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!

18. Spring Unsprung Pt 2

And here we are again! Welcome back one and all to another chapter of Once Upon a Tennyson!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

Easy, Maddie. Try and tone it down a little, please?

Never after! I gotta a cannon and I'm not afraid to use it!

Curse you Pinkie Pie. I shall have my revenge!

That'll have to wait until later, silly! The walrus can't deny the enviable feast that lies within the oysters he walks with!

Sorry, my Riddlish is a little rusty. What the Sphinx does that mean?

It means, you scoodle brain, that we have reviews to answer!

You know the world is ending when Maddie actually the one that's on track. Oh, well. On a side note, thank you for getting us to 600 reviews! We can't thank you enough, guys, gals, and miscellaneous species for taking the time to tune and to listen to all the complete nonsense we have to say. Well, Maddie says complete nonsense, I actually say something that's worth listening to.

That's what you think!

Quiet, you. You still need to rest until you're sober enough off of your tea that your not gonna take my head anytime soon.

NEVER!

Why do I even bother to try and stop her during these review celebrations? oh, well. Onto the review answers!

Yay!

Linkonpark100 – As much as I would like to, it would be completely unfair to the narrators. It would blow their tiny minds (except maybe Brooke. She's a little more open that her parents)!

mechazard01 – If and when Ben and friends return home, I'm not quite sure how. That's in the far, far, far, far future, so it's something I push off until the last second since it's not that hard to rectify and change if necessary. I like the suggestion though; Hokestarr's gonna wanna try making a fairy berry smoothy (hopefully not made from real fairies). As for a holiday themed chapter, I've got an idea in mind . . .

Karlos1234ify – I don't think Ben would react wildly (after all, he knows from personal experience that even a princess can deadly back home). As for your aching face, I suggest some Cheshire Smiling Cream, for those Cheshire's that just aren't able to keep their constant grins in place for fear of sore muscles.

Wolfslick – Glad you liked it!

Zak Saturday – Yeah, our favorite chess piece friend won't be appearing for a while. And as much as "fan fable" works, it's apparently called fan fiction canonically; talk about a wasted chance.

marshman101 – Trust me, I would have loved to incorporate more Maddie into this-

Me, too!

But it probably be put in at inopportune times and places that made absolutely no sense. Belive me, there will be more Maddie farther down the road.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin – Thank you for the wonderful gift (finally, a chair that's both comfy and fits my size! And it comes with food and drinks, too!). About your little pet . . . is it normal for it to try and eat my hand? I mean, I'm not exactly feeling any pain over here thanks to my tough skin and all, but it's kinda starting to get annoying. That being said, kindly leave my room before I Tetramand Cymbal Clap you through the wall; I've got enough troublesome roommates thank you very much!

Mr. Nibbles can't help it if he's hungry!

I wasn't referring to 'Mr. Nibbles'. And that is definitely not what I'm calling him. Or her. Or it. Another thing I'm sure of is that I'm not checking what gender it is.

StrongGuy159 – Thank you, mi amigo! Enjoy part 2!

Codecrash – Oh, don't worry about Apple. She'll be hearing about this quite soon XD Glad you liked the OC as well (you can thank maverick2000 for that); and your little curiosity about Ben could definitely work in my favor (meaning it'll be fun to write). Also, thank you for the villain ideas. I LOVED them!

I did, too!

You, you try and contain Mr. Nibbles or whatever we're gonna name it.

It's almost like its our child and we're its parents!

Memo to me. Memo to me: hide your tea set.

Kaiju Fan – Okay, yeah, that makes a lot more sense now. Now that that's out of the way, this guy has a very high prospect of coming into the story at one point or another (not as soon as the villain from my last chapter, but close enough). Also, despite your suggestion/request, I refuse to address events such as these for fear of controversy and biting comments that may follow if I give a biased statement or of something similar composition, no matter how horrible the event (though trust me, I feel just as bad as you do for what happened).

If you ask me, that guy could scare the bark out of a dogwood tree.

So, you don't like him?

He's one sour cup of tea, that's what he is!

I'll take that as a yes.

Royal Rebel – Hmmm. What if I took the myth of the Greek Achilles (this actually works, since Cupid's in Ever After and it's a place of fairy tales and myths) and reworked it bit; essentially, he could be this nearly unstoppable steam work gladiator-like golem that roams the lands of Ever After searching for evil to destroy, having been created to fight and kill anything it deemed a danger to the destinies the inhabitants of Ever After were supposed to follow; this will help flow into a little idea I was given by Codecrash about what would happen if there were forgotten fairy tales locked away by the Grimm brothers and their ancestors seeking revenge? Something to think about. As for Brooke reappearing after Spring Unsprung . . . she probably won't appear everytime, but definitely some more.

Dragonsaurus Rex – Okay, yes, technically speaking Archaeopteryx was a bird, but it's proven with hard evidence that most, if not all small theropod dinosaurs had feathers covering their bodies at point in their lives; to be honest, I get a little irked whenever something as little of a detail as this doesn't let someone enjoy the chapter as much, mostly because it's really not important to the plot whatsoever.

DracoAngel17 – I'm glad you like my writing style. I'll admit that I was a little worried that going back and forth in time like that would horribly confuse people, but I'm glad it didn't deter you from reading! And . . . well . . . she's kinda . . . cute and . . . oh, what am I saying? I ain't taking this no more!

Not taking what anymore?

I'm not taking this kinda abuse anymore! I don't care if you're my eternal tormentor or not, I am a Sphinxin' Tetramand for crying out loud and I will not let myself be dominated or demeaned by a Hatter who's less than twice my size!

My new, special mallet gives out funny electric sparks whenever it hits things.

You win this round . . .

Stretchy-Rat – While I can't say what her brother will be like (yet) I do have to say that Brooke is one of my favorite characters. And if anyone can help Brooke get her own story, it's Ben. And yes, there are both demons in Ever After and lines to be drawn between certain feline related females.

Fanfic Fan – Hmmm. When you put it that way, it's not a bad idea. Especially considering how Apple's own mother seems to have some sort of attraction towards him, no matter how mild. As for Maddie telling Ben of Brooke's little crush . . . ;)

Redrangerlegacy – I always did strive to make sure I got just the right combination of awesomeness, hilarity, and freaking sweetness mixed just right; too much of one thing and not even Upchuck won't find it appetizing.

masterart – Unfortunately, I already have an idea for what will happen to the Forever Knights. While it won't involve the Cheshire Cat, I can say it will involve a certain fairy tale character that everyone knows quite well.

Menatron the Angel of Ideas – I like the bookball idea a lot, I was actually trying to figure out a way to get Ben on the bookball team without switching the seasons again (there's only so much that the Well of Wonder can do). As for the Queen of Hearts idea . . . I'll think about it. Regarding Faybelle's look, I'm thinking it's something about fairy physiology where the young have quick, fairy wings to be more agile and fast to avoid predators and enemies while the more powerful adults have the gigantic bird wings to shield themselves with. That's my theory anyway.

Guest – Actually, no. There's only so much one can do with being impaled through the shoulder. And contrary to what you may or may not think, I do take the time to read all of my reviews and feedback from my viewers. It's just that not all of what they say or suggest will be taken into consideration.

Soos – Don't blame yourself, Soos. I mean sure, the one-eyed freak is driving me up the wall while Maddie and I silently plot against him (he crossed the line, if you didn't know), but it's not your fault. I'm sure he would have found out eventually. Regardless, all four of my hands are tied right now. And yes, Bill will probably turn you inside out.

Bill Cipher – Of course, you realize this means war. And for the last time, I ain't no human! I'm a Tetramand and proud of it! I will tear out your eyeball and going bowling with it with my bare hands! Oh, and the destruction of keyboard? Not really an issue. Lets just I have my connections and ways of getting a new one ):)

. . .

Maddie? We're talking to Bill here. Aren't you gonna insult his mother or something?

. . . *sniff*

Oh, Maddie. Come on, it's not that bad. We can still get- WHOA!

My tea! My precious Wonderland tea! Aaaaa-aaaa-aaaah!

And this was my favorite shirt, too. *sigh* Look, I promise we'll get Bill for this, okay? You'll be the one to personally tear that top hat of his off and shove it down whatever kind of throat he has.

Promise?

Promise. Anything you'd like to say to Bill?

Nothing that will be entirely censored.

. . .okay. What I have to say to you, you one-eyed, triangular, madness swallowing, steroid chugging freak of interdimensional nature, is that I will never let you take Maddie away from me or Ben! And that I'd rather throw myself into a black hole than spend time with that freak of nature that's probably your sister in law or something, you son of a *censored*. Oh, and guess what? I AM NOT A HUMAN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The toy soldier meets the general!

Translation: prepare to meet your maker, Bill. We might not be able to help directly, but we. Are. Coming. For. YOU.

Deal with it, you demon idiot! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That's my girl.

Titanzilla – With the Cheshire Cat, you never can tell, that's for sure.

Ernest P Worrell – You know, that's actually not a bad idea. Well done.

Lord Dominator – I think I can arrange an appearance of Mole-Stache :)

Isom – Yeah, Vanity's quite a looker. Despicable and wicked, but definitely beautiful. And yes, I am going to have a field day with the alternate personalities that can and will be brought to the table; not so much in the OC villain yet, though. It's a little (a lot, really) earlier for that again.

To answer your question, I just take it as a compliment! I love people telling me I'm mad! It's what makes me . . . me! And sorry, but it's next to impossible to teach anyone outside of Wonderland to break the fourth wall, barring getting thrown into the event horizon-scoodle-doodle-thingy ol' Paradox had to go through. And no, Daddy hasn't met Jigsaw yet. But I think he'll like him just as much as I do!

Darkness Rissing – You know what I have to say to that!? *censor* you, Bill Cipher!

*several rude hand gestures* The sun has set on the dog's day!

What she said. And Bill's got nothing on Alien X! He's a close second, I'll give him that, but he's got nothing!

cajilig18 – Thank you, my good sir (or ma'am).

TerrorKing10 – Interesting villain, to say the least. This actually shares many qualities with Vanity, the villain from the previous chapter, and I was actually hesitant on even continuing further with this, but I'm glad I did. In spite of her actual appearance (which I now don't mind) she's definitely unique among the villains and should be more than enough to give both Ben and Jane a run for their money.

guest – It'll probably still be similar to how it was in Spring Unsprung, but you never know . . .

fantasylover4ever – It's a definite possibility!

Deadpool – It's nothing personal, Deadpool, really it isn't. I love your wisecracks and breaking the fourth wall, but I already have more than enough characters breaking the fourth wall; first a hatter, a pink pony, a reviewer, and a one-eyed, interdimensional demon, and now you. I don't how much more of this I can take . . .

Zachery Hance – All in due time, my friend. All in due time.

KittyWolf – Yes, I believe you spelled those correctly. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for me getting the genders right; as for Darling, she won't officially appear until Way too Wonderland and afterwards, but I can guarantee that something is bound to happen XD

Smokescreen2814 – Oh, great. Now even more characters breaking the fourth wall!

maverickmoxery2000 – Thank you for the additional info on Vanity; I'm too the point where I've got so many good villains I'll have to create a separate document just to house all their applications! As for your idea of the 7 Deadly Sins idea, bring it on! I'm to the point where I know have three groups of villains conspiring against Ben, not counting his own enemies that looking to even the score a little. Regarding Wonderland, I'm pretty sure it's like a pocket dimension, sort of like how the Null Void is connected to Ben Prime's world. As for when the ghouls get alien species similar to their own species, I imagine it will not be a fusion; if Clawdeen were to turn into a Loboan, she'd probably keep her fur color and nothing more, no matter how similar the species are physical appearance wise; after all, hyraxes, elephants, manatees, and dugongs are all related and they look absolutely nothing alike.

luciayshadow - . . . my mind . . . she is a blown! The only slight issue I have with your whole Hexico adventure (which I love) is that there are far too many OCs for it to work properly; adding OCs into a story is like baking a cake: you add too much water to the mix, and you end up with something that resembles a very messy cake (I don't do a lot of baking, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works). What you're suggestion involves too many OCs that most likely only appear once for it to be safe; if you can lower the number to perhaps three (villain included), then this could work out; I'm sensing that while all your OCs share some hold on the whole idea, they don't share as big as a roll as the villain and owl man the ghouls are searching for in the first place.

Unknown – It is unknown if the fairy tales will receive Omnitrixes of their own, as that is off into the very far future.

Gojira – I like what I see here. Although, could you perhaps tone down his powers a little bit? I understand he's supposed to be the King of All Dragons, but you're making him sound like a freakin' god! Even if he does have a weak spot, Ben's not gonna be able to safely defeat this guy without going Alien X, something I absolutely refuse to do without a good reason (Rule number one when writing Alien X: only bring him out during either a very short mistransformation or destruction of the universe crisis).

Erebor – We'll see the other ghouls soon enough, my dear friend. As for the chapter . . . well, here it is! Regarding the nightmarish dreams the ghouls might have . . . let sleeping ghouls lie, as they say . . .

Smaug – Vanity possesses the ability to read minds and peruse through memories, allowing her to know such details with little issue; the only problem is that it doesn't work on inorganic beings such Chornosapiens, Galvanic Mechamorphs, Petrosapiens, Crystalsapiens, or plants, such as Methanosians and Floraunas.

Wonderlandian – That it shall be, I guarantee it!

Story Artist – Are you sure you weren't mad in the first place? ;)

Da999 – Aw, thanks! I love making people smile!

And thanks to everyone that wished Raven a Happy Birthday!

Are we done?

Yep. I believe so.

Good! I wanna get back to the chapter! Things are getting good!

You can say that again. As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below! And I am still accepting applications for more OC villains!

Onward!

Once again, stealing my lines. Not cool.

---

B.P: Mom, Dad! You can't do this!

F.N: It's for your own good, dear. If you ever want to become a proper narrator like your brother, you have to learn to spot spoiling the story.

B.P: But, Mom!

M.N: Mind your mother, dear.

B.P: Dad!

T.P: Hey, Mom! Dad. Brooke.

M.N: Nice to have you back, son!

B.P . . . Hi, Turner.

T.P: I take it sis is having a little trouble understanding the whole concept of being a narrator again?

F.N: I'm afraid so, dear. Would you mind setting an example for your sister?

B.P: Mom!

T.P: Brooke, I know you like to give everyone a Happily Ever After and skip to the good parts, but it's really important to slow down sometimes and take the story at a steady pace. Otherwise you might miss references to future or past events!

B.P: . . . I hate you so much . . .

T.P: As the stereotypical dude would say, "That really harshes my mellow".

B.P: Stop using references to stories I have never read!

M.N: Brooke! Please be quiet and let your brother show you what his studies have taught him.

F.N: And be sure to pay attention as well.

B.P: . . . I bet Ben wouldn't criticize how I narrate . . .

T.P: Ahem. Continuing where we last left off, Ginger Breadhouse had taken a tumble down the Well of Wonder and had miraculously ended up in Wonderland . . . or at least, what was left of it.

F.N: See, dear? Those are the kind of things you might miss if you rush.

B.P: . . . Yes, Mom . . .

---

Eventually, Ginger had managed to safely get herself out of ancient, cracked teacup she had landed in, using a long, durable strand of red licorice she kept tucked away in her pocket to nibble on whenever she was nervous; eating candy to calm herself down came naturally to her, considering she was the Daughter of the Candy Witch. Once she was safely on the small patch of ground that the top of precariously perched spire provided, she cautiously approached the derelict shack that took up a majority of the top of the tower she was on and pushed open the old wooden door, the hinges groaning in protest after finally moving in years.

The inside, while comparatively small to the gingerbread house Ginger had grown up in, the ceilings were high and spacious and the walls were curiously rounded contrary to the standard, clear cut squares and rectangles that made up the outside. The floor that may have been a friendly blue in color had wore away to a dull gray with only mere patches of its former self left after years of rot and decay and a large variety of vines and creepers had slithered and snuck their way into shack's interior, growing out of discarded teacups and kettles that sat neatly stacked on shelves or placed perfectly on a few of the still standing tables; the others were either falling apart or had been tipped over onto the floor, as if they had been pushed aside in a mad hurry. A counter that held up an ancient, rusted cash register stood guard in front of a large bay window that gave Ginger a good view of the curiously parched landscape down below.

Looking around, Ginger noticed a set of stairs that sat off to one of the walls opposite of the main door that curved up and back across the ceiling before stopping at a closed trap door; intrigued, the witch cautiously walked up the stairs and took a deep breath before she placed a foot on the part of the steps that ran literally vertical to the wall. Before she knew what was happening, Ginger was standing upside down on the stairs from the ceiling with only her hot pink pig tails to signify that the laws of gravity were still somewhat in order while she shakily made her way to the trap door and turned the gilded knob sitting there.

The hatch creaked open and Ginger pulled herself through, finding herself at the end of a short hallway that split off towards three rooms; the first revealed itself to be an old bathroom that hadn't been used in a long time if the presence of cobwebs, mildew, and actual dust bunnies that quickly skittered under the bathtub when Ginger walked by were anything to go by. The second room was a bedroom of sorts with a bed that would have comfortably held two had it been placed on the floor and not on the ceiling. In fact, all the furniture in the room seemed to be miraculously standing on the ceiling, despite the almost devoid feeling of magic that Ginger sensed from this place.

Shaking her head, Ginger made her way to the final room at the end of the hall, somewhat relieved to find that everything seemed to be normal in this one; the furniture was all properly on the floor and despite years of neglect, it seemed to be in remarkably good condition, age wise. A bookshelf with only one row of books and shelf after shelf of teacups, teapots, and dishes sat in one corner facing the door while a rug covered the middle of the floor. A comfortable reading chair stood next to a small crib colored a wild and dizzying array of colors and patterns that would have made most fairy tales ill. Stepping in for a closer look however, Ginger found that whoever had been living in this room had left in a hurry, as the teacups and kettles on the shelf were either smashed, broken, or laying on their sides while only a small selection of the books had been disturbed. The lamp that may have once stood tall and proud behind the reading chair lay broken and undisturbed on the floor, a side table lying next to it with several items lying broken with it.

Upon closer inspection, there were exactly three of them. The first two were a pair of broken teacups that may have once held liquid if the stains inside and on the floor were anything to go by, with one of them big and one of them smaller, as if it were meant for a baby. The third object on the floor, made Ginger catch her breath when she realized it was a picture of two little girls sitting around a miniature tea party with a small, baby dormouse and a couple of stuffed animals acting as other guests. The first little girl had wild and curly mint green, blue, and purple locks underneath of a comically, oversized top hat that slid snugly over her eyes; despite this, a happy smile was upon her lips as she poured her partner a cup of steaming tea. The other little girl had frighteningly pale, almost white skin, deep purple and black orbs for eyes, and long, black and purple hair that reached down to her waist.

"Oh, my fairy godmother," Ginger whispered as she set the broken picture back in its resting place on the floor. "I'm in the Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe."

A sudden bang came from downstairs and Ginger felt her blood run cold; silently and quickly, she left the abandoned nursery behind and scurried towards the trapdoor that led up to the upper level and jumped through and down to the floor, tucking into a ball to soften the landing as she didn't bother to use the stairs. Dusting years worth of dust off of herself, the Daughter of the Candy Witch looked down at the floor to see that a door that hadn't been there before was indeed there before her very eyes. What frightened her even more however, was that the door was slowly creaking open like the lid of a coffin that one of the vampire's Ben had talked about lived in. While he had assured them all that the particular vampire he was talking about was a strict vegetarian and fainted at the mere sight of blood, Ginger was quite certain that there were many, many other vampires that slayed their hunger by drawing victims of their bodily fluids.

She half expected such a blood-sucking vampire to slither out of the door and hunker down in the shadows to stalk her relentlessly until she had succumbed to exhaustion and resigned herself to death; instead the shining, white helmet of a knight with a fluid, blue plume sticking out of the top muscled his way through the door and into the Tea Shoppe, drawing himself up to an impressive and intimidating height. Ginger drunk in all the details, taking note of his broad, round shoulders, strong hands and legs, and the image of a proud, white stallion on his chestplate as his heavy footsteps thumbed loudly across the old, wooden floor when he started to approach her.

Unsure of whether or not to treat this newcomer as a friend or foe, Ginger felt her survival instinct kick in and chose the 'flight' option of the two and send her scampering under and behind the counter as the knight tried to approach her. Undeterred by this, the knight switched paths and headed straight for the counter with his hands poised and ready to grab her; Ginger frantically looked around for something to help and caught sight of an old rolling pin that she quickly picked up and wielded like a club.

"D-Don't come any closer, or I'll hit you with-" she warned when the rolling pin she had been holding suddenly and inexplicably exploded into a cloud of colorful, giggling monarchs! "Butterflies?" Ginger blinked with surprise.

