." Ben shrugged with a slight grin before he reached across the table with an open hand. "Name's Ben. Ben Tennyson." he introduced him, shaking Red Riding Hood's hand and giving a light kiss to the back of her fingers, earning a slight blush from Red Riding Hood and a low, warning growl from Badwolf.

"My, what a gentleman." Cerise's mother giggled. "Reminds me of you back in the day." she added, turning to Badwolf.

"Now that I would have loved to see." Raven smiled slightly.

"Anyway, I come from a parallel universe where fairy tales are nothing more than words and pictures on paper; instead, my universe is populated by humans, monsters, and aliens." Ben explained as he held up his wrist for Red Riding Hood to see; Skurd gave a friendly wave to Cerise's mother in the hopes of easing relationships and not getting called a booger again. "This device, the Omnitrix, lets me turn into a variety of alien species, one of which just happens to look like a wolf. That's probably the reason why you're so angry at your husband."

"You lied about your heritage?" Red Riding Hood marveled.

"Well, if I just came storming into Ever After High claiming I was from another universe and could turn into freaky alien creatures, people would have I thought I was crazier than Maddie. That, or get killed." Ben explained. "Did I mention I was nearly executed in little under two weeks?"

"Talk about a tough neighborhood." Skurd remarked.

"Before I say anything else, could you kindly introduce me to the talking booger on your wrist?" Red Riding Hood asked kindly.

"Are you talking to me?" Skurd narrowed his beady eyes at Red Riding Hood.

"Uh, oh, she called him a booger." Ben groaned.

"Are you talking to me?" Skurd asked a little louder.

"Shouldn't have done that." Ben sighed.

"Are you talking to me!?" Skurd roared angrily; Red Riding Hood flinched as the Slimebiote stretched out from Ben's wrist to yell in her face.

"Now she's in for it!" Ben moaned.

"They call me, Mr. Booger!" Skurd screamed at the top of his lungs, forming two little tentacles that clenched tightly into fists that he raised about his head and pounded against his chest like a mighty gorilla.

"Skurd! Dude, chill!" Ben calmed the Slimebiote down. "Sorry about that, he hates to be called a booger. Skurd, this is Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood, this is Skurd; he can access any of my alien's DNA and then let me use it to my advantage, such as morphing one of my arms into a better weapon in the middle of a fight to give me an edge."

"Sometimes literally." Raven added with the hint of a smile on her lips. "Now if I may interrupt the friendly introductions, but why am I here? Not that I don't mind, it just seems a little . . . random."

"I suppose a second explanation would be in order as well." Red Riding Hood shrugged.

"Please, Simone. I'm pretty sure you're the only one here who knows what's going on." Badwolf agreed.

"Very well." the Riding Hood nodded as she turned to face Raven. "Now as I've come to understatement, Raven, your mother's . . . unfortunate incident and imprisonment has left you with no family to call your own; nobody outside of your family even knows who your father is."

"This somehow seems ironic, coming from you." Ben noted with a small smile. "Is it irony or something else?"

Red Riding Hood ignored Ben's comment. "This option is entirely up to you, Raven, but . . . I would like to adopt you. As my daughter."

The silence that followed was thick and heavy, the room quiet from any sort of sound save for the sharp breaths everyone was taking in as they all turned to look at Raven, wondering how she would react and what her decision would possibly be. The Daughter of the Evil Queen herself was just as stunned as everyone else was to hear the proposition, and coming from the mother of her best friend forever after as well; the thought was tempting, to say the least. Would she finally what the touch of a gentle, loving hand on her would feel like? Or how it felt to come home at the start of a school break to be hugged tightly with an endless amount of love? Or what it might feel like to wake up on Christmas day to find a present from someone that truly cared for her in the student lounge, waiting for her to open it up? The thought was tempting, Raven would admit that much. For so long, she had wanted to be able to feel loved and wanted in the world by someone that wasn't her age . . . but would it be the same? To be cared for and loved by some woman that would act like her mom and yet at the same time wasn't?

Somehow, no matter how wonderful the thought might be, it just wouldn't feel the same, even if it was from the woman that had practically been the only loving mother figure she had ever known in her life. Plus, she wasn't sure how her father would react to her excepting without at least hearing about it.

"The idea . . . it's tempting, I'll say that much." Raven began. "But . . . I'll have to decline. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right, somehow."

Red Riding Hood looked like she was about to protest before Badwolf set a hand on his wife's shoulder and gave her a look to let the witchling's decision go; Cerise felt herself relax slightly. Despite loving Raven to pieces as any best friend forever after would, she wasn't sure she was ready to love Raven like a sister just yet.

"So, we're good?" Ben spoke up.

Red Riding Hood chuckled. "Yes, Ben, I suppose everything's good."