"Do not be afraid." the knight finally spoke as he slowly approached her; now that she actually looked at him, Ginger realized he had been holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture in an attempt to show that he was friendly and not going to hurt her.

"Who are you?" Ginger asked.

"I am known as the White Knight." the suit of armor introduced himself, bowing to her. "Loyal Protector of Wonderland."

"Protector of Wonderland?" Ginger marveled.

"Indeed." the White Knight nodded gravely. "I bring a warning. I was under Wonderland and saw the Cheshire Cat switch the Storybook of Legends for a cursed one." he explained as he picked up a book on the counter and opened it up, only to recoil with mild surprise as a blast of hot fire leaped for his face until he closed the pages.

"A . . . cursed book?" Ginger raised an eyebrow.

"A grave risk is headed for Ever After High!" the White Knight nodded as he opened up a breadbox and released a flock of squawking parakeets into the Tea Shoppe that quickly left through one of the many holes in the roof.

Ginger bit her lip with fear. "Oh, so how do I warn my friends? How do I tell Ben?"

The White Knight took a slight pause at the mention of the new name. "Any problem in Wonderland can be solved with the right riddle." he said as he walked over to a hat stand and picked up an old, beaten top hat that shivered and quivered in his grip for a second before it suddenly sprouted wings and took off towards the rafters. "We just need to find it."

Ginger scratched her chin in thought. "A riddle . . ." she hummed, looking around the Tea Shoppe for anything that could have even resembled a clue or riddle; having not been born in Wonderland, she wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for, an inscription, a sign, something. After a few minutes, she sighed, exasperated at the fact that if there was a riddle hidden somewhere, she would most likely not find it due to the dirt and dust that covered everything. With this idea in mind, Ginger turned around to grab a dishrag off of the stove handle behind and gasped with surprise when found a series of Wonderlandian symbols engraved on the spot just above the handle. "I think I found something!"

"So it would seem." the White Knight nodded with approval as he stooped down for a closer look.

Having taken a class on how to read Riddlish and Wonderlandian (she could never hope to speak it like Raven could), Ginger peered closely at the words. "Treat this portal to discover, a bridge from one oven to another." she read. "What does that even mean?" she wondered.

---

Raven felt slightly faint, her breath shallow and caught in her throat as she palms began to sweat; she not normally a nervous person, even under the most extreme of cases (something from her mother that actually came in handy on multiple occasions involving public speaking and the likes), but being in the presence of the Storybook of Legends was more than enough to get her riled up. She could practically feel the raw magic and energy pulsing from within the covers, the sheer power of the book was almost unlike anything Raven had felt in her training years of dark magic, with only a few exceptions being potentially stronger. Not only was the presence of the book's power almost overwhelming, but the fact that it was actually here and no longer lost meant bad news for her and every Rebel in the crowd; taking glances at Hunter, Ashlynn, and Cerise, she could tell that they were all thinking the same thing. Even Ben was slightly put off by the book's presence, though it may have been just getting use to the fact that she had managed to successfully numb his shoulder wound without accidentally blowing his Omnitrix-dialing arm off.

"After all this time, the Storybook of Legends just . . . shows up? I can't believe it!" Raven was at a near loss for words.

"Now everyone can sign!" Apple clapped happily as Alistair handed the ancient manuscript to the Headmaster with a smug and satisfied smirk on his face; Raven sighed and pinched her brow in exasperation at the princess.

"I take it you're not overly excited?" Ben whispered to Raven as Apple eagerly rushed up to Alistair and threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight in a warm hug that Bunny did not seem all too happy watching.

"Have the girls here, like, never seen a boy before?" she mumbled to herself.

Alistair blinked with surprise as Apple finally let go off him to walk back over to Ben and hug him as well, taking great care not to stain her fingers with his crimson blood any more than she already had. "Well, Alistair, my good man, you are the real hero." Daring Charming grinned warmly, flashing his pearly whites as he clapped the Son of Alice in Wonderland on the shoulder proudly.

"But . . . what was the Storybook of Legends doing in Wonderland?" Blondie voiced the question that the majority of the more rational fairy tales were thinking; Briar gulped and rubbed her arm uncomfortably. She had, indeed, thrown the Storybook of Legends down the Well of Wonder in the hopes of it being forgotten, forever lost and never to be found so that she would not have to follow her destiny. Sleeping for one-hundred years did not exactly sound appealing to anyone, especially Briar Beauty, who regularly jumped out of her bedroom window to go hang gliding, of all fairy tales.

"It doesn't matter what happened last chapter!" Apple smiled happily as Headmaster Grimm leafed through the book's pages, his surprised and suspicious expression getting angrier and more furious by the second. "it's back! And Alistair brought it to us!"

"Ah, it was nothing." Alistair felt his face turning a bright red from embarrassment.

"Yes, yes, yes," Grimm growled angrily, interrupting the moment as he clapped the book shut with a stern glare and a snort of his nostrils. "This would all be wonderful, except this is not the Storybook of Legends!" he declared loudly; stunned and shocked gasps radiated out through the crowd while Raven was a little sorry to say that she had actually been sighing with relief. "This is simply a tired, old book of riddles." he announced, tossing the book over his shoulder and into Apple's hands while he crossed his arms over his chest in silent fury.

"WOW,that is hatastic!" Maddie tried to lighten the mood a little; the Hatter was only met with annoyed and peeved glares from everyone, even Apple and her fellow Wonderlandians of all people. Only Ben, the ghouls, and Rebels within the crowd weren't disappointed, mostly because the former had almost absolutely no idea what the hex was going on. "I mean, c'mon, people! Who doesn't heart a good riddle?"

"Riddles make my cabasa hurt." was all Skelita offered as she massaged her skull.

"It was the Storybook of Legends! It was!" Alistair protested in his defense.

"I saw it, too!" Bunny chimed in.

"Not cool, my man. Not cool." Daring shook his head sadly, leaving with a huff to return to the festivities that the Spring Fairest had to offer; the rest of the crowd followed suit, throwing Alistair annoyed and angered glares his way until only Apple, Raven, the Fairest Five, the Wonderlandians, the ghouls, and Ben were left standing together.

"Hey, we're telling the truth!" Bunny protested.

"Yeah!" maddie agreed.

"Off with all of you!" Lizzie declared.

"Don't cough a hairball, people?" Kitty scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Forget it. They're not gonna listen." Alistair sighed. "They don't know us like you guys do."

"Will someone kindly explain the Sphinx is going on here!?" Clawdeen roared loudly with frustration, making Jane shrink slightly and hide behind Venus out of fear; the werewolf was rather notorious in the halls of Monster High as someone not to tick off at any expense, and the final that was kept on her at Lumber Headquarters explained this little fact in full detail, as well as the multiple injuries and threats she had made during such bouts of fury that were only calmed down by either Ben or the sudden appearance of a generous amount of meat.

"I think we all have some explaining to do." Alistair sighed before he caught sight of the gaping hole in Ben's shoulder. "Um, I know we just met and all, but shouldn't you get that looked at?" he wondered, pointing towards the wound.

"Probably." Ben shrugged, thankful that his shoulder had been numbed. "Won't matter anyway, though. A few uses of the Omnitrix, and it'll be as good as new."

"Ben, you should still get it looked at." Venus scolded him. "I may be able to grow you some healing herbs, but it couldn't hurt to at least get it bandaged up so you don't become infected. Who knows what kind of diseases that slutty succubus has been carrying." she shivered with disgust. Ben sighed and surrendered, knowing full well what the ghouls were capable of when their minds were set on something (his eighteenth birthday had proven that quite well), and accessed the Omnitrix as Skurd slide aside and allowed Ben to cycle through his roster before finding a suitable alien and slamming a hand down on the activation button, swallowing himself in a flash of green light. His bones cracked and splintered loudly as they were hollowed out and lengthened while his shifting skeleton forced him to hunch over slightly; his skin turned a deep crimson in color as gaping slits opened up between his cartilage-based skeleton, rendering his nose useless as it shriveled up and molded together with his changing face. Ben's fingers fused together into three, long claws as his toes molded together into two sharp talons with a third thrusting out from his heel bone and acting as a grasping mechanism while his mouth widened across his face, forming thick, yellow lips that housed curved, needle-like teeth, two of which curved up from the lower jaw and over his upper lip. His eyebrows hardened into yellow crests that arched upwards above his pure, green eyes as a lizard-like tail sprouted from the base of his spine. The transformation finally completed with the appearance of a yellow membrane that formed between his tail and wrists as a pair of black briefs, a set of green wrist and ankle cuffs, and a green belt with the Omnitrix and Skurd attached to it appeared around his waist, completing the transformation.

"Hopefully this won't take too long. I haven't gotten to enjoy the festival yet!" Jetray sighed as he bent his legs and raised his arms in preparation for takeoff; Alistair and Bunny merely starred at the Aerophibian while Maddie smiled with amusement at their expressions. Before he could take off however, Clawdeen rushed out right in front him and cut him off.

"What is it, Clawdeen?" Jetray raised an eyebrow.

"Lad, you've just been impaled through the shoulder by a demon!" Skurd rolled his beady little eyes.

"What the Slimebiote said." Clawdeen agreed. "I'm going with you."

"At least she didn't call me the dreaded nickname." Skurd quivered slightly at the mere thought of it.

"The Aerophibian sighed. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" he wondered, though it was more like a statement.

"Nope. You'll have a better chance of making Maddie sane."

"Fat chance!" the Hatter giggled madly.

Jetray heaved another sighed. "Alright, alright. Just hold still." he grumbled as he gave a flap of his wings, now really thankful that Raven had numbed it so he would feel little to no pain when he moved, and jumped up onto Clawdeen's shoulders, using his wings to steady himself. Once his talons that dug themselves securely into her shoulders without actually cutting through her flesh, he gave a flap of his wings and lifted off into the sky back towards Ever After High and towards the healer's office to get his bad shoulder looked at.

"I think you owe us an explanation." Bunny rubbed her temples as she watched the Aerophibian and werewolf fly towards the school. "This is maddening, and that's really saying something come from me."

Maddie giggled with a broad smile once more. "Don't worry, Bunny! We'll have everything explained to you in two shakes of a jabberwock's tail!" she smiled brightly, hooking her arms through Alistair and Bunny's and leading them off to go grab some snacks to talk over with Kitty and Lizzie in tow, eager to catch up, and Raven the remaining ghouls following suit to fill in any holes that would most likely be left over from the Hatter's utter nonsense. This left only Apple to stand behind and glance at the book in her hands, wondering what was to become of her if the real Storybook of Legends wasn't found in time.

---

T.P: How was that?

F.N: Simply marvelous, dear!

M.N: I'm so proud of you, son!

B.P: Woo-hoo.

F.N: Now, Brooke. You should be paying attention!

M.N: Notice how your brother drops subtle hints as to what may have happened or will happen in the future without giving away any spoilers?

T.P: Well, in all fairness, it took me a while to not give away the ending . . .

M.N: Oh, don't be modest!

B.P: . . . You disgust me.

T.P: Hey, this wasn't my idea, alright?

B.P: What?

T.P: If I could, I would at least try not to make the story as crushing as it gets later on, but my hands are tied!

F.N: What are you talking about, dear?

T.P: Oh, um, just giving Brooke some pointers!

B.P: Uh, yeah! That's it. I'm learning so much more than before!

M.N: Wonderful! Shall we continue?

T.P: Yes, lets. Ahem. Meanwhile, at the most anticipated event of the Spring Fairest Festival . . .

---

The Chef Showdown was in full swing as eager patrons quickly found seats to view the judging while simultaneously hoping for a chance to sample whatever leftovers would be left after the judging; of the participating princesses, all but Apple seemed confident in winning, with Cerise choosing to submit an old Riding Hood family dish, Duchess deciding that a Swan Lake Angel Food Cake would better her chances of winning, Holly hoping that her Tower Teacakes would win her the competition and Raven going with the simple treat of cool, delicious, watermelon pops. Based on how several of the patrons watching the competition were drooling slightly, all of the submitted dishes looked delicious.

Deciding she had enough time to relax a little bit before the judging began, Apple to a curious look inside of the book of Wonderland riddles that had somehow been mistaken for the Storybook of Legends; Apple heaved a sigh at the apparent continuing loss of the ancient tome, wondering just how her life would play out if she wasn't able to follow her destiny. She didn't want to disappear, she didn't want Raven to disappear, she didn't want Ben to disappear, she didn't want anyone to disappear. What would become of them if they weren't able to sign the book? Would she still be able to have her happily ever after with Ben?"

Apple chose to distract herself with the book in hand. "The link it breaks, the darkness creeps, but what will grin where all shall weep?" she read, the princess suddenly feeling both very scared and confused at the same time; her head suddenly hurt, as if she had just been hit in the head with one of Lizzie's flamingo-shaped croquet mallets, and she hissed slightly as she felt something deep within her core flip inside of her.

"Good luck, Apple!" Ashlynn came up behind her to give her friend some support before the competition.

"I don't need luck." Apple scoffed with a haughty tone, carelessly dropping the book into Ashlynn's hands without care. The Daughter of Cinderella blinked with surprise at her best friend forever after's words, but merely shrugged it off as last minute jitters as she backed into the stands with the book in hand to take a seat beside Hunter.

"Hello, fans!" Blondie's bright smile greeted them all on the two, large, Mirrormonitors overhead that allowed both sides to see commentary for the competition. "You're just in time for everyone's favorite Spring Fairest Festival event, the Spring Chef Showdown!" the blonde reporter smiled brightly, earning excited cheers and applause for the contest to start.

Raven grinned eagerly, hoping that her watermelon pops would win the Showdown for her, when she suddenly noticed something amiss. "Oh, no, where's Ginger?" she wondered worriedly. "She's gonna miss the competition!"

Apple snorted with amusement. "Whatever after." she rolled her eyes. "My chances of winning just got better."

Raven blinked in surprise at the princess's reaction. "Apple . . ?"

Curiosity had once again the best of an unfortunate fairy tale, or this case two; Ashlynn had cracked open the book of Wonderland riddles, silently perusing through the outlandish and strange words with Hunter curiously peering over her shoulder with interest as the two of them waited for the spellebrity judge to show up and start the contest. The Daughter of Cinderella jerked slightly in her seat, shuddering as a cold feeling like that of a chilling, vile serpent slithering down her throat and burrowing itself into the put of her stomach filled her, at first making her on edge before an eerie sense of calmness fell over her; a lazy look over to her left revealed a somewhat similar reaction. Not that she cared for the huntsman anyway. She just couldn't be bother to reciprocate any feelings that may have still lingered between the two of them. As far as she was concerned, it was over.

"Hey, check this out." Ashlynn droned sleepily, lazily handing the book over to Daring.

The prince raised an eyebrow and opened the book to a page, his eyes screwing up as he peered at the words. "Reading rhymes, marking time, to the Topsy Turvy Mountain you climb." Daring read aloud to himself, unaware that Poppy O'Hair and Humphrey Dumpty were stealing peeks over his shoulder; the three of them swiftly jerked in surprise as they shivered and writhed in their seats, feeling like a cold, damp fog had suddenly enveloped them and wrapped them up in a blanket of chilling feel. Now visibly shaking, Daring quickly clamped the book closed and scooted it Cedar's way as he hugged his knees to his chest and frantically took in his surroundings with panicked eyes.

"Huh?" Cedar wondered, opening the book to the second page. "The serpent, it lies, the apple it beckons, all bridges and ties will be severed without question." she whispered to herself before she moaned slightly and closed the book, suddenly feeling incredibly cold and slightly ill as something squirmed and flipped around inside of her. Maybe some food would help? Believing that to be the case, the Daughter of Pinocchio closed the book and left it on the table in front of her, getting up from her seat to go and find something to calm her queasy stomach.

"What's everyone looking at?" Venus wondered as she watched Cedar leave.

"I believe it has something to do with that book." Skelita remarked, looking down at the old book left behind at Cedar's seat.

"Sh-Should we take a look?" Jane asked, slightly uneasy about something. What it was though, she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Couldn't hurt to take a look." Venus shrugged as she stood up in her seat and bent over as far as possible to grab the book in her fingers and just barely manage to pull it back up to her seat; the plant monster opened it and flipped through multiple pages as Jane and Skelita looked over her shoulder at the bizarre and almost alien words before them. Granted they had seen alien languages before (Skelita could understand Sotoraggin and Lorna understood the whistles and clicks of the Humpbackus from the planet Molluskus, but neither could speak a lick of it as they lacked the necessary local organs to do so), but ancient Wonderlandian seemed to be something of a lost language to them. They finally found a riddle that seemed to be in a language they understood.

"The curtains close-" Venus began the first verse.

"The lights go out-" Skelita continued.

"Lives you fill with woe-" Jane added.

"Control you are without?" Venus finished.

Apple watched with a satisfied smirk as Not-so-Little Jack Homer shook his head with disappointment at her Swan Lake Angel Food Cake and scribbled a note down onto his clipboard as he moved onto the next dish, the Daughter of the Swan Princess looking someone had seriously ruffled her feathers; the teasing smirk on Cerise's face didn't help matters.

"What have we here?" Not-so-Little Jack Homer smiled with surprise as he came across Holly's impressive stack of divine looking pastries and promptly took a sample of one. "These Tower Teacakes are outta this kingdom!" he declared with satisfaction as he hungrily licked his fingers.

"Ooh! I think I'm next!" Raven said excitedly; Apple narrowed her eyes at her roommate. Oh, how she loathed her now, wanting to make her pay for all the trouble and panic Raven had put her through, making her fret and worry over disappearing without a trace and being the most selfish fairy tale Apple had ever come across. The witchling needed to pay for her sins, no matter how small it might have been. A sly grin crossed the princess's face as she grabbed a dishrag and carelessly

tossed it over Raven's head, faking innocence.

"Oops! Would you be a doll and get that?" she asked with what most people would figure to be a recited monologue. "I am such a butterfingers!"

Raven raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior, but then again, Apple was rather odd herself. Not as mad as Maddie and the other Wonderlandians, with the sudden addition of Alistair and Bunny, or as weird and downright bizarre as Ben and his ghouls, but she definitely fit into that category. Somewhere. With a shrug, Raven bent down and reached for the cloth, oblivious to a soft, shaking sound from behind her as she stood back up and handed Apple the discarded dishrag with little more than a thought.

"Thanks, Raven. You're the best." Apple purred slyly.

The witchling would have been more concerned about Apple's behavior had the judge not suddenly shown up. "Wicked Watermelon Pops!" he exclaimed hungrily. "Just the refreshing thing I need after tasting all these treats!"

"Help yourself." Raven smiled, scooting the tray of watermelons a little closer with an eager smile upon her lips; Not-so-Little Jack Homer hungrily took a Wicked Watermelon Pop and bit off a small peace, savoring the sweet, cool taste of the juicy fruit skewered on the stick.

"Mmmm! Juicy . . . sweet . . ." he drooled, although that may have just been the watermelon's juices dribbling down his chin. "Actually . . . a little hot . . ." he noted before he suddenly screamed in agony and started to run around in panicked circles, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he quickly ran off in search of something to help him cool his burning throat down.

"But . . . there wasn't anything spicy in there at all!" Raven protested, completely confused and baffled as to what had just happened.

"Oh, that's a shame." Apple shook her head with mock pity. "Looks like you got burned on that one." she smirked, lazily rolling her eyes back behind her; Raven followed her gaze and felt her face screw up into one of utter confusion when she caught sight of a canister of Dragon Fire Jalapeno Salt sitting on the counter in plain view . . . almost as if it had been recently used by someone.

"Apple . . . it can't be . . ." she muttered quietly to herself in disbelief.

"Better luck next time." Apple smirked as she sauntered off; before Raven could follow after her in the hopes of figuring out what was wrong with her friend, a loud roar broke out over the Chef Showdown and she turned around just in time to see a large grizzly bear with deep indigo fur and a spiked collar around its neck rise up onto its hind legs and smash the table in front of it with its front paws with ease. The bear roared again and lumbered down to the kitchens, ignoring Raven as it hungrily started to feast upon the discard and leftover contest entries with gusto; any attempt by passerby to grab a treat or disrupt the hungry grizzly bear was met with a low roar, a mouthful of bone-crushing teeth, and a powerful paws tipped with large claws.

"Raven, what happened?" Holly asked worriedly, making sure she kept a safe distance form the massive grizzly bear.

"You're not going to believe this, but I think Apple just . . . cheated." the witchling said in disbelief.

"Um, what about that?" Holly asked, pointing to the hungry grizzly bear behind Raven; the witchling turned around to the massive carnivore suddenly vanish in a whirl of shaggy fur and sharp claws to reveal Jane sitting on the floor and licking the back of her hand like a coat. The shape-shifter then reached with one of her legs to scratch an itch behind her ear before hungrily licking her chops and sniffing the air. Raven got a bad feeling as a hungry grin crossed her face and the sound of bleating sheep filled the air and before the witchling knew it, Jane was changing once more; light purple fur sprouted all over her body, covering every inch of her as her frosting covered clothes started to slowly vanish away and out of existence. A loud cracking and crunching noise filled the air as her skeleton rearranged itself, her spine lengthening out farther and farther until a long, feline tail had sprouted from her vertebrae, already cracking back and forth at the promise of a good hunt while muscles packed themselves tightly into her haunches and chest, building up incredible leaping and pouncing power. Wicked claws tore through her fingers, reducing them to strong, firm paws as her shoes ripped and the back of her shirt tore to accommodate her swelling figure. Her skull ground and crunched together as teeth tore through her gums, barely even fitting into her mouth until her head caught up with the rest of her, sensitive whiskers sprouting from her face as her ears rotated to the top of her head and blotchy spots suddenly speckled her short coat, ending the transformation when a spiked collar appeared around her neck.

"Should we do something about that?" Holly gulped as the powerful leopard growled slightly and regarded the two scrawny princesses with mild interest before crouching down low to the ground and silently stalking away in search of more suitable prey.

"What, take on what's probably the deadliest beast in the entire animal kingdom and risk both the wrath of Ben and Venus while simultaneously trying not to get torn limb from limb?" Raven summed up. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my organs where they belong: inside of me."

"Fair enough." Holly agreed as a loud scream of fright and panicked bleating filled the air, followed by a savage and heavily discouraged growl; once they deemed that the big cat's cover had been blown and its hunting plan ruined, they went on their way in search of Apple. As if the princess's odd behavior and Jane's sudden and rather frightening feralness wasn't bad enough (Lilly Bo Peep was currently holding off a lavender feathered and indigo striped Velociraptor from eating her flock of sheep with her shepherd's staff), other fairy tales seemed to be acting rather odd as well.

"Whoa! Woo-hoo!" Humphrey Dumpty cheered from atop of a stone wall with a pair of greased roller skates fixed to his feet and a jetpack fastened to his back.

"Humphrey Dumpty! Uh, isn't that kinda . . . dangerous with, you know, your story?" Cerise wondered, trying to convince the Son of Humpty Dumpty to safely climb down to the ground to avoid injury.

Unfortunately, he chose to ignore the Riding Hood. "Check it out! I've got a jetpack!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm unbreakable!" Humphrey declared as he thrust his thumbs down on the activation buttons positioned on the handlebars and felt the device rattle and shake on his back; Cerise felt her hands go to her mouth as Humphrey shot off like a bullet, zooming along the wall until he finally, fatally fell off the side and took the ground with a loud crash!

"I'm okay!" he called from the other side.

Cerise cringed slightly until a multitude of unholy screams cut through the air, bringing pain to her sensitive ears as Raven and Holly glanced around wildly for the source of the noise. A handful of screaming and panicking maidens with hair styles that looked like they had been put through a weed whacker drew seemed to be the source of the noise. Looking closer, Raven was able to see that the girls also had several shallow cuts and scratches on their arms, shoulders, and faces, as if they had been relentlessly slashed at by some madman; the witchling unconsciously shifted her gaze to her own, covered arms and hugged herself slightly, knowing full well what the innocent girls had been put through.

"Come back!" Poppy's voice demanded. "I'm not done yet!"

"For the last time, Poppy, I don't want a hair cut!" Briar snarled as she ran; Holly's sister shared the same aqua colored eyes and strawberry blonde hair, save for the fact that it was much shorter than Holly's and was dyed a vibrant purple on the right half with a pink bandanna tying it all together. She was dressed in some rather simple clothing consisting of black leggings, a pink dress decorated with gray, braid-like designs, a black top and shoal, and a pair of pink high tops with a pair of razor-sharp scissors clutched tightly in her hand and a wicked grin plastered on her small, red lips.

"Oh, come on, Briar! How about a trim?" Poppy grinned madly. "I could do your makeup as well! Your pretty face could also use some beautiful cuts, too!" she cackled.

"That is not my sister." Holly gulped, taking several cautious steps back with Raven, Cerise, and Briar following suit.

"Then who is she?" Cerise asked, her breath sharp and quick and ready to fight if she had to protect herself or her friends.

"Someone who wants to hurt us, that's who." Raven replied, mentally pleading that she wouldn't have to resort to using her dark magic to save them; it was a well known fact throughout the school that the wtichling's ability to cast spells and perform the tricks and trades of the dark arts were not very good and often ended in horrible disasters regardless of whether or not they were being used for good. She had been lucky that she had managed to remember the correct spell and channel the right amount of energy into numbing Ben's arm long enough for him to get to the healer's office with little issue. Raven wasn't sure however, if she could count on the phenomenon happening a second time, though.

Fortunately for Raven, it didn't come to that; at that very moment, the ground rumbled and trembled loudly as a wide fissure opened up between Poppy and the princesses, half a dozen thick and thorny tendrils and vines erupting out of the earth and thrashing and cracking the air the air. A thick root lunged downwards and wrapped itself around Poppy like a python, lifting her off the ground as she began to hack and cut away at her restraints with her scissors.

Unfortunately for Raven, Cerise, Briar, and Holly, the plants didn't seem able to distinguish friend from foe as more shoots and tendrils sprouted from the ground and slithered and crept towards them; fanged trappers blossomed from the tips of the shoots and snapped hungrily at them.

"Uh, just out of curiosity, can't one of Ben's ghouls controls plants?" Cerise wondered.

"Venus." Raven nodded.

"Someone say my name?" the aforementioned plant monster purred from her comfortable seat from atop of her plants; the thick tendril lowered her down to the princess's level with a cruel smile upon Venus' lips.

"I did." Raven spoke up. "Thanks for the save and all, but do you mind calling off your friends?"

"Please?" Briar added as one of the hungry trappers snapped at her.

"Why would I do that?" Venus asked coyly. "My children are hungry and require food."

"Wouldn't they prefer some corn dogs or something?" Holly gulped as the creepers and vines slithered closer, wrapping around one her ankles before she managed to shake it free.

"Disgusting." Venus scoffed. "My children, while not picky, will not resort to eating some revolting slop. They prefer their meat alive and kicking. Much like you in fact . . ." she grinned hungrily. "Care to stick around for lunch?"

"No, thank you!" Briar yelped as she swiftly turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction with the others hot on her heels.

"Lunch time, my children!" Venus gave a shrill whistle. The plants hungrily moved after the fleeing princesses, spawning more and more of them with increasing hunger at a rapid rate and shooting out thorny creepers and roots that burst up from the ground and make swipes and cracks to try and catch the girls off guard; they finally managed to succeed, a particularly strong root whipping out and tightly grasping around Raven's ankle and sending her falling to the ground.

"Help!" Raven cried as she fought to try and pry the tendril off of her ankle while the rest of the hungry garden quickly converged on her, wrapping themselves tightly around her and lifting her off of the ground as they quickly restrained her, pinning her wrists behind her back and her legs together while wrapping a thick root over her mouth and silencing her. The more the witchling struggled, the tighter the roots constricted her, slowly crushing the very air out of her lungs until it was actually starting to hurt to take a breath.

"We have to save Raven!" Cerise came to a halt upon hearing her friend's pleas.

"What are we supposed to do against that!?" Briar exclaimed, thrusting a finger at the hungry forest.

"Maybe if we get Ben-" Holly started to suggest.

"No time!" Cerise snarled; the more she watched Raven squirm and attempt to fight back, only to be smothered by the hungry plants, the angrier she got. She couldn't just stand there as her friend was slowly having the life crushed out of her to then have her gorgeous, ivory skin punctured and ripped around by fangs and thorns, to have her precious blood drained from her and beautiful face reduced to a bloody mess. Cerise something flip and somersault inside of her, a hot, almost unbearable feeling slithering throughout her core as her breath became quick and ragged, her senses heightening to almost superhuman levels.

With a loud howl of rage and fury, Cerise charged at the starving jungle and launched herself at Raven, slamming into the witchling and causing the plants to falter and bow underneath her additional weight; she didn't care if Holly, Briar, and maybe even Poppy could see her (although that last one seemed to be personally dealing Venus herself) as she savagely sank her fangs into the flesh of one of the vines and bite it clean in half, tearing away at the creepers with her teeth and ripping them off of Raven with her claws. Her breath was hot and raged, her eyes a vibrant amber in color; Cerise was not entirely in contorl, but she didn't care in the slightest as she snapped her head down towards Raven's head and bit deep into the fleshy vine covering Raven's mouth. Their lips almost grazed each other before Cerise jerked her head and tore the vine away and raising her claws and slicing through the bonds that held her wrists captive before she grabbed the oddly startled and blushing witchling in her arms and dove away to safety, racing past Holly and Briar without a second thought and not stopping until they were to the front steps of Ever After High. By then, Cerise had calmed down long enough to realize what she had done and what she had been doing before she set Raven back down and shrank back within her hood, quickly drawing it over her face to hide the deep, crimson blush that stained her cheeks.

"Are . . . you okay?" Cerise asked a few awkward moments of silence.

Raven nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm f-fine." Cerise replied, resisting the urge to blush under her hood at the witchling's concern for her; she supposed it was no longer much of a secret that Raven made Cerise feel . . . different. Somehow, being around Ben and Raven made her feel special, like she could be whoever she wanted to be and not have to live a constant lie or hide in the shadows all the time for fear of her heritage being discovered. Ben made her feel loved and fully embraced her wolf side without question, treating her with as much care and trust as her own mother often would, though in a completely different way; Raven made her feel all warm inside, like she was finally safe and secure. Cerise was mentally berating herself however: how could she possibly love two people at the same time? And of different sexes, as if that wasn't bad enough.

"Cerise . . . wait . . . up!" Briar panted as she and Holly stumbled up to the pair, breathing heavily and resting on their knees.

"My thighs . . . are on fire!" Holly gasped for breath.

"Having . . . that much . . . hair will . . . do that to you . . ." Briar remarked. "What the hex happened back there, Cerise? It's like you . . . I dunno, completely flipped your crown or something!"

Raven caught sight of the way Cerise was nervously biting her lip, gnawing at the flesh with a pointed fang; curiously, the witchling found this little gesture oddly pleasing to watch. "I guess she saw me in danger and couldn't stand to leave me behind." she shrugged.

Holly and Briar seemed satisfied with that answered and straightened up, wincing at their burning muscles. "What the hex is going on with everyone?" Holly wondered. "First Jane loses control of her shape-shifting abilities or whatever, Venus has gone from nature-loving ghoul to savage monster, and Poppy's starting to behave like some kind of psychopathic murderer."

"Maybe Apple knows," Raven suggested. "This all seemed to start with her."

With little other option left, the four fairy tales quickly scurried up the steps up Ever After High and ducked in through the doors, desperately searching the empty halls for any sign of Apple until a group of panicked students led by Cupid and a bandaged Dexter rushed past them; the prince had his arms and face covered with gauze and based on the way he walked uncomfortably, he most likely had some underneath the rest of his clothes for the horrible bites he had suffered.

"Daring!" Cupid exclaimed as she and Dexter came to a stop upon finding the later's older brother nervously tapping his fingers and glancing around with fear as Apple leaned against a nearby lock with boredom plastered on her face. "Oh, I'm so glad we found you! There's a totally vicious dragon attacking people at Book End! You have to slay it!"

Upon hearing this, Daring panicked and screamed in a manner very much like that of a little girl. "Oh, my crone!" he exclaimed with fear. "Thanks for the warning! If anybody needs me, I'll be in here until it's safe!" he whimpered, quickly opening a locker and stuffing himself inside before closing the door behind him; confused at Daring's odd behavior, Cupid rapped a knuckle on the metal door and jumped back slightly when a startled scream came from within.

"Does your brother have allergies or something?" Cupid wondered.

"With the exception of dragonweed, no. And I'm pretty sure the side affects only make his smile less charming that usual." Dexter responded, scratching his crown in confusion at his brother's bizarre behavior.

"Why don't you get Ben to do it?" Apple suggested with a sarcastic manner.

"Someone say my name?" Ben said as he came strolling up to the group from another hallway with Clawdeen no less than two feet by his side; a thick shoulder brace sat comfortably underneath of his shirt, giving his chest and arm a noticeable bump so as to allow his shoulder to heal. Despite the healer's use of magic and Ben's advise that a few uses of the Omnitrix strapped to his wrist would have it fixed within a matter of a few hours, Clawdeen was letting Ben anywhere out of her sight.

"There's a dragon attacking Book End!" Cupid explained.

"And Daring f all people is too scared to fight it off!" Dexter added.

Ben tapped his chin. "Dragon, huh? I think I might need Jane-"

"No time!" Cupid interrupted, pushing Ben towards the nearest window and grabbing his wrist and smacking a hand frantically down on the Omnitrix, only barely missing Skurd as he quickly oozed from side to side to avoid getting squished.

"Hey, watch the merchandise!" the Slimebiote whined.

"Stop that!" Clawdeen barked with a low growl, making Cupid flinch slightly.

"Sorry." she apologized. "It's just . . . a lot of really weird stuff is going on lately."

"Like what?" Clawdeen raised an eyebrow.

"It's like everyone's flipped through their crowns or something," Dexter explained. "On our way here, we caught Hunter defacing a tree and shooting at a flock of birds and Ashlynn was being as lazy as a troll."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Ben raised an eyebrow.

"She was eating meat."

Ben blinked with surprise. "Okay, something is definitely wrong." Ben frowned as he tapped the Omnitrix on his wrist and cycled through the available transformations.

"What are you going to do?" Dexter asked.

"I'm gonna first deal with that dragon and then take a look into this." Ben replied as he selected Astrodactyl. "With any luck, I'll be able to enjoy what's left of the carnival by the time this is all over." he said as he slammed a hand down on the activation button and swallowed himself in a flash of green light that scrambled and twisted his genetic code into something new. Ben's bones and skeleton snapped and crunched with excruciating noise as he got smaller and smaller, shrinking down to about the size of a small child; a layer of short fur sprouted all over his body, becoming slim and smooth enough to be mistaken for skin as darker spots formed on his arms and face like freckles. His toes ground and shifted into stubby paws with three digits as tissue and muscle formed slightly on his arms and legs and more packed on his stomach, giving him a slight potbelly. His ears drooped like liquid, becoming long and pointed as they rotated like liquid steel on the top of his forehead while hie eyes became round and moved farther apart while his nose snapped and cracked loudly, pushing back into his face. Ben's top jaw crunched as it was thrust forward, allowing his front teeth to grow bigger and longer as a green and black jumpsuit formed on his body and white gloves appeared on his hands; a big, blonde mustache puffed into existence on his face as the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on a large belt around his considerable waistline.

"I say, why is that this thing is always on the fritz whenever trouble arises?" Mole-Stache sighed with annoyance as he flexed his luxurious mustache and formed them back and above his head into a pair of furry helicopter blades; with a quick movement of his facial hair he was off into the air and out a nearby window. Clawdeen sighed and rushed after him, fearlessly jumping over the window sill and to the ground below after the rodentoid alien.

"Now that is what I call hair." Holly admired.

"Not the time, Holly." Raven frowned as Cupid and Dexter, having informed the proper hero of their plight, left in order to go get the special cream transcribed to the later for his insect stings. "Okay, that's it." the witch narrowed her eyes at Apple.

"Oh, goody. It's Raven Mean and Holly O'Square." Apple purred with a sarcastic manner, shoving Daring back inside of his locker when he took a cautious peek out at the two girls.

Raven gasped. "You did cheat, didn't you!" Raven accused Apple.

"Maybe I did. So what?" Apple scoffed. "Like anyone is gonna believe you four over me?"

"This isn't you, Apple!" Briar protested.

Apple ignored the Daughter of Sleeping Beauty. "Whatever. I've just got the most wicked idea . . ." she grinned in a manner very much like that of a crafty, hungry fox eyeing a flock plump, clueless chickens just waiting to be picked off one by one; with that being said, Apple strutted off without a second glance behind her.

"Ahhhh! Wait for me!" Daring cried as he rushed out of his locker after Apple.

"I think I like this version of Daring better." Cerise noted with a smirk. "He's less showy."

"Regardless, she's right." Raven sighed. "No one is going to believe us."

"I do." Cerise folded her arms over her chest. "As if that whole 'Venus trying to eat us' thing wasn't bad enough, I've seen other things. Something's making everyone act totally upside down."

"Well, we better find out why and fast." Holly pounded her fist into her hand for emphasis.

---

The wind buffeted at Mole-Stache's face as he flew through the air, flying high over the school grounds of Ever After High and taking slight note of a sudden infestation of prickly creepers and vines that had taken over a section of the Spring Fairest Festival grounds; despite this, Clawdeen had run right through it, dropping down to all fours to duck under and avoid the tendrils and roots that lashed out overhead before she jumped back up to her usual stance and effortlessly leaped over them without pause. Anyone else Clawdeen's size that didn't posses the super speed, agility, and sickle-like claws that Kinecelerans, Citrakayahs, and Parae Cortarix were renown for would have difficulty moving through such terrain, but not the werewolf.

This moment of undying admiration for his ghoulfriend was quickly torn away from Mole-Stache when a loud, voracious roar rattled the very air and made the rodentoid falter slightly in his flight as he came closer to Book End; the closer Mole-Stache got to the village however, the more fearful he became when he realized that the roars and snarls that echoed forth from Book End were rather familiar in sound.

"I say, this is getting to be rather unusual." he remarked.

"I wouldn't call it that," Skurd mumbled as Mole-Stache finally arrived and alighted down on the ground, shifting his malleable mustache back into its original, bushy form. "However, I would like to point out that the beast seems to be wearing a rather familiar item."

The rodentoid took a good, hard look at gigantic dragon currently trying to shove it head through the front window of the Glass Slipper to get at the small crowd of helpless shoppers trapped inside; the beast was only a little bigger than a school bus and still able to swallow a knight whole with large, fanged jaws from which several barbels and fleshy whiskers hung from the bottom jaw and a pair of dexterous and flexible tendrils with hollow, bony protrusions on the ends. It sported two pairs of horns on its skull, two shorter ones forming just behind the jaws with a second pair on the head. The most noticeable detail however, other than the fact that it walked on its wings and had a row of sharp spikes running down its back to the base of its tail, was that the dragon was entirely covered in durable, thick, metal arm with a strong, molded ball of spikes at the tip of its tail acting as a weapon. That, and the spiked collar of the Nemetrix was fastened around its neck.

"Jane. It had to be Ms. Boolittle." Mole-Stache sighed. "And what's even worse is that she's Metalwing!"

"Would you prefer it to be your natural predator." Skurd mocked him.

"I withdraw my earlier statement." Mole-Stache gulped as he took a deep breath and formed a pair of fury fists out of his mustache to then smash into the ground, drawing the Brynjaak's attention. Sensing an easier meal than the cowering customers inside of Ashlynn's shoe store, Metalwing turned her attention toward the deliciously plump rodentoid standing defiantly at the end of the street from her; with a low growl, the Brynjaak suddenly attacked, opening its jaws wide and blasting out a stream of freezing water from within. The pressurized stream of water slammed full force into Mole-Stache, sending him bouncing back and crashing into Clawdeen just as she arrived on the scene.

"Ow!" the werewolf grunted as the rodentoid rolled off of her and rubbed his aching skull. "Alright, where's this overgrown- is that Jane!?" Clawdeen exclaimed with surprise when she caught sight of the Brynjaak roaring with fury and charging straight towards them.

"Indeed. It would seem something is affecting Ms. Boolittle's sound mind." Mole-Stache hummed with thought before Metalwing was suddenly upon them, sending Clawdeen sprawling with a crack of her tail as the Brynjaak plunged her head downwards at Mole-Stache with her jaws wide; with a grunt, the rodentoid flexed his luxurious mustache into a pair of strong hands and managed to catch the life threatening jaws just before they closed around him, pinning him to the ground as he struggled to keep Metalwing's jaws from closing around him.

"If it is not too trouble, my good lady, some help would be much appreciated!" Mole-Stache grunted.

"Yeah, yeah, give me a sec." Clawdeen grumbled as she held her throbbing arm and climbed to her feet; knowing full well that even her claws and teeth would not be able to hold a candle to the Brynjaak's durable protective covering that she noticed to be crafted out Prypiatosian-B armor pieces, she tapped the Omnitrix fixed to her wrist and slapped the activation button without looking as she was engulfed in a flash of yellow light, knowing full well that any one of her three current transformations would at least be able to get her boyfriend out of the tight spot he was in. Her fingers cracked and squelched as their bones fused together with each other, morphing the five digits into a sharpened blade as her wrist and armed flattened and widened out with a loud hissing noise similar to that of a compressed airbag, quickly hardening into a metal-like exterior similar to that of a Biosovortian; a small, pentagon-shaped notch was cut out of her arms in the elbow joints as a second blade popped out of her elbow. Clawdeen's skin turned a dark gold in color while her dagger sharp points and blades turned a bright white while black patches etched themselves across her arms. Muscles and tissue built themselves up underneath her quickly hardening skin as her skull pushed back and split into three, rounded horns with each of her two, now entirely yellow eyes sitting on one horn as the Omnitrix appeared between them while her bust swelled slightly; a purple jumpsuit with a golden trim appeared on her figure, completing the transformation.