"That's a relief." Badwolf wiped his brow as he sat back in his chair. "Not bad for a first day of an eight week detention, huh?"

"Eight week detention?" Red Riding Hood cocked an eyebrow and looked to Ben and Cerise for an answer.

"Aw, man." Ben groaned.

---

Joseph Chadwick impatiently on the throne he had what few followers left construct for him; despite the rather demeaning materials the thrown was composed of, mostly rotting driftwood, old carriage wheels, and a torn cushion to add some degree of fanciness to his dingy and disgusting surroundings. With an excessive amount of sewage and other unidentifiable liquids oozing down the walls and dripping from the ceilings and something lurking in the large pool of rancid water in the corner of the room, the Forever King could no longer stand staying in such a revolting place and hefted himself up from his throne, ignoring the splash his feet made as they landed on the floor and how his large knuckles sloshed the bacteria infested water when he walked on them in a fashion similar to a gorilla's; it was demeaning to say the least, but was the most comfortable way for his new body to move about.

Chadwick made a mental note, as he trudged out of the makeshift throne room and down the walkway on the side of a particularly large canal filled to the brim with rancid water that bubbled threatening and occasionally stirred and wavered as if something were moving beneath the surface, to move his headquarters to some place more . . . appropriate for his stature as a Forever King; not to mention, some place less likely to give him several life threatening diseases. He needed a castle of some kind, with grand halls and towering spires and turrets that reached the sky, a grand throne fit for a king and an underground cavern big enough to construct a proper working laboratory from where he would be able to purge and cleanse this world of all its impurities.

"Me Lord!" Sir Morton bowed quickly as the Forever King entered the small, abandoned chamber that functioned as a makeshift laboratory; Chadwick quickly dismissed the sign of respect and drew himself up to his full height to instill fear.

"What have you found, Sir Morton?" he demanded.

"Quite a lot, it would seem, yer majesty." Sir Morton bowed slightly. "We have managed to capture and imprison several smaller specimens of the magical variety and have procured several volumes of extensive magical knowledge from what the Twins have deduced to be something of a high school or educational system in this scum-infested world."

"I do not care about magic, Morton!" Chadwick snarled, his voice echoing loudly and bouncing off the walls, making his thundering roar even louder than it actually was.

"M-Me Lord, forgive me for correcting you, but it would seem utilizing arts of the magical variety are of great importance in this world. More so than the use of technology or science." Morton quickly explained. "If we ever truly wish to conquer and cleanse this world of its impurities, we will have to fight on the same level as the alien scum."

Chadwick pursed his lips in thought, grinding his razor-sharp fangs together in anger when he realized that Morton was right; true, using alien technology to purge the world of alien scum had briefly worked before Tennyson and his team had gotten in the way, but it failed in the end as it usually did. Now, he had a chance to start all over and make himself more powerful than he could have possibly dream of. He obviously had the body and strength for it, all he needed was the proper power and his dream would soon be realized.

"Very well." he sighed. "Is there anything else to report."

"One last thing, me Lord." Morton nodded before turning on his metal heel. "Bring it in!" he called into the darkness. Chadwick heard the family sound of the Forever Ninja's feet scrapping against the slimy, cobblestone floor of the sewer and watched with interest as the blood red android hauled something out of the shadows and through it on the floor in front of him.

"Morton, this is a suit of armor." Chadwick stated angrily.

"I-it's more than that, yer majesty! I swears by it!" the burly knight said quickly. "Theres was a whole bunch of this monstrosities wanderin' around at that high school I mentioned before, armed to the teeth as they patrolled and guarded the halls while the scum walked about oblivious!"

"What are you saying, Morton?"

"I'm sayin', these things can be recreated, armed, and given simple commands." Sir Morton explained proudly with a grin that would have been most dentists cringe. "Such as, 'attack' and 'kill'. And what's better, is that they're easy to make, too."

Chadwick was now grinned toothily too. "Very well, Sir Morton. You have indeed impressed me." he nodded. "Have the Twins drop your limited collection spell books in my chambers within the hour; I wish to do some . . . experimenting."

"Yes, me Lord."

"Bring the suit of armor as well," Joseph added as he turned around to lumber out of the chamber. "Oh, and Sir Morton? Continue to study, pilfer, and find out any necessary information you can about our current location, no matter the cost. I have a feeling we will need it, should our paths ever cross with the alien scum.

"As you wish, me Lord."

And there we go!

Wow. Yet another long chapter. I gotta start pacing myself! Whew!

So . . . yeah. I really got nothing else to say. PLEASE do not forget to vote on the poll on my profile; if you can't vote, tell me your choice in the reviews. The future of this story depends on it!

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Hasta Luego!