"Now would be the right time for CuttngEdge." the female Parae Cortarix stated as she glanced over her sharpened blades in admiration.

"I don't suppose you would willing to give us a hand then!?" Mole-Stache cried as Metalwing was slowly progress in inching her saliva-stained jaws towards him.

"Oh. Right." CuttngEdge realized sheepishly. The Parae Cortarix dashed forward at a speed that wasn't quite as quick as a speeding Kineceleran but far faster than than even the fastest drag race car, more than enough to slam right into Metalwing's side and slice through a small portion of the Prypiatosian-B armor that covered her vulnerable skin while simultaneously pushing her across the road to smash into the front of a small cafe that had been abandoned in the rampage and destroying it.

"Skurd! Give Mole-Stache the upper 'stache!" Mole-Stache quipped as he climbed to his feet.

"And away we go!" Skurd cried gleefully as he oozed and slithered his gelatinous body over Mole-Stache's malleable mustache, tapping into the Omnitrix's genetic database and pulling out an old favorite; pliant hairs began to compact and harden into small bumps and lumps that quickly blackened and hardened into thick, heavy rocks as the ends of his mustache shifted into a pair of durable balls of hot rock that allowed hot lava to seep between the cracks, sharp spikes thrusting out of the rocks and turning them into a pair of flaming mace as hot fire licked over the edges.

"Fire in the hole!" Mole-Stache cried as he thrust his Pyronite covered mustache forward at the Brynjaak and succeeded in bashing her in the side of the head before giving her a quick uppercut to the jaw; with a growl of annoyance and a shake of her head, Metalwing was back on her feet and severely ticked off. She gave a loud roar of anger and intimidation before opening up her wings and giving them a quick flap, creating a gust of wind that scooted Mole-Stache back a few feet before the Brynjaak swung her tail like a club and managed to catch both him and CuttngEdge in the gut, sending them flying farther down the road and obliterating a fruit stand in the process.

I suppose in this case, fighting fire with fire is not the best option," Mole-Stache groaned. I would appear it just makes situation all the hairier!"

"Please, would someone be so kind as to put me out of my misery?" Skurd groaned.

"Why bother?" CuttngEdge grunted as she hauled herself up to her feet and sharpened her blades together. "I'll just cut 'er down to size!"

"Nobody ever listens to the Slimebiote." Skurd sighed wearily as Mole-Stache slapped the Omnitrix fastened to the belt around his considerable girth and encompassed himself in a flash of green light. His wrists bloated to the size of basketballs as his fingers cracked and hardened, turning into large, black claws as the blubber from his hands traveled up the length of his arms, expanding and growing and swelling to massive proportions on his shoulders; his belly suddenly exploded outwards, and it would have been funny had there not been the ever frightening presence of a hungry Brynjaak. His legs crunched and cracked heavily as they became shorter than before while his toes became bony and sharp, now black claws to support his growing weight on his as his skin began to harden in certain areas, piling up into layers on his shoulders, back, thighs, and wrists; durable, yellow armor that could withstand the most corrosive of acids and lava now covered him protectively as his kin paled to a chrome white while the top half of him turned a pitch black. His neck ground and snapped loudly as his head was compressed into his shoulders, his mouth widening to fit appropriately over his wide face as his eyes moved farther apart. The final part of the transformation was the addition of the Omnitrix and Skurd on his chest and the sudden flexibility of his spinal cord.

"Time to roll out!" Cannonbolt rumbled.

"Make it stop!" Skurd cried indignantly before the Arburian Pelarota heaved himself up onto his small feet and curled up into a tight durable ball that quickly revved up and spun in place to build up speed before shooting off like a bullet, barreling straight at the Brynjaak and colliding with the beast square in the chest, knocking her flat onto her back; Metalwing roared with anger as it fruitlessly flapped its wings and tried to right itself.

CuttngEdge chose that moment to zip forward and plunge her arms down and behind her, racing the Brynjaak's belly and slicing through the metal clamps and rods that kept the armor fastened into place with ease before zipping up to Metalwing's head and kicking her several dozen times in the before retreating, only to receive a feeble, vengeful blast of water to the back from the Brynjaak. Metalwing screeched as she managed to flap her wings enough to lift off the ground, sending Cannonbolt tumbling away as the beast snorted with annoyance and narrowed her eyes at her prey.

"She looks hungry." Cannonbolt remarked.

"Once again, stating the obvious, dear lad." Skurd grumbled.

"I think we have bigger problems than that, Booger Face." CuttngEdge frowned, pointing with a sharpened blade at the Brynjaak overhead as it was suddenly swallowed in a flash of crimson light, a second transformation beginning. Jane's arms were sucked into her sides like they were spaghetti noddles as her legs lengthened before slowly melting together into a single limb. A sickening cracking noise fille dthe air as her leg bones bent in almost a hundred different places, the rest of her body becoming more flexible with every passing second while her violet skin began to blister horribly until it exploded into thousands of diamond-shaped scales; her long belly turned a bright white in color, turning into larger scales perfect for moving along the ground while black stripes slowly materialized onto her person. Her head bulged outwards into a reptilian snout as six, fleshy growths sprouted from her skull while her eyes split into a second pair. A loud grinding and crunching noise filled the air as her teeth grew into thin, sharp fangs and her tongue split in two at the end. The final transformation was the addition of the Nemetrix around her neck and a loud, wet, splitting sound as nearly a dozen curved blades split outwards from the bones that made up her neck, forming a hood of sorts.

"Oh, that's not good." Cannonbolt rumbled.

"Just out of curiosity, how did your sweet, little girl acquire such a powerful device without going mad?" Skurd wondered.

"Not the time, Skurd!" CuttngEdge yelped as she narrowly a swift movement of the Vortex Viper's tail. With a loud hiss, Slitherhole rushed at the Arburian Pelarota and Parae Cortarix , her bladed hood crackling with energy before she lunged forward; CuttngEdge and Cannonbolt braced themselves for impact, only to watch as the gigantic snake launched herself over them and slithered through a tear in the fabric of air above them with a loud crackling sound before the hole closed up behind her.

"Slitherhole. Why'd it have to be Slitherhole?" Cannonbolt grumbled under his breath, frantically searching for any sign of their opponent. Before the Arburian Pelarota could react, the air sizzled and crackled to his left as Slitherhole reemerged into the world, slamming full force into him and knocking him down to the ground; the Vortex Viper quickly wrapped him up in her coils, slowly constricting and squeezing him as she released a static charge from the bladed hood on her neck and gave Cannonbolt a mild shock that dazed hi slightly. Unfortunately for CuttngEdge, the charge extended to her like a conduit, her metal exterior and skin amplifying to a dangerous degree, to the point where she slumped to the ground in an unconscious state.

"Can't . . . break free!" the Arburian Pelarota grunted as the breath from his lungs was slowly squeezed out of him. "Not . . . strong . . . enough!"

"Then allow me!" Skurd exclaimed as he compressed himself down on the Omnitrix fixed to Cannonbolt's chest and swallowed the both of them in a blast of green light. His soft, pale skin began to darken in color and harden in texture until it was a durable, silicon exoskeleton that was solid all the way through his body, only interrupted by his blood veins as they solidified into pink, crystal-like tubes that ran throughout his entire body and connected with the gem-like crystals that began to sprout and grow all over his body, popping out of his arms, knees, shoulders, back, and head and acting something similar to solar panels that absorbed the sun's energy and provided him with fuel to move; his fingers cracked and ground as they were replaced by hard crystals while his toes fused together into a single digit. Ben's eyes twitched violently until they were suddenly popped together into a single eye as his jaw jutted outwards into a hard, crystal structure. A green and white jumpsuit materialized on his person as gauntlets appeared on his wrists and thighs and the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on his right pectoral, completing the transformation.

"Holy, moley! It's Chromastone!" the Crystalsapien marveled at his new form.

"Just gawking, dear boy, and start fighting! Our very lives depend on it!" Skurd berated Chromastone.

"Right. Sorry." he apologized as he grunted and pushed his hands against the strong coils of Slitherhole, prying them off of him with slight difficulty until he was finally free enough that he could fly up and out of harm's way before descending back down to the ground; the Vortex Viper hissed venomously at him and lunged her head forward at him, slamming her against the energy shield he had hastily erected and splattering a mouthful of venom all over it.

"Hah! Try Chromastone on for size!" the Crystalsapien seemed to grin as he lowered the shield and drew back a crystalline fist, slugging the massive serpent in the throat before ducking once more to dodge another swipe of the Vortex Viper's jaws; panting heavily, Chromastone quickly dived under Slitherhole and around to her backside, firmly grabbing hold of her tail and waiting for just the right moment to dive out of the way with the tail in hand as the Vortex Viper turned around to try and bite him.

"Ugh. What did I miss?" CuttngEdge groaned as she came to, carefully rubbing her head with a bladed hand as her Omnitrix timed out in a flash of golden light and returned Clawdeen to the world.

"Knot much." was Chromastone's reply as he pulled Slitherhole's tail underneath of her head before jumping over her neck and dashing away a short distance before leaping over her coils and ducking swiftly under her head; before the Vortex Viper could comprehend what was happening, Chromastone gave an almighty tug on the end of her tail and successfully tied Slitherhole into a firm, tight knot.

"Sorry about this, Jane." the Crystalsapien apologized as he drew back his fist and slugged the Vortex Viper in the face with a sickening crunch! and watched as Slitherhole went limp and fell to the ground; the Omnitrix and Nemetrix simultaneously timed out in their respective blasts of green and red light, returning Ben and Jane to their original forms as Clawdeen rushed over to Ben with worry.

"Are you okay, Ben? How's your shoulder?" the werewolf asked frantically, grabbing him by the arm and looking him over carefully.

"Clawdeen, I'm fine." Ben jerked his arm away from her. "Besides, I think we've got bigger issues to deal with. Such as why Daring is suddenly a coward, why a massive jungle has suddenly sprouted in the middle of the fair grounds, and why Jane has just suddenly tried to turn me into lunch again for the second time since we started dating."

"The lad makes a point." Skurd nodded. "A remarkable feat, I might add."

"Whatever," Ben rolled his eyes before a something caught his attention, a loud, smacking down that one might make as they were messily eating some sort of juicy, sweet food; Clawdeen seemed to hear it too, and by then Skurd was curious as well. Pausing only to stoop down, pry Jane out from the slime trap that kept her firmly pinned to the ground, and cradle her in his arms, the three of them made their way towards the sound, finding none other than Cedar Wood casually sitting underneath of a large oak tree on a bench with a teacake in hand.

"Cedar!?" Clawdeen blinked with surprise. "Did you just sit here eating while Jane was tearing Book End to pieces?"

The wooden puppet stopped in midchew before swallowing and shaking her head. "No, I didn't." she replied.

"Did that teacake come from the Chef Showdown?" Ben wondered, his stomach growling fiercely at the sight of food.

"No." Cedar said once more, taking another bite of her treat.

"Yes, it is, it's gotta be! Where else-" Ben paused in midsentence to stare at Cedar as if she had just grown a second head. "You . . . just told a lie."

"No, I didn't." Cedar argued.

"Yes, you did!" Clawdeen accused.

"No, I didn't!" Cedar shot back.

"Yes, you are! You're doing it right now!" Ben pointed out, shifting Jane's weight in his arms slightly until a worried glance from Clawdeen persuaded him enough to lie her down on the bench next to Cedar in order to keep him from throwing his shoulder out. "Okay, now I know something's wrong."

"But what?" Skurd wondered. "I believe that is the question."

Before they could delve even further into the situation at hand, a blood curdling scream echoed out through Book End and the school grounds, seeming to emanate from Ever After High's dormitories at such a level that Clawdeen was painfully covering her ears to try and block out the sound.

"Let me guess: we're gonna go investigate." Clawdeen deadpanned.

"We'll at least check it out." Ben nodded before turning to Cedar. "Look, I don't know what's wrong with you, but can you please watch Jane while I'm gone so I can figure out what's wrong with you and everyone else?"

The Daughter of Pinocchio seemed to glare at him. "Why should I?"

"Because, I care about you and everyone else and it would really mean a lot to me if you watched over someone I care deeply about-"

Cedar scoffed. "Why should I care about you? It's not like I love you with all my heart and want to spend my entire ever after with you and start a family with you when I become a real girl. Because I don't want any of that!" she argued.

Ben and Clawdeen blinked owlishly in surprise, sharing a look with one another before Ben pinched hi brow with frustration and tapped the Omnitrix fixed to his wrist, cycling through the roster before he found a suitable transformation. "Cedar, I gotta go right now. But when everything is all said and over, we're gonna have a little about this, okay? I promise." he added before he slapped a hand down on the activation button and engulfed himself in a flash of green light that warped and changed his genetic code. His hands bloated and swelled as extra muscle and tissue wrapped themselves around his bones and enhanced his strength significantly as his bones grew larger and stronger to support his growing weight; his fingers cracked and splintered loudly as they molded together into three, large claws that turned a frosty blue in color while his shoulders shifted back slightly. Ben's back cracked and crunched loudly as it hardened and solidified into a tough, black shell that forced him onto four legs as a white carapace encompassed his chest and stomach, now fully protecting him. His toes tore through his shoes, now a pair of large claws as four, blue dorsal fins sprouted from his back while his skull bulged outwards slightly into a rounded, bear trap-like shape that allowed several of his quickly sharpening teeth to curl over his bottom lip; several fleshy growths and barbels formed on his bottom jaw as black markings etched themselves across his icy blue face and the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on chest, completing the transformation.

"In the meantime, Cedar . . . just chill out." Arctiguana advised, a wisp of frozen vapor escaping his mouth as Clawdeen climbed onto his back and held on tightly as the Polar Manzardill sucked in a deep breath and blasted it back out into a concentrated beam of frozen vapor that formed ice crystals that froze upon making contact with the surrounding air, forming a sturdy ramp by which Arctiguana took a running start at and launched himself off like a snowboarder, creating new ramps and slides and shoots whenever need be as he made his way towards Ever After High.

"I don't care!" Cedar screamed after the Polar Manzardill. After not receiving a retort or comeback, she angrily took a bite of the teacake in her hand and rudely shoved Jane off of her when the shape-shifter's head dozed off onto her shoulder.

---

Apple silently slunk along the edge of the hall, trying to remain as inconspicuous and natural as possible; although, now that she thought about it, stumbling upon the kindest, sweetest, fairest of them all slinking around like some kind of slippery, crafty weasel was about as unnatural as she could possibly get. Thankfully for the princess, the halls of Ever After High were relatively empty and devoid of any students or teachers due to the Spring Fairest Festival, despite the fact that a series of rather unusual event that sent a sweet adrenaline rush up Apple's spine had all but over taken the festivities, of which included a menagerie of purple-colored animals, the sudden appearance of a carnivorous jungle, Holly O'Hair suddenly turning into a psychopathic hairdresser hellbent on carving her initials in fairy tale's scalps, Daring Charming becoming the very definition of cowardice, Ashlynn Ella suddenly turning into a filthy, meat eating slob, Hunter becoming a nature hating huntsman, Cedar Wood unable to tell anything but the truth, Humphrey Dumpty turning into some kind of wannabe daredevil, and Apple didn't even know what had happened to Skelita.

A small, cruel smirk of amusement crossed her blood red lips at the thought of such chaos; nobody would ever believe the Wonderlandians or Raven about her or anything else that was going on, and with the most wicked scheme buzzing around in her mind like a swarm of angry wasps, today was going to be simply spelltacular. For her at least.

The only issue, as she cracked open the door to Lizzie's dorm and silently slipped inside, hoping to the ancestors that there wasn't some kind of loony, Wonderland security system that would turn her hair a hot pink and her ears into a pair of griffin wings, was there was actually only one way her little scheme could possibly fail: Ben. Apple felt her face screw up with annoyance at even the mere thought of the name as she eagerly swiped a stack of books off of a desk with a sewing machine positioned on top and found nothing beneath it; with what had to be the most powerful device on his wrist that Apple had ever seen, both magical and mechanical, he would be able to change his form at a mere flick of his wrist and turn into some kind of hideous monstrosity that would able to end her plans with little trouble.

That left the princess with one of two options as she stole a peek under the floor rug and made her way to the closet: either try to turn Ben to her own, malicious and sinister craft . . . or eliminate him. Knowing full well that he would not only be able to defeat her but even kill her should it ever come to that in an almost infinite amount of ways with that ever troublesome device on his wrist, she would have to go with the former option; giving up on the floor, Apple made her way to the closet and flung it open, digging through the numerous dresses, shoes, undergarments, and other clothing assortments until she finally reached the near back and found an old, red book tucked behind a pair of stacked shoes boxes. Upon opening it, Apple was greeted with a sparkling, shimmering holographic map between the pages, showing a grand, olden forest and a blinking, red arrow in the middle of the book.

A mad, delighted giggle caught her attention and Apple slammed the closet door shut before taking a quick look around the dorm Lizzie shared with that ever annoying and pompous Swan Princess; satisfied that there would be nothing to trace her towards the break in, Apple made her way to the window and promptly jumped over the edge with the book clutched tightly to her chest just as Lizzie Hearts and Maddie came walking into the room, oblivious to the princess's whereabouts. Unfortunately for Apple, her plan to have Daring catch her or cushion her fall had failed miserably; the formerly charming prince was currently cowering in terror at the sheer sight of what had to be most disgustingly adorable squirrel in all of existence as it tried to offer him an acorn, incognizant of her frightened pleas and screams for him to catch her.

"Daaaaaaaring? Daaaaaaaaring!?" she screamed at the top of her lungs, squeezing her eyes shut as the ground came shooting up towards her at a terrorizing pace.

THWACK!

"What was that?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Your girlfriend, that's who." a familiar voice replied; Apple cracked open an eye and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she was currently not a splattered mess of bodily fluids and broken bones smashed on the ground below and was in fact only in mild pain upon the domed shell of a Polar Manzardill with a werewolf riding behind the first fin. For once, the princess was happy to see Arctiguana and Clawdeen as the Polar Manzardill aimed his head down and breathed out an icy vapor to construct a frosty ramp for him to slide down towards the ground and land safely next to Daring.

"You okay, Apple?" Arctiguana asked, a chilling breath escaping his jaws as the princess dismounted; Daring promptly screamed with fright and scooted away a few feet, though whether he was still frightened of the little squirrel at his feet or the sudden arrival of a confused Polar Manzardill, an irked werewolf, and a furious princess was up to debate. It could very well be a combination of both.

"Fine, Ben." Apple replied, resisting the urge to give him a rude snark; if she wanted the hastily forming plan in her head to work, she had to play her cards very carefully.

"What were you doing falling anyways?" Clawdeen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I slipped while . . . reaching for a bird." Apple lied without much effort; sensing that the Polar Manzardill and werewolf were not buying it as much as she wanted to.

"Reaching for a bird?" Clawdeen starred at her with disbelief.

"Of, course! You know how I can't resist my . . . pretty . . . little bird friends." Apple forced the word out past her lips. "Daring, could you come here for a sec . . . please?" she turned to the trembling prince, nearly spitting up her lunch upon having to say the last word; the formerly charming prince whimpered and never took his eyes off of the adorable squirrel, his bottom lip quivering with fear as the animal hopped closer.

"Oh, for Sphinxin' out loud . . ." Arctiguana grumbled under his breath before he opened his jaws and shot a short blast of frosty breath at the squirrel, freezing it on the spot; Daring flinched at the sudden flash freeze and quickly scooted back towards Apple, hiding behind her like some kind of security blanket.

"Daring, where was that thing I asked you to hold for me?" Apple asked.

"Wh-Wh-What thing?" Daring gulped nervously.

"The thing." Apple frowned with frustration.

"Oh! That thing!" Daring realized; fearing the princess's wrath, he reached inside his Ever After High Letterman jacket and pulled out a safely tucked away book from within that he held out at arms length to Apple, as if the old manuscript would bite his fingers off.

"Hey, isn't that the riddle book Alistair brought with him?" Arctiguana wondered as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world with a calculating look on his face.

"That's right! He can be taught!" Skurd exclaimed.

"You're just saying that because you didn't notice it either." Clawdeen allowed a small smirk to cross her face.

"I shall not dignify such abuse!" Skurd huffed, folding his little tentacles over his chest and turning away from the werewolf with annoyance written all over his slimy, green face.

"Take a look at this." Apple gave off a hidden, sinister smile after she flipped through the book to a certain spot and showed it to both Clawdeen and Ben.

"What kind of jibberish is this?" Ben scoffed. "Look upon these words and well you must listen, control of the beast you have lost from within." he read over a passage; Apple's maniacal smirk grew deeper as Daring cowered behind her, trembling as Ben and Clawdeen shuddered and shivered for several seconds, clutching their throats as if they were choking on something or hugging themselves tightly as if they were freezing, despite the warm, Spring weather. Within seconds however, the quivering stop and Apple's smirk broadened into a full blown smile upon catching sight of the sinister look in both of their eyes.

"How you feelin', Ben?" Apple grinned as Daring dared to peek out from behind her.

"Just like new." Ben smirked; he suddenly ducked low as Clawdeen suddenly snarled and swiped at his head with her razor-sharp claws, missing and giving a surprised yelp as Ben lashed out with his leg and knocked out the werewolf's own legs out from underneath, knocking her to the ground where he than planted his foot down on her chest, pinning her to the spot. "You're pathetic, you ugly freak." Ben glared at her with a grin.

Clawdeen bristled viciously and growled, showing her fangs as she suddenly jerked her entire body and sent Ben stumbling back off balance while she flipped herself over onto all fours and snarled threateningly at Apple and Ben; once she was satisfied that they wouldn't bother to come after her, the werewolf put her nose to the air and took a sniff, her tongue lolling out of her mouth at the scent of nearby prey, already jittery and nervous as well, not to mention woolly. With a low growl, she off across the grounds towards the scent, diving into the woods and disappearing from sight.

"'bout time she left." Ben muttered under his breath before turning to face Apple. "You need anything else, beautiful?"

"Not from the likes of you," Apple scoffed. "At least, not yet."

Ben smirked. "Excellent. Let me know when the fun can begin." he told her. "And in the mean time . . ." he trailed off, rudely flicking Skurd aside as he accessed the Omnitrix and randomly selected an alien before slamming a hand down on the activation button and engulfing himself in a flash of green light. His skin started to blister and crack horribly like mud drying in the hot, blazing sun as a loud crunching noise filled the air while his bones compressed tightly against each other until they were liquidated into a thick, hot soup; his organs, flesh, and muscle tissue quickly followed, melting into hot magma that seeped and flowed through the cracks that started to form on his skin, separating different sections into floating islands of hot, magma rock. Ben's head started to smoke as his hands swelled and his toes tore through his shoes, melting into two, firm claws just as his head burst into hot flame, completing the transformation as the Omnitrix and a manically-rubbing-his-tentacles-together Skurd appeared on his chest.

"Time to make the world burn." Heatblast rasped with a twisted grin before he bent over Apple to look directly at Daring. "Boo."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the cowardly prince cried, turning tail to run as Apple rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of his shirt, easily restraining him from running away.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! That never gets old!" the Pyronite cackled, wiping away a tear of hot magma that dropped to the ground with a loud hissing noise; a blood curdling scream from overhead briefly caught all their attentions, only deepening their virulent grins further as Heatblast thrust his hands down and shot off like a smoking rocket towards the Spring Fairest Festival grounds and leaving Apple and a terrified Daring behind. It took him mere seconds for him to cross the distance and plunge downwards into a fiery comet, plunging to the ground in the middle of the fair with a fiery explosion, blasting everything outwards within a good twenty foot radius.

"Nice fair you all got here." he quipped upon catching sight of the dazed and confused carnival goers. "Could use some remodeling though. Like this!" he added, thrusting a hand out and firing off a stream of hot coals at a popcorn stand; the kernels of corn almost instantaneously popped into fluffy pieces of popcorn before being baked alive and incinerated into ash as the tender fled the scene while his stand quite literally melted into a smoldering pile of wood and twisted metal. The Pyronite then raised up his other hand and aimed it at the Beanstalk High Striker, aiming for the top and working his way down as he melted the attraction into a smoking, metal soup.

"See? Isn't that much better?" he smirked as the fairy tales fell into full on panic mode and began running around in a maddening frenzy.

"Yes, yes! Run, you fools, run! It makes it all the more fun for us!" Skurd cackled

"Shut it, Booger Face! I do the talking." Heatblast snapped viciously as he aimed his flaming hand at a fleeing group of fairy tales and chased them off with a stream of fire, hot flames licking at their heels like starving wolves. The sudden clattering of metal caught both of their attentions and they turned to see a small platoon of about six enchanted suits of armor all wielding shields and swords or battle axes rushing towards them; both Pyronite and Slimebiote shared a look with each other.

"Ready for some real fun?" Heatblast hissed.

"Lets get started." Skurd chuckled maliciously as he slithered and wrapped and oozed his gelatinous body around the Pyronite's left arm and tapped into the genetic samples of the Omnitrix; the rocky exterior of Heatblast's arm softened greatly, the hot magma cooling and solidifying and molding with the rock to form a smooth skin that quickly tore and ripped apart into long, thin stripes that wrapped themselves around each other to firm a crudely made arm with exaggerated fingers made of single strips and a black and green arm brace to hold it all together.

"Then lets wrap this up." Heatblast chuckled darkly as he thrust out his new Thep Khufan limb and watched as the flexible fingers snapped forward and swiftly wrapped around the left arm and upper torso of the lead knight; the Pyronite then jerked his arm back and pulled the suit of armor towards him where he opened his mouth and fired out a jet of hot flame at the enchanted warrior, his eyes screwing up with amusement as the helpless knight flailed and melted into a thick, smoking puddle of liquid metal.

With a dark smirk, Heatblast cast the unmoving suit of armor aside before converging on the remaining five with a frightening vengeance; the Pyronite punched clean through a knight's chest before throwing the metal carcass into its brother, slamming the both of them into the ground. He then whirled around and fired off another fiery, hot blast of breath at a third knight, melting its legs to the ground before he whipped his Thep Khufan fingers at the head and wrapped his extendable fingers around its neck, tightening his grip and tearing the helmet clean off with little effort. Heatblast then turned his attention to the final knight, smirking as he quickly bobbed his head to the right to avoid the downward thrust of the ax coming his way before easily jumping up over the sideways swipe the enchanted suit or armor made at him; before the benevolent suit of armor could raise his shield in time, the Pyronite kicked it square in the chest before kneeing it in the groin area and finally decking it across the face with his Thep Khufan arm and grabbing its helmet in hand before melting it off from the mere touch of his fingers.

"Now that," Heatblast chuckled at the charred remains of the enchanted knights littering the ground around him, Skurd returned his arm to its original form, and the Omnitrix timed out, returning Ben to the world. "Is what I call a good warm up."

"Indeed." Skurd snickered darkly. "Ready for more?"

"Always." Ben grinned as he tapped the Omnitrix and engulfed himself in a flash of green light, his genetic code warping and morphing into something new. Ben's skin began to blister and itch horribly as thick, shaggy fur started to sprout all over his body while his frame cracked and crunched loudly, his body gradually growing taller as his bones thickened and his posture forced him to hunch over slightly. His jaw crunched loudly against itself as it jutted out into an ape-like fashion while his lower, canine teeth curved out over his top lip, joined later by a few more crooked teeth; muscles and tissue packed themselves onto his arms and chest, his figure swelling dramatically as small, metallic bumps formed on his wrists. Ben's fingers grew thicker and stronger, becoming more adept to smashing things as his feet changed drastically with his big toe jutting out at a forty-five degree angle. His brow pushed down, thick and heavy, giving him a permanently irked look on his face as a metallic, three horned prong suddenly sprouted right between his eyes and a heavy, green belt formed around his waist, the Omnitrix and Skurd appearing in a blast of green light and completing the transformation.

"Time fer some shock an' awe, eh!" Shocksquatch grinned as he crashed his fists together and gave a small static charge from his fur; before the Gimlinopithecus could begin smashing and crushing and obliterating everything in sight like he was currently enjoying, a series of loud screeches and hoots echoed out through the air, interrupting his fun.

"Ah, geez, eh! Give me a break!" Shocksquatch griped as he jogged off towards the source of the noise; oddly enough, something inside his cold, twisted, blackened heart beat warmly upon hearing the racket made.

---

Apple strutted through the Enchanted Forest with that oh-so satisfying smirk of satisfaction upon her lips as her hips rocked from side to side and the ground and possibly a fairy cake was slowly eaten up under her crimson pumps. Daring trembled besides her as usual, flinching at the slightest of bird song or rustling in the bushes that only turned out to be yet another squirrel or rabbit; this Chicken Little act was more than annoying for the princess, but she was willing to tolerate after accomplishing the near impossible and becoming so close to her goal.

"So, um . . ." Daring hesitated as he tapped his fingers together anxiously. "I'm kinda scared to ask, but what's this big plan of yours?"

"The well." Apple merely replied.

"Well? Well, what?"

Apple rolled her eyes. The Well of Wonder, duh!" she exclaimed with exasperation. "I heard Maddie say that Lizzie had the only map to it. So, I stole it from Lizzie's room!" she smirked proudly, holding up a red covered book with a black and white checkerboard back; she flipped open the pages to the middle of the book and was greeted with the familiar, shimmering hologram of the Enchanted Forest and a blinking red arrow that slowly moved through the woods, indicating their path. "Everyone knows that the magic, the wonder, the life of our world comes from Wonderland through that well."

"Aaaaaahhh!" Daring suddenly yelped, clutching his foot tightly while Apple glared at him at being interrupted so rudely. "I-I stubbed my little toe."

"Anyway . . ." Apple rolled her eyes. "You and I? We're going to plug up that well for good!" she grinned venomously.

"But that will . . ." Daring gasped with realization. "Destroy the fairy tale world!"

"Wow, you catch on fast . . . not!" Apple mocked him before grabbing the front of his jacket and dragging him along. "Now come on!" she growled, oblivious to the presence of Raven, Holly, Briar, and Cerise silently stalking after her through the underbrush of the forest, hoping that the princess and her cowardly prince wouldn't notice them; with the way Daring kept on flinching at every little thing however and Apple having grown to ignore it, this would most likely not be a problem.

---

M.N: Oh, yes!

B.P: No, no! Apple White is the future queen! Her whole life is about protecting the fairy tale world! We can't let that happen!

T.P: She . . . kinda has a point, Dad.

B.P: We're narrators! We're part of this world, too!

F.N: Narrators can not interfere.

B.P: And Ashlynn and Hunter! They love nature! And what about Humphrey? If he continues this, he'll end up cracked and sunny side up for sure! AND WHAT ABOUT BEN!? He's supposed to be the universe's greatest hero and the only chance Ever After has against-

M.N: Brooke! Why don't you just take us to the next scene, okay?

B.P: No, but-

M.N: Brooke!

T.P: Sorry, sis. Our hands are tied right now. R to be more specific, our words and whatever lips we may possess.

B.P: *sigh* Meanwhile, in Wonderland, Ginger finished baking the pie with the message with the message warning her friends about the cursed riddle book.

F.N: Perhaps a smidge less sarcasm next time . . .

---

Ginger gulped as she wiped her sweaty brow and took a good, long look at the pie sitting on the table before her; the White Knight stood just behind her, wearing a flowery, pink apron that would have been comical and rather hilarious to laugh at if the situation were not so dire. The two of them shared a quick look with the other before Ginger took the pie in her oven mitt covered hands and moved over the oven, pulling down the door and sliding the pie in before closing it again and biting her lip for hope.

"I hope they get my warning before it's too late." Ginger rung her hands with worry as a flash of bright, pink light came from within the oven; a quick look inside revealed that the pie had vanished without a trace, as if it had never been placed inside.

"That does look like a good sign." the White Knight nodded with approval as he undid his apron and set it back on the table. "Very clever of you to figure out that the riddle required baking."

Ginger smiled brightly, a light blush coming to her gingerbread face. "Well, cooking just comes naturally to me! What doesn't would be cooking with Wonderland rules; do cooking books normally babble on endlessly about an infinite amount of recipes until you close them.

"Yes . . ." the White Knight replied as he straightened himself up. "Now then, I believe it would be best to figure out how to get you home."

"But . . . how?" Ginger wondered. "I got here by falling down the Well of Wonder, but . . . I'm not sure if I can go back that way."

The White Knight rubbed his metal chin in thought. "There . . . is another way out. It's unknown by many and only known to a few and dangerous at its best, but it will bring you back home."

Ginger got a very determined look upon her face as she untied her apron and cast it aside on the counter. "Whatever it is, lets do it. No arguments."

The knight seemed to smile at this. "A maiden who is not afraid of the unknown? A very admirable trait."

Ginger smiled and blushed once more. "So . . . what is this way back home?"

The White Knight seemed to deflate slightly, adopting a more serious tone and posture than before; he only gestured for her to follow him as he made to leave the tea shoppe. Ginger followed and found that a white, chess pieced stallion was waiting outside, its legs fused together and to a circular pedestal and shimmering, silver armor protecting it.

"Wonderland is not as wondrous as everyone might think," the White Knight explained as he helped Ginger onto the back of his steed and gave a snap of the reins; the white horse whinnied and promptly hopped off of the teetering spire that held the Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe above the wasteland, ignoring the frightened screams of Ginger as they fell until they finally landed.

Ginger took a deep breath as she tried to still her jittery nerves. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"Wonderland is much darker than you might like to believe." the White Knight explained as he rode his stallion across the barren, dusty wasteland; for as far as Ginger could see, the plain was flat and devoid of almost any life, save for a few, wiry jabberwocks and vultures that circled over head. Tall acacia trees that had been dead and lifeless for years on end were devoid of any leaves and dotting the barren wasteland in small pockets, empty riverbeds slithering their way through the choked soil, their bottoms littered with the dried remains of fish bones and small puddles of a blackened liquid the bubbled and oozed.

"What happened here?" Ginger whispered.

"The Evil Queen." the White Knight replied. "Wonderland is choked full of raw magic and energies that would be unstable to most, with the exception of the native inhabitants. As such, there are dark and powerful energies that would all but destroy anyone else that is not of Wonderland, of madness, or of a . . . certain bloodline."

"But what happened?" Ginger wondered.

"When the Evil Queen first arrived here in Wonderland to enact her horrible curse, she attempted to play with the dark and unstable power of Wonderland's dark magic, a suicidal act for most. The results were . . . frightening, to say the least . . ."

Ginger gasped. "Did she . . ."

The White Knight shook his head. "No, thankfully she did not. Rather, another individual was subjected to the horrifying Orb of Madness and transformed beyond safe recognition. This allowed the Evil Queen to destroy nearly all of Wonderland before it and its allied forces were able to stop and contain her; the war had been won, but the damage had been done. Wonderland rests of its last legs with the curse waiting to strike and finish her off, and we . . . we are helpless to do anything about it."

Apple grinned eagerly as a shimmering, golden image of a well suddenly materialized on the pages of the book in her grasp, glancing up to look around for the treasure she had been searching for. "According to the map, it's right . . ." she paused and looked at her surroundings in confusion; she had dragged Daring a good distance into the forest to a wide, rounded trench that cut a deep swath through the Enchanted Forest, as if some sort of massive ball attached to a chain had been pulled through the dirt or a massive, tubular object had been slammed down into the earth to allow such a thing. Unfortunately, there was no well to speak of.

"This Wonderland stuff is so annoying!" Apple growled with irritation in a manner similar to that of a feral bulldog. "I mean, really, is it that hard to just have a normal map that shows you where-" she continued to rant until Daring fearfully tapped her on the should. "WHAT!?" she snarled.

Trembling at her temper, the prince merely pointed behind her; Apple raised an eyebrow but dared to take a peek behind her and felt a malicious smile cross her blood red lips when she caught sight of the ancient, stone wall Well of Wonder that had materialized out of thin air right behind her. "Perfect." she smirked.

Daring gulped. "So, um . . . I don't have to do anything dangerous, do I?" she asked worryingly.

"Nope." Apple replied simply. "Since you've turned into Coward Charming, I thought ahead and brought some help." she told him. "Ashlynn . . . Hunter!" she called out; it was a few seconds before the pair appeared, a cruel smirk on Hunter's face as he crushed several flowers heartlessly underneath of his feet and plucked a butterfly out of the air only to crush it between his fingers, his heart beating faster as he relished in the sweet crunch! of the insect's exoskeleton. Ashlynn herself did not look any better, her strawberry blonde hair messy and tangled, a jungle of snarls, while mud and filth caked her body and ragged dress; the princess didn't care in the slightest as she happily feasted upon a greasy burger before turning around and pressing into Hunter's face, only to have him peel it off and crush it over her head, letting the grease, ketchup, mustard, and other condiments drizzle all over her face.

"Time to get our evil on." Apple snickered.

With that being said, Hunter heaved a heavy ax over his shoulder and rushed right at the nearest tree, hacking his ax right through the thick trunk in one quick swipe before he began to carve and hack away at the rest of the tree, lopping off branches and peeling away bark and sending wood chips flying in all directions until there was nothing left but a massive, wooden wheel resting and waiting on the tree's stump.

"Apple!"

The princess startled slightly at the sound of her name and turned to see Raven standing on top of the gorge with Cerise, Briar, and Holly by her side; with a grunt, the witchling slid down the enbankment and turned to face Apple with a pleading expression. "Apple, this is so not you! You would never do anything to hurt Ever After High!"

Apple feigned an innocent tone. "Oh, poor Raven! So, naive." she shook her head. "You're about to find out how wrong you really are."

A loud belch caught their attention and they all turned their attention towards Ashlynn as she pulled out another greasy burger from a fast food and Hunter as he stood proud and tall with his trusty ax by his side. "Ashlynn!? Hunter!?" Holly gasped with disbelief. "You guys love nature . . . I can't believe you're doing this!"

"Believe it!" Ashlynn snorted as she carelessly tossed her half-eaten burger over her shoulder and dropped her bag of greasy treats; before anyone else could stop her, the person turned towards the forest and let out a series of loud screeches, howls, roars, and caws that sounded distinctly like a variety of animals all rolled into one, frightening beast. A sudden rustling came from the forest as a large, burly ram with a massive pair of vine encrusted horns came charging out of the bush and rammed its head into the gigantic, wooden wheel Hunter had hastily constructed. The wheel rumbled down the hill and circular gulch, nearly running over Briar and Daring as they just barely dove out of the way as it ran up the other side of the valley and shot up high and back into the air; time seemed to freeze for Raven as she watched the wheel tumble through the air, spinning and turning numerous times as Apple watched with a hungry, eager expression until the wheel finally slammed down on top of the Well of Wonder.

"Or for crying out loud!" Apple snarled when she noticed that the plug was resting only lightly on top of the Well of Wonder; it would have taken more than one person, but if she didn't act fast, the plug could have been effortlessly pulled out.

"Quick! We still have a chance!" Cerise cried as she dashed towards the well.

"Oh, no you don't, eh!" a deep, gruff voice yelled; the Riding Hood came to a screeching halt as she looked around for the source of the sound until a shadow from above that was getting eerily larger and larger as the precious seconds ticked by drew attention. Looking upwards, she watched as Shocksquatch came soaring out of the trees and into the sky, his fists clenched tightly as an alarming amount of electricity crackled and snaked through his fur as the Gimlinopithecus reached the climax of his jump and came crashing back down onto the Well of Wonder, landing on the plug with a thunderous BOOM! that resonated loudly throughout the forest and sent out a discharged of energy all around him.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Cerise cried as she was struck, her nerves burning and on fire as the electricity coursed through her before finally stopping; she suddenly felt weak, like she couldn't stand on her legs any longer as she felt them give out and send her falling backwards until something caught her and prevented her from landing painfully on the ground. Looking up through her blurry vision, she found it to be Raven pulling her close against herself and allowing her to use her as a support.

If anyone had been distracted otherwise from the plugging of the well, they would have noticed two figures materializing out of thin air in a shower of shimmering, sparkling light on a branch on a tree overlooking the whole scene. "Oh, such chaos. Aren't you enjoying this, kitten?" the Cheshire Cat gave her daughter a cheeky smile.

Kitten nodded and gave a satisfied smile as her mother petted her head lovingly; inside however, she was having second thoughts. The words of Alistair, her long lost friend that had been trapped back in Wonderland while she had been lucky enough to escape, claimed that while pranks were appreciated every now and again, not all of them were funny. At first, the Daughter of the Cheshire Cat had been deeply hurt by this, more so annoyed when she received angry glares and stern looks after the Fairest Wheel incident, but now that she was able to witness the product of her actions . . . she was wondering if she was taking this too far.

Watching Apple White let loose for once and surprisingly act like a cunning villain rather than a mocking wannabe was amusing, she would admit, and watching Daring cower and tremble at everything in sight after he had hurt Lizzie by cheating on her with Duchess was just as satisfying. But watching hunter swing his ax at an adorable bunny (thankfully missing), watching while Ashlynn stuffed her face with the meat she swore she would never eat even if her life depended on, watching as Shocksquatch grinned toothily at the shocked look on Raven's face and cackled darkly at the fact that he had won . . . something inside her did a flip upon seeing that.

"Okay, that's it!" Raven snarled determination, lying Cerise carefully down on the grass before she ran up to the Well of Wonder as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world; the wielder of the Omnitrix didn't bother to make a move as he simply stood on top of the wooden plug that blocked the well while Raven, Holly, and Briar struggled to try and move the firmly wedged plug out pf place.

"Yeah. Good luck with all that." Ben rolled his eyes.

Raven gritted her teeth and glared at her boyfriend; it really hurt her to see him like this, looking down upon her and not lifting a finger while she tried to prevent the destruction of her world. It hurt her even more that someone she loved, someone she deeply cared for, saw her now as nothing more than scum beneath his shoe, finding her lower than dirt and not even worth his time . . . almost like . . .

"Well, I guess you've forgotten that I can do magic." she glared at him, opening her palm and wiggling her fingers over her open hand as a light, purple ball of power and energy formed.

"Actually, Raven . . . I think you're the one who's forgetting things." Apple smirked with a crafty smile that made the witchling shiver uncomfortably; how could someone so sweet and kind be just as terrifying?

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Raven shot back; all confidence she had however, instantly evaporated when the Well of Wonder, plug and all, suddenly vanished before her very eyes, flashing out of existence and to some place new far, far, far away and out of her reach; Ben simply dropped to the ground and silently backed up the embankment of the shallow gorge.

"Like the Well of Wonder never stays in one place very long." Apple replied smartly as she casually strolled to the side of the valley.

"Agh!" Briar cried with disgust. "You won't win, Apple!"

Apple smirked. "Well, this has been fun and all, but . . . charm ya later." she smiled as she cast a look above her; Ben grinned as he slammed a hand down on the Omnitrix and felt his DNA rearrange and scramble into something new. A coating of light, blue fur raced over his body, covering him from head to toe as his spine arched and forced him down onto his hands just as his fingers modled together like hot candle wax into three, form digits designed to grasp and swing as his toes lengthened and became, strong digits as well; Ben's skin flashed a dark blue as his shoulders swelled slightly and became muscled and furry as his chest expanded and tissue and muscles piled themselves onto his body. His skeleton crunched and snapped loudly as he was compressed down to the size of a large dog, his spine arching and cracking loudly before a long, prehensile tail snaked out from the base of his spine, cracking back and froth with anticipation as several special organs formed at the base of the appendage. His lower jaw was thrust outwards as warm fur covered his face and his eyes split into two more green pairs while the shaggy hair on his head flipped up to form a pair of furry horns. The most dramatic and most noticeable change however, was when a pair of identical arms to his original pair suddenly burst out of his sides from underneath him, flexing and moving on their own accord as two, green sashes formed across Ben's chest with the Omnitrix at the center, completing the transformation.

"Ook! Ook!" Spidermonkey chattered as he fired off a strand of sticky webbing from his tail at a tree branch overhead before he threw himself off of the side of the gulch and down to Apple's level, the strong, sticky silk acting like a bungee cord of sorts. "You should know by now, Raven, not to monkey with the monkey! Ook! Ook!"

"Face it, Raven. You've lost." Apple smirked as the Arachnichimp hooked his four, wiry arms around her upper chest and arms.

"Oh! Wait for me!" Daring cried as he rushed after them, a hand upon his crown to keep it on his head.

"We'll find the well . . ." Cerise groaned from the ground, her body no longer feeling painfully numb, like one would feel if they hit their funny bone.

"Gonna be hard without this!" Apple smirked as she pulled out the very book, Lizzie's map, that had led her to the Well of Wonder in the first place.

This finally seemed to make Raven snap. "Why, you little, good for nothing, son of a-" she swore as she rushed at Apple, fully intent on tackling her to the ground and holding her there until she got some answers.

"Raven!" Holly warned.

"What!? We can't let them get away!" Raven protested as Spidermonkey stuck out his tongue at her and pulled himself, Apple, and a terrified Daring up and away before the five sinister fairy tales retreated and away and into the forest.

"I think we've got bigger problems." Holly gulped, pointing towards the ground where the Well of Wonder had been moments before. Raven turned to where she was pointing and gasped as a sickly, gray color started to bubble up from the ground and creep its way across the grass; the surrounding flowers consequently began to wilt and droop over as the gray mess oozed and slithered over the ground, growing bigger and bigger with every passing second. "The wonder – it's drying up!"

"Without wonder . . . our world will cease to exist . . ." Cerise whispered with worry as Briar helped her to her feet.

"Not if I can help it." Raven frowned. "And the only way we're gonna stop this is to figure out what's wrong with Apple! Come on!" she gestured for the others to follow her as she ran back towards Ever After High with the other hot on her trail and gray, bubbling mess of wonderless ground started to spread out slowly like syrup, picking up the pace as it began to ravage the land.

---

M.N: And so, Apple White's plan to the block the Flow of Wonder into the world of Ever After High, has worked all too well.

F.N: Ooh, I'm getting shivers up my spine!

B.P: This is insane! We can't let this happen!

T.P: Um, Mom? Dad? I kinda have to agree with Brooke on this one.

B.P: If they don't unplug the well soon, Ever After's doomed! They're doomed! We're doomed! Everyone is doomed! Doomed, doomed, doomity-doom-doomed! DOOMED I TELL YOU!

T.P: Uh, what she said.

F.N: Brooke, as narrators, we aren't allowed to interfere with the story.

M.N: Your mother's right. The farthest we can do is occasionally interact with the Wonderlandians.

B.P: But-

M.N and F.N: Brooke!

T.P: Sorry, sis.

B.P: *sigh* Please, pull through Raven . . . please . . .

---

Despite the fact that Venus' 'children' were now taking over the rest of the Spring Fairest Festival and hungrily trying to devour anything within reach, Jane had mysterious disappeared and was off stalking Lilly Bo Peep's flock of sheep once more, Skelita was no where to be found, and that there seemed to be some kind of shadowy, wolf figure stalking the edge of the Enchanted Forest and alleyways of Book End, the Mad Hatter's Tea Shoppe remained bright, cheery, busy, and most importantly, mad.

"Don't worry, Lizzie, we'll find your book . . . somehow." Maddie promised her friend and future queen with a sigh; the Hatter, plus Princess of Hearts, white rabbit, and Wonderland were all sitting somewhat glumly around a table in the Mad Hatter's tea shop, wondering what they could possibly do. With the disappearance of Lizzie's prized book and their friendship with Kitty Cheshire hanging by a thread, there wasn't much to look up to at the moment. Thankfully, however, salvation came upon the sound of creaking wheels.

"Oh! Dad!" Maddie smiled brightly when a large, black top hat was placed upon her head; the Mad Hatter was a tall, slim man with a wild and goofy grin on his face, dark and light, curly, auburn hair on his head, a satin pink suit complete with an over-sized, toned, purple collar, a white shirt, and several green buttons. He wore dark pants and shoes along with gloves the same color as his collar, white cuffs, a light blue bow ties, and what appeared to be a pair of earrings in his left ear.

"It's nice to see a familiar face." Alistair allowed a small smile at the Mad Hatter's antics.

"Whistle, cradle, up top, down sideways, shake and to the moon!" both Hatters exclaimed as they did a series of odd and bizarre movements that could only be described as a Wonderland handshake that ended with Maddie returning her father's hat to his head.

"The train runs on tracks, birds on the air, and we believers must always take care!" the Mad Hatter recited as he picked up a cake, bounced off of his elbow, and onto the table; a tray of cupcakes, four empty teacups, and a steaming pot of tea soon followed.

"He's right." Alistair nodded. "A little food will totally help us think."

---

B.P: Wait, no! This isn't right! There's no pie! Ginger baked her message in a pie.

M.N and F.N: Brooke . . .

B.P: Maddie! Maddie can hear us!

T.P: Uh, sis, I don't like this whole thing any more than you do, but-

M.N and F.N: Brooke, no!

B.P: I'm sorry, I have to do this. Maddie! Ginger baked a message for you in a pie! It's somewhere in the tea shoppe! Hurry!

M.N and F.N: Brooke!

---

"Thank you, young narrator!" Maddie thanked seemingly nothing above her before slamming her hands down on the table to look around the tea shop for the pie that her friend had told her about; knowing the other narrators, the Hatter could suspect that her friend was going to be in big trouble, but if she was willing to break such rules, then it must have been important. Maddie's sights soon set on Duchess Swan as she prepared to eat a chocolate goose pie on table in front of her.

"Whoopsie!" Maddie giggled as she stole pie from Duchess seconds before she could stuff her face.

"Hey!" the Swan maiden protested.

"Hat-tastic!" Maddie laughed as she proceeded to run around the tea shoppe in a manner very similar to a hyperactive chimpanzee, swiping pies from customers left and right without concern; to Bunny, it made her dizzy just by watching the energetic Hatter run around faster and faster, gathering more and more pies until she had a decent, wobbling stack on top of her head. It made Bunny wonder just how Ben was able to put up with her maddened friend, considering he was not of Wonderlandian heritage. This thought also made Bunny's head hurt at the mere thought of beings from other planets existing beyond the atmosphere of Ever After and then hundreds upon thousands upon millions upon billions, upon infinite amounts of alternate realities and parallel worlds, such as the one where Ben was from, where beings just as stranger as her existed, but fairy tales were nothing more than stories and nothing else.

"Why did you do that, Maddie?" Lizzie wondered as her friend dropped her collection of pies down on the table and grabbed a knife.

"Ginger baked us a message," Maddie replied. "The voices told me so."

"As much as I'd like to argue about your 'friends' . . . what would the point be?" Alistair wondered.

"You mean you don't hear them, too?" Maddie paused slightly as she cut open a pie.

"I hear them sometimes." Lizzie said. "They always seem to be arguing over one silly thing or another."

"Maybe I'm just not mad enough." Alistair shrugged; during his childhood, he would sometimes catch his mother seemingly talking to no one in particular, often arguing with them but occasionally having a pleasant conversation as well, as if she were talking to some of her friends and nothing more. Eventually, he had been introduced to the voices he had grown to know as the narrators. He unfortunately was not able to hear them and assumed his mother to be insane due to her maddening encounters with the Cheshire cat, but everyone else in Wonderland seemed to be able to hear them to, so he simply dismissed them as fact. Alistair had yet to hear them for himself though.

That little issue however, seemed pretty small right now compared to the mountain of pies sitting in front of them; it was only when his face was suddenly speckled with some of the pie's sweet juices did he realize that Maddie had smashed her face into the pie itself and was eating in a fashion very similar to a starving pig. Sharing a look with Lizzie, Bunny, and Alistair, they copied the Hatter's movements and took a pie each that they messily and hungrily dug into.

After what seemed like hours of stuffing themselves silly however, there was nothing to show for it other than the sticky stains on their faces and horrible belly aches; Madde let out a loud belch that seemed to rattle the entire shot as Lizzie pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and used it to wipe her face clean. "We've eaten . . . every single pie! And no message!" Alistair groaned.

"I'm so full . . ." Bunny moaned.

"The fishing net is full to bursting!" Maddie added, leaning back in her chair and promptly falling over. "What I wouldn't give for Ben to be here!"

"You've made it very clear that you love to eat pie," the Mad hatter said as he came up to their table with yet another pie in hand. "I found one in the kitchen that your really must try! Hoo hoo hoo!" he chuckled at his own little rhyme just as the tea kettle let out a shrill whistle similar to that of an airhorn going off drew his attention away.

"Thanks, Daddy!" Maddie smiled brightly.

"You think this is the one?" Alistair wondered.

"I do hope so." Lizzie moaned, burping slightly. "Pardon me."

With little other choice, Maddie took her knife and dipped it into the pie's crust, cutting a thin line; the line quivered slightly and suddenly formed into a mouth complete with a full set of teeth, tongue, and voicebox. "Um, what do I do?" the pie spoke in an oddly familiar voice. "Do I just start talking? Test . . . test . . . oh! Guys! This is Ginger!"

"Ginger?" Lizzie starred at the pie in disbelief.

"Ever After is in danger!" the pie continued. "There's a riddle book and it's cursed! You have to find it! Now what? Do I . . . is that it?"

"I knew something was up with that crafty calico!" Bunny growled with annoyance, pounding her fist into her open palm out of frustration.

"She must have switched out the Storybook of Legends for the riddle book!" Lizzie realized.

"That's not important right now." Alistair frowned. "What do we do?"

Maddie tapped her chin in thought. "If I remember correctly, Venus was the last one with the riddle book . . ."

"Then to . . . Venus . . . we go!" Alistair declared as he got up from the table and rushed to the tea shoppe's door.

"Thanks, Dad!" Maddie called behind her as she followed after her friends.

"You're welcome, dear!" the Mad Hatter shouted. "But, uh, what did I do?" he wondered.

That little thought was left to fester on its own as the small band of Wonderlandians rushed through the town of Book End and back towards the Spring Fairest Festival, Maddie skipping merrily all the way while the others pumped their arms and jogged as fast as they could, somehow still not able to keep up with the Hatter despite her somewhat slow choice of gait; they were almost there when a gigantic, green root suddenly slammed down onto the earth, blocking their path into the fair grounds.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Venus purred as a thick, thorny tendril held her suspended above their as she lay on her stomach.

"Venus, please! You need to let us through!" Lizzie pleaded.

"Maybe . . . my children are rather hungry." the plant monster tapped her chin with thought.

"That's not what I meant!" Lizzie screwed her face up with irritation. "Let us by now or it's off with your head!" she threatened.

"Let me think about that . . . no." Venus replied, turning over onto her back to look at them from an upside down perspective. "I have orders from Apple herself to not let anyone she doesn't approve of by . . . and as far as she's concerned, you're nothing but plant food to me." she smirked hungrily. "I might spare you and Maddie though . . . my master would find you both more than appealing. And if not . . . I'm always available."

"What about us?" Alistair narrowed his eyes.

"My children are always hungry." was Venus' response.

Lizzie felt her blood boil as she clenched her palms tightly, digging her fingers and nails deep into her pale skin to the point where it might have actually drawn blood, if all of it was rushing to her quickly reddening face; Maddie felt a bright grin cross her face as she, Bunny, and Alistair quietly backed off, knowing full well what was to come. "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Lizzie screamed as she rushed right at Venus; the plant monster's cunning grin immediately dropped as she snapped her fingers and watched as a dozen, cracking creepers erupted out of the ground between her and furious Princess of Hearts. Her confident smile dropped however when Lizzie clenched her fingers like claws and rushed at the nearest plant, slicing her fingers across the stalk before moving the next one and the next one faster than Venus could comprehend and faster than her minions could react; by the time she was able to finally set her sights on Lizzie, the Princes of Hearts had leaped as high into the air as possible and held two of her fingers together as she came back down in front of the thick vine that blocked their path. At first nothing happened until the gigantic stalk trembled and suddenly exploded in a wet, green eruption that sent Venus reeling and leaving Lizzie miraculously unscathed as the creepers behind her crumbled to the ground, having been sliced like sushi.

"Uh . . . wow . . ." was all Alistair could say; he knew his friend was temperamental, but he didn't know she could be this deadly.

"Now then," Lizzie coughed as she straightened her dress and hair before becoming furious once more and turning to a dazed Venus, kicking her in the stomach and planting her foot firmly on her chest. "Kindly tell us where the riddle book is, or the next hedge I trim will be you." she threatened.

"Cedar . . . Cedar knows where the book is!" Venus trembled slightly.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Lizzie nodded as she ran into the Spring Fairest grounds with her friends right behind her, giving the plant monster only mild pitied looks as they ran past and came to a screeching halt; the entire fair grounds had been overtaken by beanstalks, massive thorns covering their vines and roots as they burst forth from the ground and wrapped themselves tightly around anything within reach. Fanged trappers tipped several of the tallest stalks, corrosive saliva dripping from their maws as they occasionally snapped at the air to try and catch a passing dragon or bird. What hadn't been overtaken by the living jungle had been melted or burned to a smoldering, smoking mess or covered in sticky webbing; several helpless fairy tales had been stuck to such webs and wrapped up like a spider's catch, their movements massively restricted by the strong silk.

"Whoa . . ." Bunny whispered with surprise.

"I knew Ben and his ghouls were powerful, but this . . ." Alistair marveled.

"While it is rather impressive, I believe we have bigger issues." Lizzie whispered to them in a low voice. "I believe we are being watched." she pointed towards the thick creepers and roots that provided hundreds of hiding places from which any multitude of savage beasts and monstrosities could be hiding in; now that Bunny was actually looking, she could have sworn she saw a pair of golden eyes watching from the darkness.

"Okay, I know I'm normally not one to say this, but nobody make any sudden movements." Maddie advised; the Wonderlandians simultaneously agreed to keep as quiet as possible so as not to aggravate the hungry plant's attention or encourage the hidden predators to attack, find Cedar, find the book, and reverse the curse as quick as possible. This plan quickly fell apart when Bunny unwittingly changed into her rabbit form to ride in Alistair's arms to try and create as little noise as possible; with a loud, feral roar, a brown blur charged out of the undergrowth and rushed at Alistair, slamming into him and knocking him down to the ground.

"Oof!" Alistair grunted as he roughly struck the ground and felt hot breath on his face; rolling his eyes to look, as he believed turning his head would end up with him losing his nose, he came face to face with a pair of sharp, golden eyes, a set of sharp fangs fully capable of tearing flesh from bone, and a mane of earthy brown hair. Clawdeen growled lowly at him, studying him for a few seconds. In those few seconds, several things happened at once; Alistair took note that the werewolf's normally golden eyes were tinted with a venomous purple; Bunny instinctively dove into the thick brush pile created by Venus' plants; and Maddie pulled a massive mallet out of her hat and swung it full into Clawdeen's side, knocking the werewolf off of her friend and sending her rolling across the ground. She did not get up.

"Come on! Follow Bunny!" Maddie exclaimed as she grabbed Alistair's hand and pulled him off of the ground, practically dragging him towards the snarled mess of vines and roots and slipping through an opening that Alistair just barely managed to squeeze through; Lizzie and Bunny were already waiting, their faces tinted a glowing green from the sun shining through the plant flesh above them.

"Wonderful. Now they know we're here." Lizzie sighed.

"Well, things can't get worse than this, I suppose."

Maddie slammed her forehead with frustration, briefly giving herself a set of crossed eyes as she regarded the mallet in her hand. "You schoodle brain! You just doomed us all! Ben says that's the one thing you never say in these kind of situations!"

"What are the odds that something like that will happen though?" Alistair scoffed slightly; he quickly found his answer when a flash of crimson light briefly flashed from outside and the ceiling of creepers and vines overhead quivered slightly before being easily ripped away. The Wonderlandians were briefly blinded by the bright light until a massive shadow cast over them, blocking out the warm sunlight and sending shivers down their spines when they caught sight of what was standing over them. The monstrosity mostly resembled a gigantic, flightless bird with deep purple feathers, a naked neck and a serrated beak fully capable of tearing through flesh; a set of razor-sharp talons tipped the feet, four eyes enabled it to see with the sharpest of vision, a pair of broad wings tipped with claws only made it more formidable, and the calculating look on its face made it clear that it was highly intelligent for an animal.

"Nobody . . make . . . any . . . sudden moves." Lizzie whispered. "It's vision is based on movement."

"Are you sure about that?" Alistair whispered as Bunny trembled in his arms, burying himself into his chest in the hopes that the massive predator would not see her as a bite-sized snack.

"I do not," Lizzie hissed. "I am just hoping that I am correct!"

"SCREEEEEE-EEEEEEEAAAAH!"

"Ahh!" Alistair yelped as he rolled to the side with Bunny clutched close to him just as the Omnivoracious drove its head down to try and stab his head on its beak; the Omnivoracious screeched and flared her wings, opening her beak wide and snapping it shut just millimeters away from the Son of Alice in Wonderland's face.

"Heads up!" Maddie cackled; the Omnivoracious' attention was briefly drawn away from Alistair and his bite-sized friend just as the Hatter swung her mallet and connected it to the predator's face, knocking it a far distance away and onto its side.

"Quick! While it is-" Lizzie cried as the Omnivoracious screeched feebly and flapped its wings in an attempt to right itself before it was suddenly and swiftly swallowed in a flash of crimson red light; Jane could feel her body growing, expanding, growing bigger and bigger as her back swelled and split her shirt right down the back, her arms and legs becoming larger and larger as hundreds of muscles, tissue, and sinew packed themselves tightly onto her limbs. Her skull cracked and groaned as the jaw bones thrust forward farther and farther until they were quite literally torn away from the rest of the skull, of which softened and fused together with the muscle and tissue that surrounded her head; her jaws then pushed themselves past her skin, thrusting out into the open air as the teeth sharpened and fused with the bones while they hardened further into a tough, horny beak. Her fingers and toes molded together into single, long dexterous digits that quickly lost any rigid structure they may have had until Jane's entire skeleton, with the exception of the spinal cord, disappeared and vanished altogether, leaving a soft, squishy body that was turning a dark red in color with brown spots dotting her body. A loud squelching nose filled the air as two pairs of long, rubbery tentacles covered in rows of serrated suckers thrust themselves out of her sides in an almost horrific manner, curling up to support her immense weight while rows of dull, fleshy spikes formed on her back and head just as two hollow tubes, siphons, formed on either side of her head, allowing Jane to breath comfortably in her new form as the Nemetrix appeared around her thick neck in the form of a spiked collar.

"Run even faster!" Lizzie cried as the Vicetopus hauled itself off of the ground gave a low, wet, hungry growl; the Princess of Hearts scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as she could with Maddie warding off the hungry cephalopod with her mallet while Alistair clambered to his feet and grabbed the back of Maddie's shirt to drag her away as the Vicetopus lashed out a tentacle and slammed it down on the spot where she had been moments ago.

Running however, only made Vicetopus more hungry as she reared up onto her back, four tentacles and lashed out with the first four and managed to hook two of them around Lizzie and Alistair's ankles, slamming them roughly onto the ground before tossing them back up into the air; both the Wonderland and Princess of Hearts screamed with fright as the ground came racing back up to them, only to be caught in midair by the Vicetopus with their arms pinned tightly to their side, the pressure put on them only increasing as they struggled. Bunny had managed to escape the first swipe of the tentacles and quickly hopped towards the safety the nest of brambles and creepers that Venus' garden provided, only to be suddenly and unexpectedly tackled to the ground and grabbed by the back of her neck with a set of sharp teeth by Clawdeen; the werewolf gave a low, warning growl that told her any attempt to change back would be met with instant death.

This left only Maddie left to ward off the remaining tentacle of Vicetopus, giving her heavy hammer mighty swings to ward it off; the Vicetopus lashed out with her tentacle, missing as Maddie cartwheeled out of the way and giving a horrible screech of pain when she smashed the sensitive tip of the tentacle with her mallet.

"Back up, Calamari-for-Brains! I've got a hammer and I'm not afraid to use it!" Maddie cackled madly.

A sudden slow clapping caught her attention and she turned to see none other than Apple approaching her with a smirk on her face; Daring was cowering next to her, flinching in fear when Hunter suddenly clenched his fist and made a move to slug across the face, only pausing a mere inch away from his cheek with a low chuckle. On the other side of Apple was Ashlynn munching on a fistful of french fries with Ben's arm wrapped comfortably around her waist, going so far as to grope her ass while doing so and watching the stunned look on Maddie's face with amusement.

"Your skills are quite admirable for you to get this far, Maddie, I'll give you that." Apple smirked as Poppy appeared from the princess's right, cutting and slicing her way through the snarled mess of roots and vines with her razor-sharp scissors while Cedar approaching from the left. "But in the end, you've failed. Just like everybody else."

"As Daddy always says, 'It's not over 'til the fat Hatter sings'!" Maddie yelled as she gripped her mallet tightly and rushed at Apple with a furious look in her eye, her hammer raised above her head and ready to bring it down on the princess's head; Apple merely yawned and rolled her eyes towards Ben, giving him an approving nod. Ben grinned and paused briefly to give Ashlynn a quick kiss on the cheek before he slapped a hand on the Omnitrix's activation button, swallowing himself in a flash of green light that scrambled and twisted his DNA into something new. The soft skin of his head began to hard into a cool, organic, substance comparable to that of plastic as his joints became more rigid and stiff the more the red in his fingers traveled up his widening arms; his limbs swelled and bulked up to a considerable size, becoming cubular in shape as his shoulders rounded and smoothed out to tapper swimmingly into his short neck and arms. A loud cracking noise filled the air as Ben's jaw jutted outwards as his brow became thick and heavy, becoming greatly pronounced as it turned yellow and several bony knobs formed all along his changing body. The colors red, yellow, and blue flashed across his skin as a loud crunching noise filled the air when his legs suddenly compressed and compacted into limbs less then half of their original size; his hands swelled to over-sized proportions as the rest of his features became blocky and cube-like in shape, the transformation ending as the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared upon his chest.

"Then consider this the encore, Hatter." Bloxx said in a gruff voice as he lunged in front of Apple at the last second and raised a hand to block the first swing of Maddie's hammer, sending bits and pieces of him clattering all over the place; the wound easily healed as Bloxx swung a fist forward and plunged it deep into Maddie's gut without missing a beat, kncoking the wind out of her and sending her stumbling back. Faster than the Hatter could react, the Segmentasapien was upon her, morphing and reconfiguring his body to envelope her in a tight ball made of his body that restricted any movements.

"Apple!"

The princess groaned with annoyance and turned to see Raven, Briar, Cerise, and Holly running towards her and the small group gathered, Raven's anxious expression only worsening when she saw the tight spot Maddie the other Wonderlandians were in. "Ugh, Raven, I really don't see why you're so upset." Apple scoffed at the witchling. "You never wanted to follow your destiny anyway!"

Raven sucked in a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking, a tactic her father had taught her that usually worked in such stressful situations. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but what I do know that Apple White, the awesome Apple White that I know and love would never, ever want anything to happen to the school she loves.

Apple merely yawned with boredom. "Apple, you have the best story ever after!"

"You're all about protecting this world, not . . . this!" Briar gestured behind her; the ebbing, draining of Ever After's wonder and life was upcoming and fast, turning Venus' vines and tendrils into sad, wilted stalks that drooped and piled up limply on the ground as the world around them turned gray and devoid of any life. Anybody that the gray mist enveloped and pulled into its dreary world of misery wilted and slumped just as well, exhausted and tired beyond belief yet unable to reach for slumber's sweet grasp and release, forever stuck in a half-dream nightmare.

"Please, Apple?" Cerise pleaded.

"Apple, you can end this. Just give us the map." Raven begged as the gray fog swept faster over the fair grounds, attracted to itself from all opposite sides until there was but one, small patch of untouched ground left for it to claim and overtake.

"Uh . . . nah." Apple decided; the first to go was the Vicetopus, her tight grip going slack and weak as she released Lizzie and Alistair and slumped to the ground, a mound of jiggling, gray jelly. Clawdeen and Cedar fell next, the former releasing her firm hold on Bunny as her jaw went slack and posture fell, her knees going weak as Cedar lost control of all movement and clattered noisily to the ground, devoid of any movement and nothing more than a lifeless puppet as the miserable, gray fog quickened its pace. Bloxx and Skurd were next, the Segmentasapien falling apart and releasing his hold on Maddie as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world, allowing him to slump down to the ground without a care. The wonder draining wave went faster and faster, sweeping over Ashlynn, Hunter, Cerise, Holly, Poppy, Briar, Daring, all fell to the gray fog until it was only Apple and Raven left.

"You lose. I win." were Apple's last words before the lifeless, gray fog swept over the both of them.

Ever After had been lost.

---

M.N: But did Kitty Cheshire really want the joke to go this far?

B.P: Of course not!

T.P: That was a rhetorical question, Brooke.

F.N: And you're still grounded!

M.N: Continuing . . . And so, the Spring Fairest . . .

F.N: . . . Had fallen to despair and sadness, for the Well of Wonder had run dry.

---

"What's going on?" Alistair asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Maddie was visibly shaking with fear, hugging herself tightly on the ground as she fought back tears. "Th-The wonder . . . it's . . . gone . . ."

"I guess . . . it doesn't affect us 'cause we're from Wonderland?" Bunny suggested quietly.

"But how? How did this happen?" Lizzie wanted to know.

Maddie didn't wait for her friends to begin speculating as she climbed to her feet and rushed towards Raven, hopping over Ben's limp form and grabbing her best friend forever after's shoulders and giving her a good shake. "Raven! What happened?"

"The well . . . Apple . . . did this . . ." Raven rasped, as if her throat were parched and dry.

"Apple!?" Maddie rasied an eyebrow of disbelief.

The Daughter of Snow White smirked venomously; even in her weakened, depressed state she had a reason to smile. "You're too late . . ."

"I'll show you who's late!" Lizzie snarled angrily, wrapping her hands around Apple's throat and mildly throttling her out of anger; for the destruction of her home, for the misuse of her culture, for the loss of her friends, and maybe even for some things she wasn't aware of just yet, but that all fell into the reasons why the Princess of Hearts was shaking Apple like a rag doll until two books fell out of hidden pockets sewn into her dress.

"Lizzie! You can stop!" Bunny calmed her friend down and pried her fingers off of Apple's neck, allowing the princess to breath once more. "We have the riddle book!"

"Then . . . can't we just destroy that?" Lizzie wondered, already feeling slightly guilty about her actions. "Won't that stop this!?"

"We can't be sure of that, and we may need the book later." Alistair hummed. "No, this is a riddle . . . and we need to find the answer. Fast."

A sudden shower of sparkles all caught their attention briefly as Kitty materialized before their very eyes, a sheepish grin on her face as she briefly took in the dreary, miserable surroundings that had once been the bright and colorful Spring Fairest Festival. "Uh . . . hey, guys."

"Well! You must be loving this." Lizzie huffed, folding her arms over her chest out of annoyance.

Kitty sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. "No . . . no. Not hexactly." she sighed. "I mean, I like a good joke, but this . . . this has gone too far." she gulped, stooping down to place a hand on Ben's chest; his heartbeat was dull and faint, as if he were half dead but still alive, if the way he groaned and blinked blearily at her touch was anything to go by; she felt a sad smile cross her lips as he lolled his head over to regard her, the corners of his mouth turning upwards slightly in a dark and welcoming sneer at the mere sight of her.

Alistair narrowed her eyes at the crafty feline before sucking a breath and heaving it out as a sigh. "Kitty . . . first things first. Do you know how to reverse the Topsy Turvy Curse?" he asked seriously.

Kitty shook her head. "Uh-uh. But I know who does." she said before cupping her hands over her mouth and shouting to the sky, her voice echoing and forlorn in the miserable state of Ever After. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" she yelled. "Mom! I have to talk to you . . . now!" she insisted with a stomp of her foot.

A slight twinkle of light from behind Maddie and Lizzie drew her attention, and if she peered close enough she could just see a bright, crafty smile hanging in midair for all who were able to see. "All of you!" Kitty narrowed her eyes at her mother's fangs, her patience wearing thin; the rest of her mother soon followed in a shower of sparkling, shimmering light from the feet up until the fully amused, cheery smile of the Cheshire Cat's face could be seen.

"What's got your fur up, little one?" she purred, absentmindedly glancing at her claws.

"You." Kitty snarled, vanishing in a similar shower of sparkles and rematerializing before her mother. "You sent a curse to my school!" she pointed an accusing finger at her mother.

"I thought you, of anyone, would love this!" the Cheshire Cat grinned. "I mean . . . the chaos!? It's spelltacular!"

Kitty gritted her teeth. "No, it's not." she frowned. "Ever After High is my favorite place with my favorite people in the whole world. And if we don't change this . . . all of our stories will be lost. Forever."

The Cheshire Cat raised an eyebrow at this.

"That's no joke." Kitty glared at her mother. "You have to tell us how to reverse the curse."

The Cheshire Cat was bristling inside at her daughter's words, wondering how in the name of Charlie's over-sized top hat she could say such things. Wondering how her daughter could defy her teachings and order her around like the Queen of Hearts herself (the one person the Cheshire Cat actually listened to and obeyed without question on the rare occasion). Perhaps she needed to be taught a lesson in humiliation? Yes, that seemed like the perfect little, chaotic plan to bring forth.

"All right." the Cheshire purred as she teleported away once more and reappeared on the steps of the Chef Showdown contest in a shimmering, sparkling light. "I'll play you for it." she grinned wickedly before vanishing once more.

"Bring it." Kitty hissed without hesitation.

"All right." the Cheshire cat said once more as she reappeared on top of the Chef Showdown's main tower that had erected at the center of the platform to provide a little privacy between the baker's for the competition that seemed so far away, when this whole mess had once started what seemed an eternity ago. "How about this: if you can make it to me, then I'll tell you what you want to know." she purred coyly as she swiped her arm through the air, aiming at the ground; the small kitchens for the Showdown faded away in a shimmering, pink light as the glowing, taunting face of a cat appeared on the floor made of brightly glowing pink, white, black, and blue tiles, beckoning for them to be stepped on.

"A puzzle . . ." Maddie gulped.

"Come on, Kitty, we got this!" Alistair said confidently.

Kitty was trembling slightly; she remembered playing these kinds of games with mom back when she was but a kitten in Wonderland, being forced to play the game over and over and over again, and she had never been able to succeed in beating her mother, not even once. The farthest she ever made was halfway across the board before she knocked herself out, ending the game and making her mother the winner once more what seemed to have been the infinite time since she had been forced to play the game from such a young age. Even when she had the help of Wonderland friends, she had never been able to beat the game.

"Uh . . . okay?" she gulped. "Well . . . Bunny? Try that first tile. Right in front of you." Kitty directed her friend while simultaneously holding her breath; the Daughter of the White Rabbit nodded and sucked in a deep breath before taking a tentative step forward and relaxing greatly when the tile turned green beneath her feet.

"Keep going, Kitty. You're doing it!" Alistair encouraged her.

Kitty nodded. "Oh, okay . . . um, Lizzie? You step on that one." she directed, pointing at another tile in front of her friend; the Princess of Hearts did so without hesitation, gasping with surprise when the tile glowed a warning red in color and gave off a loud buzzing noise, freezing Lizzie on the spot. A quick rap of Maddie's knuckle upon her head confirmed she had been frozen solid.

"Ha, HA! Wonderful!" the Cheshire Cat cackled. "Who's next?"

Kitty growled with frustration. "There has to be some logic to this! Bunny, step diagonally to the right." she directed her friend.

"Running out of chances, little one." the Cheshire Cat purred when the tile glowed red and froze Bunny to the spot as well, leaving only Kitty, Maddie, and Alistair left.

"C'mon, Kitty." Maddie urged her. "Time to end this catfight."

But . . . but . . . I-I . . . I don't even know what the rules are!?" she freaked out loudly, grabbing her hair and yanking on with frustration, collapsing on the ground into a sobbing heap; Maddie and Alistair shared a look without each other, knowing full well what Kitty was talking about. Like her friend, they had been dragged into the Cheshire Cat's sick game, forced to play as their friend's chess pieces in a game that defied all logic and reason, devoid of any rules whatsoever that it was aggravating, even by Wonderland standards.

"Kitty . . . come on." Alistair put on a hand on her heaving shoulder. "Whatever this is, we'll figure it out."

"Together." Maddie added.

"Th-Thanks." Kitty sniffed. "But . . . we've done this so many times. Alistair, you're the smartest out of all of us, and you couldn't figure it out. Maddie, you're the most mad, and even it didn't make a lick of sense to you. I've got the most experience out of us all and I'm still stumped. How are we supposed to beat my mom if we haven't even come close in the past.

Alistair scratched his chin in thought; as much as he hated to admit it, Kitty had a point in all this. They had been through this multiple times, trained over hundreds of hours, tried strategy after strategy, and they still hadn't come close to beating the Cheshire Cat at her own game, only coming so far as halfway before they had been beaten. If they only had something new to bring to the game, something the Cheshire Cat could have never anticipated . . .

"What we need is a game changer." Alistair hummed.

"Yes, but what? It's not like we can just suddenly adapt to whatever my mom throws at us. We've tried that and it's never worked." Kitty sniffed.

Maddie beamed brightly, her smile broad and madder than Kitty had ever seen. "I think I know just what we need!"

"What!?" Kitty and Alistair asked desperately.

"Ben!" Maddie replied.

Kitty blinked, feeling a slight blush cross her face at the name. "Yeah, it would be nice to have him give us a hand, but he's-"

"That's easy enough to fix!" Maddie cackled brightly, clambering to her feet and rushing down the steps of the Chef Showdown back towards her collapsed boyfriend; the Cheshire Cat raised an eyebrow at this, having never seen this tactic before as the Hatter propped Ben up off of the ground and knelt down to his level, a familiar, crafty smile upon her face. And before the cunning calico could understand what was happening, Maddie had leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, cupping his face in her hands before sliding them around his neck and hugging him close to her, cozying up to him as she kissed him passionately. Kitty and Alistair were watching stunned surprise, the former with a deep blush on her face as she watched her friend and roommate make out with her boyfriend right in front of her.

As she did however, the strangest thing happened; the dreary, depressed expression on his face was slowly brightening, his eyes widening and becoming more lively as he closed his eyes and savored the Hatter's comforting touch against him; his skin returned to its healthy, pale glow as his slow, tired movements became quick and fluid and full of life more as he wrapped his arms around Maddie and hugged her close to him, scooping his arms underneath of her and effortlessly climbing to his feet and lifting her off of the ground without breaking contact for several harrowing minutes before Maddie finally ended it and cuddled her head up to him.

"What the . . . how did she . . ." Kitty was flabbergasted.

"A Wonderlandian's Kiss! Of course!" Alistair slapped his forehead with realization. "Think of it like True Love's Kiss, but slightly different in the fact that can only break Wonderland curses, no matter how strong, powerful, or violent they are." he explained upon seeing Kitty's confused expression.

"But . . . I thought those we're a myth?" Kitty blinked owlishly.

"Most Wonderlandians regard it as nonsense, which is really saying something, but there are firm believers out there." Alistair said. "And now we have proof! We just needed someone mad and in love enough to try it!"

"Well, it's nice to back and everything, but what the hex is going on?" Ben asked as he walked over to the pair with Maddie being happily carried in his arms. "And why are Bunny and Lizzie suddenly doing really good impressions of ice sculptures?"

"Long story short, the wonder has dried up from Ever After and has left only us Wonderlandians unaffected, you being the one exception thanks to Maddie," Alistair explained as the Hatter giggled happily in Ben's arms. "And in order to reverse the curse and return everything to normal, we have to beat the Cheshire Cat at her own game.

"The only problem is that we've lost at this game every time . . ." Kitty said sadly.

Ben nodded and set Maddie back down on the ground, the Hatter pouting slightly as Ben walked up to the colorful board and examined it, taking in every detail and taking note of the two frozen statues that had once been Kitty and Lizzie before they had taken a wrong step. "Hmmm. You're mom said the only way to win was to get to her, right?" he asked.

"Yes . . ?" Kitty nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

"Did she say you had to touch the board?" Ben asked.

"Well . . . no." Alistair admitted before it suddenly dawned on him. How could have not seen it before after all these years!? It was so simple, it was maddening that they had over looked such a small, tiny, flaw in the Cheshire Cat's crafty, cunning plan!

"Well, that's easy to fix." Ben smirked as he turned to the Omnitrix after flicking Skurd aside whenever he tried to block his partner from accessing the watch and turning it off, cycling through the aliens until he found Stinkfly; before he could slap the activation button however, Kitty placed her hand upon his, lowering it down to his side with a look that Ben had only a few times during the most dire of situations. "Kitty, what are you-"

"I have to do this on my own." Kitty said firmly.

Ben raised an eyebrow, but nodded and put his hand down, backing away as Kitty turned to face her mom with a determined look in her eye and an impish smile upon her lips as she disappeared in a glimmering light, her pearly whites vanishing last; the Cheshire Cat blinked with surprise at this, wondering what sort of tactic her daughter was employing now. Wondering if she had actually been coward enough to run away like she sometimes did when she was kitten, the feline searched frantically around for any sign of her daughter, realizing a moment too late what was happening when she caught sight of the smug grin on Ben's face.

"You never said I had to go across the board," Kitty's voice said smugly from behind her. "Just get to you." she smirked; the Cheshire Cat growled with frustration and turned to face her daughter with an annoyed frown on her face. Upon catching sight of the dark look, Alistair, Maddie, and Ben all shared nervous looks with each other, Ben's hand instinctively reaching for the Omnitrix in case he had to make a quick save of Kitty before the Cheshire Cat's irritated frown turned into a broad smile.

"Kitty, where did you learn to be so devious?" she wondered, hugging her daughter proudly.

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that." Kitty smiled.

"I'm so proud of you!" the Cheshire Cat cooed lovingly, nuzzling Kitty affectionately. "Read the last riddle of the book backwards. That'll undo the curse." she explained with a proud smile. "See you all on Parent's Day!" she added to Ben and the other Wonderlandians before turning to Kitty, winking, and disappearing a shimmering shower of sparkling light once more, the last remaining thin the prideful smile upon her lips before that too vanished; the game board vanished along with her, the icy sculptures that were Bunny and Lizzie unfreezing and allowing the two girls to breath once more.

"Parent's Day?" Ben gulped.

"Ben? How are you-" Lizzie started.

"This isn't over yet." Alistair interrupted as he dug out the book of cursed riddles from his satchel; Maddie promptly stole the book from Alistair's hands and sat down on the steps to turn to the last page and begin reading the final riddle backwards as the Cheshire Cat instructed.

"Tonight darkness-" Maddie began.

"The to answer the-" Lizzie chimed in.

"Is where, but-" Bunny read over the Hatter's shoulder.

"Curious the light-" Alistair added.

"To riddle from?" Kitty finished reading, having teleported back down to her friend's level to make sure the spell had worked properly.

"Did that even make any sense?" Ben wondered; evidently, it did make sense as Ben took a look at all his fairy tale friends and ghouls that had been affected by the riddle book's dark curse suddenly jerk with surprise, their dilated pupils becoming full and bright once more as they looked around in confusion at their new, dreary world with worry. The Nemetrix timed out and returned Jane to her normal, albeit depressed, form as Hunter wiped a small amount of mud-stained ketchup from his girlfriend's head and turned to glare accusingly at Ben before he suddenly recoiled with disgust and worry as Ashlynn promptly held her stomach and heaved out every last bit of her stomach contents on his hunting boots and the ground beneath them.

"Apple . . . are you . . . you?" Ben asked with concern, approaching one of the girls he held dear to him.

The princess seemed deeply ashamed at what she had done, what she had been forced to do as she shied away from Ben slightly until he took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze; Apple looked about ready to break down at all the mayhem, all the havoc, all the destruction, all the chaos she had caused; and forcing Ashlynn to go against her principles, forcing Hunter to destroy something he cared deeply about, forcing everyone that had been involved in this sick and twisted plan of hers to go along with her. "What . . . have I . . . done . . ?" she wondered with an echoing, trance-like tone; Ben and the Wonderlandians seemed to move so fast to her, as if she had been thrown of time and was forced to watch everything in high speed motion.

"We'll explain everything later, Apple." Ben promised, giving her a comforting hug. "Right now, we gotta return Ever After to normal."

Nodding, Lizzie took out her precious book and opened it, relaxing a great deal when she saw the ever familiar, shimmering, blue hologram materialize across the pages; this time however, the Well of Wonder did not seem to be located deep within the Enchanted Forest it so often traversed, but atop a large, jutting cliff hundreds upon thousands of feet above the valley of Ever After that the school looked over. "Hey! That's Grimm's Peak!" Kitty realized, pointing at the top of the glimmering hologram to a small, red, blinking icon that represented the Well of Wonder. "But, it looks like it's . . . plugged?"

"How are we going to unplug it?" Maddie wondered.

Ben grinned as he glanced down at the Omnitrix upon his wrist. "I've got us covered. All I need is a ride to Grimm's Peak and I'll do the rest."

"Kitty?" Bunny turned towards her friend expectedly.

The Daughter of the Cheshire Cat nodded and held out her hands, a warm feeling crossing her face when Ben took her waiting fingers without hesitation; Maddie then took Ben's hand as Alistair, Bunny, and Lizzie all quickly joined up and held their breath out of desperation as Kitty closed her eyes and focused on the energies within not only herself but the friends that she held dear to her, the friends that she held dear to her heart, focusing upon their energies and their hearts as she felt the familiar feeling take over her, swallow her, and control her, allowing itself to be guided by the Cheshire as she, Ben, and her Wonderland friends were teleported out of existence for a brief second,warping through time and space with relative ease until they small crashing back out into reality.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself the others still holding hands just a few dozen feet away from the Well of Wonder at the very top of Grimm's Peak, the wooden plug jammed firmly into its top like a cork glowering darkly at them, as if daring them to try and unplug the Flow of Wonder it so desperately guarded fiercely.

"Are you sure you can handle this, Ben?" Lizzie asked as Ben tapped the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster until he found the alien he needed.

"You have no idea what I can handle." Ben gave her a joking smile.

"Truth be told, neither does he!" Skurd cracked as Ben slammed a hand down on the Omnitrix and swallowed himself in a flash of green light, feeling the familiar feeling of his DNA being warped and changed and shifted into something new, the likes of which Ever After had never seen before in all its days. 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 slight while 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.

With a grunt, Humungousaur reached up with a heavy hand and began to climb the slope, focusing his mind on himself while he climbed as he felt the mild changes begin; his skull pulled back slightly into a sharp, bony crest while his shoulders broadened, the plating splitting and cracking loudly as a row of dull, bony spikes rose out from his firm spine and ran all the way down to the base of his tail. The most noticeable change however was his size as he grew bigger and bigger, his legs becoming as thick as tree trunks and his arms becoming stronger and beefier with every passing second until he absolutely dwarfed the Wonderlandians beside him as he reached the top of the peak and looked over the dull, gray world that had once been Ever After, ignoring the powering rain and lightning laced clouds that raged and thundered overhead

"As a wise Hatter once said, 'Let there be wonder'!" Humungousaur quipped as he reached down with both hands and curled his fingers over the lip of the plug, giving it an almighty tug and pulling it out with a loud pop! A column of bright, glorious light shot forth from the Well of Wonder and into the heavens above, parting the gray clouds away as the bright sun returned ti shine down on Ever After while the well gave an almighty roar and overflowed with a bountiful harvest of color, rainbow water that cascaded down Grimm's Peak and to the world below. Kitty watched with a small smile on her face as the Flow of Wonder swept over Ever After, returning the bright colors and wondrous atmosphere as bird song and dragon calls once again filled the air; with a cunning smile, Kitty vanished in a flash of sparkling light to reappear upon the Humungousaur's shoulder; the Vaxasaurian didn't even realize she was there until she leaned over and gave him a small peck on the cheek, a deep blush crossing both of their faces as they watched the life and wonder of Ever After return.

Some distance away, undetected by even Humungousaur's high vantage point, the White Knight strolled out of the Enchanted Forest, looking out upon the wondrous world of Ever After and inhaling a sweet breath of fresh air that he hadn't experienced in a long time. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot made him turn his attention behind him as Ginger came jogging out of the forest, her eyes brightening happily when she looked out upon Ever After, her home, once more.

"Thank you for getting me home." Ginger sighed happily; was it just her, or did Ever After look a lot more beautiful than she remembered?

"It was my duty," the White Knight merely replied with a bow. "And my honor." he added. "But please, tell no one of how we got here. Something's are better left unsaid." he asked her kindly; the Daughter of the Candy Witch smiled and eagerly hugged her new friend tightly, barely able to wrap her arms around his thick, heavy armor as he effortlessly lifted her off of the ground and wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise." she smiled before running off back towards Ever After High; about halfway down the hill, she paused and looked behind her to see the White knight standing there in the golden sky of the rising sun, the wind gently whipping his blue-feathered helmet as he stood there tall and strong. If anyone was worth enough of being Wonderland's protector, it was him. With this in mind, Ginger continued to run back towards the Spring Fairest Festival, hoping she hadn't missed anything.

Had she stayed a little longer, however, she would have seen the White Knight take off his helmet . . . and found out that he had some unusually long, platinum blond hair with blue streaks tied into a small bump that cascaded down his back in curls.

---

Headmaster Grimm was furious to say the least.

His jaw was also his slack, his eyes were wide with horror, and his mind was blown to smithereens as well, but mostly he was furious at the sheer amount of destruction that had been laid waste to the Spring Fairest Festival grounds; gigantic, beanstalk vines and creepers sprouted haphazardly out of the ground, their fanged trappers and maws only kept in line by Venus as she fed them a steady supply of corn dogs and fried mutton to keep them from trying to eat the remaining carnival goers. The broken remains of colors tents and stalls, games and rides, food stands and carts were lying in broken piles upon the ground, destroyed beyond repair and even still smoldering and smoking after what seemed hours ago.

As if that weren't bad enough, several of his students seemed to be recovering from some sort of mysterious illness or accident of sorts; Ashlynn was holding a bucket in her hands, her face queasy and sick as Hunter kindly wiped off layer after layer of grime and filth from her face with a stack of napkins he had managed to salvage from the carnival's remains and combed out the grease and condiment stains that had managed to get in her hair; Apple was practically beside herself with worry, her only foundation right now being Raven as she held the trembling princess and comforted her with a loving, caring touch that Cerise was oddly watching with an irked expression. Daring himself had taken a huge blow to his pride and was currently trying to save whatever was left of it by releasing students that had been trapped in mysterious cocoons of silk and webbing. Holly and Briar were filling in Skelita on what had been happening the entire time ever since the skeleton had suddenly and swiftly reassembled herself from under a destroyed popcorn cart, having fallen apart and being left lifeless on the ground ever since she had read from the cursed book.

"MR. TENNYSON!" Headmaster Grimm roared angrily when the bane of existence and all five Wonderlandians suddenly appeared back in the fair grounds in a flash of sparkling light.

"Oh, no. This can't be good." Raven shook her head as the furious headmaster marched up to her boyfriend to chew him out.

"What is the meaning of . . . this!?" he gestured wildly to the massive scale of destruction that surrounded him. "I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you, but did anyone listen? No! Nobody ever listens to me, even when I'm right, and I was right about you being trouble from the-" Grimm started to rant heavily.

"I hate to burst you're bubble, dude, but I didn't have anything to do with this." Ben interrupted. "At least, not of my own free will anyway."

"What nonsense are you babbling about?" Headmaster Grimm snorted with annoyance.

"I can explain, Mr. Grimm, sir," Alistair stepped forward. "When we brought that fake Storybook of Legends knockoff to Ever After with us-"

"Which we did unintentionally." Bunny added sternly.

"Right. Unintentionally brought the book with us, it turned out to be a cursed riddle book that turned anyone that read from its pages into their complete opposites," Alistair explained. "Daring became a coward, Cedar could suddenly lie, Venus, Clawdeen, and Jane were turned into uncontrollable monsters, and even Apple and Ben were turned into evil counterparts of themselves. They had nothing to do with any of this."

"So what you're saying is that it's your fault?" Headmaster Grimm raised an eyebrow.

Alistair frowned. "No, that's not-

"But you were the ones to bring the book with you." Headmaster Grimm cut him off. "If you had stayed in Wonderland like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened."

"Chose your next words carefully, Grimm." Ben threatened, folding his arms across his chest.

"Your empty threats don't scare me, Tennyson." Grimm scoffed,

"I wasn't talking about myself." Ben smirked, pointing to the right of him where Kitty stood with a quickly reddening face that could have been comparable to an erupting volcano. With a deep, snarl, the Daughter of the Cheshire Cat marched up to Headmaster Grimm and grabbed him by the ascot around his neck, yanking his head down to her level.

"Now listen here, you," she hissed. "None of my Ever After friends, none of my Wonderland friends, not even my boyfriend had anything to do with any of this! If you need someone to pin your petty excuse on, blame my mom! She was the one that set this whole thing up and the one that helped us reverse it!"

"Ms. Cheshire, I must inform you that-" Headmaster Grimm started to warn her about how her actions would most likely get her a detention until Ben, for once, cut him off.

"I have an idea." he cut in. "How about we make a bet? If I can clean up this whole place and make it look like brand new, as if this whole mess never happened, you just drop the subject and enjoy whatever is left of this nice day. Because I, for one, have not gotten to experience a single lick of it."

The Headmaster, surprisingly agreed to this. "And if you fail, I can put you and your little trouble making friends in detention until you have managed to work off all the damages to the fair grounds."

Ben gave a smug smile as he took the headmaster's hand gave it a good shake. "Dude, I love those odds." he smirked as he tapped the Omnitrix and found the alien he was looking for before he slammed a hand down on the activation button, immersing himself in a blast of green light that warped and changed his genetic code. His gut and chest exploded in size and bloated outwards into a perfect sphere of flesh as his arms and legs were absorbed by the ball of muscle and tissue; his skin cracked and split as it hardened into a thin, metallic sheen colored a deep bronze as black markings etched their way across the perfect sphere before Ben's legs came jutting back out as black tubing of sorts before the ends suddenly swelled in size and shape, becoming something that resembled a bell while his arms were thrust back out, mirroring his legs as his wrists bloated into large balls with his metallic, jointed fingers poking out at the ends. His head popped back out of the top, now bronze and black around the face with emotionless, green expressions that remained unmoving as his head flattened before a sudden growth that resembled a windup key-like sprouted from his skull; a hexagonal, glass panel opened up on his chest, the Omnitrix forming at its center as green, glowing gears materialized behind the pane of glass, completing the transformation.

"A golem?" Headmaster Grimm cocked an eyebrow.

"Clearly you do not recognize a Chronosapien when you see one." Skurd rolled his eyes.

"Well. Here goes nothing." Clockwork grunted as he grabbed the windup key-like protrusion on his head and turned it counterclockwise with a loud, grinding noise from within himself; the Headmaster watched with disbelief as the key suddenly began to spin backwards, slow at first before gaining speed until it was nothing but a blur. By then, Clockwork leaned back as far as he could fired off a beam of bright, hot, green energy from the glass pane on his chest, watching at it soared higher and higher into the air and finally came to a stop almost half a mile or so above; by then a shimmering, green dome of energy and light sprouted forth from the beam and fully encased the Spring Fairest Festival grounds.

The headmaster watched with a stunned expression as everything within the dome froze on the spot, be it birds pausing in midflight overhead or discarded trash blowing in the breeze, it all just stopped as if someone had just hit the pause button the remote; after a few moments though, the movement returned, at least to all the students and other living beings in the area. A few precious moments after that however, and things started to take a turn for the weird as the smoldering debris and ruins of the carnival started to tremble and quiver before suddenly moving on their own accord. The Headmaster could do nothing else but watch with a slack jaw as the ruins and piles of discarded junk reassembled and repaired themselves, reconstructing back into the familiar colorful tents that dotted the grounds, the sweet smelling food stands that offered numerous, delicious confections for one to eat, and the wondrous, amusing games and rides that once excited hundreds of students looking for a relaxing evening.

"Did you know he could do that?" Apple asked Raven as the monstrous jungle that had been spawned forth by Venus shrank and grew smaller, fading back into the ground as they were reversed back to the younger age of dormant seeds for Venus to pick up at her leisure.

"No . . . although Clockwork does look familiar." Raven admitted as the Chronosapien righted himself and ceased control of the time stream within his grasp, knowing full well that any further meddling with it would result in a disaster he did not want o deal with; within the span of a few seconds and the loud, echoing ring of a hollow, bronze bell, the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world, a smug grin on his face.

"I believe we had a deal?" he smirked.

The Headmaster mere gaped. "What . . . h-how . . . why didn;t you do this ages ago to repair the damage you caused to the school!?" he demanded furiously.

"I distinctly remember you turning down the offer, dear boy." Skurd coughed.

"You . . . did say that, Headmaster Grimm." Apple confirmed. "Ben offered to repair all the damage after the dragon attacks, but-"

Headmaster Grimm sighed wearily. "Fine, fine. You win this round, Tennyson, I'll grant you that. Now kindly do me a favor and leave me alone to enjoy the rest of my evening in peace."

"Dude, that's all I've wanted to do all day." Ben rolled his eyes as he turned on his heel to go sit by the fountain everyone else had chosen to relax and group up by.

"Oh, and Tennyson?"

"Yeah?" Ben turned with a suspicious look.

"If you . . . uh, would be so kind as to repair the damage to Ever After High once you have had your fill of the festivities?" the Headmaster asked in an uncomfortable manner, not use to asking the person he hated on such an extreme level for help.

"I think that can be arranged." Ben nodded coolly. "Spell ya later."

"Yes, well. Enjoy your evening." Grimm nodded before he turning on his heel wheel away a cart of won carnival prizes and stealing back one his brother had been trying to smuggle out for his own collection; the two brothers glared threateningly at each other for a few seconds before bursting out into goodhearted chuckles and strolling off to spend the rest of the evening together.

"So, you're sure the real Storybook of Legends is still in Wonderland?" Apple asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Positive." Alistair nodded.

"If . . . it is in Wonderland, how are we going to get it?" Cerise voiced the question everybody was thinking, but nobody wanted to say; basically addressing the elephant in the room.

"Woo-hoo!" Maddie cheered happily as she danced merrily about in the rainbow water fountain, kicking up sprays of water in all directions as she enjoyed the Flow of Wonder that had been absent for too long for her liking; Ben got a goofy grin on his face and crept up behind the Hatter, grabbing her from behind and grappling her, trying to tackle her to the ground before Maddie grabbed him by the arm and effortlessly judo flipped him over her, slamming him into the bottom of the fountain with a loud splash! Maddie soon followed after Ben grabbed her ankle and dragged her down with him, the two of them laughing until Kitty, despite the fact that cats were not fond of water under most circumstances, promptly cannonballed into the fountain and soaked them both, the three of them laughing.

"You know what?" Venus coughed uncomfortably. "It's a beautiful Spring day and we're at the most fangtastic fair ever."

"Which I still have yet to experience." Ginger piped as she came walking up to the group with a relieved smile on her face.

"Que? What are you getting at?" Skelita wondered.

"What do you say we worry about Wonderland tomorrow?" Holly suggested.

"Sounds spelltacular to me." Ben grinned as he shook himself dry, pelting everyone with water from the fountain in the process; everyone else quickly agreed and divided up amongst themselves to attend the many attractions the Spring Fairest had to offer for them all, deciding to set aside whatever differences or trials or tribulations they might have had to simply spend some time together and enjoy everything Ever After had to offer them.

---

The change in magical energies was slightly alarming to say the least. She wasn't sure what the source was, but here in this world, this world of clear cut glass and cold stone walls that housed her securely with nothing more than a ring of powerful tomes, spells, and seals to keep her trapped, even she could sense something was amiss.

She had been picking at one of the seals to her prison, tediously scrapping away at it like she had been doing for the past ten years or so, when the familiar ebb and flow of magic that she could sense beyond the glass wall that kept her trapped suddenly ceased altogether, leaving her greatly confused. Curious, she had summoned whatever energy reserves she had left and managed to pull her sense together to allow her sense the world beyond her prison to find it devoid of the usual wonder and life she was use to.

At first, she actually suspected the pathetic spawn had managed to do the impossible and conquer the wretched fairy tale world she had been forced to call home, but a closer inspection revealed to her that the spawn was just as powerless and unstable as she had left her, weakened like the others. The two great senses of power she had sensed before were gone as well, dwindling so low to the point where she wouldn't have even noticed them had she not been combing the world carefully.

And then, almost as soon as it had stopped, the flow of magic, power, energy, and life that she knew like the back of her hands came rushing back in greater quantities than ever anticipated, nearly shattering senses before she was able to stabilize herself once more; the two powerful sense of power were once again at maximum power and, upon closer inspection, there reveal to be a third, more faint power upon the hundreds that littered the land, the faint trace of a resent user of magic.

With schemes and plots already forming in her head, she withdrew her senses and collapsed down on the floor of her prison to rest; the daily grind of wearing away at the seals and locks could wait for a while. After all, she had nothing but time to look forward to.

---

F.N: But that, is a story for next time.

B.P: So . . . you guys still mad at me? I mean, it did have a happy ending?

F.N: Of course, we are. What you did was wrong.

M.N: It doesn't matter that it had a happy ending, you broke the rules!

T.P: I don't know who to side with now . . .

F.N: You're not allowed to be in the story. We just tell the story.

B.P: I was totally helpful, okay? I kinda think I saved the show . . . and the fair.

T.P: I'll, uh . . . I'll just let myself out. Gotta get back to school . . . gotta study for finals and everything. Toodles!

B.P: When are you guys gonna let me narrate!?

---

And there we go!

Whew! That was a long one! I hope I never have to write another one of those again!

Promises, promies, Creaty!

I'm still not responding to such a ridiculous name. Either way, long story short, December is a busy month for us all, regardless of whether we're Normies, monsters, fairy tales, aliens, or alien tormenting Hatter's who cant' take a hint. To make a long explanation shorter, updates will not be as fast as they usually were in the month and new year to come; this does not mean I am not working my ass off to get a new chapter posted up for your guys, but I like to make sure that all of my chapters are of the highest quality possible. No expense spared for you guys!

Finish up the chapter already, silly! Mr. Nibbles is hungry again!

I am still not referring to that abomination by that name or any name until I know what gender and what kind of species (if any) it is! Regardless of several unwanted house guests, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!

Hasta Luego! ARGH!

Bad, Mr. Nibbles, bad! Stop trying to lay eggs in Creaty's head!

Still not answering to that name! Oh, sweet mother of Galvan Prime this hurts!